T7: Integrated and intelligent 6G Connectivity: Latest Advances & the Road Ahead

Co-organizer: Aryan Kaushik, Manchester Met, UK
Co-organizer: Marco Di Renzo, Paris-Saclay University, France

Abstract: Following the recently adopted IMT-2030 framework by ITU-R, two major technologies of integrated sensing and communications (ISAC), intelligent metasurfaces (IM), i.e., RIS, holographic MIMO (HMIMO) and stacked/flexible IM, herald a new era of 6G connectivity by transcending conventional communication networks to highly energy efficient and ultra-high data rates for smart radio environment, with exploration of frequency bands such as cmWave and sub-terahertz, and multiple use cases for 6G such as simultaneous imaging, mapping and localization, smart healthcare, etc. Furthermore, considering recent 3GPP Rel. 19, ISAC will play a vital role in 6G wireless standards, while H-MIMO, stacked IM, electromagnetic signal and information theory (ESIT) are some of the technologies expected in future 3GPP Rel. 20+. This tutorial will present a comprehensive overview of emerging ISAC and IM (particularly holographic, stacked and flexible IM) based 6G and beyond wireless communications including vision, standardization, fundamentals, challenges, use cases, and synergies between ISAC and IM technologies, and new opportunities. In terms of emerging designs, this tutorial will focus on RF chain and quantization optimization, wave-domain signal processing for holographic/stacked/flexible IM, first-ever stacked IM prototype for ISAC, ESIT capabilities, index modulation, and IM-aided ISAC for non-terrestrial networks (NTN), and related applications.

Co-organizer’s Bios:

Aryan Kaushik

Prof. Aryan Kaushik is an Associate Professor at Manchester Met, UK, since 2024, and has been an Assistant Professor on senior grade with University of Sussex, UK, from 2021-24. Prior to that, he has been with University College London, UK (2020-21), University of Edinburgh, UK (2015-19), and Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Hong Kong (2014-15). He has also held visiting appointments at Imperial College London, UK (2019-20), University of Bologna, Italy (2024), University of Luxembourg, Luxembourg (2018), Athena RC, Greece (2021), and Beihang University, China (2017-19, 2022). He has been External PhD Examiner internationally such as at Universidad Carlos III de Madrid, Spain, in 2023. He has been an Invited Panel Member at the UK EPSRC ICT Prioritisation Panel in 2023, and has led several collaborative projects forging industry and academic collaborations on topics of strategic importance. He has been Editor of five books and several journals such as IEEE Transactions on Communications, IEEE Transactions on Mobile Communications, IEEE Communications Surveys and Tutorials, IEEE Open Journal of the Communications Society (Best Editor Awards 2024 and 2023), IEEE Communications Letters (Exemplary Editor Awards 2024 and 2023), IEEE Internet of Things Magazine (including the AI for IoT miniseries), IEEE Communications Technology News, and several special issues such as in IEEE Wireless Communications, IEEE Network, and many other IEEE venues. He has been an invited/keynote and tutorial speaker for over 90 academic and industry events, and conferences globally such as at IEEE ICC 2025, IEEE ICC 2024, IEEE GLOBECOM 2024 and 2023, IEEE VTC-Spring 2024 and 2023, IEEE ICMLCN 2024, and many other events worldwide. He has been chairing in Organizing and Technical Program Committees of 10 flagship IEEE conferences such as IEEE ICC 2026, 2025 and 2024, IEEE ICMLCN 2025 and 2024, etc. He has been General Chair of over 25 workshops for IEEE ComSoc conferences such as at IEEE ICC 2025 and 2024, IEEE GLOBECOM 2024 and 2023, etc.

Marco Di Renzo

Prof. Marco Di Renzo (Fellow, IEEE) is a CNRS Research Director and the Head of the Intelligent Physical Communications group in the Laboratory of Signals and Systems, CentraleSupélec – Paris- Saclay University. He is a Fellow of IEEE, IET, AAIA; an Ordinary Member of the European Academy of Sciences and Arts and of the Academia Europaea; and a Highly Cited Researcher. He holds the France-Nokia Chair of Excellence in ICT, and is a Vice-Chair and Rapporteur of ETSI ISG-RIS. He served as the Editor-in-Chief of IEEE Communications Letters in 2019-2023 and is now serving as the Director of Journals of the IEEE Communications Society.