Both smart propagation engineering as well as integrated sensing and communication (ISAC) constitute promising candidates for next-generation (NG) mobile networks. We provide a synergistic view of these technologies, and explore their mutual benefits. First, moving beyond just intelligent surfaces, we provide a holistic view of the engineering aspects of smart propagation environments. By delving into the fundamental characteristics of intelligent surfaces, fluid antennas, and unmanned aerial vehicles, we reveal that more efficient control of the pathloss and fading can be achieved, thus facilitating intrinsic integration and mutual assistance between sensing and communication functionalities. In turn, with the exploitation of the sensing capabilities of ISAC to orchestrate the efficient configuration of radio environments, both the computational effort and signaling overheads can be reduced. We present indicative simulation results, which verify that cooperative smart propagation environment design significantly enhances the ISAC performance. Finally, some promising directions are outlined for combining ISAC with smart propagation engineering.

翻译：智能传播工程以及集成感知通信均为下一代移动网络的重要候选技术。我们提出这些技术的协同视角，并探讨其互惠优势。首先，超越仅关注智能表面的局限，我们全面审视了智能传播环境的工程层面。通过深入分析智能表面、流体天线和无人机的本质特征，揭示了更有效的路径损耗与衰落控制能力，从而促进感知与通信功能的内在集成与相互辅助。进而，利用集成感知通信的感知能力来协调无线环境的高效配置，能够降低计算开销和信令负担。我们展示了典型仿真结果，验证了协同智能传播环境设计可显著提升集成感知通信性能。最后，概述了将集成感知通信与智能传播工程相结合的一些有前景的研究方向。