ISAC meets O-RAN: a RIC service to ensure sensing delay requirements

Integrated Sensing and Communication (ISAC) is a key enabler for 6G technology, expected to drive new services and enhance the quality and efficiency of wireless communications. To this end, this paper showcases the integration of sensing information into the Open RAN (O-RAN) architecture by extending the E2 Service Models (E2SMs) through the FlexRIC implementation. The proposed E2SM aggregates the capability of monitoring both the physical environment and the statistics derived from the sensing data, while also enabling control over the sensing-Radio Unit (sRU). Moreover, since the traffic generated by the sRU may vary depending on the use of the sensing data, it must meet strict latency and freshness requirements defined by each use case. For this aim, we propose the use of a Proportional-Integral-Derivative (PID) controller to dynamically adjust the capacity assigned to the sensing slice, ensuring that the transmitted information remains timely and up to date.