SHERIDAN, WYOMING - April 13, 2026 - ETSI's Industry Specification Group on Integrated Sensing and Communications (ISG ISAC) has published ETSI GR ISC 003, a technical report establishing the architectural foundations for embedding advanced sensing capabilities directly into future 6G networks. The report examines 17 discrete challenges spanning system architecture, RAN architecture, and lower-layer RAN design, and proposes concrete approaches to each. Its release feeds directly into 3GPP's early-stage exploration of 6G ISAC system and RAN architecture, positioning ETSI-led frameworks at the center of next-generation wireless standardization.
What GR ISC 003 defines
The report introduces a 6G ISAC system reference model designed to support all sensing modes identified in the earlier ETSI work on use cases and requirements. Those modes include monostatic, bistatic, and multi-static configurations, and they cover both network-side infrastructure and user equipment participation in sensing operations. This breadth ensures the architectural model accommodates a wide range of deployment scenarios from the outset.
Core functionalities outlined within the reference model include sensing service control, sensing data collection and processing, and mobility management for sensing entities. The framework also addresses charging mechanisms and the exposure of sensing results within a secure, privacy-preserving structure-requirements that reflect regulatory sensitivity around data generated by ambient RF sensing in public and private environments.
RAN-layer requirements and open challenges
On the Radio Access Network side, GR ISC 003 identifies new functional blocks required to enable RF sensing. These include sensing task coordination, measurement configuration, distributed data processing, and optional sensing data storage at the RAN edge. Each of these elements demands interface definitions and protocol extensions not present in current 5G RAN specifications.
The report also catalogues unresolved engineering challenges that will require further study: interference mitigation between communication and sensing waveforms, dynamic power control, sensing signal design optimized for dual use, and flexible resource allocation that balances throughput with sensing accuracy. Multi-operator sensing, CN-RAN coordination, and the integration of computing, security, privacy, and sustainability considerations are flagged as topics being carried into subsequent ISG ISAC work items.
Relationship to 3GPP and global standardization
ETSI is one of 3GPP's founding organizational partners and a sustained contributor to the global wireless standards body. GR ISC 003 is explicitly structured to provide timely input as 3GPP begins its own 6G ISAC architecture studies, meaning the report's reference model and identified challenges will influence how sensing functions are specified in future 3GPP technical specifications. This upstream alignment reduces the risk of architectural divergence between ETSI guidance and eventual 3GPP normative standards.
The ISG ISAC group's earlier reports on ISAC use cases and requirements form the foundation on which GR ISC 003 builds, creating a layered standards trajectory from use-case definition through architectural specification and toward future protocol normalization. This structured progression reflects ETSI's approach to managing complex, cross-domain technology integrations within a multi-stakeholder standardization environment.
Business impact
Network equipment vendors and RAN platform architects now have a structured ETSI reference model to assess against current 5G product roadmaps. Vendors developing baseband units, distributed RAN controllers, and signal processing hardware must evaluate whether their existing hardware abstraction layers and software stacks can accommodate the sensing task coordination and measurement configuration functions GR ISC 003 defines-gaps identified now will shape R&D budget allocations entering 2027 planning cycles.
Telecom operators and spectrum regulators face immediate implications for 6G spectrum strategy. The multi-static and multi-operator sensing configurations described in the report introduce new interference management obligations and potential co-use licensing requirements. Regulatory affairs teams at mobile network operators in Europe, Asia-Pacific, and North America will need to engage with national spectrum authorities to ensure upcoming 6G band allocations account for sensing signal coexistence-a consideration that was absent from 5G licensing frameworks.