PHY4 – Measurement, channel and propagation
Thursday, 4 June 2026, 11:00-12:30, room Sala 3 (1st floor)
Session Chair: Aggelos Bletsas (Rutgers Univ. & WINLAB, US)
DISAC Architecture: Functions, Semantics, Protocols, Orchestration and Demonstrator
Francesca Costanzo (CEA Leti, France); Sami Mekki (Nokia Networks France, France); Placido Mursia (NEC Laboratories Europe GmbH, Germany); Kyriakos Stylianopoulos (University of Athens, Greece); Ghassen Zafzouf (Bosch Research, Germany); Ali Al Khansa (Orange Labs, France); Tan-Tho Luc (CEA-Leti & Université Grenoble-Alpes, France); Benoit Denis (CEA-Leti & Université Grenoble Alpes, France); Giyyarpuram Madhusudan (Orange Labs, France); Maurizio Crozzoli (Telecom Italia, Italy); George C. Alexandropoulos (University of Athens & University of Illinois Chicago, Greece); Henk Wymeersch (Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden)
The concept of Integrated Sensing and Communication (ISAC) is a cornerstone of the upcoming Sixth-Generation (6G) wireless networks. However, current centralized architectures struggle to meet the demands of scalable, multi-modal perception in complex environments. This paper focuses on the recently proposed Distributed Intelligent Sensing and Communication (DISAC) framework, presenting the final architecture of the 6G-DISAC project that pushes intelligence to the network edge. Key novel components of this architecture include: (i) a novel semantic plane that enables goal-oriented, context-aware data fusion across heterogeneous sensing modalities; and (ii) distributed orchestration protocols that seamlessly coordinate diverse network elements, including User Equipment (UE), base stations, and, potentially multi-functional, Reconfigurable Intelligent Surfaces (RISs). Preliminary experimental results are proposed in the orchestration framework for distributed devices: a RIS-aided distributed sensing methodology for network resource dynamic balance; and a link-level experiment demonstrating over-the-air distributed computation capabilities. Finally, the plan to validate the 6G-DISAC framework through a proof-of-concept demonstrator is discussed: a system-level assisted parking scenario that intelligently fuses radar, LiDAR, and camera datasets for autonomous navigation.
Exploiting Out-of-Band Information for Millimeter-Wave MIMO Channel Estimation: Performance in Static and Dynamic Scenarios
Faruk Pasic, Mariam Mussbah, Stefan Schwarz, Markus Rupp and Christoph F Mecklenbräuker (TU Wien, Austria)
To support the high data rates for latency-critical applications, future wireless systems will employ fully digital beamforming multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) architectures at millimeter wave (mmWave) frequencies. Moreover, mmWave MIMO deployments will coexist with conventional sub-6 GHz MIMO systems, creating opportunities to exploit out-of-band sub-6 GHz information to enhance channel estimation at mmWave frequencies. In this work, we analyze the pilot-aided channel estimation performance of mmWave MIMO systems under various pilot configurations in both static and dynamic environments. We evaluate the system performance in terms of spectral efficiency (SE) for line-of-sight and non-line-of-sight propagation conditions. Simulation results show that incorporating out-of-band sub-6 GHz information yields notable SE gains in both static and dynamic scenarios.
Measurement and Characterization of a 3.4 GHz near-Field ISAC Indoor Channel Using an Extra-Large Massive MIMO Sounder
Kun Yang, Dan Wang, Yu Wang and Zhao Na Wu (Zhejiang Ocean University, China); Yaying Yuan (Zhejiang Ocean University, China & Ocean Connectivity Lab, China); Pan Tang (Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications, China); Li Qin (Zhejiang Ocean University, China)
With the evolution of sixth-generation (6G) mobile communications, integrated sensing and communications (ISAC) has been widely recognized as one of the core enabling technologies for 6G. However, there is a scarcity of empirical research on channel measurement and characteristic analysis for ISAC systems under the configuration of extra-large massive multiple-input multiple-output (XL-MIMO). In indoor scenarios, the near-field high spatial resolution of XL-MIMO is essential for distinguishing dense multipath components. To address this, we conducted an ISAC channel measurement campaign utilizing an XL-MIMO channel sounder in an indoor near-field scenario at 3.4 GHz. Experimental results confirm the significant spatial non-stationarity inherent to the XL-MIMO aperture, with distinct visibility regions (VRs) where communication and sensing channels show varying dominance across sub-arrays. Specifically, root-mean-square (RMS) delay spread and power distribution vary significantly along the array index, reflecting the multipath birth-death process. Cross-correlation analysis reveals a prominent block-wise structure, indicating spatial consistency depends heavily on the shared visibility of dominant scatterers and the effective signal energy of sub-arrays. These findings provide valuable modeling insights and highlight the criticality of sub-array selection for near-field XL-MIMO-based ISAC systems.
Measurement-Based Characterization of Object and Human Body Blockage in Dynamic Indoor Environments at 10 GHz and 60 GHz
Carla E. Reinhardt (Technische Universität Braunschweig, Germany); Lutfi Samara (Huawei Technologies Duesseldorf GmbH, Munich Research Center & Technische Universität Braunschweig, Germany); Mate Boban and Tommaso Zugno (Huawei Technologies Duesseldorf GmbH, Germany); Thomas Kürner (Technische Universität Braunschweig, Germany)
The rapid growth of data-intensive applications in the connected digital world demands communication systems capable of supporting extremely high data rates. The use of higher frequencies gives the opportunity to use larger bandwidths and reach higher data rates. These frequency bands come with new challenges, including higher transmission losses and the consequent high sensitivity to blockage, thus strongly depending on line-of-sight (LOS) links. In this context, awareness of the sur- rounding environment, in particular the ability to detect blockage events, becomes crucial for maintaining reliable communication performance. To that end, we perform a measurement campaign to characterize blockage by human and a metallic object in 10 GHz and 60 GHz in a combined SISO and D-MIMO set-up. The following key observations can be made: i) the pre-blockage signature differs between object and human ; ii) the blockage event is more severe for 60 GHz than for 10 GHz; iii) in the D-MIMO increases spatial diversity and offers multiple different channel responses, which can be used for a better overall channel understanding.
Optimization of Propagation Paths for Planar Surface Reflections and Straight Edge Diffractions
Niklas Vaara, Pekka Sangi, Miguel Bordallo Lopez and Janne Heikkilä (University of Oulu, Finland)
Ray tracing (RT) is widely used for modeling wave propagation in the fields of acoustics and wireless communications. Although the image method offers high accuracy, it is computationally expensive and lacks diffraction support. Ray launching (RL) is more scalable but less precise. These imprecise paths can be refined through numerical optimization. However, existing approaches are affected by vanishing gradients, leading to inaccuracies. We propose a local analytical solution for planar surfaces and straight edges that improves convergence and path accuracy for both reflections and diffractions. Our method produces results comparable to the image method in the case of reflections. In comparison to numerical optimization-based methods, our approach outperforms all of the baselines across all metrics for both reflections and diffractions. Finally, we asses how the number of interactions affects the accuracy of our method, and demonstrate that it maintains efficient convergence and execution time in all cases.
