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Mobility Management in Integrated Sensing and Communications Networks

Yuri S. Ribeiro, Behrooz Makki, Andre L. F. de Almeida, Gabor Fodor

TL;DR

This paper introduces mobility management for integrated sensing and communications (ISAC) networks, focusing on sensing handover as a mechanism to preserve continuous sensing amid mobility of objects and transceivers. It defines triggering criteria, including sensing coverage, beam restrictions, resource trade-offs, blockage, and interference, and describes soft handover as a means to maintain sensing performance during transitions. A case-study with three APs demonstrates that sensing handover can maintain or improve sensing SNR while reducing interference, thereby enhancing both sensing coverage and communication QoS. The work emphasizes that while ISAC standardization is emerging (3GPP Release 19), practical sensing handover and idle-mode sensing remain open challenges requiring further development.

Abstract

The performance of the integrated sensing and communication (ISAC) networks is considerably affected by the mobility of the transceiver nodes, user equipment devices (UEs) and the passive objects that are sensed. For instance, the sensing efficiency is considerably affected by the presence or absence of a line-of-sight connection between the sensing transceivers and the object; a condition that may change quickly due to mobility. Moreover, the mobility of the UEs and objects may result in dynamically varying communication-to-sensing and sensing-to communication interference, deteriorating the network performance. In such cases, there may be a need to handover the sensing process to neighbor nodes. In this article, we develop the concept of mobility management in ISAC networks. Here, depending on the mobility of objects and/or the transceiver nodes, the data traffic, the sensing or communication coverage area of the transceivers, and the network interference, the transmission and/or the reception of the sensing signals may be handed over to neighbor nodes. Also, the ISAC configuration and modality - that is, using monostatic or bistatic sensing - are updated accordingly, such that the sensed objects can be continuously sensed with low overhead. We show that mobility management reduces the sensing interruption and boosts the communication and sensing efficiency of ISAC networks.

Mobility Management in Integrated Sensing and Communications Networks

TL;DR

This paper introduces mobility management for integrated sensing and communications (ISAC) networks, focusing on sensing handover as a mechanism to preserve continuous sensing amid mobility of objects and transceivers. It defines triggering criteria, including sensing coverage, beam restrictions, resource trade-offs, blockage, and interference, and describes soft handover as a means to maintain sensing performance during transitions. A case-study with three APs demonstrates that sensing handover can maintain or improve sensing SNR while reducing interference, thereby enhancing both sensing coverage and communication QoS. The work emphasizes that while ISAC standardization is emerging (3GPP Release 19), practical sensing handover and idle-mode sensing remain open challenges requiring further development.

Abstract

The performance of the integrated sensing and communication (ISAC) networks is considerably affected by the mobility of the transceiver nodes, user equipment devices (UEs) and the passive objects that are sensed. For instance, the sensing efficiency is considerably affected by the presence or absence of a line-of-sight connection between the sensing transceivers and the object; a condition that may change quickly due to mobility. Moreover, the mobility of the UEs and objects may result in dynamically varying communication-to-sensing and sensing-to communication interference, deteriorating the network performance. In such cases, there may be a need to handover the sensing process to neighbor nodes. In this article, we develop the concept of mobility management in ISAC networks. Here, depending on the mobility of objects and/or the transceiver nodes, the data traffic, the sensing or communication coverage area of the transceivers, and the network interference, the transmission and/or the reception of the sensing signals may be handed over to neighbor nodes. Also, the ISAC configuration and modality - that is, using monostatic or bistatic sensing - are updated accordingly, such that the sensed objects can be continuously sensed with low overhead. We show that mobility management reduces the sensing interruption and boosts the communication and sensing efficiency of ISAC networks.
Paper Structure (7 sections, 4 figures, 2 tables)

This paper contains 7 sections, 4 figures, 2 tables.

Table of Contents

  1. Introduction
  2. Sensing Handover in ISAC Networks
  3. Determining the Need for Sensing Handover
  4. Performing the Sensing Handover
  5. Case study
  6. Conclusions
  7. Biography Section

Figures (4)

  • Figure 1: Sensing handover illustrative scenarios.
  • Figure 2: Case-study simulation setup
  • Figure 3: Sensing SNR as the object moves in an interference-free scenario. The handover SNR curve indicates the sensing configuration, and A, B, C, and D indicate different handovers. A: Mono-static (MS) with AP1 handovered to Bi-static (BS) with APs 1 and 2. B: BS with APs 1 and 2 handovered to MS with AP2. C: MS with AP2 handovered to BS with APs 2 and 3. D: Bi-static with APs 2 and 3 handovered to mono-static with AP3.
  • Figure 4: Communication and sensing SINRs as the object moves in a blockage-free scenario. UE1 and UE2 indicate the observed communication SINR to the network. The handover points are indicated by A and B. Point A: Mono-static with AP1 to bi-static with APs 1 and 3. Point B: Bi-static with APs 1 and 3 to bi-static with APs 1 and 2.