Mobile communications as bat radar: Vodafone shows ISAC potential in 5G network

For Star Trek fans, it sounds suspiciously like the Tricorder: Integrated Sensing and Communication (ISAC) is intended to turn mobile networks into high-precision sensors. The smartphone would then, in a way, be the wonder device from the science fiction series, with which all sorts of things can be detected. What is already causing concern among experts as a future vision for the next mobile communications standard 6G, is already possible in today's 5G networks, according to mobile network operator Vodafone. Together with the US company Tiami Networks, Vodafone is currently presenting the test results to date at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.

In tests, the two partners have transformed commercially available 5G antennas into large-scale sensors, as Vodafone announces in a press release. The network technology is similar to the echolocation of flying and hunting bats. In mobile communications, radio wave reflections are used to capture objects, distances, speeds, and even human movements in real-time.

What ISAC is useful for

According to Michael Reinartz, Head of Innovation at Vodafone Germany, there are a whole range of conceivable applications for ISAC: They range from detecting hidden water leaks in buildings, to measuring visitor flows in a privacy-friendly manner, to detecting intruders and drones. This spin-off of mobile communications could also be practically used in agriculture, food inspection, or augmented reality applications.

The idea is not new, by the way. WLAN can also be used as radar – called Wi-Fi Sensing. Since 2020, the IEEE's Sensing Working Group has been collecting use cases for defining technical solutions.

Risks and side effects

With the introduction of 6G, ISAC is set to become a mass application. However, experts from the EU's European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) view its use critically in a report. As useful as the technology is, it naturally raises all sorts of questions about data protection and data security. Criminals could misuse the signals to scout buildings. Person tracking or eavesdropping actions would also be possible.

Vodafone's experiment is still uncritical in this context, as it only investigated feasibility in existing 5G networks. It was possible to reliably detect objects and even people without affecting ongoing calls or data connections. The introduction of 6G networks is not expected until 2030. However, it will then be as simple as activating a software application to use ISAC in the network, it is said. Vodafone is already feeding the findings from the tests into the 3GPP standardization, specifically into Release 19. The joint test series with Tiami Networks is scheduled to continue in 2026.

(mki)