| Internet-Draft | ISAC use case for GREEN | February 2025 |
| Bernardos, et al. | Expires 31 August 2025 | [Page] |
Integrated Sensing and Communications (ISAC) represents a paradigm shift in wireless networks, where sensing and communication functions are jointly designed and optimized. By leveraging the same spectral and hardware resources, ISAC enables advanced capabilities such as environment perception, object tracking, and situational awareness, while maintaining efficient and reliable data transmission. This integration holds great potential for applications in areas such as autonomous systems, smart cities, and industrial automation, where precise sensing and low-latency communication are critical.¶
This document presents a use case related to ISAC, aiming to facilitate discussions within the GREEN Working Group on the potential benefits, challenges, and requirements. The use case follows a structured template that we propose for all GREEN use cases, ensuring consistency and comparability across different scenarios.¶
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Integrated Sensing and Communications (ISAC) is emerging as a key enabler for next-generation wireless networks, integrating sensing and communication functionalities within a unified system. By leveraging the same spectral, hardware, and computational resources, ISAC enhances network efficiency while enabling new capabilities such as high-resolution environment perception, object detection, and situational awareness. This paradigm shift is particularly relevant for applications requiring both reliable connectivity and precise sensing, such as autonomous vehicles, industrial automation, and smart city deployments. Given its strategic importance, ISAC has gained significant traction in standardization efforts. The ETSI Industry Specification Group (ISG) on ISAC has been established to explore technical requirements and use cases, while 3GPP has initiated discussions on ISAC-related features within its ongoing research on future 6G systems. Furthermore, research initiatives within the IEEE and IETF are investigating how ISAC can be integrated into network architectures, spectrum management, and protocol design, making it a critical area of development in the evolution of wireless networks.¶
This document presents a use case related to ISAC, aiming to facilitate discussions within the GREEN Working Group on the potential benefits, challenges, and requirements. The use case follows a structured template that we propose for all GREEN use cases [I-D.stephan-green-use-cases], ensuring consistency and comparability across different scenarios.¶
This use case involves deploying ISAC systems in a smart city to monitor and optimize vehicles' traffic flows while minimizing energy consumption of the mobile network. The system integrates sensing technologies, such as radar and LIDAR, with communication networks to detect vehicle density, monitor road conditions, and communicate with autonomous vehicles or traffic lights. By using ISAC, the system minimizes redundant infrastructure (e.g., separate sensors and communication equipment), thus reducing the overall carbon and energy footprint.¶
Energy Consumption Monitoring: Each ISAC component (e.g., roadside units, integrated sensors, and communication transceivers) is capable of reporting its energy consumption in real time to the centralized or distributed energy management system.¶
Reconfiguration for Energy Efficiency: The system can dynamically switch between high-resolution sensing modes (e.g., during peak hours) and low-power modes (e.g., during low traffic periods). The network can reconfigure traffic communication paths to prioritize routes or nodes that consume less power, leveraging energy-efficient communication protocols.¶
Integration of Local and Global Energy Goals: The system can operate both locally (e.g., turning off specific roadside units in low-traffic areas) and globally (e.g., modifying traffic patterns across the city) to achieve defined energy consumption goals.¶
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The work of Carlos J. Bernardos in this document has been partially supported by the Horizon Europe MultiX (Grant Agreement No. 101192521) and Hexa-X-II (Grant Agreement No. 101095759) projects.¶