Distributed and Integrated Sensing and Communication: Beamforming, Estimation, Learning and More

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EVENT DETAILS:
Unlike single-node ISAC, which is limited in robustness and environmental awareness, distributed ISAC (DISAC) networks exploit multi-node coordination—across base stations and user devices—to jointly deliver connectivity and multi-perspective sensing. The distributed aspect makes an entire re-design of fundamental transceiver functions necessary. For example, in a DISAC network, the precoder/combiner designs must be coordinated across multiple nodes in rapidly changing environments. In addition, hardware imperfections challenge coherence: antenna calibration scales to a complicated multi-dimensional problem, and multi-node synchronization in time, frequency and phase is challenging, but both aspects need to be addressed to achieve coherence. Distributed settings naturally lead to the challenge of jointly estimating the multiptah features associated with multiple user and target channels, which can later be exploited for communication, localization and sensing including imaging. This talk will present recent progress on algorithms and architectures for distributed transceivers that perform sensing, learning, and communication jointly—while remaining robust to hardware impairments, non-ideal propagation, and environmental dynamics.

SPEAKER BIO:
Nuria González-Prelcic (Fellow, IEEE) is currently a Professor at the ECE Department of the University of California San Diego. Her main research interests include signal processing and machine learning for wireless communications and sensing, with a focus on MIMO communication, joint localization and communication, full duplex integrated sensing and communication, sensor-aided communication, signal processing under hardware impairments, vehicular communication, and multiantenna technology for LEO satellite communication. She is currently a Distinguished Lecturer in the IEEE Vehicular Technology Society. Her work has been recognized by several awards. Her team's work on attention networks for user position tracking received a best student paper award at the 2023 IEEE Signal Processing for Wireless Communications (SPAWC) conference. Her work on joint communication and radar was recognized with the 2022 IEEE Vehicular Technology Society Best Vehicular Electronics Paper Award. Her overview paper on signal processing for millimeter wave MIMO communications was recognized with the 2020 IEEE Signal Processing Society Donald G. Fink Overview Paper Award. She has led several academic centers or programs, many with significant industrial collaborations. She was the Assistant Director of the UT SAVES (Situation-Aware Vehicular Engineering Systems) at UT Austin. She was the Founding Director of atlanTTic Research Center for Information and Communication Technologies, Vigo, Spain (2008-2017).