SHERIDAN, WYOMING - March 31, 2026 - Telecom architecture teams heading into 2026 face a broader design brief as future 6G planning now has to account for sensing functions alongside communications, affecting RAN design, privacy controls, mobility handling and exposure of sensing results. ETSI's Industry Specification Group on Integrated Sensing and Communications has published ETSI GR ISC 003, a report focused on 6G ISAC system and RAN architectures. The document defines architectural foundations for integrating advanced sensing capabilities into future 6G systems and builds on earlier ISAC work. It examines 17 key challenges across system architecture, RAN architecture and lower-layer RAN, then sets out potential approaches to address them.
Architecture scope
The report introduces a 6G ISAC system reference model intended to support all sensing modes identified in ETSI's earlier work on use cases and requirements. Those modes include monostatic, bistatic and multi-static configurations, and they involve both the network and user equipment. That matters because sensing in a 6G context is not treated as a narrow radio feature; it is framed as a system-level capability that touches multiple entities and operating models.
ETSI identifies several functions needed to make that model operational. These include sensing service control, sensing data collection and processing, mobility management of sensing entities, charging, and the exposure of sensing results within a secure and privacy-preserving framework. In practical terms, the architecture discussion moves ISAC from conceptual use cases toward a list of platform functions that operators, infrastructure vendors and standards contributors will need to map into future product roadmaps.
RAN design implications
On the radio access side, the report highlights new functions required to support RF sensing. ETSI points to sensing task coordination, measurement configuration, data processing and optional sensing data storage as part of the required RAN support. This extends the expected role of the RAN beyond traffic delivery and shows that sensing workloads will place additional orchestration and data-handling demands on radio infrastructure.
The report also sets out core technical challenges tied to ISAC operations, including interference mitigation, power control, sensing signal design and flexible resource allocation. ETSI further flags multi-operator sensing, core network to RAN coordination, and the integration of computing, security, privacy and sustainability considerations as areas needing more study. The publication is positioned as input to 3GPP as that partnership begins exploration of 6G ISAC system and RAN architecture, giving the document relevance beyond ETSI's own working structure.
Business impact
Network strategy leaders and RAN product managers gain a more concrete checklist for 2026 roadmap decisions because the report identifies named functions and challenge areas that can shape feature prioritization, standards participation and lab validation plans. For these groups, the change is not simply that ISAC remains under study; it is that system reference assumptions now include sensing service control, processing, mobility and charging, which affects vendor selection criteria and architecture reviews for future 6G platforms.
Chief technology officers and compliance teams also have clearer signals on where governance work must start. ETSI places secure and privacy-preserving exposure of sensing results inside the architecture itself, while also identifying security, privacy and sustainability as ongoing study areas. That means 2026 planning can no longer treat sensing as only a radio engineering topic. Budget owners evaluating 6G research programs, interoperability work and standards engagement will need to account for privacy posture, cross-domain coordination between core and RAN, and the operational implications of multi-operator sensing before commercialization paths are defined.