Published on Jan 22, 2024

In October 2023, China Mobile launched the "5G-Advanced Dual-Chain Fusion Industrial Innovation Demonstration Base." As part of this initiative, the Integrated Sensing and Communication (ISAC) played a crucial role in the smart transportation showcase at the Hangzhou Asian Games Village. A demonstration route for vehicle-road collaboration was established, deploying the 5G-A Integrated Sensing Vehicle Network Base Station at the significant intersection of Shijiu Street in the Asian Games Village.

This deployment achieved long-range "unexpected intrusion" human/vehicle warnings, lane change detection, and real-time positioning, speed perception, and trajectory perception of pedestrians and vehicles in low visibility conditions such as nighttime and rainy/foggy weather. It effectively addressed the limitations of single-vehicle intelligent perception, enabling real-time dynamic tracking of the road environment and efficient coordination among pedestrians, vehicles, and roads. The implementation significantly improved the operational efficiency of the transportation system in the Asian Games Village, ensuring effective road traffic safety.

The Integrated Sensing and Communication Vehicle-Road Collaboration Demonstration Route in Hangzhou Asian Games Village.

At night and in rainy or foggy weather, vehicles can obtain long-range perception images from within the vehicle (the right side shows the camera's field of view, while the left side depicts the panoramic perception of the road by the integrated sensing base station).

"Unexpected Intrusions" have long been a critical pain point in safe driving. This refers to situations where pedestrians, animals, electric bikes, and other traffic elements unexpectedly emerge from blind spots such as alleys, traffic flows, or behind large vehicles during normal vehicle operation. Drivers often fail to react promptly, resulting in traffic accidents. Additionally, cameras and traditional traffic radars, commonly used detection methods in the transportation sector, have their limitations. For instance, cameras may have visual blind spots in scenarios with obstructing elements like trees or billboards, and their effectiveness is significantly reduced in adverse weather conditions (such as rainy or foggy weather) and low-light conditions at night. On the other hand, the deployment cost and various constraints limit the use of road-test radars, primarily applied in specific local scenarios like highways and overpasses.

Addressing the perceptual challenges and existing issues in the transportation sector, China Mobile has proposed a Blind Spot Warning Vehicle-Road Collaboration solution based on the Integrated Sensing and Communication technology in 5G-A. This solution applies integrated sensing technology to traffic scenarios, achieving the fusion of road perception and vehicle perception, effectively solving the visual blind spot problem associated with "ghost probes." However, integrated sensing still faces challenges such as high perception signal resource consumption, insufficient perception accuracy, and significant delays in perception feedback. To address these issues, China Mobile innovatively introduced solutions such as perception signal design and perception computation localization architecture. The flexible design of integrated wideband and narrowband sensing signal patterns reduces perception signal resource consumption by 40%, while still meeting the precision requirements for distance, angle, and speed in traffic scenarios. The perception localization architecture reduces delays by 30% to 55%.

This marks the first practical application of Integrated Sensing and Communication in a traffic scenario within urban road environments. It provides a high reliability guarantee for real-time perception of vehicles, pedestrians, and comprehensive road awareness. Leveraging the coverage advantages of 5G networks, it not only demonstrates the strengths of 5G but also achieves a significant improvement in the level of road traffic perception services.

What is ISAC?
Integrated Sensing and Communication (ISAC), also known as communication-sensing integration technology, refers to a novel information processing technology based on the sharing of software, hardware resources, or information. This technology enables future communication systems to simultaneously possess coordinated communication and sensing functions. It effectively enhances system spectrum efficiency, hardware efficiency, and information processing efficiency. ISAC is a new technology studied by 3GPP in the 5G-A phase.

Communication involves the transmission of information between two or more points, a process where wireless signals are exchanged between base stations and mobile phones for information interaction. Sensing, on the other hand, refers to the detection of surrounding environmental conditions, such as object positions, speed, and target localization, through various means. Sensing and communication represent the frontend and intermediate stages of information processing, traditionally considered relatively independent.

In the 5G era, the introduction of the 5G New Radio (NR) incorporates positioning reference signals, enabling coordinated positioning between base stations and terminals. At this point, Integrated Sensing and Communication starts with communication at its core and enters the phase of network sensing. With the development of technologies such as massive MIMO communication, radar, and millimeter-wave communication, the characteristics, channel features, and application scenarios of communication and sensing become increasingly similar, indicating a trend towards systematic integration.

What changes can Integrated Sensing and Communication bring to the transportation industry?

Integrated Sensing and Communication (ISAC) utilizes wireless signals to achieve superior environmental perception capabilities compared to conventional traffic radars. It serves as a bridge between the real and virtual worlds, showcasing performance advantages in key metrics such as detection range, positional accuracy, and speed precision when compared to mainstream traffic radars.

As a crucial technology in the 5G-A phase, ISAC and similar technologies are being validated and applied in pilot projects with a focus on the transportation sector. They play a significant role in areas such as connected vehicles, autonomous driving, and traffic flow monitoring.

In the context of connected vehicles, the system needs to recognize and perceive the road and its surroundings, identify vehicle positions, speeds, and directions of movement, as well as detect abnormal events on the road. The ISAC system can real-time perceive the traffic conditions on the road, facilitating efficient coordination among pedestrians, vehicles, and roads to ensure traffic safety and enhance the efficiency of the transportation system. Leveraging the characteristics of high communication base station site elevation and broad coverage, it can monitor lane flow and vehicle speed information in real-time over a large area, simultaneously detecting pedestrian or animal road intrusions. This enables effective road supervision, ensuring traffic safety and improving transportation efficiency.

For autonomous driving, the presence of blind spots in onboard radar due to obstruction by other vehicles can be mitigated by collaborating with sensing nodes, providing a 'God's-eye view' and expanding the vehicle's perception range.

Similarly, traffic flow at intersections can be sensed and monitored through network nodes, allowing for real-time adaptive dynamic adjustments to intersection traffic control. Leveraging this perception information, the connected vehicle system can swiftly and efficiently dispatch vehicles. In this scenario, an integrated sensing system needs to possess strong target resolution capabilities, including high angular, distance, and speed resolutions.

In high-speed applications, radar with high precision can support the location, speed, and trajectory of all targets, enabling high-speed travel in foggy conditions and providing rapid guidance. In urban road scenarios, focusing on addressing congestion and improving traffic flow, radar combined with camera sensing enhances travel efficiency. This enables dynamic control of traffic lights, analysis and management of traffic hazards, and an overall increase in traffic management efficiency.

Notably, in the rapidly developing field of low-altitude economy, the communication and perception capabilities of 5G-A integrated sensing base stations can effectively support communication and supervision for low-altitude unmanned aerial vehicles. This includes automatic detection, real-time positioning, and tracking of intruding unmanned aerial vehicles, providing valuable data for security system decision-making. This aids in the flourishing development of low-altitude services such as express delivery, distribution, and urban safety management.

The progress of Integrated Sensing and Communication in the Chinese transportation industry's applications.

- During the Hangzhou Asian Games, China Mobile Research Institute and Zhejiang Mobile jointly pioneered the creation of a 5G-A Intelligent Asian Games Demonstration Zone in Hangzhou. They focused on creating a demonstration route for vehicle-road collaboration, effectively achieving real-time dynamic tracking of road environments and efficient coordination among pedestrians, vehicles, and roads. This initiative played a crucial role in ensuring road traffic safety.

- Jiangsu Mobile, Suqiao Technology, and Huawei collaborated on a pilot project on a bridge in Nanjing. They deployed an Integrated Sensing and Communication 5G base station near the center of the bridge to detect minute deformations and monitor structural anomalies.

- ZTE Corporation deployed an integrated sensing base station in Changzhou, detecting and managing unmanned aerial vehicles in the target area. This application has broad potential in scenarios such as security against unauthorized drone flights and low-altitude logistics management.

- Regions like the Pearl River Delta are accelerating the implementation of "Integrated Sensing and Communication" vehicle-road interconnection technology. Huizhou City's "Smooth Project" smart urban transportation construction project has incorporated perception capabilities through the combination of cameras and radar.

- Guangzhou plans to invest 2.85 billion yuan in the next three years to construct holographic intersections, with standard configurations of "cameras + radar" in designated road sections.

From the perspective of technological and application progress, in closed scenarios, Integrated Sensing and Communication (ISAC) vehicle-road interconnection technology exhibits rigid demands and a healthy application ecosystem. Its commercial model is clear, and it is accelerating towards commercialization, with truck autonomous driving being a representative case. In semi-open scenarios, particularly in high-speed logistics on main routes, the application of this technology is gradually maturing, contributing to cost reduction and increased traffic flow. However, in more open scenarios such as autonomous driving, there is still a need to steadily advance exploration in urban settings.

Although Integrated Sensing and Communication continues to make breakthroughs in technical solutions and prototype designs, challenges persist in fundamental theory, low-complexity solutions, and engineering design. With the ongoing development of communication technology and enhanced sensing capabilities, ISAC may bring us even greater imaginative possibilities in the future.

References:
When Integrated Sensing and Communication Meets Intelligent Transportation, What Sparks Will It Ignite? (7its.com)