Systems and methods for sensing in half-duplex networks

Abstract

Aspects of the present invention relate to the integration of perception and wireless communications. A wireless communication network can configure and implement perception signals and communication signals. Perception signals or perception reference signals can be used to determine environmental attributes and do not carry any information or data for communication; while communication signals are signals that carry information or data between network entities. Perception agents can be used to implement passive perception and active perception. Perception agents can be dedicated devices that can perform passive perception and / or active perception. Perception agents can also be existing network devices, such as user equipment or transmitting and receiving points. The methods described herein may be particularly beneficial for half-duplex systems, but can also be implemented in full-duplex systems.

Description

[0001] This application claims the benefit of U.S. non-provisional application No. 16 / 564,671, filed on September 9, 2019, entitled “Systems and Methods for Sensing in Half Duplex Networks,” the contents of which are incorporated by reference into this application. Technical Field

[0002] The present invention relates generally to wireless communications and, in particular embodiments, to sensing in half-duplex networks. Background Art

[0003] In some wireless communication networks, user equipment (UE) communicates wirelessly with a base station to send data to the base station and / or receive data from the base station. Wireless communication from UE to base station is called uplink (UL) communication, while wireless communication from base station to UE is called downlink (DL) communication. Wireless communication from a first UE to a second UE is called sidelink (SL) communication or device-to-device (D2D) communication.

[0004] Radar sensing has long been used in military applications and more recently in the automotive industry to detect the range, speed, and shape of targets. Although radar was initially implemented as a standalone application, many papers have investigated the possibility of integration between radar and communications. It has been shown that radar sensing and communications can be performed in an integrated manner using the same hardware and the same waveforms. The main focus of this literature concerns waveform designs, including single-carrier, multi-carrier, ultra-wide band (UWB) pulse, and frequency-modulated continuous wave (FMCW).

[0005] Today's commercial communication networks include half-duplex nodes. Although many practical implementations of full-duplex systems show good performance, even if full-duplex nodes become practical in the future, it is likely that most wireless network nodes will be half-duplex. Achieving full-duplex is more difficult at higher frequencies (such as the millimeter wave bands) and is also very difficult for low-cost nodes (such as femtocell base stations) and user equipment (UE). Wireless communication has the potential to be improved when the properties of the wireless communication network and its surrounding environment are known. Summary of the invention

[0006] Perception signals or perception reference signals can be used to determine the properties of a wireless communication network and its surroundings. These properties may include the position and / or velocity of the UE and the position and / or velocity of scatterers that block communication signals. The concept of using a perception agent for active and / or passive perception enables perception to be performed in a communication network. The active perception used in this article is regarded as the transmission of a perception reference signal. The passive perception used in this article is regarded as the detection of the reflection of a perception reference signal. The perception agent can be an independent dedicated device, a UE, or even a combination of multiple transmit receive points (TRPs).

[0007] According to a first aspect of the present invention, a method for use in a telecommunication system is provided. The method comprises: a sensing agent receives configuration information for configuring transmission of a sensing reference signal (SeRS), wherein the SeRS is to be sent by the sensing agent in a transmission resource of a first transmit receive point (TRP). The method further comprises: the sensing agent sends the SeRS according to the configuration information.

[0008] In some embodiments, the method further comprises: the sensing agent performing passive sensing of reflections of downlink transmissions from the first TRP.

[0009] In some embodiments, the method further includes: the perception agent notifying the first TRP of perception information obtained by performing passive perception on the reflection of the downlink transmission from the TRP.

[0010] In some embodiments, the method further includes: the perception agent receiving configuration information for configuring when the perception agent can perform passive perception of reflections of downlink transmissions from the first TRP.

[0011] In some embodiments, the method further includes: the perception agent receiving configuration information for configuring when the perception agent can perform passive perception of reflections of transmissions from one or more other TRPs; and the perception agent performing perception of reflections of transmissions from the one or more other TRPs.

[0012] In some embodiments, the method further includes: the perception agent notifying the first TRP or at least one of the one or more other TRPs of the perception information obtained by performing passive perception on the reflection of the transmission from the one or more other TRPs.

[0013] In some embodiments, the perception agent is a user equipment (UE).

[0014] In some embodiments, the method further includes: the UE receiving a sensing node identifier (ID).

[0015] In some embodiments, the UE transmits the SeRS on a first beam, and the UE uses different beams for uplink, downlink or sidelink telecommunication transmission.

[0016] In some embodiments, receiving the configuration information occurs in one or more of the following: L1 signaling; radio resource control (RRC) signaling; media access control (MAC) control element (CE); X2 / Xn signaling.

[0017] In some embodiments, the perception agent notifies the first TRP of the perception information in one or more of the following: L1 signaling; radio resource control (RRC) signaling; media access control (MAC) control element (CE); X2 / Xn signaling.

[0018] According to a second aspect of the present invention, a method for use in a telecommunications system is provided. The method comprises: a transmit receive point (TRP) sends configuration information for configuring the transmission of a sensing reference signal (SeRS), wherein the SeRS is to be sent by a sensing agent in a transmission resource of the TRP. The method further comprises: the TRP detects a reflection of the SeRS sent by the sensing agent according to the configuration information.

[0019] In some embodiments, the method further comprises: the TRP performing perceptual parameter estimation regarding the surrounding environment of the TRP based on the detected reflection.

[0020] In some embodiments, the method further includes: the TRP performing interference suppression to suppress interference between uplink transmission and at least one of: the SeRS from the TRP; SeRS from other TRPs or sensing agents.

[0021] In some embodiments, the performing interference suppression includes at least one of: joint radar estimation and data decoding using maximum likelihood estimation or serial interference cancellation; receive beamforming to separate at least one reflected SeRS and uplink transmission; scheduling and power control of uplink users to minimize interference.

[0022] In some embodiments, the method further comprises sending configuration information for configuring the TRP to perceive the reflection of the SeRS sent in the transmission resources of the first TRP.

[0023] In some embodiments, the method further comprises: the TRP receiving, from one or more perception agents, perception parameter estimation information about the TRP's surrounding environment.

[0024] In some embodiments, the method further includes: the TRP notifying neighboring TRPs of the perception parameter estimation information about the TRP's surrounding environment received from the one or more perception agents.

[0025] In some embodiments, sending the configuration information occurs in one or more of the following: L1 signaling; radio resource control (RRC) signaling; media access control (MAC) control element (CE); X2 / Xn signaling.

[0026] In some embodiments, receiving the perception parameter estimation information occurs in one or more of the following: L1 signaling; radio resource control (RRC) signaling; media access control (MAC) control element (CE); X2 / Xn signaling.

[0027] According to a third aspect of the present invention, a method for use in a telecommunications system is provided. The method comprises: a sensing agent receives configuration information for configuring passive sensing of a reflection of a sensing reference signal (SeRS) sent by one or more TRPs in a transmission resource of the one or more TRPs. The method further comprises: the sensing agent detects the reflected SeRS according to the configuration information.

[0028] In some embodiments, the method further includes: the perception agent notifying the first TRP of the one or more TRPs of the perception information obtained by detecting the reflected SeRS of the first TRP.

[0029] In some embodiments, the method further includes: the perception agent receives configuration information for configuring reflected SeRS reception, wherein the SeRS is to be sent by a second TRP among the one or more TRPs in the transmission resources of the second TRP; and the perception agent detects the reflected SeRS according to the configuration information.

[0030] In some embodiments, the method further includes: the perception agent notifying at least one of the first TRP or the second TRP of the perception information obtained by detecting the reflected SeRS sent by the second TRP.

[0031] In some embodiments, receiving the configuration information occurs in one or more of the following: L1 signaling; radio resource control (RRC) signaling; media access control (MAC) control element (CE); X2 / Xn signaling.

[0032] In some embodiments, the method also includes: the perception agent notifies at least one of the first TRP or the second TRP of the perception information occurring in one or more of the following: L1 signaling; radio resource control (RRC) signaling; media access control (MAC) control element (CE); X2 / Xn signaling.

[0033] According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, a method for use in a telecommunications system is provided. The method comprises: a transmit receive point (TRP) sends a sensing reference signal (SeRS) in a transmission resource of the TRP. The method also comprises: the TRP receives sensing parameter estimation information about the surrounding environment of the TRP from one or more sensing agents.

[0034] In some embodiments, at least one of the one or more sensing agents is a neighboring TRP.

[0035] In some embodiments, the adjacent TRPs are located in the uplink portion of the respective transmission resources. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0036] In order to more fully understand the embodiments of the present invention and its advantages, the following description is made by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein:

[0037] Figure 1is a schematic diagram of a communication system that can implement an embodiment of the present invention;

[0038] Figure 2A , Figure 2B and Figure 2C are block diagrams of exemplary user equipment, base stations, and perception agents provided by various aspects of the present invention, respectively;

[0039] Figure 3A It is a block diagram of an air interface manager for configuring a software configurable air interface provided by one aspect of the present invention;

[0040] Figure 3B and Figure 3C is a schematic diagram of an exemplary transmission frame provided by various aspects of the present invention;

[0041] Figure 4 is a schematic diagram of a first exemplary communication system for implementing perception provided by various aspects of the present invention;

[0042] Figure 5 is a schematic diagram of a second exemplary communication system for implementing perception provided by various aspects of the present invention;

[0043] Figure 6 is a flowchart of a first method provided by an embodiment of the present invention;

[0044] Figure 7 is a flow chart of a second method provided by an embodiment of the present invention;

[0045] Figure 8 is a flowchart of a third method provided by an embodiment of the present invention;

[0046] Fig. 9 It is a flowchart of a fourth method provided by an embodiment of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0047] For illustrative purposes, specific exemplary embodiments are explained in more detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0048] The embodiments presented herein represent information sufficient to practice the claimed subject matter and illustrate methods of practicing such subject matter. After reading the following description in light of the accompanying drawings, those skilled in the art will understand the concepts of the claimed subject matter and will recognize that the application of these concepts is not specifically mentioned herein. It should be understood that these concepts and applications are within the scope of the present invention and the appended claims.

[0049] In addition, it should be understood that any module, component, or device for executing instructions disclosed herein may include or otherwise access one or more non-transitory computer / processor readable storage media for storing information, such as computer / processor readable instructions, data structures, program modules, and / or other data. A non-exhaustive list of examples of non-transitory computer / processor readable storage media includes magnetic cassettes, magnetic tapes, disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), digital video discs or digital versatile discs (i.e., DVDs), Blu-ray discs, and other optical disks. TM Optical disks, or other optical storage, volatile and non-volatile, removable and non-removable media implemented in any method or technology, random-access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), flash memory or other storage technology. Any of these non-transitory computer / processor storage media can be part of a device or can be accessed or connected by a device. Computer / processor readable / executable instructions for implementing the applications or modules described herein can be stored or otherwise saved by such non-transitory computer / processor readable storage media.

[0050] Some aspects of the present invention relate to sensing in wireless communication networks, which enables the network to determine information about the surrounding environment. For example, sensing can determine the position, shape and / or velocity of one or more objects in the environment. These objects can include network entities communicating within the network and scatterers that may interrupt network communications. One benefit of sensing is that the network can configure communication signals between network entities based on measured properties of the current environment.

[0051] For example, when the network knows the location of the transmitter, the target receiver, and any potential scatterers, the network can determine a trajectory from the transmitter to the target receiver that avoids or is least affected by the scatterers. Based on the trajectory, the network can configure the appropriate communication signal to be sent to the target receiver. Beamforming is a method that can be used to direct signals along a specific path. When the path to the target receiver is determined with the required accuracy, narrow beamforming can be implemented to communicate with the target receiver. Narrow beamforming can increase the received power of the target receiver and reduce interference to other receivers in the network. Knowing the speed of the target receiver can also enable the network to predict the next location of the target receiver and configure the next communication signal to the receiver accordingly.

[0052] One sensing method is radar. Radar has been used in military applications and the automotive industry, usually for the purpose of detecting the distance, speed and / or shape of certain objects. In the prior art, radar has been implemented as a stand-alone application.

[0053] After transmitting a radar signal, reflections of the radar signal from an object may be received and measured. These reflections may indicate certain properties of the object, non-limiting examples of which include the distance, position, shape, and speed of the object. The distance of an object (e.g., the distance from a receiver of the radar signal to the object) may be determined based on the flight time of the radar signal and / or by frequency modulation. The position of an object may be determined based on the distance of the object and the direction from which the radar signal was transmitted and / or received. For example, beamforming may be used to transmit a radar signal in a particular direction. The speed of an object may be determined based on changes in the position of the object over time and / or based on the Doppler shift of the received radar signal.

[0054] Radar systems can be monostatic and / or bistatic. In a monostatic radar, the transmitter of the radar signal is also used to receive the reflections of the radar signal. In a bistatic radar, the transmitter of the radar signal is different from the receiver of the reflections of the radar signal.

[0055] The range resolution and velocity resolution of radar signals have a basic range, which depends on the transmission time (T w ), bandwidth (BW), and carrier frequency (f c ). These basic ranges exist regardless of the waveform and transmission scheme used for the radar signal. The formulas for range resolution (ΔR) and velocity resolution (Δv) are as follows:

[0056]

[0057]

[0058] In the above formula 1 and formula 2, c0 represents the speed of light. Based on these formulas, in order to improve the distance resolution, a larger bandwidth is required, and in order to improve the speed resolution, a longer transmission time and / or a higher carrier frequency is required.

[0059] A key issue with half-duplex sensing in wireless networks is that the receiver cannot listen for reflected signals before the signal transmission is complete. When the distance between the transmitter and the target is limited, there is a high probability that the receiver will completely miss the reflection at the end of the transmission. This means that if the same node is to be used for sensing in half-duplex mode, the only feasible solution is to use very narrow pulses (such as pulse radar). For example, assuming that the target is 300 meters away, the delay between the received signal (reflected from the target) and the transmitted signal is 2μs, so the pulse duration should be less than 2μs to ensure that the receiver does not miss the reflection. In practice, this limitation is more stringent due to the presence of multiple reflectors and targets at distances less than 300 meters. Limiting the pulse duration in this way has the following disadvantages:

[0060] Limits the integration of sensing with communication signals and communication equipment, which mainly use OFDM waveforms. OFDM transmission symbol duration is much longer than the pulse duration to accommodate the cyclic prefix (CP). Sensing can be multiplexed with communication signals using time domain multiplexing (TDM), but the signal overhead incurred by doing so is unreasonable. In addition, it is not clear whether the same radio frequency (RF) chain can be used for sensing and communication.

[0061] Using narrow pulses for sensing limits the accuracy of target velocity estimation.

[0062] Given the above limitations, it turns out that using the same transceiver for sensing is impractical for half-duplex nodes. Therefore, other schemes are needed to achieve efficient sensing in half-duplex systems.

[0063] This is not a big problem in traditional radar systems because full-duplex capability can be achieved by well-isolating the transmitter and receiver hardware, and / or because there is a large distance between the transmitter and the target so that the round-trip delay makes it possible to listen for the reflected signal after the transmission is complete.

[0064] Some aspects of the present invention relate to the integration of sensing and wireless communications. For example, a wireless communication network can configure and implement sensing signals and communication signals. Sensing signals or sensing reference signals are used to determine environmental attributes and do not carry any information or data for communication; while communication signals are signals that carry information or data between network entities. One possible benefit of implementing sensing and communication operations is that the network can configure communication signals based on information determined through sensing. This is sensing-assisted communications. For example, sensing can determine the location of a target receiver and enable narrow beamforming for the receiver. Communication-assisted sensing is also considered. Sensing signals and communication signals can be implemented using the same hardware and / or the same waveform so as to operate in an integrated manner.

[0065] Perception agents are nodes in the network that can assist in perception operations. These nodes can be independent nodes dedicated only to perception operations, or they can be other nodes (e.g., transmit receive points (TRPs) or UEs) that perform both perception operations and wireless transmissions. In the case where the perception agent is implemented as an independent node, perception can be implemented near some corresponding TRPs to ensure that the distance between the TRP and the target is approximately the same as the distance between the perception agent and the target, thereby simplifying the distance estimation. Another condition that needs to be considered is that the perception agent and the TRP are synchronized in time and frequency (e.g., by accessing the same clock for time synchronization).

[0066] Figure 1 , Figure 2A , Figure 2B and Figure 2C Examples of networks and devices are shown in which any or all aspects of the invention may be implemented.

[0067] Figure 1 An exemplary communication system 100 is shown. In general, the system 100 enables multiple wireless elements or multiple wired elements to transmit data and other content. The purpose of the system 100 can be to provide content (voice, data, video, text) via broadcast, narrowcast, user device to user device, etc. The system 100 can operate efficiently by sharing resources such as bandwidth.

[0068] In this example, the communication system 100 includes electronic devices (EDs) 110a to 110c, radio access networks (RANs) 120a and 120b, a perception agent 122, a core network 130, a public switched telephone network (PSTN) 140, the Internet 150, and other networks 160. Figure 1 A certain number of these components or elements are shown, but any suitable number of these components or elements may be included in system 100 .

[0069] EDs 110a to 110c are used to operate and / or communicate in the system 100. For example, EDs 110a to 110c are used to transmit and / or receive via a wireless communication channel. EDs 110a to 110c represent any end-user device suitable for wireless operation, and may include (or may be referred to as): user equipment (UE / user device), wireless transmit / receive unit (WTRU), mobile station, mobile user unit, cellular phone, station (STA), machine type communication (MTC) device, personal digital assistant (PDA), smart phone, laptop, computer, touch pad, wireless sensor or consumer electronic device.

[0070] Figure 1The RAN 120a and 120b in the embodiment include base stations 170a and 170b, respectively. The base stations 170a and 170b are used to wirelessly connect to one or more of the EDs 110a to 110c so as to access any other base stations 170a and 170b, the core network 130, the PSTN 140, the Internet 150 and / or other networks 160. For example, the base stations 170a and 170b may include (or may be) one or more of several well-known devices, such as a base transceiver station (BTS), a Node-B (NodeB), an evolved NodeB (eNodeB), a Home eNodeB, a gNodeB, a transmit receive point (TRP), a site controller, an access point (AP) or a wireless router. Any ED 110a to 110c may alternatively or additionally be configured to connect, access or communicate with any other base station 170a and 170b, the Internet 150, the core network 130, the PSTN 140, other networks 160, or any combination thereof. The communication system 100 may include a RAN, such as the RAN 120b, wherein the corresponding base station 170b accesses the core network 130 via the Internet 150 as shown.

[0071] Any or all of the EDs 110a to 110c and base stations 170a and 170b may be sensing nodes in the system 100. A sensing node is a network entity that performs sensing by sending and / or receiving sensing signals. Some sensing nodes are communication devices that perform communication and sensing. However, some sensing nodes do not perform communication but are dedicated to sensing. The sensing agent 122 is an example of a sensing node dedicated to sensing. Unlike the EDs 110a to 110c and base stations 170a and 170b, the sensing agent 122 does not send or receive communication signals. However, this does not exclude the sensing agent 122 from transmitting configuration information, sensing information, or other information within the communication system 100. The sensing agent 122 communicates with the core network 130 to communicate information with the rest of the devices in the communication system 100. For example, the sensing agent 122 can determine the location of the ED 110a and send the information to the base station 170a through the core network 130. Although Figure 1 Only one awareness agent 122 is shown in the figure, but any number of awareness agents may be implemented in the communication system 100. In some embodiments, one or more awareness agents may be implemented at the RAN 120a and 120b side.

[0072] EDs 110a to 110c, base stations 170a and 170b, and perception agent 122 are all examples of communication entities that may be used to implement some or all of the functionality and / or embodiments described herein. Figure 1 In the illustrated embodiment, base station 170a is part of RAN 120a, which may include other base stations, one or more base station controllers (BSC), one or more radio network controllers (RNC), relay nodes, elements and / or devices. Any base station 170a and 170b may be a single element as shown, or multiple elements distributed in the corresponding RAN, etc. Similarly, base station 170b is part of RAN 120b, which may include other base stations, elements and / or devices. Base stations 170a and 170b both send and / or receive wireless signals within a certain geographic area (region / area) (sometimes referred to as a "cell" or "coverage area"). The cell can be further divided into cell sectors, and base stations 170a and 170b can use multiple transceivers to provide services to multiple sectors, etc. In some embodiments, there may be established micro cells or femto cells supported by wireless access technology. In some embodiments, multiple non-co-located transceivers may be used for each cell using multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) technology, etc. The number of RANs 120a and 120b shown is only exemplary. Any number of RANs may be contemplated when designing the communication system 100.

[0073] Base stations 170a and 170b use wireless communication links such as radio frequency (RF), microwave, infrared (IR), etc. to communicate with one or more of EDs 110a to 110c through one or more air interfaces 190. The air interface 190 can use any suitable wireless access technology. For example, the communication system 100 can implement one or more orthogonal or non-orthogonal channel access methods in the air interface 190, such as code division multiple access (CDMA), time division multiple access (TDMA), frequency division multiple access (FDMA), space division multiple access (SDMA), orthogonal FDMA (OFDMA) or single-carrier FDMA (SC-FDMA). In addition, the communication system 100 can operate in time division duplex (TDD) and / or frequency division duplex (FDD) mode.

[0074] The base stations 170a and 170b may implement Universal Mobile Telecommunication System (UMTS) terrestrial radio access (UTRA) to establish an air interface 190 using wideband CDMA (WCDMA). In this case, the base stations 170a and 170b may implement protocols such as High Speed ​​Packet Access (HSPA), Evolved HPSA (HSPA+), etc., wherein HSPA+ may optionally include High Speed ​​Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA) and / or High Speed ​​Uplink Packet Access (HSUPA). Optionally, the base stations 170a and 170b may establish an air interface 190 using LTE, LTE-A, New Radio (NR) and / or LTE-B with Evolved UTMS Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA). It is contemplated that the communication system 100 may use multi-channel access functionality, including those described above. Other wireless technologies used to implement the air interface include IEEE 802.11, 802.15, 802.16, CDMA2000, CDMA2000 1X, CDMA2000 EV-DO, IS-2000, IS-95, IS-856, GSM, EDGE, and GERAN. Of course, other multiple access schemes and wireless protocols may be used.

[0075] The RANs 120a and 120b communicate with the core network 130 to provide various services, such as voice, data, and other services to the EDs 110a to 110c. The RANs 120a and 120b and / or the core network 130 may communicate directly or indirectly with one or more other RANs (not shown), which may or may not be directly served by the core network 130 and may or may not use the same radio access technology as the RANs 120a and / or RANs 120b. The core network 130 may also serve as a gateway access between (i) the RANs 120a and 120b and / or the EDs 110a to 110c and (ii) other networks (e.g., the PSTN 140, the Internet 150, and other networks 160).

[0076] The EDs 110a to 110c communicate with each other through one or more sidelink (SL) air interfaces 180 using wireless communication links such as radio frequency (RF), microwave, infrared (IR), etc. The SL air interface 180 may use any suitable wireless access technology. The SL air interface 180 may be substantially similar to the air interface 190 through which the EDs 110a to 110c communicate with one or more of the base stations 170a to 170c, or may be substantially different from the air interface 190. For example, the communication system 100 may implement one or more channel access methods in the SL air interface 180, such as code division multiple access (CDMA), time division multiple access (TDMA), frequency division multiple access (FDMA), space division multiple access (SDMA), orthogonal FDMA (OFDMA) or single-carrier FDMA (SC-FDMA). In some embodiments, the SL air interface 180 may be implemented at least partially on an unlicensed spectrum. In addition, the SL air interface 180 may operate in a time division duplex (TDD) and / or frequency division duplex (FDD) mode.

[0077] Some or all of the EDs 110a to 110c may include functionality to communicate with different wireless networks over different wireless links using different wireless technologies and / or protocols. The EDs may communicate with a service provider or switch (not shown) and with the Internet 150 over a wired communication channel, rather than wirelessly (or in addition to wirelessly). The PSTN 140 may include a circuit-switched telephone network for providing plain old telephone service (POTS). The Internet 150 may include computer networks and / or subnets (intranets) and include protocols such as the Internet Protocol (IP), the Transmission Control Protocol (TCP), and the User Datagram Protocol (UDP). The EDs 110a to 110c may be multi-mode devices capable of operating according to a variety of wireless access technologies and include a plurality of transceivers required to support a variety of wireless access technologies.

[0078] Base stations 170a and 170b, EDs 110a to 110c, and perception agent 122 may perform or assist in perception by sending and / or receiving perception signals (not shown). Perception signals may be used to determine properties of the communication system 100 and its surroundings. For example, perception signals may be used to determine the location and / or velocity of EDs 110a to 110c. Similar to air interface 190 and / or SL air interface 180, perception signals may use any suitable wireless access technology. In some embodiments, perception signals occupy the millimeter wave band (also known as the extremely high frequency band). Possible advantages of the millimeter wave band include relatively more bandwidth available for perception and stronger reflection of perception signals from objects, because some materials reflect millimeter waves more strongly than other electrical frequency bands.

[0079] Figure 2A , Figure 2B and Figure 2C Exemplary devices that can implement the various methods and teachings provided by the present invention are shown. Specifically, Figure 2A An exemplary ED 110 is shown, Figure 2B An exemplary base station 170 is shown, Figure 2C An exemplary perception agent 122 is shown. These components may be used in system 100 or any other suitable system.

[0080] like Figure 2A As shown, ED 110 includes at least one processing unit 200. Processing unit 200 implements various processing operations of ED 110. For example, processing unit 200 can perform signal encoding, bit scrambling, data processing, power control, input / output processing, or any other function that enables ED 110 to operate in communication system 100. Processing unit 200 can also be used to implement some or all of the functions and / or embodiments detailed herein. Each processing unit 200 includes any suitable processing device or computing device for performing one or more operations. Each processing unit 200 can include a microprocessor, a microcontroller, a digital signal processor, a field programmable gate array or an application-specific integrated circuit, etc.

[0081] ED 110 also includes at least one transceiver 202. Transceiver 202 is used to modulate data or other content, wherein the data or other content is used to be transmitted through at least one antenna or network interface controller (NIC) 204. Transceiver 202 is also used to demodulate data or other content received through at least one antenna 204. Each transceiver 202 includes any suitable structure for generating signals for wireless or wired transmission and / or for processing signals received by wireless or wired means. Each antenna 204 includes any suitable structure for sending and / or receiving wireless or wired signals. One or more transceivers 202 can be used in ED 110. One or more antennas 204 can be used in ED 110. Although transceiver 202 is shown as a separate functional unit, transceiver 202 can also be implemented using at least one transmitter and at least one separate receiver.

[0082] ED 110 also includes one or more input / output devices 206 or interfaces (e.g., a wired interface connected to the Internet 150). Input / output devices 206 can interact with users or other devices in the network. Each input / output device 206 includes any suitable structure for providing information to or receiving information from a user, such as a speaker, microphone, keypad, keyboard, display, or touch screen, including network interface communications.

[0083] In addition, the ED 110 includes at least one memory 208. The memory 208 stores instructions and data used, generated, or collected by the ED 110. For example, the memory 208 may store software instructions or modules for implementing some or all of the functions and / or embodiments described elsewhere herein and executed by one or more processing units 200. Each memory 208 includes any suitable one or more volatile and / or non-volatile storage and retrieval devices. Any suitable type of memory may be used, such as a random access memory (RAM), a read only memory (ROM), a hard disk, an optical disk, a subscriber identity module (SIM) card, a memory stick, a secure digital (SD) memory card, etc.

[0084] like Figure 2BAs shown, the base station 170 includes at least one processing unit 250, at least one transmitter 252, at least one receiver 254, one or more antennas 256, at least one memory 258, and one or more input / output devices or interfaces 266. Transceivers not shown may be used instead of transmitters 252 and receivers 254. Scheduler 253 may be coupled to the processing unit 250. Scheduler 253 may be included in the base station 170 or may be operated separately from the base station 170. Processing unit 250 implements various processing operations of the base station 170, such as signal encoding, bit scrambling, data processing, power control, input / output processing, or any other function. Processing unit 250 may also be used to implement some or all of the functions and / or embodiments described in detail elsewhere herein. Each processing unit 250 includes any suitable processing device or computing device for performing one or more operations. Each processing unit 250 may include a microprocessor, a microcontroller, a digital signal processor, a field programmable gate array, or an application-specific integrated circuit, and the like.

[0085] Each transmitter 252 includes any suitable structure for generating signals to be sent wirelessly or by wire to one or more EDs or other devices. Each receiver 254 includes any suitable structure for processing signals received wirelessly or by wire from one or more EDs or other devices. Although at least one transmitter 252 and at least one receiver 254 are shown as separate components, they can be combined into a transceiver. Each antenna 256 includes any suitable structure for sending and / or receiving wireless signals or wired signals. Although a common antenna 256 is shown here to be coupled to both the transmitter 252 and the receiver 254, one or more antennas 256 can be coupled to one or more transmitters 252, and one or more separate antennas 256 can be coupled to one or more receivers 254. Each memory 258 includes any suitable one or more volatile and / or non-volatile storage and retrieval devices, such as those described above in conjunction with ED 110. Memory 258 stores instructions and data used, generated, or collected by base station 170. For example, the memory 258 may store software instructions or modules for implementing some or all of the functionality and / or embodiments described elsewhere herein and executed by the one or more processing units 250 .

[0086] Each input / output device 266 can interact with users or other devices in the network. Each input / output device 266 includes any suitable structure for providing information to a user or receiving / providing information from a user, including network interface communications.

[0087] Other details about UE 110 and base station 170 are known to those skilled in the art. Therefore, for the sake of clarity, these details are omitted here.

[0088] like Figure 2C As shown, the perception agent 122 includes at least one processing unit 220, at least one transmitter 222, at least one receiver 224, one or more antennas 226, at least one memory 228, and one or more input / output devices or interfaces 230. A transceiver not shown may be used in place of the transmitter 222 and the receiver 224. The processing unit 220 implements various processing operations of the perception agent 122, such as signal encoding, bit scrambling, data processing, power control, input / output processing, or any other function. The processing unit 220 may also be used to implement some or all of the functions and / or embodiments described in detail elsewhere herein. Each processing unit 220 includes any suitable processing device or computing device for performing one or more operations. Each processing unit 220 may include a microprocessor, a microcontroller, a digital signal processor, a field programmable gate array, or an application-specific integrated circuit, or the like.

[0089] Each transmitter 222 includes any suitable structure for generating a signal for wireless transmission. Each receiver 224 includes any suitable structure for processing a perception signal received wirelessly. Although at least one transmitter 222 and at least one receiver 224 are shown as separate components, they can be combined into a transceiver. In some embodiments, the perception agent can only send or receive perception signals. For example, this may be the case in dual-station perception. In some embodiments, the perception agent only sends perception signals, and reflections of these perception signals can be received by other perception nodes. In some embodiments, the perception agent receives reflections of perception signals but does not send perception signals. Therefore, some perception agents may include only one of a transmitter and a receiver. Therefore, for the perception agent 122, at least one transmitter 222 or at least one receiver 224 may be optional.

[0090] Each antenna 226 includes any suitable structure for sending and / or receiving wired signals or wireless signals. Although a common antenna 226 is shown here to be coupled to both the transmitter 222 and the receiver 224, one or more antennas 226 can be coupled to one or more transmitters 222, and one or more separate antennas 226 can be coupled to one or more receivers 224. Each memory 228 includes any suitable one or more volatile and / or non-volatile storage and retrieval devices, such as those described above in conjunction with ED 110. The memory 228 stores instructions and data used, generated, or collected by the perception agent 122. For example, the memory 228 can store software instructions or modules for implementing some or all of the functions and / or embodiments described elsewhere herein and executed by one or more processing units 220. Each input / output device 230 can interact with users or other devices in the network.

[0091] 3 is a schematic diagram of an air interface manager 300 for configuring the software configurable air interface 190. For example, the air interface manager 300 may be a module including a plurality of components or building blocks that define parameters of the air interface 190 and collectively specify the manner in which transmissions are made and / or received over the air interface 190. The air interface manager 300 may also or may only define parameters of the perceptual signals in the communication system 100.

[0092] The components in the air interface manager 300 include at least one of a waveform component 305 , a frame structure component 310 , a multiple access scheme component 315 , a protocol component 320 , and a coding and modulation component 325 .

[0093] The waveform component 305 may specify the shape and form of the signal being transmitted. Waveform options may include orthogonal multiple access waveforms and non-orthogonal multiple access waveforms. Non-limiting examples of these waveform options include Single-Carrier (SC), Ultra Wideband (UWB), Frequency Modulated Continuous Wave (FMCW), Linear Frequency Modulated (LFM) waveform, Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) waveform, Single-Carrier Frequency Division Multiple Access (SC-FDMA) waveform, Filtered OFDM (f-OFDM) waveform, Time Windowed OFDM waveform, Filter Bank Multicarrier (FBMC), Universal Filtered Multicarrier (UFMC), Generalized Frequency Division Multiplexing (GFDM) waveform, Wavelet Packet Modulation (WPM) waveform, Faster Than Nyquist (FTTM) waveform, and the like. Nyquist (FTN) waveform and a low peak to average power ratio waveform (PAPR WF). In some embodiments, the waveform options can be combined. The LFM-OFDM waveform is a non-limiting example of such a combination.

[0094] The frame structure component 310 may specify a configuration of a frame or a group of frames. The frame structure component 310 may indicate one or more of a time, frequency, pilot signature, code, or other parameters of a frame or a group of frames.

[0095] Non-limiting examples of frame structure options include the number of symbols in a slot, the number of slots in a frame, and the duration of each slot (sometimes referred to as a transmission time interval (TTI) or transmission time unit (TTU)). The frame structure component may also specify whether the slot is a configurable multi-level TTI, a fixed TTI, or a configurable single-level TTI. The frame structure component may also specify coexistence mechanisms for different frame structure configurations.

[0096] For some waveforms, such as certain OFDM-based waveforms, the frame structure component may also specify one or more associated waveform parameters, such as subcarrier spacing width, symbol duration, cyclic prefix (CP) length, channel bandwidth, guard band / subcarrier, and sampling size and frequency.

[0097] Additionally, the frame structure component 310 may also specify whether the frame structure is used in time division duplex communication or frequency division duplex communication.

[0098] In addition, the frame structure component 310 can also specify a transmission state and / or direction for each symbol in the frame. For example, each symbol can be independently configured as a downlink symbol, an uplink symbol, a variable symbol, or a perception symbol. A perception signal can be sent or received in a perception symbol. An example is Figure 3B As shown, Figure 3B A transmission frame 350 including uplink (U) symbols, sensing (S) symbols, and downlink (D) symbols is shown. It should be noted that the sensing symbols can be configured to have different system parameters (numerology) from the uplink symbols and / or downlink symbols. For example, the sensing symbols can be configured to have a shorter length than the uplink symbols / downlink symbols. This example is as follows: Figure 3C As shown, Figure 3C A transmission frame 360 ​​including uplink (U) symbols, sensing (S) symbols, and downlink (D) symbols is shown. The sensing symbols in the transmission frame 360 ​​are configured to be shorter in length than the sensing symbols in the transmission frame 350.

[0099] The specification of waveform components and frame structure components is sometimes referred to as “system parameters.” Thus, the air interface 190 may include a system parameter component 330 that defines a number of air interface configuration parameters, such as subcarrier spacing, CP length, symbol length, slot length, and number of symbols per slot.

[0100] These system parameters are also referred to as subcarrier spacing configurations, and are scalable because the subcarrier spacings of different system parameters are integer multiples of each other, and the time slot lengths of different system parameters are also integer multiples of each other. This scalable design of multiple system parameters provides implementation advantages, such as scalable total OFDM symbol duration in the context of time division duplex (TDD).

[0101] The frame can be configured using one or a combination of multiple scalable system parameters. For example, the system parameter of 60kHz subcarrier spacing has a relatively short OFDM symbol duration (because the OFDM symbol duration is inversely proportional to the subcarrier spacing), which makes the 60kHz system parameter particularly suitable for ultra-low latency communications, such as vehicle-to-any (V2X) communications. Another example of a system parameter with a relatively short OFDM symbol duration suitable for low latency communications is a system parameter of 30kHz subcarrier spacing. The system parameter of 15kHz subcarrier spacing can be compatible with LTE and can also be used as the default system parameter for the initial access of the device to the network. This 15kHz system parameter can also be applied to broadband services. The system parameter of 7.5kHz spacing has a relatively long OFDM symbol duration, which may be particularly beneficial for coverage enhancement and broadcasting. Other uses of these system parameters will be or become apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art. Among the four system parameters listed, the system parameters of 30kHz and 60kHz subcarrier spacing are more robust to Doppler spread (fast moving conditions) due to the wider subcarrier spacing. It is also contemplated that different system parameters may use different values ​​for other physical layer parameters, such as the same subcarrier spacing and different cyclic prefix lengths. In addition, the subcarrier spacing may depend on the operating frequency band. For example, the subcarrier spacing in millimeter wave frequencies may be larger than the subcarrier spacing in low frequencies.

[0102] It is also contemplated that other subcarrier spacings may be used, such as larger or smaller subcarrier spacings. n Other subcarrier spacings that vary include 120 kHz and 3.75 kHz.

[0103] In other examples, more limited scalability may be achieved where two or more system parameters have subcarrier spacings that are integer multiples of the minimum subcarrier spacing, not necessarily a factor of 2. n Related. Examples include 15kHz, 30kHz, 45kHz, 60kHz subcarrier spacing.

[0104] In other examples, non-scalable subcarrier spacings that are not full integer multiples of the minimum subcarrier spacing, such as 15 kHz, 20 kHz, 30 kHz, 60 kHz, may be used.

[0105] OFDM-based signals can be used to send signals in which multiple system parameters coexist simultaneously. More specifically, multiple sub-band OFDM signals can be generated in parallel, each signal in a different sub-band, each sub-band having a different subcarrier spacing (and usually different system parameters). Multiple sub-band signals are combined into a single signal for transmission, such as downlink transmission. Optionally, multiple sub-band signals can be sent from separate transmitters, such as for uplink transmission of multiple electronic devices (EDs), which can be user equipment (UE).

[0106] The use of different system parameters can enable the air interface 190 to support the coexistence of a set of different use cases with various quality of service (QoS) requirements. These requirements can include different levels of latency or reliability tolerance and different bandwidth or signaling overhead requirements, etc. In one example, the base station can indicate to the ED an index representing the selected system parameter or a single parameter of the selected system parameter (e.g., subcarrier spacing). Based on this indication, the ED can determine the parameters in the selected system parameter based on other information, such as a lookup table of candidate system parameters stored in a memory.

[0107] Continuing with the description of the components in the air interface 190, the multiple access scheme component 315 can specify a way to grant channel access to one or more EDs. Non-limiting examples of multiple access technology options include technologies that define how EDs share common physical channels, such as Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA), Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA), Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), Space Division Multiple Access (SDMA), Single Carrier Frequency Division Multiple Access (SC-FDMA), Low Density Signature Multicarrier Code Division Multiple Access (LDS-MC-CDMA), Non-Orthogonal Multiple Access (NOMA), Pattern Division Multiple Access (PDMA), Lattice Partition Multiple Access (LPMA), Resource Spread Multiple Access (RSMA), and Sparse Code Multiple Access (SCMA). In addition, multiple access technology options may include scheduled access, unscheduled access (also known as unlicensed access), non-orthogonal multiple access, orthogonal multiple access via dedicated channel resources (i.e., not shared between multiple EDs), contention-based shared channel resources, non-contention-based shared channel resources, etc., and access based on cognitive radio.

[0108] The protocol component 320 can specify the manner in which transmission and / or retransmission is to be performed. Non-limiting examples of transmission and / or retransmission mechanism options include mechanisms for specifying scheduling data pipe sizes and signaling mechanisms for transmission and / or retransmission.

[0109] The coding and modulation component 325 can specify how the information being transmitted is encoded / decoded and modulated / demodulated for transmission / reception. Coding can refer to methods of error detection and forward error correction. Non-limiting examples of coding options include Turbo trellis codes, Turbo product codes, fountain codes, low-density parity-check codes, and polar codes. Modulation can simply refer to Quadrature Amplitude Modulation (QAM) (e.g., including modulation techniques and orders, such as 16QAM, 64QAM, etc.) specified by a complex constellation, or more specifically various types of advanced modulation methods, such as hierarchical modulation, multidimensional modulation, and low peak-to-average power ratio (PAPR) modulation.

[0110] Since the air interface includes multiple components or building blocks, and each component may have multiple candidate technologies (also referred to herein as air interface capability options), the air interface manager 300 may configure and store a large number of different air interface protocol sets. Each air interface protocol set defines a respective air interface capability option set.

[0111] For example, in each air interface protocol set that defines a respective air interface capability option set, an air interface capability option is selected for each component or building block of the air interface. Different air interface protocol sets can be used to meet different transmission requirement sets, including transmission content, sending conditions, and receiving conditions.

[0112] According to the transmission requirements of a pair of communication sending and receiving devices, an air interface protocol set from different air interface protocol sets that best meets the transmission requirements can be selected from the air interface manager 300, and the air interface protocol set can be used for communication between the pair of communication sending and receiving devices.

[0113] In other embodiments, the air interface manager 300 can modify or update its components, protocol sets, or capability options. For example, the air interface manager 300 can replace the waveform component 305 and the frame structure component 310 with a single system parameter component 330. Conversely, the air interface manager 300 can separate the coding and modulation component 325 into a separate coding component and a separate modulation component. In addition, the air interface manager 300 is configurable so that new soft air interface configuration components developed in the future should be able to be used.

[0114] The air interface manager 300 may also update certain components to modify the capability options of any component. For example, the air interface manager 300 may update the modulation and coding component 325 to include a higher order modulation scheme.

[0115] By updating the stored components, protocol sets, and candidate options, the air interface manager 300 can flexibly and better adapt to different wireless traffic types and services. Modifying or updating the components, protocol sets, and candidate options can enable the air interface manager 300 to provide a suitable air interface protocol set for a business type or service, rather than providing an air interface protocol set that has been envisioned for ultra-reliable low latency communication (URLLC), enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB), and massive machine-type communication (mMTC).

[0116] Figure 4 4 is a schematic diagram of an exemplary communication system 400 for implementing sensing. The communication system 400 includes multiple transmit receive points (TRPs) 402, 404, and 406 and multiple UEs 410, 412, 414, 416, 418, and 420. As shown in the figure, UEs 410 and 412 are vehicles, and UEs 414, 416, 418, and 420 are mobile phones, but this case is only an example.

[0117] TRP 402 is a base station that sends downlink (DL) signals 430 to UE 416. DL signals 430 are an example of communication signals that carry data. TRP 402 also sends sensing signals 464 in the direction of UEs 418 and 420. Thus, TRP 402 participates in sensing and may be a sensing node.

[0118] TRP 404 is a base station that receives uplink (UL) signal 440 from UE 414 and sends a sensing signal 460 in the direction of UE 410. UL signal 440 is an example of a communication signal that carries data. Since TRP 404 participates in sensing, it can be a sensing node and a communication node.

[0119] The TRP 406 sends a sensing signal 466 in the direction of the UE 420, so the TRP can be a sensing node. The TRP 406 can send or receive communication signals in the communication system 400, or it can not send or receive communication signals. In some embodiments, the TRP 406 can be replaced by a sensing agent (SA) dedicated to sensing, and does not send or receive any communication signals in the communication system 400.

[0120] UEs 410, 412, 414, 416, 418, and 420 are all capable of sending and receiving communication signals on UL, DL, and / or SL. For example, UEs 418 and 420 communicate with each other via SL signals 450. At least some of UEs 410, 412, 414, 416, 418, and 420 are also sensing nodes in communication system 400. For example, UE 412 sends sensing signal 462 in the direction of UE 410, so UE 412 can be a sensing node.

[0121] The sensing nodes in the communication system 400 can implement single-station sensing and / or dual-station sensing. In the case of single-station sensing, the transmitter of the sensing signal also receives the reflection of the sensing signal to determine the properties of one or more objects. In one example, the TRP 404 can receive the reflection of the sensing signal 460 from the UE 410, and it is possible to determine the properties of the UE 410 based on the reflection of the sensing signal. In another example, the UE 412 can receive the reflection of the sensing signal 462, and it is possible to determine the properties of the UE 410.

[0122] In the case of dual-station sensing, the receiver of the reflected sensing signal is different from the transmitter of the sensing signal. Any or all of UEs 410, 412, 414, 416, 418, and 420 may participate in sensing by receiving reflections of sensing signals 460, 462, 464, and 466. Similarly, any or all of TRPs 402, 404, and 406 may receive reflections of sensing signals 460, 462, 464, and 466.

[0123] In one example, the perception signal 464 may be reflected from the UE 420 and received by the TRP 406. It should be noted that the perception signal may not be physically reflected from the UE, but may be reflected from an object associated with the UE. For example, the perception signal 464 may be reflected from a user or vehicle carrying the UE 420. The TRP 406 may determine certain attributes of the UE 420 based on the reflection of the perception signal 464, including the distance, position, shape and / or speed of the UE 420. In some implementations, the TRP 406 sends information related to the reflection of the perception signal 464 to the TRP 402 and / or any other network entity. The information related to the reflection of the perception signal 464 may include the time of receiving the reflection, the flight time of the perception signal (e.g., if the TRP 406 knows when the perception signal was sent), the carrier frequency of the reflected perception signal, the arrival angle of the reflected perception signal and / or the Doppler frequency shift of the perception signal (e.g., if the TRP 406 knows the original carrier frequency of the perception signal). Other types of information related to the reflection of the perception signal are also contemplated.

[0124] TRP 402 may determine properties of UE 420 based on the received information related to the reflections of perceived signal 464. If TRP 406 has already determined certain properties of UE 420, such as the location of UE 420, based on the reflections of perceived signal 464, the information related to the reflections of perceived signal 464 may also or only include these properties.

[0125] In another example, the sensed signal 462 may be reflected from the UE 410 and received by the TRP 404. Similar to the example provided above, the TRP 404 may determine properties of the UE 410 based on the reflections of the sensed signal and / or send information related to the reflections of the sensed signal to other network entities, such as the UEs 410 and 412.

[0126] In yet another example, the sensed signal 466 may be reflected from the UE 420 and received by the UE 418. The UE 418 may determine properties of the UE 420 based on the reflections of the sensed signal and / or send information related to the reflections of the sensed signal to other network entities, such as the UE 420 and / or the TRPs 402 and 406.

[0127] Sensing signals 460, 462, 464, and 466 are sent in a specific direction. In general, a sensing node may send multiple sensing signals in multiple different directions. In some implementations, the purpose of the sensing signal is to sense the environment of a certain area, and beam scanning is a method to achieve this purpose. Beam scanning may be performed using analog beamforming to form a beam in a predetermined direction using a phase shifter, etc. Digital beamforming and hybrid beamforming may also be used. During beam scanning, a sensing node may send multiple sensing signals according to a beam scanning mode, wherein each sensing signal is beamformed in a specific direction.

[0128] UEs 410, 412, 414, 416, 418, and 420 are examples of objects in communication system 400, any or all of which may be detected and measured using sensing signals. However, other types of objects may also be detected and measured using sensing signals. The environment surrounding communication system 400 may include one or more scatterers that reflect sensing signals and may potentially block communication signals, but Figure 4 For example, trees and / or buildings may at least partially block the path from TRP 402 to UE 420 and may hinder communication between TRP 402 and UE 420. The properties of these trees and / or buildings may be determined based on, for example, the reflections of sensed signal 464.

[0129] In some embodiments, the communication signal is configured according to the determined properties of one or more objects. The configuration of the communication signal may include, but is not limited to, the configuration of system parameters, waveforms, frame structures, multiple access schemes, protocols, beamforming directions, coding schemes, and / or modulation schemes. Any or all of the communication signals 430, 440, and 450 may be configured according to the properties of UE 414, 416, 418, and 420. In one example, the position and speed of UE 416 may be used to help determine the appropriate configuration of DL signal 430. The properties of any scatterer between UE 416 and TRP 402 may also be used to help determine the appropriate configuration of DL signal 430. Beamforming may be used to guide DL signal 430 to UE 416 and avoid any scatterer. In another example, the position and speed of UE 414 may be used to help determine the appropriate configuration of UL signal 440. The properties of any scatterer between UE 414 and TRP 404 may also be used to help determine the appropriate configuration of UL signal 440. Beamforming may be used to direct UL signal 440 to TRP 404 and avoid any scatterers. In yet another example, the position and velocity of UEs 418 and 420 may be used to help determine a suitable configuration for SL signal 450. Properties of any scatterers between UEs 418 and 420 may also be used to help determine a suitable configuration for SL signal 450. Beamforming may be used to direct SL signal 450 to UEs 418 and / or 420 and avoid any scatterers.

[0130] The properties of UEs 410, 412, 414, 416, 418, and 420 may also or only be used for purposes other than communication. For example, the location and speed of UEs 410 and 412 may be used for autonomous driving.

[0131] The transmission of the perception signals 460, 462, 464, and 466 and the communication signals 430, 440, and 450 may cause interference to the communication system 400, which may adversely affect the communication operations and the perception operations. Some aspects of the present invention relate to perception signal configurations that enable the coexistence of perception signals and communication signals in a communication network. Such coexistence can be achieved using perception signal configurations that can at least partially avoid interference with the communication signals and / or other perception signals.

[0132] During the sensing period, each sensing agent sends a sensing reference signal (SeRS), which can be in-band or out-band where any communication signal may appear. The sensing period, that is, the time period during which sensing is performed on the sensing agent side, can be included in the uplink time slot (for time division duplex (TDD)) or the uplink frequency band (for frequency division duplex (FDD)) of the associated TRP to ensure that the corresponding TRPs are not sent simultaneously. During the sensing period, by knowing the SeRS sent by the sensing agent, each TRP can estimate the sensing information by common methods in radar estimation. Since SeRS has the potential to interfere with uplink transmission, there are different ways to deal with this interference.

[0133] One method of handling interference includes joint radar estimation and data decoding. Depending on the receiver capabilities on the TRP side, the TRP may be able to jointly decode uplink transmissions while estimating perception parameters. This can be achieved through maximum likelihood estimation (MLE) or simplified MLE, etc. Estimating perception parameters can also be performed using successive interference cancellation (SIC), for example, the TRP can decode uplink transmissions assuming that the perception signal is interference, and then remove the uplink transmission from the received signal and perform perception detection. In some embodiments, these steps can be performed in the reverse order, that is, the TRP can first estimate the perception parameters in the presence of uplink interference, and then, after removing the perception signal, the TRP can decode the uplink transmission.

[0134] Another way to handle interference is interference suppression through receiver beamforming. In the case where the receiver has multiple antennas and one or more uplink transmissions and one or more SeRS are received from different directions, receiver beamforming can be used to separate the one or more uplink transmissions and one or more sensing signals.

[0135] Yet another method of dealing with interference involves scheduling and power control of uplink users to ensure that interference is minimized and manageable.

[0136] The perception signal configuration may be target-specific and / or perception node-specific. Target-specific means that the perception signal is configured for a specific target. For example, these targets may include UEs and scatterers. In some implementations, the target-specific perception signal improves the perception performance of a specific target. The target-specific parameter may be obtained by the perception node through measurement, training, and / or based on a certain expected performance indicator. Such expected performance indicators may include, but are not limited to, target classification results (e.g., whether the mobility of the target is low or high) and expected perception quality.

[0137] Sensing node-specific means that the sensing signal is configured for a specific sensing node. In some implementations, the sensing node-specific sensing signal improves the sensing performance of the specific sensing node. For example, the sensing node-specific sensing signal configuration can be based on the attributes and requirements of the sensing node that sends and / or receives the sensing signal. Possible benefits of implementing target-specific and / or sensing node-specific sensing signal configurations include flexibly adjusting the configuration of the sensing signal according to the desired sensing quality and / or reducing interference between sensing signals of different sensing nodes. The target-specific and / or sensing node-specific configurations can be applied to in-band sensing and out-of-band sensing.

[0138] Some sensing node-specific sensing signal configurations are based on and may include a unique identifier dedicated to the transmitter of the sensing signal. The unique identifier may be that the transmitter of the sensing signal is determined by other network entities that receive the sensing signal. For example, in some embodiments, any or all sensing nodes in the network are assigned a corresponding sensing node identifier (ID). The sensing node ID is an example of a unique identifier dedicated to the transmitter of the sensing signal. The sensing node ID may be the same as or at least associated with other network IDs such as a cell ID and a UE ID. Optionally, the sensing node ID may be independently configured. In some implementations, the sensing node ID is at least partially configured and / or assigned by the network and may be sent to the sensing node via high-level signaling such as radio resource control (RRC) signaling or medium access control (MAC) control element (CE) signaling. In some implementations, the sensing node determines its own sensing node ID based on other network IDs assigned to the sensing node. The sensing nodes may also or may only determine their sensing node IDs based on the network IDs assigned to other sensing nodes in the network. The sensing signal configuration of a particular sensing node may be based on or mapped to a sensing node ID associated with the sensing node.

[0139] The following discusses in detail the parameters that may be included in the perceptual signal configuration. However, these parameters are provided by way of example and are not intended to be limiting. In general, the perceptual signal configuration may include any set of parameters.

[0140] In some embodiments, the sensory signal configuration includes a waveform configuration. Depending on the waveform type used for the sensory signal, several possible parameters can be set to improve the performance of the sensory signal in the communication network. For example, the system parameters of the sensory signal configuration can be set according to the configured waveform type. Improving the performance of the sensory signal can include, but is not limited to, improving the distance resolution and speed resolution of the sensory signal and reducing interference with communication signals and / or other sensory signals.

[0141] Using waveforms that are consistent with both communication operations and perception operations can improve the performance of both operations and reduce the complexity of some perception nodes. For example, the same receiver can be used to receive perception signals and receive communication signals. In addition, using waveforms that are consistent with both communication operations and perception operations can jointly detect and / or process perception signals and communication signals to improve the detection of both signals. Perception signals and communication signals can also use the same frame structure and / or system parameters (e.g., subcarrier spacing, cyclic prefix (CP) length, etc.), which can also improve performance and reduce complexity.

[0142] Orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) waveforms can be used to sense signals and can achieve adequate sensing performance in some implementations. Radar sensing using OFDM waveforms has been studied in the following papers: Braun, M., Sturm, C., and Jondral, F.K., "Maximum likelihood speed and distance estimation for OFDM radar," Proceedings of the 2010 IEEE Radar Conference, Washington, May 2010, pp. 256-261; Braun, M., Sturm, C., Niethammer, A., and Jondral, F., "Parameterization of joint OFDM-based radar and communication systems for Donnet, B.J. and Longstaff, ID, “Combining MIMO radar with OFDM communications,” Proceedings of the Third European Radar Conference, Manchester, USA, September 2006, pp. 37–40; Yang Yang and R.S. Blum, “MIMO radar waveform design based on mutual information and minimum mean-square error estimation,” IEEE Transactions on Aerospace and Electronic Systems, Vol. 43, No. 1, January 2007, pp. 330–343; C. Sturm and W. Wiesbeck, “Waveform Design and Signal Processing Aspects for Fusion of Wireless Communications and Radar,” Proceedings of the IEEE, Vol. 99, No. 7, July 2011, pp. 1236–1259. Sensing (merging waveform design and signal processing aspects of wireless communications and radar sensing)".

[0143] OFDM can be a waveform selection suitable for in-band sensing and / or out-of-band sensing. In some embodiments, OFDM waveforms are used for communication signals and perception signals to achieve joint detection and processing of perception signals and communication signals. The system parameters of the OFDM waveforms of the communication signal and the perception signal can be the same or different.

[0144] In some embodiments, system parameters of the OFDM waveform may be selected to improve the perceptual performance and reduce interference between different perceptual signals. Taking the perceptual signal configuration having a cyclic prefix OFDM (CP-OFDM) waveform as an example, subcarrier spacing, CP length / overhead, and perceptual slot length (e.g., the number of symbols included in each perceptual cycle and the configuration of perceptual symbols in the perceptual cycle, such as continuous symbols or distributed symbols) are parameters that may be set to potentially improve perceptual signal performance.

[0145] It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to any specific type or configuration of waveforms used for sensing signals or communication signals. For example, the waveform configuration of the sensing signal can be single carrier (wherein the spread spectrum sequence can be used for interference suppression), multi-carrier, ultra-wideband, or frequency modulated continuous wave. In some embodiments, the waveform configuration can be target-specific and / or sensing node-specific.

[0146] Figure 5 is a schematic diagram of another exemplary communication system 500 for implementing sensing. The communication system 500 includes multiple transmit receive points (TRPs) 502, 504, and 506, multiple dedicated sensing agents (SAs) 510, 512, and 514, and multiple UEs 520, 522, and 524 shown as vehicles. However, it should be understood that this case is only an example, and the UE may be other types of devices, such as mobile phones, etc.

[0147] exist Figure 5 5, SA1 510 transmits a signal 530 that is reflected from UE 520. As shown, TRP1 502 receives a reflection 532 of signal 530. TRP1 502 may then perform perceptual parameter estimation of the surrounding environment based at least in part on the reflection 532.

[0148] SA2 512 transmits a signal 540 that is reflected from UE 522. As shown, UE 520 transmits an uplink transmission 550. As shown, TRP2 504 receives a reflection 542 of signal 540 and an uplink transmission 550 from UE 520. As shown, reflection 542 and uplink transmission 550 arrive at TRP2 504 from different directions. In this case, interference between uplink transmission 550 and sensed signal 542 can be suppressed by receive beamforming as described above. Other described methods can also be used if desired. Then, once reflection 542 is appropriately detected, TRP2 504 can perform a sensed parameter estimation of the surrounding environment based at least in part on reflection 542.

[0149] SA3 514 transmits a signal 560 that is reflected from UE 524. As shown, UE 524 also transmits an uplink transmission 570. As shown, TRP3 506 receives a reflection 562 of signal 560 and the uplink transmission 570 from UE 524. As shown, the reflection 562 and the uplink transmission 570 arrive at TRP3 506 from almost the same direction. In this case, the interference between the uplink transmission 570 and the sensed signal 562 cannot be effectively suppressed by receive beamforming, but other techniques such as joint detection and / or power control methods can be used. Then, once the reflection 562 is properly detected, TRP3 506 can perform a sensed parameter estimation of the surrounding environment based at least in part on the reflection 562.

[0150] Independent dedicated perception agent

[0151] An independent perception agent may be connected to one or more TRPs via a backhaul. Examples of connections include wireless connections or fiber optic connections, shown in the figure as dashed line 511 between SA1 510 and TRP1 502, dashed line 513 between SA2 512 and TRP2 504, and dashed line 515 between SA3 514 and TRP3 506. Independent perception agents may be low-cost devices because, in their simplest form, they do not have any data to send. In some embodiments, the perception agent does not perform signal processing functions associated with data transmission. In addition, such a simply formed perception agent may not be equipped with a receiver front end. However, in some embodiments, if the perception agent is equipped with a receiving front end, the perception agent may be able to perform passive perception. Since the perception agent is used to send SeRS in the UL time slot of the corresponding TRP in a half-duplex configuration, when the corresponding TRP is located in the downlink portion of the transmission resource, the perception agent does not send but can be used to perform passive perception. Therefore, the perception agent can perform passive perception of the environment by receiving reflections of DL signals according to at least the following two scenarios.

[0152] The first scenario involves opportunistic sensing. Opportunistic sensing occurs when the corresponding TRP does not perform active sensing operations in the downlink, but only performs data transmission. In this case, the sensing agent can perform passive sensing and send the sensing information to the corresponding TRP or any other TRP in range for further processing. The sensing information can be related to the distance, shape, and speed of the target in the direction of the downlink signal.

[0153] The second scenario involves scheduled sensing. Scheduled sensing is related to the situation where the corresponding TRP performs active sensing while performing downlink data transmission. In this case, the sensing beam is scanned by the corresponding TRP to cover the area of ​​interest, and the sensing agent can detect and process the reflected signal and forward the sensing information to the corresponding TRP for further processing. The sensing information can be related to the distance and speed of the target in the direction of the sent sensing signal. The corresponding TRP can instruct the sensing agent to perform passive sensing, for example, through X2 / Xn signaling sensing "passive_sensing_request".

[0154] When there are multiple perception agents associated with a single TRP, providing multiple reflected copies of the perception signal received by the SA can enhance perception within the downlink time slot. This provides perception diversity by making multiple observations of the same environment. In addition, the perception agent can perform passive perception on multiple perception signals sent by multiple adjacent TRPs. Since the perception signals generated by different TRPs can have different seeds / patterns / sequences, the perception agent can distinguish these perception signals during the reception process. All received information can be sent to the corresponding TRP, and if necessary, the TRP can forward the information to adjacent TRPs.

[0155] In order to achieve efficient sensing transmission / reception, the sensing agent can be assigned different sensing IDs by the network. In the case of an independent sensing agent, the sensing ID can be associated with the TRP identifier (ID) or it can be a separate ID. This helps the sensing agent to associate the parameters of the sensing signal with the ID, thereby facilitating better sensing detection at the receiver node side and better suppression of SeRS interference.

[0156] In some embodiments, the use of a separate dedicated sensing agent can cost-effectively and efficiently implement sensing in a half-duplex network.

[0157] In some embodiments, a separate dedicated awareness agent is used to provide additional information to the network to improve communication performance.

[0158] User equipment as a perception agent

[0159] In some embodiments, the UE may perform the function of a perception agent. When the UE acts as a perception agent, the service TRP requests to perform active perception (transmission of SeRS). In this case, the UE may be assigned a Sensing Node (SeN) ID, which is sent using L1 signaling or high-layer signaling, examples of which include radio resource control (RRC) signaling and media access control (MAC) control elements (CE). It is also possible that the SeN ID is assigned or pre-configured for the UE via high-layer signaling, but the network assigns an indication such as "SeN_enable" via L1 signaling to indicate an active perception request. The request may be initiated based on the location of the UE or by an event (e.g., packet congestion of some UEs in certain areas). The perception UE may also be selected based on the mobility of the UE, for example, a fixed UE is preferred for perception, because the location information of the perception agent is more stable and does not change. In some embodiments, the UE may be selected as a perception agent based on transmission power and / or processing power. For example, when a car is considered as a UE, the car has more capabilities in terms of power amplification and processing power than a mobile phone, which usually has specific battery limitations. Synchronization between UE and TRP clocks may be a criterion for selecting a UE as a sensing agent, since tight synchronization (or at least knowledge of the relative delays by receiving uplink packets from the same UE at the same location) is required for distance estimation.

[0160] Once the network selects and designates the UE for active sensing, some additional information can be sent to the UE to indicate more details of the sensing. This can include some parameters of the sensing signal, including beam scanning mode, resource allocation and SeRS sequence length, as well as some indications (explicit and / or implicit) of a certain degree of information for sensing quality and environment (including target classification results based on previous measurements, etc.). This additional information signaling can be L1 signaling or high-level signaling including RRC or MAC CE. It is also possible for the UE to perform uplink transmission and active sensing simultaneously by allocating two different beams for transmission and sensing, which can be determined by the network and sent to the UE.

[0161] Similar to a standalone dedicated perception agent, a UE used for perception can perform passive perception of the surrounding environment by receiving reflections of downlink signals from a TRP. The selection of a UE as a passive perception agent can also depend on UE capabilities and power availability. For example, this is feasible for UEs with fairly good processing power and no battery constraints (such as cars). The following is an example of a passive perception scenario.

[0162] In opportunistic sensing, the corresponding TRP does not perform active sensing in the downlink, but only performs data transmission. In this case, the UE acting as a sensing agent performs passive sensing and sends the sensing information to the corresponding TRP for further processing. The sensing information may be related to the distance, shape, and speed of the target in the direction in which the corresponding TRP sends the downlink signal. In some embodiments, UE feedback is performed using L1 signaling. In some embodiments, UE feedback is merged with other feedback signaling, such as channel quality indication (CQI) feedback, and may be sent using the same signaling mechanism as other feedback signaling. Opportunistic sensing may also be performed on sidelink (SL) transmissions between UEs.

[0163] In timing sensing, the corresponding TRP performs active sensing while performing downlink data transmission. In this case, the sensing beam is scanned by the corresponding TRP to cover the area of ​​interest, and the UE acting as a sensing agent can detect and process the reflected signal as sensing information. The UE can forward the sensing information to the TRP for further processing. The sensing information may be related to the distance, shape and speed of the target in the direction in which the corresponding TRP sends the sensing signal. In some embodiments, the UE may be configured by the corresponding TRP to perform passive sensing, i.e., sensing "passive_sensing_request" through L1 signaling or high-level signaling including RRC or MAC CE. In some embodiments, L1 signaling may be used to provide UE feedback to the corresponding TRP. In some embodiments, UE feedback is merged with other feedback signaling (e.g., CQI feedback) and sent using the same signaling mechanism as other feedback signaling. Timing sensing may also be performed on the SL transmission where active sensing is performed by another UE. In this case, "passive_sensing_request" may be sent by the UE performing active sensing, and may also be sent by the network.

[0164] In some embodiments, using the UE as a sensing agent can achieve sensing in a half-duplex network in a low-cost and efficient manner.

[0165] In some embodiments, the UE is used as an awareness agent to provide additional information to the network to improve communication performance.

[0166] Transmitter and receiver nodes as sensing agents

[0167] In some embodiments, the TRP can be a sensing agent. Since a TRP cannot perform active sensing (sending sensing signals) and passive sensing (receiving and processing sensing signals) at the same time, one or more other TRPs assist in the sensing operation. Since the main operation of a TRP is communication (data transmission and reception), the sensing operation does not interrupt communication. For a TRP operating in half-duplex mode, when the TRP performs active sensing, the receiver will be in uplink mode (receiving). Therefore, there must be collaboration between one or more TRPs used as transmitters and one or more other TRPs used as receivers.

[0168] For the purpose of illustrating the proposed scheme, the one or more TRPs responsible for the sensing operation are referred to as one or more primary TRPs, and the one or more TRPs that assist the one or more primary TRPs in the sensing operation are referred to as one or more assisting party TRPs or simply one or more assisting parties. Although assisting parties are usually described as TRPs, UEs can also be assisting parties. One or more assisting parties can be associated with one or more primary TRPs. For example, the assisting party can be a femtocell, a remote radio head (RRH), a relay node, or any other network node, and can also be an independent TRP. In a more general form, when there is a set of TRPs And in each sensing cycle, when a subset of TRPs is used as one or more master TRPs, and the rest of the TRPs in the set are used as helpers, sensing scheduling may occur. In some embodiments, the subset used as one or more master TRPs and the subset used as helpers alternate between sensing cycles. This provides an opportunity to efficiently sense the entire environment.

[0169] Without loss of generality, one or more master TRPs perform active sensing, i.e., send a sensing signal (SeRS), while the assisting party performs passive sensing, i.e., listens to the reflection of the SeRS from the target and attempts to estimate the sensing parameters. In some embodiments, the master TRP and the assisting party reverse their roles, i.e., one or more master TRPs perform passive sensing, while the assisting party performs active sensing. In this case, the sensing command (e.g., "passive_sense_enable") and the configuration parameters of one or more sensing signals should be sent to the assisting party to simplify reception. These configuration parameters may include, but are not limited to: SeNID, SeRS length and sequence, resource mapping mode, and beam scanning mode. The sensing command and configuration parameters may be sent via X2 / Xn signaling. In some embodiments, when sensing is performed in a preconfigured manner and the master / assisting party configuration of the TRP is predefined, some or all of this information can be obtained by the assisting party, so no signaling or very little signaling is required. In this case, the preconfiguration information may be sent via high-level signaling when one or more master TRPs and one or more assisting parties start the sensing process.

[0170] In a half-duplex scenario, when sensing is performed, no downlink transmission from the assistor should be performed on the resources where the SeRS signal is sent. If sensing is performed in a preconfigured manner and the master / assistant configuration of the TRP is predefined, one or more assistors can be deployed so that downlink transmission is not scheduled on these resources. However, if sensing is performed "on demand", that is, only upon request, and downlink transmission has been scheduled, the TRP serving a group of UEs can send notifications to the UEs scheduled in a certain resource (or broadcast to all UEs) via L1 signaling to let the UEs know about the scheduling changes on these resources.

[0171] The decision on whether to schedule uplink transmission when performing passive sensing depends in part on the receiver capabilities of one or more assisting parties. For example, if the receiver capability is high, i.e., the assisting party can jointly detect the sensing signal and uplink decoding, the primary TRP can schedule uplink transmission. However, some additional signaling may be required to ensure the decoding performance of the uplink transmission and sensing. For example, some indication about power control, transmission lag and / or modulation and coding scheme (MCS) may be sent to the scheduled / configured UE on these resources. This additional signaling may be implemented via L1 signaling or higher-layer signaling including RRC or MAC CE.

[0172] In some embodiments, using a TRP as a perception agent (including a combination of one or more primary TRPs and one or more assisting TRPs) provides more perception coverage by performing perception on multiple TRPs.

[0173] In some embodiments, using TRPs as perception agents (including a combination of one or more primary TRPs and one or more assisting TRPs) provides better perceptual diversity and improves perceptual quality.

[0174] A specific problem that arises from the use of a perception agent (an independent dedicated perception agent, a TRP and / or a UE) is that the perception signal generates interference. The perception signal can be in-band or out-of-band. For in-band perception, the perception signal and the communication signal are sent using the same set of physical resources. For example, a network entity may send a communication signal and a perception signal on the same frequency band at the same time or at different times. For out-of-band perception, the perception signal is sent using a set of physical resources that is different from the set of physical resources used for the communication signal. In some embodiments, the set of physical resources is dedicated to perception. If perception is performed out-of-band, the interference between the perception signal and the communication signal is greatly reduced. An example of out-of-band perception is that perception is performed in the millimeter wave band and communication is performed in the 6 GHz sub-band.

[0175] When sensing is performed in-band, different interference suppression schemes may be considered, including one or more of the following.

[0176] Power Control: Since sensing is typically performed over a large bandwidth (to obtain a good range estimate), the power can be reduced to limit the interference caused to neighboring TRPs and / or UEs.

[0177] Beamforming configuration: Since sensing is performed through beam scanning, the scanning area can be designed to minimize interference to uplink communication signals and transmissions of other TRPs (based on information about the coverage areas of neighboring TRPs).

[0178] Perceptual signal design: Aspects of the perceptual signal design are described in co-pending applicant's reference 86311801US01.

[0179] Managing perceived inter-signal interference

[0180] If the sensing signals from adjacent sensing agents are sent on the same frequency band, this will cause interference when the sensing signals are observed on the sensing receiver side. Since the sensing signal is a reference signal, the structure of the signals sent from different nodes will affect the interference between SeRS. For example, if the sensing signals of adjacent sensing agents are designed to be orthogonal to each other, the interference between sensing signals can be suppressed. In some embodiments, the design method of SeRS can be similar to the design method of demodulation reference signal (DMRS) with orthogonal or semi-orthogonal reference signal (RS) sequences and / or orthogonal or semi-orthogonal time / frequency resources in the uplink. One aspect of the design process may also include the use of different SeRS agents by adjacent sensing agents (time / frequency scheduling of SeRS signals). The design of SeRS may also involve the power control and beamforming configurations described above.

[0181] In some embodiments, the SeRS signal can be designed in advance and stored in a lookup table (LUT), and the TRP knows the sensing signals of its neighboring sensing agents, so they can select appropriate SeRS for different sensing agents. In other embodiments, the sensing signal parameters can be mapped to a sensing agent ID or a sensing node (SeN) ID, which can be globally known in the network through initial signaling.

[0182] Interference suppression method for UE

[0183] Since TRP usually has more information about the sensing signal configuration, beam direction, etc., and TRP has greater processing power for signal detection and can eliminate interference caused by adjacent sensing agents, the interference caused by the sensing signal to TRP in the uplink transmission of other TRPs can be relatively easy to handle.

[0184] However, in the following scenarios, the transmission of sensing signals by a sensing agent may cause interference to the UE.

[0185] Scenario 1: UE receives DL transmission in another cell

[0186] This scenario occurs in a flexible TDD scenario where one TRP is in uplink mode and the other TRP is in downlink mode. In this case, the sensing signal from one sensing agent may cause interference to the UE receiving downlink transmission in the other cell. In some embodiments, this can be managed in the following ways:

[0187] (1) Beam management of perceptual signals: Since TRPs may know each other’s UL / DL configurations, TRPs can pre-configure the beam scanning mode corresponding to one or more SAs so as not to cause interference to UEs in the coverage area of ​​other TRPs.

[0188] (2) Resource management of sensing signals: If multiple resource parts (bandwidth, time slot, etc.) are available for sensing, one or more SAs can use the resource parts not used by the adjacent TRPs for DL ​​transmission. This requires the TRP to know the DL scheduling resources of the adjacent TRPs.

[0189] (3) Power control: When the sensing signal is sent on the same resource as the DL transmission, the sensing signal power can be controlled to suppress the interference caused to the DL UE.

[0190] (4) Predictive interference suppression: Since the TRP knows the beam pattern of one or more adjacent SAs, if the beam pattern has an adverse effect on the upcoming DL transmission, the TRP can indicate it to the adjacent TRP so that the TRP can stop beam scanning or change the pattern.

[0191] Scenario 2: UE receives device-to-device (D2D) transmission

[0192] If the D2D link is established by TRP, any of the above techniques can be used for interference management.

[0193] However, if the D2D link is established with the UE as the center, the "sense-before-talk" technique can be used for interference management. In sense-before-talk, the UE can first sense the frequency band to see if the UE detects a sensing signal. Then, the UE can select the frequency band, transmission bandwidth, and beamforming to ensure that the receiver is not affected by the sensing signal transmission. This idea may be useful because in some embodiments of D2D, the transmitter and receiver are relatively close, so the signal power detected by the transmitter is roughly the same as the signal power detected by the receiver.

[0194] Interference management between SeRS signals sent by different nodes can be performed, and the impact of perception signals on communication signals and the impact of communication signals on perception signals can be minimized to improve the performance of perception and communication in the system.

[0195] Reference below Figure 6 and Figure 7 Examples of configuring and implementing sensing signals in a wireless communication network are described.

[0196] Figure 6 is a flowchart 600 describing a method for use in a telecommunications system. Step 610 includes: the perception agent receives configuration information for configuring the transmission of a sensing reference signal (SeRS), wherein the SeRS is to be sent by the perception agent in a transmission resource of a first transmit receive point (TRP). Step 620 includes: the perception agent sends the SeRS according to the configuration information. Step 630 is an optional step, and also includes: the perception agent performs passive sensing of reflections of downlink transmissions from the first TRP. This step can be performed by configuring the perception agent to receive a reflected version of the SeRS. Step 640 is another optional step of step 630, and also includes: the perception agent notifies the first TRP of the perception information obtained by performing passive sensing of reflections of downlink transmissions from the TRP. Step 650 is an optional step, and includes: the perception agent receives configuration information for configuring when the perception agent can perform passive sensing of reflections of transmissions from the first TRP or one or more other TRPs. Step 660 is an optional step, including: the perception agent performs passive perception of the reflection of the transmission from the first TRP or the one or more other TRPs. Step 670 is an optional step, also including: the perception agent notifies the first TRP or at least one of the one or more other TRPs of the perception information obtained by performing passive perception of the reflection of the SeRS sent by the first TRP or the one or more other TRPs.

[0197] Figure 7 is a flowchart 700 describing a method for use in a telecommunications system. Step 710 includes: the TRP sends configuration information for configuring the transmission of a SeRS, wherein the SeRS is to be sent by a perception agent in a transmission resource of the TRP. Step 720 includes: the TRP detects a reflection of the SeRS sent by the perception agent based on the configuration information. Step 730 is an optional step, further including: the TRP performs perception parameter estimation about the surrounding environment of the TRP based on the detected reflection. Step 740 is an optional step, including: the TRP also performs interference suppression to suppress interference between uplink transmission and at least one of the following: the SeRS from the TRP; SeRS from other TRPs or perception agents. Performing interference suppression may include at least one of the following: joint radar estimation and data decoding using maximum likelihood estimation or serial interference cancellation; receive beamforming to separate at least one reflected SeRS and uplink transmission; scheduling and power control of uplink users to minimize interference.

[0198] Figure 8 is a flowchart 800 describing a method for use in a telecommunication system. Step 810 includes: a perception agent receives configuration information for configuring passive perception of reflections of SeRS sent by one or more TRPs in transmission resources of the one or more TRPs. Step 820 includes: the perception agent detects the reflected SeRS according to the configuration information.

[0199] Fig. 9 is a flowchart 900 describing a method for use in a telecommunication system. Step 910 includes: a TRP sending a SeRS in a transmission resource of the TRP. Step 920 includes: the TRP receiving perception parameter estimation information about the surrounding environment of the TRP from one or more perception agents.

[0200] Although aspects of the present description may relate to half-duplex mode operation, it should be understood that aspects of the above-described methods may also be applied to full-duplex mode operation.

[0201] It should be understood that one or more steps in the embodiment method provided herein can be performed by corresponding units or modules. For example, a signal can be sent by a sending unit or a sending module. A signal can be received by a receiving unit or a receiving module. A signal can be processed by a processing unit or a processing module. The corresponding unit / module can be hardware, software, or a combination thereof. For example, one or more of the above-mentioned units / modules can be an integrated circuit, such as a field programmable gate array (FPGA) or an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC). It should be understood that if these modules are software, these modules can be retrieved in whole or in part by a processor as needed, retrieved individually or collectively for processing, retrieved in one or more instances as needed, and these modules themselves can include instructions for further deployment and instantiation.

[0202] Although combinations of features are shown in the illustrated embodiments, not all features need to be combined to achieve the advantages of the various embodiments of the present invention. In other words, a system or method designed according to an embodiment of the present invention does not necessarily include all features shown in any of the drawings or all parts schematically shown in the drawings. In addition, selected features of an exemplary embodiment can be combined with selected features of other exemplary embodiments.

[0203] Although the present invention has been described with reference to illustrative embodiments, this description is not to be interpreted in a limiting sense. Various modifications and combinations of the illustrative embodiments and other embodiments of the present invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art with reference to this description. Therefore, the appended claims are intended to cover any such modifications or embodiments.

Claims

1. A method for use in a telecommunication system, characterized in that The method comprises: The perception agent receives configuration information for configuring transmission of a perception reference signal SeRS from a first transmit / receive point TRP, wherein the SeRS is to be sent by the perception agent in a transmission resource of the first TRP; The perception agent sends the SeRS according to the configuration information; The sensing agent receives configuration information for configuring when the sensing agent can perform passive sensing of reflections of downlink transmissions from the first TRP or another TRP; The sensing agent performs passive sensing of reflections of downlink transmissions from the first TRP or the other TRP; The perception agent notifies the first TRP of the perception information obtained by performing passive perception on the reflection of the downlink transmission from the first TRP or the other TRP.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that Receiving the configuration information occurs in one or more of the following: L1 signaling; Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling; Media access control MAC control element CE; X2 / Xn signaling.

3. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 2, characterized in that: The perception agent notifying the first TRP of the perception information occurs in one or more of the following: L1 signaling; Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling; Media access control MAC control element CE; X2 / Xn signaling.

4. A method for use in a telecommunication system, characterized in that The method comprises: The first transmit / receive point TRP sends configuration information for configuring transmission of a perception reference signal SeRS to the perception agent, wherein the SeRS is to be sent by the perception agent in a transmission resource of the first TRP; The first TRP detects, according to the configuration information, a reflection of the SeRS sent by the perception agent; The first TRP performs a perceptual parameter estimation about a surrounding environment of the first TRP based on the detected reflection; The first TRP sends, to the perception agent, configuration information for configuring perception of reflection of the SeRS sent by the first TRP in the transmission resources of the first TRP; The first TRP receives perceptual parameter estimation information about the surrounding environment of the first TRP from the perceptual agent.

5. The method according to claim 4, characterized in that The method further includes: the first TRP performing interference mitigation to mitigate interference between the uplink transmission and at least one of: said SeRS from said first TRP; SeRS from another TRP or the sensing agent.

6. The method according to claim 5, characterized in that The performing interference suppression comprises at least one of the following: Joint radar estimation and data decoding using maximum likelihood estimation or successive interference cancellation; Receive beamforming to separate at least one reflected SeRS and uplink transmission; Scheduling and power control of uplink users to minimize interference.

7. The method according to any one of claims 4 to 6, characterized in that: The method also includes: the first TRP notifying the neighboring TRPs of the perception parameter estimation information about the surrounding environment of the first TRP received from the perception agent.

8. A communication device, characterized in that: include: A processor for executing computer programs or instructions stored in the memory; The memory is used to store the computer program or the instructions; When the computer program or the instructions are executed by a processor, the method as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 3 is executed; or, the method as claimed in any one of claims 4 to 7 is executed.

9. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that: The computer-readable storage medium stores instructions, and the instructions are executed on a computer to execute the method according to any one of claims 1 to 3; or to execute the method according to any one of claims 4 to 7.

10. A computer program product, characterized in that The computer program product comprises a computer program or instructions for executing the method as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 3; or comprises a computer program or instructions for executing the method as claimed in any one of claims 4 to 7.

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