  This paper proposes a novel waveform design approach named COSMIC
(Connectivity-Oriented Sensing Method for Imaging and Communication). The
generation of radio images of the environment is enabled by imposing an
extended orthogonality condition among waveforms. In contrast to traditional
time, frequency, or space multiplexing systems, COSMIC achieves orthogonality
through algebraic precoding of the transmitted waveforms from all antennas.
Furthermore, by leveraging the degrees of freedom inherent in the assumption
that the imaging field of view is significantly smaller than the length of the
transmitted signals, the resulting waveforms are designed to convey
communication symbols without impeding the sensing operations. We analytically
demonstrate that the efficiency of imaging and communication sub-systems can be
tuned according to the specific use case requirements. Simulation results
indicate that COSMIC waveforms facilitate accurate environmental imaging while
preserving near-optimal communication performance in terms of error rate and
capacity.
