Millimeter-Wave Radar-Communication Co-Design for Autonomous Vehicles: Low-Rate ISAC Architecture with Roadside Unit Integration and Hardware Constraints

Abstract

Autonomous vehicles must sense their surroundings and exchange data reliably in dense traffic and adverse weather. Yet many millimeter-wave (mmWave) ISAC solutions assume high-rate converters, near-ideal RF chains, and large compute budgets that hinder cost-effective deployment. This paper sets out a practical objective: to enable joint radar–communication on production-grade automotive platforms by co-designing waveform, processing, and scheduling around hardware constraints and roadside infrastructure. Specifically, we aim to (1) deliver combined perception and V2X on a single, cost-constrained RF chain; (2) remain robust to real-world impairments (phase noise, beam squint, mutual coupling, quantization, calibration drift); (3) exploit roadside units (RSUs) as cooperative illuminators/relays for coverage, interference coordination, and handover-safe tracking at intersections; and (4) meet safety-critical latency/reliability targets while cutting sampling and compute demands. We present an architecture blueprint with hardware-aware signal design and cross-layer resource scheduling, plus RSU vehicle protocols that reuse RSU beacons for networked radar and congestion-aware allocations. Evaluations in urban-style scenarios (simulation and hardware-in-the-loop) indicate that the co-design preserves range-Doppler-angle fidelity for automotive perception and sustains reliable V2X throughput at substantially lower baseband rates, offering a credible path to series-production ISAC. Beyond performance, we outline deployment measures self-calibration, interference coexistence with NR-V2X/802.11bd, and an incremental migration plan leveraging existing radars and RSUs. By centering on practicality-cost, power, and maintainability this work targets near-term impact aligned with DYNA’s engineering and industrial focus.