Multi-Band Sensing in FR3 with Background Dense Multipath Components

TL;DR

This paper introduces a novel multi-band sensing approach in FR3 (7-24 GHz) for 6G, analyzing dense multipath effects, assessing sensing trade-offs, and proposing a scalable estimator that improves accuracy over single-band methods.

Contribution

It develops a new channel model considering background dense multipath components and proposes a scalable estimator that resolves angular ambiguities in multi-band sensing.

Findings

The multi-band estimator significantly improves estimation accuracy.

Reductions of 37.41% and 17.04% in RMSE for delay estimation.

Enhanced sensing performance in dense multipath environments.

Abstract

Multi-band sensing has emerged as a key enabler of integrated sensing and communication (ISAC), one of the six primary usage scenarios defined for IMT-2030 (6G). The introduction of frequency range 3 (FR3, 7-24 GHz), comprising non-contiguous sub-bands across a wide frequency span, further reinforces the importance of multi-band operation. In such scenarios, frequency-dependent propagation effects that are collectively referred to as dense multipath components (DMC), including clutter, diffraction, and diffuse scattering, must be carefully considered. Building on prior literature and our experimental observations, this paper proposes a novel ISAC channel analysis tailored to multi-band sensing, based on a channel model with background DMCs. It also assesses the sensing trade-offs among sub-bands by analyzing Cram\'er-Rao bound (CRB)-based fundamental limits. Furthermore, a scalable multi-band estimator is proposed that resolves angular ambiguities arising from the grating lobes effect. Simulation results of the multi-band estimator demonstrate substantial gains in estimation accuracy and reductions in false alarm rate over single-band estimators operating on each constituent sub-band within the CRB-achieving regime. In a representative test case, the proposed estimator achieves reductions of 37.41% and 17.04% in the root mean squared error of delay estimation compared to single-band estimators operating at 8.75 GHz and 21.7 GHz, respectively.