[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"doc-detail-82156-en":3,"doc-seo-82156-105":29,"detail-sidebar-cat-0-en-105":91},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"success",{"doc_id":7,"user_id":8,"nickname":9,"user_avatar":10,"doc_module":4,"category_id":11,"category_name":12,"doc_title":13,"doc_description":14,"doc_content":15,"file_id":16,"file_url":17,"file_type":18,"file_size":19,"view_count":20,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":20,"is_downloadable":20,"audit_status":20,"page_count":21,"language":22,"language_code":23,"site_id":24,"html_lang":23,"table_of_contents":25,"faqs":26,"seo_title":13,"seo_description":14,"update_tm":27,"read_time":28},82156,1099514067438,"River Wang","https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/avatar/100002539ee87300030?x-image-process=image/resize,m_fixed,w_180,h_180&k=1780474512215547542",8,"Research & Report","Continuous Aperture Array-Assisted Integrated Communication and Navigation in LEO Satellite Constellations","A novel continuous aperture array (CAPA)-assisted integrated communication and navigation (ICAN) framework is developed for low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite constellations. An electromagnetic collaborative transmission model enables multiple CAPA-equipped satellites to simultaneously radiate downlink data and navigation reference signals over shared spectrum. Communication rate and the navigation Cramer–Rao bound (CRB) are derived, revealing coupling between dual-function beamformers and system performance. A joint beamforming optimization minimizes average CRB under transmit power budgets and minimum-rate constraints, solved via an iterative convex optimization algorithm using an ICAN channel subspace transformation.","Continuous Aperture Array-Assisted Integrated Communication and Navigation in LEO Satellite  \nConstellations  \nQi Wang, Xiaoming Chen, Qiao Qi, Zhaolin Wang, and Yuanwei Liu  \narXiv :2607 .09030v 1 [ cs .IT] 10 Jul 2026  \nAbstract—This paper proposes a novel continuous aperture array (CAPA)-assisted integrated communication and navigation (ICAN) framework for low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite constellations. Within this framework, an electromagnetic-based collaborative transmission model is developed, in which multiple satellites equipped with CAPAs simultaneously radiate downlink data streams and navigation reference signals over shared spectrum. Building upon this, the achievable communication rate and the navigation Cramer-Rao bound (CRB) are derived, which explicitly characterize the intrinsic coupling between the dual-function beamformers and system performance. To improve the positioning accuracy with communication quality of service guarantee, a joint beamforming optimization problem is formulated to minimize the average CRB subject to transmit power budgets and minimum rate constraints. To tackle the inherent infinite-dimensionality of the CAPA beamformer design, an ICAN channel subspace is introduced to equivalently transform the formulation into a tractable finite-dimensional problem, which is then efficiently solved via an iterative convex optimization algorithm. Finally, numerical results demonstrate that the proposed CAPA-assisted beamforming design algorithm significantly outperforms conventional discrete phased array architecturesand other benchmark schemes, yielding notable improvements in ICAN performance.  \nIndex Terms—6G, electromagnetic information theory, LEO satellite constellation, continuous aperture array, integrated communication and navigation  \nI. INTRODUCTION  \nThe sixth-generation (6G) mobile communication era is driving the evolution toward globally connected, where low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite constellations, as non-terrestrial network (NTN), are expected to play an important role [1] . By deploying thousands of satellites worldwide, these megaconstellations aim to provide space-based connectivity with seamless coverage, low latency, and high throughput [2] .  \nBeyond communication, dense LEO satellite constellations also offer an attractive platform for high-performance positioning, navigation, and timing (PNT) services. Compared with traditional global navigation satellite systems (GNSS) operating in medium and high orbits, LEO satellite constellations can provide improved geometry and signal conditions due to their  \nQi Wang and Xiaoming Chen are with the College of Information Science and Electronic Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310027, China ([e-mails: wang-qi@zju.edu.cn](e-mails: wang-qi@zju.edu.cn); chen xiaoming@zju.edu.cn) . Qiao Qi is with the School of Information Science and Technology, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou 311121, China (e-mail: [qiqiao@hznu.edu.cn](qiqiao@hznu.edu.cn)). Zhaolin Wang and Yuanwei Liu are with the Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, the University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China (e-mail: [zhaolin.wang@hku.hk](zhaolin.wang@hku.hk); yuanwei@hku.hk).  \norbital characteristics and enhanced visibility, which enables stronger geometric diversity and a more robust signal environment [3] . These features have motivated integrated communication and navigation (ICAN) as an emerging direction for 6G networks [4], [5] . By jointly designing communication and navigation functions on a shared platform, ICAN can improve spectrum and hardware utilization, reduce deployment cost and payload complexity, and deliver performance gains for both services.  \nHowever, achieving high-performance ICAN is constrained by conventional antenna technologies, particularly spatially discrete phased arrays that are widely used in current satellite payloads. The high orbital velocity of LEO satellites requires agile and continuous beam tracking. In practice, di","cbCaikzC2UyjENPo","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaikzC2UyjENPo","pdf",1331140,1,14,"English","en",105,"# Introduction\n## 6G and LEO satellite constellation background\n## Motivation for integrated communication and navigation (ICAN)\n## Limitations of discrete phased arrays\n## CAPA architecture as a promising enabler","[{\"question\":\"What ICAN framework does the paper propose for LEO satellite constellations?\",\"answer\":\"The paper proposes a continuous aperture array (CAPA)-assisted integrated communication and navigation (ICAN) framework, where satellites collaboratively transmit both downlink data and navigation reference signals using shared spectrum.\"},{\"question\":\"How are communication performance and navigation performance characterized?\",\"answer\":\"The work derives the achievable communication rate and the navigation Cramer–Rao bound (CRB), explicitly characterizing the intrinsic coupling between the dual-function beamformers and overall system performance.\"},{\"question\":\"How is the joint beamforming problem made tractable for CAPA design?\",\"answer\":\"An ICAN channel subspace is introduced to transform the inherently infinite-dimensional CAPA beamformer design into a finite-dimensional formulation, which is then efficiently solved using an iterative convex optimization algorithm.\"}]",1784178485,35,{"code":4,"msg":30,"data":31},"ok",{"site_id":24,"language":23,"slug":32,"title":13,"keywords":33,"description":14,"schema_data":34,"social_meta":86,"head_meta":88,"extra_data":90,"updated_unix":27},"continuous-aperture-array-assisted-integrated-communication-and-navigation-in-leo-satellite-constellations","",{"@graph":35,"@context":85},[36,53,68],{"@type":37,"itemListElement":38},"BreadcrumbList",[39,43,47,50],{"item":40,"name":41,"@type":42,"position":20},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":44,"name":45,"@type":42,"position":46},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/","Document",2,{"item":48,"name":12,"@type":42,"position":49},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/research-report/",3,{"item":51,"name":13,"@type":42,"position":52},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/continuous-aperture-array-assisted-integrated-communication-and-navigation-in-leo-satellite-constellations/82156/",4,{"url":51,"name":13,"@type":54,"author":55,"headline":13,"publisher":57,"fileFormat":60,"inLanguage":23,"description":14,"dateModified":61,"datePublished":62,"encodingFormat":60,"isAccessibleForFree":63,"interactionStatistic":64},"DigitalDocument",{"name":9,"@type":56},"Person",{"url":40,"name":58,"@type":59},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-07-17","2026-07-16",true,{"@type":65,"interactionType":66,"userInteractionCount":20},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":67},"ViewAction",{"@type":69,"mainEntity":70},"FAQPage",[71,77,81],{"name":72,"@type":73,"acceptedAnswer":74},"What ICAN framework does the paper propose for LEO satellite constellations?","Question",{"text":75,"@type":76},"The paper proposes a continuous aperture array (CAPA)-assisted integrated communication and navigation (ICAN) framework, where satellites collaboratively transmit both downlink data and navigation reference signals using shared spectrum.","Answer",{"name":78,"@type":73,"acceptedAnswer":79},"How are communication performance and navigation performance characterized?",{"text":80,"@type":76},"The work derives the achievable communication rate and the navigation Cramer–Rao bound (CRB), explicitly characterizing the intrinsic coupling between the dual-function beamformers and overall system performance.",{"name":82,"@type":73,"acceptedAnswer":83},"How is the joint beamforming problem made tractable for CAPA design?",{"text":84,"@type":76},"An ICAN channel subspace is introduced to transform the inherently infinite-dimensional CAPA beamformer design into a finite-dimensional 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