Millimeter-Wave and Sub-THz Radio Propagation Channel Measurements and Modeling in an Indoor Factory Environment for ISAC

Abstract

Integrated sensing and communication (ISAC) has been considered a promising technology in the sixth-generation (6G) system. An accurate and realistic wireless channel model is crucial for optimizing and evaluating ISAC systems and techniques. However, the ISAC channel characteristics have not been well understood, and sensing channels have not been well modeled in the existing standard-level channel models. In this article, extensive sensing and communication channel measurements are conducted in four representative indoor factory (InF) scenarios at 28, 38, and 132 GHz, in which over 2600 spatial channel impulse responses are collected. In light of the measurement results, physical parameters and insights in ISAC channels are comprehensively analyzed, including the temporal and spatial features, cluster-level characteristics, and correlation between the communication and sensing channels. Finally, a geometry-based stochastic model (GBSM) ISAC channel model combined sharing feature is proposed based on the 3GPP standard framework. Some special sensing properties, such as shared sensing clusters and sensibility probability, are novelly introduced to model the sensing channels. Simulation results demonstrate that the proposed ISAC channel model can be well-compatible with the 3GPP standards and offers promising support for ISAC technology evaluation.