ArXiv

Goal-Oriented Semantic Communication for Distributed ISAC-Enabled Vehicle Coordination

Authors
Wenjie Liu, Yansha Deng
Categories
cs.RO
arXiv
https://arxiv.org/abs/2607.15111v1
PDF
https://arxiv.org/pdf/2607.15111v1

Brief

Liu and Deng propose a goal-oriented semantic communication framework for distributed ISAC vehicle coordination at unsignalized intersections, where multiple RSUs under a central BS collaboratively sense and send command-and-control (C&C). The system uses EKF for state fusion, a masked hybrid PPO (MHPPO) optimizing VoI-driven transmission and C&C content, and an uncertainty-aware transmission design (robust beamforming and VoI-based time-division power allocation). Simulations report 100% collision-free coordination and much lower signaling overhead than predictive ISAC baselines.

Why it matters

Introduces a goal-oriented semantic communication (GSC) framework for distributed ISAC-enabled vehicle coordination at unsignalized intersections; GSC transmits sensing and C&C signals only when semantically important for improving intersection throughput.

Key details

  • Uses an extended Kalman filter (EKF) to predict and fuse distributed RSU sensing, and a masked hybrid proximal policy optimization (MHPPO) that jointly selects sensing/C&C transmission decisions and C&C contents using a value-of-information (VoI) reward.
  • Adds an uncertainty-aware transmission design (UTD) — robust beamforming plus VoI-based time-division power allocation — and demonstrates in simulations (13 pages, 9 figures) 100% collision-free coordination with significantly reduced signaling overhead versus predictive ISAC baselines and ablations.
Source evidence

Abstract

Vehicle coordination at unsignalized intersections relies on accurate real-time vehicle state acquisition and reliable command-and-control (C&C) signal delivery. However, existing studies typically treat sensing, communication, and control separately, which may lead to redundant transmissions, outdated state information, and unreliable vehicle coordination. In this paper, we investigate a new scenario of distributed integrated sensing and communication (ISAC)-enabled vehicle coordination at intersections, where multiple roadside units (RSUs) collaboratively transmit sensing signals for vehicle state acquisition and C&C signals for vehicle movement control under the management of a central base station (BS). To improve signaling efficiency, we propose a unified goal-oriented semantic communication (GSC) framework, which transmits sensing and C&C signals only when they are semantically important for improving intersection traffic throughput. Specifically, an extended Kalman filter (EKF) is adopted to predict vehicle states and fuse distributed sensing measurements. A masked hybrid proximal policy optimization (MHPPO) framework is then developed to jointly determine sensing transmission decisions, C&C transmission decisions, and C&C signal contents based on a value-of-information (VoI) reward. Furthermore, we propose an uncertainty-aware transmission design (UTD), including robust beamforming and VoI-based time-division power allocation, to improve sensing and communication reliability under vehicle state uncertainty and inter-RSU interference. Simulation results show that our proposed framework achieves 100% collision-free vehicle coordination with significantly reduced signaling overhead compared with predictive ISAC baselines adapted from state-of-the-art related studies and several ablation baselines.

Comment: 13 pages, 9 figures