Abstract
Reconfigurability and innovative design approaches to radio frequency components and network infrastructure are critical for the development of future communication networks, particularly beyond 5G (B5G), which aim to support the proliferation of Internet of Things (IoT) devices. Leveraging its favorable performance characteristics and potentially low cost, the fluid antenna system (FAS) has emerged as a compelling solution, garnering significant interest due to its reconfigurability, small form factor, flexibility, and transparency. This paper presents a comprehensive analysis of FAS in the context of B5G networks, with a focus on its theoretical performance and practical implementations. By deriving formulas for the semi-infinite outage probability and ergodic capacity of FAS receivers in equally correlated Nakagami-m channels, we showcase the remarkable diversity performance exhibited by FAS receivers, even with a half-wavelength antenna size. Monte Carlo simulations are employed to validate our theoretical findings in terms of the number of antenna ports and transmission power.