  Metasurfaces are envisaged to play a key role in next-generation wireless
systems due to their powerful control over electromagnetic waves. The last
decade has witnessed huge advances in this regard, shifting from static to
programmable metasurfaces. The HyperSurface (HSF) paradigm takes one step
further by integrating a network of controllers within the device with the aim
of adding intelligence, connectivity, and autonomy. However, little is known
about the traffic that this network will have to support as the target
electromagnetic function or boundary conditions change. In this paper, we lay
down the foundations of a methodology to characterize the workload of
programmable metasurfaces and then employ it to analyze the case of beam
steering HSFs. We observe that traffic is bursty and highly dependent on the
position of the target. These results will enable the early-stage evaluation of
intra-HSF networks, as well as the estimation of the system performance and
cost.
