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Near-field Integrated Sensing and Communication: Opportunities and Challenges

Jiayi Cong, Changsheng You, Jiapeng Li, Li Chen, Beixiong Zheng, Yuanwei Liu, Wen Wu, Yi Gong, Shi Jin, Rui Zhang

TL;DR

This work analyzes near-field ISAC in XL-array wireless systems, where spherical wavefronts enable new beam-focusing and high-resolution sensing capabilities in the radiative near-field. It articulates three integration paradigms—joint near-field communication and sensing, sensing-assisted near-field communication, and communication-assisted near-field sensing—and details design challenges and solutions for narrow-band and wide-band regimes, attitude-aware focusing, and networked sensing. The paper further outlines enabling technologies such as CKMs, multi-BS information fusion, XL-IRS placement, and DL-based methods, and highlights movable/fluid antennas as a hardware-efficient path to large apertures. Collectively, these insights advance high-rate, high-resolution, location-aware wireless systems for mmWave/THz bands, with practical implications for XR, drone networks, and dense sensing environments.

Abstract

With the extremely large-scale array XL-array deployed in future wireless systems, wireless communication and sensing are expected to operate in the radiative near-field region, which needs to be characterized by the spherical rather than planar wavefronts. Unlike most existing works that considered far-field integrated sensing and communication (ISAC), we study in this article the new near-field ISAC, which integrates both functions of sensing and communication in the near-field region. To this end, we first discuss the appealing advantages of near-field communication and sensing over their far-field counterparts, respectively. Then, we introduce three approaches for near-field ISAC, including joint near-field communication and sensing, sensing-assisted near-field communication, and communication-assisted near-field sensing. We discuss their individual research opportunities, new design issues, as well as propose promising solutions. Finally, several important directions in near-field ISAC are also highlighted to motivate future work.

Near-field Integrated Sensing and Communication: Opportunities and Challenges

TL;DR

This work analyzes near-field ISAC in XL-array wireless systems, where spherical wavefronts enable new beam-focusing and high-resolution sensing capabilities in the radiative near-field. It articulates three integration paradigms—joint near-field communication and sensing, sensing-assisted near-field communication, and communication-assisted near-field sensing—and details design challenges and solutions for narrow-band and wide-band regimes, attitude-aware focusing, and networked sensing. The paper further outlines enabling technologies such as CKMs, multi-BS information fusion, XL-IRS placement, and DL-based methods, and highlights movable/fluid antennas as a hardware-efficient path to large apertures. Collectively, these insights advance high-rate, high-resolution, location-aware wireless systems for mmWave/THz bands, with practical implications for XR, drone networks, and dense sensing environments.

Abstract

With the extremely large-scale array XL-array deployed in future wireless systems, wireless communication and sensing are expected to operate in the radiative near-field region, which needs to be characterized by the spherical rather than planar wavefronts. Unlike most existing works that considered far-field integrated sensing and communication (ISAC), we study in this article the new near-field ISAC, which integrates both functions of sensing and communication in the near-field region. To this end, we first discuss the appealing advantages of near-field communication and sensing over their far-field counterparts, respectively. Then, we introduce three approaches for near-field ISAC, including joint near-field communication and sensing, sensing-assisted near-field communication, and communication-assisted near-field sensing. We discuss their individual research opportunities, new design issues, as well as propose promising solutions. Finally, several important directions in near-field ISAC are also highlighted to motivate future work.
Paper Structure (15 sections, 5 figures, 1 table)

This paper contains 15 sections, 5 figures, 1 table.

Table of Contents

  1. Introduction
  2. Near-field Joint Communication and Sensing
  3. Near-field JC&S in Narrow-band Systems
  4. Near-field JC&S in Wide-band Systems
  5. Sensing Assisted Near-field Communication
  6. Sensing-Assisted Near-field Beam Training/Tracking
  7. Attitude Information-Assisted Near-field Beam Focusing
  8. Sensing-Assisted Near-field Resource Allocation
  9. Communication-Assisted Near-field Sensing
  10. Networked Sensing with Information Fusion
  11. Channel-knowledge-map Assisted Near-field Sensing
  12. Conclusions and Future Directions
  13. Intelligent Reflecting Surface-Assisted Near-field ISAC
  14. Deep Learning for Near-field ISAC
  15. Movable/Fluid Antenna Enabled Near-field ISAC

Figures (5)

  • Figure 1: Typical application scenarios for near-field communication and sensing systems.
  • Figure 2: Near-field JS&C in narrow-band systems.
  • Figure 3: Sensing-assisted near-field beam training/tracking.
  • Figure 4: Attitude information assist near-field beam focusing.
  • Figure 5: Communication-assisted near-field sensing.