Performing perceptual measurements during perceptual session between first wireless station and second wireless station in wireless communication network

Abstract

A method of reporting perceptual measurements between a first wireless station (STA) and a second wireless STA in a wireless communication network, the method comprising the steps of: selecting the first wireless STA as a perceptual transmitter STA for transmitting a frame in a perceptual session setting, and selecting the second wireless STA as a perceptual receiver STA for performing a measurement on a frame received from the perceptual transmitter STA, wherein the step of selecting is based on an expected accuracy of the perceptual measurement; performing, by a perception receiver STA, wireless perception by performing measurements on frames received from the perception transmitter STA during a perception session, thereby obtaining perception measurements; the obtained perceptual measurements are reported by a perceptual receiver STA to the perceptual transmitter STA.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present disclosure relates generally to the field of wireless communications, and more particularly to wireless sensing performed in a wireless communication network. Background Art

[0002] The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Working Group 802.11 has initiated a task group (TG) 802.11bf to define an amendment to wireless sensing. IEEE 802.11bf will define a method for exchanging IEEE 802.11 transmissions (also denoted as frames) between devices that conform to IEEE 802.11bf (referred to as stations STA). The exchanged frames enable STAs to sense their environment. Using wireless sensing, STAs can detect motion, the presence of humans and pets, the location of doors, and potential aspects such as pulse rate and breathing rate.

[0003] 802.11bf introduces the so-called "WLAN Awareness Procedure". Such a procedure enables STAs to perform awareness and / or obtain measurement results. The WLAN Awareness Procedure includes one or more of the following: Awareness Session Setup, Awareness Measurement Instance, Awareness Measurement Setup Termination, and Awareness Setup Termination.

[0004] The STA that initiates the sensing process is called the sensing initiator, and the STA that participates in the sensing process initiated by the initiator is called the sensing responder. In the WLAN sensing process, the sensing transmitter is the STA that sends the physical layer protocol data unit PPDU for sensing measurement, and the sensing receiver is the STA that receives the PPDU sent by the sensing transmitter and performs the measurement. The STA can have multiple roles in the WLAN sensing process. In the sensing session setup, the operating parameters associated with the sensing session are determined and exchanged between the STAs.

[0005] When the sensing receiver does not consume measurements, it sends a sensing measurement report frame to report the measurements. The sensing measurement report frame includes a measurement report field and a control field, the measurement report field carries the channel state information CSI measurement obtained by the sensing receiver, and the control field contains information describing how to interpret the measurement report field. Examples of information required to interpret the CSI measurement include resolution, such as expressed in bits, bandwidth, and number of RX chains.

[0006] IEEE 802.11 devices operate in unlicensed bands (sometimes also referred to as unlicensed bands). One of the key features of unlicensed bands is that interference due to transmissions from other devices is highly unpredictable. Specifically, for a communication link, the interference experienced by a transmitter and a receiver may be very different, because the interference source may be arranged close to the receiver, but relatively far from the transmitter, or vice versa.

[0007] One of the challenges associated with wireless sensing is how to obtain the most reliable sensing results. Summary of the invention

[0008] An object of the present disclosure is to provide a method for performing awareness measurements during an awareness session between a first wireless station STA and a second wireless STA in a wireless communication network. A further object of the present disclosure is to provide a corresponding wireless station and a corresponding computer program product.

[0009] In a first aspect, a method for performing awareness measurements during an awareness session between a first wireless station STA and a second wireless STA in a wireless communication network is provided, the method comprising the following steps:

[0010] - in a sensing session setup, selecting the first wireless STA as a sensing transmitter STA for transmitting frames and selecting the second wireless STA as a sensing receiver STA for performing measurements on frames received from the sensing transmitter STA, wherein the selecting step is based on an expected accuracy of the sensing measurements;

[0011] - During a sensing session, wireless sensing is performed by a sensing receiver STA by performing measurements on frames received from the sensing transmitter STA, thereby obtaining sensing measurements.

[0012] In one example, the method includes the following steps:

[0013] - reporting, by a perception receiver STA, to the perception transmitter STA, the obtained perception measurements or information derived from the obtained perception measurements.

[0014] The inventors have found that it may be beneficial to use the following basic principle: the channel is reciprocal, ie the channel between two stations is the same, independent of which of the two stations is the transmitter and the receiver respectively.

[0015] The above insights can be implemented to determine the roles of the two stations in the process. That is, which station is assigned the role of being the aware sender station and which station is assigned the role of being the aware receiving station.

[0016] Then, determining which station plays the role of the sensing sender station and which station plays the role of the sensing receiver station may be based on the expected accuracy of the corresponding sensing measurements. This is beneficial because it increases the reliability of the obtained measurement results.

[0017] The above can be explained as follows. The measurement results obtained depend on the wireless channel between the two wireless stations, but also on other factors. Not only the channel is responsible for obtaining accurate sensing results, but also these other factors.

[0018] Then, the decision of which station to play which role can be based at least in part on these other factors. Examples of these other factors can include, for example, actual and / or expected interference experienced by any one of the first wireless STA and the second wireless STA, and the transmit power of any one of the first wireless STA and the second wireless STA.

[0019] The two wireless stations are spaced apart from each other by a certain distance. Therefore, the two wireless stations may experience different levels of interference from other wireless devices in their vicinity. These other wireless devices may also be wireless stations capable of transmitting in the same frequency band as the two wireless stations, or may be any other wireless device capable of transmitting in the same frequency band as the two wireless stations.

[0020] Following from the above, it may be beneficial to select the wireless station with the least interference as the sensing receiver station.

[0021] For example, the station experiencing the least amount of interference may be offered the role of a sensing receiver station to perform sensing, as this may be expected to result in higher accuracy.

[0022] It should be noted that the above interference can be related to the actual interference experienced by the station or the expected interference experienced by the station. For example, the expected interference can be determined based on repetitive (i.e., periodic return) interference from other nearby stations, or based on, for example, the fraction of time that the STA experiences interference above a certain level.

[0023] Another example is related to the transmit power of each wireless station. The transmit power of two wireless stations may be different, for example due to the type of wireless station and / or regulated by local jurisdictions. An access point AP is a type of wireless station, and an AP may typically have a higher transmit power than a non-AP type wireless station.

[0024] In one example, the step of selecting includes at least one of the following:

[0025] - in the awareness session setting, exchanging one or more transmit powers of any one of the first wireless STA and the second wireless STA between the first wireless STA and the second wireless STA;

[0026] - in the awareness session setup, exchanging between the first wireless STA and the second wireless STA actual and / or expected interference experienced by any one of the first wireless STA and the second wireless STA.

[0027] The above-mentioned actual and / or expected interference and one or more transmit powers of the station may be known a priori by each of the wireless stations.

[0028] Alternatively, such information may be exchanged between wireless stations during a handshake process. A handshake process typically occurs to establish rules for communication when two wireless stations attempt to communicate with each other.

[0029] The final decision about the different roles can be made by either of the two stations, or the decision can be made in a distributed manner. Making decisions in a distributed manner is possible as long as the decision parameters are the same between each station. In such a case, each station will make a decision that is consistent between the stations.

[0030] Another option is to decide during the handshake process which of the two wireless stations is responsible for making the final decision about who plays what role during the sensing session.

[0031] In further examples, the actual and / or expected interference is related to any of the following:

[0032] - average fraction of time during which the first wireless STA and / or the second wireless STA is interfered with,

[0033] - the maximum interference that the first wireless STA and / or the second wireless STA is expected to experience, or

[0034] - An expected distribution of interference that the first wireless STA and / or the second wireless STA is expected to experience.

[0035] In another example, the step of selecting includes:

[0036] -In the perception session setting, the perception receiver STA selects the first wireless STA as the perception transmitter STA during the first part of the perception session, selects the second wireless STA as the perception receiver STA during the first part of the perception session, and selects the first wireless STA as the perception receiver STA during the second part of the perception session, and selects the second wireless STA as the perception transmitter STA during the second part of the perception session.

[0037] The inventors have found that, in order to even improve the reliability of the sensing measurements, it may be beneficial to exchange the roles of the two stations during the sensing session. That is, during the sensing session, the roles may alternate between the two wireless stations. The measurement results obtained by each of the two stations may then, for example, be averaged to obtain the final measurement result. More generally, the measurement results may be combined in a way that takes into account the reliability of the measurements performed in different directions.

[0038] In yet another example, the first wireless STA and the second wireless STA have dual-link capabilities such that the first wireless STA and the second wireless STA can simultaneously transmit and receive through two links.

[0039] According to the present disclosure, the above may make it necessary that two wireless stations can transmit and receive simultaneously in two different frequency bands. That is, the wireless stations may, for example, operate simultaneously in two different frequency channels.

[0040] In a detailed example in this article, the steps selected include:

[0041] - in the awareness session setup, selecting, by the awareness receiver STA, the first wireless STA as the awareness transmitter STA for a first link of the two links, and selecting the second wireless STA as the awareness receiver STA for the first link of the two links, and

[0042] - In the awareness session setup, the first wireless STA is selected by the awareness receiver STA as the awareness receiver STA for the second link of the two links, and the second wireless STA is selected as the awareness transmitter STA for the second link of the two links.

[0043] In another example, the step of performing includes performing the wireless sensing for both of the two links simultaneously.

[0044] In yet another example, the perceptual measurement includes any of the following:

[0045] - Channel state information CSI;

[0046] - A control field comprising information describing how to interpret said perception measurements.

[0047] In wireless communications, channel state information may refer to the channel properties of a wireless communications channel. This information describes how a signal propagates from a transmitter station to a receiver station and represents the combined effects of, for example, scattering, fading, and power decay with distance. The method used to gain knowledge of how a signal is affected by a channel is called channel estimation. There are many different types of channel estimation, such as blind estimation or estimating a channel with a priori known reference symbols. CSI may describe the channel in the frequency domain, for example, by the amplitude and phase of different frequency components of the channel, or CSI may describe the channel by a channel impulse response.

[0048] CSI makes it possible to adapt the transmission from a transmitter station to a receiver station to the current channel conditions, which is beneficial for enabling reliable communication with high data rates in multi-antenna systems. CSI may be estimated, for example, at a sensing receiver station and is typically quantized and fed back, i.e. reported back to the sensing transmitter station.

[0049] The control field may include a single bit or a string of characters that indicates to the perception transmitter station how to interpret the perception measurements.

[0050] In a second aspect of the present disclosure, a method for requesting a first wireless station STA to request a second wireless STA for perception measurement in a wireless communication network is provided, the method comprising the following steps:

[0051] - in a sensing session setup, selecting the first wireless STA as a sensing transmitter STA for transmitting frames, and selecting the second wireless STA as a sensing receiver STA for performing measurements on frames received from the sensing transmitter STA, wherein the step of selecting is based on an expected accuracy of the sensing measurements;

[0052] - Requesting, by the sensing transmitter STA, the second wireless STA to perform wireless sensing by performing measurements on frames received from the transmitter STA during a sensing session, thereby obtaining sensing measurements.

[0053] In one example, the method includes the following steps:

[0054] - receiving, by the perception transmitter STA, from the perception receiver STA, the obtained perception measurements or information derived from the obtained perception measurements.

[0055] It should be noted that the advantages explained with respect to the first aspect (i.e., a method for performing perception measurements during a perception session between a first STA and a second STA) also apply to the second aspect (i.e., a method for receiving perception measurements by a first STA from a second STA).

[0056] In a third aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a second wireless STA, which is arranged to perform perception measurement in a perception session between a first wireless STA and a second wireless STA in a wireless communication network, the second wireless STA comprising:

[0057] - a selection device arranged to select, in a sensing session setup, the first wireless STA as a sensing sender STA for transmitting frames and to select the second wireless STA as a sensing receiver STA for performing measurements on frames received from the sensing sender STA, wherein the step of selecting is based on an expected accuracy of the sensing measurements;

[0058] - a processing device arranged for performing radio sensing during a sensing session by performing measurements on frames received from said sensing sender STA, thereby obtaining sensing measurements;

[0059] In one example, the second wireless STA includes:

[0060] - a reporting device arranged for reporting said obtained perception measurements or information derived from said obtained perception measurements to said transmitter STA.

[0061] It is worth noting that the advantages explained with respect to the first aspect (i.e., a method for performing perception measurements during a perception session between a first STA and a second STA) also apply to the third aspect (i.e., a second wireless STA arranged to perform perception measurements in a wireless communication network).

[0062] In a fourth aspect of the present disclosure, a first wireless STA is provided, which is arranged to request a second wireless STA to perform a sensing measurement in a wireless communication network, wherein the first wireless STA includes:

[0063] - a selection device arranged to select, in a sensing session setup, the first wireless STA as a sensing sender STA for transmitting frames and to select the second wireless STA as a sensing receiver STA for performing measurements on frames received from the sensing sender STA, wherein the step of selecting is based on an expected accuracy of the sensing measurements;

[0064] - A transmitting device arranged for requesting said second wireless STA to perform wireless sensing during a sensing session by performing measurements on frames received from said transmitter STA, thereby obtaining sensing measurements.

[0065] In one example, the first wireless STA includes:

[0066] - a receiving device arranged for receiving said obtained perception measurements or information derived from said obtained perception measurements from said perception receiver STA.

[0067] It should be noted that the advantages explained with respect to the first aspect (i.e., a method for performing perception measurements during a perception session between a first STA and a second STA) also apply to the fourth aspect (i.e., a first wireless STA arranged to receive perception measurements from a second wireless STA in a wireless communication network).

[0068] In a sixth aspect, a computer program product is provided, comprising a computer-readable medium having instructions stored thereon, which, when executed by a wireless station STA in a wireless communication network, causes the wireless STA to implement a method according to any of the method examples provided above.

[0069] It should be noted that the advantages explained with respect to the first aspect (ie the method for performing awareness measurements during an awareness session between a first STA and a second STA) also apply to the fourth aspect (ie the computer program product).

[0070] The present disclosure is described in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. It is emphasized that, in accordance with standard practice in the industry, various features are not drawn to scale. In fact, the sizes of various features may be arbitrarily increased or reduced for clarity of discussion.

[0071] In the accompanying drawings, similar components and / or features may have the same reference label. In addition, various components of the same type may be distinguished by following the reference label with a dash and a second label that distinguishes the similar component. If only the first reference label is used in the specification, the description applies to any of the similar components having the same first reference label, regardless of the second reference label.

[0072] The above and other aspects of the disclosure will be apparent from and elucidated with reference to the examples described hereinafter. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0073] Figure 1 Examples of methods according to the present disclosure are disclosed;

[0074] Figure 2 An example of an architecture according to the present disclosure is disclosed;

[0075] Figure 3 Examples of wireless stations according to the present disclosure are disclosed. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0076] It should be noted that in the description of the drawings, the same reference numerals refer to the same or similar components performing the same or substantially similar functions.

[0077] A more detailed description is provided with reference to specific examples, some of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings so that the features of the present disclosure can be understood in more detail. It should be noted that the drawings illustrate only typical examples and therefore should not be considered to limit the scope of the subject matter of the claims. The drawings are included to facilitate understanding of the present disclosure and are therefore not necessarily drawn to scale. The advantages of the claimed subject matter will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon reading the specification in conjunction with the drawings.

[0078] The subsequent description above only provides one or more preferred exemplary embodiments and is not intended to limit the scope, applicability or configuration of the present disclosure. Rather, the subsequent description of one or more preferred exemplary embodiments will provide an enabling description for implementing the preferred exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure for those skilled in the art, and it should be understood that various changes may be made to the function and arrangement of elements, including combinations of features from different embodiments, without departing from the scope of the present disclosure.

[0079] Unless the context clearly requires otherwise, throughout the specification and claims, the words "include", "comprises", etc. should be interpreted in an inclusive sense and not in an exclusive or exhaustive sense; that is, in the sense of "including but not limited to". As used herein, the terms "connected", "coupled" or any variation thereof refer to any direct or indirect connection or coupling between two or more elements; the coupling or connection between elements may be physical, logical, electromagnetic, or a combination thereof. Additionally, when used in this application, the words "herein", "above", "below" and words of similar meaning refer to the entire application, not to any particular part of the application. Where the context permits, words used in the singular or plural in the detailed description may also include the plural or singular, respectively. The word "or" with respect to a list of two or more items covers all of the following interpretations of the word: any item in the list, all items in the list, and any combination of items in the list.

[0080] These and other changes can be made to the technology according to the following detailed description. Although this description describes certain examples of the technology and describes the best mode envisioned, no matter how detailed the description is, the technology can be practiced in many ways. The details of the system may vary considerably in its specific implementation while still being encompassed by the technology disclosed herein. As described above, specific terms used in describing certain features or aspects of the technology should not be considered to imply that the term is redefined herein as being limited to any specific characteristic, feature, or aspect of the technology associated with the term. In general, the terms used in the claims below should not be interpreted as limiting the technology to the specific examples disclosed in the specification unless such terms are explicitly defined in the detailed description section. Therefore, the actual scope of the technology includes not only the disclosed examples, but also all equivalent ways of practicing or implementing the technology under the claims.

[0081] Figure 1 An example of method 1 according to the present disclosure is disclosed.

[0082] Method 1 involves performing and optionally reporting awareness measurements during an awareness session between a first wireless station STA 2 and a second wireless STA 3 in a wireless communication network, the method comprising the following steps:

[0083] - in a sensing session setup, selecting 4 the first wireless STA as a sensing sender STA for transmitting frames, and selecting the second wireless STA as a sensing receiver STA for performing measurements on frames received from the sensing sender STA, wherein the step of selecting is based on an expected accuracy of the sensing measurements;

[0084] - During the sensing session, performing 5 wireless sensing by the sensing receiver STA by performing measurements on frames received from the sensing transmitter STA, thereby obtaining sensing measurements;

[0085] - Optionally, the sensing receiver STA reports 6 the obtained sensing measurements to the sensing transmitter STA.

[0086] It should be noted that the obtained perception measurements do not need to be reported back to the perception transmitter STA. It may be sufficient to report a derivative of the obtained perception measurements. For example, the perception receiver STA can estimate the wireless channel between the perception receiver STA and the perception transmitter STA, thereby obtaining complex-valued channel state information CSI. In some cases, it may be sufficient to report only the amplitudes of those complex numbers back to the transmitter STA, rather than the complex numbers themselves. In other examples, it may be sufficient to classify the wireless channel based on the obtained complex-valued CSI and report the category of the channel back to the perception transmitter STA. In another example, the report may include a specific modulation depth or any similar information as a suggestion for the perception transmitter STA to use during communication, etc. In this way, the information reported back to the perception transmitter STA may be a derivative of the obtained perception measurements.

[0087] The inventors have discovered that in wireless communications, the channel can often be accurately modeled as reciprocal. That is, the channel h between two stations is the same regardless of which of the two stations is the transmitter and the receiver, respectively.

[0088] The fact that the interference situation is very different for the transmitter and the receiver will effectively mean that, although the channel is reciprocal, the channel conditions experienced at the two stations may be very different. Additionally, it may be the case that the two involved stations have different capabilities when it comes to the maximum transmit power that can be supported.

[0089] When performing wireless sensing, one of the goals is to estimate the channel, or possibly, estimate how the channel changes from a first time instant to a second time instant. With a reciprocal channel, from a performance perspective it may not seem to matter which of the devices will be the sensing transmitter and which will be the sensing receiver.

[0090] Indeed, in prior art solutions, the decision about which station plays what role is typically based on practical considerations, such as which option will result in the least overhead, or which device has the best computing power.

[0091] However, even if the channel is reciprocal, the accuracy of the sensing measurements may be highly asymmetric due to very different interference conditions. In particular, since the interference conditions may vary from one sensing moment to another, it may be the case that at a first moment it may be preferable if STA 1 is the sensing transmitter and STA 2 is the sensing receiver, while at a second moment a better sensing accuracy is obtained if the roles are reversed.

[0092] Current standards for wireless sensing, such as IEEE 802.11bf, do not take into account that the sensing performance may be very dependent on which direction the sensing is performed in. This implies that the sensing performance may not be sufficiently accurate and some applications will not work as expected at all.

[0093] The present disclosure relates to methods that enable sensing to be performed in a direction that gives improved reliable sensing results. Several examples are disclosed that allow this to be achieved. According to one method, the stations 1, 2 participating in sensing have exchanged information about interference conditions at setup time and base the role selection at least in part on this information.

[0094] According to a second example, stations 1, 2 interchange the roles of sensing sender station and sensing receiver station during a sensing session to ensure that a certain diversity is obtained.

[0095] In a third example, applicable when the stations 1, 2 support sensing on two or more links, different directions for sensing are selected for at least two links.

[0096] In a fourth example, applicable when the stations 1, 2 participating in sensing support simultaneous transmission and reception of STR, sensing is performed concurrently in both directions.

[0097] The above insights enable improved perceived performance with very little additional overhead.The proposed disclosure is applicable without making any changes to the physical layer.

[0098] Awareness session setup-awareness setup termination and measurement setup-measurement setup termination are one-to-one negotiations, while measurement instances and measurement reports may be one-to-many or many-to-one. As a one-to-many example, the announcement that the awareness PPDU will be sent can be done through a Null Data Packet Announcement NDPA sent by the awareness sender station and potentially received by many receiver stations.

[0099] Similarly, the triggered channel detection transmission can be one-to-many, while the actual transmission of the sensing PPDU and NDP can be one-to-many or many-to-one.

[0100] In the following, wireless local area network WLAN sensing is discussed, but it is obvious to anyone skilled in the art that these methods are equally well suited for other wireless communication networks. It should be noted that a wireless communication network may also contain ad hoc networks or ad hoc connections between stations.

[0101] Furthermore, different examples of the present disclosure are described under the assumption that a dedicated packet is used for sensing (referred to herein as a sensing PPDU). Some of the examples may also be at least partially applicable when sensing is performed on packets or frames that are not dedicated to sensing but carry user data.

[0102] Awareness measurement setup allows the awareness initiator and awareness responder to agree on the operational attributes associated with each measurement instance. Examples of operational attributes include determining the awareness sender / receiver and the type of measurement report.

[0103] When the sensing initiator is different from the sensing receiver, the latter must feed back measurement reports to the initiator.

[0104] In a first example, the role can be determined when the session is set up, e.g. Figure 1 As shown in the figure mark 4.

[0105] According to this example, the two wireless stations 2, 3 participating in sensing will play the same role throughout the sensing session. The sensing session is indicated with reference numeral 5.

[0106] The decision of which role is to be played, ie which of the two stations 2, 3 should play the role of the sensing sender station and which should play the role of the sensing receiver station, is maintained throughout the sensing session.

[0107] In order to make this decision, at least one of the involved stations 2, 3 informs the other station of some attributes related to the perceived performance, also called "other factors".

[0108] Examples of such properties may be maximum transmit power or interference conditions. In the case of interference conditions, the information may for example relate to the average time fraction that the corresponding station is interfered with, the maximum interference expected to be experienced, or the expected distribution of interference expected to be experienced. The stations 2, 3 receiving this information may then decide which roles the two stations 2, 3 should play.

[0109] As an example, an access point AP is a sensing initiator and a non-AP station is a sensing responder. The AP can then request the AP to send information related to how well it can be expected to perform sensing measurements. The non-AP station sends this information to the AP, which then uses it to determine the role by comparing it to its own receiver conditions.

[0110] If, for example, the AP determines that the non-AP station has worse channel conditions than the AP, the AP may decide that the non-AP station should be a sensing transmitter, and the AP becomes a sensing receiver. Conversely, if the AP determines that the non-AP station has more favorable channel conditions than the AP, the AP decides that the non-AP station will be a sensing receiver, and the AP becomes a sensing transmitter.

[0111] In a second example, the perception roles are alternated throughout the perception session.

[0112] Example 1 above may be suitable when the preferred direction for sensing remains the same throughout the session. However, in order to cope with the situation where the preferred direction may change from one moment to the next, another method is disclosed. According to this example, the two stations 2, 3 participating in sensing alternate roles throughout the sensing session. As a specific example, a sensing event may be based on performing sensing in two directions, so that in one sensing event, station 2 first plays the role of sensing transmitter and station 3 plays the role of sensing receiver. Then, in the next transmission, the roles are reversed. In this way, the sensing decision in each sensing event will contain the sensing measurement in the most favorable direction.

[0113] As another example, two stations 2, 3 may decide at the time of a sensing session setup that during the first half of the session, station 2 is the sensing sender, and during the second half of the session, station 2 is the sensing receiver.

[0114] In a third example, sensing is performed in different directions using multi-link transmission.

[0115] In some arrangements, both stations 2, 3 participating in sensing are multi-link capable. In this case, each of the stations involved may have at least one sensing transmitter and one sensing receiver. That is, in practice one link is used for sensing in one direction, and the other link is used for sensing in the other direction. Preferably, the selection of directions for the two links is done by taking into account the interference conditions for the respective links.

[0116] It can also be noted that Example 3 can be combined with both Example 1 and Example 2, because Example 1 and Example 2 are applicable to how to perform sensing on each individual link. As an example, Example 1 can be used to select the direction for the corresponding link, while Example 2 can be used for two links in a multi-link scenario, so that sensing measurements are performed in two directions on two or more links during one sensing session.

[0117] In a fourth example, simultaneous transmit and receive STR is used to perform sensing in different directions.

[0118] In some other settings, the two involved stations 2, 3 have STR capability. According to this example, the two stations agree to use this capability to perform sensing in both directions concurrently / simultaneously. That is, each of the two stations may have both a sensing transmitter and a sensing receiver.

[0119] Figure 2 An example 11 of an architecture according to the present disclosure is disclosed.

[0120] The channel is indicated with reference numeral 12. It has been shown that the interference experienced by station 3 is different from the interference experienced by station 2. This is because a plurality of stations 13, 14, 15 are in the vicinity of station 3, wherein these plurality of stations 13, 14, 15 may contribute significantly to the interference at station 3. Such interference may be taken into account when deciding on the roles for the two stations 2, 3.

[0121] Figure 3 Examples of wireless stations according to the present disclosure are disclosed.

[0122] The wireless station 21 may be a second wireless station. The second wireless STA may be arranged to report the perception measurement to the first wireless STA in the wireless communication network, the second wireless STA comprising:

[0123] - a selection device 26 arranged for selecting, in a sensing session setup, the first wireless STA as a sensing sender STA for sending frames and selecting the second wireless STA as a sensing receiver STA for performing measurements on frames received from the sensing sender STA, wherein the step of selecting is based on an expected accuracy of the sensing measurements;

[0124] - a processing device 27 arranged for performing radio sensing during a sensing session by performing measurements on frames received from said transmitter STA, thereby obtaining sensing measurements;

[0125] - A reporting device 25 arranged for reporting said obtained perception measurements to said transmitter STA.

[0126] The second wireless station may also have a receiving device 24, wherein the receiving device 24 and a reporting device 25 are connected to the terminals 22, 23 for receiving and sending frames respectively. Furthermore, a memory 28 may be coupled to the processing device 27.

[0127] The wireless station 21 may also be a first wireless station, which is arranged to receive a perception measurement from a second wireless STA in a wireless communication network, wherein the first wireless STA includes:

[0128] - a selection device 26 arranged for selecting, in a sensing session setup, the first wireless STA as a sensing sender STA for sending frames and selecting the second wireless STA as a sensing receiver STA for performing measurements on frames received from the sensing sender STA, wherein the selecting step is based on an expected accuracy of the sensing measurements;

[0129] - a transmitting device 25 arranged for requesting the second wireless STA to perform wireless sensing during a sensing session by performing measurements on frames received from the transmitter STA, thereby obtaining sensing measurements;

[0130] - A receiving device 24 arranged for receiving said obtained perception measurements from said perception receiver STA.

[0131] The first wireless station may also have a receiving device 24, wherein the receiving device 24 and the sending device 25 are connected to the terminals 22, 23 for receiving and sending frames respectively. Furthermore, a memory 28 may be coupled to the processing device 27.

[0132] In order to reduce the number of claims, certain aspects of the technology are presented below in certain claim forms, but applicants consider various aspects of the technology in any number of claim forms. For example, although some aspects of the technology may be stated as computer-readable medium claims, other aspects may also be embodied as computer-readable medium claims, or in other forms, such as in device-plus-function claims.

[0133] In the above description, for the purpose of explanation, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the implementation of the disclosed technology. However, it is apparent to one skilled in the art that embodiments of the disclosed technology may be practiced without some of these specific details.

[0134] Other variations to the disclosed embodiments may be understood and effected by those skilled in the art in practicing the claimed invention, based on a study of the drawings, the present disclosure, and the appended claims. In the claims, the word "comprising" does not exclude other elements or steps, and the indefinite article "a" or "an" does not exclude a plurality. The mere fact that certain measures are stated in mutually different dependent claims does not mean that a combination of these measures cannot be used to advantage. Any reference signs in the claims should not be construed as limiting the scope thereof.

Claims

1. A method for performing perception measurements during a perception session between a first wireless station (STA) and a second wireless station in a wireless communication network, the method comprising the following steps: - in a sensing session setup, selecting the first wireless STA as a sensing transmitter STA for transmitting frames, and selecting the second wireless STA as a sensing receiver STA for performing measurements on frames received from the sensing transmitter STA, wherein the step of selecting is based on an expected accuracy of the sensing measurements; - During a sensing session, wireless sensing is performed by the sensing receiver STA by performing measurements on frames received from the sensing transmitter STA, thereby obtaining sensing measurements.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein: The method further comprises the following steps: - reporting the obtained perception measurements by the perception receiver STA to the perception transmitter STA.

3. A method according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein: The selecting step is based on actual and / or expected interference experienced by any of the first wireless STA and the second wireless STA.

4. A method according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein: The selecting step is based on a transmission power of any one of the first wireless STA and the second wireless STA.

5. A method according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein: The step of selecting includes at least one of the following: - in the awareness session setting, exchanging one or more transmit powers of any one of the first wireless STA and the second wireless STA between the first wireless STA and the second wireless STA; - in the awareness session setup, exchanging between the first wireless STA and the second wireless STA actual and / or expected interference experienced by any one of the first wireless STA and the second wireless STA.

6. The method according to any one of claims 3 to 5, wherein: The actual and / or anticipated interference relates to any of the following: - an average time segment during which the first wireless STA and / or the second wireless STA is interfered, - the maximum interference that the first wireless STA and / or the second wireless STA is expected to experience, or - an expected distribution of interference that the first wireless STA and / or the second wireless STA is expected to experience.

7. A method according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein: The steps of selecting include: -In the perception session setting, the perception receiver STA selects the first wireless STA as the perception transmitter STA during the first part of the perception session, selects the second wireless STA as the perception receiver STA during the first part of the perception session, and selects the first wireless STA as the perception receiver STA during the second part of the perception session, and selects the second wireless STA as the perception transmitter STA during the second part of the perception session.

8. A method according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein: The first wireless STA and the second wireless STA have dual-link capabilities, so that the first wireless STA and the second wireless STA can simultaneously transmit and / or receive through two links.

9. The method according to claim 8, wherein: The steps of selecting include: - in the awareness session setup, selecting, by the awareness receiver STA, the first wireless STA as an awareness transmitter STA for a first link of the two links, and selecting the second wireless STA as an awareness receiver STA for the first link of the two links, and - In the awareness session setup, the first wireless STA is selected by the awareness receiver STA as the awareness receiver STA for the second link of the two links, and the second wireless STA is selected as the awareness transmitter STA for the second link of the two links.

10. The method according to claim 9, wherein: The step of performing includes performing the wireless sensing on both of the two links simultaneously.

11. A method according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein: The perceptual measurements include any of the following: - Channel state information CSI; - A control field comprising information describing how to interpret said perception measurements.

12. A method for requesting a first wireless station (STA) to perform a sensing measurement from a second wireless station (STA) in a wireless communication network, the method comprising the following steps: - in a sensing session setup, selecting the first wireless STA as a sensing transmitter STA for transmitting frames, and selecting the second wireless STA as a sensing receiver STA for performing measurements on frames received from the sensing transmitter STA, wherein the step of selecting is based on an expected accuracy of the sensing measurements; - Requesting, by the sensing transmitter STA, the second wireless STA to perform wireless sensing by performing measurements on frames received from the transmitter STA during a sensing session, thereby obtaining sensing measurements.

13. The method according to claim 12, wherein: The method comprises the following steps: - receiving, by the perception transmitter STA, the obtained perception measurements from the perception receiver STA.

14. The method according to any one of claims 12 to 13, wherein: The selecting step is based on actual and / or expected interference experienced by any of the first wireless STA and the second wireless STA.

15. The method according to any one of claims 12 to 14, wherein: The selecting step is based on a transmission power of any one of the first wireless STA and the second wireless STA.

16. The method according to any one of claims 12 to 15, wherein: The step of selecting includes at least one of the following: - in the awareness session setting, exchanging one or more transmit powers of any one of the first wireless STA and the second wireless STA between the first wireless STA and the second wireless STA; - in the awareness session setup, exchanging between the first wireless STA and the second wireless STA actual and / or expected interference experienced by any one of the first wireless STA and the second wireless STA.

17. The method according to any one of claims 12 to 16, wherein: The actual and / or anticipated interference relates to any of the following: - an average time segment during which the first wireless STA and / or the second wireless STA is interfered, - the maximum interference that the first wireless STA and / or the second wireless STA is expected to experience, or - an expected distribution of interference that the first wireless STA and / or the second wireless STA is expected to experience.

18. The method according to any one of claims 12 to 17, wherein: The steps of selecting include: -In the perception session setting, the perception transmitter STA selects the first wireless STA as the perception transmitter STA during the first part of the perception session, selects the second wireless STA as the perception receiver STA during the first part of the perception session, and selects the first wireless STA as the perception receiver STA during the second part of the perception session, and selects the second wireless STA as the perception transmitter STA during the second part of the perception session.

19. A method according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein: The first wireless STA and the second wireless STA have dual-link capabilities, so that the first wireless STA and the second wireless STA can simultaneously transmit and / or receive through two links.

20. The method according to claim 19, wherein: The steps of selecting include: - in the awareness session setup, selecting, by the awareness transmitter STA, the first wireless STA as an awareness transmitter STA for a first link of the two links, and selecting the second wireless STA as an awareness receiver STA for the first link of the two links, and - In the awareness session setup, the first wireless STA is selected by the awareness transmitter STA as the awareness receiver STA for the second link of the two links, and the second wireless STA is selected as the awareness transmitter STA for the second link of the two links.

21. The method according to any one of claims 12 to 20, wherein: The perceptual measurements include any of the following: - Channel state information CSI; - A control field comprising information describing how to interpret said perception measurements.

22. A second wireless STA, arranged to perform awareness measurements during an awareness session between a first wireless STA and the second wireless STA in a wireless communication network, the second wireless STA comprising: - a selection device arranged to select, in a sensing session setup, the first wireless STA as a sensing sender STA for transmitting frames and to select the second wireless STA as a sensing receiver STA for performing measurements on frames received from the sensing sender STA, wherein the step of selecting is based on an expected accuracy of the sensing measurements; - a processing device arranged for performing radio sensing during a sensing session by performing measurements on frames received from said sensing sender STA, thereby obtaining sensing measurements; - a reporting device arranged for reporting said obtained perception measurements to said transmitter STA.

23. The second wireless STA according to claim 22, wherein: The selection device is further arranged to make a selection based on any of the following: - actual and / or expected interference experienced by any of the first wireless STA and the second wireless STA; - Transmission power of any one of the first wireless STA and the second wireless STA.

24. The second wireless STA according to any one of claims 22-23, wherein: The selection device is further arranged for any of the following: - in the awareness session setting, exchanging one or more transmit powers of any one of the first wireless STA and the second wireless STA between the first wireless STA and the second wireless STA; - in the awareness session setup, exchanging between the first wireless STA and the second wireless STA actual and / or expected interference experienced by any one of the first wireless STA and the second wireless STA.

25. The second wireless STA according to any one of claims 23-24, wherein: The actual and / or anticipated interference relates to any of the following: - an average time segment during which the first wireless STA and / or the second wireless STA is interfered, - the maximum interference that the first wireless STA and / or the second wireless STA is expected to experience, or - an expected distribution of interference that the first wireless STA and / or the second wireless STA is expected to experience.

26. The second wireless STA according to any one of claims 22-2325, wherein: The selection device is further arranged to: -In the perception session setting, the first wireless STA is selected as the perception transmitter STA during the first part of the perception session, the second wireless STA is selected as the perception receiver STA during the first part of the perception session, and the first wireless STA is selected as the perception receiver STA during the second part of the perception session, and the second wireless STA is selected as the perception transmitter STA during the second part of the perception session.

27. The second wireless STA according to any one of claims 20 to 24, wherein: The first wireless STA and the second wireless STA have dual-link capabilities, so that the first wireless STA and the second wireless STA can simultaneously transmit and / or receive through two links.

28. The second wireless STA according to claim 27, wherein: The selection device is further arranged to: - in the awareness session setup, selecting the first wireless STA as an awareness transmitter STA for a first link of the two links, and selecting the second wireless STA as an awareness receiver STA for the first link of the two links, and - In the awareness session setup, selecting the first wireless STA as an awareness receiver STA for a second link of the two links, and selecting the second wireless STA as an awareness transmitter STA for the second link of the two links.

29. The second wireless STA according to claim 28, wherein: The performing device is further arranged to perform the wireless sensing on both of the two links simultaneously.

30. The second wireless STA according to any one of claims 22 to 29, wherein: The perceptual measurements include any of the following: - Channel state information CSI; - A control field comprising information describing how to interpret said perception measurements.

31. A first wireless STA, arranged to request a second wireless STA for sensing measurement in a wireless communication network, the first wireless STA comprising: - a selection device arranged to select, in a sensing session setup, the first wireless STA as a sensing sender STA for transmitting frames and to select the second wireless STA as a sensing receiver STA for performing measurements on frames received from the sensing sender STA, wherein the step of selecting is based on an expected accuracy of the sensing measurements; - A transmitting device arranged for requesting the second wireless STA to perform wireless sensing during a sensing session by performing measurements on frames received from the transmitter STA, thereby obtaining sensing measurements.

32. The first wireless STA according to claim 31, wherein: The first wireless STA also includes: - a receiving device arranged for receiving said obtained perception measurements from said perception receiver STA.

33. The first wireless STA according to any one of claims 31-32, wherein: The selection device is arranged for making a selection based on actual and / or expected interference experienced by any one of the first wireless STA and the second wireless STA.

34. The first wireless STA according to any one of claims 31-33, wherein: The selection device is arranged to make a selection based on a transmission power of any one of the first wireless STA and the second wireless STA.

35. The first wireless STA according to any one of claims 31-34, wherein: The selection device is arranged for any of the following: - in the awareness session setting, exchanging one or more transmit powers of any one of the first wireless STA and the second wireless STA between the first wireless STA and the second wireless STA; - in the awareness session setup, exchanging between the first wireless STA and the second wireless STA actual and / or expected interference experienced by any one of the first wireless STA and the second wireless STA.

36. The first wireless STA according to any one of claims 31-35, wherein: The actual and / or anticipated interference relates to any of the following: - an average time segment during which the first wireless STA and / or the second wireless STA is interfered, - the maximum interference that the first wireless STA and / or the second wireless STA is expected to experience, or - an expected distribution of interference that the first wireless STA and / or the second wireless STA is expected to experience.

37. The first wireless STA according to any one of claims 31 to 36, wherein: The selection device is arranged to: -In the perception session setting, the first wireless STA is selected as the perception transmitter STA during the first part of the perception session, the second wireless STA is selected as the perception receiver STA during the first part of the perception session, and the first wireless STA is selected as the perception receiver STA during the second part of the perception session, and the second wireless STA is selected as the perception transmitter STA during the second part of the perception session.

38. The first wireless STA according to any one of claims 31-37, wherein: The first wireless STA and the second wireless STA have dual-link capabilities, so that the first wireless STA and the second wireless STA can simultaneously transmit and / or receive through two links.

39. The first wireless STA according to claim 38, wherein: The selection device is further arranged to: - in the awareness session setup, selecting the first wireless STA as an awareness transmitter STA for a first link of the two links, and selecting the second wireless STA as an awareness receiver STA for the first link of the two links, and - In the awareness session setup, selecting the first wireless STA as an awareness receiver STA for a second link of the two links, and selecting the second wireless STA as an awareness transmitter STA for the second link of the two links.

40. The first wireless STA according to any one of claims 31-39, wherein: The perceptual measurements include any of the following: - Channel state information CSI; - A control field comprising information describing how to interpret said perception measurements.

41. A computer program product comprising a computer-readable medium having instructions stored thereon, the instructions, when executed by a wireless station (STA) in a wireless communication network, causing the wireless STA to implement the method according to any one of claims 1-21.

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