ISaC: Challenges and Technologies

Historically, sensing and communications have been developed and implemented, separately. Given the technical difficulty in getting any system to work reliably, this separation, while often theoretically suboptimal, was almost certainly the correct approach. However, because of the growing capabilities in RF frontend technologies and computational systems, the prospect of multiple-function RF approaches is becoming viable. I provide a conceptual and theoretical framework for the more general problem of multiple-function RF systems (RF convergence) and then focus on integrated sensing and communications (ISaC) systems that are typically associated with implementations of radar and communications using the next generation of cellular systems. I provide an overview of the set of challenges technical and economic that must be addressed to enable broad adoption and provide the greatest benefit from ISaC approaches. I broadly discuss motivations, challenges, and technologies for ISaC. Topics include radar performance, waveform optimization, algorithmic options, and advanced computational approaches.