  Intelligent reflecting surfaces (IRSs) are considered a promising technology
that can smartly reconfigure the wireless environment to enhance the
performance of future wireless networks. However, the deployment of IRSs still
faces challenges due to highly dynamic and mobile unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV)
enabled wireless environments to achieve higher capacity. This paper sheds
light on the different deployment strategies for IRSs in future terrestrial and
non-terrestrial networks. Specifically, in this paper, we introduce key
theoretical concepts underlying the IRS paradigm and discuss the design aspects
related to the deployment of IRSs in 6G networks. We also explore
optimization-based IRS deployment techniques to improve system performance in
terrestrial and aerial IRSs. Furthermore, we survey model-free reinforcement
learning (RL) techniques from the deployment aspect to address the challenges
of achieving higher capacity in complex and mobile IRS-assisted UAV wireless
systems. Finally, we highlight challenges and future research directions from
the deployment aspect of IRSs for improving system performance for the future
6G network.
