Bistatic Integrated Sensing and Communications with Flexible Intelligent Metasurfaces

Abstract

We propose a novel doubly-dispersive (DD) multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) channel model incorporating flexible intelligent metasurfaces (FIMs), suitable for integrated sensing and communications (ISAC) in high-mobility scenarios. We show how the proposed FIM-parameterized DD (FPDD) channel model extends to multicarrier waveforms known to perform well in DD environments, namely, orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM), orthogonal time frequency space (OTFS), and affine frequency division multiplexing (AFDM). Leveraging this model, we formulate an achievable rate maxi-mization problem with a sensing constraint for all waveforms and solve it via gradient ascent with closed-form gradients. Numerical results indicate that FIM technology significantly impacts the achievable rate, with careful parametrization essential for strong ISAC performance across all waveforms.

Conference paper in IEEE WSA 2026