Performance Analysis of a Bistatic Joint Sensing and Communication System

In this work, we consider a multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) 5G new radio (NR) system acting as a bistatic sensor able to estimate the position of a target via bistatic range and direction of arrival (DoA) estimation. The system, constituted by a transmitter and a receiver, not co-located, performs beam scanning at the transmitter to help the receiver sense the environment, using a fraction of the transmitted power. We study the sensing performance in terms of root mean squared error (RMSE) of bistatic range, DoA, and position estimation of a target under line-of-sight (LOS) propagation conditions. Lastly, we provide an in-depth investigation of the sensing system coverage, by varying the fraction of power reserved for sensing and the distance between transmitter and receiver.