RIS Beam Calibration for ISAC Systems: Modeling and Performance Analysis

High-accuracy localization is a key enabler for integrated sensing and communication (ISAC), playing an essential role in various applications such as autonomous driving. Antenna arrays and reconfigurable intelligent surface (RIS) are incorporated into these systems to achieve high angular resolution, assisting in the localization process. However, array and RIS beam patterns in practice often deviate from the idealized models used for algorithm design, leading to significant degradation in positioning accuracy. This mismatch highlights the need for beam calibration to bridge the gap between theoretical models and real-world hardware behavior. In this paper, we present and analyze three beam models considering several key non-idealities such as mutual coupling, non-ideal codebook, and measurement uncertainties. Based on the models, we then develop calibration algorithms to estimate the model parameters that can be used for future localization tasks. This work evaluates the effectiveness of the beam models and the calibration algorithms using both theoretical bounds and real-world beam pattern data from an RIS prototype. The simulation results show that the model incorporating combined impacts can accurately reconstruct measured beam patterns. This highlights the necessity of realistic beam modeling and calibration to achieve high-accuracy localization.

Cross-layer Integrated Sensing and Communication: A Joint Industrial and Academic Perspective

Integrated sensing and communication (ISAC) enables radio systems to simultaneously sense and communicate with their environment. This paper, developed within the Hexa-X-II project funded by the European Union, presents a comprehensive cross-layer vision for ISAC in 6G networks, integrating insights from physical-layer design, hardware architectures, AI-driven intelligence, and protocol-level innovations. We begin by revisiting the foundational principles of ISAC, highlighting synergies and trade-offs between sensing and communication across different integration levels. Enabling technologies, such as multiband operation, massive and distributed MIMO, non-terrestrial networks, reconfigurable intelligent surfaces, and machine learning, are analyzed in conjunction with hardware considerations including waveform design, synchronization, and full-duplex operation. To bridge implementation and system-level evaluation, we introduce a quantitative cross-layer framework linking design parameters to key performance and value indicators. By synthesizing perspectives from both academia and industry, this paper outlines how deeply integrated ISAC can transform 6G into a programmable and context-aware platform supporting applications from reliable wireless access to autonomous mobility and digital twinning.

Pilot-Based End-to-End Radio Positioning and Mapping for ISAC: Beyond Point-Based Landmarks

Integrated sensing and communication enables simultaneous communication and sensing tasks, including precise radio positioning and mapping, essential for future 6G networks. Current methods typically model environmental landmarks as isolated incidence points or small reflection areas, lacking detailed attributes essential for advanced environmental interpretation. This paper addresses these limitations by developing an end-to-end cooperative uplink framework involving multiple base stations and users. Our method uniquely estimates extended landmark objects and incorporates obstruction-based outlier removal to mitigate multi-bounce signal effects. Validation using realistic ray-tracing data demonstrates substantial improvements in the richness of the estimated environmental map.

Computational Imaging-Based ISAC Method with Large Pixel Division

One of the key points in designing an integrated sensing and communication (ISAC) system using computational imaging is the division size of imaging pixels. If the size is too small, it leads to a high number of pixels that need processing. On the contrary, it usually causes large processing errors since each pixel is no longer uniformly coherent. In this paper, a novel method is proposed to address such a problem in environment sensing in millimeter-wave wireless cellular networks, which effectively cancels the severe errors caused by large pixel division as in conventional computational imaging algorithms. To this end, a novel computational imaging model in an integral form is introduced, which leverages the continuous characteristics of object surfaces in the environment and takes into account the different phases associated with the different parts of the pixel. The proposed algorithm extends computational imaging to large wireless communication scenarios for the first time. The performance of the proposed method is then analyzed, and extensive numerical results verify its effectiveness.

Joint Near-Field Sensing and Visibility Region Detection with Extremely Large Aperture Arrays

In this paper, we consider near-field localization and sensing with an extremely large aperture array under partial blockage of array antennas, where spherical wavefront and spatial non-stationarity are accounted for. We propose an Ising model to characterize the clustered sparsity feature of the blockage pattern, develop an algorithm based on alternating optimization for joint channel parameter estimation and visibility region detection, and further estimate the locations of the user and environmental scatterers. The simulation results confirm the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm compared to conventional methods.

Target Handover in Distributed Integrated Sensing and Communication

The concept of 6G distributed integrated sensing and communications (DISAC) builds upon the functionality of integrated sensing and communications (ISAC) by integrating distributed architectures, significantly enhancing both sensing and communication coverage and performance. In 6G DISAC systems, tracking target trajectories requires base stations (BSs) to hand over their tracked targets to neighboring BSs. Determining what information to share, where, how, and when is critical to effective handover. This paper addresses the target handover challenge in DISAC systems and introduces a method enabling BSs to share essential target trajectory information at appropriate time steps, facilitating seamless handovers to other BSs. The target tracking problem is tackled using the standard trajectory Poisson multi-Bernoulli mixture (TPMBM) filter, enhanced with the proposed handover algorithm. Simulation results confirm the effectiveness of the implemented tracking solution.

Batch SLAM with PMBM Data Association Sampling and Graph-Based Optimization

Simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM) methods need to both solve the data association (DA) problem and the joint estimation of the sensor trajectory and the map, conditioned on a DA. In this paper, we propose a novel integrated approach to solve both the DA problem and the batch SLAM problem simultaneously, combining random finite set (RFS) theory and the graph-based SLAM approach. A sampling method based on the Poisson multi-Bernoulli mixture (PMBM) density is designed for dealing with the DA uncertainty, and a graph-based SLAM solver is applied for the conditional SLAM problem. In the end, a post-processing approach is applied to merge SLAM results from different iterations. Using synthetic data, it is demonstrated that the proposed SLAM approach achieves performance close to the posterior Cram\'er-Rao bound, and outperforms state-of-the-art RFS-based SLAM filters in high clutter and high process noise scenarios.

V2X Sidelink Positioning in FR1: From Ray-Tracing and Channel Estimation to Bayesian Tracking

Sidelink positioning research predominantly focuses on the snapshot positioning problem, often within the mmWave band. Only a limited number of studies have delved into vehicle-to-anything (V2X) tracking within sub-6 GHz bands. In this paper, we investigate the V2X sidelink tracking challenges over sub-6 GHz frequencies. We propose a Kalman-filter-based tracking approach that leverages the estimated error covariance lower bounds (EECLBs) as measurement covariance, alongside a gating method to augment tracking performance. Through simulations employing ray-tracing data and super-resolution channel parameter estimation, we validate the feasibility of sidelink tracking using our proposed tracking filter with two novel EECLBs. Additionally, we demonstrate the efficacy of the gating method in identifying line-of-sight paths and enhancing tracking performance.

Robust Snapshot Radio SLAM

The intrinsic geometric connections between millimeter-wave (mmWave) signals and the propagation environment can be leveraged for simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM) in 5G and beyond networks. However, estimated channel parameters that are mismatched to the utilized geometric model can cause the SLAM solution to degrade. In this paper, we propose a robust snapshot radio SLAM algorithm for mixed line-of-sight (LoS) and non-line-of-sight (NLoS) environments that can estimate the unknown user equipment (UE) state, map of the environment as well as the presence of the LoS path. The proposed method can accurately detect outliers and the LoS path, enabling robust estimation in both LoS and NLoS conditions. The proposed method is validated using 60 GHz experimental data, indicating superior performance compared to the state-of-the-art.

ELAA Near-Field Localization and Sensing with Partial Blockage Detection

High-frequency communication systems bring extremely large aperture arrays (ELAA) and large bandwidths, integrating localization and (bi-static) sensing functions without extra infrastructure. Such systems are likely to operate in the near-field (NF), where the performance of localization and sensing is degraded if a simplified far-field channel model is considered. However, when taking advantage of the additional geometry information in the NF, e.g., the encapsulated information in the wavefront, localization and sensing performance can be improved. In this work, we formulate a joint synchronization, localization, and sensing problem in the NF. Considering the array size could be much larger than an obstacle, the effect of partial blockage (i.e., a portion of antennas are blocked) is investigated, and a blockage detection algorithm is proposed. The simulation results show that blockage greatly impacts performance for certain positions, and the proposed blockage detection algorithm can mitigate this impact by identifying the blocked antennas.