Intergrated Sensing and Communications (ISAC) in 5G-Advanced for High-Precison Localization and Tracking of Vessels at Sea

Integrated Sensing and Communication (ISAC) is one of the key technologies in 5G-A. The core idea is to integrate communication and awareness functions in the same system, use the same radio resources to improve resource utilisation, and enhance the performance of each of the communication and awareness subsystems. The application scenarios of ISAC are very rich, such as high-precision positioning and tracking, simultaneous imaging, map building and positioning, human sensory enhancement and gesture and expression recognition. However, most of the applications and technologies are limited to the theoretical level, and there are few practical application cases on the ground. In this paper, we experiment with the high-precision localisation and tracking applications in the theory of ISAC using a group network built according to practical needs. The 128TR self-transmitting and self-receiving 5G-A sensing integration base station we set up in a sea area successfully carries out high-precision positioning and area alerts for a ship's sea mission. Our experimental results indicate that the longest coverage distance can be up to about 21km, and a long detection distance can be guaranteed regardless of whether the vessel is travelling at a low speed (e.g. 4.5m/s) or a high speed (e.g. 8.3m/s). Finally, we also analyse the technical difficulties and future development directions in the field of ISAC.