Antenna subset modulation system for simultaneous millimeter-wave communication and environmental sensing

Background

The rapid evolution of next-generation wireless networks has driven significant interest in millimeter-wave (mmWave) technology due to its capacity for ultra-high data rates. Within this domain, there is a growing need for Joint Communication and Sensing (JCS) systems that simultaneously transmit data and map the physical environment. This dual capability is essential for supporting advanced applications such as extended reality, real-time user tracking, and proactive obstacle avoidance. As wireless networks become increasingly integrated into autonomous systems, the demand for continuous spatial awareness without sacrificing communication bandwidth has become a critical operational requirement.

Despite this demand, current approaches struggle to efficiently merge these functions. Traditional systems typically separate communication and sensing operations across different frequencies, time slots, or physical hardware. Existing methods often rely on transmitting dedicated sensing preambles that interrupt data flow, or they require entirely separate hardware modules and multiple radio frequency chains to handle radar and communication tasks independently. These segregated architectures introduce substantial protocol overhead and significantly increase overall system complexity. Consequently, these conventional techniques suffer from reduced spectral efficiency and limited scalability, making them impractical for widespread deployment in commercial mmWave devices.

Technology

This millimeter-wave system enables simultaneous wireless communication and environmental sensing using a single RF-chain phased array. The solution relies on antenna subset modulation, rapidly switching a random subset of antenna elements between active and inactive states. This maintains a stable, high-gain mainlobe for uninterrupted data transmission while generating pseudorandom sidelobe perturbations. These sidelobes act as spatial fingerprints reflecting off surrounding objects. The receiver first decodes the primary communication data to isolate the mainlobe’s contribution, then applies compressive sensing algorithms to the residual sidelobe data to calculate the angular coordinates of non-line-of-sight reflectors.

This technology is highly differentiated because it achieves true joint communication and sensing without the overhead of traditional approaches. Conventional systems separate these functions by time, frequency, or hardware, requiring dedicated sensing preambles or secondary radar modules. In contrast, this solution operates on existing commercial hardware without requiring protocol modifications or additional RF chains. By exploiting the sparsity of millimeter-wave channels, it delivers highly accurate environmental mapping—achieving angular estimation errors below 1.3 degrees—while maintaining bit error rates comparable to dedicated communication systems. This hardware-efficient, protocol-agnostic approach ensures scalable, real-time situational awareness for next-generation networks.

Benefits

• Enables simultaneous millimeter-wave communication and environmental sensing without requiring dedicated preambles or time/frequency separation, maximizing system efficiency.
• Eliminates the need for additional hardware or multiple RF chains by utilizing existing commercial single-RF-chain phased arrays with simple ON/OFF antenna switching.
• Maintains high-quality data transmission and low bit error rates comparable to dedicated communication systems by preserving a stable, high-gain mainlobe.
• Delivers highly accurate environmental sensing and non-line-of-sight (NLOS) reflector localization, achieving angle estimation errors below 1.3 degrees even in challenging environments.
• Ensures seamless integration with existing wireless standards (such as 5G NR and IEEE 802.11ad/ay) without requiring modifications to current protocols or frame structures.
• Provides high scalability for large antenna arrays and robust performance against phase noise, synchronization errors, and moderate mobility.

Applications

• Real-time user tracking
• Dynamic environmental spatial mapping
• Proactive robotic obstacle avoidance
• Extended reality device localization
• Non-line-of-sight object detection

Additional info

This technology enables simultaneous millimeter-wave communication and environmental sensing via antenna subset modulation on single RF-chain phased arrays. By randomly toggling antenna elements, it maintains a directional mainlobe for data while generating pseudorandom sidelobe perturbations. These perturbations act as spatial fingerprints. The receiver isolates the mainlobe by decoding data, then applies compressive sensing to residual sidelobe reflections to localize non-line-of-sight objects without specialized hardware or protocol modifications.