Samsung and Verizon Trial 6G Sensing Tech to Map Crowds in Dallas

Samsung Electronics and Verizon have successfully completed a field trial of Integrated Sensing and Communication (ISAC) technology during a major international soccer fan event in Dallas, Texas. The test demonstrates a critical leap toward 6G by allowing a wireless network to function as a sensor to monitor physical environments in real time.

To achieve this, the partners utilized a virtualized network to generate crowd density heatmaps without requiring any additional equipment beyond the existing 5G infrastructure. The technical setup featured a CBRS radio unit with 40 MHz of spectrum mounted on a Verizon Cell-On-Wheels (COW) to capture channel variations from commercial 5G devices. This system integrated commercial AI-powered vRAN and vCore with a specialized ISAC application running on Samsung's Network in a Server (NIS) edge-AI platform.

The Shift to Sensing Networks

ISAC is considered a foundational pillar of 6G, enabling wireless networks to perform communication and sensing—similar to radar—simultaneously. Traditionally, networks acted as passive data pipes, but the move toward a software-driven virtualized RAN (vRAN) architecture allows operators to introduce sensing capabilities more flexibly. By leveraging software rather than rigid hardware, companies can deploy these advanced features across existing infrastructure with greater agility.

Implications for Public Safety

This capability transforms the network into an active intelligence tool for venue management. By identifying crowded areas in real time, the technology can help event attendees locate services more efficiently while providing organizers and security personnel with the data needed to manage public safety and crowd flow.

According to Yago Tenorio, CTO and SVP of Technology Development at Verizon, the company's early investments in flexible, software-driven vRAN architecture provided the agility necessary to trial these 6G concepts over existing infrastructure. Charlie Zhang, EVP at Samsung Research America, noted that the trial represents a significant leap in integrating AI-driven sensing into network infrastructure.

The Path to AI-Native Networks

The Dallas trial proves that 6G capabilities can be integrated into current commercial virtualized networks today. This moves the industry closer to "AI-native" networks that can perceive and interact with their physical surroundings. As the industry watches the transition from 5G to 6G, the focus will likely shift toward how these sensing capabilities can be scaled across urban environments to improve everything from traffic management to emergency response.