Location tracking of tag devices

Abstract

Systems and techniques for wireless communication are provided. For example, a process may include a method for wireless communication, the method comprising: determining that a first device is separate relative to a second device associated with the first device; generating label information associated with the public key; and broadcasting the tag information based on the determination that the first device is separate.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] Aspects of the disclosure relate generally to wireless communication. For example, aspects of the disclosure relate to finding net-zero power Internet of Things (IoT) remote tags. BACKGROUND

[0002] Wireless communication systems are deployed to provide various telecommunication services such as telephony, video, data, messaging, broadcasts, etc. These wireless communication systems have evolved over the generations, including first-generation analog wireless phone services (1G), second-generation (2G) digital wireless phone services (including transitional 2.5G networks), third-generation (3G) Internet-capable high-speed data wireless services, fourth-generation (4G) services (e.g., Long Term Evolution (LTE), WiMax), and fifth-generation (5G) services (e.g., New Radio (NR)). There are many different types of wireless communication systems in use today, including cellular systems and personal communication service (PCS) systems. Examples of known cellular systems include the cellular Analog Advanced Mobile Phone System (AMPS), and digital cellular systems based on Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA), Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA), Global System for Mobile communication (GSM), etc. SUMMARY

[0003] The following presents a simplified summary related to one or more aspects disclosed herein. Thus, the following summary should not be considered an extensive overview relating to all contemplated aspects, nor should the following summary be considered to identify key or critical elements relating to all contemplated aspects or to delineate the scope associated with any particular aspect. Accordingly, the following summary has the sole purpose to present certain concepts relating to one or more aspects disclosed herein in a simplified form to precede the detailed description presented below.

[0004] Systems, methods, apparatuses, and computer readable media for performing wireless communication are disclosed. According to at least one example, a first device for wireless communication is provided. The first device includes a memory and a processor coupled to the memory. The process is configured to determine that the first device is separated from a second device associated with the first device, generate tag information associated with a public key, and broadcast the tag information based on the determination that the first device is separated.

[0005] As another example, an apparatus for wireless communication is provided. The apparatus includes at least one memory comprising instructions; and at least one processor coupled to the at least one memory and configured to receive a broadcast from a tag device, wherein the broadcast comprises a tag identifier; transmit the tag identifier to a first location tracking service; receive, from the first location tracking service, a public key associated with the tag device; obtain location information of the apparatus; encrypt the location information based on the public key; and transmit the encrypted location information to the first location tracking service.

[0006] In another example, a method for wireless communication is provided. The method includes determining that a first apparatus is separated from a second apparatus associated with the first apparatus; generating tag information associated with a public key; and broadcasting the tag information based on the determination that the first apparatus is separated.

[0007] As another example, a method for wireless communication is provided. The method includes receiving a broadcast from a tag device, wherein the broadcast comprises a tag identifier; transmitting the tag identifier to a first location tracking service; receiving, from the first location tracking service, a public key associated with the tag device; obtaining location information; encrypting the location information based on the public key; and transmitting the encrypted location information to the first location tracking service.

[0008] In another example, a non-transitory computer-readable medium having instructions stored thereon is provided. The instructions, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to determine that a first apparatus is separated from a second apparatus associated with the first apparatus; generate tag information associated with a public key; and broadcast the tag information based on the determination that the first apparatus is separated.

[0009] As another example, a non-transitory computer-readable medium having instructions stored thereon is provided. The instructions, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to receive a broadcast from a tag device, wherein the broadcast comprises a tag identifier; transmit the tag identifier to a first location tracking service; receive, from the first location tracking service, a public key associated with the tag device; obtain location information of the apparatus; encrypt the location information based on the public key; and transmit the encrypted location information to the first location tracking service.

[0010] In another example, an apparatus for wireless communication is provided. The apparatus includes means for determining that a first apparatus is separated from a second apparatus associated with the first apparatus; means for generating tag information associated with a public key; and means for broadcasting the tag information based on the determination that the first apparatus is separated.

[0011] As another example, an apparatus for wireless communication is provided. The apparatus includes means for receiving a broadcast from a tag device, wherein the broadcast includes a tag identifier, means for sending the tag identifier to a first location tracking service, means for receiving a public key associated with the tag device from the first location tracking service, obtaining location information, means for encrypting the location information based on the public key, and means for sending the encrypted location information to the first location tracking service.

[0012] Aspects generally include a method, apparatus, system, computer program product, non-transitory computer-readable medium, user equipment, base station, wireless communication device, and / or processing system as substantially described herein with reference to and as illustrated by the accompanying drawings and specification.

[0013] Aspects generally include a method, apparatus, system, computer program product, non-transitory computer-readable medium, user equipment, base station, wireless communication device, and / or processing system as substantially described herein with reference to and as illustrated by the accompanying drawings and specification.

[0014] The foregoing has outlined rather broadly the features and technical advantages of examples according to the disclosure in order that the detailed description that follows can be better understood. Additional features and advantages will be described hereinafter. The disclosed concepts and specific examples can be readily utilized as bases for modifying or designing other for carrying the same purposes thereof. Such equivalent constructions are not to depart from the scope of the claims. The characteristics of the concepts disclosed herein, both their organization and method of operation, together with associated advantages will be better understood from the following description when considered in connection with the accompanying drawings. Each of the figures is provided for exemplification and description purposes only and not as a limitation of the definition of the claims.

[0015] While aspects are described herein by way of example, those skilled in the art will understand that such aspects can be implemented in many different arrangements and scenarios. The techniques described herein can be implemented using different platform types, devices, systems, shapes, sizes, and / or package arrangements. For example, some aspects can be implemented via integrated chip implementations or other devices based on non-modular components (e.g., end-user equipment, vehicles, communication equipment, computing devices, industrial equipment, retail / shopping devices, medical devices, and / or artificial intelligence devices). Aspects can be implemented in chip-level components, modular components, non-modular components, non-chip-level components, device-level components, and / or system-level components. Devices incorporating the described aspects and features may include additional components and features for implementing and practicing the claimed and described aspects. For example, the transmission and reception of wireless signals may include one or more components for analog and digital purposes (e.g., hardware components including antennas, radio frequency (RF) chains, power amplifiers, modulators, buffers, processors, interleavers, adders, and / or summers). The aspects described herein are intended to be practiced in a wide variety of devices, components, systems, distributed arrangements, and / or end-user equipment of various sizes, shapes, and configurations.

[0016] Based on the accompanying drawings and detailed description, other objects and advantages associated with the aspects disclosed herein will be apparent to those skilled in the art. This summary is not intended to identify key or essential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended to be used in isolation to define the scope of the claimed subject matter. This subject matter should be understood with reference to the appropriate portions of the entire specification, any or all of the drawings, and each claim.

[0017] The foregoing and other features and aspects will become more apparent from the following description, claims and accompanying drawings. Attached Figure Description

[0018] The accompanying drawings are provided to help describe various aspects of this disclosure, and are provided for illustrative purposes only and not to limit the aspects.

[0019] Figure 1 This is a block diagram illustrating an example of a wireless communication network based on some examples;

[0020] Figure 2 These are illustrations of base station and user equipment (UE) designs based on some examples, which enable the transmission and processing of signals exchanged between the UE and the base station;

[0021] Figure 3 This is a diagram illustrating an example of a decomposed base station based on some examples;

[0022] Figure 4This is a block diagram illustrating the components of a user equipment (UE) based on some examples;

[0023] Figure 5 This is a diagram illustrating examples of radio frequency (RF) energy harvesting devices based on some examples;

[0024] Figure 6 These are illustrations of examples of environments for improving the location tracking of tag devices according to various aspects of this disclosure;

[0025] Figure 7 This is a diagram illustrating an example of an environment for routing using route identifiers according to various aspects of this disclosure;

[0026] Figure 8 This is a flowchart illustrating an example of a process for wireless communication, based on some examples;

[0027] Figure 9 This is a flowchart illustrating another example of a process for wireless communication, based on some examples; and

[0028] Figure 10 This is a block diagram illustrating an example of a computing system based on some examples. Detailed Implementation

[0029] Certain aspects of this disclosure are provided below for illustrative purposes. Alternative aspects may be devised without departing from the scope of this disclosure. Additionally, well-known elements of this disclosure will not be described in detail or will be omitted so as not to obscure the relevant details of this disclosure. Some of the aspects described herein can be applied independently, and some of them can be combined, as will be apparent to those skilled in the art. In the following description, specific details are set forth for illustrative purposes to provide a thorough understanding of various aspects of this application. However, it will be apparent, however, that various aspects can be implemented without these specific details. The figures and descriptions are not intended to be limiting.

[0030] The following description provides only exemplary aspects and is not intended to limit the scope, applicability, or configuration of this disclosure. Rather, the following description of the exemplary aspects will provide those skilled in the art with descriptions that can be used to implement the exemplary aspects. It should be understood that various changes can be made to the function and arrangement of the elements without departing from the scope of this application as set forth in the appended claims.

[0031] Wireless communication networks can be deployed to provide a variety of communication services, such as voice, video, packet data, message sending and receiving, broadcasting, any combination thereof, or other communication services. Wireless communication networks can support both access links and sidelinks for communication between wireless devices. An access link can refer to any communication link between a client device (e.g., a User Equipment (UE), Station (STA), or other client device) and a base station (e.g., a 3GPP gNB for 5G / NR, a 3GPP eNB for 4G / LTE, a Wi-Fi access point (AP), or other base station). For example, an access link can support uplink signaling, downlink signaling, connection procedures, etc. An example of an access link is the Uu link or interface (also known as NR-Uu) between a 3GPP gNB and a UE.

[0032] In various wireless communication networks, client devices that can be associated with different signaling and communication needs can be utilized. For example, as 5G networks expand into industrial verticals and the number of deployed Internet of Things (IoT) devices increases, network service categories such as enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB), ultra-reliable low-latency communication (URLLC), and massive machine-type communication (mMTC) can be expanded to better support a variety of IoT devices, including passive IoT devices, semi-passive IoT devices, etc.

[0033] For example, passive and semi-passive IoT devices are relatively low-cost UEs that can be used to implement one or more sensing and communication capabilities in an IoT network or deployment. In some examples, passive and / or semi-passive IoT sensors (e.g., devices) can be used to provide sensing capabilities for a variety of processes and use cases, such as asset management, logistics, warehousing, manufacturing, etc. Passive and semi-passive IoT devices may include one or more sensors, processors or microcontrollers, and energy harvesters for generating electricity from incident downlink radio frequency (RF) signals received from the passive or semi-passive IoT device.

[0034] One application of IoT devices includes tag devices, which are typically attached to items to be tracked. These tag devices are often low-cost devices that broadcast a Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) signal when a lost / misplaced tag is detected. This BLE signal includes a public key associated with the tag device, which can be detected by nearby devices. Nearby devices can then relay information from the BLE signal to a location tracking service to allow the location of the tag device and the attached item. In some cases, the BLE protocol can limit the size of the data packets within a single BLE transmission. Existing tag devices attempt to keep BLE broadcasts as a single transmission, which may limit the size of the tag device's public key. Additionally, directly broadcasting the public key could allow replay attacks, such as spam or spoofing, to be performed using false location information. Therefore, there is a need to improve the technology used for location tracking of tag devices.

[0035] This document describes systems, apparatus, processes (also referred to as methods), and computer-readable media (collectively, “Systems and Techniques”) that improve techniques for location tracking of tag devices. In some cases, tag information may be broadcast by the tag device when lost. This tag information may be based on a public key, but cannot be an unencoded public key. For example, the systems and techniques described herein can be used to encode the public key associated with the tag device into decoded tag information for broadcast by the tag device. As an example, the public key may be hashed to a shorter (e.g., smaller) length to use the decoded tag information as a tag identifier. This shorter tag identifier length allows the use of a longer public key compared to the BLE data packet size. In some cases, the tag identifier may be derived based on a hash of the tag device’s public key along with parameters in a parameter set. In some cases, an encrypted, persistent identifier of the tag device may also be used for the decoded tag information. The parameters used may be varied based on the current time and predefined time slots, allowing the tag identifier to change periodically. These time slots may be user-configurable, allowing the user to specify the frequency at which the tag identifier should be changed. In some cases, a routing identifier may be included in the broadcast from the tag device. Information received from a tag device broadcast can then be routed to different location tracking services based on the routing identifier. In some cases, routing services can be used, for example, to guide information received from a tag device broadcast using the routing identifier. This routing identifier helps to allow an ecosystem of location tracking services, rather than a single location tracking service.

[0036] Other aspects of the system and technology will be described in relation to the accompanying drawings.

[0037] As used in this article, the phrase “based on” should not be interpreted as referring to a closed set of information, one or more conditions, one or more factors, etc. In other words, the phrase “based on A” (where “A” can be information, conditions, factors, etc.) should be interpreted as “based on at least A”, unless otherwise stated otherwise.

[0038] As used herein, the terms “User Equipment” (UE) and “Network Entity” are not intended to be specific to or otherwise limited to any particular Radio Access Technology (RAT), unless otherwise specified. In general, a UE can be any wireless communication device (e.g., mobile phone, router, tablet computer, laptop computer, and / or tracking device, etc.), wearable device (e.g., smartwatch, smart glasses, wearable ring, and / or extended reality (XR) device (such as virtual reality (VR) headsets, augmented reality (AR) headsets or glasses, or mixed reality (MR) headsets)), vehicle (e.g., car, motorcycle, bicycle, etc.), aircraft (e.g., airplane, jet, unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) or drone, helicopter, airship, glider, etc.), and / or Internet of Things (IoT) device, etc., for a user to use to communicate over a wireless communication network. A UE can be mobile or can (e.g., at certain times) be stationary and can communicate with a Radio Access Network (RAN). As used herein, the term "UE" may be interchangeably referred to as "access terminal" or "AT," "client device," "wireless device," "subscriber device," "subscriber terminal," "subscriber station," "user terminal," or "UT," "mobile device," "mobile terminal," "mobile station," or variations thereof. Generally, a UE can communicate with the core network via the RAN, and through the core network, the UE can connect to external networks such as the Internet and to other UEs. Of course, other mechanisms for connecting to the core network and / or the Internet are also possible for the UE, such as through wired access networks, wireless local area network (WLAN) networks (e.g., based on the IEEE 802.11 communication standard), etc.

[0039] Network entities can be implemented in a converged or monolithic base station architecture, or alternatively, in a decomposed base station architecture, and may include one or more of a central unit (CU), a distributed unit (DU), a radio unit (RU), a near real-time (near RT) RAN intelligent controller (RIC), or a non-real-time (non-RT) RIC. A base station (e.g., with a converged / monolithic or decomposed base station architecture) may operate according to one of several RATs communicating with the UE (depending on the network in which it is deployed) and may alternatively be referred to as an access point (AP), network node, NodeB (NB), evolved NodeB (eNB), next-generation eNB (ng-eNB), new radio (NR) NodeB (also referred to as gNB or gNodeB), etc. The base station may primarily be used to support the UE's radio access, including supporting data, voice, and / or signaling connections for the supported UE. In some systems, the base station may provide edge node signaling functions, while in other systems, the base station may provide additional control and / or network management functions. The communication link through which a UE can transmit signals to a base station is called an uplink (UL) channel (e.g., reverse traffic channel, reverse control channel, access channel, etc.). The communication link through which a base station can transmit signals to a UE is called a downlink (DL) or forward link channel (e.g., paging channel, control channel, broadcast channel, or forward traffic channel, etc.). As used herein, the term traffic channel (TCH) can refer to uplink, reverse or downlink, and / or forward traffic channel.

[0040] The terms "network entity" or "base station" (e.g., having a converged / monolithic or decomposed base station architecture) can refer to a single physical transmit / receive point (TRP) or multiple physical TRPs that may be co-located or non-co-located. For example, when the term "network entity" or "base station" refers to a single physical TRP, that physical TRP may be a base station antenna corresponding to a cell (or several cell sectors) of the base station. When the term "network entity" or "base station" refers to multiple co-located physical TRPs, these physical TRPs may be antenna arrays of the base station (e.g., as in a multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) system or where the base station employs beamforming). When the term "base station" refers to multiple non-co-located physical TRPs, the physical TRPs may be a distributed antenna system (DAS) (e.g., a network of spatially separated antennas connected via a transmission medium to a common source) or a remote radio headend (RRH) (e.g., a remote base station connected to a serving base station). Alternatively, a non-co-located physical TRP can be the serving base station from which the UE receives measurement reports and the neighboring base station where the UE is measuring its reference radio frequency (RF) signal (e.g., or simply "reference signal"). Because, as used herein, a TRP is the point by which a base station transmits and receives radio signals, references to transmitting from or receiving at a base station should be understood to refer to the specific TRP of that base station.

[0041] In some specific implementations supporting UE positioning, network entities or base stations may not support the UE's radio access (e.g., may not support data, voice, and / or signaling connections regarding the UE), but instead may transmit reference signals to the UE for measurement, and / or receive and measure signals transmitted by the UE. Such a base station may be referred to as a positioning beacon (e.g., in the case of transmitting signals to the UE) and / or as a location measurement unit (e.g., in the case of receiving and measuring signals from the UE).

[0042] As described herein, a node (which may be referred to as a node, network node, network entity, or wireless node) may include, may be included in, or may be a component of: a base station (e.g., any base station described herein), a UE (e.g., any UE described herein), a network controller, apparatus, device, computing system, integrated access and backhaul (IAB) node, distributed unit (DU), central unit (CU), remote / radio unit (RU) (which may also be referred to as a remote radio unit (RRU)), and / or another processing entity configured to perform any of the techniques described herein. For example, a network node may be a UE. As another example, a network node may be a base station or a network entity. As yet another example, a first network node may be configured to communicate with a second or third network node. In one aspect of this example, the first network node may be a UE, the second network node may be a base station, and the third network node may be a UE. In another aspect of this example, the first network node may be a UE, the second network node may be a base station, and the third network node may be a base station. In still other aspects of this example, the first network node, the second network node, and the third network node may be different from these examples. Similarly, references to UE, base station, device, equipment, computing system, etc., may include disclosures of UE, base station, device, equipment, computing system, etc., as network nodes. For example, a disclosure of a UE being configured to receive information from a base station also discloses that a first network node is configured to receive information from a second network node. Consistent with this disclosure, once a particular example is extended according to this disclosure (e.g., a disclosure of a UE being configured to receive information from a base station also discloses that a first network node is configured to receive information from a second network node), a broader example of a narrower example may be interpreted in reverse, but in a broad, open-ended manner. In the above example where a UE is configured to receive information from a base station and a first network node is configured to receive information from a second network node, the first network node may refer to a first UE, a first base station, a first device, a first equipment, a first computing system, a first set of one or more components, or a first processing entity, etc., configured to receive information; and the second network node may refer to a second UE, a second base station, a second device, a second equipment, a second computing system, a second set of one or more components, or a second processing entity, etc.

[0043] As described herein, different terms may be used in various contexts to describe the transmission of information (e.g., any information, signal, etc.). Disclosure of one communication term includes disclosure of other communication terms. For example, a first network node may be described as being configured to send information to a second network node. In this example and consistent with this disclosure, disclosure regarding a first network node being configured to send information to a second network node includes disclosure regarding a first network node being configured to provide, transmit, output, communicate, or send information to a second network node. Similarly, in this example and consistent with this disclosure, disclosure regarding a first network node being configured to send information to a second network node includes disclosure regarding a second network node being configured to receive, obtain, or decode information provided, transmitted, output, communicate, or sent by the first network node.

[0044] RF signals comprise electromagnetic waves of a given frequency that transmit information across the space between a transmitter and a receiver. 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 multipath channels, a receiver may receive multiple “RF signals” corresponding to each transmitted RF signal. The same transmitted RF signal on different paths between the transmitter and receiver may be referred to as a “multipath” RF signal. As used herein, where the context clearly indicates that the term “signal” refers to a wireless signal or RF signal, an RF signal may also be referred to as a “wireless signal” or simply a “signal.”

[0045] Various aspects of the systems and technologies described herein will be discussed below with reference to the accompanying drawings. According to these aspects, Figure 1 An example of a wireless communication system 100 is illustrated. The wireless communication system 100 (e.g., also referred to as a wireless wide area network (WWAN)) may include individual base stations 102 and individual UEs 104. In some aspects, base station 102 may also be referred to as a "network entity" or "network node". One or more of base stations 102 may be implemented in an aggregated or monolithic base station architecture. Additionally or alternatively, one or more of base stations 102 may be implemented in a decomposed base station architecture and may include one or more of a central unit (CU), a distributed unit (DU), a radio unit (RU), a near real-time (near RT) RAN intelligent controller (RIC), or a non-real-time (non-RT) RIC. Base station 102 may include macrocell base stations (e.g., high-power cellular base stations) and / or small cell base stations (e.g., low-power cellular base stations). On the one hand, macro cell base stations may include eNB and / or ng-eNB (where wireless communication system 100 corresponds to a Long Term Evolution (LTE) network), or gNB (where wireless communication system 100 corresponds to an NR network), or a combination of both, and small cell base stations may include femtocells, picocells, microcells, etc.

[0046] Base station 102 can collectively form a RAN and interface with core network 170 (e.g., evolved packet core (EPC) or 5G core (5GC)) via backhaul link 122, and interface with one or more location servers 172 (e.g., the one or more location servers may be part of core network 170 or may be outside core network 170) via core network 170. Among other functions, base station 102 can perform functions related to one or more of the following: delivering user data, radio channel encryption and decryption, integrity protection, header compression, mobility control functions (e.g., handover, dual connectivity), inter-cell interference coordination, connection establishment and release, load balancing, distribution of non-access stratum (NAS) messages, NAS node selection, synchronization, RAN sharing, multimedia broadcast multicast service (MBMS), subscriber and equipment tracking, RAN information management (RIM), paging, location, and delivery of warning messages. Base station 102 can communicate with each other directly or indirectly (e.g., via EPC or 5GC) via backhaul link 134 (which may be wired and / or wireless).

[0047] Base station 102 can wirelessly communicate with UE 104. Each base station in base station 102 can provide communication coverage for a corresponding geographical coverage area 110. In one aspect, base station 102 in each coverage area 110 can support one or more cells. A “cell” is a logical communication entity used to communicate with a base station (e.g., on a frequency resource, referred to as a carrier frequency, component carrier, carrier, frequency band, etc.) and can be associated with an identifier (e.g., Physical Cell Identifier (PCI), Virtual Cell Identifier (VCI), Cell Global Identifier (CGI)) to distinguish cells operating via the same or different carrier frequencies. In some cases, different cells can be configured according to different protocol types that can provide access for different types of UEs (e.g., Machine Type Communication (MTC), Narrowband IoT (NB-IoT), Enhanced Mobile Broadband (eMBB), or other protocol types). Because a cell is supported by a specific base station, the term “cell” can refer to either or both of the logical communication entity and the base station supporting the logical communication entity, depending on the context. Furthermore, since the TRP is typically the physical transmission point of the cell, the terms “cell” and “TRP” can be used interchangeably. In some cases, the term "cell" may also refer to the geographic coverage area of ​​a base station (e.g., a sector), as long as the carrier frequency can be detected and used for communication within a portion of the geographic coverage area 110.

[0048] While the geographic coverage areas 110 of adjacent macro cell base stations 102 may partially overlap (e.g., in handover areas), some areas within geographic coverage areas 110 may substantially overlap with larger geographic coverage areas 110. For example, a small cell base station 102' may have a coverage area 110' that substantially overlaps with the coverage areas 110 of one or more macro cell base stations 102. A network that includes both small cell base stations and macro cell base stations may be referred to as a heterogeneous network. A heterogeneous network may also include a home eNB (HeNB) that can provide service to a restricted group referred to as a Closed Subscriber Group (CSG).

[0049] The communication link 120 between base station 102 and UE 104 may include uplink (e.g., also referred to as the reverse link) transmission from UE 104 to base station 102 and / or downlink (e.g., also referred to as the forward link) transmission from base station 102 to UE 104. The communication link 120 may use MIMO antenna techniques, including spatial multiplexing, beamforming, and / or transmit diversity. One or more carrier frequencies may be used to provide the communication link 120. Carrier allocation may be asymmetric with respect to the downlink and uplink (e.g., more or fewer carriers may be allocated to the downlink compared to the uplink).

[0050] Beamforming (also known as spatial filtering, directional transmission, or directional reception) is a signal processing technique that can be used at a transmitting or receiving device (e.g., one or more of base station 102, UE 104, etc.) to shape or guide an antenna beam (e.g., a transmit beam, a receive beam) along a spatial path between the transmitting and receiving devices. Beamforming can be implemented by combining signals transmitted via antenna elements of an antenna array such that some signals propagating relative to a particular orientation of the antenna array experience constructive interference, while other signals experience destructive interference. Adjustments to the signals transmitted via the antenna elements may include applying amplitude shifts, phase shifts, or both to the signals carried via the antenna elements associated with the device by the transmitting or receiving device. The adjustments associated with each of these antenna elements may be defined by a beamforming weight set associated with a particular direction (e.g., relative to the antenna array of the transmitting or receiving device or relative to some other direction).

[0051] Transmitting and / or receiving devices (e.g., one or more such as base station 102 and / or UE 104) may use beam scanning technology as part of beamforming operations. For example, base station 102 (e.g., or other transmitting devices) may use multiple antennas or antenna arrays (e.g., antenna panels) to perform beamforming operations for directional communication with UE 104 (e.g., or other receiving devices). Some signals (e.g., synchronization signals, reference signals, beam selection signals, or other control signals) may be transmitted multiple times by base station 102 (or other transmitting devices) in different directions. For example, base station 102 may transmit signals according to different beamforming weight sets associated with different transmission directions. Transmission in different beam directions may be used to identify (e.g., by transmitting devices such as base station 102, or by receiving devices such as UE 104) beam directions so that base station 102 may transmit or receive later.

[0052] Some signals (such as data signals associated with a specific receiving device) may be transmitted by base station 102 in a single beam direction (e.g., the direction associated with a receiving device, such as UE 104). In some examples, the beam direction associated with transmission along a single beam direction may be determined based on the signals transmitted in one or more beam directions. For example, UE 104 may receive one or more signals transmitted by base station 102 in different directions, and may report to base station 104 an indication of signals received by UE 104 with the highest signal quality or other acceptable signal quality.

[0053] In some examples, transmissions performed by a device (e.g., by base station 102 or UE 104) may be performed using multiple beam directions, and the device may use a combination of digital pre-decoding or radio frequency beamforming to generate combined beams for transmission (e.g., from base station 102 to UE 104, from transmitting device to receiving device, etc.). UE 104 may report feedback indicating pre-decoding weights for one or more beam directions, and this feedback may correspond to a configured number of beams across system bandwidth or one or more subbands. Base station 102 may transmit reference signals (e.g., cell-specific reference signals (CRS), channel state information reference signals (CSI-RS), etc.), which may or may not be pre-decoded. UE 104 may provide feedback for beam selection, which may be a pre-decoding matrix indicator (PMI) or codebook-based feedback (e.g., multi-panel codebook, linear combination codebook, port selection codebook). Although these techniques are described with reference to signals transmitted by base station 102 in one or more directions, UE 104 may employ similar techniques to transmit signals multiple times in different directions (e.g., to identify beam direction for subsequent transmission or reception by UE 104), or to transmit signals in a single direction (e.g., to transmit data to a receiving device).

[0054] A receiving device (e.g., UE 104) may attempt multiple receiving configurations (e.g., directional listening) when receiving various signals (such as synchronization signals, reference signals, beam selection signals, or other control signals) from base station 102. For example, the receiving device may attempt multiple receiving directions by: receiving via different antenna subarrays; processing the received signal according to different antenna subarrays; receiving according to different sets of receiving beamforming weights applied to signals received at multiple antenna elements of the antenna array (e.g., different directional listening weight sets); or processing the received signal according to different sets of receiving beamforming weights applied to signals received at multiple antenna elements of the antenna array. Any of these may be referred to as “listening” according to different receiving configurations or receiving directions. In some examples, the receiving device may use a single receiving configuration to receive along a single beam direction (e.g., when a data signal is received). The single receiving configuration may be aligned on a beam direction determined based on listening according to different receiving configuration directions (e.g., based on listening according to multiple beam directions and determining that the beam direction has the highest signal strength, highest signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), or other acceptable signal quality).

[0055] The wireless communication system 100 may further include a WLAN AP 150 communicating with a WLAN station (STA) 152 via a communication link 154 in unlicensed spectrum (e.g., 5 GHz). When communicating in unlicensed spectrum, the WLAN STA 152 and / or WLAN AP 150 may perform a Free Channel Assessment (CCA) or Listen-After-Talk (LBT) process before communication to determine if the channel is available. In some examples, the wireless communication system 100 may include devices (e.g., UEs, etc.) that communicate with one or more UEs 104, base stations 102, APs 150, etc., using ultra-wideband (UWB) spectrum. The UWB spectrum can range from 3.1 GHz to 10.5 GHz.

[0056] Small cell base station 102' can operate in licensed and / or unlicensed spectrum. When operating in unlicensed spectrum, small cell base station 102' can employ LTE or NR technology and use the same 5 GHz unlicensed spectrum as WLAN AP 150. Small cell base station 102' employing LTE and / or 5G in unlicensed spectrum can enhance coverage of the access network and / or increase the capacity of the access network. NR in unlicensed spectrum may be referred to as NR-U. LTE in unlicensed spectrum may be referred to as LTE-U, Licensed Assisted Access (LAA), or MulteFire.

[0057] The wireless communication system 100 may also include a millimeter-wave (mmW) base station 180, which can operate at mmW and / or near-mmW frequencies to communicate with the UE 182. The mmW base station 180 may be implemented in a converged or monolithic base station architecture, or alternatively, in a decomposed base station architecture (e.g., including one or more of a CU, DU, RU, near-RT RIC, or non-RT RIC). Extremely high frequency (EHF) is a portion of the electromagnetic spectrum that contains radio frequency (RF). EHF has a range of 30 GHz to 300 GHz, with wavelengths between 1 mm and 10 mm. Radio waves in this band are referred to as millimeter waves. Near-mmW extends down to frequencies of 3 GHz with wavelengths of 100 mm. Ultra-high frequency (SHF) bands extend between 3 GHz and 30 GHz, and are also referred to as centimeter waves. Communication using mmW and / or near-mmW radio bands has high path loss and relatively short range. mmW base station 180 and UE 182 can utilize beamforming (e.g., transmit and / or receive) on mmW communication link 184 to compensate for extremely high path loss and short range. Furthermore, it should be understood that in alternative configurations, one or more base stations 102 may also use mmW or near-mmW and beamforming for transmission. Therefore, it should be understood that the foregoing illustrations are merely examples and should not be construed as limiting the various aspects disclosed herein.

[0058] In some aspects related to 5G, the spectrum in which wireless network nodes or entities (e.g., base stations 102 / 180, UE 104 / 182) operate is divided into multiple frequency ranges: FR1 (e.g., from 450 MHz to 6,000 MHz), FR2 (e.g., from 24,250 MHz to 52,600 MHz), FR3 (e.g., above 52,600 MHz), and FR4 (e.g., between FR1 and FR2). In multi-carrier systems such as 5G, one of the carrier frequencies is referred to as the “primary carrier” or “anchor carrier” or “primary serving cell” or “PCell,” and the remaining carrier frequencies are referred to as “secondary carriers” or “secondary serving cells” or “SCell.” In carrier aggregation, the anchor carrier is the carrier operating on the primary frequency (e.g., FR1) utilized by UE 104 / 182 and the cell, in which UE 104 / 182 performs an initial radio resource control (RRC) connection establishment procedure or initiates an RRC connection re-establishment procedure. The primary carrier carries all common control channels as well as UE-specific control channels and can be a carrier on a licensed frequency (however, this is not always the case). The secondary carrier is a carrier operating on a second frequency (e.g., FR2) that can be configured and used to provide additional radio resources once an RRC connection is established between UE104 and the anchor carrier. In some cases, the secondary carrier can be a carrier on an unlicensed frequency. The secondary carrier may contain only the necessary signaling information and signals; for example, since the primary uplink and primary downlink carriers are typically UE-specific, those UE-specific signaling information and signals may not be present in the secondary carrier. This means that different UEs 104 / 182 within a cell can have different downlink primary carriers. The same applies to the uplink primary carrier. The network can change the primary carrier of any UE104 / 182 at any time. This is done, for example, to balance the load on different carriers. Since a “serving cell” (e.g., whether PCell or SCell) corresponds to the carrier frequency and / or component carriers that some base stations are using for communication, the terms “cell,” “serving cell,” “component carrier,” “carrier frequency,” etc., can be used interchangeably.

[0059] For example, still refer to Figure 1One of the frequencies used by macro cell base station 102 may be an anchor carrier (or "PCell"), and the other frequencies used by macro cell base station 102 and / or mmW base station 180 may be secondary carriers ("SCell"). In carrier aggregation, each carrier of base station 102 and / or UE 104 may use up to Y MHz (e.g., 5 MHz, 10 MHz, 15 MHz, 20 MHz, 100 MHz) of spectrum, with up to a total of Yx MHz (e.g., x component carriers) for transmission in each direction. Component carriers may or may not be adjacent to each other in the spectrum. Carrier allocation may be asymmetrical with respect to downlink and uplink (e.g., more or fewer carriers may be allocated to downlink compared to uplink). Simultaneous transmission and / or reception on multiple carriers allows UE 104 / 182 to significantly increase its data transmission rate and / or data reception rate. For example, two aggregated 20 MHz carriers in a multi-carrier system would theoretically result in a doubling of the data rate (e.g., 40 MHz) compared to the data rate obtained by a single 20 MHz carrier.

[0060] To operate on multiple carrier frequencies, base station 102 and / or UE 104 may be equipped with multiple receivers and / or transmitters. For example, UE 104 may have two receivers, namely "Receiver 1" and "Receiver 2", where "Receiver 1" is a multi-band receiver that can be tuned to band (e.g., carrier frequency) 'X' or band 'Y', while "Receiver 2" is a single-band receiver that can be tuned to only band 'Z'. In this example, if UE 104 is being served in band 'X', then band 'X' will be referred to as PCell or active carrier frequency, and "Receiver 1" will need to tune from band 'X' to band 'Y' (e.g., SCell) to measure band 'Y' (and vice versa). In contrast, regardless of whether UE 104 is being served in band 'X' or band 'Y', due to the separate "Receiver 2", UE 104 can measure band 'Z' without interrupting service on band 'X' or band 'Y'.

[0061] The wireless communication system 100 may further include a UE 164, which can communicate with the macro cell base station 102 on the communication link 120 and / or with the mmW base station 180 on the mmW communication link 184. For example, the macro cell base station 102 may support PCells and one or more SCells for the UE 164, and the mmW base station 180 may support one or more SCells for the UE 164.

[0062] The wireless communication system 100 may also include one or more UEs, such as UE 190, which are indirectly connected to one or more communication networks via one or more device-to-device (D2D) peer-to-peer (P2P) links (e.g., referred to as "side links"). Figure 1 In one example, UE 190 has a D2D P2P link 192 with one of UEs 104 connected to one of the base stations 102 (e.g., UE 190 can indirectly obtain cellular connectivity through this link), and a D2D P2P link 194 with a WLAN STA 152 connected to a WLAN AP 150 (e.g., UE 190 can indirectly obtain WLAN-based Internet connectivity through this link). In one example, D2D P2P links 192 and 194 can use any known D2D RAT (such as LTE Direct (LTE-D), Wi-Fi Direct (Wi-Fi-D), Bluetooth). ® (etc.) to support.

[0063] Figure 2 A block diagram illustrating an example architecture 200 for a base station 102 and a UE 104 according to some aspects of this disclosure is provided, which enables the transmission and processing of signals exchanged between the UE and the base station. Example architecture 200 includes components of base station 102 and UE 104, which may be... Figure 1 The illustrated base station 102 includes one base station and the UE 104 includes one UE. The base station 102 may be equipped with T antennas 234a to 234t, and the UE 104 may be equipped with R antennas 252a to 252r, wherein typically T ≥ 1 and R ≥ 1.

[0064] At base station 102, transmitting processor 220 can receive data for one or more UEs from data source 212, select one or more modulation and decoding schemes (MCS) for each UE based on a channel quality indicator (CQI) received from each UE, process (e.g., encode and modulate) the data for each UE based on the selected MCS, and provide data symbols for all UEs. Transmitting processor 220 can also process system information (e.g., semi-static resource allocation information (SRPI) and control information (e.g., CQI requests, grants, upper-layer signaling, etc.) and provide overhead symbols and control symbols. Transmitting processor 220 can also generate reference symbols for reference signals (e.g., cell-specific reference signals (CRS)) and synchronization signals (e.g., primary synchronization signal (PSS) and secondary synchronization signal (SSS)). The transmit (TX) multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) processor 230 can perform spatial processing (e.g., pre-decoding) on ​​data symbols, control symbols, overhead symbols, and / or reference symbols, where applicable, and can provide T output symbol streams to T modulators (MODs) 232a to 232t. Modulators 232a to 232t are shown as combined modulator-demodulators (MOD-DEMODs). In some cases, the modulators and demodulators can be separate components. Each modulator in modulators 232a to 232t can process a corresponding output symbol stream (e.g., for an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) scheme, etc.) to obtain an output sample stream. Each modulator in modulators 232a to 232t can further process (e.g., convert to analog, amplify, filter, and up-convert) the output sample stream to obtain a downlink signal. The T downlink signals can be transmitted from modulators 232a to 232t via T antennas 234a to 234t, respectively. Based on some aspects described in more detail below, position coding can be used to generate synchronization signals to transmit additional information.

[0065] At UE 104, antennas 252a to 252r can receive downlink signals from base station 102 and / or other base stations, and can provide the received signals to one or more demodulators (DEMODs) 254a to 254r respectively. Demodulators 254a to 254r are shown as combined modulator-demodulators (MOD-DEMODs). In some cases, the modulator and demodulator can be separate components. Each demodulator in 254a to 254r can adjust (e.g., filter, amplify, down-convert, and digitize) the received signal to obtain an input sample. Each demodulator in 254a to 254r can further process the input sample (e.g., for OFDM, etc.) to obtain the received symbols. MIMO detector 256 can obtain the received symbols from all R demodulators 254a to 254r, perform MIMO detection on the received symbols (where applicable), and provide the detected symbols. The receiver processor 258 can process (e.g., demodulate and decode) the detected symbols, provide the decoded data for UE 104 to the data sink 260, and provide the decoded control information and system information to the controller / processor 280. The channel processor can determine the Reference Signal Received Power (RSRP), Received Signal Strength Indicator (RSSI), Reference Signal Received Quality (RSRQ), and / or Channel Quality Indicator (CQI), etc.

[0066] On the uplink, at UE 104, the transmitting processor 264 can receive and process data from data source 262 and control information from controller / processor 280 (e.g., reports including RSRP, RSSI, RSRQ, CQI, etc.). The transmitting processor 264 can also generate reference symbols for one or more reference signals (e.g., based on β values ​​or sets of β values ​​associated with the one or more reference signals). The symbols from the transmitting processor 264 can be pre-decoded by the TX MIMO processor 266, further processed by modulators 254a to 254r (e.g., for DFT-s-OFDM, CP-OFDM, etc.), and transmitted to base station 102. At base station 102, uplink signals from UE 104 and other UEs can be received by antennas 234a to 234t, processed by demodulators 232a to 232t, detected by MIMO detector 236 (e.g., where applicable), and further processed by receiver processor 238 to obtain decoded data and control information transmitted by UE 104. Receiver processor 238 can provide the decoded data to data sink 239 and the decoded control information to controller (e.g., processor) 240. Base station 102 may include communication unit 244 and communicate with network controller 231 via communication unit 244. Network controller 231 may include communication unit 294, controller / processor 290, and memory 292.

[0067] In some respects, one or more components of UE 104 may be included in the housing. These include the controller 240 of base station 102, the controller / processor 280 of UE 104, and / or Figure 2 Any other component may perform one or more techniques associated with the implicit UCI β value determination for NR.

[0068] Memory 242 and 282 may store data and program code for base station 102 and UE 104, respectively. Scheduler 246 may schedule UE for data transmission on downlink, uplink and / or sidelink.

[0069] In some respects, the deployment of communication systems (such as 5G New Radio (NR) systems) can involve a variety of components or constituent parts. In a 5G NR system or network, network nodes, network entities, network mobility elements, radio access network (RAN) nodes, core network nodes, network elements or network equipment (such as base stations (BS)) or one or more units (or components) performing base station functionality can be implemented in aggregated or decomposed architectures. For example, a BS (e.g., such as a Node B (NB), evolved NB (eNB), NR BS, 5G NB, access point (AP), transmit / receive point (TRP), or cell, etc.) can be implemented as an aggregated base station (e.g., also referred to as a standalone BS or monolithic BS) or a decomposed base station.

[0070] Aggregated base stations can be configured to utilize a radio protocol stack that is physically or logically integrated within a single RAN node. Decentralized base stations can be configured to utilize a protocol stack that is physically or logically distributed across two or more units (e.g., one or more central or centralized units (CUs), one or more distributed units (DUs), or one or more radio units (RUs)). In some aspects, the CU may be implemented within a RAN node, and one or more DUs may co-located with the CU, or alternatively, may be geographically or virtually distributed across one or more other RAN nodes. DUs may be implemented to communicate with one or more RUs. Each of the CU, DU, and RU may also be implemented as a virtual unit, namely a virtual central unit (VCU), a virtual distributed unit (VDU), or a virtual radio unit (VRU).

[0071] Base station type operation or network design can take into account the aggregation characteristics of base station functionality. For example, decomposed base stations can be used in integrated access backhaul (IAB) networks, open radio access networks (O-RAN (e.g., network configurations such as those initiated by the O-RAN Alliance)), or virtualized radio access networks (e.g., vRAN, also known as cloud radio access networks (C-RAN)). Decomposition can include distributing functionality across two or more units in various physical locations, as well as virtually distributing the functionality of at least one unit, which allows for flexibility in network design. The various units in a decomposed base station or decomposed RAN architecture can be configured for wired or wireless communication with at least one other unit.

[0072] Figure 3 This is an illustration of an example decomposed base station 300 architecture. The decomposed base station 300 architecture may include one or more CUs 310, which may communicate directly with the core network 320 via a backhaul link, or indirectly with the core network 320 via one or more decomposed base station units (e.g., a near real-time (near RT) RAN Intelligent Controller (RIC) 325 via an E2 link, or a non-real-time (non-RT) RIC 315 associated with a Service Management and Orchestration (SMO) framework 305, or both). CUs 310 may communicate with one or more distributed units (DUs) 330 via corresponding midhaul links (e.g., F1 interfaces). DUs 330 may communicate with one or more radio units (RUs) 340 via corresponding fronthaul links. RUs 340 may communicate with corresponding UEs 104 via one or more radio frequency (RF) access links. In some implementations, UE 104 may be served simultaneously by multiple RUs 340.

[0073] Figure 3Each of the units shown and / or described herein (e.g., CU 310, DU 330, RU340, and near-RT RIC 325, non-RT RIC 315, and SMO frame 305) may include one or more interfaces, or may be coupled to one or more interfaces configured to receive or transmit signals, data, or information (collectively, signals) via wired or wireless transmission media. Each of the units, or an associated processor or controller providing instructions to the unit's communication interface, may be configured to communicate with one or more other units via transmission media. For example, these units may include a wired interface configured to receive signals via a wired transmission media or to transmit signals to one or more other units. Additionally, the unit may include a wireless interface that may include a receiver, transmitter, or transceiver (e.g., a radio frequency (RF) transceiver) configured to receive signals via a wireless transmission media or to transmit signals to one or more other units, or both.

[0074] In some aspects, the CU 310 can host one or more higher-level control functions. Such control functions may include Radio Resource Control (RRC), Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP), Serving Data Adaptation Protocol (SDAP), etc. Each control function can be implemented using an interface configured to signal to other control functions hosted by the CU 310. The CU 310 can be configured to handle user plane functions (e.g., Central Unit-User Plane (CU-UP)), control plane functions (e.g., Central Unit-Control Plane (CU-CP)), or combinations thereof. In some implementations, the CU 310 can be logically divided into one or more CU-UP units and one or more CU-CP units. When implemented in an O-RAN configuration, the CU-UP units can communicate bidirectionally with the CU-CP units via an interface such as an E1 interface. The CU 310 can be implemented to communicate with the DU 330 for network control and signaling, as needed.

[0075] DU 330 may correspond to a logic unit that includes one or more base station functions for controlling the operation of one or more RU 340s. In some aspects, DU 330 may host one or more of the Radio Link Control (RLC) layer, the Media Access Control (MAC) layer, and one or more high physical (PHY) layers (such as modules for forward error correction (FEC) encoding and decoding, scrambling, modulation and demodulation, etc.) depending on a functional partition (e.g., such as that defined by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP)). In some aspects, DU 330 may also host one or more low PHY layers. Each layer (or module) may be implemented using an interface configured to communicate signals with other layers (and modules) hosted by DU 330 or with control functions hosted by CU 310.

[0076] Lower-level functionality can be implemented by one or more RU 340s. In some deployments, an RU340 controlled by a DU 330 may correspond to a logical node that hosts RF processing functions or low-PHY layer functions (e.g., performing Fast Fourier Transform (FFT), Inverse FFT (iFFT), digital beamforming, Physical Random Access Channel (PRACH) extraction and filtering, or both) based on functional decomposition (such as lower-level functional decomposition). In this architecture, the RU 340 can be implemented to handle over-the-air (OTA) communications with one or more UEs 104. In some specific implementations, the real-time and non-real-time aspects of control plane and user plane communications with the RU 340 can be controlled by the corresponding DU 330. In some scenarios, this configuration enables the implementation of DU 330 and CU 310 in cloud-based RAN architectures (such as vRAN architectures).

[0077] SMO framework 305 can be configured to support RAN deployment and provisioning of both non-virtualized and virtualized network elements. For non-virtualized network elements, SMO framework 305 can be configured to support the deployment of dedicated physical resources for RAN coverage requirements, which can be managed via operation and maintenance interfaces (e.g., such as the O1 interface). For virtualized network elements, SMO framework 305 can be configured to interact with a cloud computing platform (e.g., such as Open Cloud (O-Cloud) 390) to perform network element lifecycle management (e.g., such as instantiating virtualized network elements) via a cloud computing platform interface (e.g., such as the O2 interface). Such virtualized network elements may include, but are not limited to, CU 310, DU 330, RU 340, and near-RTRIC 325. In some specific implementations, SMO framework 305 can communicate with the hardware aspects of the 4G RAN (e.g., such as the Open eNB (O-eNB) 311) via the O1 interface. Additionally, in some implementations, the SMO framework 305 may communicate directly with one or more RUs 340 via an O1 interface. The SMO framework 305 may also include a non-RT RIC 315 configured to support the functionality of the SMO framework 305.

[0078] The non-RT RIC 315 can be configured to include logical functions that enable non-real-time control and optimization of RAN elements and resources, including artificial intelligence / machine learning (AI / ML) workflows for model training and updates, or policy-based guidance for applications / features in the near-RT RIC 325. The non-RT RIC 315 can be coupled to or communicate with the near-RT RIC 325, for example, via an A1 interface. The near-RT RIC 325 can be configured to include logical functions that enable near real-time control and optimization of RAN elements and resources via an interface, for example, via an E2 interface, through data collection and actions connecting one or more CU 310s, one or more DU 330s, or both, and O-eNBs to the near-RT RIC 325.

[0079] In some implementations, to generate AI / ML models to be deployed in the near-RT RIC 325, the non-RT RIC 315 may receive parameters or external enrichment information from an external server. This information can be utilized by the near-RT RIC 325 and may be received from non-network data sources or network functions at the SMO framework 305 or the non-RT RIC 315. In some examples, the non-RT RIC 315 or the near-RT RIC 325 may be configured to regulate RAN behavior or performance. For example, the non-RT RIC 315 may monitor long-term trends and patterns in performance and employ AI / ML models to perform corrective actions via the SMO framework 305 (e.g., reconfiguration via O1) or via the creation of RAN management policies (e.g., A1 policies).

[0080] Figure 4 An example of a computing system 470 for a wireless device 407 is illustrated. The wireless device 407 may include client devices such as UEs (e.g., UE 104, UE 152, UE 190) or other types of devices usable by an end user (e.g., a station (STA) configured to communicate using a Wi-Fi interface). For example, the wireless device 407 may include mobile phones, routers, tablet computers, laptop computers, tracking devices, wearable devices (e.g., smartwatches, glasses, extended reality (XR) devices such as virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), or mixed reality (MR) devices), Internet of Things (IoT) devices, vehicles, aircraft, and / or another device configured to communicate via a wireless communication network. The computing system 470 includes software and hardware components that may be electrically coupled or communicatively coupled (e.g., or may otherwise communicate, as applicable) via a bus 489. For example, the computing system 470 includes one or more processors 484. One or more processors 484 may include one or more CPUs, ASICs, FPGAs, APs, GPUs, VPUs, NSPs, microcontrollers, special-purpose hardware, any combination thereof, and / or other processing devices or systems. One or more processors 484 may use bus 489 to communicate between cores and / or with one or more memory devices 486.

[0081] The computing system 470 may also include one or more memory devices 486, one or more digital signal processors (DSPs) 482, one or more SIMs 474, one or more modems 476, one or more wireless transceivers 478, antennas 487, one or more input devices 472 (e.g., camera, mouse, keyboard, touchscreen, touchpad, keypad and / or microphone, etc.) and one or more output devices 480 (e.g., display, speaker and / or printer, etc.).

[0082] In some aspects, computing system 470 may include one or more RF interfaces configured to transmit and / or receive radio frequency (RF) signals. In some examples, the RF interface may include components such as modem 476, wireless transceiver 478, and / or antenna 487. One or more wireless transceivers 478 may transmit and receive wireless signals (e.g., signal 488) from one or more other devices via antenna 487, such as other wireless devices, network devices (e.g., base stations such as eNBs and / or gNBs, Wi-Fi access points (APs) such as routers or range extenders, etc.), and / or cloud networks, etc. In some examples, computing system 470 may include multiple antennas or antenna arrays that facilitate simultaneous transmission and reception functionality. Antenna 487 may be an omnidirectional antenna, allowing radio frequency (RF) signals to be received and transmitted in all directions. Wireless signal 488 may be transmitted via a wireless network. The wireless network may be any wireless network, such as cellular or telecommunications networks (e.g., 3G, 4G, 5G, etc.), wireless local area networks (e.g., Wi-Fi networks), Bluetooth, etc. TM Networks and / or other networks.

[0083] In some examples, wireless signal 488 can be transmitted directly to other wireless devices using sidelink communication (e.g., using a PC5 interface, using a DSRC interface, etc.). Wireless transceiver 478 can be configured to transmit RF signals via antenna 487 for performing sidelink communication according to one or more transmit power parameters that can be associated with one or more regulated modes. Wireless transceiver 478 can also be configured to receive sidelink communication signals with different signal parameters from other wireless devices.

[0084] In some examples, one or more wireless transceivers 478 may include an RF front end, which includes one or more components such as amplifiers, mixers for down-conversion of signals (e.g., also referred to as signal multipliers), frequency synthesizers (e.g., also referred to as oscillators) that supply signals to the mixers, baseband filters, analog-to-digital converters (ADCs), one or more power amplifiers, and other components. The RF front end typically handles the selection of wireless signals 488 and the conversion of wireless signals to baseband frequencies or intermediate frequencies, and can convert RF signals to the digital domain.

[0085] In some cases, computing system 470 may include a decoder-decoder device (or codec) configured to encode and / or decode data transmitted and / or received using one or more wireless transceivers 478. In some cases, computing system 470 may include an encryption-decryption device or component configured (e.g., according to AES and / or DES standards) to encrypt and / or decrypt data transmitted and / or received by one or more wireless transceivers 478.

[0086] One or more SIMs 474 may each securely store an International Mobile Subscriber Identity (IMSI) number and associated key assigned to a user of a wireless device 407. The IMSI and key can be used to identify and authenticate the subscriber when accessing a network provided by a network service provider or operator associated with one or more SIMs 474. One or more modems 476 may modulate one or more signals to encode information to be transmitted using one or more wireless transceivers 478. One or more modems 476 may also demodulate signals received by one or more wireless transceivers 478 to decode the transmitted information. In some examples, one or more modems 476 may include a Wi-Fi modem, a 4G (or LTE) modem, a 5G (or NR) modem, and / or other types of modems. One or more modems 476 and one or more wireless transceivers 478 may be used to transmit data from one or more SIMs 474.

[0087] The computing system 470 may also include one or more non-transitory machine-readable storage media or storage devices (e.g., one or more memory devices 486) (and / or communicate with them), which may include, but are not limited to, local and / or network-accessible storage devices, 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 and / or database structures.

[0088] In various aspects, functionality may be stored in memory device 486 as one or more computer program products (e.g., instructions or code) and executed by one or more processors 484 and / or one or more DSPs 482. Computing system 470 may also include software elements (e.g., residing within one or more memory devices 486) including, for example, operating systems, device drivers, executable libraries, and / or other code, such as one or more application programs that may include computer programs implementing the functionality provided by various aspects, and / or may be designed to implement methods and / or configure the system as described herein.

[0089] Figure 5This is an example diagram illustrating the architecture of a radio frequency (RF) energy harvesting device 500 according to some examples. As will be described in more detail below, the RF energy harvesting device 500 can harvest RF energy from one or more RF signals received using antenna 590. As used herein, the term "energy harvesting" may be used interchangeably with "power harvesting". In some aspects, an "energy harvesting device" can be a device capable of performing energy harvesting (EH). For example, as used herein, the term "energy harvesting device" may be used interchangeably with the terms "device with EH capability" or "device with energy harvesting capability". In some aspects, the energy harvesting device 500 can be implemented as an Internet of Things (IoT) device, or as a sensor, etc., as will be described in more detail below. In other examples, the energy harvesting device 500 can be implemented as a radio frequency identification (RFID) tag or various other RFID devices.

[0090] Energy harvesting device 500 includes one or more antennas 590 that can be used to transmit and receive one or more wireless signals. For example, energy harvesting device 500 can use antennas 590 to receive one or more downlink signals and transmit one or more uplink signals. Impedance matching component 510 can be used to match the impedance of antenna 590 with the impedance of one or more (or all) receiving components included in energy harvesting device 500. In some examples, the receiving components of energy harvesting device 500 may include demodulator 520 (e.g., for demodulating received downlink signals), energy harvester 530 (e.g., for harvesting RF energy from received downlink signals), regulator 540, microcontroller unit (MCU) 550, and modulator 560 (e.g., for generating uplink signals). In some cases, the receiving components of energy harvesting device 500 may also include one or more sensors 570.

[0091] Downlink signals can be received from one or more transmitters. For example, energy harvesting device 500 can receive downlink signals from network nodes or network entities included in the same wireless network as energy harvesting device 500. In some cases, the network entity can be a base station, gNB, etc., that communicates with energy harvesting device 500 using a cellular communication network. For example, the cellular communication network can be implemented according to 3G, 4G, 5G and / or other cellular standards (e.g., including future standards such as 6G and above).

[0092] In some cases, energy harvesting device 500 can be implemented as a passive or semi-passive energy harvesting device that performs passive uplink communication by modulating and reflecting downlink signals received via antenna 590. Passive or semi-passive energy harvesting devices can also be referred to as devices with passive or semi-passive EH capabilities, respectively. For example, passive and semi-passive energy harvesting devices may not be able to generate and transmit uplink signals without first receiving a modulated and reflected downlink signal. In other examples, energy harvesting device 500 can be implemented as an active energy harvesting device that utilizes a powered transceiver to perform active uplink communication. Active energy harvesting devices are capable of generating and transmitting uplink signals without first receiving a downlink signal (e.g., by using a power source on the device to power its powered transceiver).

[0093] Active or semi-passive energy harvesting devices (e.g., also referred to as devices with active EH capability or devices with semi-passive EH capability, respectively) may include one or more energy storage elements 585 (e.g., collectively referred to as “energy storage devices”). For example, one or more energy storage elements 585 may include batteries, capacitors, etc. In some examples, one or more energy storage elements 585 may be associated with a boost converter 580. The boost converter 580 may receive at least a portion of the energy harvested by the energy harvester 530 as input (e.g., the remainder of the harvested energy is provided as instantaneous power for operating the energy harvesting device 500). In some aspects, the boost converter 580 may be a boost converter that increases the voltage from its input to its output (e.g., and decreases the current from its input to its output). In some examples, the boost converter 580 may be used to increase the harvested energy generated by the energy harvester 530 to a voltage level associated with charging one or more energy storage elements 585. Active or semi-passive energy harvesting devices may include one or more energy storage elements 585 and may include one or more boost converters 580. The number of energy storage elements 585 may be the same as or different from the number of boost converters 580 included in an active or semi-passive energy harvesting device.

[0094] Passive energy harvesting devices (e.g., also referred to as "devices with passive EH capability") do not include a power source on the energy storage element 585 or other equipment. For example, a passive energy harvesting device may be powered solely using RF energy harvested from a downlink signal (e.g., using energy harvester 530). As previously mentioned, a semi-passive energy harvesting device may include one or more energy storage elements 585 and / or a power source on other equipment. The energy storage element 585 of a semi-passive energy harvesting device can be used to supplement or complement the RF energy harvested from the downlink signal. In some cases, the energy stored in the energy storage element 585 of a semi-passive energy harvesting device may be insufficient to transmit uplink communication without first receiving downlink communication (e.g., the minimum transmit power of the semi-passive device > the capacity of the energy storage element). Active energy harvesting devices may include one or more energy storage elements 585 and / or a power source on other equipment that can power uplink communication without using supplementally harvested RF energy (e.g., the minimum transmit power of the active device < the capacity of the energy storage element). Energy storage element 585, included in active energy harvesting devices and / or semi-passive energy harvesting devices, can be charged using the harvested RF energy.

[0095] As mentioned above, passive and semi-passive energy harvesting devices transmit uplink communication by performing backscatter modulation to modulate and reflect the received downlink signal. The received downlink signal is used to provide both power (e.g., for demodulation, local processing, and modulation) and a carrier wave for uplink communication (e.g., for reflection of the downlink signal). For example, a portion of the downlink signal will be backscattered as an uplink signal, while the remainder of the downlink signal can be used to perform energy harvesting.

[0096] Active energy harvesting devices can transmit uplink communication without performing backscatter modulation and without receiving a corresponding downlink signal (e.g., an active energy harvesting device includes an energy storage element for providing power and a powered transceiver for generating a carrier wave for uplink communication). Passive and semi-passive energy harvesting devices cannot transmit uplink signals in the absence of a downlink signal (e.g., passive communication). Active energy harvesting devices do not depend on receiving a downlink signal to transmit uplink signals and can transmit uplink signals as needed (e.g., active communication).

[0097] In examples where the energy harvesting device 500 is implemented as a passive or semi-passive energy harvesting device, antenna 590 can be used to receive a continuous carrier downlink signal and modulate (e.g., remodulate) it for uplink communication. In some cases, modulator 560 can be used to modulate the reflected (e.g., backscattered) portion of the downlink signal. For example, the continuous carrier can be a continuous sine wave (e.g., a sine or cosine waveform), and modulator 560 can perform modulation based on changing one or more of the amplitude and phase of the backscattered reflection. Based on the modulation of the backscattered reflection, modulator 560 can encode digital symbols (e.g., binary symbols or more complex symbol systems) indicating uplink communication or data messages. For example, uplink communication can indicate sensor data or other information associated with one or more sensors 570 included in the energy harvesting device 500.

[0098] As previously mentioned, impedance matching component 510 can be used to match the impedance of antenna 590 with the receiving components of energy harvesting device 500 when receiving downlink signals (e.g., when receiving a continuous carrier). In some examples, during backscatter operation (e.g., when transmitting uplink signals), modulation can be performed based on an intentional mismatch of the antenna input impedance so that a portion of the incident downlink signal is scattered back. The phase and amplitude of the backscatter reflection can be determined based on the impedance load on antenna 590. Based on changing the antenna impedance (e.g., changing the impedance mismatch between antenna 590 and the remaining components of energy harvesting device 500), digital symbols and / or binary information can be encoded (e.g., modulated) onto the backscatter reflection. Modulator 560 can be used to perform the change of antenna impedance to modulate the phase and / or amplitude of the backscatter reflection.

[0099] like Figure 5As illustrated, a portion of the downlink signal received using antenna 590 can be provided to demodulator 520, which performs demodulation and provides downlink communication (e.g., carried or modulated on the downlink signal) to microcontroller unit (MCU) 550 or other processor included in energy harvesting device 500. The remaining portion of the downlink signal received using antenna 590 can be provided to energy harvester 530, which harvests RF energy from the downlink signal. For example, energy harvester 530 can harvest RF energy based on performing AC-to-DC (alternating current to direct current) conversion, where an AC current is generated from a sinusoidal carrier of the downlink signal and the converted DC current is used to power energy harvesting device 500. In some aspects, energy harvester 530 may include one or more rectifiers for performing AC-to-DC conversion. The rectifier may include one or more diodes or thin-film transistors (TFTs). In one exemplary example, energy harvester 530 may include one or more Schottky diode-based rectifiers. In some cases, energy harvester 530 may include one or more TFT-based rectifiers.

[0100] The output of energy harvester 530 is a DC current generated (e.g., collected) from a portion of the downlink signal supplied to energy harvester 530. In some aspects, the DC current output of energy harvester 530 may vary with the input supplied to energy harvester 530. For example, an increase in the input current to energy harvester 530 may be associated with an increase in the output DC current generated by energy harvester 530. In some cases, MCU 550 may be associated with a narrow band of acceptable DC current values. Regulator 540 may be used to eliminate or otherwise reduce variations in the DC current generated by the output of energy harvester 530. For example, regulator 540 may eliminate or smooth spikes (e.g., increases) in the DC current output by energy harvester 530 (e.g., such that the DC current supplied as input to MCU 550 by regulator 540 remains below a first threshold). In some cases, regulator 540 may eliminate or otherwise compensate for a decrease or reduction in the DC current output by energy harvester 530 (e.g., such that the DC current supplied as input to MCU 550 by regulator 540 remains above a second threshold).

[0101] In some respects, the collected DC current (e.g., generated by energy harvester 530 and regulated upward or downward by regulator 540 as needed) can be used to power MCU 550 and one or more additional components included in energy harvesting device 500. For example, the collected DC current can also be used to power one or more (or all) of impedance matching component 510, demodulator 520, regulator 540, MCU 550, sensor 570, modulator 560, etc. For example, sensor 570 and modulator 560 can receive at least a portion of the collected DC current remaining after MCU 550 (e.g., not consumed by MCU 550). In some cases, the collected DC current output by regulator 540 can be provided to MCU 550, modulator 560, and sensor 570 in series, parallel, or a combination thereof.

[0102] In some examples, sensor 570 may be used to acquire sensor data (e.g., sensor data associated with the environment in which energy harvesting device 500 is located). Sensor 570 may include one or more sensors, which may be of the same or different types. In some aspects, one or more (or all) of sensors 570 may be configured to acquire sensor data based on control information included in a downlink signal received using antenna 590. For example, one or more of sensors 570 may be configured based on downlink communication that is acquired by demodulating the received downlink signal using demodulator 520. In an exemplary example, sensor data may be transmitted based on the backscatter reflection of a continuous carrier received at antenna 590 (e.g., changing one or more of its amplitude and / or phase) modulated using modulator 560. Based on the modulation of the backscatter reflection, modulator 560 may encode digital symbols (e.g., binary symbols or more complex symbol systems) indicating uplink communication or data messages. In some examples, modulator 560 may generate an uplink backscatter modulated signal based on sensor data received directly from sensor 570. In some examples, modulator 560 may generate an uplink backscatter modulated signal based on sensor data received from MCU 550 (e.g., based on MCU 550 receiving sensor data directly from sensor 570).

[0103] In some cases, location tracking devices (e.g., tag devices) can be implemented as active, semi-passive, and passive energy harvesting devices. Tag devices can be used to locate and / or track lost or misplaced items. For example, a tag device can be attached to an item by an owner (e.g., a user). If the owner subsequently loses or misplaces the item, the owner can then search for and / or track the location of the attached tag device to aid in finding the item. For some tag devices, if the item and the attached tag device are misplaced by the owner, the tag can broadcast an announcement message using the Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) protocol, which includes the public key associated with the tag device. A nearby relay device (such as a wireless device not associated with the owner) can receive the announcement message and send the public key along with the location information associated with the relay device to a cloud service. The owner can then access the cloud service to access the location information as a proxy for the location of the tag device and the attached item. In some cases, including the public key in the message using BLE may limit the size of the public key that can be used. Additionally, using the public key may allow replay attacks to be performed using spoofed location information. Therefore, there is a need to improve the location tracking of tag devices. In some cases, tag information, including decoded identifiers, can allow for improved location tracking.

[0104] Figure 6 This is an illustration of an example of an environment 600 for improving location tracking of a tag device according to various aspects of this disclosure. Environment 600 includes a tag device 602, an owner device 604, a location tracking service 606, and a relay device 608. In some cases, the tag device 602 may be an active tag device (e.g., including a power source and may or may not be configured for energy harvesting). Initially, the tag device 602 may be associated with the owner device 604 during the network access process 610. The owner device 604 may be any communication device capable of accessing the location tracking service 606. During the network access process 610, the tag device 602 may be configured with various information, such as tag name, owner account information, etc.

[0105] In some cases, a private / public key pair may also be generated. The private / public key may be stored on both tag device 602 and owner device 604. The private / public key may be used as part of the decoded tag information. The decoded tag information may be information sent by the tag device to help identify the tag device. The decoded tag information may include a hash or otherwise encrypted version of the public key, or a permanent identifier of the tag device. However, an unencrypted public key will not be tag information or decoded tag information. In some cases, hash information of the public key may also be generated and stored on tag device 602 and owner device 604. In some cases, the hash information may be a set of hashes of the public key, along with other parameters. These other parameters may help generate a different set of hashes. In some cases, the hash information may be the public key and information about other parameters that can be hashed along with the public key, as well as timing information. For example, storing the public key, other parameters, and an indication of which and when to use those parameters to compute the hash value using the public key may be more space-efficient than storing a pre-defined set of hashes (e.g., pre-defined tag identifiers). In some cases, the duration for which a tag identifier (e.g., a hash) can be used may be user-configurable. For example, during the network access process 610, the owner may configure one or more time slots that define the time and duration for which a single tag identifier can be used in the event that tag device 602 is lost / misplaced (e.g., between 6 PM and 7 PM). In some cases, the private key may be stored on the owner device 604.

[0106] In some examples, owner device 604 may register 612 with location tracking service 606. In some cases, during registration, owner device 604 may transmit a public key, tag identifier, and timeslot to location tracking service 606. In some cases, the public key, tag identifier, and timeslot may also be updated after the initial registration.

[0107] In some cases, tag device 602 may determine that it has been lost / misplaced and may send a lost tag message based on this determination. In some cases, tag device 602 may determine that it has been separated from owner device 604 based on an owner beacon. In some cases, tag device 602 may be considered separated from owner device 604 if the tag is not physically near owner device 604 (e.g., not within the transmission range of owner device 604). In some cases, owner device 604 (or another device associated with the owner's account) may periodically send owner beacons. In some cases, tag device 602 may store timing information indicating when tag device 602 last received an owner beacon. In some cases, if tag device 602 does not receive an owner beacon within a threshold time period, tag device 602 may determine that it has been lost / misplaced and begin broadcasting a lost tag signal 614. In some cases, the threshold time period may be several hours to a day or any time in between.

[0108] In some cases, tag device 602 may determine that it has been separated from user device 604 based on an estimated location. For example, tag device 602 may be configured to determine that tag device 602 has been separated if tag device 602 is removed from certain defined geographic areas (e.g., geographic boundaries).

[0109] In some cases, detecting detachment of the tag device from the user device can be performed by a server (such as location tracking service 606). Server-side detachment detection can be performed instead of the tag device determining that it has been detached from the user device, or as a supplement to it. In some cases, a server such as location tracking service 606 can detect whether tag device 602 has been detached based on the reported time / location and additional information of tag device 602. For example, a virtual fence or area of ​​interest can be provided as additional information, and the server can determine whether tag device 602 has been detached by comparing the reported location of the tag device with the virtual fence / area of ​​interest. If tag device 602 is outside the virtual fence / area of ​​interest, the server can determine that tag device 602 has been detached. As another example, in some cases, tag device 602 can report location information to the server, and the server can monitor the time associated with the reported location information. If location information has not been received within a threshold time period, the server can determine that tag device 602 has been detached. In some cases, both tag device 602 and owner device 604 can report location information to the server. If the distance between tag device 602 and owner device 604 exceeds a threshold, the server can determine that tag device 602 has been separated. Additionally, if tag device 602 indicates that it has not received an owner beacon within a threshold time period, the server can determine that tag device 602 has been separated.

[0110] In some cases, tag device 602 may be a passive or semi-passive energy harvesting (EH) device that cannot directly generate transmissions. Instead, energy from RF transmissions can be used to excite the (semi-)passive EH device (e.g., tag device 602). In some cases, the excitation and / or triggering of transmission may be a lost tag excitation signal. In some cases, this lost tag excitation signal may be transmitted by relay device 608. In some cases, an owner beacon may also excite the (semi-)passive EH device. The (semi-)passive EH device may be excited by the lost tag excitation signal, and the (semi-)passive EH device may use this energy to determine whether the (semi-)passive EH device has been lost / misplaced and for receiving and transmitting messages. In some cases, the (semi-)passive EH device may use the harvested energy to determine the tag identifier based on hash information and a public key. In other cases, such as if the (semi-)passive EH device cannot extract enough energy to perform a hash, the tag identifier may be predetermined and stored on the (semi-)passive EH device for transmission. In some cases, relay device 608 can be a wireless device, such as a UE. In other cases, relay device 608 can be a network device, such as a base station, gNB, eNB, etc.

[0111] If tag device 602 determines that it has been lost / misplaced, it may begin broadcasting a lost tag signal 614. In some cases, the lost tag signal 614 may include the tag identifier of tag device 602. As discussed above, the tag identifier may be a hash value determined based on a public key along with parameters in another set of parameters. In some cases, the tag identifier may change based on a time slot. For example, the hash value of the tag identifier may be determined based on a public key and different parameters in another set of parameters based on the time slot and the current time. Tag device 602 may broadcast the lost tag signal 614 periodically.

[0112] In some cases, the lost tag signal 614 can be broadcast using any wireless protocol, such as BLE, Wi-Fi, or cellular protocols such as 4G, LTE, and 5G. In some cases, tag identifiers can be used to circumvent limitations imposed by the block size of certain protocols, such as BLE. For example, BLE block sizes may make it difficult to directly send public keys longer than 224 bits. In some cases, using a hash of the public key as a tag identifier can overcome this limitation of public key size. Hashting the public key using certain hash algorithms, such as Secure Hash Algorithms (SHA) such as SHA-2 or SHA-3, allows significantly longer strings (such as 256-bit or 512-bit public keys, or elliptic curve cryptography (ECC) public keys with (multiple) parameters) to be hashed to a specific length, such as 224 bits. Therefore, the security of public / private key pairs can be improved by allowing the use of longer public / private keys.

[0113] Relay device 608 may receive a lost tag signal 614 from tag device 602. In some cases, the relay device may then contact location tracking service 606 and transmit a first message 616 to location tracking service 606 including the tag identifier received from tag device 602. Location tracking service 606 may then look up the tag identifier received from tag device 602 against the tag identifier received from owner device 604 (e.g., during the tag device registration process, such as the process during which the owner registers the tag identifier and the corresponding public key with location tracking service 606). After matching the tag identifier, location tracking service 606 may transmit a response 618 to the first message 616. In some cases, response 618 may include the public key of tag device 602 and the possible tag identifier. By having the location tracking service 606 perform the public key lookup instead of the tag device 602 broadcasting the public key, the server-side control of the location tracking service 606 can be used to avoid / limit relay devices 608 from being bombarded by lost tag broadcasts or from lost tag broadcasts being copied and replayed at many locations to create spam and / or spoofing attacks with false location information.

[0114] Based on response 618, relay device 608 can obtain location information about its location. In some cases, location information can be provided by a GNSS satellite-based system 622 (such as GPS, GLONASS, GNSS, BDS, etc.). In some cases, location information may be at least partially based on positioning technologies, such as received signal angle, triangulation location, ranging, etc. In some cases, location information may be based on the location of a wireless node, an area identifier associated with a wireless network, etc. For example, relay device 608 may transmit location information based on the wireless node to which it is connected. In some cases, additional environmental information may also be provided, such as WiFi identifiers (e.g., BSSID of nearby WiFi access points), information associated with vehicle-mounted repeaters (such as bus numbers, train numbers, etc.), or other similar environmental information that can be used to locate tag devices. In some cases, relay device 608 may include additional information to help locate tag device 602. In some cases, relay device 608 may use the public key received in response 618 of the second message 620 transmitted to location tracking service 606 to encrypt the acquired location information. Since the location information can be encrypted using the public key of tag device 602, location tracking service 606 may not be able to decrypt the location information.

[0115] In some cases, location tracking service 606 may transmit encrypted location information 624 to owner device 604. For example, owner device 604 may have a push notification established with location tracking service 606, and location tracking service 606 may push a notification containing location information to owner device 604. As another example, owner device 604 may request (e.g., pull) location information from location tracking service 606. Owner device 604 can then use a private key associated with the public key used to encrypt the location information to decrypt the location information to help locate the tag device.

[0116] In some cases, a payment / reward model can be established. For example, owner device 604 can offer payment to location tracking service 606 for access to the location information of the tagged device. Since location tracking service 606 can send a response 618 to relay device 608 to obtain location information, location tracking service 606 may be able to identify relay device 608. Rewards can be offered to relay device 608 based on this identification. In some cases, relay device 608 may first register with location tracking service 606 to receive rewards. In some cases, relay device 608 that has not registered with location tracking service 606 may not be identified and / or rewarded.

[0117] In some cases, there may be multiple location tracking services 606 associated with and operated by different location tracking services. In some cases, the tag device 602 may broadcast a routing identifier (such as a URL for the tracking service) along with the tag identifier as part of a lost tag signal 614. The relay device 708 may then forward the tag identifier to the URL or use the URL to obtain the public key associated with the tag identifier. In some cases, it may be desirable to restrict access to the routing identifier to prevent eavesdropping by devices that may not be helpful in locating the tag device. In such cases, the routing identifier may be encrypted, for example, using the public key of the routing service.

[0118] Figure 7 This is a diagram illustrating an example of an environment 700 for routing using route identifiers according to various aspects of this disclosure. As shown, environment 700 may include a tag device 702, an owner device 704, a first location tracking service 706, a second location tracking service 710, a relay device 708, and a routing service 712. Although environment 700 includes two location tracking services, it should be understood that any number of location tracking services can be available. Environment 700 helps provide a common routing infrastructure for tag devices while allowing multiple location tracking services. Figure 7 In this process, tag device 702 may broadcast a routing identifier along with the tag identifier as part of a lost tag signal 714. The routing identifier may identify the location tracking service associated with tag device 702 and owner device 704, such as a first location tracking service 706. In some cases, the routing identifier may be encrypted using the public key of routing service 712.

[0119] In some cases, relay device 708 may receive a lost tag signal 714 from the tag device. Since relay device 708 may not be able to decrypt the encrypted routing identifier from the lost tag signal 714, relay device 708 may transmit the encrypted routing identifier and tag identifier to routing service 712 at 720. In some cases, relay device 708 may also send its location information to routing service 712. Routing service 712 may decrypt the routing identifier to identify the appropriate location tracking service. The routing service may then transmit the tag identifier at 722 to the appropriate location tracking service, here first location tracking service 706. If location information 708 is received from the relay device, the location information may also be transmitted at 722 to the location tracking service. If no location information is received from relay device 708, the location tracking service (such as first location tracking service 706) may send the public key and, possibly the tag identifier, directly at 724 or via routing service 712 to relay device 708. Relay device 708 can then use the public key to encrypt the location information and send the encoded location information directly to a location tracking service, such as the first location tracking service 706, either directly to 724 or via routing service 712. In some cases, relay device 708 may register with or be configured to use routing service 712. Owner device 704 may access 726 the first location tracking service 706 in order to communicate with the above-mentioned... Figure 6 The location information of tag device 702 is obtained in a similar manner to that described.

[0120] In some cases, relay device 708 may not be configured to use routing service 712 or may be unrelated to that routing service, but may have access to another location tracking service, such as a second location tracking service 710. In such cases, relay device 708 may transmit an encrypted routing identifier and tag identifier 728 to the routing service and transmit location information to the location tracking service associated with relay device 708 (e.g., the second location tracking service 710). In some cases, the location information may be encrypted, for example, using the public key of the associated location tracking service (here, the second location tracking service 710). The second location tracking service 710 may then forward the encrypted routing identifier and tag identifier to the routing service and forward the location information to routing service 712. The routing service may then identify the appropriate location tracking service (here, the first location tracking service 706) and transmit the tag identifier and location information 722 to the appropriate location tracking service (here, the first location tracking service 706). In some cases, the location tracking services may each act as routing services 712 independently and may forward messages from the relay device to other location tracking services.

[0121] In some cases, tagging devices (such asFigure 6 Tag device 602 or Figure 7 The tag device 702 may be able to determine location information. For example, the tag device may be able to determine location information using nearby cell IDs, BSSIDs, 3GPP location services, or using ranging and / or positioning technologies (such as received signal angles, triangulation positions, etc.) based on information from nearby wireless nodes (such as from BS, AP, eNB, gNB, etc.). In some cases, the tag device may also be able to use a GNSS system to access and determine location information. Where the tag device is able to determine location information, it can use its public key to encrypt the location information. The tag device can then communicate with the above-mentioned... Figure 6 and Figure 7 The described method is essentially similar, broadcasting the encrypted location information along with the tag identifier (and possibly a routing identifier). In some cases, a relay device receiving the broadcast from the tag device may not be able to determine whether location information is included. The relay device can therefore transmit the relay device's location information, as mentioned above. Figure 6 and Figure 7 As described above. In some cases, the tag device may provide a digital signature along with location information and a tag identifier. In other cases, the relay device may verify a digital certificate and transmit the tag identifier and location information from the tag device, along with the relay device's location information, to a location tracking service or routing service, as described above. Figure 6 and Figure 7 As described. The user equipment can then access location information provided by the tag device and location information provided by the relay device. This additional location information can potentially increase location accuracy and / or the confidence of the reported location, and can potentially help filter out potentially fraudulent location reports.

[0122] In some cases, tag device privacy regarding location tracking services may not be a priority. For example, in some cases, the tag device may be owned by the location tracking service. In such cases, the tag device may use the location tracking service's public key to encrypt a permanent identifier for the tag device. The tag device may send this encrypted permanent identifier in the lost tag signal. If the tag device is configured to send routing information along with the lost tag signal, the tag device may send routing information for the location tracking service in the lost tag signal. The tag device may further use the routing service's public key to encrypt the routing information. If the tag device can determine location information, the tag device may use the location tracking service's public key to encrypt the determined location information. After receiving the lost tag signal, the relay device can communicate with the above regarding... Figure 6 and Figure 7A similar approach to the described method transmits an encrypted permanent identifier (and encrypted location information, if available) to a location tracking service (using routing information, if available). The relay device may also transmit its location information. In some cases, the relay device's location information may be transmitted to the location tracking service unencrypted or encrypted using the location tracking service's public key. The relay device may, for example, transmit via... Figure 6 A similar approach described above involves transmitting an encrypted permanent identifier to the location tracking service and receiving the location tracking service's public key to obtain the location tracking service's public key, or the location tracking service's public key may be included in the lost tag signal.

[0123] In some cases, the tag device can verify one or more nearby relay devices. Where the tag device can verify relay devices, it may have a Certificate Authority (CA) certificate. In some cases, this can be done during the setup process (e.g., during manufacturing) or during the network access process (such as...). Figure 6 During the network access process (610), a CA certificate is provided on the tag device. The tag device may establish a secure wireless channel to the relay device, such as by using BLE, sidelink, or Wi-Fi. The relay device may then provide its certificate from the CA. The tag device may then establish a wireless connection to the wireless network to verify the certificate. The relay device may then use the private key associated with the relay device's certificate to sign additional messages to the tag device. In some cases, the tag device may verify the relay device when it needs to report its identifier or location information in response to a request (such as in response to a paging, a beacon, etc.). In some cases, the tag device may verify the relay device when it is an active tag device with its own power source.

[0124] In some cases, the master key is generated using the key SK. M This can be used to generate ephemeral (time-limited) secret key (e.g., private key) SK / PK (public key) pairs. In some cases, the SK / PK pair can be generated by the owner of the tag device (e.g., based on user input provided by the owner). For example, the owner could be a user of both the tag device and the user device (e.g., or an account associated with the user). In another example, the owner could be a location tracking service (e.g., where the tag device is owned by the location tracking service and is leased, lent, delegated to a user, etc.). SK M It can be shared between the tag device and the user device (or between the tag device and the location tracking service if the tag device is owned by the location tracking service). Key derivation functions (KDFs) constructed using cryptographic hash functions such as SHA-2 / SHA-3 can be applied. SK M The parameter can be input into KDF to derive the secret key SK for that parameter. iSuch as time slots, as shown below: SK i =KDF(SK M , param), where param is an index, time index, or other parameter. Then, it can be obtained from SK. i Export the public key PK of this parameter. i ,like Where G is the generator (a common parameter). The generator G can also be shared between the tag device and the user device. Then, the tag identifier ID... PKi Can be generated as ID PKi =Hash(PK) i ).

[0125] In some cases, such as if the tag device is transferred to a new owner, the master key generation key SK is used. M It can be reset. In some cases, the master key generation key SK M This key can be provided by the tag device owner at the tag device during initialization. The master key is generated using the key SK. M When provided by the owner, the master key is generated as key SK. M Encryption can be performed using a tag device persistent key (e.g., a device public key (PK) or device secret key (SK) generated from the device master key), ensuring that only the tag device can decode the key generation key. The master key generation key SK can be derived between the tag device and the owner (e.g., user equipment or location tracking service) based on a key negotiation protocol such as Elliptic Curve Diffie-Hellman (ECDH). M .

[0126] In some cases, such as during a factory reset or initialization process, a new master key SK can be generated when the owner changes. O In other cases, the manufacturing master key SK can be provided at the time of manufacturing and used to generate the SK upon change of ownership. O In some cases, SK O =KDF(SK, param), where param is a random number or an elliptic curve Diffie-Hellman (ECDH) secret established during initialization. In some cases, PK... O Based on To generate. PK O and SK O It can be used as a long-term key for generating temporary SK / PK pairs (e.g., by owner).

[0127] In some cases, other keys that can be shared between the tag device and the user device may include a verification key, a provisioning key, and a device key. In some cases, the verification key may be a public / private key pair used by the tag device for remote verification (if needed). In some cases, the provisioning key may be a public key (or certificate) of the owner (e.g., owner account or user device) or the provisioning server. The provisioning key can be used by the tag device to verify provisioning information received from the owner or the provisioning server. In some cases, the device key may be a public / private key pair provisioned to the tag device during manufacturing. The device key can be used by the owner or the provisioning server to encrypt the provisioning information of the tag device.

[0128] Figure 8 This is a flowchart illustrating an example of a process 800 for wireless communication. Process 800 may be performed by a first wireless device (e.g., a computing device) or by a component or system of the first wireless device (e.g., a chipset). The first wireless device may be... Figure 5 The energy harvesting device 500, wireless devices such as computing system 1000 or UE (e.g., mobile devices such as mobile phones, network-connected wearable devices such as watches, extended reality devices such as virtual reality (VR) devices or augmented reality (AR) devices, vehicles or components or systems of vehicles, or other types of UEs), or other types of network nodes. In some examples, process 800 may be performed by the UE and / or the energy harvesting device. In some cases, the UE may be the energy harvesting device. The operation of process 800 may be implemented in one or more processors (e.g., Figure 10 Software components executed and running on the processor 1010 or other processor. Furthermore, in process 800, the network device's transmission and reception of signals may be achieved, for example, through one or more antennas, one or more transceivers (e.g., wireless transceivers) and / or other communication components (e.g., [missing information]). Figure 2 Transmit processor 220, receive processor 238, TX MIMO processor 230, MIMO detector 236, modulator / demodulators 232a to 232t and / or antennas 234a to 234t, Figure 10 This can be achieved through a communication interface 1040 or other antennas, transceivers and / or components.

[0129] At box 802, the computing device (or a component thereof) may determine that the first device is isolated relative to a second device associated with the first device. In some examples, the computing device (or a component thereof) may determine that the first device is isolated by determining that a beacon from the second device has not been received within a threshold time period.

[0130] At box 804, the computing device (or its components) may generate tag information associated with a public key. In some cases, the tag information includes an encrypted permanent identifier from a first device. In some examples, the computing device (or its components) may obtain a public key, where the public key is the public key of a tracking service. In some examples, the computing device (or its components) may encrypt the permanent identifier based on the public key of the tracking service. In some cases, the computing device (or its components) may obtain a public key, and the tag information includes a tag identifier. In some examples, the tag identifier includes a hash of the public key. In some cases, the tag identifier has a first length shorter than a second length of the public key. In some examples, the tag information is based on the public key and parameters. In some examples, the computing device (or its components) may select parameters based on the current time. In some cases, the public key and parameters are obtained from a second device. In some examples, the computing device (or its components) may receive a signal from a wireless network. In some cases, the computing device (or its components) may determine location information based on the signal. In some examples, the computing device (or its components) may encrypt the location information based on the public key. In some cases, a computing device (or a component thereof) may broadcast encrypted location information along with tag information. In some examples, the tag information includes decoded tag information.

[0131] At box 806, the computing device (or a component thereof) may broadcast tag information based on determining that the first device is isolated. In some cases, the computing device (or a component thereof) may broadcast tag information by broadcasting a routing identifier along with the tag information. In some examples, the routing identifier is encrypted based on the public key of the routing service.

[0132] In some examples, the processes described herein (e.g., process 800 and / or other processes described herein) may be performed by computing devices or apparatuses (e.g., network nodes, such as UEs, base stations, parts of base stations, etc.). For example, as described above, one or more processes described herein (e.g., process 1100 and / or other processes described herein) may be performed by a UE and / or an energy harvesting device (e.g., a device with EH capability).

[0133] Figure 9 This is a flowchart illustrating an example of a process 900 for wireless communication. Process 900 may be performed by a wireless device (e.g., a computing device) or by a component or system of the wireless device (e.g., a chipset). The wireless device may be a relay device (e.g., Figure 6 The relay equipment 608 Figure 7 Relay device 708), wireless devices such as computing system 1000 or UE (e.g., Figure 1 UE 104 Figure 4Wireless devices 407, mobile devices such as mobile phones, network-connected wearable devices such as watches, extended reality devices such as virtual reality (VR) devices or augmented reality (AR) devices, vehicles or components or systems of vehicles, or other types of UEs, or other types of network nodes. The operation of process 900 can be implemented in one or more processors (e.g., Figure 10 Software components that execute and run on the processor 1010 or other processor. Furthermore, in process 900, the network device may transmit and receive signals via, for example, one or more antennas, one or more transceivers (e.g., wireless transceivers) and / or other communication components (e.g., Figure 2 Transmit processor 220, receive processor 238, TX MIMO processor 230, MIMO detector 236, modulator / demodulators 232a to 232t and / or antennas 234a to 234t, Figure 10 This can be achieved through a communication interface 1040 or other antennas, transceivers and / or components.

[0134] At box 902, the computing device (or a component thereof) may receive a broadcast from the tag device, wherein the broadcast includes a tag identifier. In some cases, the computing device (or a component thereof) may receive a public key from a routing service, wherein the public key is obtained by the routing service from a first location tracking service. In some examples, the broadcast also includes a routing identifier. In some cases, the computing device (or a component thereof) may send the routing identifier to the routing service. In some examples, the routing identifier identifies a second location tracking service. In some cases, the computing device (or a component thereof) may send both the tag identifier and the routing identifier to the first location tracking service for forwarding to the second location tracking service. In some cases, the routing identifier is encrypted. In some examples, the tag identifier has a first length that is shorter than a second length of the public key.

[0135] At box 904, the computing device (or a component thereof) may send the tag identifier to the first location tracking service. In some cases, the computing device (or a component thereof) may send the tag identifier to the first location tracking service by sending the tag identifier to a routing service to forward the tag identifier to the first location tracking service.

[0136] At box 906, the computing device (or a component thereof) may receive a public key associated with the tag device from the first location tracking service.

[0137] At box 908, the computing device (or its components) can obtain the device's location information.

[0138] At box 910, the computing device (or a component thereof) may encrypt location information based on a public key.

[0139] At box 912, the computing device (or a component thereof) may send the encrypted location information to the first location tracking service.

[0140] In some cases, a computing device or apparatus may include various components such as one or more input devices, one or more output devices, one or more processors, one or more microprocessors, one or more microcomputers, one or more cameras, one or more sensors, and / or other components configured to perform the steps of the processes described herein. In some examples, a computing device may include a display, one or more network interfaces configured to transmit and / or receive data, any combination thereof, and / or other components. One or more network interfaces may be configured to transmit and / or receive wired and / or wireless data, including data according to 3G, 4G, 5G, and / or other cellular standards, data according to the WiFi (802.11x) standard, and data according to Bluetooth. ™ Standard data, data according to the Internet Protocol (IP) standard, and / or other types of data.

[0141] Components of a computing device may be implemented in circuitry. For example, components may include electronic circuitry or other electronic hardware, and / or may be implemented using electronic circuitry or other electronic hardware, which may include one or more programmable electronic circuits (e.g., a microprocessor, graphics processing unit (GPU), digital signal processor (DSP), central processing unit (CPU), and / or other suitable electronic circuitry), and / or may include computer software, firmware, or any combination thereof for performing the various operations described herein, and / or may be implemented using computer software, firmware, or any combination thereof for performing the various operations described herein.

[0142] Processes 800 and 900 are illustrated as logic flowcharts, whose operations represent sequences of operations that can be implemented by hardware, computer instructions, or combinations thereof. In the context of computer instructions, each operation represents a computer-executable instruction stored on one or more computer-readable storage media that, when executed by one or more processors, performs the described operation. Generally, computer-executable instructions include routines, programs, objects, components, data structures, etc., that perform a specific function or implement a specific data type. The order in which the operations are described is not intended to be construed as limiting, and any number of described operations can be combined in any order and / or in parallel to implement the process.

[0143] Additionally, processes 800 and 900 and / or other processes described herein may be executed under the control of one or more computer systems configured with executable instructions, and may be implemented as code (e.g., executable instructions, one or more computer programs, or one or more applications) that executes jointly on one or more processors, by hardware, or a combination thereof. As noted above, the code may be stored on a computer-readable or machine-readable storage medium, for example, in the form of a computer program comprising multiple instructions executable by one or more processors. The computer-readable or machine-readable storage medium may be non-transitory.

[0144] Figure 10 This is a diagram illustrating an example of a system used to implement certain aspects of this technology. Specifically, Figure 10 An example of a computing system 1000 is illustrated. This computing system can be any computing device, such as constituting an internal computing system, a remote computing system, a camera, or any component thereof, wherein the components of the system communicate with each other using connection 1005. Connection 1005 can be a physical connection using a bus, or a direct connection to processor 1010, such as in a chipset architecture. Connection 1005 can also be a virtual connection, a networking connection, or a logical connection.

[0145] In some aspects, the computing system 1000 is a distributed system in which the functions described herein can be distributed across a data center, multiple data centers, a peer-to-peer network, etc. In some aspects, one or more system components described represent a plurality of such components, each performing some or all of the functions described for which the component is used. In some aspects, the components can be physical or virtual devices.

[0146] Example system 1000 includes at least one processing unit (CPU or processor) 1010 and a connection 1005 that communicatively couples various system components, including system memories 1025 such as read-only memory (ROM) 1020 and random access memory (RAM) 1025, to processor 1010. Computing system 1000 may include a cache 1015 of high-speed memory that is directly connected to, closely proximates, or integrated into processor 1010.

[0147] Processor 1010 may include any general-purpose processor and hardware or software services, such as services 1032, 1034, and 1036 stored in storage device 1030, which are configured to control processor 1010 and dedicated processors in which software instructions are incorporated into the actual processor design. Processor 1010 may be a substantially completely independent computing system containing multiple cores or processors, buses, memory controllers, caches, etc. Multi-core processors may be symmetric or asymmetric.

[0148] To enable user interaction, the computing system 1000 includes an input device 1045 that can represent any number of input mechanisms, such as a microphone for voice, a touch-sensitive screen for gesture or graphic input, a keyboard, a mouse, motion input, voice input, etc. The computing system 1000 may also include an output device 1035 that can be one or more of a plurality of output mechanisms. In some instances, a multi-mode system allows the user to provide multiple types of input / output to communicate with the computing system 1000.

[0149] The computing system 1000 may include a communication interface 1040, which typically controls and manages user input and system output. The communication interface may perform or facilitate the receiving and / or transmitting of wired or wireless communications using wired and / or wireless transceivers, including utilizing audio jacks / plugs, microphone jacks / plugs, Universal Serial Bus (USB) ports / plugs, Apple... ™ Lightning ™ Ports / plugs, Ethernet ports / plugs, fiber optic ports / plugs, dedicated wired ports / plugs, 3G, 4G, 5G and / or other cellular data network wireless signal transmission, Bluetooth ™ Wireless signal transmission, Bluetooth ™ Low-power (BLE) wireless signal transmission, IBEACON ™Wireless signal transmission, including radio frequency identification (RFID) wireless signal transmission, near field communication (NFC) wireless signal transmission, dedicated short range communication (DSRC) wireless signal transmission, 802.11 Wi-Fi wireless signal transmission, wireless local area network (WLAN) signal transmission, visible light communication (VLC), microwave access global interoperability (WiMAX), infrared (IR) wireless signal transmission, public switched telephone network (PSTN) signal transmission, integrated services digital network (ISDN) signal transmission, ad hoc network signal transmission, radio wave signal transmission, microwave signal transmission, infrared signal transmission, visible light signal transmission, ultraviolet light signal transmission, wireless signal transmission along the electromagnetic spectrum, or some combination thereof. The communication interface 1040 may also include one or more Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) receivers or transceivers used to determine the location of the computing system 1000 based on one or more signals received from one or more satellites associated with one or more GNSS systems. GNSS systems include, but are not limited to, the U.S. Global Positioning System (GPS), Russia's Global Navigation Satellite System (GLONASS), China's BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS), and Europe's Galileo GNSS. There are no limitations on operation on any particular hardware configuration, and therefore the underlying features here can be easily replaced to obtain improved hardware or firmware configurations as they are developed.

[0150] Storage device 1030 may be a non-volatile and / or non-transitory and / or computer-readable storage device, and may be a hard disk or other type of computer-readable medium capable of storing data accessible by a computer, such as magnetic tape, flash memory cards, solid-state storage devices, digital versatile discs, cartridges, floppy disks, hard disks, magnetic tapes, magnetic stripes, any other magnetic storage media, flash memory, memristor memory, any other solid-state storage, CD-ROM, rewritable CD, digital video disc (DVD), Blu-ray Disc (BDD), holographic disc, another optical medium, secure digital (SD) cards, micro-secure digital (microSD) cards, Memory Stick. ®Cards, smart card chips, EMV chips, Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) cards, mini / micro / nano / micro SIM cards, another integrated circuit (IC) chip / card, random access memory (RAM), static RAM (SRAM), dynamic RAM (DRAM), read-only memory (ROM), programmable read-only memory (PROM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), flash EPROM, cache memory (e.g., layer 1 (L1) cache, layer 2 (L2) cache, layer 3 (L3) cache, layer 4 (L4) cache, layer 5 (L5) cache, or other (L#) cache), resistive random access memory (RRAM / ReRAM), phase change memory (PCM), spin-transfer torque RAM (STT-RAM), another memory chip or cassette and / or combinations thereof.

[0151] Storage device 1030 may include software services, servers, services, etc., which enable the system to perform functions when the code defining such software is executed by processor 1010. In some aspects, hardware services that perform specific functions may include software components stored in a computer-readable medium connected to necessary hardware components, such as processor 1010, connection 1005, output device 1035, etc., to perform the functions. The term "computer-readable medium" includes, but is not limited to, portable or non-portable storage devices, optical storage devices, and various other media capable of storing, containing, or carrying instructions and / or data. Computer-readable media may include non-transitory media in which data can be stored and which does not include carrier waves and / or transient electronic signals propagated wirelessly or via a wired connection. Examples of non-transitory media may include, but are not limited to, magnetic disks or magnetic tapes, optical storage media (such as compact discs (CDs) or digital versatile discs (DVDs)), flash memory, memory, or memory devices. Computer-readable media may store code and / or machine-executable instructions thereon, which may represent procedures, functions, subroutines, programs, routines, subroutines, modules, software packages, classes, or any combination of instructions, data structures, or program statements. A code segment may be coupled to another code segment or hardware circuitry by passing and / or receiving information, data, arguments, parameters, or memory contents. Information, arguments, parameters, data, etc., may be passed, forwarded, or transmitted via any suitable means, including memory sharing, message passing, token passing, network transmission, etc.

[0152] Specific details have been provided in the foregoing description to offer a thorough understanding of the aspects and examples presented herein, but those skilled in the art will recognize that this application is not limited thereto. Therefore, although illustrative aspects of this application have been described in detail herein, it is to be understood that the various inventive concepts can be implemented and employed in a variety of other ways, and the appended claims are not intended to be construed as including such variations unless limited by prior art. The various features and aspects of the applications described above can be used individually or in combination. Furthermore, without departing from the broader scope of the specification, aspects can be utilized in any number of environments and applications beyond those described herein. Therefore, the specification and drawings should be considered illustrative rather than restrictive. For illustrative purposes, the methods are described in a particular order. It should be understood that, in alternative aspects, the methods may be performed in a different order than described.

[0153] For clarity, in some instances, this technology may be presented as comprising individual functional blocks, which include devices, device components, steps, or routines embodied in a method, either in software or a combination of hardware and software. Additional components may be used in addition to those shown in the figures and / or described herein. For example, circuits, systems, networks, processes, and other components may be shown as components in block diagram form to avoid obscuring these aspects with unnecessary detail. In other cases, well-known circuits, processes, algorithms, structures, and techniques may be shown without unnecessary detail to avoid obscuring the aspects.

[0154] Furthermore, those skilled in the art will understand that the various exemplary logic blocks, modules, circuits, and algorithm steps described in connection with the aspects disclosed herein can be implemented as electronic hardware, computer software, or a combination of both. To clearly illustrate this interchangeability between hardware and software, various exemplary components, blocks, modules, circuits, and steps have been described above in general terms of their functionality. Whether this functionality is implemented as hardware or software depends on the specific application and the design constraints imposed on the overall system. Those skilled in the art may implement the described functionality in different ways for each specific application, but such specific implementation decisions should not be construed as departing from the scope of this disclosure.

[0155] The various aspects described above can be presented as a process or method, depicted as a flowchart, diagrammatic flowchart, data flow diagram, structural diagram, or block diagram. Although a flowchart can describe operations as a sequential process, many operations within an operation can be executed in parallel or concurrently. Furthermore, the order of operations can be rearranged. A process terminates when its operations are completed, but a process may have additional steps not included in the diagrams. A process can correspond to a method, function, procedure, subroutine, subroutine, etc. When a process corresponds to a function, the termination of the process can correspond to the function returning to the calling function or the main function.

[0156] The processes and methods described in the examples above can be implemented using stored computer-executable instructions or computer-executable instructions otherwise available from a computer-readable medium. Such instructions may include, for example, instructions and data that configure, or otherwise configure, a general-purpose computer, special-purpose computer, or processing device to perform a function or group of functions. The portion may be accessible via a network of the computer resources used. The computer-executable instructions may be, for example, binary, intermediate format instructions such as assembly language, firmware, or source code. Examples of computer-readable media that can be used to store the instructions, the information used, and / or information created during the methods according to the described examples include disks or optical discs, flash memory, USB devices with non-volatile memory, networked storage devices, etc.

[0157] In some respects, computer-readable storage devices, media, and memories may include cables or wireless signals containing bit streams, etc. However, when referred to, non-transitory computer-readable storage media explicitly exclude media such as power consumption, carrier signals, electromagnetic waves, and the signals themselves.

[0158] Those skilled in the art will understand that information and signals can be represented using any of a variety of different techniques and methods. For example, data, instructions, commands, information, signals, bits, symbols, and chips that may be referred to throughout the above description may, in some cases, be represented by voltage, current, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or magnetic particles, light fields or light particles, or any combination thereof, depending in part on the specific application, in part on the desired design, in part on the corresponding technology, etc.

[0159] The various exemplary logic blocks, modules, and circuits described in conjunction with the aspects disclosed herein can be implemented or executed using hardware, software, firmware, middleware, microcode, hardware description languages, or any combination thereof, and can take any form factor of various form factors. When implemented in software, firmware, middleware, or microcode, program code or code segments (e.g., computer program products) for performing necessary tasks can be stored in a computer-readable or machine-readable medium. A processor can perform the necessary tasks. Examples of form factors include: laptop computers, smartphones, mobile phones, tablet devices, or other small form factor personal computers, personal digital assistants, rack-mounted devices, self-contained devices, etc. The functionality described herein can also be embodied in peripheral devices or interlocking cards. By further example, such functionality can also be implemented on circuit boards in different chips or different processes running on a single device.

[0160] Instructions, media for delivering such instructions, computing resources for executing them, and other structures for supporting such computing resources are example components for providing the functionality described in this disclosure.

[0161] The techniques described herein can also be implemented in electronic hardware, computer software, firmware, or any combination thereof. Such techniques can be implemented in any of a variety of devices, such as general-purpose computers, wireless communication devices (mobile phones), or integrated circuit devices with multiple uses, including applications in wireless communication devices (mobile phones) and other devices. Any feature described as a module or component can be implemented together in an integrated logic device or separately as discrete but interoperable logic devices. If implemented in software, the techniques can be implemented at least in part by a computer-readable data storage medium comprising program code including instructions that, when executed, perform one or more of the methods, algorithms, and / or operations described above. The computer-readable data storage medium can form part of a computer program product, which may include packaging material. The computer-readable medium may include memory or data storage media, such as random access memory (RAM) (such as synchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM)), read-only memory (ROM), non-volatile random access memory (NVRAM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), flash memory, magnetic or optical data storage media, etc. Additionally or alternatively, the technology may be implemented at least in part by a computer-readable communication medium that carries or conveys program code in the form of instructions or data structures that can be accessed, read and / or executed by a computer, such as propagated signals or waves.

[0162] The program code can be executed by a processor, which may include one or more processors, such as one or more digital signal processors (DSPs), general-purpose microprocessors, application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), field-programmable arrays (FPGAs), or other equivalent integrated or discrete logic circuits. Such processors can be configured to perform any of the techniques described in this disclosure. A general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor; however, in alternatives, the processor may be any conventional processor, controller, microcontroller, or state machine. The processor may also be implemented as a combination of computing devices, such as a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, multiple microprocessors, one or more microprocessors combined with a DSP core, or any other such configuration. Therefore, as used herein, the term "processor" may refer to any of the foregoing structures, any combination of the foregoing structures, or any other structure or means suitable for implementing the techniques described herein.

[0163] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the less than ("<") and greater than (">") symbols or terms used herein can be represented by less than or equal to ("<") respectively. ") and greater than or equal to (" The symbol '(')' is used to replace the existing description without deviating from its scope.

[0164] When a component is described as being “configured” to perform certain operations, such configuration can be achieved, for example, by designing electronic circuits or other hardware to perform the operations, by programming programmable electronic circuits (e.g., microprocessors or other suitable electronic circuits) to perform the operations, or any combination thereof.

[0165] The phrase “coupled to” or “communicatively coupled to” means that any component is physically connected directly or indirectly to another component, and / or that any component communicates directly or indirectly with another component (e.g., via a wired or wireless connection and / or other suitable communication interface).

[0166] The claim language or other language that states "at least one of" and / or "one or more of" in a set indicates that one member of the set or multiple members of the set (in any combination) satisfy the claim. For example, the claim language that states "at least one of A and B" or "at least one of A or B" means A, B, or A and B. In another example, the claim language that states "at least one of A, B, and C" or "at least one of A, B, or C" means A, B, C, or A and B, or A and C, or B and C, A and B and C, or any repetition is information or data (e.g., A and A, B and B, C and C, A and A and B, etc.), or any other ordering, repetition, or combination of A, B, and C. The language "at least one of" and / or "one or more of" in a set does not limit the set to the items listed in the set. For example, the language of a claim that expresses “at least one of A and B” or “at least one of A or B” may mean A, B or A and B, and may additionally include items not listed in the set of A and B.

[0167] The exemplary aspects of this disclosure include:

[0168] Aspect 1. A first device for wireless communication, the first device comprising: a memory; and a processor coupled to the memory, the processor being configured to: determine that the first device is separate from a second device associated with the first device; generate tag information associated with a public key; and broadcast the tag information based on the determination that the first device is separate.

[0169] Aspect 2. The first device according to aspect 1, wherein the tag information includes an encrypted permanent identifier of the first device.

[0170] Aspect 3. The first device according to aspect 2, wherein the processor is further configured to: obtain the public key, wherein the public key is the public key of the tracking service; and encrypt the permanent identifier based on the public key of the tracking service.

[0171] Aspect 4. The first device according to any one of Aspects 1 to 3, wherein the processor is configured to: obtain the public key, and wherein the tag information includes a tag identifier.

[0172] Aspect 5. The first device according to aspect 4, wherein the tag identifier includes a hash of the public key.

[0173] Aspect 6. The first device according to any one of Aspects 4 or 5, wherein the tag identifier has a first length shorter than the second length of the public key.

[0174] Aspect 7. The first device according to any one of Aspects 1 to 6, wherein the tag information is based on the public key and parameters.

[0175] Aspect 8. The first device according to aspect 7, wherein the processor is further configured to select the parameter based on the current time.

[0176] Aspect 9. The first device according to any one of Aspects 7 or 8, wherein the public key and the parameters are obtained from the second device.

[0177] Aspect 10. The first device according to any one of Aspects 1 to 9, wherein, in order to determine that the first device is isolated, the processor is configured to: determine that a beacon of the second device has not been received within a threshold time period.

[0178] Aspect 11. The first device according to any one of Aspects 1 to 10, wherein the processor is further configured to: receive a signal from a wireless network; determine location information based on the signal; encrypt the location information based on the public key; and broadcast the encrypted location information together with the tag information.

[0179] Aspect 12. The first device according to any one of Aspects 1 to 11, wherein, in order to broadcast the tag information, the processor is configured to broadcast a routing identifier together with the tag information.

[0180] Aspect 13. The first device according to aspect 12, wherein the routing identifier is encrypted based on the public key of the routing service.

[0181] Aspect 14. The first device according to any one of aspects 1 to 13, wherein the tag information includes decoded tag information.

[0182] Aspect 15. An apparatus for wireless communication, the apparatus comprising: a memory; and a processor coupled to the memory, the processor being configured to: receive a broadcast from a tag device, wherein the broadcast includes a tag identifier; send the tag identifier to a first location tracking service; receive a public key associated with the tag device from the first location tracking service; obtain location information of the device; encrypt the location information based on the public key; and send the encrypted location information to the first location tracking service.

[0183] Aspect 16. The device according to aspect 15, wherein in order to send the tag identifier to the first location tracking service, the processor is further configured to: send the tag identifier to a routing service to forward the tag identifier to the first location tracking service.

[0184] Aspect 17. The device according to aspect 16, wherein in order to receive the public key, the processor is configured to: receive the public key from the routing service, wherein the public key is obtained by the routing service from the first location tracking service.

[0185] Aspect 18. The device according to any one of Aspects 15 to 17, wherein the broadcast further includes a routing identifier.

[0186] Aspect 19. The device according to aspect 18, wherein the processor is further configured to send the routing identifier to a routing service.

[0187] Aspect 20. The device according to any one of Aspects 18 or 19, wherein the routing identifier identifies a second location tracking service, and wherein, in order to send the tag identifier to the first location tracking service, the tag identifier and the routing identifier are sent to the first location tracking service for forwarding to the second location tracking service.

[0188] Aspect 21. The device according to any one of Aspects 18 to 20, wherein the routing identifier is encrypted.

[0189] Aspect 22. The device according to any one of Aspects 15 to 21, wherein the tag identifier has a first length shorter than the second length of the public key.

[0190] Aspect 23. A method for wireless communication, the method comprising: determining that a first device is separate from a second device associated with the first device; generating tag information associated with a public key; and broadcasting the tag information based on the determination that the first device is separate.

[0191] Aspect 24. The method according to aspect 23, wherein the tag information includes an encrypted permanent identifier of the first device.

[0192] Aspect 25. The method according to aspect 24, the method further comprising: obtaining the public key, wherein the public key is a public key of a tracking service; and encrypting the permanent identifier based on the public key of the tracking service.

[0193] Aspect 26. The method according to any one of Aspects 23 to 25, the method further comprising: obtaining the public key, wherein the tag information includes a tag identifier.

[0194] Aspect 27. The method according to aspect 26, wherein the tag identifier includes a hash of the public key.

[0195] Aspect 28. The method according to any one of Aspects 26 or 27, wherein the tag identifier has a first length shorter than the second length of the public key.

[0196] Aspect 29. The method according to any one of Aspects 23 to 28, wherein the tag information is based on the public key and parameters.

[0197] Aspect 30. The method according to aspect 29, the method further comprising: selecting the parameter based on the current time.

[0198] Aspect 31. The method according to any one of Aspects 29 or 30, wherein the public key and the parameters are obtained from the second device.

[0199] Aspect 32. The method according to any one of Aspects 23 to 31, wherein determining that the first device is isolated comprises: determining that a beacon of the second device has not been received within a threshold time period.

[0200] Aspect 33. The method according to any one of Aspects 23 to 32, the method further comprising: receiving a signal from a wireless network; determining location information based on the signal; encrypting the location information based on the public key; and broadcasting the encrypted location information together with the tag information.

[0201] Aspect 34. The method according to any one of Aspects 23 to 33, wherein broadcasting the tag information comprises: broadcasting a routing identifier together with the tag information.

[0202] Aspect 35. The method according to aspect 34, wherein the routing identifier is encrypted based on the public key of the routing service.

[0203] Aspect 36. The method according to any one of Aspects 23 to 35, wherein the tag information includes decoded tag information.

[0204] Aspect 37. A method for wireless communication, the method comprising: receiving a broadcast from a tag device, wherein the broadcast includes a tag identifier; sending the tag identifier to a first location tracking service; receiving a public key associated with the tag device from the first location tracking service; obtaining location information; encrypting the location information based on the public key; and sending the encrypted location information to the first location tracking service.

[0205] Aspect 38. The method according to aspect 37, wherein sending the tag identifier to the first location tracking service comprises: sending the tag identifier to a routing service to forward the tag identifier to the first location tracking service.

[0206] Aspect 39. The method according to aspect 38, wherein receiving the public key includes: receiving the public key from the routing service, wherein the public key is obtained by the routing service from the first location tracking service.

[0207] Aspect 40. The device according to any one of Aspects 37 to 39, wherein the broadcast further includes a routing identifier.

[0208] Aspect 41. The method according to aspect 40, the method further comprising: sending the routing identifier to a routing service.

[0209] Aspect 42. The method according to any one of Aspects 40 or 41, wherein the routing identifier identifies a second location tracking service, and wherein the tag identifier and the routing identifier are sent to the first location tracking service for forwarding to the second location tracking service.

[0210] Aspect 43. The method according to any one of Aspects 40 to 42, wherein the routing identifier is encrypted.

[0211] Aspect 44. The method according to any one of Aspects 37 to 43, wherein the tag identifier has a first length shorter than the second length of the public key.

[0212] Aspect 45. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform any one of aspects 23 to 44.

[0213] Aspect 46. An apparatus for wireless communication, the apparatus comprising one or more components for performing operations according to any one of aspects 23 to 44.

Claims

1. A first device for wireless communication, the first device comprising: Memory; and A processor, coupled to the memory, is configured to: It is determined that the first device is separate from the second device associated with the first device; Generate tag information associated with the public key; and The tag information is broadcast based on the determination that the first device is separate.

2. The first device according to claim 1, wherein the tag information includes an encrypted permanent identifier of the first device.

3. The first device according to claim 2, wherein the processor is further configured to: Obtain the public key, wherein the public key is the public key of the tracking service; and The permanent identifier is encrypted using the public key of the tracking service.

4. The first device according to claim 1, wherein the processor is configured to: obtain the public key, and wherein the tag information includes a tag identifier.

5. The first device according to claim 4, wherein the tag identifier comprises a hash of the public key.

6. The first device according to claim 4, wherein the tag identifier has a first length that is shorter than the second length of the public key.

7. The first device according to claim 1, wherein the tag information is based on the public key and parameters.

8. The first device of claim 7, wherein the processor is further configured to select the parameter based on the current time.

9. The first device according to claim 7, wherein the public key and the parameters are obtained from the second device.

10. The first device of claim 1, wherein, in order to determine that the first device is isolated, the processor is configured to: determine that a beacon from the second device has not been received within a threshold time period.

11. The first device according to claim 1, wherein the processor is further configured to: Receive signals from a wireless network; Determine location information based on the signal; The location information is encrypted using the public key; and The encrypted location information is broadcast together with the tag information.

12. The first device of claim 1, wherein, in order to broadcast the tag information, the processor is configured to broadcast a routing identifier together with the tag information.

13. The first device according to claim 12, wherein the routing identifier is encrypted based on the public key of the routing service.

14. The first device according to claim 1, wherein the tag information includes decoded tag information.

15. An apparatus for wireless communication, the apparatus comprising: Memory; and A processor, coupled to the memory, is configured to: Receive a broadcast from the tag device, wherein the broadcast includes a tag identifier; Send the tag identifier to the first location tracking service; Receive the public key associated with the tag device from the first location tracking service; Obtain the location information of the device; The location information is encrypted using the public key. as well as The encrypted location information is sent to the first location tracking service.

16. The device of claim 15, wherein, in order to send the tag identifier to the first location tracking service, the processor is further configured to: send the tag identifier to a routing service to forward the tag identifier to the first location tracking service.

17. The device of claim 16, wherein, in order to receive the public key, the processor is configured to: receive the public key from the routing service, wherein the public key is obtained by the routing service from the first location tracking service.

18. The device of claim 15, wherein the broadcast further includes a routing identifier.

19. The device of claim 18, wherein the processor is further configured to send the routing identifier to a routing service.

20. The device of claim 18, wherein the routing identifier identifies a second location tracking service, and wherein, in order to send the tag identifier to the first location tracking service, the tag identifier and the routing identifier are sent to the first location tracking service for forwarding to the second location tracking service.

21. The device of claim 18, wherein the routing identifier is encrypted.

22. The device of claim 15, wherein the tag identifier has a first length that is shorter than the second length of the public key.

23. A method for wireless communication, the method comprising: It is determined that the first device is separate from the second device associated with the first device; Generate tag information associated with the public key; as well as The tag information is broadcast based on the determination that the first device is separate.

24. The method of claim 23, wherein the tag information includes an encrypted permanent identifier of the first device.

25. The method according to claim 24, further comprising: Obtain the public key, wherein the public key is the public key for the tracking service; as well as The permanent identifier is encrypted using the public key of the tracking service.

26. The method according to claim 23, further comprising: Obtain the public key, wherein the tag information includes a tag identifier.

27. The method of claim 26, wherein the tag identifier comprises a hash of the public key.

28. The method of claim 23, wherein the tag information is based on the public key and parameters.

29. A method for wireless communication, the method comprising: Receive a broadcast from the tag device, wherein the broadcast includes a tag identifier; Send the tag identifier to the first location tracking service; Receive the public key associated with the tag device from the first location tracking service; Obtain location information; The location information is encrypted using the public key. as well as The encrypted location information is sent to the first location tracking service.

30. The method of claim 29, wherein sending the tag identifier to the first location tracking service comprises: The tag identifier is sent to the routing service to forward the tag identifier to the first location tracking service.

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