Virtual Array-based UAV ISAC Systems for Improved Sensing Accuracy

The rapid advancement of unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) technology, combined with integrated sensing and communication (ISAC) systems, offers significant opportunities in tasks such as target detection and tracking in complex environments. However, UAV platforms are limited by power and the size of their antenna arrays. To address this, we propose a virtual array-based method that enhances sensing performance by synthesizing a larger array by creating a virtual array. This improves angular resolution while maintaining hardware and size constraints. The orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) is adopted as the transmission scheme. OFDM supports high-resolution range-Doppler processing and robust data transmission in the presence of frequency-selective fading. Combined with virtual arrays, it enables joint communication and sensing with enhanced spatial and spectral performance. The proposed approach significantly enhances beamforming precision and spatial resolution, providing advantages in radar sensing and target localization. Index Terms—ISAC, OFDM, UAV, virtual array