joInt wireless commuNicaTion and sEnsinG by hologRaphic surfAce TranscEivers
Lead Research Organisation:
BT plc
Department Name: BT Research
Abstract
As the standardization of 5G wireless networks progresses, the research community has started focusing on what 6G will be.
Motivated by the need of ensuring high data-rates, while at the same time saving spectrum, a major technology that has been
proposed for 6G is the integration of communication and sensing services in the same infrastructure. This enables wireless networks
to perceive the surrounding environments, triggering new services and leading to a more efficient use of resources.
The INTEGRATE project focuses on the theoretical, algorithmic, and architectural foundations of integrated communication and sensing networks,
developing the first open access network-level simulator for joint communication and sensing. To this end, a new implementation of
wireless transceiver is proposed, which leverages the use of reconfigurable holographic surfaces and allows the integration of
communication and sensing with remarkable performance while at the same time reducing the energy consumption. Specifically,
INTEGRATE will:
1) Develop reconfigurable holographic surfaces capable of supporting joint communication and sensing tasks and that can be integrated in wireless transceivers with minimal cost and energy requirements.
2) Characterize the fundamental performance limits of integrated communication and sensing networks, developing an algorithmic framework and protocol suite to
approach these limits.
3) Build the first open access software simulation platform for joint communication and sensing networks.
Motivated by the need of ensuring high data-rates, while at the same time saving spectrum, a major technology that has been
proposed for 6G is the integration of communication and sensing services in the same infrastructure. This enables wireless networks
to perceive the surrounding environments, triggering new services and leading to a more efficient use of resources.
The INTEGRATE project focuses on the theoretical, algorithmic, and architectural foundations of integrated communication and sensing networks,
developing the first open access network-level simulator for joint communication and sensing. To this end, a new implementation of
wireless transceiver is proposed, which leverages the use of reconfigurable holographic surfaces and allows the integration of
communication and sensing with remarkable performance while at the same time reducing the energy consumption. Specifically,
INTEGRATE will:
1) Develop reconfigurable holographic surfaces capable of supporting joint communication and sensing tasks and that can be integrated in wireless transceivers with minimal cost and energy requirements.
2) Characterize the fundamental performance limits of integrated communication and sensing networks, developing an algorithmic framework and protocol suite to
approach these limits.
3) Build the first open access software simulation platform for joint communication and sensing networks.
Organisations
Publications
Tishchenko A
(2025)
The Emergence of Multi-Functional and Hybrid Reconfigurable Intelligent Surfaces for Integrated Sensing and Communications -A Survey
in IEEE Communications Surveys & Tutorials
Zhang Y
(2025)
Smart Wireless Environment Enhanced Telecommunications: An Industrial Review on Network Stabilization
in IEEE Network
| Description | The award has produced two high quality publications and one published patent this year. The 5G wireless network is a critical national infrastructure for developed nations. Wireless network operators must enhance performance to stay competitive while reducing costs to remain profitable. State-of-the-art technology shapes the industry's future direction, but operators' operational and commercial needs also guide research. Our first publication highlights technological convergence from the perspective of wireless network operators responsible for deploying networking technologies. The "Smart Wireless Environment" (SWE) paradigm unites various research topics in physical layer networking. SWE aims to overcome service degradation due to fading wireless channels, focusing on a pragmatic application called network stabilization. In addition to classic end-to-end (E2E) fading countermeasures, operators could use SWE to enhance the propagation background in complex real-life environments. Similar to synthesizing a filter with a flat response, stabilized artificial fading channels can be engineered from augmented scattering clusters (ASCs). Tailoring the fading channel response could provide operators with a competitive advantage. However, SWE is still at a low technology readiness level (TRL). The challenge for operators is to implement SWE cost-effectively to deliver real user benefits, building on the current network. The review provides a technical analysis of the synergy between SWE enablers: holographic metasurfaces to augment the environment, wireless sensing to monitor the environment, and machine intelligence to control the environment. The expected performance advantages of SWE are numerically investigated, and major roadblocks in SWE commercialization are identified. Our second publication considers Reconfigurable intelligent surfaces (RIS) as a key enabling technologies for 6G networks, providing ubiquitous coverage in areas with blocked line-of-sight (LOS) links. To integrate RIS into functional networks, sensors and other radio network elements must be added, resulting in multi-functional RIS (MF-RIS). These structures are expected to be deployed for integrated sensing and communications (ISAC) and radar and communication coexistence (RCC) in 6G, enhancing radio communication performance and enabling a programmable, self-reconfigurable smart wireless environment (SWE). Our survey summarizes the state of the art, applications for MF-RISs, and challenges in their deployment. |
| Exploitation Route | This work is supporting the cost-effective enhancement of mobile communications beyond 5G, using passive and active holographic surfaces and integrated sensing. We have already filed and published one patent on this topic and we are active in both european and global standardisation activities. |
| Sectors | Digital/Communication/Information Technologies (including Software) |
| URL | https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/abstract/document/10729266 |
| Description | This work is supporting the cost-effective enhancement of mobile communications beyond 5G, using passive and active holographic surfaces and integrated sensing. We have already filed and published one patent on this topic and we are active in both european and global standardisation activities. |
| First Year Of Impact | 2024 |
| Sector | Digital/Communication/Information Technologies (including Software) |
| Impact Types | Policy & public services |
| Title | WIRELESS TELECOMMUNICATIONS NETWORK |
| Description | This invention provides a method of configuring a Reconfigurable Holographic Surface, RHS, in a wireless telecommunications network, a device for implementing said method, and a system comprising said device, the wireless telecommunications network comprising a communication channel between the RHS and a receiver, the method comprising the steps of: obtaining data indicating a plurality of channel states, each channel state of the plurality of channel states representing one or more properties of the communication channel at a particular time instance being one of a group comprising a historical time instance and a current time instance; predicting a future channel state based on the obtained plurality of channel states, the future channel state representing the communication channel at a future time instance; causing the RHS to be configured based on the future channel state |
| IP Reference | WO2024260620 |
| Protection | Patent / Patent application |
| Year Protection Granted | 2024 |
| Licensed | No |