Waveform design for JCS in NTN systems

Abstract

In some implementations, a non-terrestrial network (NTN) platform may transmit a radio frequency (RF) signal toward the earth, the RF signal including an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) waveform having a plurality of symbols, the plurality of symbols including a JCS symbol and one or more non-JCS symbols, where: the RF signal is incident on an area of the earth defining a coverage area, and the one or more non-JCS symbols are not incident on the area of the earth defining the coverage area; and the duration of the cyclic prefix (CP) of the JCS symbol is a function of the width of the coverage area. The NTN platform may receive one or more reflections of a JCS symbol at the NTN platform.

Description

[0001] Related Applications

[0002] This application claims the benefit of U.S. application No. 17 / 822,057, filed on August 24, 2022, entitled “WAVEFORM DESIGNS FOR JCSIN NTN SYSTEMS,” which is assigned to the assignee of this application and is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. Technical Field

[0003] In general, the present disclosure relates to the field of radio frequency (RF) based sensing (or simply "RF sensing"). More specifically, the present disclosure relates to RF sensing in communication networks including non-terrestrial networks (NTNs). Background Art

[0004] Camera-based optical imaging of the Earth by satellite can provide accurate and detailed images of the Earth's surface and the structures and objects thereon. Since visible light cameras are limited to capturing images during the day, which may further suffer from interference from atmospheric phenomena such as clouds, satellite-based RF sensing can be used as a viable alternative for performing imaging of the Earth's surface. The waveforms used for such RF sensing are generally incompatible with the orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) waveforms used in prospective sixth generation (6G) wireless communication systems with NTN systems. Therefore, RF sensing is typically performed by non-communication systems. Summary of the invention

[0005] Embodiments herein provide a joint communication and sensing (JCS) (also referred to as JCAS or joint sensing and communication (JSC)) solution that modifies the cyclic prefix (CP) of symbols in OFDM waveforms used in current and prospective NTN communication systems. The modified symbols (referred to herein as JCS symbols) can allow both RF sensing and communication. As described in further detail herein, the CP duration can be a function of the width of the RF footprint of the RF signal sent by the NTN platform and the bandwidth of the RF signal.

[0006] According to the present disclosure, an example method for implementing joint communication and sensing (JCS) through a non-terrestrial network (NTN) may include: transmitting a radio frequency (RF) signal toward the earth using an NTN platform, the RF signal including an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) waveform having a plurality of symbols, the plurality of symbols including a JCS symbol and one or more non-JCS symbols, wherein the RF signal is incident on an area of ​​the earth defining a coverage area, and a duration of a cyclic prefix (CP) of the JCS symbol is a function of a width of the coverage area. The method may also include: receiving one or more reflections of the JCS symbol at the NTN platform.

[0007] According to the present disclosure, an example method for implementing joint communication and sensing (JCS) through a non-terrestrial network (NTN) may include: receiving a radio frequency (RF) signal at a user equipment (UE) from an NTN platform, the RF signal including an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) waveform having a plurality of symbols, the plurality of symbols including a JCS symbol and one or more non-JCS symbols, wherein the RF signal is incident on an area of ​​the earth defining a coverage area, and a duration of a cyclic prefix (CP) of the JCS symbol is a function of a width of the coverage area of ​​the RF signal. The method may also include: decoding the JCS symbol into a downlink (DL) communication symbol.

[0008] According to the present disclosure, an example NTN platform for implementing joint communication and sensing (JCS) through a non-terrestrial network (NTN) may include: a transceiver; a memory; and one or more processors communicatively coupled to the transceiver and the memory, wherein the one or more processors are configured to: transmit a radio frequency (RF) signal toward the earth using the transceiver, the RF signal including an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) waveform having a plurality of symbols, the plurality of symbols including a JCS symbol and one or more non-JCS symbols, wherein: the RF signal is incident on an area of ​​the earth defining a coverage area, and the duration of a cyclic prefix (CP) of the JCS symbol is a function of the width of the coverage area. The one or more processors may also be configured to: receive one or more reflections of the JCS symbol using the transceiver.

[0009] According to the present disclosure, an example user equipment (UE) for implementing joint communication and sensing (JCS) through a non-terrestrial network (NTN) may include: a transceiver; a memory; and one or more processors communicatively coupled to the transceiver and the memory, wherein the one or more processors are configured to: receive a radio frequency (RF) signal from an NTN platform via the transceiver, the RF signal including an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) waveform having a plurality of symbols, the plurality of symbols including a JCS symbol and one or more non-JCS symbols, wherein: the RF signal is incident on an area of ​​the earth defining a coverage area, and the duration of a cyclic prefix (CP) of the JCS symbol is a function of the width of the coverage area. The one or more processors may also be configured to: decode the JCS symbol into a downlink (DL) communication symbol.

[0010] This summary is neither intended to identify key or essential features of the claimed subject matter nor to be used alone to determine the scope of the claimed subject matter. The subject matter should be understood by reference to appropriate portions of the entire specification of the disclosure, any or all of the drawings, and each claim. The foregoing, together with other features and examples, will be described in more detail in the following description, claims, and drawings. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0011] Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of a positioning system according to an embodiment.

[0012] Figure 2 is a schematic diagram of a fifth generation (5G) new radio (NR) positioning network, which shows a positioning system (e.g., Figure 1 An embodiment of a positioning system).

[0013] Figure 3 is a diagram illustrating aspects of a non-terrestrial network (NTN) system according to an embodiment.

[0014] Figure 4 is a simplified schematic diagram of a synthetic aperture radar (SAR) setup according to an embodiment.

[0015] Figure 5 is a schematic diagram showing an example of a range cell in a SAR setting.

[0016] Fig. 6A and 6B is a timing diagram illustrating how joint communication and sensing (JCS) may be used in an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) waveform in accordance with some embodiments.

[0017] Figure 7is a timeline showing how a receive window may follow a JCS symbol according to some embodiments (similar to Fig. 6A and 6B ) diagram.

[0018] Figure 8 is a flow chart of a method for implementing JCS through NTN according to an embodiment, and the method can be executed by the NTN platform.

[0019] Fig. 9 is a flowchart of another method for implementing JCS through NTN according to an embodiment, and the method may be performed by a user equipment (UE).

[0020] Fig.10 is a block diagram of an embodiment of a UE that may be utilized in embodiments as described herein.

[0021] Fig.11 is a block diagram of an embodiment of an NTN platform that may be utilized in embodiments as described herein.

[0022] Fig.12 is a block diagram of an embodiment of a computer system that may be utilized in embodiments as described herein.

[0023] According to some example implementations, similar reference numerals in the various drawings indicate similar elements. In addition, multiple instances of the element can be indicated by following a letter or a hyphen and a second numeral behind the first numeral used for the element. For example, multiple instances of element 110 can be indicated as 110-1, 110-2, 110-3, etc. or 110a, 110b, 110c, etc. When only the first numeral is used to refer to such an element, it will be understood as any instance of the element (for example, the element 110 in the previous example will refer to element 110-1, 110-2 and 110-3 or element 110a, 110b and 110c). DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0024] For the purpose of describing the innovative aspects of various embodiments, the following description refers to certain implementations. However, those skilled in the art will readily recognize that the teachings herein can be applied in a variety of different ways. The described implementations can be implemented in any device, system, or network capable of sending and receiving radio frequency (RF) signals in accordance with any communication standard such as any of the following: the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.15.4 standard for ultra-wideband (UWB), the IEEE 802.11 standard (including those identified as Technical standards), Standard, code division multiple access (CDMA), frequency division multiple access (FDMA), time division multiple access (TDMA), global system for mobile communications (GSM), GSM / general packet radio service (GPRS), enhanced data GSM environment (EDGE), terrestrial trunked radio (TETRA), wideband-CDMA (W-CDMA), evolution data optimized (EV-DO), 1xEV-DO, EV-DO Rev A, EV-DO Rev B, high rate packet data (HPRD), high speed packet access (HSPA), high speed downlink packet access (HSDPA), high speed uplink packet access (HSUPA), evolved high speed packet access (HSPA+), long term evolution (LTE), advanced mobile phone system (AMPS), or other known signals for communicating within a wireless, cellular or Internet of Things (IoT) network (e.g., a system utilizing 3G, 4G, 5G, 6G technology, or another implementation thereof).

[0025] As used herein, an "RF signal" includes electromagnetic waves that transmit information through the space between a transmitter (or transmitting device) and a receiver (or receiving device). As used herein, a transmitter may send a single "RF signal" or multiple "RF signals" to a receiver. However, due to the propagation characteristics of RF signals through multiple channels or paths, a receiver may receive multiple "RF signals" corresponding to each transmitted RF signal.

[0026] In addition, unless otherwise specified, references to "reference signals", "positioning reference signals", "reference signals for positioning", etc. may be used to refer to signals used to locate a user equipment (UE). As described in more detail herein, such signals may include any of a variety of signal types, but may not necessarily be limited to positioning reference signals (PRS) as defined in relevant wireless standards.

[0027] As previously mentioned, satellite-based and other non-terrestrial RF sensing can be used to perform RF sensing of the earth's surface (e.g., RF imaging). However, the waveforms used in such RF sensing are typically specific to RF sensing applications and are therefore typically incompatible with orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) waveforms used in wireless communication networks (e.g., 4G / 5G / 6G cellular networks). However, as wireless communication networks expand to include non-terrestrial network nodes (also referred to herein as non-terrestrial network (NTN) platforms) such as satellites and aircraft (aircraft, drones, balloons, etc.), it may make economic sense to utilize such nodes to further perform non-terrestrial RF sensing. Such non-terrestrial RF sensing may be used in addition to or as an alternative to terrestrial network (TN)-based RF sensing. As mentioned and as described in further detail below, embodiments of the present invention are intended to adjust OFDM symbols in a manner that enables joint communication and sensing (JCS) operations, thereby achieving both communication and RF sensing.

[0028] In some embodiments, NTN RF sensing may be used in communication and positioning systems that may be implemented in a wireless cellular network. Figure 1 Examples of such communication and positioning systems are provided.

[0029] Figure 1 is a simplified diagram of a communication and positioning system 100 according to an embodiment, wherein a UE 105, a location server 160, and / or other components of the communication and positioning system 100 may use the techniques provided herein for implementing a JCS at an NTN platform. (That is, the embodiments are not necessarily limited to such a system.) The techniques described herein may be implemented by one or more components of the communication and positioning system 100. The communication and positioning system 100 may include: a UE 105; one or more satellites 110 (also referred to as space vehicles (SVs)), which may include global navigation satellite system (GNSS) satellites (e.g., satellites of the Global Positioning System (GPS), GLONASS, Galileo, BeiDou, etc.) and / or non-terrestrial network (NTN) satellites; a base station 120; an access point (AP) 130; a location server 160; a network 170; and an external client 180. In general, the communication and positioning system 100 can estimate the location of the UE 105 based on the RF signals received and / or sent by the UE 105 and the known locations of other components that send and / or receive RF signals (e.g., GNSS satellites 110, base stations 120, APs 130). In addition, wireless devices such as UE 105, base stations 120, and satellites 110 (and / or other NTN platforms that can be implemented on aircraft, drones, balloons, etc.) can be used for RF sensing.

[0030] It should be noted that Figure 1Only a general illustration of the various components is provided, any or all of which may be used as appropriate, and each of which may be replicated as desired. Specifically, although only one UE 105 is shown, it will be understood that many UEs (e.g., hundreds, thousands, millions, etc.) may utilize the communication and positioning system 100. Similarly, the communication and positioning system 100 may include more than one UE. Figure 1 A greater or lesser number of base stations 120 and / or APs 130 are shown. The connections shown connecting the various components in the communication and positioning system 100 include data and signaling connections, which may include additional (intermediate) components, direct or indirect physical and / or wireless connections, and / or additional networks. In addition, components may be rearranged, combined, separated, replaced, and / or omitted depending on the desired functionality. In some embodiments, for example, the external client 180 may be directly connected to the location server 160. Those of ordinary skill in the art will recognize many modifications to the components shown.

[0031] Depending on the desired functionality, network 170 may include any of a variety of wireless and / or wired networks. Network 170 may, for example, include any combination of public and / or private networks, local area networks and / or wide area networks, etc. In addition, network 170 may utilize one or more wired and / or wireless communication technologies. In some embodiments, network 170 may include, for example, cellular or other mobile networks, wireless local area networks (WLANs), wireless wide area networks (WWANs), and / or the Internet. Examples of network 170 include long-term evolution (LTE) wireless networks, fifth-generation (5G) wireless networks (also referred to as new radio (NR) wireless networks or 5G NR wireless networks), Wi-Fi WLANs, and the Internet. LTE, 5G, and NR are wireless technologies defined or being defined by the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP). Network 170 may also include more than one network and / or more than one network type.

[0032] The base station 120 and the access point (AP) 130 may be communicatively coupled to the network 170. In some embodiments, the base station 120 may be owned, maintained and / or operated by a cellular network provider and may employ any of a variety of wireless technologies as described herein below. Depending on the technology of the network 170, the base station 120 may include a Node B, an evolved Node B (eNodeB or eNB), a base transceiver station (BTS), a radio base station (RBS), an NR NodeB (gNB), a next generation eNB (ng-eNB), etc. The base station 120 as a gNB or ng-eNB may be part of a next generation radio access network (NG-RAN), and in the case where the network 170 is a 5G network, the NG-RAN may be connected to a 5G core network (5GC). From the perspective of an open radio access network (O-RAN) and / or a virtualized radio access network (V-RAN or vRAN) in a 5G or later network, the functions performed by a base station 120 in an earlier generation network (e.g., 3G and 4G) may be divided into different functional components (e.g., radio unit (RU), distributed unit (DU), and central unit (CU)) and layers (e.g., L1 / L2 / L3), which may be executed on different devices at different locations, which may be connected, for example, via fronthaul, midhaul, and backhaul connections. As referred to herein, a "base station" (or ng-eNB, gNB, etc.) may include any or all of these functional components. AP 130 may include, for example, a Wi-Fi AP, or AP, or an AP with cellular capabilities (e.g., 4G LTE and / or 5G NR). Thus, UE 105 can access network 170 via base station 120 using first communication link 133, thereby sending and receiving information with network-connected devices (such as location server 160). Additionally or alternatively, since AP 130 can also be communicatively coupled with network 170, UE 105 can communicate with network-connected devices and Internet-connected devices (including location server 160) using second communication link 135 or via one or more other mobile devices 145.

[0033] As used herein, the term "base station" may generally refer to a single physical transmission point or multiple co-located physical transmission points, which may be located at a base station 120. A transmit receive point (TRP) (also referred to as a transmit / receive point) corresponds to this type of transmission point, and the term "TRP" may be used interchangeably herein with the terms "gNB," "ng-eNB," and "base station." In some cases, a base station 120 may include multiple TRPs, for example, where each TRP is associated with a different antenna or a different antenna array for the base station 120. As used herein, the transmit function of a TRP may be performed using a transmit point (TP), and / or the receive function of a TRP may be performed by a receive point (RP) that may be physically separate or different from a TP. That is, a TRP may include both a TP and an RP. A physical transmission point may include an antenna array of a base station 120 (e.g., as in a multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) system and / or where the base station employs beamforming). The term "base station" may additionally refer to multiple non-co-located physical transmission points, which may be a distributed antenna system (DAS) (a network of spatially separated antennas connected to a common source via a transmission medium) or a remote radio head (RRH) (a remote base station connected to a serving base station).

[0034] Satellites 110 may be utilized for positioning in communications in one or more ways. For example, satellites 110 (also referred to as space vehicles (SVs)) may be part of a global navigation satellite system (GNSS), such as a global positioning system (GPS), GLONASS, Galileo, or BeiDou. Positioning using RF signals from GNSS satellites may include measuring multiple GNSS signals at a GNSS receiver of UE 105 to perform code-based and / or carrier-based positioning, which may be highly accurate. Additionally or alternatively, satellites 110 may be utilized for NTN-based positioning, where satellites 110 may be functionally operated as TRPs (or TPs) of a network (e.g., LTE and / or NR networks) and may be communicatively coupled to network 170. Specifically, reference signals (e.g., PRSs) transmitted by satellites 110 for NTN-based positioning may be similar to those transmitted by base stations 120 and may be coordinated by location server 160. In some embodiments, satellites 110 used for NTN-based positioning may be different from those used for GNSS-based positioning. In some embodiments, NTN annotations may include non-terrestrial vehicles (such as aircraft, balloons, drones, etc.) that may be in addition to or as an alternative to NTN satellites. NTN satellites 110 and / or other NTN platforms may further be utilized to perform RF sensing. As described in more detail below, the satellites may use JCS symbols in the OFDM waveform to allow both RF sensing and communication.

[0035] The location server 160 may include a server and / or other computing device configured to determine an estimated location of the UE 105 and / or provide data (e.g., “assistance data”) to the UE 105 to facilitate location measurement and / or location determination by the UE 105. According to some embodiments, the location server 160 may include a Home Security User Plane Location (SUPL) Location Platform (H-SLP), which may support the SUPL User Plane (UP) location solution defined by the Open Mobile Alliance (OMA), and may support location services for the UE 105 based on subscription information for the UE 105 stored in the location server 160. In some embodiments, the location server 160 may include a Discovery SLP (D-SLP) or an Emergency SLP (E-SLP). The location server 160 may also include an Enhanced Serving Mobile Location Center (E-SMLC) that supports positioning the UE 105 using a control plane (CP) location solution for LTE radio access by the UE 105. The location server 160 may also include a location management function (LMF) that supports positioning the UE 105 using a control plane (CP) location solution for NR or LTE radio access performed by the UE 105.

[0036] Although ground components such as AP 130 and base station 120 can be fixed, embodiments are not limited thereto. Mobile components can be used. For example, in some embodiments, the position of UE 105 can be estimated based at least in part on measurements of RF signals 140 transmitted between UE 105 and one or more other mobile devices 145 (which can be mobile or fixed). As shown, other mobile devices can include, for example, mobile phones 145-1, vehicles 145-2, static communication / positioning devices 145-3, or other static and / or mobile devices that can provide wireless signals for locating UE 105, or combinations thereof. Wireless signals from mobile devices 145 for locating UE 105 can include RF signals using, for example, the following: (including Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE)), IEEE 802.11x (e.g. ), ultra-wideband (UWB), IEEE802.15x, or a combination thereof. The mobile device 145 may additionally or alternatively use non-RF wireless signals (such as infrared signals or other optical technologies) to locate the UE 105.

[0037] The estimated location of UE 105 may be used in various applications, for example, to assist direction finding or navigation for a user of UE 105 or to assist another user (e.g., associated with external client 180) in locating UE 105. "Location" is also referred to herein as "location estimate," "estimated location," "location," "position," "position estimate," "position fix," "estimated position," "location fix," or "fix." The process of determining a location may be referred to as "positioning," "location determination," "location determination," etc. The location of UE 105 may include an absolute location of UE 105 (e.g., longitude and latitude and possibly altitude) or a relative location of UE 105 (e.g., a location expressed as a distance north or south, east or west, and possibly above or below some other known fixed location (including, for example, the location of base station 120 or AP 130) or some other location (such as the location of UE 105 at some known previous time, or the location of mobile device 145 (e.g., another UE) at some known previous time)). The location may be specified as a geodetic location, which includes coordinates that may be absolute (e.g., latitude, longitude, and optionally altitude), relative (e.g., relative to some known absolute location), or local (e.g., X, Y, and optionally Z coordinates according to a coordinate system defined relative to a local area (such as a factory, warehouse, college campus, shopping mall, stadium, or convention center)). The location may alternatively be a municipal location and may then include one or more of: a street address (e.g., including a country, state, county, city, name or label of a road and / or street, and / or road or street number), and / or a label or name of a place, a building, a portion of a building, a floor of a building, and / or a room within a building, etc. The location may also include an uncertainty or error indication, such as the horizontal distance and likely vertical distance that the expected location is wrong, or an indication of an area or volume (e.g., a circle or ellipse) within which the UE 105 is expected to be located with some confidence level (e.g., 95% confidence).

[0038] The external client 180 may be a web server or remote application that may have some association with the UE 105 (e.g., may be accessed by a user of the UE 105), or may be a server, application, or computer system that provides location services (which may include obtaining and providing the location of the UE 105) to one or more other users (e.g., to enable services such as a friend or relative finder or a child or pet location). Additionally or alternatively, the external client 180 may obtain the location of the UE 105 and provide it to emergency service providers, government agencies, etc.

[0039] As previously mentioned, the example communication and positioning system 100 may be implemented using a wireless communication network, such as an LTE-based or 5G NR-based network, or a future 6G network. Figure 2 A schematic diagram of a 5G NR communication and positioning system 200 is shown, which illustrates an embodiment of a positioning system (e.g., communication and positioning system 100) implementing 5G NR. The 5G NR communication and positioning system 200 may be configured to determine the location of a UE 105 by implementing one or more positioning methods using access nodes (which may include NR Node Bs (gNBs) 210-1 and 210-2 (collectively and generally referred to herein as gNBs 210), ng-eNBs 214, and / or WLANs 216). The gNBs 210 and / or ng-eNBs 214 may correspond to Figure 1 The base station 120, and the WLAN 216 may correspond to Figure 1 One or more access points 130. Optionally, the 5G NR communication and positioning system 200 can be further configured to determine the location of the UE 105 by implementing one or more positioning methods using the LMF 220 (which can correspond to the location server 160). Here, the 5G NR communication and positioning system 200 includes the UE 105 and components of a 5G NR network, which includes a next generation (NG) radio access network (RAN) (NG-RAN) 235 and a 5G core network (5G CN) 240. The 5G network can also be referred to as an NR network; the NG-RAN 235 can be referred to as a 5G RAN or as an NR RAN; and the 5G CN 240 can be referred to as an NG core network. Additional components of the 5G NR communication and positioning system 200 are described below. The 5G NR communication and positioning system 200 may include additional or alternative components.

[0040] The 5G NR communication and positioning system 200 may also utilize information from satellites 110. As previously noted, satellites 110 may include GNSS satellites from a GNSS system such as the Global Positioning System (GPS) or similar systems (e.g., GLONASS, Galileo, BeiDou, Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS)). Additionally or alternatively, satellites 110 may include NTN satellites that may be communicatively coupled to LMF 220 and may be operatively used as TRPs (or TPs) in NG-RAN 235. In this manner, satellites 110 may communicate with one or more gNBs 210.

[0041] It should be noted that Figure 2 Only a general illustration of the various components is provided, any or all of which may be used as appropriate, and each of which may be duplicated or omitted as desired. Specifically, although only one UE 105 is shown, it will be understood that many UEs (e.g., hundreds, thousands, millions, etc.) may utilize the 5G NR communication and positioning system 200. Similarly, the 5G NR communication and positioning system 200 may include a larger (or smaller) number of satellites 110, gNBs 210, ng-eNBs 214, wireless local area networks (WLANs) 216, access and mobility management functions (AMFs) 215, external clients 230, and / or other components. The connections shown connecting the various components in the 5G NR communication and positioning system 200 include data and signaling connections, which may include additional (intermediate) components, direct or indirect physical and / or wireless connections, and / or additional networks. In addition, components may be rearranged, combined, separated, replaced, and / or omitted depending on the desired functionality.

[0042] UE 105 may include and / or be referred to as a device, a mobile device, a wireless device, a mobile terminal, a terminal, a mobile station (MS), a terminal (SET) enabled with secure user plane location (SUPL), or some other name. In addition, UE 105 may correspond to a cellular phone, a smart phone, a laptop computer, a tablet device, a personal data assistant (PDA), a navigation device, an Internet of Things (IoT) device, or some other portable or portable device. Typically, but not necessarily, UE 105 may support wireless communications using one or more radio access technologies (RATs), such as GSM, CDMA, W-CDMA, LTE, High Speed ​​Packet Data (HRPD), IEEE 802.11 Bluetooth, Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX TM), 5G NR (e.g., using NG-RAN 235 and 5G CN 240), etc. The UE 105 may also support wireless communications using WLAN 216, which is similar to one or more RATs and as previously described with respect to Figure 1 The use of one or more of these RATs may allow the UE 105 to communicate with external clients 230 (e.g., via Figure 2 Elements of the 5G CN 240 not shown, or possibly via a Gateway Mobile Location Center (GMLC) 225) and / or allowing an external client 230 to receive location information about the UE 105 (e.g., via the GMLC 225). Figure 2 The external client 230 may correspond to Figure 1 An external client 180, such as implemented in a 5G NR network or communicatively coupled to a 5G NR network.

[0043] UE 105 may include a single entity or may include multiple entities, such as in a personal area network, where a user may employ audio, video and / or data I / O devices and / or body sensors and a separate wired or wireless modem. The estimate of the location of UE 105 may be referred to as a location, location estimate, location fix, fix, location, location estimate, or location fix, and may be geodetic, thereby providing location coordinates (e.g., latitude and longitude) for UE 105, which may or may not include a height component (e.g., altitude, height above ground level, floor level, or basement level, or depth below ground level, floor level, or basement level). Alternatively, the location of UE 105 may be expressed as a municipal location (e.g., as a postal address or the name of a certain point or small area in a building (such as a specific room or floor)). The location of UE 105 may also be expressed as an area or volume (defined geodetically or in municipal form) within which UE 105 is expected to be located with a certain probability or confidence level (e.g., 67%, 95%, etc.). The location of the UE 105 may also be a relative location, including, for example, a distance and direction or relative X, Y (and Z) coordinates defined relative to some origin at a known location, which may be defined geodetically, in municipal terms, or by reference to a point, area, or volume indicated on a map, floor plan, or building plan. In the description contained herein, unless otherwise indicated, the use of the term location may include any of these variations. When calculating the location of the UE, the local X, Y, and possibly Z coordinates are typically solved, and then, if necessary, the local coordinates are converted to absolute coordinates (e.g., for latitude, longitude, and height above or below mean sea level).

[0044] exist Figure 2 The base stations in the NG-RAN 235 shown in FIG. 2 may correspond to Figure 1 The base stations 120 in the NG-RAN 235 may include gNBs 210. The gNBs 210 pairs in the NG-RAN 235 may be connected to each other (e.g., as Figure 2 As shown directly or indirectly via other gNB 210). The communication interface between the base stations (gNB 210 and / or ng-eNB 214) may be referred to as an Xn interface 237. Access to the 5G network is provided to the UE 105 via wireless communication between the UE 105 and one or more of the gNBs 210, and the gNB 210 may provide wireless communication access to the 5G CN 240 on behalf of the UE 105 using 5G NR. The wireless interface between the base station (gNB210 and / or ng-eNB 214) and the UE 105 may be referred to as an Uu interface 239. 5G NR radio access may also be referred to as NR radio access or 5G radio access. In Figure 2 , it is assumed that the serving gNB for UE 105 is gNB 210-1, but other gNBs (e.g., gNB 210-2) can act as serving gNBs if UE 105 moves to another location, or can act as secondary gNBs to provide additional throughput and bandwidth to UE 105.

[0045] exist Figure 2 The base stations in the NG-RAN 235 shown in the figure may also or instead include a next generation evolved Node B, also referred to as ng-eNB 214. The ng-eNB 214 may be connected to one or more gNBs 210 in the NG-RAN 235, for example, directly or indirectly via other gNBs 210 and / or other ng-eNBs. The ng-eNB 214 may provide LTE radio access and / or evolved LTE (eLTE) radio access to the UE 105. Figure 2Some of the gNBs 210 (e.g., gNB 210-2) and / or ng-eNBs 214 in the 5G network may be configured to function as positioning-only beacons, which may transmit signals (e.g., positioning reference signals (PRS)) and / or may broadcast assistance data to assist in positioning of the UE 105, but may not receive signals from the UE 105 or from other UEs. Some of the gNBs 210 (e.g., gNB 210-2 and / or another gNB not shown) and / or ng-eNBs 214 may be configured to function as detection-only nodes, which may scan for signals containing, for example, PRS data, assistance data, or other location data. Such detection-only nodes may not transmit signals or data to the UE, but may transmit signals or data (related to, for example, PRS, assistance data, or other location data) to other network entities (e.g., one or more components of the 5G CN 240, an external client 230, or a controller), which may receive and store or use the data for positioning of at least the UE 105. It should be noted that although in Figure 2 Only one ng-eNB 214 is shown in the figure, but some embodiments may include multiple ng-eNBs 214. Base stations (e.g., gNB 210 and / or ng-eNB 214) can communicate directly with each other via an Xn communication interface. In addition or alternatively, the base station can communicate directly or indirectly with other components of the 5G NR communication and positioning system 200 (such as LMF 220 and AMF 215).

[0046] The 5G NR communication and positioning system 200 may also include one or more WLANs 216, which may be connected to a non-3GPP interworking function (N3IWF) 250 in the 5G CN 240 (e.g., in the case of an untrusted WLAN 216). For example, the WLAN 216 may support IEEE 802.11 Wi-Fi access for the UE 105 and may include one or more Wi-Fi APs (e.g., Figure 1Here, the N3IWF 250 may be connected to other elements in the 5G CN 240, such as the AMF 215. In some embodiments, the WLAN 216 may support another RAT such as Bluetooth. The N3IWF 250 may provide support for secure access of the UE 105 to other elements in the 5G CN 240 and / or may support interworking of one or more protocols used by the WLAN 216 and the UE 105 with one or more protocols used by other elements of the 5G CN 240 (such as the AMF 215). For example, the N3IWF 250 may support IPsec tunnel establishment with the UE 105, termination of the IKEv2 / IPsec protocol with the UE 105, termination of the N2 and N3 interfaces with the 5G CN 240 for the control plane and the user plane, respectively, and relay of uplink (UL) and downlink (DL) control plane non-access stratum (NAS) signaling between the UE 105 and the AMF 215 across the N1 interface. In some other embodiments, the WLAN 216 may be directly connected to elements in the 5G CN 240 (e.g., the AMF 215, such as Figure 2 ), rather than via N3IWF 250. For example, if WLAN 216 is a trusted WLAN for 5G CN 240 and a trusted WLAN interworking function (TWIF) (in Figure 2 216) is enabled, a direct connection from WLAN 216 to 5G CN 240 may occur. Figure 2 Only one WLAN 216 is shown in FIG. 2 , but some embodiments may include multiple WLANs 216 .

[0047] The access node may include any of a variety of network entities that enable communication between the UE 105 and the AMF 215. As mentioned, this may include a gNB 210, an ng-eNB 214, a WLAN 216, and / or other types of cellular base stations. However, an access node that provides the functionality described herein may additionally or alternatively include an implementation of a cellular base station. Figure 2 214, or WLAN 216.

[0048] In some embodiments, an access node (such as gNB 210, ng-eNB 214, and / or WLAN 216) (alone or in combination with other components of 5G NR communication and positioning system 200) may be configured to: in response to receiving a request for location information from LMF 220, obtain a location measurement for an uplink (UL) signal received from UE 105 and / or obtain a downlink (DL) location measurement from UE 105, where DL location measurements are obtained by UE 105 for DL ​​signals received by UE 105 from one or more access nodes. As mentioned, although Figure 2 Access nodes (gNB 210, ng-eNB 214, and WLAN 216) configured to communicate according to 5G NR, LTE, and Wi-Fi communication protocols, respectively, are depicted, but access nodes configured to communicate according to other communication protocols may be used, such as, for example, a Node B using the Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA) protocol for a Universal Mobile Telecommunications Service (UMTS) Terrestrial Radio Access Network (UTRAN), an eNB using the LTE protocol for an Evolved UTRAN (E-UTRAN), or an eNB using the Bluetooth protocol for a WLAN. For example, in a 4G Evolved Packet System (EPS) that provides LTE wireless access to UE 105, the RAN may include E-UTRAN, which may include base stations, which may include eNBs that support LTE wireless access. The core network for EPS may include an Evolved Packet Core (EPC). Then, EPS may include E-UTRAN plus EPC, where E-UTRAN corresponds to NG-RAN 235 and EPC corresponds to Figure 2 5GCN 240 in. The methods and techniques described herein for obtaining the municipal location of a UE 105 may be applicable to such other networks.

[0049] The gNB 210 and ng-eNB 214 may communicate with the AMF 215, which communicates with the LMF 220 for positioning functions. The AMF 215 may support the mobility of the UE 105, including cell changes and handovers of the UE 105 from an access node of a first RAT (gNB 210, ng-eNB 214, or WLAN 216) to an access node of a second RAT. The AMF 215 may also be involved in supporting signaling connections to the UE 105 and possible data and voice bearers for the UE 105. The LMF 220 may support positioning of the UE 105 using a CP location solution when the UE 105 accesses the NG-RAN 235 or the WLAN 216, and may support positioning procedures and methods, including UE-assisted / UE-based and / or network-based procedures / methods, such as Assisted GNSS (A-GNSS), Observed Time Difference of Arrival (OTDOA) (which may be referred to as Time Difference of Arrival (TDOA) in NR), Frequency Difference of Arrival (FDOA), Real-Time Kinematics (RTK), Precise Point Positioning (PPP), Differential GNSS (DGNSS), Enhanced Cell ID (ECID), Angle of Arrival (AoA), Angle of Departure (AoD), WLAN Positioning, Round Trip Signal Propagation Delay (RTT), Multi-Cell RTT, and / or other positioning procedures and methods. The LMF 220 may also process, for example, a location service request for the UE 105 received from the AMF 215 or from the GMLC 225. The LMF 220 may be connected to the AMF 215 and / or the GMLC 225. In some embodiments, networks such as 5GCN 240 may additionally or alternatively implement other types of location support modules, such as an Evolved Serving Mobile Location Center (E-SMLC) or a SUPL Location Platform (SLP). It should be noted that in some embodiments, at least a portion of the positioning functions (including determination of the location of UE 105) may be performed at UE 105 (e.g., by measuring downlink PRS (DL-PRS) signals sent by wireless nodes (such as gNB 210, ng-eNB 214 and / or WLAN 216) and / or using assistance data provided to UE 105, for example, by LMF 220).

[0050] The Gateway Mobile Location Center (GMLC) 225 may support location requests for the UE 105 received from the external client 230, and may forward such location requests to the AMF 215 for forwarding by the AMF 215 to the LMF 220. A location response (e.g., containing a location estimate for the UE 105) from the LMF 220 may be similarly returned to the GMLC 225, either directly or via the AMF 215, and the GMLC 225 may then return the location response (e.g., containing a location estimate) to the external client 130.

[0051] A network exposure function (NEF) 245 may be included in the 5GCN 240. The NEF 245 may support secure exposure of capabilities and events related to the 5GCN 240 and the UE 105 to external clients 230 (which may then be referred to as an access function (AF)), and may enable information to be securely provided from the external client 230 to the 5GCN 240. The NEF 245 may be connected to the AMF 215 and / or the GMLC 225 for the purpose of obtaining a location (e.g., a municipal location) of the UE 105 and providing the location to the external client 230.

[0052] like Figure 2 As further shown in FIG. 1 , LMF 220 may communicate with gNB 210 and / or with ng-eNB 214 using NR Positioning Protocol Annex (NRPPa) as defined in 3GPP Technical Specification (TS) 38.455. NRPPa messages may be communicated between gNB 210 and LMF 220 and / or between ng-eNB 214 and LMF 220 via AMF 215. Figure 2As further shown in 3GPP TS 37.355, the LMF 220 and the UE 105 may communicate using the LTE Positioning Protocol (LPP) as defined in 3GPP TS 37.355. Here, LPP messages may be passed between the UE 105 and the LMF 220 via the AMF 215 and a serving gNB 210-1 or a serving ng-eNB 214 for the UE 105. For example, LPP messages may be passed between the LMF 220 and the AMF 215 using messages for service-based operations (e.g., based on Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP)), and 5G NAS protocols may be used to pass LPP messages between the AMF 215 and the UE 105. The LPP protocol may be used to support positioning of the UE 105 using UE-assisted and / or UE-based positioning methods such as A-GNSS, RTK, TDOA, multi-cell RTT, AoD, and / or ECID. The NRPPa protocol can be used to support positioning of UE 105 using network-based positioning methods (such as ECID, AoA, uplink TDOA (UL-TDOA)), and / or can be used by LMF 220 to obtain location-related information from gNB 210 and / or ng-eNB 214, such as parameters defining DL-PRS transmissions from gNB210 and / or ng-eNB 214.

[0053] In the case where the UE 105 accesses the WLAN 216, the LMF 220 may use NRPPa and / or LPP to obtain the location of the UE 105 in a manner similar to that just described for the UE 105 accessing the gNB 210 or ng-eNB 214. Thus, NRPPa messages may be passed between the WLAN 216 and the LMF 220 via the AMF 215 and the N3IWF 250 to support network-based positioning of the UE 105 and / or to pass other location information from the WLAN 216 to the LMF 220. Alternatively, NRPPa messages may be passed between the N3IWF 250 and the LMF 220 via the AMF 215 to support network-based positioning of the UE 105 based on location-related information and / or location measurements that are known or accessible to the N3IWF 250 and passed from the N3IWF 250 to the LMF 220 using NRPPa. Similarly, LPP and / or LPP messages may be communicated between UE 105 and LMF 220 via AMF 215, N3IWF 250, and serving WLAN 216 for UE 105 to support UE-assisted or UE-based positioning of UE 105 by LMF 220.

[0054] In addition to ground base stations (gNB 210 and eNB 214), referred to herein as ground nodes, the NG-RAN 235 may also include NTN nodes (or NTN platforms), which may be used for communication, positioning, and RF sensing (according to embodiments of the present invention).

[0055] Figure 3 is a diagram showing aspects of an NTN system 300 that can be used to transmit data, provide support to a UE 305 (which may correspond to Figure 1 and Figure 2 The NTN system 300 may be a larger system (e.g., Figure 1 and Figure 2 It can be noted that although in Figure 3 The NTN system 300 shown in FIG. 3 shows a satellite 310 for implementing communication and / or positioning of a UE 305, but the embodiments are not limited thereto. The NTN system 300 may additionally or alternatively include other non-ground vehicles (in Figure 3 Not shown), including non-space vehicles (such as high-altitude platform stations, balloons, airplanes, drones, etc.).

[0056] Using satellite 310 and / or other non-ground vehicles to relay communication signals and / or provide positioning for UE 305 can help provide availability and continuity in geographic areas that may not be easily available using only ground means. Satellite 310 may include low earth orbit (LEO) satellites, medium earth orbit (MEO) satellites and / or geostationary orbit (GEO) satellites. Satellite 310 (and / or other non-ground vehicles in NTN system 300) can use wireless RF feeder link 330 to connect to 5G or other communication networks via gateway 320 or ground station. Satellite 310 can serve corresponding service area 340 (which can be divided into one or more sub-areas or "beams"), and can establish service link 350 with UE in corresponding service area 340. Service area 340 can move, which corresponds to the movement of corresponding satellite 310 along its orbit. Service link 350 can act as a Uu interface to a wireless network accessed via gateway 320. In some embodiments, the gateway 320 and / or the satellite 310 may be associated with a base station of a cellular network (e.g., a gNB of a 5G network) and may include a remote RU and / or DU of the base station that is operable to function as a TRP, TP, and / or RP of the base station.

[0057] Positioning UE 305 using NTN system 300 may be similar to positioning in a cellular network (e.g., as previously described with respect to Figure 2This may include, for example, using satellites 310 and / or other non-terrestrial vehicles of the NTN system 300 as transmission and / or reception points for transmitting and / or receiving reference signals for positioning the UE 305. The reference signals may then be used to perform positioning-related measurements such as AoA, RTT, TDOA, etc. A location server communicatively linked to the gateway 320 may be used to coordinate positioning sessions using the UE 305 and one or more of the satellites 310.

[0058] As previously mentioned, the OFDM waveforms utilized by current communication systems may prohibit satellite 310 from performing RF sensing. However, considering that satellite 310 (and / or other NTN platforms, Figure 3 305) is capable of sending and receiving RF signals for communication, the NTN system 300 may otherwise be well suited for RF sensing. As mentioned, embodiments herein may utilize a JCS waveform that enables both RF sensing and communication (e.g., with the UE 305). Further details regarding this waveform are provided below. The type of RF sensing performed may vary, but may include synthetic aperture radar (SAR), such as in Figure 4 Described in .

[0059] Figure 4 is a simplified schematic diagram of a SAR setup according to an embodiment, which is provided to indicate how to use an NTN platform such as Figure 3 SAR is achieved using a satellite 310 or other non-ground vehicle (not shown). Here, an NTN platform (not shown) includes an NTN platform antenna 410 that travels (e.g., at a constant speed) along a trajectory 420 (e.g., an orbital path) that is approximately parallel to the surface of the earth. In SAR, high azimuth resolution can be achieved by creating a long "virtual" antenna using the motion of the NTN platform antenna, rather than having a long antenna array (large l value) to achieve high azimuth resolution.

[0060] For SAR imaging, the NTN platform antenna 410 may transmit RF signals in the form of radiation pulses to produce a fan beam 440 that illuminates a footprint 450 on the Earth's surface 430. The echo or reflection of each pulse received by the NTN platform antenna 410 may provide a "snapshot" of the corresponding footprint 450. As the NTN platform antenna 410 moves along the track 420, multiple snapshots may be combined to create an RF image of a swath 460 extending parallel to the track 420.

[0061] about Figure 4 , which can be determined realistically using the geometry and optics of the system. For example, the angle θ across the 3dB beamwidth of the track v It can be calculated as:

[0062] θ v =λ / W a (1)

[0063] Where λ is the wavelength of the RF signal, and W a is the antenna width. The width of the ground strip W g It can be calculated as:

[0064]

[0065] where R is the distance from the satellite antenna to the center of the satellite beam footprint on the ground, and θ is the viewing angle. The range resolution of the aperture radar is ρ g It can be calculated as:

[0066]

[0067] where c is the speed of light, and τ p is the duration of the RF signal pulse. Azimuth resolution ρ a It can be calculated as:

[0068]

[0069] Among them, θ H is the width of the footprint in radians.

[0070] Delays in the RF signal may prevent the NTN platform antenna 410 from using the OFDM waveform for RF sensing in the communication system. That is, because the swath width 460 may be on the order of kilometers (e.g., 5-60 km for NTN platforms including aircraft or LEO satellites, and perhaps 100 km or more for some satellite NTN platforms), there may be significant differences between the echo received by the NTN platform antenna from one portion of the coverage area 450 (e.g., the center of the coverage area) and the echo from another portion of the coverage area 450 (e.g., the edge). As described with respect to Figure 5 As described in more detail, conventional full FTM waveforms used in communication systems may cause inter-range cell interference (IRCI).

[0071] Figure 5 is shown similar to Figure 4 Schematic diagram of an NTN platform antenna 510, a sector beam 520, and a coverage area 530. Figure 4 Other features have been removed to avoid clutter. Figure 5Further shown are M range cells spanning coverage area 530. High resolution RF sensing distinguishes between echoes from objects at different range cells, while IRCI may reduce such resolution. According to embodiments herein, the length of the cyclic prefix (CP) used in communication symbols sent by NTN platform antenna 510 may provide IRCI mitigation.

[0072] As will be appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art, the OFDM scheme divides time and frequency into various resources. Across one or more frequencies, time may be divided into units of radio frames, which are divided into subframes, which are divided into time slots. Each time slot may include a variable number of symbols, which may depend on the subcarrier spacing (SCS) used for the time slot.

[0073] At the beginning of each symbol, a CP is used. In conventional communication systems, the CP and symbol length within a time slot are common to all symbols in the time slot. The use of a CP can convert an inter-symbol interference (ISI) channel into multiple ISI-free sub-channels in a wireless communication system. Similarly, embodiments may use a modified OFDM symbol (also referred to herein as a JCS symbol) with a CP (with an increased duration) to enable the NTN platform antenna 510 to distinguish the echoes of the JCS symbols at different range cells, thereby achieving IRCI-free (high range resolution) RF sensing.

[0074] Fig. 6A 6 is a timing diagram illustrating a time slot 600 having a JCS symbol and a plurality of non-JCS symbols 620 according to an embodiment. All symbols in the time slot 600, including the JCS symbol 610, may be used for communication. All non-JCS symbols 620 may include a CP 630 having a conventional duration. However, as mentioned, the duration T of the CP 640 of the JCS symbol 610 may be increased. cp , so that the NTN platform can perform RF sensing using JCS symbols 610. Such RF sensing can be used, for example, to perform SAR in the manner previously discussed, but embodiments are not limited thereto.

[0075] According to some embodiments, the duration T of the CP 640 of the JCS symbol 610 is cp Can be determined to satisfy:

[0076] T cp ≥T o (5) Among them, T o is the time delay difference between the first range cell and the last range cell in the coverage area. o Can be determined as:

[0077] To =2(M-1)d res / c=(M-1) / B (6) In equation (6), the range resolution d res can be determined as d res =c / (2B). In addition, B is the bandwidth of the RF signal, and M is the number of cells (e.g., Figure 5 According to some embodiments, in order to minimize unnecessary transmission energy without loss of generality, the CP length may be selected as:

[0078] T cp = T o (7)

[0079] Likewise, considering that the coverage area may be many kilometers wide, the duration T of the CP 640 of the JCS symbol 610 is cp may be relatively large, and the corresponding time delay difference T between the first range cell and the last range cell in the coverage area o Thus, while the duration of the non-JCS symbol 620 and its CP 630 may be sufficient for RF sensing at a PN node (e.g., a ground base station), the JCS symbol 610 with its corresponding CP 640 (e.g., as determined using the above equation) may allow for a large coverage area and relatively long round-trip time delay, thereby enabling high-resolution RF sensing without IRCI for the NTN platform.

[0080] According to various embodiments, JCS symbol 610 may be flexibly configured to enable ICRI-free RF sensing. This includes, for example, alignment with other non-JCS symbols 620 (eg, within time slot 600). Fig. 6A A first approach is shown in which the JCS symbol 610 may have a different SCS than the non-JCS symbol 620. This may allow the JCS symbol 610 to have a different duration (e.g., to accommodate a longer CP 640). Additionally or alternatively, as Figure 6B As shown, the JCS symbol 610 may include a portion having zero padding 650, which may be included to ensure that the duration of the JCS symbol 610 is an integer multiple (e.g., 2x, 3x, etc.) of the duration of the non-JCS symbol 620. Likewise, using the JCS symbol 610 in this manner may enable continuous communication in communication networks using OFDM waveforms (e.g., 5G and possibly 6G wireless networks) and RF sensing by NTN platforms.

[0081] The NTN platform may send JCS symbols based on an RF sensing scheme. For example, as the NTN platform passes a particular location in the sky, the NTN platform may send one or more JCS symbols to perform RF sensing of the particular location. Therefore, the NTN platform's approach to a particular location may trigger the transmission of JCS symbols. Additionally or alternatively, based on a SAR or similar RF sensing scheme, the NTN platform may periodically send JCS symbols to perform imaging of the strip. The periodicity of the JCS symbols may be governed by factors such as the speed of the NTN platform and the length of the coverage area. In such an embodiment, a minimum periodicity may be used to ensure correct imaging of the strip or other sensed area. The periodicity may also be determined to help reduce any impact that the transmission of the JCS symbols may have on wireless communications.

[0082] In summary, the embodiments provided herein can utilize JCS symbols, which can be included in an OFDM slot along with one or more non-JCS (e.g., legacy) symbols. JCS symbols can serve as DL communication symbols sent by NTN platforms (e.g., satellites, aircraft, etc.).

[0083] According to some embodiments, capability exchange may be utilized to ensure that one or more UEs within the coverage area (e.g., coverage zone) of the NTN platform are able to receive the JCS symbol. Thus, the UE may transmit one or more capabilities to the NTN platform and / or server of the network. Once its capabilities include the buffering capability of the UE, it may indicate whether the UE can capture the entire JCS symbol. Another capability may include whether the UE can support different SCSs within a timeslot. If not, a JCS symbol including a zero pattern may be used, such as similar to Figure 6B Another capability may include the FFT size supported by the UE. The SCS may be small in a JCS symbol, which may result in a larger FFT size than a regular (non-JCS) symbol. Depending on the desired functionality, the UE transmits any combination of these capabilities related to receiving JCS symbols.

[0084] In addition, the UE may need to adjust or retrain its automatic gain control (AGC) for receiving JCS symbols. The communication signal included in the traditional non-JCS symbol travels in one direction: from the NTN platform to the UE on the earth. However, the RF sensing of the JCS symbol is based on the echo of all reflections of the JCS symbol received at the NTN platform. Therefore, for RF sensing, the signal in the JCS symbol may travel twice the distance of the signal in the non-JCS symbol, and may therefore experience twice the path loss. In this way, the JCS symbol may be sent at a much higher power in the NTN platform. In order to avoid saturation of the signal received at the UE due to this higher transmission power, the UE can adjust its AGC accordingly.

[0085] According to some embodiments, information about the JCS symbol may be transmitted to the UE in a CP length configuration. In some embodiments, the CP length configuration may be included with or included in another configuration provided to the UE. For example, in some embodiments, the CP length configuration may be bound to a bandwidth part (BWP) configuration provided to the UE. According to some embodiments, the CP length of the JCS symbol may be standardized or predefined so that the CP length configuration may include fewer bits (e.g., an index number of a CP of a known / predefined length is referenced to the UE). Additionally or alternatively, the network may provide the UE with a configuration that conveys other aspects of the JCS symbol. These other aspects may include, for example, the position of the JCS symbol within the time slot, the duration of the JCS symbol, the SCS of the JCS symbol, the transmission power, the timing of the receive window (described in more detail below), and the like. Depending on the desired functionality, the CP length configuration and / or other JCS symbol configuration information is signaled to the UE via an L1 / L2 / L3 configuration message (such as via downlink control information (DCI), a medium access control-control element (MAC-CE), and / or a radio resource control (RRC)).

[0086] Since the RF sensing performed by the NTN platform may experience a relatively long delay between the transmission of the JCS symbol and the reception of the echo / reflection of the JCS symbol, there may be no self-interference (transmission and reception occur simultaneously). To avoid interference with other RF signals such as UL signals transmitted by one or more UEs, the network may implement a receive window to receive the echo of the JCS symbol. Figure 7 An example of this is shown in .

[0087] Figure 7 is similar to Fig. 6A and 6B , which shows how a receive window 710 may follow a JCS symbol 720 according to some embodiments. As mentioned, to help minimize interference when the NTN platform receives an echo from a transmission made during the JCS symbol 720, the communication network may schedule a receive window 710 during which the UE does not send UL signals to the NTN platform. In addition, the NTN platform may avoid transmitting to avoid self-interference. When the NTN platform is receiving an echo of a JCS symbol 720, this may help reduce the amount of RF interference received at the NTN platform.

[0088] The characteristics of the receive window 710 can be determined based on known information about the NTN platform. For example, the duration 730 between the JCS symbol 720 and the receive window 710 can be determined geometrically based on the height of the NTN platform and the angle to the coverage area. The duration 740 of the receive window 710 can be determined based on the stripe width (e.g., the expected time delay between the first range unit and the last range unit in the stripe).

[0089] Figure 8 is a flow chart of a method for implementing JCS by NTN according to an embodiment. Figure 8 The units of functionality shown in one or more of the blocks shown in the figure may be implemented by an NTN platform (such as in Fig.11 In some embodiments, the operations may be performed by a computer system (e.g., a server) that is communicatively coupled to the NTN platform. Fig.12 An example computer system 1200 is shown in FIG. 1 and described below.

[0090] At block 810, functionality includes transmitting an RF signal toward the earth using the NTN platform, the RF signal including an OFDM waveform having a plurality of symbols, the plurality of symbols including a JCS symbol and one or more non-JCS symbols, wherein the RF signal is incident on an area of ​​the earth defining a coverage zone, and a duration of a CP of the JCS symbol is a function of a width of the coverage zone. As mentioned, in some embodiments, the duration of the CP may also be a function of a bandwidth of the RF signal. For embodiments implementing SAR, the width of the coverage zone may correspond to a swath width, as previously described. As mentioned previously, in some embodiments, the duration of the JCS symbol is longer than a duration of one or more non-JCS symbols. As Fig. 6A and 6B As shown, there may be different ways to accommodate this longer duration of the JCS symbol. Therefore, some embodiments of method 800 may include zero padding the JCS symbol so that the duration of the JCS symbol is an integer multiple of the duration of one or more non-JCS symbols. According to some embodiments, the JCS symbol may have a different subcarrier spacing (SCS) than one or more non-JCS symbols.

[0091] As previously mentioned, the transmission of the JCS symbol may be at least partially responsive to an indication that the UE (e.g., located in an area of ​​the coverage area of ​​the NTN platform, such as to receive the JCS symbol) has the ability to receive (and decode) the JCS symbol. Thus, according to some embodiments of method 800, sending the JCS symbol may be responsive to receiving an indication from a user equipment (UE) that the UE is capable of decoding the JCS symbol into a downlink (DL) communication symbol. In such an embodiment, the indication may include information indicating the buffering capacity of the UE, the ability of the UE to support different SCSs within an OFDM time slot, or the Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) size supported by the UE, or any combination thereof. Additionally or alternatively, method 800 may also include transmitting a CP length configuration to the UE. As mentioned elsewhere herein, this may be bundled with other configurations (e.g., BWP configuration). The CP length configuration may be transmitted to the UE via DCI, MAC-CE, and / or RRC.

[0092] The means for performing the function at block 810 may include Fig.11 The NTN platform 1100 is shown with a bus 1105 , a processor 1110 , a DSP 1120 , a wireless communication interface 1130 , a memory 1160 , and / or other components.

[0093] At block 820, the functionality includes receiving one or more reflections of the JCS symbol at the NTN platform. According to some embodiments, receiving the one or more reflections (or echoes) of the JCS symbol may occur during a sensing receive window during which the UE does not schedule UL transmissions. As mentioned, the location (e.g., in a time slot) and duration of the receive window may be determined based on various factors, such as the time slot of the UE. Figure 7 The NTN platform (or a computer communicatively coupled thereto) can then utilize one or more reflections to perform RF sensing, as described elsewhere herein. Figure 4 and Figure 5 As described, this may include SAR.

[0094] The means for performing the function at block 820 may include Fig.11 The NTN platform 1100 is shown with a bus 1105 , a processor 1110 , a DSP 1120 , a wireless communication interface 1130 , a memory 1160 , and / or other components.

[0095] Fig. 9 is a flow chart of another method for enabling JCS through NTN according to one embodiment. Fig. 9 The units of functionality shown in one or more of the blocks shown in the figure may be performed by hardware and / or software components of the UE and may correspond to the functions performed when the NTN platform is executing Figure 8 The UE side function of method 800 is Fig.10 An example UE 1000 is shown in FIG. 1 and described below.

[0096] At block 910, functionality includes receiving an RF signal at a UE from an NTN platform, the RF signal including an OFDM waveform having a plurality of symbols, the plurality of symbols including a JCS symbol and one or more non-JCS symbols, wherein the RF signal is incident on an area on the earth defining a coverage area, and the duration of the CP of the JCS symbol is a function of the width of the coverage area. As mentioned, in some embodiments, the duration of the CP may also be a function of the bandwidth of the RF signal. As mentioned elsewhere herein, the UE may be notified of the JCS symbol from a configuration sent in advance to the UE (e.g., by the NTN platform or another node of the wireless network). This may include, for example, a CP length configuration. Therefore, some embodiments of method 900 may also include receiving a configuration indicating that the duration of the JCS symbol is longer than the duration of one or more non-JCS symbols before receiving the RF signal. In such an embodiment, the configuration may indicate that the JCS symbol has a subcarrier spacing (SCS) different from that of the one or more non-JCS symbols.

[0097] Further, the transmission of the JCS symbol may be in response to the UE providing capability information to the network. Thus, some embodiments of method 900 may include sending an indication to a network node that the UE is capable of decoding the JCS symbol into a downlink (DL) communication symbol. Here, the network node may include an NTN platform or another wireless node of the communication network (e.g., a ground base station). Some embodiments may also include including in the indication information indicating the buffering capacity of the UE, the ability of the UE to support different SCSs within an OFDM time slot, or the Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) size supported by the UE, or any combination thereof.

[0098] The means for performing the function at block 910 may include Fig.11 The NTN platform 1100 is shown with a bus 1105 , a processor 1110 , a DSP 1120 , a wireless communication interface 1130 , a memory 1160 , and / or other components.

[0099] At block 920, the functionality includes decoding the JCS symbol into a DL communication symbol. As previously mentioned, to this end, the UE may adjust the AGC to avoid saturation of the received JCS symbol. The UE may perform additional or alternative adjustments to receive the JCS symbol before and / or after transmitting and / or receiving UL and / or DL ​​signals during non-JCS symbols. Some embodiments of method 900 may also include receiving a configuration defining a sensing receive window that occurs after the transmission of the RF signal, during which the UE is not scheduled to perform any UL transmissions.

[0100] The means for performing the function at block 920 may include Fig.11 The NTN platform 1100 is shown with a bus 1105 , a processor 1110 , a DSP 1120 , a wireless communication interface 1130 , a memory 1160 , and / or other components.

[0101] Fig.10 1 shows a block diagram of an embodiment of a UE 1000, which may be described above (eg, with Figure 1-9 For example, UE 1000 may execute Fig. 9 One or more of the functions of the method shown in . It should be noted that Fig.10 It is intended to provide only a general description of the various components, any or all of which may be utilized as appropriate. It may be noted that in some cases, by Fig.10 The components shown may be confined to a single physical device and / or distributed among various networked devices, which may be located at different physical locations. In addition, as previously mentioned, the functionality of the UE discussed in the previously described embodiments may be provided by the UE in the embodiment described above. Fig.10 The system may be implemented by one or more of the hardware and / or software components shown in FIG.

[0102] UE 1000 is shown as including hardware elements that may be electrically coupled via bus 1005 (or may communicate in other ways as appropriate). The hardware elements may include a processor 1010, which may include, but is not limited to, one or more general-purpose processors (e.g., application processors), one or more special-purpose processors (such as digital signal processor (DSP) chips, graphics acceleration processors, application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), etc.), and / or other processing structures or units. Processor 1010 may include one or more processing units, which may be housed in a single integrated circuit (IC) or multiple ICs. Fig.10 As shown, some embodiments may have a separate DSP 1020, depending on the desired functionality. Position determination and / or other determinations based on wireless communications may be provided in the processor 1010 and / or the wireless communication interface 1030 (discussed below). The UE 1000 may also include: one or more input devices 1070, which may include but are not limited to one or more keyboards, touch screens, touch pads, microphones, buttons, dials, switches, etc.; and one or more output devices 1015, which may include but are not limited to one or more displays (e.g., touch screens), light emitting diodes (LEDs), speakers, etc.

[0103] The UE 1000 may also include a wireless communication interface 1030 that enables the UE 1000 to communicate with other devices (as described in the above embodiments), which may include but is not limited to a modem, a network card, an infrared communication device, a wireless communication device and / or a chipset (such as a Devices, IEEE 802.11 devices, IEEE 802.15.4 devices, Wi-Fi devices, WiMAX devices, WAN devices and / or various cellular devices), etc. The wireless communication interface 1030 may allow, for example, eNBs, gNBs, ng-eNBs, access points, various base stations and / or other access node types and / or other network components, computer systems, and / or any other electronic devices communicatively coupled to the TRP to transmit (e.g., send and receive) data and signaling with the TRP of the network, as described herein. Communication may be performed via one or more wireless communication antennas 1032 that send and / or receive wireless signals 1034. According to some embodiments, the wireless communication antenna 1032 may include multiple discrete antennas, antenna arrays, or any combination thereof. The antenna 1032 is capable of sending and receiving wireless signals using beams (e.g., Tx beams and Rx beams). Beamforming may be performed using digital and / or analog beamforming techniques and corresponding digital and / or analog circuits. The wireless communication interface 1030 may include such circuits.

[0104] Depending on the desired functionality, the wireless communication interface 1030 may include a separate receiver and transmitter, or any combination of transceivers, transmitters, and / or receivers for communicating with base stations (e.g., ng-eNBs and gNBs) and other terrestrial transceivers (such as wireless devices and access points). The UE 1000 may communicate with different data networks, which may include various network types. For example, the WWAN may be a CDMA network, a time division multiple access (TDMA) network, a frequency division multiple access (FDMA) network, an orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) network, a single carrier frequency division multiple access (SC-FDMA) network, a WiMAX (IEEE 1002.16) network, etc. A CDMA network may implement one or more RATs, such as WCDMA, etc. The 3GPP standard includes IS-95, IS-2000, and / or IS-856. A TDMA network may implement GSM, Digital Advanced Mobile Phone System (D-AMPS), or some other RAT. An OFDMA network may employ LTE, LTE-Advanced, 5G NR, etc. 5G NR, LTE, LTE-Advanced, GSM, and WCDMA are described in documents from 3GPP. 3G NR is described in documents from a consortium named "3rd Generation Partnership Project 2" (3GPP2). 3GPP and 3GPP2 documents are publicly available. A wireless local area network (WLAN) may also be an IEEE 802.11x network, and a wireless personal area network (WPAN) may be a Bluetooth network, IEEE 802.15x, or some other type of network. The techniques described herein may also be used for any combination of WWAN, WLAN, and / or WPAN.

[0105] UE 1000 may also include sensors 1040. Sensors 1040 may include, but are not limited to, one or more inertial sensors and / or other sensors (e.g., accelerometers, gyroscopes, cameras, magnetometers, altimeters, microphones, proximity sensors, light sensors, barometers, etc.), some of which may be used to obtain location-related measurements and / or other information.

[0106] Embodiments of UE 1000 may also include a global navigation satellite system (GNSS) receiver 1080 that is capable of receiving signals 1084 from one or more GNSS satellites using antenna 1082 (which may be the same as antenna 1032). Positioning based on GNSS signal measurements may be used to supplement and / or incorporate the techniques described herein. GNSS receiver 1080 may use conventional techniques to extract the location of UE 1000 from GNSS satellites of GNSS systems such as Global Positioning System (GPS), Galileo, GLONASS, Quasi-Zenith Satellite System (QZSS) over Japan, IRNSS over India, BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS) over China, etc. In addition, the GNSS receiver 1080 can be used with various augmentation systems, such as a satellite-based augmentation system (SBAS), which can be associated with or otherwise enabled for use with one or more global and / or regional navigation satellite systems, such as the Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS), the European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service (EGNOS), the Multifunction Satellite Augmentation System (MSAS), and the Geostationary Augmented Navigation System (GAGAN), etc.

[0107] It can be noted that although Fig.101080 is shown as a different component, but the embodiments are not limited thereto. As used herein, the term "GNSS receiver" may include hardware and / or software components configured to obtain GNSS measurements (measurements from GNSS satellites). Therefore, in some embodiments, the GNSS receiver may include a measurement engine executed (as software) by one or more processors, such as processor 1010, DSP 1020, and / or a processor within wireless communication interface 1030 (e.g., in a modem). The GNSS receiver may also optionally include a positioning engine that may use GNSS measurements from the measurement engine to determine the location of the GNSS receiver using an extended Kalman filter (EKF), weighted least squares (WLS), a particle filter, etc. The positioning engine may also be executed by one or more processors, such as processor 1010 or DSP 1020.

[0108] UE 1000 may also include and / or be in communication with memory 1060. Memory 1060 may include, but is not limited to, local and / or network accessible storage; disk drives; drive arrays; optical storage devices; solid-state storage devices, such as random access memory (RAM), and / or read-only memory (ROM), which may be programmable, flash-updatable, etc. Such storage devices may be configured to implement any suitable data storage, including but not limited to various file systems, database structures, etc.

[0109] The memory 1060 of the UE 1000 may also include software elements (in Fig.10 1000), including an operating system, a device driver, an executable library and / or other code, such as one or more application programs, which may include computer programs provided by various embodiments, and / or may be designed to implement methods provided by other embodiments and / or configure systems provided by other embodiments, as described herein. By way of example only, one or more processes described with respect to the methods discussed above may be implemented as code and / or instructions in the memory 1060 that may be executed by the UE 1000 (and / or the processor 1010 or DSP 1020 within the UE 1000). Then, in some embodiments, such code and / or instructions may be used to configure and / or adapt a general purpose computer (or other device) to perform one or more operations according to the described methods.

[0110] Fig.11 is a block diagram of electrical components of an embodiment of an NTN platform 1100, which may be described herein above (e.g., with Figure 1-9As described herein, the NTN platform 1100 may include a satellite or other non-terrestrial vehicle (aircraft, balloon, drone, etc.). More specifically, the NTN intra-platform 1100 may include a communication system on, in, and / or integrated into a non-terrestrial vehicle. It should be noted that Fig.11 It is intended only to provide a general description of the various components, any or all of which may be utilized as appropriate. In some embodiments, the NTN platform 1100 may correspond to a gNB, ng-eNB, and / or (more generally) a TRP.

[0111] NTN platform 1100 is shown as including hardware elements that may be electrically coupled via bus 1105 (or may communicate with each other in other ways as appropriate). The hardware elements may include processor 1010, which may include but is not limited to one or more general-purpose processors, one or more special-purpose processors (such as DSP chips, graphics acceleration processors, ASICs, etc.), and / or other processing structures or units. Fig.11 As shown, some embodiments may have a separate DSP 1120, depending on the desired functionality. According to some embodiments, location determination and / or other determinations based on wireless communication may be provided in the processor 1110 and / or the wireless communication interface 1130 (discussed below). The NTN platform 1100 may also include: one or more input devices, which may include but are not limited to a keyboard, a display, a mouse, a microphone, buttons, a dial, a switch, etc.; and one or more output devices, which may include but are not limited to a display, a light emitting diode (LED), a speaker, etc.

[0112] The NTN platform 1100 may also include a wireless communication interface 1130 that may enable the NTN platform 1100 to communicate and perform RF sensing as described herein (including sending DL RF signals during JCS symbols), which may include but is not limited to a modem, a network card, an infrared communication device, a wireless communication device, and / or a chipset (such as Devices, IEEE 802.11 devices, IEEE 802.15.4 devices, Wi-Fi devices, WiMAX devices, various cellular devices, etc.). The wireless communication interface 1130 may allow, for example, data and signaling to be transmitted (e.g., sent and received) to UEs, other base stations / TRPs (e.g., eNBs, gNBs, and ng-eNBs), and / or other network components, computer systems, and / or any other electronic devices described herein. Communication may be performed via one or more wireless communication antennas 1132 that send and / or receive wireless signals 1134. According to some embodiments, the wireless communication antenna 1132 may include a plurality of discrete antennas, antenna arrays, or any combination thereof. Antenna 1132 is capable of using beams (e.g., Tx beams and Rx beams, such as fan beams 440) to send and receive wireless signals. Beamforming may be performed using digital and / or analog beamforming techniques and corresponding digital and / or analog circuits. The wireless communication interface 1130 may include such circuits.

[0113] The NTN platform 1100 may also include a network interface 1180. According to some embodiments, this may include a wireless communication interface having some or all of the components of the wireless communication interface 1130 described above. According to some embodiments, the network interface 1180 may be incorporated into the wireless communication interface 1130. The network interface 1180 may include one or more input and / or output communication interfaces to allow communication with a network, a communication network server, a computer system, and / or any other electronic device described herein (e.g., via a wireless communication interface such as described in Figure 3 The gateway 320 shown in FIG. 10 exchanges data.

[0114] In many embodiments, the NTN platform 1100 may also include a memory 1160. The memory 1160 may include, without limitation, local and / or network accessible storage, disk drives, drive arrays, optical storage devices, solid-state storage devices such as RAM and / or ROM, which may be programmable, flash-updatable, etc. Such storage devices may be configured to implement any suitable data storage, including, but not limited to, various file systems, database structures, etc.

[0115] The memory 1160 of the NTN platform 1100 may also include software components (in Fig.111100), including an operating system, device drivers, executable libraries, and / or other code, such as one or more application programs, which may include computer programs provided by various embodiments, and / or may be designed to implement methods provided by other embodiments and / or configure systems provided by other embodiments, as described herein. By way of example only, one or more processes described with respect to the methods discussed above may be implemented as code and / or instructions in memory 1160 that may be executed by NTN platform 1100 (and / or processor 1110 or DSP 1120 within NTN platform 1100). Then, in some embodiments, such code and / or instructions may be used to configure and / or adapt a general purpose computer (or other device) to perform one or more operations according to the described methods.

[0116] Fig.12 1 is a block diagram of an embodiment of a computer system 1200, which may be used in whole or in part to provide the functionality of one or more network components (e.g., servers) as described in the embodiments herein. It should be noted that Fig.12 It is intended only to provide a general description of the various components, any or all of which may be utilized as appropriate. Fig.12 It is generally shown how the various system elements can be implemented in a relatively separate or relatively more integrated manner. In addition, it can be noted that by Fig.12 The components shown may be localized to a single device and / or distributed among various networked devices that may be located at different physical locations.

[0117] Computer system 1200 is shown as including hardware elements that may be electrically coupled via bus 1205 (or may communicate in other ways as appropriate). The hardware elements may include: processor 1210, which may include but is not limited to one or more general-purpose processors, one or more special-purpose processors (e.g., digital signal processing chips, graphics acceleration processors, etc.); and / or other processing structures, which may be configured to perform one or more of the methods described herein. Computer system 1200 may also include: one or more input devices 1215, which may include but is not limited to a mouse, keyboard, camera, microphone, etc.; and one or more output devices 1220, which may include but is not limited to a display device, a printer, etc.

[0118] The computer system 1200 may also include (and / or be in communication with) one or more non-transitory storage devices 1225, which may include, but are not limited to, local and / or network accessible storage, and / or may include, but are not limited to, disk drives, drive arrays, optical storage devices, solid-state storage devices (such as RAM and / or ROM), which may be programmable, flash-updatable, etc. Such storage devices may be configured to implement any suitable data storage, including, but not limited to, various file systems, database structures, etc. Such data storage may include databases and / or other data structures for storing and managing messages and / or other information to be sent to one or more devices via a hub as described herein.

[0119] The computer system 1200 may also include a communication subsystem 1230, which may include wireless communication technologies managed and controlled by a wireless communication interface 1233, as well as wired technologies (such as Ethernet, coaxial communication, universal serial bus (USB), etc.). The wireless communication interface 1233 may include one or more wireless transceivers, which may send and receive wireless signals 1255 (e.g., signals according to 5G NR or LTE) via a wireless antenna 1250. Therefore, the communication subsystem 1230 may include a modem, a network card (wireless or wired), an infrared communication device, a wireless communication device and / or a chipset, etc., which may enable the computer system 1200 to communicate with devices on the corresponding network (including user equipment (UE), base stations and / or other TRPs, or any other electronic devices described herein) in any or all communication networks described herein. Therefore, the communication subsystem 1230 can be used to receive and send data as described in the embodiments of this article.

[0120] In many embodiments, the computer system 1200 will also include a working memory 1235, which may include a RAM or ROM device as described above. The software elements shown as being located within the working memory 1235 may include an operating system 1240, device drivers, executable libraries, and / or other code such as one or more applications 1245, which may include computer programs provided by various embodiments, and / or may be designed to implement methods provided by other embodiments as described herein and / or configure systems provided by said other embodiments. By way of example only, one or more processes described with respect to the methods discussed above may be implemented as code and / or instructions executable by a computer (and / or a processor within a computer); then, in one aspect, such code and / or instructions may be used to configure and / or adapt a general purpose computer (or other device) to perform one or more operations according to the described methods.

[0121] The set of these instructions and / or codes may be stored on a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, such as the storage device 1225 described above. In some cases, the storage medium may be incorporated into a computer system, such as the computer system 1200. In other embodiments, the storage medium may be separate from the computer system (e.g., removable media, such as a compact disc), and / or provided in an installation package so that the storage medium may be used to program, configure, and / or adapt a general-purpose computer using the instructions / code stored thereon. These instructions may take the form of executable code that may be executed by the computer system 1200 and / or may take the form of source and / or installable code that is subsequently in the form of executable code when compiled and / or installed on the computer system 1200 (e.g., using any of a variety of commonly available compilers, installers, compression / decompression tools, etc.).

[0122] It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that substantial changes may be made depending on specific requirements. For example, custom hardware may also be used, and / or specific elements may be implemented in hardware, software (including portable software, such as applets, etc.), or both. In addition, connections to other computing devices such as network input / output devices may be employed.

[0123] With reference to the accompanying drawings, the components that may include memory may include non-transitory machine-readable media. As used herein, the terms "machine-readable medium" and "computer-readable medium" refer to any storage medium that participates in providing data that causes a machine to operate in a particular manner. In the embodiments provided above, various machine-readable media may be related to providing instructions / codes to processors and / or other devices for execution. Additionally or alternatively, machine-readable media may be used to store and / or carry such instructions / codes. In many implementations, computer-readable media are physical and / or tangible storage media. Such media may take a variety of forms, including but not limited to non-volatile media and volatile media. Common forms of computer-readable media include, for example, magnetic and / or optical media, any other physical media with hole patterns, RAM, programmable ROM (PROM), erasable PROM (EPROM), flash EPROM, any other memory chip or box, or any other medium from which a computer can read instructions and / or codes.

[0124] The methods, systems and devices discussed herein are examples. Various embodiments may omit, replace or add various processes or components as appropriate. For example, features described with respect to certain embodiments may be combined in various other embodiments. Different aspects and elements of the embodiments may be combined in a similar manner. The various components of the figures provided herein may be embodied in hardware and / or software. In addition, technology is constantly evolving, and therefore, many elements are examples, which do not limit the scope of the present disclosure to those specific examples.

[0125] It has proven convenient at times, primarily for reasons of common usage, to refer to such signals as bits, information, values, elements, symbols, characters, variables, terms, numbers, numerical values, and the like. It will be understood, however, that all of these or similar terms will be associated with the appropriate physical quantities and are merely convenient labels. Unless otherwise specifically stated, it will be apparent from the above discussion that throughout this specification discussion, terms such as "processing," "computing," "calculating," "determining," "ascertaining," "identifying," "correlating," "measuring," "performing," and the like are used to refer to the actions or processes of a specific device, such as a special-purpose computer or similar special-purpose electronic computing device. Thus, in the context of this specification, a special-purpose computer or similar special-purpose electronic computing device is capable of manipulating or transforming signals, which are typically represented as physical electronic, electrical, or magnetic quantities within a memory, register, or other information storage device, transmission device, or display device of the special-purpose computer or similar special-purpose electronic computing device.

[0126] As used herein, the terms "and" and "or" may include various meanings, and it is also expected that these meanings depend at least in part on the context in which the terms are used. Generally, if "or" is used to associate a list (such as A, B, or C), it is intended to mean A, B, and C (used in an inclusive sense here) as well as A, B, or C (used in an exclusive sense here). In addition, as used herein, the term "one or more" may be used to describe any feature, structure, or characteristic in a singular form, or may be used to describe a certain combination of features, structures, or characteristics. However, it should be noted that this is merely an illustrative example, and the subject matter claimed is not limited to this example. In addition, if the term "at least one of" is used to associate a list (such as A, B, or C), it may be interpreted to mean any combination of A, B, and / or C, such as A, AB, AA, AAB, AABBCCC, etc.

[0127] After describing several embodiments, various modifications, alternative configurations, and equivalents may be used without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. For example, the above elements may be merely components of a larger system, wherein other rules may take precedence over or otherwise modify the application of the various embodiments. In addition, multiple steps may be taken before, during, or after considering the above elements. Therefore, the above description does not limit the scope of the present disclosure.

[0128] In view of this description, various embodiments may include different combinations of features. Implementation examples are described in the following numbered clauses: Clause 1. A method of implementing joint communication and sensing (JCS) through a non-terrestrial network (NTN), the method comprising: transmitting a radio frequency (RF) signal toward the earth using an NTN platform, the RF signal comprising an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) waveform having a plurality of symbols, the plurality of symbols comprising a JCS symbol and one or more non-JCS symbols, wherein: the RF signal is incident on an area of ​​the earth defining a coverage area, and the duration of a cyclic prefix (CP) of the JCS symbol is a function of the width of the coverage area; and receiving one or more reflections of the JCS symbol at the NTN platform.

[0129] Clause 2. The method of clause 1, further comprising: utilizing the one or more reflections to perform RF sensing.

[0130] Clause 3. A method as described in any of clauses 1-2, wherein the duration of the JCS symbol is longer than the duration of the one or more non-JCS symbols.

[0131] Clause 4. The method according to Clause 3 further includes: zero-padding the JCS symbol so that the duration of the JCS symbol is an integer multiple of the duration of the one or more non-JCS symbols.

[0132] Clause 5. A method as described in any of clauses 3-4, wherein the JCS symbol has a different subcarrier spacing (SCS) than the one or more non-JCS symbols.

[0133] Clause 6. A method according to any of clauses 1-5, wherein sending the JCS symbol is in response to receiving an indication from a user equipment (UE) that the UE is capable of decoding the JCS symbol into a downlink (DL) communication symbol.

[0134] Clause 7. A method according to clause 6, wherein the indication includes information indicating: a buffering capacity of the UE, an ability of the UE to support different SCSs within an OFDM time slot, or a fast Fourier transform (FFT) size supported by the UE, or any combination thereof.

[0135] Clause 8. A method according to any one of clauses 6-7, further comprising: transmitting a CP length configuration to the UE.

[0136] Clause 9. A method according to any of clauses 6-8, wherein receiving the one or more reflections of the JCS symbol occurs during a sensing receive window during which no uplink (UL) transmission by the UE is scheduled. Clause 10. A method of implementing joint communication and sensing (JCS) over a non-terrestrial network (NTN), the method comprising: receiving, at a user equipment (UE) from an NTN platform, a radio frequency (RF) signal comprising an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) waveform having a plurality of symbols, the plurality of symbols comprising a JCS symbol and one or more non-JCS symbols, wherein: the RF signal is incident on an area of ​​a defined coverage area of ​​the earth, and a duration of a cyclic prefix (CP) of the JCS symbol is a function of a width of the coverage area of ​​the RF signal; and decoding the JCS symbol into a downlink (DL) communication symbol.

[0137] Clause 11. The method of clause 10, further comprising: before receiving the RF signal, receiving a configuration indicating that a duration of the JCS symbol is longer than a duration of the one or more non-JCS symbols.

[0138] Clause 12. A method as described in clause 11, wherein the configuration indicates that the JCS symbol has a different subcarrier spacing (SCS) than the one or more non-JCS symbols.

[0139] Clause 13. A method as described in any of clauses 10-12, further comprising: sending an indication to a network node that the UE is capable of decoding the JCS symbols into downlink (DL) communication symbols.

[0140] Clause 14. The method according to Clause 13 further includes including in the indication information indicating: the buffering capacity of the UE, the ability of the UE to support different SCSs within an OFDM time slot, or the fast Fourier transform (FFT) size supported by the UE, or any combination thereof.

[0141] Clause 15. The method of any of clauses 13-14, wherein the network node comprises the NTN platform.

[0142] Clause 16. The method according to any one of clauses 10-15 further comprises: receiving a configuration defining a sensing receive window that occurs after the transmission of the RF signal, during which the UE is not scheduled to perform any uplink (UL) transmission.

[0143] Clause 17. A non-terrestrial network (NTN) platform for implementing joint communication and sensing (JCS) through an NTN, the NTN platform comprising: a transceiver; a memory; and one or more processors communicatively coupled to the transceiver and the memory, wherein the one or more processors are configured to: transmit a radio frequency (RF) signal toward the earth using the transceiver, the RF signal comprising an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) waveform having a plurality of symbols, the plurality of symbols comprising a JCS symbol and one or more non-JCS symbols, wherein: the RF signal is incident on an area of ​​the earth defining a coverage area, and a duration of a cyclic prefix (CP) of the JCS symbol is a function of a width of the coverage area; and receive one or more reflections of the JCS symbol using the transceiver.

[0144] Clause 18. The NTN platform of clause 17, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to: utilize the one or more reflections to perform RF sensing.

[0145] Clause 19. An NTN platform according to any one of clauses 17-18, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to: transmit the RF signal such that the duration of the JCS symbol is longer than the duration of the one or more non-JCS symbols. Clause 20. An NTN platform according to clause 19, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to: zero-pad the JCS symbol such that the duration of the JCS symbol is an integer multiple of the duration of the one or more non-JCS symbols. Clause 21. An NTN platform according to any one of clauses 19-20, wherein the one or more processors are configured to: transmit the RF signal such that the JCS symbol has a different subcarrier spacing (SCS) than the one or more non-JCS symbols.

[0146] Clause 22. An NTN platform according to any one of clauses 17-21, wherein the one or more processors are configured to send the JCS symbol in response to the one or more processors receiving an indication from a user equipment (UE) that the UE is capable of decoding the JCS symbol as a downlink (DL) communication symbol.

[0147] Clause 23. An NTN platform according to clause 22, wherein, in order to receive the indication, the one or more processors are configured to receive information indicating the following: a buffering capacity of the UE, an ability of the UE to support different SCSs within an OFDM time slot, or a fast Fourier transform (FFT) size supported by the UE, or any combination thereof.

[0148] Clause 24. The NTN platform of any of clauses 22-23, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to: transmit a CP length configuration to the UE.

[0149] Clause 25. An NTN platform according to any one of clauses 22-24, wherein the one or more processors are configured to: receive the one or more reflections of the JCS symbol during a sensing receive window, and no uplink (UL) transmission by the UE is scheduled during the sensing receive window.

[0150] Clause 26. An NTN platform according to any of clauses 22-25, wherein the one or more processors are configured to: receive a configuration defining a sensing receive window that occurs after the transmission of the RF signal, during which the UE is not scheduled to perform any uplink (UL) transmission.

[0151] Clause 27. A user equipment (UE) for implementing joint communication and sensing (JCS) through a non-terrestrial network (NTN), the UE comprising: a transceiver; a memory; and one or more processors communicatively coupled to the transceiver and the memory, wherein the one or more processors are configured to: receive a radio frequency (RF) signal from an NTN platform via the transceiver, the RF signal comprising an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) waveform having a plurality of symbols, the plurality of symbols comprising a JCS symbol and one or more non-JCS symbols, wherein: the RF signal is incident on an area of ​​a defined coverage area of ​​the earth, and a duration of a cyclic prefix (CP) of the JCS symbol is a function of a width of the coverage area; and decode the JCS symbol into a downlink (DL) communication symbol.

[0152] Clause 28. A UE according to clause 27, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to: before receiving the RF signal, receive a configuration indicating that the duration of the JCS symbol is longer than the duration of the one or more non-JCS symbols. Clause 29. A UE according to clause 28, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to: receive in the configuration an indication that the JCS symbol has a different subcarrier spacing (SCS) than the one or more non-JCS symbols.

[0153] Clause 30. A UE according to any of clauses 27-29, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to: send an indication to a network node that the UE is capable of decoding the JCS symbol into a downlink (DL) communication symbol.

[0154] Clause 31. An apparatus having means for performing the method according to any of clauses 1-30.

[0155] Clause 32. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions comprising code for performing the method of any of clauses 1-30.

Claims

1. A method for implementing joint communication and sensing (JCS) via a non-terrestrial network (NTN), the method comprising: A radio frequency (RF) signal is transmitted toward the earth using the NTN platform, the RF signal comprising an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) waveform having a plurality of symbols, the plurality of symbols comprising a JCS symbol and one or more non-JCS symbols, wherein: The RF signal is incident on an area of ​​the earth that defines a footprint, and The duration of a cyclic prefix (CP) of the JCS symbol is a function of the width of the coverage area; and One or more reflections of the JCS symbol are received at the NTN platform.

2. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: RF sensing is performed using the one or more reflections.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein: The duration of the JCS symbol is longer than the duration of the one or more non-JCS symbols.

4. The method according to claim 3, further comprising: The JCS symbol is zero-padded such that the duration of the JCS symbol is an integer multiple of the duration of the one or more non-JCS symbols.

5. The method according to claim 3, wherein: The JCS symbol has a different subcarrier spacing (SCS) than the one or more non-JCS symbols.

6. The method according to claim 1, wherein: The JCS symbol is transmitted in response to receiving an indication from a user equipment (UE) that the UE is capable of decoding the JCS symbol into a downlink (DL) communication symbol.

7. The method according to claim 6, wherein: The instructions include information indicating: the buffering capacity of the UE, The UE supports the capability of different SCSs within an OFDM time slot, or the Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) size supported by the UE, or any combination thereof.

8. The method according to claim 6, further comprising: The CP length configuration is transmitted to the UE.

9. The method according to claim 6, wherein: Receiving the one or more reflections of the JCS symbol occurs during a sensing receive window during which no uplink (UL) transmissions by the UE are scheduled.

10. A method for implementing joint communication and sensing (JCS) via a non-terrestrial network (NTN), the method comprising: A radio frequency (RF) signal is received from an NTN platform at a user equipment (UE), the RF signal comprising an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) waveform having a plurality of symbols, the plurality of symbols comprising a JCS symbol and one or more non-JCS symbols, wherein: The RF signal is incident on an area of ​​the earth that defines a footprint, and The duration of a cyclic prefix (CP) of the JCS symbol is a function of the width of the coverage area of ​​the RF signal; and The JCS symbols are decoded into downlink (DL) communication symbols.

11. The method according to claim 10, further comprising: Prior to receiving the RF signal, a configuration is received indicating that a duration of the JCS symbol is longer than a duration of the one or more non-JCS symbols.

12. The method according to claim 11, wherein: The configuration indicates that the JCS symbol has a different subcarrier spacing (SCS) than the one or more non-JCS symbols.

13. The method according to claim 10, further comprising: An indication is sent to a network node that the UE is capable of decoding the JCS symbols into downlink (DL) communication symbols.

14. The method of claim 13, further comprising including in the indication information indicating: the buffering capacity of the UE, The UE supports the capability of different SCSs within an OFDM time slot, or the Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) size supported by the UE, or any combination thereof.

15. The method according to claim 13, wherein: The network node includes the NTN platform.

16. The method according to claim 10, further comprising: A configuration is received that defines a sensing receive window that occurs after the transmission of the RF signal, during which the UE is not scheduled to perform any uplink (UL) transmissions.

17. A non-terrestrial network (NTN) platform for implementing joint communications and sensing (JCS) via a NTN, the NTN platform comprising: Transceiver; Memory; as well as one or more processors communicatively coupled to the transceiver and the memory, wherein the one or more processors are configured to: A radio frequency (RF) signal is transmitted toward the earth using the transceiver, the RF signal comprising an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) waveform having a plurality of symbols, the plurality of symbols comprising a JCS symbol and one or more non-JCS symbols, wherein: The RF signal is incident on an area of ​​the earth that defines a footprint, and The duration of a cyclic prefix (CP) of the JCS symbol is a function of the width of the coverage area; and One or more reflections of the JCS symbol are received with the transceiver.

18. The NTN platform according to claim 17, wherein: The one or more processors are further configured to perform RF sensing utilizing the one or more reflections.

19. The NTN platform according to claim 17, wherein: The one or more processors are configured to transmit the RF signal such that a duration of the JCS symbol is longer than a duration of the one or more non-JCS symbols.

20. The NTN platform according to claim 19, wherein: The one or more processors are further configured to zero-pad the JCS symbol such that the duration of the JCS symbol is an integer multiple of the duration of the one or more non-JCS symbols.

21. The NTN platform according to claim 19, wherein: The one or more processors are configured to transmit the RF signal such that the JCS symbol has a different subcarrier spacing (SCS) than the one or more non-JCS symbols.

22. The NTN platform according to claim 17, wherein: The one or more processors are configured to send the JCS symbol in response to the one or more processors receiving an indication from a user equipment (UE) that the UE is capable of decoding the JCS symbol as a downlink (DL) communication symbol.

23. The NTN platform according to claim 22, wherein: To receive the indication, the one or more processors are configured to receive information indicating: the buffering capacity of the UE, The UE supports the capability of different SCSs within an OFDM time slot, or the Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) size supported by the UE, or any combination thereof.

24. The NTN platform according to claim 22, wherein: The one or more processors are further configured to transmit a CP length configuration to the UE.

25. The NTN platform according to claim 22, wherein: The one or more processors are configured to receive the one or more reflections of the JCS symbol during a sensing receive window during which no uplink (UL) transmission by the UE is scheduled.

26. The NTN platform according to claim 22, wherein: The one or more processors are further configured to receive a configuration defining a sensing receive window occurring after the transmission of the RF signal, during which the UE is not scheduled to perform any uplink (UL) transmissions.

27. A user equipment (UE) for implementing joint communication and sensing (JCS) over a non-terrestrial network (NTN), the UE comprising: Transceiver; Memory; as well as one or more processors communicatively coupled to the transceiver and the memory, wherein the one or more processors are configured to: receiving, via the transceiver, a radio frequency (RF) signal from an NTN platform, the RF signal comprising an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) waveform having a plurality of symbols, the plurality of symbols comprising a JCS symbol and one or more non-JCS symbols, wherein: The RF signal is incident on an area of ​​the earth that defines a footprint, and The duration of a cyclic prefix (CP) of the JCS symbol is a function of the width of the coverage area; and The JCS symbols are decoded into downlink (DL) communication symbols.

28. The UE according to claim 27, wherein: The one or more processors are further configured to, prior to receiving the RF signal, receive a configuration indicating that a duration of the JCS symbol is longer than a duration of the one or more non-JCS symbols.

29. The UE according to claim 28, wherein: The one or more processors are further configured to receive, in the configuration, an indication that the JCS symbol has a different subcarrier spacing (SCS) than the one or more non-JCS symbols.

30. The UE according to claim 27, wherein: The one or more processors are further configured to send an indication to a network node that the UE is capable of decoding the JCS symbols into downlink (DL) communication symbols.

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