Delay-Doppler Sensing Performance Analysis for MIMO-OFDM ISAC Systems

Abstract

In communication-centric integrated sensing and communication (ISAC), delay-Doppler sensing reuses data-bearing orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) signals rather than dedicated radar probing waveforms. Consequently, the resulting range-Doppler map (RDM) is shaped not only by target parameters, but also by communication-symbol randomness and, in multi-antenna transmissions, by spatial beamforming. While existing analyses have largely focused on single-antenna OFDM-ISAC, the delay-Doppler sensing behavior of multi-antenna OFDM-ISAC remains insufficiently understood. This paper analyzes a multi-input multi-output (MIMO)-OFDM-ISAC system in which multiple data streams jointly illuminate a sensing target. We derive second-order moment expressions for the RDM under matched filtering (MF) and reciprocal filtering (RF), and use them to characterize the dynamic range (DR). The analysis reveals two key multi-stream effects. First, under MF, the random superposition of multiple beamformed streams creates an additional RDM floor beyond the modulation-dependent and receiver-noise terms; therefore, constant-modulus signaling no longer eliminates the data-induced pedestal as in single-antenna OFDM-ISAC. Second, under RF, the matched-angle data-induced floor is removed, but the noise floor is amplified according to the reciprocal-power statistics of the beamformed target illumination. These results show that the user-target angular geometry directly governs the MF/RF tradeoff: MF is more robust under weak illumination, whereas RF can achieve a higher DR when reciprocal-noise amplification is mild. Numerical results validate the analysis and demonstrate the distinct geometry-dependent behaviors of MF and RF.