InterDigital and Türk Telekom Achieve World’s First Collaborative Cellular and Wi-Fi Sensing for 6G

InterDigital, Inc.,  a wireless, video and AI technology research and development company, and Türk Telekom , Türkiye’s leading integrated telecommunications operator, announced the world’s first implementation of collaborative cellular and Wi-Fi sensing using preliminary 6G architecture. The milestone achievement will be showcased at Mobile World Congress 2026 and represents a significant step toward realizing intelligent, sensing-enabled 6G systems.

The research collaboration, conducted at Türk Telekom Innovation and Test Center in Ankara, demonstrates how cellular and Wi-Fi networks can work together as complementary sensing technologies. By fusing sensing data from both radio systems, the partners achieved improved sensing accuracy, enhanced sensing service continuity, and reduced blind spots, particularly in indoor environments where traditional sensing approaches face coverage and resource challenges.

At the core of the demonstration is Integrated Sensing and Communication (ISAC), a pillar of 6G that enables networks to both communicate and sense their environment using radio infrastructure and spectrum. ISAC leverages widely deployed infrastructure to allow networks to detect presence, motion, and objects, while preserving privacy and operating cost efficiently at scale. Underlying this practical implementation of collaborative sensing are baseline ISAC architectural concepts developed in the first release of the ETSI ISAC Industry Specification Group (ISG). InterDigital’s Alain Mourad is serving a second term as Chair of the ETSI ISAC ISG.

“Our achievement is not just a research milestone, but a preview of how future networks will sense, adapt, and intelligently serve people and industries. One of the biggest challenges in delivering ISAC is maintaining reliable sensing performance in the face of coverage gaps and resource constraints. Together with Türk Telekom, we’re helping ensure that when 6G arrives, sensing-enabled services will be ready to scale.”

– Rajesh Pankaj, CTO, InterDigital 

The collaboration leverages InterDigital’s experimental 6G sensing research platform alongside Türk Telekom’s deep expertise in next-generation network trials and real-world operator insights. Together, the companies validated how collaborative sensing can ensure continuous quality of service for sensing-enabled applications, regardless of user location or network conditions.

“At Türk Telekom, we are committed to shaping the future of communications through international research partnerships. This collaboration with InterDigital highlights how 6G can unlock entirely new capabilities by blending communication and sensing. Collaborative cellular and Wi-Fi sensing will enable applications ranging from smart manufacturing and healthcare to intelligent buildings in a privacy-preserving manner. Türk Telekom as Türkiye’s first and largest integrated operator is driving digital transformation across industries, bringing tangible value to society.”

– Zafer Orhan, CNO, Türk Telekom

The demonstration revealed robust near real-time indoor human presence detection with higher accuracy and resilience than single-network sensing, validating collaborative sensing as a viable architectural approach for future 6G systems.

Potential use cases include:

• Manufacturing: Improved sensing resolution and accuracy for automated production lines
• Healthcare: Precise, non-wearable patient monitoring in clinical environments
• Situational Awareness: Privacy-preserving detection and tracking without visual sensors

“This achievement strongly aligns with the Wireless Broadband Alliance’s work on Wi-Fi–cellular convergence and the evolution toward 6G. At the WBA, we are actively exploring how Wi-Fi can complement cellular networks to deliver seamless, intelligent, and context-aware services. InterDigital and Türk Telekom’s collaborative sensing demonstration is an important step in validating how integrated sensing and communication across Wi-Fi and cellular can unlock new capabilities, particularly indoors, while supporting scalable, privacy-conscious innovation.”

– Tiago Rodrigues, CEO, Wireless Broadband Alliance 

As global research accelerates toward 6G commercialization in the early 2030s, the insights from this collaboration will inform future network architectures, operator strategies, and international standards development.

InterDigital and Türk Telekom will showcase their collaborative sensing demo at Mobile World Congress 2026.