Multi-Carrier MIMO JCAS Systems

• Multi-Carrier MIMO JCAS is an integrated technology that combines multi-antenna and OFDM systems to enable simultaneous high-rate communications and active sensing.
• It utilizes advanced waveform design, jamming resilience, and flexible resource allocation strategies to optimize both data transmission and target tracking.
• System architectures like cell-free arrays and ISAC modes demonstrate its practical applications in wireless networks and radar-like measurement scenarios.

Multi-Carrier MIMO Joint Communications and Sensing (JCAS) refers to frameworks and design methodologies in which multi-antenna (MIMO), multi-carrier (typically OFDM) systems are used simultaneously for high-rate wireless communications and active sensing (e.g., radar-like target tracking). Recent work further extends JCAS capabilities to incorporate jamming, advanced waveform optimization, cellular architectures, and flexible resource allocation strategies. The following article details the core principles, system models, optimization strategies, and performance benchmarks constituting state-of-the-art multi-carrier MIMO JCAS.

1. System Architectures and Operating Modes

Multi-carrier MIMO JCAS architectures are centered on a transmitter (or distributed transmitters, e.g., cell-free arrays) equipped with multiple antennas and supporting OFDM modulation over multiple subcarriers. Key operational modes include:

• Integrated Sensing and Communication (ISAC): A single transmitter serves user equipment (UEs) while simultaneously collecting sensing measurements (delay, Doppler, angle) via echoes of the transmitted waveforms ([240