Integrated Sensing and Communications

Dear Colleagues,

With the forthcoming 6G networks on the horizon, we face exciting possibilities, particularly in the realm of environment monitoring through advanced communication networks. At the same time, the extension of 5G and 6G to higher frequencies, closer to the radar spectrum, invites system designers to integrate communication and radar systems into signal platforms that use the same waveform for both the communication and radar tasks with the goal to reduce the utilised spectrum and hardware costs and enable advanced systems that simultaneously acquire information from the environment and communicate it to desired destinations. Such integrated systems can enhance efficiency, reliability, and performance in various domains, such as the Internet of Things (IoT) smart cities and automated manufacturing sites, autonomous vehicles, wifi-sensing, healthcare, and environmental monitoring.

In recent years, researchers have started to model, analyse, and implement the first integrated systems, using tools from information and coding theory, communication theory, optimisation, or machine learning and statistics. Nevertheless, key challenges remain because a full theoretical framework for integrated sensing and communication (ISAC) is still missing. The goal of such a framework is to clearly identify the opportunities and limits of ISAC, and to provide intuition and insights for practical implementations. This Special Issue will collect new results (unpublished original work) contributing to such a theoretical framework and describe promising methods (in comprehensive reviews) related to the analysis, modelling, and implementation of ISAC systems. In particular, the Special Issue includes, but is not restricted to, the following research areas:

• Information-theoretic limits;
• New quality-of-service (QoS) measures;
• Error-correcting codes;
• Estimation and detection;
• Modulation and communication schemes;
• Resource allocation algorithms that improve spectrum utilisation;
• Design of suitable waveforms;
• Multi-user communication networks (e.g., NOMA);
• Collaborative sensing;
• Emerging communication applications, (e.g., UAVs);
• Optical systems;
• Communication techniques based on machine learning;
• Cybersecurity and security in communication and sensing;
• Cognitive radio networks;
• Relays, ambient backscatterers, and intelligent reflective surfaces (IRS);
• Cross-layer optimisation problems;
• Green communications;
• Quantum systems;
• Controlled sensing and active hypothesis testing;
• Super high-frequency ISAC theory and practice.

Contributions not related to integrated sensing and communications will not be considered for publication.

Dr. Mehrasa Ahmadipour
Prof. Dr. Shlomo Shamai (Shitz)
Prof. Dr. Michele Wigger
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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• communication networks
• capacity
• wireless communication
• optical fibres
• estimation
• detection
• active sensing
• localisation and mapping
• distributed sensing