So far, the environment has been considered as a source of fading, clutter, blockage, etc., with detrimental consequences for the efficiency and robustness of communication systems. However, the intense research developed toward beyond-5G communications is leading to a paradigm change, in which the environment is exploited as a new degree of freedom and plays an active role in achieving unprecedented system performances. For implementing this challenging paradigm, it has been recently proposed the use of intelligent surfaces able to control almost at will the propagation of electromagnetic waves. In this framework, metasurfaces have emerged as a promising solution, thanks to their field manipulation capabilities achieved through low-cost, lightweight, and planar structures. The aim of this paper is to review some recent applications of metasurfaces and cast them in the scenario of next-generation wireless systems. In particular, we show their potentialities in overcoming some detrimental effects presented by the environment in wireless communications, and discuss their crucial role towards the practical implementation of a smart electromagnetic environment.

We show that properly designed mantle cloaks, consisting of patterned metallic sheets placed around cylindrical monopoles, allow tightly packing the same antennas together in a highly dense telecommunication platform. Our experimental demonstration is applied to the relevant example of two cylindrical monopole radiators operating for 3G and 4G mobile communications. The two antennas are placed in close proximity, separated by 1/10 of the shorter operational wavelength, and, after cloaking, are shown to remarkably operate as if isolated in free-space. This result paves the way to unprecedented co-siting strategies for multiple antennas handling different services and installed in overcrowded platforms, such as communication towers, satellite payloads, aircrafts, or ship trees. More broadly, this work presents a significant application of cloaking technology to improve the efficiency of modern communication systems.

Recently, the use of deflecting covering meta-domes for increasing the scanning range of a phased array has been proposed. Although promising, this solution still presents some inherent limitations such as the significant reduction of the broadside gain compared to the original array, as well as the complexity of the implementation due to the need for a continuous phase profile. This work aims at proposing some technical solutions for maximizing the meta-dome performance and reducing the gain-loss at broadside. By properly discretizing and engineering the phase profile along the dome and by taking into account the different angles of incidence onto the meta-cells, we show how it is possible designing realistic meta-domes with reduced insertion loss at broadside, improved steering capabilities, and a reduced profile.

We discuss the possibility to exploit electromagnetic cloaking for enhancing the performances of communication antennas installed on nanosatellite platforms. As a case study, we consider a CubeSTAR system and show that properly designed metasurfaces can be effectively used to minimize the impact of its deployable payload sensors on both radiation and electrical characteristics of the antennas. The results discussed here pave the way to new strategies for the design of extremely compact nanosatellite platforms equipped with multifunctional antennas and sensors.

Among the different cloaking applications proposed in the literature, the antenna framework has emerged as one of the most fruitful and mature field. In particular, mantle cloaking approach has proven to be a powerful tool for enabling unprecedented possibilities in antenna design. Here, we provide a review of the most significant works in the field of electromagnetic invisibility for antenna applications, demonstrating the versatility of cloaking metasurfaces in antenna scenarios. We also discuss our recent results and investigations on the design of advanced cloaking metasurfaces equipped with electronic components and circuits and able enriching the antenna intelligence.