Geometry Optimization in Cooperative Integrated Sensing and Communication Networks

This work studies a cooperative architecture for integrated sensing and communication (ISAC) networks, incorporating coordinated multi-point (CoMP) transmission along with multi-static sensing. We investigate the allocation of antennas-to-base stations (BSs) as a means to optimize antenna densities and explore the range between massive MIMO and cell-free typologies, and their effects on cooperative sensing and cooperative communication performance. Regarding sensing performance, we investigate three localization methods: angle-of-arrival (AOA)-based, time-of-flight (TOF)-based, and a hybrid approach combining both AOA and TOF measurements, to comprehensively assess their effects on ISAC network performance. In networks with multiple ISAC nodes following a Poisson point process, the Cramér-Rao lower bound (CRLB) for time of flight (TOF)-based methods decreases with the square of the logarithm of the number of nodes, for angle of arrival (AOA)-based methods with the logarithm, and for hybrid methods as a mix of both. In terms of communication performance, we derive a tractable expression for the communication data rate under various cooperative region sizes. The proposed cooperative scheme shows superior performance improvement compared to centralized or distributed antenna allocation strategies.