Keynote: Integrated Sensing and Communications: It was Meant to Be!

The integration of sensing and communication functionalities is seen as a key enabling technology for 6G networks to provide services beyond communications. In this talk I argue that it is a natural evolution of the two technologies, as it has obvious gains in energy, hardware and cost efficiency through the use of dual-functional hardware. I further explain that their co-design also offers opportunities in flexible trade-offs and new synergies between sensing and communication. I discuss signalling strategies that enable information exchange together with target detection from a single transmission. These range from radar-centric and communication-centric, to joint signalling. I present some results from my team�s work in the area, that underline the benefits of the co-design in offering a graceful trade-off between the two functionalities. I then discuss use cases that highlight potential synergies between sensing and communications. I conclude with some thoughts on research opportunities and the road ahead.