Mobile network is evolving from a communication-only network towards one with joint communication and radar/radio sensing (JCAS) capabilities, that we call perceptive mobile network (PMN). Radio sensing here refers to information retrieval from received mobile signals for objects of interest in the environment surrounding the radio transceivers, and it may go beyond the functions of localization, tracking, and object recognition of traditional radar. In PMNs, JCAS integrates sensing into communications, sharing a majority of system modules and the same transmitted signals. The PMN is expected to provide a ubiquitous radio sensing platform and enable a vast number of novel smart applications, whilst providing non-compromised communications. In this paper, we present a broad picture of the motivation, methodologies, challenges, and research opportunities of realizing PMN, by providing a comprehensive survey for systems and technologies developed mainly in the last ten years. Beginning by reviewing the work on coexisting communication and radar systems, we highlight their limits on addressing the interference problem, and then introduce the JCAS technology. We then set up JCAS in the mobile network context and envisage its potential applications. We continue to provide a brief review of three types of JCAS systems, with particular attention to their differences in design philosophy. We then introduce a framework of PMN, including the system platform and infrastructure, three types of sensing operations, and signals usable for sensing. Subsequently, we discuss required system modifications to enable sensing on current communication-only infrastructure. Within the context of PMN, we review stimulating research problems and potential solutions, organized under nine topics: performance bounds, waveform optimization, antenna array design, clutter suppression, sensing parameter estimation, resolution of sensing ambiguity, pattern analysis, networked sensing under cellular topology, and sensing-assisted communications. We conclude the paper by listing key open research problems for the aforementioned topics and sharing some lessons that we have learned.

In this paper, we develop a framework for a novel perceptive mobile/cellular network that integrates radar sensing function into the mobile communication network. We propose a unified system platform that enables downlink and uplink sensing, sharing the same transmitted signals with communications. We aim to tackle the fundamental sensing parameter estimation problem in perceptive mobile networks, by addressing two key challenges associated with sophisticated mobile signals and rich multipath in mobile networks. To extract sensing parameters from orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) and spatial division multiple access (SDMA) communication signals, we propose two approaches to formulate it to problems that can be solved by compressive sensing techniques. Most sensing algorithms have limits on the number of multipath signals for their inputs. To reduce the multipath signals, as well as removing unwanted clutter signals, we propose a background subtraction method based on simple recursive computation, and provide a closed-form expression for performance characterization. The effectiveness of these methods is validated in simulations.

Atmospheric scattering model (ASM) is one of the most widely used model to describe the imaging processing of hazy images. However, we found that ASM has an intrinsic limitation which leads to a dim effect in the recovered results. In this paper, by introducing a new parameter, i.e., light absorption coefficient, into ASM, an enhanced ASM (EASM) is attained, which can address the dim effect and better model outdoor hazy scenes. Relying on this EASM, a simple yet effective gray-world-assumption-based technique called IDE is then developed to enhance the visibility of hazy images. Experimental results show that IDE eliminates the dim effect and exhibits excellent dehazing performance. It is worth mentioning that IDE does not require any training process or extra information related to scene depth, which makes it very fast and robust. Moreover, the global stretch strategy used in IDE can effectively avoid some undesirable effects in recovery results, e.g., over-enhancement, over-saturation, and mist residue, etc. Comparison between the proposed IDE and other state-of-the-art techniques reveals the superiority of IDE in terms of both dehazing quality and efficiency over all the comparable techniques.

Multi-beam antennas are critical components in future terrestrial and non-terrestrial wireless communications networks. The multiple beams produced by these antennas will enable dynamic networking of various terrestrial, airborne and space-borne network nodes. As the operating frequency increases to the high millimeter wave (mmWave) and terahertz (THz) bands for beyond 5G (B5G) and sixth-generation (6G) systems, quasi-optical techniques are expected to become dominant in the design of high gain multi-beam antennas. This paper presents a timely overview of the mainstream quasi-optical techniques employed in current and future multi-beam antennas. Their operating principles and design techniques along with those of various quasi-optical beamformers are presented. These include both conventional and advanced lens and reflector based configurations to realize high gain multiple beams at low cost and in small form factors. New research challenges and industry trends in the field, such as planar lenses based on transformation optics and metasurface-based transmitarrays, are discussed to foster further innovations in the microwave and antenna research community.