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.
