Fundamentals of Radio Imaging for ISAC: Methods, Synchronization and New Frontiers (video)

Integrated sensing and Communication (ISAC) is emerging as a foundational component of next-generation wireless networks, marking a paradigm shift by integrating two distinct functionalities—sensing and communication—into a single platform with fully shared hardware and radio resources. In the ISAC community, the term “sensing” is frequently used interchangeably with “localization”, which refers to the estimation of meaningful parameters that describe the state of target objects, such as their position, velocity, and potentially orientation. Recently, ISAC research has increasingly focused on radio imaging, which involves generating 2D or 3D reflectivity maps of the environment at the operating carrier frequency. From these maps, the number, shape, and other characteristics of targets follow detection and subsequent image analysis and interpretation. The webinar starts by covering the fundamentals of coherent radio imaging, outlining and discussing the diffraction tomography theory and the related principles, that rule the resolution of any multistatic radio sensing system. Then, the presenter discusses fundamental signal processing methods for the integration of coherent imaging into communication networks, focusing on practical synchronization techniques and outlining new frontiers.