INTEGRATE-DN

INTEGRATE is a Doctoral Network funded by the European Commission Horizon Europe program. As 6G networks take shape, a technology that is emerging is the integration of communication and sensing services. This is motivated by two main considerations: 1. 6G will employ higher carrier frequencies than 5G. This pushes 6G networks towards frequency bands traditionally assigned to radar and sensing systems. In order not to waste spectrum, the integration of communication and sensing networks over the same frequency spectrum is inevitable. 2. 6G will have to be a perceptive network for a more efficient use of resources. Acquiring context information about the surrounding wireless scenario, enables to operate the network and schedule resources in a more efficient way. The integration between wireless communication and sensing systems has been investigated for some years. However, so far the focus has been on enabling the co-existence between the two systems on the same spectrum, rather than implementing a true integration of the two functions in a single platform. In order to achieve a true integration INTEGRATE will leverage the technique of holographic beamforming, pursuing the following objectives: 1. Develop reconfigurable holographic surfaces capable of supporting integrated communication and sensing 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 to approach these limits. 3. Build an open access software simulation platform for integrated communication and sensing.