Joint sensing and communication (JSAC): Importance of timing-synchronization and compensation of hardware non-idealities

Future wireless applications require both communications and sensing on a single platform. In this context, the convergence of communications and sensing attracts research interests to benefit in terms of both spectrum efficiency and cost-effectiveness. 

Along with several other research tracks, IMEC is active in research for radar, wireless communication, and JSAC which are expected to play a significant role in defining 6G and beyond services. 

Hardware non-idealities, if left uncompensated, degrade communication and sensing performance. Additionally, in a distributed JSAC system, timing-synchronization among different nodes of the network is essential for sensing. The requirements to mitigate the effect of hardware non-idealities are different for communication than for sensing. Therefore, it is important to investigate the impact of hardware non-idealities for JSAC and find solutions which take into consideration both the functionalities. Similarly, it is also important to tackle the timing-synchronization issue for distributed sensing to recreate physical environment (or objects in the radio channel) in the digital domain. 

Aim of the thesis 

The aim of this thesis is to investigate the impact of hardware nonidealities such as from the Power Amplifier, variations in the carrier frequency, IQ imbalance etc., and timing–synchronization on sensing functionality in a JSAC system. The work is expected to use existing models for different hardware non-idealities and timing-synchronization techniques and their suitability for JSAC using simulation. 

Required Skills: