ISAC-enabled low-overhead beam management: performance analysis and pilot optimization

Journal article

The wealth of spectral resources in millimeter-wave (mmWave) and terahertz (THz) bands has the potential to support data transmission with Gbps, yet the narrow beams required at these frequencies introduce critical challenges in beam management. This paper investigates the application of integrated sensing and communications (ISAC) in the fifth-generation (5G) and beyond networks. By configuring synchronization signal blocks (SSB) and positioning reference signals (PRS), the proposed ISAC scheme enables intelligent inter-cell handovers and adaptive beam alignment for mobile terminals (MTs). With the tools from stochastic geometry, we first develop a unified analytical framework that yields tractable expressions for sensing and communication coverage probability and beam misalignment probability, explicitly capturing blockage process, beam dynamics, and multi-cell interference. Subsequently, we derive the optimal pilot design pattern that minimizes the beam misalignment probability. Taking into account both coverage performance and beam management overhead, the effective area spectral efficiency (ASE) metric is proposed to quantify the network-level benefits of ISAC. In addition, Monte Carlo simulation results are introduced to validate the theoretical analysis. Our study demonstrates that the proposed ISAC scheme can effectively enhance the ASE of the network and reduce the beam management overhead, especially in scenarios of dense base station (BS) deployments and large beam numbers. Furthermore, a fundamental beamwidth tradeoff is revealed: Although narrower beams improve the coverage for sensing, they can increase mobility-induced misalignment probabilities for communications. These insights provide concrete guidelines for practical ISAC-assisted beam management in future networks.

Authors: Huang, Y; Xu, J; Badiu, MA; Chen, G; Coon, J

• Publication status: Published
• Peer review status: Peer reviewed
• Publisher: IEEE
• Journal: IEEE Transactions on Wireless Communications
• Volume: 25
• Pages: 10702-10715
• Publication date: 2026-01-21
• Acceptance date: 2026-01-10
• DOI: 10.1109/twc.2026.3653956
• EISSN: 1558-2248
• ISSN: 1536-1276
• Language: English
• Keywords: switches; integrated sensing and communication; millimeter wave communication; geometry; stochastic processes
• Subjects: beam management; integrated sensing and communications (ISAC); stochastic geometry; 5G new radio; spectral efficiency; array signal processing; amplitude modulation; 5G mobile communication; terahertz communications