ISAC for 6G: Game Changer or Ghost of 5G Past?

ISAC for 6G: Game Changer or Ghost of 5G Past?

ISAC is one of the key new technology pillars of 6G/IMT-2030 and is a completely new paradigm in terms of performance metrics related to radar. In addition to discussing new technology aspects, the panel considered issues such as market expectations and who will pay for ISAC.

Integrated Sensing and Communication (ISAC) is one of the key new technology pillars of 6G/IMT-2030 and is a completely new paradigm in terms of performance metrics related to radar. In addition to discussing new technology aspects, the panel considered issues such as market expectations and who will pay for ISAC.

Panelists

  • Sheryl Genco, VP Advanced Technology Group, Ericsson
  • John Smee, SVP Engineering, Global Head of Wireless Research, Qualcomm
  • Anton Monk, SVP Strategy, Cohere Technologies (speaker and moderator)

ISAC Technology Overview

Integrated Sensing and Communications (ISAC) for 6G can operate in several different modes to combine communication and sensing functions. In Monostatic mode, the base station acts as primary emitter and sensor, requiring full duplex capability which can lead to antenna separation challenges. Bistatic mode separates emitters and sensors, while Multistatic supports multiple separated sensors for one or more emitters. For all modes, sensing resolution depends on bandwidth-time product:

  • 20 MHz: multiple meters resolution
  • 100 MHz: 1.5 meters resolution (sweet spot)
  • Millimeter wave: 15 centimeters resolution

Industry Initiatives and Standardization

Several consortia are involved in developing and promoting ISAC standards:

  • 5GAA (5G Automotive Association) for automotive vehicles and road infrastructure
  • 5G-ACIA (5G Alliance for Connected Industries and Automation) for smart factories and industrial settings
  • ETSI (European Telecommunications Standards Institute) the overarching body above 3GPP
  • Bharat 6G Alliance driving research, development, and deployment of 6G technology in India 

China leads in academic research output in terms of papers on ISAC. In the US, the Defense Department’s National Spectrum Consortium working group consists of 22 people selected from 80+ applicants with a small working group tackling policy, technology, and a roadmap for ISAC.

Commercial Use Cases and Applications

A variety of ISAC applications have been identified and associated use cases developed. These include vehicle applications such as pedestrian and obstacle monitoring. Drone detection and tracking have potential military applications, as well as airport safety and border security. Coupling industrial automation with physical AI leads to factory robots and autonomous systems enabled by sensor fusion with cameras and LiDAR. In the area of health monitoring, fall detection via Wi-Fi signals has been demonstrated along with sleep monitoring through NLOS (non-line-of-sight) signals. Finally, several smart city applications were mentioned, including home monitoring, weather monitoring, and immersive AR/VR with real-time environment understanding.

Technical Implementation Challenges

The panel discussed ISAC implementation challenges, beginning with resource allocation and what percentage of network capacity should be made available for sensing. On cost implications, equipment costs are not prohibitively high with payback period and revenue recoupment being the main concerns. Resource block allocation—dynamically distributing resources between communication and sensing functions—is critical for ISAC cost structure. As for UE (user equipment) power requirements, the focus is on milliamp-hour optimization.

Defense and National Security Applications

The Ukraine conflict is seen as driving defense interest. In collaboration with Ericsson, NATO has successfully demonstrated Multistatic ISAC in Latvia despite setup challenges. Regarding drone swarm detection capabilities, no current solution exists for massive land area coverage. Commercial infrastructure integration may be necessary, with FirstNet potentially involved in digital airspace (0-300 meters). Dual-use technology in this area must balance commercial and government needs.

5G to 6G Evolution and Spectrum Considerations

As with other aspects of 5G to 6G evolution, a continuum approach in the development of ISAC capabilities rather than complete replacement is preferred. Software upgrades to existing equipment are possible, a critical factor given the 30+ year lifecycle for cellular technologies. Dynamic spectrum sharing (DSS) and multi-radio spectrum sharing (MRSS) capabilities will enable early 6G networks to efficiently share existing 5G spectrum. 

Other spectrum policy implications:

  • Federal bands (3.4-3.5 GHz) potential for defense ISAC
  • Different allocation models needed for sensing vs communications
  • Large bandwidth requirements but not continuous time allocation

In addition, standards flexibility is needed for future waveform innovations.

Infrastructure and Business Model Requirements

Edge computing integration is an essential component of ISAC, enabling low latency for rapid decision making and AI processing for sensor fusion. Implementing a data lake architecture will facilitate data ingestion, storage and processing for multiple input sources. API standardization is needed for network applications, as well as a “God box” coordination system for multiple sensing sources.

Several commercial viability issues were raised:

  • Willingness to pay for situational awareness
  • Service level agreements for sensing as a service
  • Liability concerns for operators

Privacy implications requiring built-in protections from design phase must be considered, along with metadata security and data provenance standards.

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