Samsung Electronics and LG Uplus have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to jointly research Integrated Sensing and Communication (ISAC) technology, a capability expected to play a central role in next-generation 6G wireless networks.
The agreement tasks Samsung Research with leading core technology development, while LG Uplus handles field testing and data provisioning based on its mobile network operations experience.
ISAC uses existing communications infrastructure — such as cellular and Wi-Fi networks — to sense the surrounding environment without dedicated hardware. By analysing how wireless signals reflect off nearby objects, the technology can estimate an object’s speed, distance, and direction of movement. This could reduce or eliminate the need for specialized sensors like LiDAR or radar in certain applications.
The International Telecommunication Union Radiocommunication Sector (ITU-R) has identified ISAC as one of three priority usage scenarios for 6G standards.
Planned 6G Applications
The companies say initial research will focus on human movement detection for safety use cases and improving network efficiency. Longer-term plans include combining wireless sensing data with camera imagery and developing multimodal AI systems capable of processing images, audio, and video together to improve detection accuracy.
The partnership also intends to test ISAC performance on existing 5G networks as well as in the 7 GHz frequency band, a spectrum range under consideration for future 6G deployment.
Industry Context
The announcement is the latest in a series of 6G-related collaborations Samsung has pursued, following joint demonstrations at the Silicon Valley Future Wireless Summit in November 2025 and participation in the AI-RAN Alliance at Mobile World Congress in March 2026. The company published a 6G white paper outlining its technology vision ahead of these efforts.
6G networks are not expected to reach commercial deployment until the early 2030s, and standards development is still in early stages globally.
This article was produced with the assistance of AI
