Space-Time Orthogonal Waveform for Multistatic Distributed Integrated Communication and Imaging: Complexity, Trade-Offs and Antenna Placement

This paper delves into waveform design for sensing-centric multistatic integrated communication and imaging (DICAI) systems, where the goal is to maximize the transmission of information by a multiple-input-multiple-output (MIMO) radar given strict imaging quality constraints on a desired finite region in space. To this aim, we propose an imaging-centric spacetime orthogonal waveform design for multistatic D-ICAI systems, analyzing its complexity, degrees of freedom/bounds on design parameters and inherent imaging-communication performance trade-offs. We further propose an antenna placement optimization for multistatic D-ICAI systems, aimed at maximizing imaging performance for a fixed number of total antennas (and thus given data rate).