For me and, probably, many readers, each issue of IEEE Signal Processing Magazine ( SPM ) is the opportunity and pleasure to learn something new in the area of signal and image processing. In addition to lecture notes, tips-and-tricks articles, special reports, and so on, which propose interesting and clever solutions to typical signal or image processing problems, the feature articles and special issue provide tutorial-like articles on various mature or fast-developing domains.

For me and, probably, many readers, each issue of IEEE Signal Processing Magazine (SPM) is the opportunity and pleasure to learn something new in the area of signal and image processing. In addition to lecture notes, tips-and-tricks articles, special reports, and so on, which propose interesting and clever solutions to typical signal or image processing problems, the feature articles and special issue provide tutorial-like articles on various mature or fast-developing domains.

In this SPM March issue, if you are not an expert in advanced communications, you will discover the concept of a reconfigurable intelligent surface (RIS). This device is based on an ultrafine material organized in an array of reconfigurable elements, whose scattering, absorption, reflection, and diffraction properties can be changed with time and controlled by software. Thus, an RIS acts like a smart antenna able to focus transmitter signals directly toward different receivers, thus optimizing the signal/noise ratio and enhancing the quality of the communication.