Distributed Multisensor ISAC

TL;DR

This paper introduces the principles and architecture of distributed multisensor ISAC, combining sensing and communication in mobile networks for passive object detection, environment recognition, and distributed radar-like sensing.

Contribution

It develops a generic architecture for multi-sensor ISAC, linking it to practical use cases and addressing key issues like synchronization, data fusion, and signal processing techniques.

Findings

Proposed a generic MS-ISAC architecture

Outlined multilink access and coordination schemes

Reviewed model-based estimation and tracking methods

Abstract

Integrated Sensing and Communications (ISAC) will become a service in future mobile communication networks. It enables the detection and recognition of passive objects and environments using radar-like sensing. The ultimate advantage is the reuse of the mobile network and radio access resources for scene illumination, sensing, data transportation, computation, and fusion. It enables building a distributed, ubiquitous sensing network that can be adapted for a variety of radio sensing tasks and services. In this article, we develop the principles of multi-sensor ISAC (MS-ISAC). MS-ISAC corresponds to multi-user MIMO communication, which in radar terminology is known as distributed MIMO radar. \ First, we develop basic architectural principles for MS-ISAC and link them to example use cases. We then propose a generic MS-ISAC architecture. After a brief reference to multipath propagation and multistatic target reflectivity issues, we outline multilink access, coordination, precoding and link adaptation schemes for MS-ISAC. Moreover, we review model-based estimation and tracking of delay~/~Doppler from sparse OFDMA~/~TDMA frames. We emphasize Cooperative Passive Coherent Location (CPCL) for bistatic correlation and synchronization. Finally, issues of multisensor node synchronization and distributed data fusion are addressed.