IEEE Signal Processing Magazine

A joint design of both sensing and communication can lead to substantial enhancement for both subsystems in terms of size and cost as well as spectrum and hardware efficiency. In the last decade, integrated sensing and communications (ISAC) has emerged as a means to efficiently utilize the spectrum on a single and shared hardware platform. 

Integrated Sensing And Communication (ISAC) has been identified as a pillar usage scenario for the impending 6G era. Bi-static sensing, a major type of sensing in ISAC, is promising to expedite ISAC in the near future, as it requires minimal changes to the existing network infrastructure. However, a critical challenge for bi-static sensing is clock asynchronism due to the use of different clocks at far-separated transmitters and receivers.

This paper addresses the topic of integrated sensing and communications (ISAC) in 5G and emerging 6G wireless networks. ISAC systems operate within shared, congested or even contested spectrum, aiming to deliver high performance in both wireless communications and radio frequency (RF) sensing. The expected benefits include more efficient utilization of spectrum, power, hardware (HW) and antenna resources.

In-band full-duplex (FD) multiple-input, multiple-output (MIMO) systems offer a significant opportunity for integrated sensing and communications (ISAC) due to their capability to realize simultaneous signal transmissions and receptions. This feature has been recently exploited to devise spectrum-efficient simultaneous information transmission and monostatic sensing operations, a line of research typically referred to as MIMO FD-ISAC.

As I take on the President of the Signal Processing Society (SPS) role, I am excited to connect with you through this column. I look forward to introducing myself and inviting you, the members, to join our volunteers in shaping our shared future.

We opened the year with the theme of “embracing interdisciplinarity,” emphasizing the fact that signal processing naturally builds bridges across different domains and disciplines. The front cover image of an organic bridge across mature trees giving birth to a sapling helped convey our message. After two special issues (two parts of one special issue), we come back to you with an issue comprised of feature articles and columns, which all reinforce the message in our first issue of 2024.

The flexibility and dexterity of human limbs rely on the processing of a vast quantity of signals within the sensory-motor networks in the brain and spinal cord, distilled into stimuli that govern the commands and movements. Hence, the use of assistive devices, such as robotic limbs or exoskeletons, is critically dependent on the processing of a large number of heterogeneous signals to mimic natural movements.

Deep learning, in general, focuses on training a neural network from large labeled datasets. Yet, in many cases, there is value in training a network just from the input at hand. This is particularly relevant in many signal and image processing problems where training data are scarce and diversity is large on the one hand, and on the other, there is a lot of structure in the data that can be exploited.

By “social learning,” in this article we refer to mechanisms for opinion formation and decision making over graphs and the study of how agents’ decisions evolve dynamically through interactions with neighbors and the environment. The study of social learning strategies is critical for at least two reasons.

As I take on the President of the Signal Processing Society (SPS) role, I am excited to connect with you through this column. I look forward to introducing myself and inviting you, the members, to join our volunteers in shaping our shared future.