ISAC

Conventional cellular infrastructure transmits and receives radio signals purely for communication purposes, while radar systems transmit dedicated signals specifically designed for sensing reflections off objects. ISAC research explores whether a single set of radio signals and infrastructure could serve both purposes simultaneously, potentially extracting sensing information from the same signals already being transmitted for communication rather than requiring entirely separate sensing infrastructure.

The genuinely open question ISAC research is still working through is how much sensing capability can realistically be extracted from communication-optimized signals without materially degrading communication performance, since a signal design optimized purely for one purpose is rarely simultaneously optimal for the other — this is an active area of research rather than a solved engineering problem, which is precisely why ISAC remains at the study-item stage rather than appearing as a deployable capability in any current or near-term 3GPP release. For CE verticals, ISAC should be treated with the same forward-looking caution warranted for other 6G-adjacent research directions: it represents a plausible future capability worth tracking, particularly for potential industrial sensing applications that could theoretically piggyback on communication infrastructure, but current procurement or deployment planning should not assume ISAC capability is available or imminent, since the underlying research questions remain genuinely unresolved.