ISAC POC targets public safety use cases with drone defense

- Integrated Sensing and Communication on cellular networks can detect drones at low altitudes - AT&T says the U.S. federal government and public safety agencies are interested in using this technology - ISAC is expected to be part of 6G, but AT&T wants to deploy ISAC in select areas on 5G networks When the U.S. Secret Service planned security for the Ultimate Fighting Championship event marking President Trump's 80th birthday on the White House South Lawn, anti-drone technology was deployed along with rooftop snipers. Luckily neither was activated, as most of the violence stayed in the ring. But the FBI thwarted a planned drone attack in which suspects allegedly planned to hit nearby buildings with explosive-laden drones, positioning the attacks to drive fleeing crowds toward waiting shooters. The weaponization of drones adds a new dimension to security and public safety. As agencies prepare, some are looking to wireless network operators as potential partners. For decades, wireless networks have provided critical communications during emergencies, but some networks may soon be able to detect and identify emergencies. AT&T and Ericsson recently proved this concept by demonstrating a drone defense system that uses Integrated Sensing and Communication (ISAC). ISAC uses the same spectrum and equipment for sensing, location tracking and data transmission, essentially creating a new use case for cellular networks. The European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) published a report on ISAC earlier this year, defining “the architectural foundations required to integrate advanced sensing capabilities into future 6G systems.” AT&T's Rob Soni, VP of RAN Technology Standards and Services, is challenging the assumption that ISAC is exclusively a 6G technology. "We realized a 5G waveform could do this," he said. He said AT&T wants to work on ISAC before 6G launches, and he hopes to "break the cycle of crawl, walk, run," because "we can't sell anything that crawls." Instead, Soni wants to commercialize a limited version of ISAC as part of 5G. Soni spoke to analysts and reporters after the company demonstrated its network sensing capabilities by locating and identifying friendly drones near AT&T Stadium (one of the World Cup stadiums) in Arlington, Texas. He was joined by Akhil Gokul, VP and Head of Technology Americas at Ericsson. Soni and Gokul said the ability to detect, track and classify drones is of interest to the federal government and public safety agencies. "Federal agencies are investing in this already," Soni said. "They are helping with the R&D." Other governments are also investing in ISAC, according to analyst Earl Lum of EJL Wireless Research. Lum said Huawei and ZTE are both working on ISAC, and estimates that China is "three years ahead of the U.S." Three towers, multiple drones The proof of concept demonstration used sensor data from three towers near AT&T Stadium. One was visible just a quarter mile away; the others were more than a mile away. The companies said that by using multiple synchronized sensing nodes across three different towers, they were able to improve positioning accuracy. Ericsson's massive MIMO radios were deployed on all three towers, and radio signals were used for real-time sensing to track the drones. Gokul said Ericsson enables ISAC by adding signal processing software to the base station hardware. When a base station transmits a radio signal, that signal reflects off nearby buildings and vehicles, and the network analyzes these reflections, or echoes. AI inference is used to classify the data and generate output. The companies said drones could be detected up to 6 kilometers away. All the drones in the demo were flying at altitudes between 300 and 400 feet in authorized airspace. The system detected a flying object entering the airspace and classified it as a friendly drone. Soni said mid-band spectrum is best for ISAC. Millimeter wave lacks adequate propagation, and low-band spectrum does not afford high enough image resolution, he said. AI at the edge In the POC, the AI inference happened at the base station. The companies showed a rack containing the baseband units for all three towers. At the bottom of the rack were three Dell servers labeled "sensing" — one server to manage the sensor data from each tower. In the bottom right corner of the rack was a server labeled Dell Fusion. The Ericsson team explained that this server runs the AI model that analyzes the data from the three "sensing" servers to deliver more information on a drone's speed, direction, size and elevation. Drone detection appears set to be one of the first ISAC use cases to attract investment, and the industry is not waiting for 6G. Gokul said Ericsson is still collecting requirements from customers interested in drone tracking, and he expects to see "small-scale deployment within two years." Soni suggested the 2028 Olympics will need advanced drone detection. He also said AT&T is exploring ISAC for other use cases, noting the carrier is talking with all the makers of self-driving cars. He said communication between cars on different wireless networks could be an interesting use case for ISAC. Related articles about 6G and ISAC 6G and integrated sensing: What comes next for ISAC MWC 2026: Tejas says 6G will require many more basestations than 5G