Integrated Sensing and Communications: It was Meant to Be!

Abstract: The integration of sensing and communication functionalities is seen as a key enabling technology for 6G networks to provide services beyond communications. In this talk I argue that it is a natural evolution of the two technologies, as it has obvious gains in energy-, hardware- and cost- efficiency through the use of dual-functional hardware. I further explain that their co-design also offers opportunities in flexible trade-offs and new synergies between sensing and communication. I discuss signalling strategies that enable information exchange together with target detection from a single transmission. These range from radar-centric and communication-centric, to joint signalling. I present some results from my team’s work in the area, that underline the benefits of the co-design in offering a graceful trade-off between the two functionalities. I then discuss use cases that highlight potential synergies between sensing and communications. I conclude with some thoughts on research opportunities and the road ahead.

Bio:

Christos Masouros (SMIEEE, MIET) received the Diploma degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering from the University of Patras, Greece, in 2004, and MSc by research and PhD in Electrical and Electronic Engineering from the University of Manchester, UK in 2006 and 2009 respectively. In 2008 he was a research intern at Philips Research Labs, UK, working on the LTE standards. Between 2009-2010 he was a Research Associate in the University of Manchester and between 2010-2012 a Research Fellow in Queen’s University Belfast. In 2012 he joined University College London as a Lecturer. He has held a Royal Academy of Engineering Research Fellowship between 2011-2016.

Since 2019 he is a Full Professor of Signal Processing and Wireless Communications in the Information and Communication Engineering research group, Dept. Electrical and Electronic Engineering, and affiliated with the Institute for Communications and Connected Systems, University College London. His research interests lie in the field of wireless communications and signal processing with particular focus on Green Communications, Large Scale Antenna Systems, Integrated Sensing and Communications, interference mitigation techniques for MIMO and multicarrier communications. He was the co-recipient of the 2021 IEEE SPS Young Author Best Paper Award. He was the recipient of the Best Paper Awards in the IEEE GlobeCom 2015 and IEEE WCNC 2019 conferences, and has been recognised as an Exemplary Editor for the IEEE Communications Letters, and as an Exemplary Reviewer for the IEEE Transactions on Communications. He is an Editor for IEEE Transactions on Wireless Communications, the IEEE Open Journal of Signal Processing, and Editor-at-Large for IEEE Open Journal of the Communications Society. He has been an Editor for IEEE Transactions on Communications, IEEE Communications Letters, and a Guest Editor for a number of IEEE Journal on Selected Topics in Signal Processing and IEEE Journal on Selected Areas in Communications issues. He is a founding member and Vice-Chair of the IEEE Emerging Technology Initiative on Integrated Sensing and Communications (SAC), Vice Chair of the IEEE Wireless Communications Technical Committee Special Interest Group on ISAC, and Chair of the IEEE Green Communications & Computing Technical Committee, Special Interest Group on Green ISAC. He is the TPC chair for the IEEE ICC 2024 Selected Areas in Communications (SAC) Track on ISAC.