Integrated Sensing and Communications in 6G: A Review of Recent Advances and Challenges

Abstract

Integrated Sensing and Communications (ISAC) has emerged as a transformative paradigm for sixth-generation (6G) wireless systems, enabling the convergence of communication and sensing functionalities within a unified framework. By leveraging shared spectrum, hardware, and signal processing techniques, ISAC significantly improves spectral efficiency and system performance while enabling new applications such as autonomous systems, smart cities, and immersive environments. This paper provides a review of recent advances of ISAC, covering its fundamental principles, system model, the latest research and applications. Key challenges and future research directions are also discussed to guide ongoing development in this rapidly evolving field.