Antenna Tilt Failure Detection and Estimation via Integrated Sensing and Communications

TL;DR

This paper proposes a sensor-free framework using ISAC technology and environmental clutter analysis for detecting and estimating antenna tilt failures in 5G systems, enabling autonomous network maintenance.

Contribution

It introduces a novel method leveraging static environmental clutter as geometric anchors for antenna tilt failure detection without external sensors.

Findings

Numerical results demonstrate effective tilt detection and estimation.

The framework enables autonomous, self-healing network maintenance.

Utilizes standard 5G NR frame structure and waveforms.

Abstract

This paper addresses the critical sensitivity issue of narrow-beam communication systems to physical misalignments and exploits the potential of Integrated Sensing and Communications (ISAC) technology to propose a sensor-free antenna tilt failure detection and estimation framework. The proposed methods utilize environmental static clutter as geometric anchors to monitor systematic gain shifts in clutter heat maps. The proposed methods are introduced for precise antenna tilt detection and estimation using the standard 5G NR frame structure and two different waveforms. Numerical results show the potential of the proposed framework to enable autonomous, self healing network maintenance without the need for external sensors.