Integrated sensing and communication system based on a photonic integrated broadband multi-beamformer

An integrated sensing and communication (ISAC) system enabled by a photonic integrated broadband multi-beamformer is proposed and demonstrated. The integrated multi-beamformer, which employs an optical true-time-delay induced Blass matrix framework for reception, is capable of simultaneously synthesizing five squint-free beams directed at distinct angles across the entire Ku-band spectrum. Benefiting from space division multiplexing endowed by multi-beamforming, the system performs simultaneous broadband radar sensing and high-speed wireless communication. A proof-of-concept experiment on the ISAC system utilizing the photonic broadband multi-beamformer has been conducted, demonstrating simultaneous high-resolution microwave imaging with a 1 GHz bandwidth and wireless communication with a 2.4 Gbps data rate. The experiment validates the ISAC system architecture based on an integrated photonic multi-beamformer and highlights its promising potential for an advanced multimodal information system.