RISTA and Its Latest Whitepapers on RIS for 6G

The Reconfigurable Intelligent Surface (RIS) TECH Alliance, more widely known as RISTA, is a global alliance focused on advancing RIS technologies. As a cross-industry, open and non-profit organisation, RISTA brings together stakeholders from across the RIS ecosystem. This includes developers of metamaterials and devices, network infrastructure providers, mobile operators, vertical industry partners, solution vendors and academic institutions. Its mission is to guide RIS research, standardisation and industrial adoption while ensuring representation from all relevant groups.

Launched in Beijing in April 2022, RISTA has continued to grow in both scale and influence. In 2024, membership rose to 136 organisations. The year saw the successful hosting of the third RIS TECH Forum and the continuation of its popular Cutting-edge Forum series, which attracted over 460,000 online viewers. RISTA also played a central role in organising seminars and competitions, while strengthening cooperation both within the industry and with external partners.

In 2025, as 3GPP officially began work on 6G through its recently approved study items, the relevance of RIS as a key enabling technology has become even more pronounced. To support industry-wide understanding and alignment, RISTA has published three detailed whitepapers that address standardisation, prototyping and channel modelling for RIS.

The first whitepaper, Potential Standardisation Work for Reconfigurable Intelligent Surface, focuses on bridging the gap between academic exploration and practical deployment. It proposes directions for integrating RIS into wireless standards, including system architecture, control mechanisms, reference signals and beam management. The paper (PDF) is intended to support consensus-building and help accelerate the inclusion of RIS in future 6G standardisation efforts.

The second whitepaper, Prototyping of Reconfigurable Intelligent Surface, presents a view of how RIS has progressed from theory to engineering practice. The paper (PDF) highlights collaborative efforts across the industry and research communities, and provides examples of early application scenarios. These include improvements in deep coverage for mobile networks, support for low altitude and sector-specific communications, and integration with technologies such as positioning, full duplex and simultaneous wireless information and power transfer. The whitepaper outlines the technical validation work that has taken place and charts the pathway towards RIS commercialisation.

The third whitepaper, Channel Modelling and Simulation for Reconfigurable Intelligent Surface, addresses the importance of accurate modelling in understanding how RIS interacts with wireless signals. RIS modifies the radio environment by dynamically altering signal paths, which brings both opportunities and challenges. This paper (PDF) provides an overview of the latest research into RIS-assisted propagation, presents modelling techniques and simulation results, and identifies key areas for further investigation. It is aimed at supporting realistic system-level evaluations and informing standardisation work.

These three whitepapers reflect the maturity and momentum of RIS as a 6G candidate technology. They also demonstrate RISTA’s continuing role in shaping the direction of RIS development, by providing a collaborative platform for research, technical alignment and industry consensus. ZTE are one of the most active contributors and the biggest promoters of RISTA, playing a central role in driving the progress of RIS technologies across standardisation, prototyping and industry engagement.

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