Recent advances in integrated sensing and communication: a synergistic perspective

Integrated Sensing and Communications (ISAC) is considered as a key technology in future wireless systems due to its advantages such as efficient spectrum utilization and the ability to reduce hardware cost. However, ISAC faces the problems of inherent conflicts between communication and sensing functions, performance degradation under non-line-of-sight, and high computational complexity of algorithms in ISAC systems. To address the inherent conflict between communication and sensing functions in ISAC, we overview the performance tradeoffs in ISAC. In response to the performance decay of ISAC under non-line-of-sight and the high computational complexity of its algorithms, we review the application of Reconfigurable Intelligent Surfaces (RIS) and deep learning techniques to Integrated Sensing and Communications (ISAC) and analyze their latest results and their great potential to enhance the performance of ISAC sensing and communications. Finally, we propose a new direction to further synergize the three techniques into an artificial intelligence-driven RIS-assisted ISAC technology, which provides useful guidance for future research.