Opportunistic RF sensing in cellular systems

Abstract

Techniques for radio frequency (RF) sensing are disclosed. In an aspect, a network entity, such as a base station, may identify an opportunity of RF sensing during which a user equipment (UE) does not transmit a signal, the opportunity including a guard period of the UE, a bandwidth portion (BWP) switching period of the UE, or a beam switching period of the UE. During the opportunity of RF sensing, the network entity may transmit an RF sensing signal, receive an RF sensing signal, or both. In an aspect, a UE may determine an opportunity for a network entity to perform RF sensing when the UE does not transmit a signal, the opportunity including a guard period of the UE, a BWP handover period of the UE, or a beam handover period of the UE. The UE may indicate the opportunity of RF sensing to the network entity.

Description

Background Art 1. Technical Field

[0001] Aspects of the present disclosure relate generally to wireless communications.

[0002] 2. Description of related technologies

[0003] Wireless communication systems have evolved over many generations, including first generation analog wireless telephone service (1G), second generation (2G) digital wireless telephone service (including transitional 2.5G and 2.75G networks), third generation (3G) high speed data, wireless service with Internet capabilities, and fourth generation (4G) service (e.g., Long Term Evolution (LTE) or WiMax). There are many different types of wireless communication systems in use today, including cellular systems and personal communications service (PCS) systems. Examples of known cellular systems include the cellular analog Advanced Mobile Phone System (AMPS), and digital cellular systems based on code division multiple access (CDMA), frequency division multiple access (FDMA), time division multiple access (TDMA), Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), and the like.

[0004] The fifth generation (5G) wireless standard, known as New Radio (NR), enables higher data transfer speeds, a greater number of connections, and better coverage, among other improvements. According to the Next Generation Mobile Networks Alliance, the 5G standard is designed to provide higher data rates, more accurate positioning (e.g., based on reference signals for positioning (RS-P), such as downlink, uplink, or sidelink positioning reference signals (PRS)), and other technical enhancements compared to previous standards. These enhancements, along with the use of higher frequency bands, advances in PRS processes and technologies, and high-density deployments of 5G enable high-precision positioning based on 5G. Summary of the invention

[0005] The following presents a simplified summary of the invention related to one or more aspects disclosed herein. Therefore, the following summary of the invention should neither be considered as an exhaustive overview related to all conceived aspects, nor should it be considered to identify key or decisive elements related to all conceived aspects or to delineate the scope associated with any particular aspect. Therefore, the sole purpose of the following summary of the invention is to present certain concepts related to one or more aspects of the mechanisms disclosed herein in a brief form before the detailed embodiments presented below.

[0006] On the one hand, a method of radio frequency (RF) sensing performed by a network entity such as a base station (BS) includes: identifying an opportunity for RF sensing during which a user equipment (UE) does not transmit a signal, the opportunity including a protection period of the UE, a bandwidth part (BWP) switching period of the UE, or a beam switching period of the UE; and during the opportunity for RF sensing, sending an RF sensing signal, receiving an RF sensing signal, or both.

[0007] On the one hand, a method of RF sensing performed by a UE includes: determining an opportunity for a base station to perform RF sensing when the UE is not sending a signal, the opportunity including a protection period of the UE, a BWP switching period of the UE, or a beam switching period of the UE; and indicating the opportunity for RF sensing to the base station.

[0008] In one aspect, a network entity includes: a memory; at least one transceiver; and at least one processor, the at least one processor being communicatively coupled to the memory and the at least one transceiver, the at least one processor being configured to: identify an opportunity for RF sensing during which a UE does not transmit a signal, the opportunity comprising a protection period of the UE, a BWP switching period of the UE, or a beam switching period of the UE; and during the opportunity for RF sensing, transmit an RF sensing signal, receive an RF sensing signal, or both via the at least one transceiver.

[0009] In one aspect, a UE includes: a memory; at least one transceiver; and at least one processor, the at least one processor being communicatively coupled to the memory and the at least one transceiver, the at least one processor being configured to: determine an opportunity for a base station to perform RF sensing when the UE is not transmitting a signal, the opportunity including a protection period of the UE, a BWP switching period of the UE, or a beam switching period of the UE; and indicate the opportunity for RF sensing to the base station via the at least one transceiver.

[0010] In one aspect, a base station includes: a component for identifying an opportunity for RF sensing during which a UE does not transmit a signal, the opportunity including a protection period of the UE, a BWP switching period of the UE, or a beam switching period of the UE; and a component for transmitting an RF sensing signal, receiving an RF sensing signal, or both during the opportunity for RF sensing.

[0011] In one aspect, a UE includes: a component for determining an opportunity for a base station to perform RF sensing when the UE is not transmitting a signal, the opportunity including a protection period of the UE, a BWP switching period of the UE, or a beam switching period of the UE; and a component for indicating the opportunity for RF sensing to the base station.

[0012] In one aspect, a non-transitory computer-readable medium stores computer-executable instructions that, when executed by a base station, cause the base station to: identify an opportunity for RF sensing during which a UE does not transmit a signal, the opportunity comprising a protection period of the UE, a BWP switching period of the UE, or a beam switching period of the UE; and during the opportunity for RF sensing, transmit an RF sensing signal, receive an RF sensing signal, or both.

[0013] In one aspect, a non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer-executable instructions, which when executed by a UE causes the UE to: determine an opportunity for a base station to perform RF sensing when the UE is not sending a signal, the opportunity comprising a protection period of the UE, a BWP switching period of the UE, or a beam switching period of the UE; and indicate the opportunity for RF sensing to the base station.

[0014] Other objects and advantages associated with the various aspects disclosed herein will be apparent to those skilled in the art based on the drawings and detailed description. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0015] The accompanying drawings are presented to aid in describing various aspects of the present disclosure and are provided solely for illustration and not limitation of the various aspects.

[0016] Figure 1 An example wireless communication system in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure is illustrated.

[0017] Figure 2A and Figure 2B Example wireless network structures according to aspects of the present disclosure are illustrated.

[0018] Figure 3A , Figure 3B and Figure 3C is a simplified block diagram of several sample aspects of components that may be employed in a user equipment (UE), a base station, and a network entity, respectively, and configured to support communications as taught herein.

[0019] Figure 4A An example monostatic radar system is illustrated.

[0020] Figure 4B An example bistatic radar system is illustrated.

[0021] Figure 5 Example range calculations using bistatic or multistatic radar are illustrated.

[0022] Figure 6 is a time and frequency diagram showing an example guard period during which the UE does not transmit any other signals.

[0023] Figure 77 is a time and frequency diagram 700 illustrating an example BWP switching period during which the UE does not transmit any other signals.

[0024] Figure 8 An example of beam switching performed by a base station and a UE is illustrated, during which the UE does not transmit any other signal.

[0025] Fig. 9 is a flow diagram of an example process performed by a base station or other network entity associated with opportunistic RF sensing in a cellular system.

[0026] Fig.10 is a flow diagram of an example process performed by a UE associated with opportunistic RF sensing in a cellular system. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0027] Techniques for radio frequency (RF) sensing are disclosed. In one aspect, a network entity (such as a base station) may identify opportunities for RF sensing during which a user equipment (UE) does not transmit a signal, the opportunity comprising a guard period of the UE, a bandwidth part (BWP) switching period of the UE, or a beam switching period of the UE. During the opportunity for RF sensing, the network entity may transmit an RF sensing signal, receive an RF sensing signal, or both. In one aspect, the UE may determine an opportunity for the network entity to perform RF sensing when the UE does not transmit a signal, the opportunity comprising a guard period of the UE, a BWP switching period of the UE, or a beam switching period of the UE. The UE may indicate the opportunity for RF sensing to the network entity.

[0028] Various aspects of the present disclosure are provided in the following description and related drawings for various examples provided for illustrative purposes. Alternative aspects may be designed without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. In addition, well-known elements of the present disclosure will not be described in detail or will be omitted to avoid making the relevant details of the present disclosure difficult to understand.

[0029] The words "exemplary" and / or "example" are used herein to mean "serving as an example, instance, or illustration." Any aspect described herein as "exemplary" and / or "example" is not necessarily to be construed as preferred or advantageous over other aspects. Likewise, the term "aspects of the disclosure" does not require that all aspects of the disclosure include the discussed feature, advantage, or mode of operation.

[0030] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that any of a variety of different techniques and technologies may be used to represent the information and signals described below. For example, data, instructions, commands, information, signals, bits, symbols, and chips that may be mentioned throughout the following description may be represented by voltage, current, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or magnetic particles, light fields or optical particles, or any combination thereof, which depends in part on the specific application, in part on the desired design, in part on the corresponding technology, etc.

[0031] In addition, many aspects are described in terms of a sequence of actions to be performed by, for example, an element of a computing device. It will be appreciated that the various actions described herein may be performed by a specific circuit (e.g., an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC)), by program instructions executed by one or more processors, or by a combination of the two. Additionally, the sequence of actions described herein may be considered to be fully embodied in any form of non-transient computer-readable storage medium, in which a corresponding computer instruction set is stored, which, when executed, will cause or command the associated processor of the device to perform the functionality described herein. Therefore, various aspects of the present disclosure may be embodied in a variety of different forms, all of which have been contemplated to be within the scope of the claimed subject matter. In addition, for each of the various aspects described herein, the corresponding form of any such aspect may be described herein as, for example, "logic configured to perform the described actions".

[0032] As used herein, unless otherwise specified, the terms "user equipment" (UE) and "base station" are not intended to be specific or otherwise limited to any specific radio access technology (RAT). In general, a UE may be any wireless communication device (e.g., a mobile phone, a router, a tablet computer, a laptop computer, a consumer asset location device, a wearable device (e.g., a smart watch, glasses, an augmented reality (AR) / virtual reality (VR) head-mounted device, etc.), a vehicle (e.g., a car, a motorcycle, a bicycle, etc.), an Internet of Things (IoT) device, etc.) used by a user to communicate over a wireless communication network. A UE may be mobile or may be stationary (e.g., at certain times) and may communicate with a radio access network (RAN). As used herein, the term "UE" may be interchangeably referred to as an "access terminal" or "AT", "client device", "wireless device", "subscriber device", "subscriber terminal", "subscriber station", "user terminal" or "UT", "mobile device", "mobile terminal", "mobile station" or variations thereof. In general, a UE may communicate with a core network via a RAN, and through the core network, the UE may be connected to external networks such as the Internet and to other UEs. Of course, other mechanisms for the UE to connect to the core network and / or the Internet are also possible, such as through a wired access network, a wireless local area network (WLAN) network (e.g., based on the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 specification, etc.), etc.

[0033] A base station may operate according to one of several RATs to communicate with a UE, depending on the network in which the base station is deployed, and may alternatively be referred to as an access point (AP), a network node, a Node B, an evolved Node B (eNB), a next generation eNB (ng-eNB), a new radio (NR) Node B (also referred to as a gNB or gNodeB), etc. A base station may be primarily used to support wireless access for UEs, including supporting data, voice, and / or signaling connections for supported UEs. In some systems, a base station may provide only edge node signaling functions, while in other systems, it may provide additional control and / or network management functions. The communication link by which a UE may transmit a signal to a base station is referred to as an uplink (UL) channel (e.g., a reverse traffic channel, a reverse control channel, an access channel, etc.). The communication link by which a base station may transmit a signal to a UE is referred to as a downlink (DL) or forward link channel (e.g., a paging channel, a control channel, a broadcast channel, a forward traffic channel, etc.). As used herein, the term "traffic channel (TCH)" may refer to an uplink / reverse traffic channel or a downlink / forward traffic channel.

[0034] The term "base station" may refer to a single physical transmit receive point (TRP) or multiple physical TRPs that may or may not be co-located. For example, where the term "base station" refers to a single physical TRP, the physical TRP may be an antenna of the base station corresponding to a cell (or several cell sectors) of the base station. Where the term "base station" refers to multiple co-located physical TRPs, the physical TRP may be an antenna array of the base station (e.g., as in a multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) system or where the base station employs beamforming). Where the term "base station" refers to multiple non-co-located physical TRPs, the physical TRP may be a distributed antenna system (DAS) (a network of spatially separated antennas connected to a common source via a transmission medium) or a remote radio head (RRH) (a remote base station connected to a serving base station). Alternatively, the non-co-located physical TRP may be a serving base station that receives measurement reports from a UE and an adjacent base station whose reference radio frequency (RF) signal the UE is measuring. As used herein, since a TRP is a point by which a base station transmits and receives wireless signals, references to transmitting from a base station or receiving at a base station should be understood to refer to a specific TRP of a base station.

[0035] In some specific implementations of supporting UE positioning, the base station may not support wireless access for the UE (e.g., may not support data, voice and / or signaling connections for the UE), but may instead send a reference signal to be measured by the UE to the UE and / or may receive and measure a signal sent by the UE. Such a base station may be referred to as a positioning tower (e.g., in the case of sending a signal to the UE) and / or as a position measurement unit (e.g., in the case of receiving and measuring a signal from the UE).

[0036] An "RF signal" includes an electromagnetic wave of a given frequency that transmits information through the space between a transmitter and a receiver. As used herein, a transmitter may transmit a single "RF signal" or multiple "RF signals" to a receiver. However, due to the propagation characteristics of RF signals through multipath channels, a receiver may receive multiple "RF signals" corresponding to each transmitted RF signal. The same transmitted RF signal on different paths between a transmitter and a receiver may be referred to as a "multipath" RF signal. As used herein, an RF signal may also be referred to as a "wireless signal" or simply a "signal" where it is clear from the context that the term "signal" refers to a wireless signal or an RF signal.

[0037] Figure 1An example wireless communication system 100 is illustrated in accordance with various aspects of the present disclosure. The wireless communication system 100 (which may also be referred to as a wireless wide area network (WWAN)) may include various base stations 102 (labeled "BS") and various UEs 104. The base stations 102 may include macrocell base stations (high-power cellular base stations) and / or small cell base stations (low-power cellular base stations). In one aspect, the macrocell base stations may include eNBs and / or ng-eNBs (where the wireless communication system 100 corresponds to an LTE network), or gNBs (where the wireless communication system 100 corresponds to an NR network), or a combination of the two, and the small cell base stations may include femtocells, picocells, microcells, and the like.

[0038] The base stations 102 may collectively form a RAN and interface with a core network 170 (e.g., an evolved packet core (EPC) or a 5G core (5GC)) through a backhaul link 122, and interface with one or more location servers 172 (e.g., a location management function (LMF) or a secure user plane location (SUPL) location platform (SLP)) through the core network 170. The location server 172 may be part of the core network 170 or may be external to the core network 170. The location server 172 may be integrated with the base station 102. The UE 104 may communicate with the location server 172 directly or indirectly. For example, the UE 104 may communicate with the location server 172 via the base station 102 currently serving the UE 104. The UE 104 may also communicate with the location server 172 via another path, such as via an application server (not shown), via another network, such as via a wireless local area network (WLAN) access point (AP) (e.g., AP 150 described below), etc. For signaling purposes, communication between UE 104 and location server 172 may be represented as an indirect connection (e.g., through core network 170, etc.) or a direct connection (e.g., as shown via direct connection 128), with intermediate nodes (if any) omitted from the signaling diagram for clarity.

[0039] Among other functions, the base station 102 may perform functions related to one or more of the following: delivering user data, radio channel encryption and decryption, integrity protection, header compression, mobility control functions (e.g., handover, dual connectivity), inter-cell interference coordination, connection establishment and release, load balancing, distribution of non-access stratum (NAS) messages, NAS node selection, synchronization, RAN sharing, multimedia broadcast multicast service (MBMS), subscriber and equipment tracking, RAN information management (RIM), paging, positioning, and delivery of warning messages. The base stations 102 may communicate with each other directly or indirectly (e.g., through EPC / 5GC) via a backhaul link 134, which may be wired or wireless.

[0040] Base station 102 may communicate wirelessly with UE 104. Each of base stations 102 may provide communication coverage for a corresponding geographic coverage area 110. In one aspect, one or more cells may be supported by base station 102 in each geographic coverage area 110. A "cell" is a logical communication entity used to communicate with a base station (e.g., on a frequency resource, which is referred to as a carrier frequency, component carrier, carrier, frequency band, etc.), and may be associated with an identifier (e.g., a physical cell identifier (PCI), an enhanced cell identifier (ECI), a virtual cell identifier (VCI), a cell global identifier (CGI), etc.) used to distinguish cells operating via the same or different carrier frequencies. In some cases, different cells may be configured according to different protocol types (e.g., machine type communication (MTC), narrowband IoT (NB-IoT), enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB), or other protocol types) that may provide access to different types of UEs. Since a cell is supported by a specific base station, the term "cell" may refer to either or both of a logical communication entity and a base station supporting the logical communication entity, depending on the context. In addition, since the TRP is generally the physical transmission point of the cell, the terms "cell" and "TRP" may be used interchangeably. In some cases, the term "cell" may also refer to a geographic coverage area (e.g., a sector) of a base station, as long as a carrier frequency can be detected and used for communication within a portion of the geographic coverage area 110.

[0041] Although the geographic coverage areas 110 of neighboring macrocell base stations 102 may partially overlap (e.g., in a handover region), some of the geographic coverage areas 110 may substantially overlap with the larger geographic coverage area 110. For example, a small cell base station 102' (labeled "SC" for "small cell") may have a geographic coverage area 110' that substantially overlaps with the geographic coverage areas 110 of one or more macrocell base stations 102. A network that includes both small cell base stations and macrocell base stations may be referred to as a heterogeneous network. A heterogeneous network may also include a home eNB (HeNB) that may provide services to a restricted group referred to as a closed subscriber group (CSG).

[0042] The communication link 120 between the base station 102 and the UE 104 may include uplink (also referred to as a reverse link) transmissions from the UE 104 to the base station 102 and / or downlink (DL) (also referred to as a forward link) transmissions from the base station 102 to the UE 104. The communication link 120 may use MIMO antenna technology, including spatial multiplexing, beamforming, and / or transmit diversity. The communication link 120 may be over one or more carrier frequencies. The allocation of carriers may be asymmetric for the downlink and uplink (e.g., more or fewer carriers may be allocated to the downlink than to the uplink).

[0043] The wireless communication system 100 may also include a WLAN access point (AP) 150 that communicates with a wireless local area network (WLAN) station (STA) 152 in an unlicensed spectrum (e.g., 5 GHz) via a communication link 154. When communicating in the unlicensed spectrum, the WLAN STA 152 and / or the WLAN AP 150 may perform a clear channel assessment (CCA) or a listen before talk (LBT) procedure prior to communication to determine whether a channel is available.

[0044] The small cell base station 102' can operate in licensed and / or unlicensed spectrum. When operating in the unlicensed spectrum, the small cell base station 102' can adopt LTE or NR technology and use the same 5GHz unlicensed spectrum used by the WLAN AP 150. The small cell base station 102' using LTE / 5G in the unlicensed spectrum can improve the coverage of the access network and / or increase the capacity of the access network. NR in the unlicensed spectrum can be referred to as NR-U. LTE in the unlicensed spectrum can be referred to as LTE-U, License Assisted Access (LAA), or MulteFire.

[0045] The wireless communication system 100 may further include a millimeter wave (mmW) base station 180, which can operate in mmW frequencies and / or near mmW frequencies to communicate with UE 182. Extremely high frequency (EHF) is a part of RF in the electromagnetic spectrum. EHF has a range of 30GHz to 300GHz, with a wavelength between 1 mm and 10 mm. The radio waves in this band may be referred to as millimeter waves. Near mmW can be extended downward to a frequency of 3GHz, with a wavelength of 100 mm. The super high frequency (SHF) band extends between 3GHz and 30GHz, which is also referred to as centimeter waves. Communications using mmW / near mmW radio frequency bands have high path loss and relatively short range. The mmW base station 180 and UE 182 can compensate for extremely high path loss and short range by using beamforming (sending and / or receiving) through the mmW communication link 184. In addition, it should be understood that in an alternative configuration, one or more base stations 102 may also use mmW or near mmW and beamforming for transmission. Therefore, it should be understood that the foregoing illustrations are merely examples and should not be construed as limiting the various aspects disclosed herein.

[0046] Transmit beamforming is a technique for focusing an RF signal in a specific direction. Traditionally, when a network node (e.g., a base station) broadcasts an RF signal, it broadcasts the signal in all directions (omnidirectionally). With transmit beamforming, the network node determines where a given target device (e.g., a UE) is located (relative to the transmitting network node) and projects a stronger downlink RF signal in that specific direction, thereby providing a faster (in terms of data rate) and stronger RF signal to the receiving device. In order to change the directionality of the RF signal when transmitting, the network node can control the phase and relative amplitude of the RF signal at each of the one or more transmitters that broadcast the RF signal. For example, a network node can use an array of antennas (referred to as a "phased array" or "antenna array") that produces RF beams that can be "steered" to point in different directions without actually moving the antenna. Specifically, the RF current from the transmitter is fed to each antenna in the correct phase relationship so that the radio waves from the separate antennas are added together to increase the radiation in the desired direction while canceling to suppress the radiation in the undesired direction.

[0047] The transmit beams can be quasi-co-located, which means that they appear to the receiver (e.g., UE) to have the same parameters, regardless of whether the network node's own transmit antenna is physically co-located. In NR, there are four types of quasi-co-location (QCL) relationships. Specifically, a given type of QCL relationship means that certain parameters about the second reference RF signal on the second beam can be derived based on information about the source reference RF signal on the source beam. Therefore, if the source reference RF signal is QCL type A, the receiver can use the source reference RF signal to estimate the Doppler shift, Doppler spread, average delay, and delay spread of the second reference RF signal sent on the same channel. If the source reference RF signal is QCL type B, the receiver can use the source reference RF signal to estimate the Doppler shift and Doppler spread of the second reference RF signal sent on the same channel. If the source reference RF signal is QCL type C, the receiver can use the source reference RF signal to estimate the Doppler shift and average delay of the second reference RF signal sent on the same channel. If the source reference RF signal is QCL type D, the receiver may use the source reference RF signal to estimate spatial reception parameters of a second reference RF signal transmitted on the same channel.

[0048] In receive beamforming, the receiver uses receive beams to amplify RF signals detected on a given channel. For example, the receiver may increase the gain setting of the antenna array in a particular direction and / or adjust the phase setting of the antenna array in a particular direction to amplify the RF signal received from that direction (e.g., increase its gain level). Therefore, when a receiver is said to perform beamforming in a certain direction, it means that the beam gain in that direction is high relative to the beam gain along other directions, or the beam gain in that direction is the highest compared to the beam gain in that direction of all other receive beams available to the receiver. This results in a stronger received signal strength (e.g., reference signal received power (RSRP), reference signal received quality (RSRQ), signal to interference plus noise ratio (SINR), etc.) of the RF signal received from that direction.

[0049] The transmit beam and the receive beam may be spatially correlated. The spatial relationship means that parameters of a second beam (e.g., a transmit beam or a receive beam) for a second reference signal may be derived based on information about a first beam (e.g., a receive beam or a transmit beam) for a first reference signal. For example, a UE may use a specific receive beam to receive a reference downlink reference signal (e.g., a synchronization signal block (SSB)) from a base station. The UE may then form a transmit beam for transmitting an uplink reference signal (e.g., a sounding reference signal (SRS)) to the base station based on the parameters of the receive beam.

[0050] Note that depending on the entity forming the "downlink" beam, the beam can be a transmit beam or a receive beam. For example, if the base station is forming a downlink beam to send a reference signal to the UE, the downlink beam is a transmit beam. However, if the UE is forming a downlink beam, the downlink beam is a receive beam that receives a downlink reference signal. Similarly, depending on the entity forming the "uplink" beam, the beam can be a transmit beam or a receive beam. For example, if the base station is forming an uplink beam, it is an uplink receive beam, while if the UE is forming an uplink beam, it is an uplink transmit beam.

[0051] The electromagnetic spectrum is typically subdivided into various categories, bands, channels, etc. based on frequency / wavelength. In 5G NR, two initial operating bands have been identified as frequency range designations FR1 (410 MHz-7.125 GHz) and FR2 (24.25 GHz-52.6 GHz). It should be understood that, although a portion of FR1 is greater than 6 GHz, FR1 is often (interchangeably) referred to as the "sub-6 GHz" band in various documents and articles. A similar naming issue sometimes occurs with respect to FR2, which is often (interchangeably) referred to as the "millimeter wave" band in documents and articles, although different from the extremely high frequency (EHF) band (30 GHz-300 GHz) identified as the "millimeter wave" band by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU).

[0052] Frequencies between FR1 and FR2 are generally referred to as mid-band frequencies. Recent 5G NR research has identified the operating bands for these mid-band frequencies as frequency range designation FR3 (7.125GHz-24.25GHz). The bands falling within FR3 can inherit FR1 characteristics and / or FR2 characteristics, so the features of FR1 and / or FR2 can be effectively extended to mid-band frequencies. In addition, higher frequency bands are currently being explored to extend 5G NR operations to more than 52.6GHz. For example, three higher operating bands have been identified as frequency range designations FR4a or FR4-1 (52.6GHz-71GHz), FR4 (52.6GHz-114.25GHz) and FR5 (114.25GHz-300GHz). Each of these higher frequency bands falls within the EHF band.

[0053] In view of the above aspects, unless otherwise specifically stated, it should be understood that if used in this document, the term "below 6 GHz" and the like can broadly refer to frequencies that can be less than 6 GHz, can be within FR1, or can include mid-band frequencies. In addition, unless otherwise specifically stated, it should be understood that if the term "millimeter wave" and the like are used in this document, they can broadly refer to frequencies that can include mid-band frequencies, can be within FR2, FR4, FR4-a or FR4-1 and / or FR5, or can be within the EHF band.

[0054] In a multi-carrier system (such as 5G), one of the carrier frequencies is referred to as the "primary carrier" or "anchor carrier" or "primary serving cell" or "PCell", and the remaining carrier frequencies are referred to as "secondary carriers" or "secondary serving cells" or "SCells". In carrier aggregation, the anchor carrier is a carrier operating on the primary frequency (e.g., FR1) used by the UE 104 / 182 and the cell in which the UE 104 / 182 performs an initial radio resource control (RRC) connection establishment procedure or initiates an RRC connection re-establishment procedure. The primary carrier carries all common and UE-specific control channels and can be a carrier in a licensed frequency (however, this is not always the case). A secondary carrier is a carrier operating on a second frequency (e.g., FR2) that can be configured once an RRC connection is established between the UE 104 and the anchor carrier, and which can be used to provide additional radio resources. In some cases, the secondary carrier can be a carrier in an unlicensed frequency. The secondary carrier may contain only necessary signaling information and signals, for example, since the primary uplink carrier and the primary downlink carrier are usually UE-specific, those UE-specific signaling information and signals may not be present in the secondary carrier. This means that different UEs 104 / 182 in a cell may have different downlink primary carriers. The same is true for the uplink primary carrier. The network is able to change the primary carrier of any UE 104 / 182 at any time. This is done, for example, to balance the load on different carriers. Since a "serving cell" (whether PCell or SCell) corresponds to a carrier frequency / component carrier on which a base station communicates, the terms "cell", "serving cell", "component carrier", "carrier frequency", etc. are used interchangeably.

[0055] For example, still refer to Figure 1 , one of the frequencies used by macrocell base station 102 may be an anchor carrier (or "PCell"), and the other frequencies used by macrocell base station 102 and / or mmW base station 180 may be secondary carriers ("SCells"). Simultaneous transmission and / or reception of multiple carriers enables UE 104 / 182 to significantly increase its data transmission and / or reception rate. For example, two 20 MHz aggregated carriers in a multi-carrier system would theoretically result in a doubling of the data rate (i.e., 40 MHz) compared to the data rate obtained with a single 20 MHz carrier.

[0056] The wireless communication system 100 may also include a UE 164, which may communicate with the macrocell base station 102 via a communication link 120 and / or communicate with the mmW base station 180 via a mmW communication link 184. For example, the macrocell base station 102 may support a PCell and one or more SCells for the UE 164, and the mmW base station 180 may support one or more SCells for the UE 164.

[0057] In some cases, UE 164 and UE 182 are capable of sidelink communication. A UE with sidelink capability (SL-UE) can communicate with base station 102 via communication link 120 using a Uu interface (i.e., an air interface between UE and base station). SL-UEs (e.g., UE 164, UE 182) can also communicate directly with each other via a wireless sidelink 160 using a PC5 interface (i.e., an air interface between UEs with sidelink capability). A wireless sidelink (or just "sidelink") is an adaptation of a core cellular network (e.g., LTE, NR) standard that allows direct communication between two or more UEs without communicating through a base station. Sidelink communications can be unicast or multicast and can be used for device-to-device (D2D) media sharing, vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communications, vehicle-to-vehicle (V2X) communications (e.g., cellular V2X (cV2X) communications, enhanced V2X (eV2X) communications, etc.), emergency rescue applications, etc. One or more SL-UEs in a group of SL-UEs utilizing sidelink communications may be located within the geographic coverage area 110 of the base station 102. Other SL-UEs in such a group may be outside the geographic coverage area 110 of the base station 102, or may be unable to receive transmissions from the base station 102 for other reasons. In some cases, each group of SL-UEs communicating via sidelink communications may utilize a one-to-many (1:M) system, where each SL-UE transmits to each other SL-UE in the group. In some cases, the base station 102 facilitates the scheduling of resources for the sidelink communications. In other cases, the sidelink communications are performed between the SL-UEs without involving the base station 102.

[0058] In one aspect, the sidelink 160 may operate on a wireless communication medium of interest, which may be shared with other vehicles and / or infrastructure access points and other wireless communications between other RATs. A "medium" may include one or more time, frequency, and / or spatial communication resources associated with wireless communications between one or more transmitter / receiver pairs (e.g., covering one or more channels across one or more carriers). In one aspect, the medium of interest may correspond to at least a portion of an unlicensed band shared between various RATs. Although different licensed bands have been reserved for certain communication systems (e.g., by government entities such as the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in the United States), these systems (particularly those that employ small cell access points) have recently expanded operations into unlicensed bands such as the unlicensed National Information Infrastructure (U-NII) band used by wireless local area network (WLAN) technology (most notably the IEEE 802.11x WLAN technology commonly referred to as "Wi-Fi"). Example systems of this type include different variants of CDMA systems, TDMA systems, FDMA systems, orthogonal FDMA (OFDMA) systems, single carrier FDMA (SC-FDMA) systems, and the like.

[0059] Note that although Figure 1 Only two of these UEs are illustrated as SL-UEs (i.e., UEs 164 and 182), but any of the illustrated UEs may be SL-UEs. In addition, although only UE 182 is described as being capable of beamforming, any of the illustrated UEs (including UE 164) may be capable of beamforming. Where SL-UEs are capable of beamforming, they may beamform toward each other (i.e., toward other SL-UEs), toward other UEs (e.g., UE 104), toward base stations (e.g., base stations 102, 180, small cells 102′, access point 150), and the like. Thus, in some cases, UE 164 and UE 182 may utilize beamforming via side link 160.

[0060] exist Figure 1 In the example of FIG. 1 , the UE illustrated (for simplicity, in Figure 1Any of the UEs 104 (shown as a single UE 104 in FIG. 1 ) may receive a signal 124 from one or more earth-orbiting space vehicles (SVs) 112 (e.g., satellites). In one aspect, the SVs 112 may be part of a satellite positioning system that the UEs 104 may use as an independent source of location information. A satellite positioning system typically includes a transmitter system (e.g., SV 112) positioned to enable a receiver (e.g., UE 104) to determine its position on or above the earth based at least in part on a positioning signal (e.g., signal 124) received from the transmitter. Such a transmitter typically transmits a signal marked with a repeating pseudo-random noise (PN) code of a set number of chips. Although typically located in the SVs 112, the transmitters may sometimes be located on ground-based control stations, base stations 102, and / or other UEs 104. The UEs 104 may include one or more dedicated receivers that are specifically designed to receive the signal 124 in order to derive geographic location information from the SVs 112.

[0061] In a satellite positioning system, the use of signal 124 may be enhanced by various satellite-based augmentation systems (SBAS) that may be associated with or otherwise enabled for use with one or more global and / or regional navigation satellite systems. For example, SBAS may include augmentation systems that provide integrity information, differential corrections, etc., such as Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS), European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service (EGNOS), Multifunction Satellite Augmentation System (MSAS), Global Positioning System (GPS) Assisted Geographic Augmented Navigation, or GPS and Geographic Augmented Navigation System (GAGAN), etc. Thus, as used herein, a satellite positioning system may include any combination of one or more global and / or regional navigation satellites associated with such one or more satellite positioning systems.

[0062] In one aspect, SV 112 may additionally or alternatively be part of one or more non-terrestrial networks (NTNs). In an NTN, SV 112 is connected to an earth station (also referred to as a ground station, NTN gateway, or gateway), which in turn is connected to an element in a 5G network, such as an improved base station 102 (without a ground antenna) or a network node in a 5GC. This element in turn will provide access to other elements in the 5G network, and ultimately provide access to entities outside the 5G network (such as Internet web servers and other user devices). In this way, instead of or in addition to communication signals from a ground base station 102, a UE 104 can receive communication signals (e.g., signal 124) from a SV 112.

[0063] The wireless communication system 100 may further include one or more UEs, such as UE 190, which are indirectly connected to one or more communication networks via one or more device-to-device (D2D) peer-to-peer (P2P) links (referred to as “side links”). Figure 1 In the example of FIG. 1 , UE 190 has a D2D P2P link 192 with one of UEs 104 connected to one of base stations 102 (e.g., UE 190 can indirectly obtain cellular connectivity through the D2D P2P link), and has a D2D P2P link 194 with WLAN STA 152 connected to WLAN AP 150 (UE 190 can indirectly obtain WLAN-based Internet connectivity through the D2D P2P link). In one example, D2D P2P links 192 and 194 can be supported by any well-known D2D RAT, such as LTE Direct (LTE-D), WiFi Direct (WiFi-D), etc.

[0064] Figure 2A An example wireless network structure 200 is illustrated. For example, the 5GC 210 (also referred to as the Next Generation Core (NGC)) can be functionally viewed as a control plane (C-plane) function 214 (e.g., UE registration, authentication, network access, gateway selection, etc.) and a user plane (U-plane) function 212 (e.g., UE gateway function, access to data networks, IP routing, etc.), which operate in conjunction to form a core network. The user plane interface (NG-U) 213 and the control plane interface (NG-C) 215 connect the gNB 222 to the 5GC 210, and specifically to the user plane function 212 and the control plane function 214, respectively. In an additional configuration, the ng-eNB 224 can also be connected to the 5GC 210 via the NG-C 215 to the control plane function 214 and the NG-U 213 to the user plane function 212. In addition, the ng-eNB 224 can communicate directly with the gNB 222 via the backhaul connection 223. In some configurations, the next generation RAN (NG-RAN) 220 may have one or more gNBs 222, while other configurations include one or more of ng-eNBs 224 and gNBs 222. Either the gNB 222 or the ng-eNB 224 (or both) may communicate with one or more UEs 204 (e.g., any of the UEs described herein).

[0065] Another optional aspect may include a location server 230 that can communicate with the 5GC 210 to provide location assistance for the UE 204. The location server 230 can be implemented as multiple separate servers (e.g., physically separate servers, different software modules on a single server, different software modules distributed across multiple physical servers, etc.), or alternatively can each correspond to a single server. The location server 230 can be configured to support one or more location services for the UE 204 that can be connected to the location server 230 via the core network, the 5GC 210, and / or via the Internet (not illustrated). In addition, the location server 230 can be integrated into a component of the core network, or alternatively can be external to the core network (e.g., a third-party server, such as an original equipment manufacturer (OEM) server or a service server).

[0066] Figure 2B Another example wireless network structure 250 is illustrated. 5GC 260 (which may correspond to Figure 2AThe 5GC 210 in the 5GC 210 can be functionally viewed as a control plane function provided by an access and mobility management function (AMF) 264, and a user plane function provided by a user plane function (UPF) 262, which operate in conjunction to form a core network (i.e., 5GC 260). The functions of the AMF 264 include: registration management, connection management, reachability management, mobility management, lawful interception, transmission of session management (SM) messages between one or more UEs 204 (e.g., any UE described herein) and a session management function (SMF) 266, a transparent proxy service for routing SM messages, access authentication and access authorization, transmission of short message service (SMS) messages between the UE 204 and a short message service function (SMSF) (not shown), and security anchor functionality (SEAF). The AMF 264 also interacts with an authentication server function (AUSF) (not shown) and the UE 204, and receives an intermediate key established as a result of the UE 204 authentication process. In the case of authentication based on the UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System) Subscriber Identity Module (USIM), the AMF 264 retrieves security material from the AUSF. The functionality of the AMF 264 also includes security context management (SCM). The SCM receives keys from the SEAF, which it uses to derive access network specific keys. The functionality of the AMF 264 also includes location service management for regulatory services, for the transmission of location service messages between the UE 204 and the Location Management Function (LMF) 270 (which acts as a location server 230), for the transmission of location service messages between the NG-RAN 220 and the LMF 270, for the allocation of Evolved Packet System (EPS) bearer identifiers for interoperation with EPS, and UE 204 mobility event notifications. In addition, the AMF 264 also supports functionality for non-3GPP (Third Generation Partnership Project) access networks.

[0067] The functions of UPF 262 include: acting as an anchor point for intra-RAT / inter-RAT mobility (when applicable), acting as an external protocol data unit (PDU) session point for interconnection to a data network (not shown), providing packet routing and forwarding, packet inspection, user plane policy rule enforcement (e.g., gating, redirection, service steering), lawful interception (user plane collection), service usage reporting, user plane quality of service (QoS) handling (e.g., uplink / downlink rate enforcement, reflective QoS marking in downlink), uplink service verification (service data flow (SDF) to QoS flow mapping), transport level packet marking in uplink and downlink, downlink packet buffering and downlink data notification triggering, and transmitting and forwarding one or more "end markers" to the source RAN node. UPF 262 can also support the delivery of location service messages between UE 204 and a location server (such as SLP 272) on the user plane.

[0068] The functions of SMF 266 include session management, UE Internet Protocol (IP) address allocation and management, selection and control of user plane functions, traffic steering configuration for routing traffic to the correct destination at UPF 262, partial control of policy enforcement and QoS, and downlink data notification. The interface through which SMF 266 communicates with AMF 264 is called the N11 interface.

[0069] Another optional aspect may include an LMF 270 that can communicate with the 5GC 260 to provide location assistance for the UE 204. The LMF 270 can be implemented as multiple separate servers (e.g., physically separate servers, different software modules on a single server, different software modules distributed across multiple physical servers, etc.), or alternatively can each correspond to a single server. The LMF 270 can be configured to support one or more location services for the UE 204, which can be connected to the LMF 270 via the core network, the 5GC 260, and / or via the Internet (not illustrated). SLP 272 may support similar functionality as LMF 270, but LMF 270 may communicate with AMF 264, NG-RAN 220, and UE 204 on a control plane (e.g., using interfaces and protocols intended to carry signaling messages rather than voice or data), and SLP 272 may communicate with UE 204 and external clients (e.g., third-party servers 274) on a user plane (e.g., using protocols intended to carry voice and / or data, such as Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) and / or IP).

[0070] Yet another optional aspect may include a third-party server 274 that may communicate with the LMF 270, SLP 272, 5GC 260 (e.g., via AMF 264 and / or UPF 262), NG-RAN 220, and / or UE 204 to obtain location information (e.g., location estimate) of the UE 204. Thus, in some cases, the third-party server 274 may be referred to as a location service (LCS) client or external client. The third-party server 274 may be implemented as multiple separate servers (e.g., physically separate servers, different software modules on a single server, different software modules distributed across multiple physical servers, etc.), or alternatively may each correspond to a single server.

[0071] The user plane interface 263 and the control plane interface 265 connect the 5GC 260, and specifically the UPF 262 and the AMF 264, respectively, to one or more gNBs 222 and / or ng-eNBs 224 in the NG-RAN 220. The interface between the gNB 222 and / or ng-eNB 224 and the AMF 264 is referred to as the "N2" interface, and the interface between the gNB 222 and / or ng-eNB 224 and the UPF 262 is referred to as the "N3" interface. The gNBs 222 and / or ng-eNBs 224 of the NG-RAN 220 may communicate directly with each other via a backhaul connection 223 referred to as an "Xn-C" interface. One or more of the gNBs 222 and / or ng-eNBs 224 may communicate with one or more UEs 204 via a wireless interface referred to as a "Uu" interface.

[0072] The functionality of the gNB 222 may be divided between a gNB central unit (gNB-CU) 226, one or more gNB distributed units (gNB-DU) 228, and one or more gNB radio units (gNB-RU) 229. The gNB-CU 226 is a logical node that includes base station functions other than those specifically assigned to the gNB-DU 228, including delivery of user data, mobility control, radio access network sharing, positioning, session management, and the like. More specifically, the gNB-CU 226 generally hosts the radio resource control (RRC), service data adaptation protocol (SDAP), and packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) protocols of the gNB 222. The gNB-DU 228 is a logical node that generally hosts the radio link control (RLC) and medium access control (MAC) layers of the gNB 222. Its operation is controlled by the gNB-CU 226. One gNB-DU 228 may support one or more cells, and one cell is supported by only one gNB-DU 228. The interface 232 between the gNB-CU 226 and one or more gNB-DUs 228 is referred to as the "F1" interface. The physical (PHY) layer functionality of the gNB 222 is typically hosted by one or more independent gNB-RUs 229, which perform functions such as power amplification and signal transmission / reception. The interface between the gNB-DU 228 and the gNB-RU 229 is referred to as the "Fx" interface. Thus, the UE 204 communicates with the gNB-CU 226 via the RRC layer, the SDAP layer, and the PDCP layer, communicates with the gNB-DU 228 via the RLC layer and the MAC layer, and communicates with the gNB-RU 229 via the PHY layer.

[0073] Figure 3A , Figure 3B and Figure 3C The examples may be incorporated into UE 302 (which may correspond to any UE described herein), base station 304 (which may correspond to any base station described herein), and network entity 306 (which may correspond to or embody any network function described herein, including location server 230 and LMF 270, or alternatively may be independent of Figure 2A and Figure 2BSeveral example components (represented by corresponding boxes) in the NG-RAN 220 and / or 5GC 210 / 260 infrastructure depicted in the 5GC 210 / 260 (such as a dedicated network) are shown to support operations as described herein. It should be understood that these components can be implemented in different types of devices with different specific implementations (e.g., in an ASIC, in a system on a chip (SoC), etc.). The illustrated components can also be incorporated into other devices in the communication system. For example, other devices in the system may include components similar to those described as providing similar functionality. Moreover, a given device may include one or more of these components. For example, a device may include multiple transceiver components that enable the device to operate on multiple carriers and / or communicate via different technologies.

[0074] UE 302 and base station 304 each include one or more wireless wide area network (WWAN) transceivers 310 and 350, respectively, which provide means (e.g., means for transmitting, means for receiving, means for measuring, means for tuning, means for preventing transmitting, etc.) for communicating via one or more wireless communication networks (not shown), such as NR networks, LTE networks, GSM networks, etc. WWAN transceivers 310 and 350 may each be connected to one or more antennas 316 and 356, respectively, for communicating with other network nodes (such as other UEs, access points, base stations (e.g., eNBs, gNBs), etc.) via at least one designated RAT (e.g., NR, LTE, GSM, etc.) on a wireless communication medium of interest (e.g., a set of time / frequency resources in a particular spectrum). The WWAN transceivers 310 and 350 may be configured in various ways according to the specified RAT to send and encode signals 318 and 358 (e.g., messages, indications, information, etc.), and vice versa, to receive and decode signals 318 and 358 (e.g., messages, indications, information, pilots, etc.). Specifically, the WWAN transceivers 310 and 350 include: one or more transmitters 314 and 354 for sending and encoding signals 318 and 358, respectively, and one or more receivers 312 and 352 for receiving and decoding signals 318 and 358, respectively.

[0075] At least in some cases, the UE 302 and the base station 304 each further include one or more short-range wireless transceivers 320 and 360, respectively. The short-range wireless transceivers 320 and 360 can be connected to one or more antennas 326 and 366, respectively, and provide for communicating over the wireless communication medium of interest via at least one designated RAT (e.g., WiFi, LTE-D, The short-range wireless transceivers 320 and 360 are components (e.g., components for sending, components for receiving, components for measuring, components for tuning, components for preventing sending, etc.) for communicating with other network nodes (such as other UEs, access points, base stations, etc.) using a PC5, dedicated short-range communication (DSRC), wireless access for vehicle environments (WAVE), near field communication (NFC), etc.). The short-range wireless transceivers 320 and 360 can be configured in various ways according to the specified RAT to send and encode signals 328 and 368 (e.g., messages, indications, information, etc.), respectively, and conversely, to receive and decode signals 328 and 368 (e.g., messages, indications, information, pilots, etc.), respectively. Specifically, the short-range wireless transceivers 320 and 360 respectively include: one or more transmitters 324 and 364 for sending and encoding signals 328 and 368, respectively, and one or more receivers 322 and 362 for receiving and decoding signals 328 and 368, respectively. As a specific example, the short-range wireless transceivers 320 and 360 may be WiFi transceivers, Transceiver, and / or transceiver, NFC transceiver or vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) and / or vehicle-to-everything (V2X) transceiver.

[0076] At least in some cases, the UE 302 and the base station 304 also include satellite signal receivers 330 and 370. The satellite signal receivers 330 and 370 may be connected to one or more antennas 336 and 376, respectively, and may provide components for receiving and / or measuring satellite positioning / communication signals 338 and 378, respectively. In the case where the satellite signal receivers 330 and 370 are satellite positioning system receivers, the satellite positioning / communication signals 338 and 378 may be global positioning system (GPS) signals, global navigation satellite system (GLONASS) signals, Galileo signals, Beidou signals, Indian regional navigation satellite system (NAVIC), Quasi-Zenith Satellite System (QZSS), etc. In the case where the satellite signal receivers 330 and 370 are non-terrestrial network (NTN) receivers, the satellite positioning / communication signals 338 and 378 may be communication signals (e.g., carrying control and / or user data) originating from a 5G network. The satellite signal receivers 330 and 370 may include any suitable hardware and / or software for receiving and processing satellite positioning / communication signals 338 and 378, respectively. Satellite signal receivers 330 and 370 may request appropriate information and operations from other systems and, at least in some cases, perform calculations using measurements obtained by any suitable satellite positioning system algorithm to determine the location of UE 302 and base station 304, respectively.

[0077] The base station 304 and the network entity 306 each include one or more network transceivers 380 and 390, respectively, which provide means (e.g., means for sending, means for receiving, etc.) for communicating with other network entities (e.g., other base stations 304, other network entities 306). For example, the base station 304 may employ one or more network transceivers 380 to communicate with other base stations 304 or network entities 306 via one or more wired or wireless backhaul links. As another example, the network entity 306 may employ one or more network transceivers 390 to communicate with one or more base stations 304 via one or more wired or wireless backhaul links, or communicate with other network entities 306 via one or more wired or wireless core network interfaces.

[0078] The transceiver may be configured to communicate over a wired or wireless link. A transceiver (whether a wired transceiver or a wireless transceiver) includes a transmitter circuit system (e.g., transmitters 314, 324, 354, 364) and a receiver circuit system (e.g., receivers 312, 322, 352, 362). In some implementations, the transceiver may be an integrated device (e.g., implementing the transmitter circuit system and the receiver circuit system in a single device), in some implementations may include separate transmitter circuit systems and separate receiver circuit systems, or may be implemented in other ways in other implementations. The transmitter circuit system and the receiver circuit system of a wired transceiver (e.g., network transceivers 380 and 390 in some implementations) may be coupled to one or more wired network interface ports. The wireless transmitter circuitry (e.g., transmitters 314, 324, 354, 364) may include or be coupled to multiple antennas (e.g., antennas 316, 326, 356, 366), such as antenna arrays, which allow the corresponding device (e.g., UE 302, base station 304) to perform transmit "beamforming", as described herein. Similarly, the wireless receiver circuitry (e.g., receiver 312, 322, 352, 362) may include or be coupled to multiple antennas (e.g., antennas 316, 326, 356, 366), such as antenna arrays, which allow the corresponding device (e.g., UE 302, base station 304) to perform receive beamforming, as described herein. In one aspect, the transmitter circuitry and the receiver circuitry may share the same multiple antennas (e.g., antennas 316, 326, 356, 366) so that the corresponding device can only receive or only transmit at a given time, rather than both receive and transmit at the same time. The wireless transceivers (eg, WWAN transceivers 310 and 350, short-range wireless transceivers 320 and 360) may also include a network listening module (NLM) or the like for performing various measurements.

[0079] As used herein, various wireless transceivers (e.g., transceivers 310, 320, 350, and 360 in some implementations, and network transceivers 380 and 390) and wired transceivers (e.g., network transceivers 380 and 390 in some implementations) may be generally characterized as a "transceiver," "at least one transceiver," or "one or more transceivers." Thus, whether a particular transceiver is a wired transceiver or a wireless transceiver may be inferred based on the type of communication being performed. For example, backhaul communications between network devices or servers typically involve signaling via a wired transceiver, while wireless communications between a UE (e.g., UE 302) and a base station (e.g., base station 304) will typically involve signaling via a wireless transceiver.

[0080] UE 302, base station 304, and network entity 306 also include other components that can be used in conjunction with the operations disclosed herein. UE 302, base station 304, and network entity 306 include one or more processors 332, 384, and 394, respectively, for providing functionality related to, for example, wireless communication, and for providing other processing functionality. Thus, processors 332, 384, and 394 can provide means for processing, such as means for determining, means for calculating, means for receiving, means for sending, means for indicating, etc. In one aspect, processors 332, 384, and 394 can include, for example, one or more general-purpose processors, multi-core processors, central processing units (CPUs), ASICs, digital signal processors (DSPs), field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), other programmable logic devices or processing circuit systems, or various combinations thereof.

[0081] UE 302, base station 304, and network entity 306 include memory circuitry implementing memory 340, 386, and 396 (e.g., each including a memory device) for maintaining information (e.g., information indicating reserved resources, thresholds, parameters, etc.). Thus, memory 340, 386, and 396 may provide means for storing, means for retrieving, means for maintaining, etc. In some cases, UE 302, base station 304, and network entity 306 may include RF sensing components 342, 388, and 398, respectively. RF sensing components 342, 388, and 398 may be hardware circuits that are part of or coupled to processors 332, 384, and 394, respectively, which, when executed, cause UE 302, base station 304, and network entity 306 to perform the functions described herein. In other aspects, the RF sensing components 342, 388, and 398 can be external to the processors 332, 384, and 394 (e.g., part of a modem processing system, integrated with another processing system, etc.). Alternatively, the RF sensing components 342, 388, and 398 can be memory modules stored in the memories 340, 386, and 396, respectively, which, when executed by the processors 332, 384, and 394 (or a modem processing system, another processing system, etc.), cause the UE 302, the base station 304, and the network entity 306 to perform the functions described herein. Figure 3A Possible locations for the RF sensing component 342 are illustrated, which may be, for example, part of one or more WWAN transceivers 310, memory 340, one or more processors 332, or any combination thereof, or may be a standalone component. Figure 3B Possible locations for the RF sensing component 388 are illustrated, which may be, for example, part of one or more WWAN transceivers 350, memory 386, one or more processors 384, or any combination thereof, or may be a stand-alone component. Figure 3C Possible locations for the RF sensing component 398 are illustrated, which may be, for example, part of one or more network transceivers 390, memory 396, one or more processors 394, or any combination thereof, or may be a stand-alone component.

[0082] UE 302 may include one or more sensors 344 coupled to one or more processors 332 to provide a means for sensing or detecting movement and / or orientation information that is independent of motion data derived from signals received by one or more WWAN transceivers 310, one or more short-range wireless transceivers 320, and / or satellite signal receivers 330. As an example, sensor 344 may include an accelerometer (e.g., a microelectromechanical system (MEMS) device), a gyroscope, a geomagnetic sensor (e.g., a compass), an altimeter (e.g., a barometric altimeter), and / or any other type of motion detection sensor. In addition, sensor 344 may include multiple different types of devices and combine their outputs to provide motion information. For example, sensor 344 may use a combination of a multi-axis accelerometer and an orientation sensor to provide the ability to calculate positioning in a two-dimensional (2D) and / or three-dimensional (3D) coordinate system.

[0083] In addition, the UE 302 includes a user interface 346 that provides means for providing indications to a user (e.g., audible and / or visual indications) and / or for receiving user input (e.g., when a user actuates a sensing device such as a keypad, touch screen, microphone, etc.). Although not shown, the base station 304 and the network entity 306 may also include a user interface.

[0084] Referring to the one or more processors 384 in more detail, in a downlink, IP packets from the network entity 306 may be provided to the processor 384. The one or more processors 384 may implement functionality for an RRC layer, a packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) layer, a radio link control (RLC) layer, and a medium access control (MAC) layer. One or more processors 384 may provide: RRC layer functionality associated with broadcasting of system information (e.g., master information block (MIB), system information block (SIB)), RRC connection control (e.g., RRC connection paging, RRC connection establishment, RRC connection modification, and RRC connection release), inter-RAT mobility, and measurement configuration for UE measurement reporting; PDCP layer functionality associated with header compression / decompression, security (encryption, decryption, integrity protection, integrity verification), and handover support functions; RLC layer functionality associated with delivery of upper layer PDUs, error correction through automatic repeat request (ARQ), concatenation, segmentation and reassembly of RLC service data units (SDUs), re-segmentation of RLC data PDUs, and reordering of RLC data PDUs; and MAC layer functionality associated with mapping between logical channels and transport channels, scheduling information reporting, error correction, priority handling, and logical channel prioritization.

[0085] The transmitter 354 and the receiver 352 may implement layer 1 (L1) functionality associated with various signal processing functions. Layer 1, including the physical (PHY) layer, may include: error detection on the transport channel, forward error correction (FEC) coding / decoding of the transport channel, interleaving, rate matching, mapping to the physical channel, modulation / demodulation of the physical channel, and MIMO antenna processing. The transmitter 354 handles the mapping to the signal constellation based on various modulation schemes (e.g., binary phase shift keying (BPSK), quadrature phase shift keying (QPSK), M-phase shift keying (M-PSK), M-quadrature amplitude modulation (M-QAM)). The coded and modulated symbols may then be split into parallel streams. Each stream may then be mapped to an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) subcarrier, multiplexed with a reference signal (e.g., a pilot) in the time and / or frequency domain, and then combined together using an inverse fast Fourier transform (IFFT) to produce a physical channel carrying a time domain OFDM symbol stream. The OFDM symbol stream is spatially pre-decoded to generate multiple spatial streams. Channel estimates from a channel estimator may be used to determine coding and modulation schemes and for spatial processing. Channel estimates may be derived from a reference signal and / or channel condition feedback sent by the UE 302. Each spatial stream may then be provided to one or more different antennas 356. The transmitter 354 may modulate an RF carrier with a corresponding spatial stream for transmission.

[0086] At the UE 302, the receiver 312 receives the signal through its corresponding antenna 316. The receiver 312 recovers the information modulated onto the RF carrier and provides the information to one or more processors 332. The transmitter 314 and the receiver 312 implement layer 1 functionality associated with various signal processing functions. The receiver 312 can perform spatial processing on the information to recover any spatial streams destined for the UE 302. If multiple spatial streams are destined for the UE 302, they can be combined into a single OFDM symbol stream by the receiver 312. The receiver 312 then converts the OFDM symbol stream from the time domain to the frequency domain using a fast Fourier transform (FFT). The frequency domain signal includes a separate OFDM symbol stream for each subcarrier of the OFDM signal. The symbols on each subcarrier and the reference signal are recovered and demodulated by determining the signal constellation point that is most likely to be sent by the base station 304. These soft decisions can be based on channel estimates calculated by a channel estimator. The soft decisions are then decoded and deinterleaved to recover the data and control signals originally sent by the base station 304 on the physical channel. The data and control signals are then provided to one or more processors 332, which implement layer 3 (L3) and layer 2 (L2) functionality.

[0087] In the uplink, one or more processors 332 provide demultiplexing between transport and logical channels, packet reassembly, decryption, header decompression, and control signal processing to recover IP packets from the core network. One or more processors 332 are also responsible for error detection.

[0088] Similar to the functionality described in conjunction with downlink transmissions performed by the base station 304, the one or more processors 332 provide: RRC layer functionality associated with system information (e.g., MIB, SIB) acquisition, RRC connection, and measurement reporting; PDCP layer functionality associated with header compression / decompression and security (encryption, decryption, integrity protection, integrity verification); RLC layer functionality associated with transmission of upper layer PDUs, error correction through ARQ, concatenation, segmentation and reassembly of RLC SDUs, re-segmentation of RLC data PDUs, and reordering of RLC data PDUs; and MAC layer functionality associated with mapping between logical channels and transport channels, multiplexing of MAC SDUs onto transport blocks (TBs), demultiplexing of MAC SDUs from TBs, scheduling information reporting, error correction through hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ), priority handling, and logical channel prioritization.

[0089] Channel estimates derived by the channel estimator from a reference signal or feedback sent by the base station 304 may be used by the transmitter 314 to select appropriate coding and modulation schemes and to facilitate spatial processing. The spatial streams generated by the transmitter 314 may be provided to different antennas 316. The transmitter 314 may modulate an RF carrier with a corresponding spatial stream for transmission.

[0090] The uplink transmissions are processed at the base station 304 in a manner similar to that described in conjunction with the receiver functionality at the UE 302. The receiver 352 receives the signal through its respective antenna 356. The receiver 352 recovers the information modulated onto the RF carrier and provides the information to one or more processors 384.

[0091] In the uplink, one or more processors 384 provide demultiplexing between transport and logical channels, packet reassembly, decryption, header decompression, control signal processing to recover IP packets from UE 302. IP packets from one or more processors 384 may be provided to the core network. One or more processors 384 are also responsible for error detection.

[0092] For convenience, UE 302, base station 304 and / or network entity 306 may Figure 3A , Figure 3B and Figure 3C, is shown as including various components that can be configured according to the various examples described herein. However, it should be understood that the illustrated components may have different functionality in different designs. Specifically, FIG. 3A to FIG. 3C The various components in are optional in alternative configurations, and various aspects include configurations that may vary due to design choice, cost, use of the device, or other considerations. For example, in Figure 3A In the case of a wearable device or a tablet computer or a PC or a laptop computer, a specific implementation of the UE 302 may omit the WWAN transceiver 310 (e.g., a wearable device or a tablet computer or a PC or a laptop computer may have Wi-Fi and / or Bluetooth capabilities but no cellular capabilities), may omit the short-range wireless transceiver 320 (e.g., only cellular, etc.), may omit the satellite signal receiver 330, may omit the sensor 344, etc. In another example, in Figure 3B In the case of a wireless network, a specific implementation of the base station 304 may omit the WWAN transceiver 350 (e.g., a Wi-Fi "hotspot" access point without cellular capabilities), or may omit the short-range wireless transceiver 360 (e.g., cellular only, etc.), or may omit the satellite receiver 370, etc. For the sake of brevity, illustrations of various alternative configurations are not provided herein, but will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art.

[0093] Various components of the UE 302, base station 304, and network entity 306 may be communicatively coupled to one another via data buses 334, 382, ​​and 392, respectively. In an aspect, the data buses 334, 382, ​​and 392 may form or be part of communication interfaces for the UE 302, base station 304, and network entity 306, respectively. For example, where different logical entities are embodied in the same device (e.g., gNB and location server functionality incorporated into the same base station 304), the data buses 334, 382, ​​and 392 may provide for communication between the different logical entities.

[0094] Figure 3A , Figure 3B and Figure 3C The components of can be implemented in various ways. In some specific implementations, Figure 3A , Figure 3B and Figure 3CThe components of may be implemented in one or more circuits, such as, for example, one or more processors and / or one or more ASICs (which may include one or more processors). Here, each circuit may use and / or be combined with at least one memory component for storing information or executable code used by the circuit to provide the functionality. For example, some or all of the functionality represented by blocks 310 to 346 may be implemented by a processor and memory component of UE 302 (e.g., by executing appropriate code and / or by appropriate configuration of the processor component). Similarly, some or all of the functionality represented by blocks 350 to 388 may be implemented by a processor and memory component of base station 304 (e.g., by executing appropriate code and / or by appropriate configuration of the processor component). Moreover, some or all of the functionality represented by blocks 390 to 398 may be implemented by a processor and memory component of network entity 306 (e.g., by executing appropriate code and / or by appropriate configuration of the processor component). For simplicity, various operations, actions and / or functions are described herein as being performed "by a UE", "by a base station", "by a network entity", etc. However, it should be understood that such operations, actions and / or functions may actually be performed by specific components or combinations of components of the UE 302, base station 304, network entity 306, etc. (such as processors 332, 384, 394, transceivers 310, 320, 350 and 360, memories 340, 386 and 396, RF sensing components 342, 388 and 398, etc.).

[0095] In some designs, the network entity 306 may be implemented as a core network component. In other designs, the network entity 306 may be operated differently from a network operator or cellular network infrastructure (e.g., NG RAN 220 and / or 5GC 210 / 260). For example, the network entity 306 may be a component of a dedicated network that may be configured to communicate with the UE 302 via the base station 304 or independently of the base station 304 (e.g., via a non-cellular communication link such as WiFi).

[0096] Wireless communication signals (e.g., RF signals configured to carry OFDM symbols) sent between a UE and a base station can be reused for environmental sensing (also known as "RF sensing" or "radar"). The use of wireless communication signals for environmental sensing can be considered as a consumer-grade radar with advanced detection capabilities, which enables contactless / device-free interaction with devices / systems, etc. The wireless communication signal can be a cellular communication signal, such as an LTE or NR signal, a WLAN signal, etc. As a specific example, the wireless communication signal can be an OFDM waveform as utilized in LTE and NR. High-frequency communication signals, such as mmW RF signals, are particularly beneficial for use as radar signals because higher frequencies at least provide more accurate ranging (distance) detection.

[0097] Figure 4A and Figure 4B Two of these various types of radar are illustrated. In general, there are different types of radars, in particular monostatic and bistatic radars. Specifically, Figure 4A is a diagram 400 illustrating a monostatic radar scenario, and Figure 4B is a diagram 410 illustrating a bistatic radar scenario.

[0098] exist Figure 4A 4, the base station 402 may be configured for full duplex operation, and thus the transmitter (Tx) and receiver (Rx) are co-located. For example, a transmitted radio signal 406 may be reflected by a target object (such as a building 404), and the receiver on the base station 402 is configured to receive and measure the reflected beam 408. This is a typical use case for a traditional or conventional radar.

[0099] exist Figure 4B , a base station 412 may be configured as a transmitter (Tx) and a UE 414 may be configured as a receiver (Rx). In this example, the transmitter and the receiver are not co-located, i.e., they are separated by a distance comparable to the intended target distance, for example. The base station 412 may be configured to transmit a beam, such as an omni-directional downlink RF signal 406, which may be received by the UE 414. A portion of the RF signal 406 may be reflected or refracted by the building 404, and the UE 414 may receive the reflected signal 416. This is a typical use case for RF sensing based on wireless communication (e.g., WiFi-based, LTE-based, NR-based). Note that although Figure 4B The use of downlink RF signals 406 as RF sensing signals is illustrated, but uplink RF signals may also be used as RF sensing signals. In the downlink scenario, as shown, the transmitter is a base station 412 and the receiver is a UE 414, while in the uplink scenario, the transmitter is a UE and the receiver is a base station. A multi-base radar system is a generalization of a bi-base radar system, which includes at least three components, such as one receiver and two transmitters, two receivers and one transmitter, or multiple receivers and multiple transmitters.

[0100] For more details, refer to Figure 4B , the base station 412 sends an RF sensing signal (e.g., PRS) to the UE 414, but some of the RF sensing signal reflects off from a target object, such as a building 404. The UE 414 can measure the ToA of the RF signal 406 received directly from the base station and the ToA of the reflected signal 416 reflected from the target object (e.g., the building 404).

[0101] The base station 412 may be configured to transmit a single RF signal 406 or multiple RF signals to a receiver (e.g., a UE 414). However, due to the propagation characteristics of RF signals through multipath channels, the UE 414 may receive multiple RF signals corresponding to each transmitted RF signal. Each path may be associated with a cluster of one or more channel taps. Typically, the time at which the receiver detects the first cluster of channel taps is considered to be the TOA of the RF signal on the site line (LOS) path (i.e., the shortest path between the transmitter and the receiver). Later clusters of channel taps are considered to have been reflected by objects between the transmitter and the receiver, and are therefore along a non-LOS (NLOS) path between the transmitter and the receiver.

[0102] Therefore, return to the reference Figure 4B , RF signal 406 follows a LOS path between base station 412 and UE 414, and reflected signal 416 represents an RF sensing signal that follows a NLOS path between base station 412 and UE 414 due to reflection off building 404 (or another target object). Base station 412 may have sent multiple RF sensing signals ( Figure 4B ), some of the multiple RF sensing signals follow the LOS path, and other of the multiple RF sensing signals follow the NLOS path. Alternatively, the base station 412 may have transmitted a single RF sensing signal in a sufficiently wide beam so that a portion of the RF sensing signal follows the LOS path and a portion of the RF sensing signal follows the NLOS path.

[0103] Based on the difference between the ToA of the LOS path, the ToA of the NLOS path, and the speed of light, the UE 414 can determine the distance to the building 404. In addition, if the UE 414 is capable of receiving beamforming, the UE 414 may be able to determine the general direction to the building 404 as the direction of the reflected signal 416, which is the RF sensing signal following the NLOS path as received. The UE 414 then optionally reports this information to the sending base station 412, an application server associated with the core network, an external client, a third-party application, or some other entity. Alternatively, the UE 414 may report the ToA measurement to the base station 412, or other entity, and the base station 412 may determine the distance to the target object and optionally the direction to the target object.

[0104] It should be noted that if the RF sensing signal is an uplink RF signal sent by UE 414 to base station 412, base station 412 will perform object detection based on the uplink RF signal just as UE 414 performs object detection based on downlink RF signals.

[0105] Figure 5 An example range calculation using a bistatic or multistatic radar is illustrated. The distance from the transmitter to the target to the receiver (referred to herein as the Tx-target-Rx range) is measured by the bistatic radar as R SUM =R T +R R . Range R SUM The target is located on the surface of an ellipsoid whose focus is the radar transmitter side and the radar receiver site. The time interval between the reception of the (line of sight) LOS signal sent by the transmitter and the reception of the target echo can be used to measure the range and R SUM :

[0106]

[0107] Where L is the baseline distance between the transmitter and the receiver. The target range from the receiver's perspective can be calculated as:

[0108]

[0109] Target arrival angle (AoA) angle θ R can be estimated by the antenna array at the receiver. For a multistatic radar, the angle θ R It can be estimated by multilateration. For a fixed transmitter and receiver, the target bistatic Doppler frequency is given by:

[0110]

[0111] Joint communication and RF sensing (JCS) has become a desired feature of future cellular systems due to the increasing bandwidth (BW) allocated to cellular communication systems (e.g., for 5G and beyond) and the introduction of more use cases for cellular communication systems. JCS is expected to have high spectral efficiency because spectrum resources are always scarce, and dedicating a time slot or sub-time slot to RF sensing is not an efficient use of the spectrum from a communication or JCS perspective. In addition, although it is desirable to use the same waveform for communication and sensing, the different requirements for communication and sensing make this goal difficult to achieve. For example, the beam used for communication and the beam used for sensing may be very different. Another example is that the communication signal may not require high-resolution velocity estimation, but the sensing signal may need to support high-resolution velocity estimation.

[0112] To overcome the technical challenges just described, this paper proposes techniques for opportunistic RF sensing in cellular systems. The following techniques achieve high spectral efficiency JCS. These techniques exploit opportunities for sending and receiving sensing reference signals in a way that does not affect the operation of the UE and therefore does not reduce spectral efficiency compared to the baseline cellular system. These techniques include RF sensing during the guard period, RF sensing during BWP switching, and RF sensing during beam switching.

[0113] RF sensing during the protection period

[0114] Figure 6 6 is a time and frequency diagram 600 illustrating an example guard period during which the UE does not transmit any other signals. Figure 6 The last seven symbols of slot n and the first two symbols of the next slot n+1 are shown. In NR Release 15 / 16, a UE can be configured with up to two SRS resource sets for antenna switching. Figure 6 In the example shown, the PUSCH 602 occupies symbols 7 and 8 of slot n, the first SRS 604 occupies symbol 10 of slot n, the second SRS 606 occupies symbol 12 of slot n, and the first two symbols of slot n+1 are downlink (DL) slots 608. Figure 6 Three types of guard periods used when switching to or from SRS and other channels are illustrated:

[0115] • When there is a PUSCH transmission from the same UE before the SRS, a guard period 610 is used before the SRS;

[0116] • A guard period 612 is used between aggregated SRS resources sent in the same time slot and is 2 symbols in length for 120kHz subcarrier spacing and 1 symbol in length otherwise; and

[0117] • For switching from UL to DL, a guard period 614 is used after the last SRS resource.

[0118] Since the UE is not expected to send UL signals or receive DL signals during these guard periods, these guard periods are opportunities for the base station to send RF sensing signals. If the RF sensing is mono-base and the RF sensing transmitter and receiver are base stations, the sensing reference signal is transparent to the UE and the UE is unaware of any sensing activity. If the RF sensing is bi-base or multi-base, the serving base station may need to signal the time and frequency information of the guard period to the non-serving base station, which can be accomplished through X2 signaling between base stations. The serving base station and the non-serving base station can be sensing transmitters or sensing receivers. In some aspects, the serving base station can transmit assistance data to a radar server, which then allocates opportunistic sensing reference signal transmission and reception for a group of base stations (e.g., both serving and non-serving base stations).

[0119] RF sensing during BWP switching

[0120] Figure 7 7 is a time and frequency diagram 700 illustrating an example BWP switching period during which the UE does not transmit any other signals. Figure 7 In FIG. 7 , the UE switches from a first DL BWP 702 to a second DL BWP 704. Current specifications for changing BWP include a switching delay 706 defined as a number of time slots according to the following table:

[0121] Table 1 - BWP switching delay (in time slots)

[0122]

[0123] This switching delay results in lower spectral efficiency.

[0124] In some aspects of the present disclosure, a UE may be configured with multiple BWPs (current standards support up to four DL / UL BWPs in the downlink), and BWP switching may be achieved by:

[0125] ●PDCCH (ie, DCI): a specific BWP may be activated by a BWP indicator in DCI format 0_1 ​​(UL grant) and DCI format 1_1 (DL scheduling);

[0126] ●BWP inactivity timer, such as ServingCellConfig.bwp-InactivityTimer;

[0127] RRC signaling;

[0128] ●The MAC entity itself when initiating the RACH procedure.

[0129] Thus, the serving base station will know when the UE performs a BWP switch, and in some aspects, the base station may send or receive RF sensing signals during a BWP switch for one UE or a group of UEs. The RF sensing signals are transparent to the UE, and the UE is unaware of any sensing activity. If the RF sensing is dual-base or multi-base, the serving base station may need to signal the non-serving base station with the time and frequency information of the BWP switch, which can be accomplished through X2 signaling between base stations. The serving base station and the non-serving base station can be sensing transmitters or sensing receivers. In some aspects, the serving base station may transmit assistance data to a radar server, which then allocates opportunistic sensing reference signal transmission and reception for a group of base stations (e.g., both serving and non-serving base stations).

[0130] RF sensing during beam switching

[0131] Figure 8 An example 800 of beam switching performed by a base station 412 and a UE 414 is illustrated, during which the UE does not transmit any other signals. Figure 8 In the example illustrated in FIG. 4 , base station 412 and UE 414 are in a situation where there is a reflective obstacle (e.g., building 404). Base station 412 (such as a 5G NR gNB) is configured to transmit multiple beamformed signals along different azimuth angles, elevation angles, and / or beamwidths, such as Figure 8 804. For example, the beams transmitted by the base station 412 may be based on SS blocks, CSI-RS, TRS, or PRS resource sets. Other sensing and tracking reference signals may also be used. The UE 414 is configured to utilize receive beamforming to improve the gain of the signal based on the angle of arrival. The UE 414 may be configured to utilize phase shifters and other software and hardware techniques to generate receive beams, such as the first receive beam 806 and the second receive beam 808. The UE 414 may also be configured to use beamforming for the transmitted beams. The base station 412 may transmit a first reference signal 810 on the first transmit beam 802 in the direction of a target object (such as a building 404), which may be reflected, and the UE 414 may receive the reflected signal 812 through the first receive beam 806. The reflected signal 812 represents the NLOS path of the first reference signal 810 to the UE 414. Base station 412 also transmits a second reference signal 814 on second beam 804. In one example, second reference signal 814 may be quasi co-located (in QCL) with first reference signal 810. UE 414 receives second reference signal 814 via second receive beam 808. Second reference signal 814 is the LOS path to UE 414. Figure 8In the example illustrated in , UE 414 must change its phase shifter and other hardware or software to change its receive beam, for example, from the first receive beam 806 to the second receive beam 808. During this change, UE 414 does not send any signals. This is another opportunity for the base station to perform RF sensing.

[0132] Thus, in some aspects, when a UE or a group of UEs performs beam switching, the base station transmits and / or receives RF sensing signals during the beam switching gap. In some aspects, the beam switching gap is defined by a table in the specification for the UE beam switching gap, in which case the UE may indicate the index of the switching duration used. In some aspects, the UE may signal the expected or maximum switching duration for a particular switch; in some aspects, the UE may signal the planned time or instance for beam switching, for example, by specifying a system frame number (SFN), a time slot index, a symbol index, etc. The RF sensing signal is transparent to the UE, and the UE is unaware of any sensing activity. If the RF sensing is dual-base or multi-base, the serving base station may need to signal the time and frequency information of the beam switching gap to the non-serving base station, which can be done through X2 signaling between base stations. The serving base station and the non-serving base station may be a sensing transmitter or a sensing receiver. In some aspects, the serving base station may transmit assistance data to a radar server, which then allocates opportunistic sensing reference signal transmission and reception for a group of base stations (e.g., both serving and non-serving base stations).

[0133] Fig. 9 is a flow chart of an example process 900 associated with opportunistic RF sensing in a cellular system. In some implementations, Fig. 9 One or more process blocks of may be performed by a network entity, such as a base station (BS) (e.g., BS102, gNB, etc.). In some implementations, Fig. 9 One or more process blocks of may be performed by another device or a group of devices separate from or including the network entity. Additionally or alternatively, Fig. 9 One or more process blocks may be performed by one or more components of BS 304, such as processor 384, memory 386, WWAN transceiver 350, short-range wireless transceiver 360, satellite signal receiver 370, network transceiver 380, and RF sensing component 388, any or all of which may be components for performing operations of process 900.

[0134] like Fig. 9As shown, process 900 may include identifying an opportunity for radio frequency (RF) sensing during which a user equipment (UE) does not transmit a signal, the opportunity including a guard period of the UE, a bandwidth part (BWP) switching period of the UE, or a beam switching period of the UE (block 910). Means for performing the operations of block 910 may include processor 384, memory 386, or WWAN transceiver 350 of BS 304. For example, BS 304 may use processor 384 to identify an opportunity for RF sensing.

[0135] In some aspects, identifying an opportunity for RF sensing includes identifying a guard period for the UE, wherein the guard period is associated with a sounding reference signal (SRS) transmitted by the UE. In some aspects, identifying the guard period for the UE includes identifying a guard period used after a transmission of a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) by the UE and before a transmission of the SRS by the UE. In some aspects, identifying the guard period for the UE includes identifying a guard period used between SRS transmitted in the same time slot. In some aspects, identifying the guard period for the UE includes identifying a guard period used after the last SRS transmitted in the time slot and before the UE switches from uplink transmission to downlink transmission.

[0136] In some aspects, identifying the opportunity for RF sensing includes identifying a BWP switching period for the UE. In some aspects, identifying the BWP switching period for the UE includes identifying a switching delay during which the UE switches from a first BWP to a second BWP. In some aspects, identifying the BWP switching period for the UE includes identifying the BWP switching period based on at least one of: a BWP indicator in a downlink control information (DCI) message to the UE, a BWP inactivity timer associated with the UE, radio resource control (RRC) signaling involving the UE, or a medium access control (MAC) entity when initiating a random access (RACH) procedure.

[0137] In some aspects, identifying an opportunity for RF sensing includes identifying a beam switching period for the UE. In some aspects, identifying a beam switching period for the UE includes receiving an indication of the beam switching period from the UE. In some aspects, receiving an indication of the beam switching period from the UE includes receiving a beam switching gap position identified by a system frame number (SFN), a slot index, a symbol index, a switching duration, or a combination thereof. In some aspects, receiving the beam switching gap position includes receiving an index into a predefined table of beam switching gap positions, a maximum switching duration for a particular beam switching gap position, or a combination thereof.

[0138] like Fig. 9As further shown in FIG. 9 , process 900 may include sending an RF sensing signal, receiving an RF sensing signal, or both during an RF sensing opportunity (block 920). Means for performing the operations of block 920 may include processor 384, memory 386, or WWAN transceiver 350 of BS 304. For example, BS 304 may use transmitter 354 to send the RF sensing signal and receiver 352 to receive the RF sensing signal.

[0139] Process 900 may include additional implementations, such as any single implementation or any combination of implementations described below and / or in conjunction with one or more other processes described elsewhere herein. Fig. 9 An example block diagram of process 900 is shown, but in some implementations, process 900 may include Fig. 9 The process 900 may include more boxes, fewer boxes, different boxes, or boxes arranged in a different manner than those depicted in the process 900. Additionally or alternatively, two or more boxes in the boxes of process 900 may be executed in parallel.

[0140] Fig.10 is a flow chart of an example process 1000 associated with opportunistic RF sensing in a cellular system. In some implementations, Fig.10 One or more process blocks of may be performed by a user equipment (UE) (e.g., UE 104). In some implementations, Fig.10 One or more process blocks of may be performed by another device or a group of devices separate from or including the UE. Additionally or alternatively, Fig.10 One or more process blocks of process 1000 may be performed by one or more components of UE 302 (such as processor 332, memory 340, WWAN transceiver 310, short-range wireless transceiver 320, satellite signal receiver 330, sensor 344, user interface 346, and RF sensing component 342), any or all of which may be means for performing the operations of process 1000.

[0141] like Fig.10 As shown, process 1000 may include determining an opportunity for a network entity (such as a base station) to perform RF sensing when the UE is not transmitting a signal, the opportunity including a guard period of the UE, a BWP switching period of the UE, or a beam switching period of the UE (block 1010). Means for performing the operations of block 1010 may include the processor 332, the memory 340, or the WWAN transceiver 310 of the UE 302. For example, the UE 302 may determine an opportunity for the network entity to perform RF sensing using the processor 332.

[0142] like Fig.10As further shown, process 1000 may include indicating an opportunity for RF sensing to a network entity (block 1020). Means for performing the operations of block 1020 may include processor 332, memory 340, or WWAN transceiver 310 of UE 302. For example, UE 302 may use transmitter 314 to transmit the indication.

[0143] In some aspects, indicating the opportunity for RF sensing includes indicating a BWP switching period for the UE. In some aspects, indicating the BWP switching period for the UE includes indicating a switching delay during which the UE switches from a first BWP to a second BWP. In some aspects, indicating the BWP switching period for the UE includes indicating the BWP switching period based on at least one of: radio resource control (RRC) signaling involving the UE, or a medium access control (MAC) entity when initiating a random access (RACH) procedure.

[0144] In some aspects, indicating an opportunity for RF sensing comprises indicating a beam switching period for the UE. In some aspects, indicating a beam switching period for the UE comprises transmitting an indication of the beam switching period. In some aspects, transmitting the indication of the beam switching period comprises transmitting a beam switching gap position identified by a system frame number (SFN), a slot index, a symbol index, a switching duration, or a combination thereof. In some aspects, transmitting the beam switching gap position comprises transmitting an index into a predefined table of beam switching gap positions, a maximum switching duration for a particular beam switching gap position, or a combination thereof.

[0145] Process 1000 may include additional implementations, such as any single implementation or any combination of implementations described below and / or in conjunction with one or more other processes described elsewhere herein. Fig.10 An example block diagram of process 1000 is shown, but in some implementations, process 1000 may include Fig.10 The process 1000 may include more boxes, fewer boxes, different boxes, or boxes arranged in a different manner than those depicted in the process 1000. Additionally or alternatively, two or more boxes in the boxes of process 1000 may be executed in parallel.

[0146] As will be appreciated, a technical advantage of the approach described herein is that, by exploiting existing periods during which the UE has not transmitted or received, the base station can opportunistically perform RF sensing in a manner that does not require any change in behavior on the part of the UE and therefore has no negative impact on spectral efficiency.

[0147] In the above detailed description, it can be seen that different features are grouped together in each example. This disclosure should not be understood as an intention that the example clauses have more features than the features explicitly mentioned in each clause. On the contrary, various aspects of the present disclosure may include less than all the features of the disclosed individual example clauses. Therefore, the following clauses should be deemed to be incorporated into the description accordingly, wherein each clause itself can be used as a separate example. Although each dependent clause may refer to a specific combination of one clause with other clauses in a clause, the aspects of the dependent clause are not limited to a specific combination. It should be understood that other example clauses may also include a combination of the subject matter of the dependent clause aspect with any other dependent clause or independent clause or any feature with other dependent clauses and independent clauses. Various aspects disclosed herein explicitly include these combinations, unless it is clearly expressed or can be easily inferred that a specific combination is not intended to be used (e.g., contradictory aspects, such as defining an element as both an electrical insulator and an electrical conductor). In addition, it is also expected that various aspects of the clause may be included in any other independent clause, even if the clause is not directly dependent on the independent clause.

[0148] Specific implementation examples are described in the following numbered clauses:

[0149] Clause 1. A method of RF sensing performed by a network entity, the method comprising: identifying opportunities for radio frequency (RF) sensing during which a user equipment (UE) does not transmit a signal, the opportunities comprising a protection period of the UE, a bandwidth part (BWP) switching period of the UE, or a beam switching period of the UE; and during the opportunities for RF sensing, transmitting an RF sensing signal, receiving an RF sensing signal, or both.

[0150] Clause 2. The method of clause 1, wherein identifying the opportunity for RF sensing comprises identifying a guard period for the UE, wherein the guard period is associated with a sounding reference signal (SRS) transmitted by the UE.

[0151] Clause 3. The method of clause 2, wherein identifying the guard period for the UE comprises identifying a guard period used after a transmission of a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) by the UE and before a transmission of an SRS by the UE.

[0152] Clause 4. A method as described in any of clauses 2 to 3, wherein identifying the guard period for the UE comprises identifying a guard period used between SRSs transmitted in the same time slot.

[0153] Clause 5. A method according to any of clauses 2 to 4, wherein identifying the guard period for the UE comprises identifying a guard period used after a last SRS transmitted in a timeslot and before the UE switches from uplink transmission to downlink transmission.

[0154] Clause 6. The method of any of clauses 1 to 5, wherein identifying the opportunity for RF sensing comprises identifying a BWP switching period for the UE.

[0155] Clause 7. The method of clause 6, wherein identifying the BWP switching period for the UE comprises identifying a switching delay during which the UE switches from a first BWP to a second BWP.

[0156] Clause 8. A method according to any one of clauses 6 to 7, wherein identifying the BWP switching period of the UE includes identifying the BWP switching period based on at least one of: a BWP indicator in a downlink control information (DCI) message to the UE; a BWP inactivity timer associated with the UE; radio resource control (RRC) signaling involving the UE; or a medium access control (MAC) entity when initiating a random access (RACH) procedure.

[0157] Clause 9. A method as described in any of clauses 1 to 8, wherein identifying the opportunity for RF sensing includes identifying a beam switching period for the UE.

[0158] Clause 10. The method of clause 9, wherein identifying the beam switching period for the UE comprises receiving an indication of the beam switching period from the UE.

[0159] Clause 11. The method of clause 10, wherein receiving the indication of the beam switching period from the UE comprises receiving a beam switching gap position identified by a system frame number (SFN), a time slot index, a symbol index, a switching duration, or a combination thereof.

[0160] Clause 12. The method of clause 11, wherein receiving the beam switching gap position comprises receiving an index into a predefined table of beam switching gap positions, a maximum switching duration for a particular beam switching gap position, or a combination thereof.

[0161] Clause 13. A method for RF sensing performed by a UE, the method comprising: determining an opportunity for a network entity to perform RF sensing when the UE is not sending a signal, the opportunity comprising a protection period of the UE, a BWP switching period of the UE, or a beam switching period of the UE; and indicating the opportunity for RF sensing to the network entity.

[0162] Clause 14. The method of clause 13, wherein indicating the opportunity for RF sensing comprises indicating a BWP switching period for the UE.

[0163] Clause 15. The method of clause 14, wherein the BWP switching period indicated for the UE comprises indicating a switching delay during which the UE switches from a first BWP to a second BWP.

[0164] Clause 16. A method according to any one of clauses 14 to 15, wherein indicating the BWP switching period for the UE comprises indicating the BWP switching period based on at least one of: RRC signaling involving the UE; or a MAC entity when initiating a RACH procedure.

[0165] Clause 17. A method as described in any of clauses 13 to 16, wherein indicating the opportunity for RF sensing includes indicating a beam switching period for the UE.

[0166] Clause 18. The method of clause 17, wherein indicating the beam switching period for the UE comprises transmitting an indication of the beam switching period.

[0167] Clause 19. The method of clause 18, wherein transmitting the indication of the beam switching period comprises transmitting a beam switching gap position identified by a SFN, a slot index, a symbol index, a switching duration, or a combination thereof.

[0168] Clause 20. The method of clause 19, wherein communicating the beam switching gap position comprises communicating an index into a predefined table of beam switching gap positions, a maximum switching duration for a particular beam switching gap position, or a combination thereof.

[0169] Clause 21. A network entity, comprising: a memory; at least one transceiver; and at least one processor, the at least one processor being communicatively coupled to the memory and the at least one transceiver, the at least one processor being configured to: identify opportunities for RF sensing during which a UE does not transmit a signal, the opportunities comprising a protection period of the UE, a BWP switching period of the UE, or a beam switching period of the UE; and during the opportunities for RF sensing, transmit an RF sensing signal, receive an RF sensing signal, or both via the at least one transceiver.

[0170] Clause 22. The network entity of clause 21, wherein to identify the opportunity for RF sensing, the at least one processor is configured to identify a guard period for the UE, wherein the guard period is associated with an SRS transmitted by the UE.

[0171] Clause 23. A network entity according to clause 22, wherein to identify the guard period for the UE, the at least one processor is configured to identify a guard period used after a transmission of a PUSCH by the UE and before a transmission of an SRS by the UE.

[0172] Clause 24. A network entity as set forth in any of clauses 22 to 23, wherein to identify the guard period for the UE, the at least one processor is configured to identify a guard period used between SRSs transmitted in the same time slot.

[0173] Clause 25. A network entity according to any one of clauses 22 to 24, wherein in order to identify the guard period of the UE, the at least one processor is configured to identify a guard period used after the last SRS sent in a time slot and before the UE switches from uplink transmission to downlink transmission.

[0174] Clause 26. A network entity as set forth in any of clauses 21 to 25, wherein to identify the opportunity for RF sensing, the at least one processor is configured to identify a BWP switching period for the UE.

[0175] Clause 27. The network entity of clause 26, wherein to identify the BWP switching period for the UE, the at least one processor is configured to identify a switching delay during which the UE switches from a first BWP to a second BWP.

[0176] Clause 28. A network entity according to any one of clauses 26 to 27, wherein, in order to identify the BWP switching period of the UE, the at least one processor is configured to identify the BWP switching period based on at least one of: a BWP indicator in a DCI message to the UE; a BWP inactivity timer associated with the UE; RRC signaling involving the UE; or a MAC entity when initiating a RACH process.

[0177] Clause 29. A network entity as described in any of clauses 21 to 28, wherein to identify the opportunity for RF sensing, the at least one processor is configured to identify a beam switching period for the UE.

[0178] Clause 30. The network entity of clause 29, wherein to identify the beam switching period for the UE, the at least one processor is configured to receive an indication of the beam switching period from the UE.

[0179] Clause 31. A network entity according to clause 30, wherein in order to receive the indication of the beam switching period from the UE, the at least one processor is configured to receive a beam switching gap position identified by a SFN, a timeslot index, a symbol index, a switching duration, or a combination thereof.

[0180] Clause 32. A network entity according to clause 31, wherein in order to receive the beam switching gap position, the at least one processor is configured to receive an index into a predefined table of beam switching gap positions, a maximum switching duration for a specific beam switching gap position, or a combination thereof.

[0181] Clause 33. A UE comprising: a memory; at least one transceiver; and at least one processor, the at least one processor being communicatively coupled to the memory and the at least one transceiver, the at least one processor being configured to: determine an opportunity for a network entity such as a base station to perform RF sensing when the UE is not sending a signal, the opportunity comprising a protection period of the UE, a BWP switching period of the UE, or a beam switching period of the UE; and indicate the opportunity for RF sensing to the network entity via the at least one transceiver.

[0182] Clause 34. The UE of clause 33, wherein to indicate the opportunity for RF sensing, the at least one processor is configured to indicate a BWP switching period for the UE.

[0183] Clause 35. The UE of clause 34, wherein to indicate the BWP switching period for the UE, the at least one processor is configured to indicate a switching delay during which the UE switches from a first BWP to a second BWP.

[0184] Clause 36. A UE according to any one of clauses 34 to 35, wherein, in order to indicate the BWP switching period of the UE, the at least one processor is configured to indicate the BWP switching period based on at least one of the following: RRC signaling involving the UE; or a MAC entity when initiating a RACH process.

[0185] Clause 37. A UE as described in any of clauses 33 to 36, wherein to indicate the opportunity for RF sensing, the at least one processor is configured to indicate a beam switching period for the UE.

[0186] Clause 38. A UE as described in clause 37, wherein to indicate the beam switching period of the UE, the at least one processor is configured to transmit an indication of the beam switching period.

[0187] Clause 39. A UE according to clause 38, wherein to transmit the indication of the beam switching period, the at least one processor is configured to transmit a beam switching gap position identified by a SFN, a timeslot index, a symbol index, a switching duration, or a combination thereof.

[0188] Clause 40. The UE of clause 39, wherein to communicate the beam switching gap position, the at least one processor is configured to communicate an index into a predefined table of beam switching gap positions, a maximum switching duration for a particular beam switching gap position, or a combination thereof.

[0189] Clause 41. A network entity comprising: a component for identifying an opportunity for RF sensing during which a UE does not transmit a signal, the opportunity comprising a protection period of the UE, a BWP switching period of the UE, or a beam switching period of the UE; and a component for transmitting an RF sensing signal, receiving an RF sensing signal, or both during the opportunity for RF sensing.

[0190] Clause 42. A UE comprising: a component for determining an opportunity for a network entity to perform RF sensing when the UE is not transmitting a signal, the opportunity comprising a protection period of the UE, a BWP switching period of the UE, or a beam switching period of the UE; and a component for indicating the opportunity for RF sensing to the network entity.

[0191] Clause 43. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer-executable instructions, which, when executed by a network entity, cause the network entity to: identify opportunities for RF sensing during which a UE does not transmit a signal, the opportunities comprising a protection period of the UE, a BWP switching period of the UE, or a beam switching period of the UE; and during the opportunities for RF sensing, transmit an RF sensing signal, receive an RF sensing signal, or both.

[0192] Clause 44. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer-executable instructions, which, when executed by a UE, cause the UE to: determine an opportunity for a network entity to perform RF sensing when the UE is not sending a signal, the opportunity comprising a protection period of the UE, a BWP switching period of the UE, or a beam switching period of the UE; and indicate the opportunity for RF sensing to the network entity.

[0193] Clause 41. An apparatus, comprising: a memory; a transceiver; and a processor, the processor being communicatively coupled to the memory and the transceiver, the memory, the transceiver, and the processor being configured to perform the method of any one of clauses 1 to 20.

[0194] Clause 42. An apparatus comprising means for performing the method of any one of clauses 1 to 20.

[0195] Clause 43. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer-executable instructions, the computer-executable instructions comprising at least one instruction for causing a computer or a processor to perform the method according to any one of clauses 1 to 20.

[0196] It should be understood by those skilled in the art that information and signals may be represented using any of a variety of different techniques and methods. For example, data, instructions, commands, information, signals, bits, symbols, and chips that may be mentioned throughout the above description may be represented by voltage, current, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or magnetic particles, light fields or optical particles, or any combination thereof.

[0197] In addition, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the various exemplary logic blocks, modules, circuits and algorithmic steps described in conjunction with the various aspects disclosed herein can be implemented as electronic hardware, computer software or a combination of the two. In order to clearly illustrate this interchangeability of hardware and software, various exemplary components, frames, modules, circuits and steps have been generally described in terms of their functionality. Whether such functionality is implemented as hardware or software depends on the specific application and the design constraints proposed to the entire system. Those skilled in the art can implement the described functionality in different ways for each specific application, but such specific implementation decisions should not be interpreted as causing a departure from the scope of the present disclosure.

[0198] The various illustrative logical blocks, modules, and circuits described in conjunction with the various aspects disclosed herein may be implemented or performed using a general purpose processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an ASIC, a field programmable gate array (FPGA) or other programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof designed to perform the functions described herein. A general purpose processor may be a microprocessor, but in an alternative, the processor may be any conventional processor, controller, microcontroller, or state machine. A processor may also be implemented as a combination of computing devices, such as a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, a plurality of microprocessors, a combination of one or more microprocessors and a DSP core, or any other such configuration.

[0199] The methods, sequences and / or algorithms described in conjunction with the various aspects disclosed herein may be directly embodied in hardware, in a software module executed by a processor, or in a combination of the two. The software module may reside in a random access memory (RAM), a flash memory, a read-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable ROM (EPROM), an electrically erasable programmable ROM (EEPROM), a register, a hard disk, a removable disk, a CD-ROM, or any other form of storage medium known in the art. An example storage medium is coupled to the processor so that the processor can read information from the storage medium and write information to the storage medium. In an alternative, the storage medium may be integral with the processor. The processor and the storage medium may reside in an ASIC. The ASIC may reside in a user terminal (e.g., UE). In an alternative, the processor and the storage medium may reside in a user terminal as discrete components.

[0200] In one or more example aspects, the function may be implemented in hardware, software, firmware, or any combination thereof. If implemented in software, the function may be stored on a computer-readable medium or sent via a computer-readable medium as one or more instructions or codes. Computer-readable media include both computer storage media and communication media, including any medium that facilitates the transfer of a computer program from one place to another. Storage media may be any available medium that can be accessed by a computer. Exemplarily and not restrictively, such computer-readable media may include RAM, ROM, EEPROM, CD-ROM or other optical disk storage devices, disk storage devices or other magnetic storage devices, and any other medium that can also be used to carry or store desired program codes in the form of instructions or data structures and can be accessed by a computer. In addition, any connection is appropriately referred to as a computer-readable medium. For example, if the software is sent from a website, a server, or other remote source using coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, digital subscriber line (DSL), or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio, and microwaves, coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, DSL, or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio, and microwaves are included in the definition of the medium. Disk and disc, as used herein, include compact disc (CD), laser disc, optical disc, digital versatile disc (DVD), floppy disk and Blu-ray disc, where disks usually reproduce data magnetically, while discs reproduce data optically with lasers. Combinations of the above should also be included within the scope of computer-readable media.

[0201] Although the foregoing disclosure shows the exemplary aspects of the present disclosure, it should be noted that various changes and modifications may be made herein without departing from the scope of the present disclosure as defined by the appended claims. In addition, the functions, steps and / or actions of the method claims according to the various aspects of the present disclosure described herein do not need to be performed in any particular order. In addition, although the elements of the present disclosure may be described or claimed in singular form, plural forms may also be considered unless explicitly stated to be limited to the singular form.

Claims

1. A method of radio frequency (RF) sensing performed by a network entity, the method comprising: identifying opportunities for RF sensing during which a user equipment (UE) does not transmit a signal, the opportunities comprising a guard period of the UE, a bandwidth part (BWP) switching period of the UE, or a beam switching period of the UE; as well as During the opportunity for RF sensing, an RF sensing signal is sent, an RF sensing signal is received, or both.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein identifying the opportunity for RF sensing comprises identifying a guard period for the UE, wherein the guard period is associated with a sounding reference signal (SRS) transmitted by the UE.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein identifying the guard period of the UE comprises identifying a guard period used after transmission of a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) by the UE and before transmission of an SRS by the UE. 4 . The method of claim 2 , wherein identifying the guard period for the UE comprises identifying a guard period used between SRSs transmitted in the same time slot.

5. The method of claim 2, wherein identifying the guard period of the UE comprises identifying a guard period used after a last SRS transmitted in a time slot and before the UE switches from uplink transmission to downlink transmission. The method of claim 1 , wherein identifying the opportunity for RF sensing comprises identifying a BWP switching period for the UE. 7 . The method of claim 6 , wherein identifying the BWP switching period for the UE comprises identifying a switching delay during which the UE switches from a first BWP to a second BWP.

8. The method of claim 6, wherein identifying the BWP switching period for the UE comprises identifying the BWP switching period based on at least one of: a BWP indicator in a downlink control information (DCI) message to the UE; a BWP inactivity timer associated with the UE; Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling involving the UE; or The Medium Access Control (MAC) entity when initiating a Random Access (RACH) procedure.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein identifying the opportunity for RF sensing comprises identifying a beam switching period for the UE.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein identifying the beam switching period for the UE comprises receiving an indication of the beam switching period from the UE.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein receiving the indication of the beam switching period from the UE comprises receiving a beam switching gap position identified by a system frame number (SFN), a time slot index, a symbol index, a switching duration, or a combination thereof.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein receiving the beam switching gap position comprises receiving an index into a predefined table of beam switching gap positions, a maximum switching duration for a specific beam switching gap position, or a combination thereof.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein the network entity comprises a base station or a gNodeB.

14. A method of radio frequency (RF) sensing performed by a user equipment (UE), the method comprising: determining an opportunity for a network entity to perform RF sensing when the UE is not transmitting a signal, the opportunity comprising a guard period of the UE, a bandwidth part (BWP) switching period of the UE, or a beam switching period of the UE; as well as The opportunity for RF sensing is indicated to the network entity.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein indicating the opportunity for RF sensing comprises indicating a BWP switching period for the UE. 16 . The method of claim 15 , wherein indicating the BWP switching period of the UE comprises indicating a switching delay during which the UE switches from a first BWP to a second BWP.

17. The method of claim 15, wherein indicating the BWP switching period of the UE comprises indicating the BWP switching period based on at least one of: Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling involving the UE; or The Medium Access Control (MAC) entity when initiating a Random Access (RACH) procedure.

18. The method of claim 14, wherein indicating the opportunity for RF sensing comprises indicating a beam switching period for the UE.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein indicating the beam switching period for the UE comprises transmitting an indication of the beam switching period.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein transmitting the indication of the beam switching period comprises transmitting a beam switching slot position identified by a system frame number (SFN), a slot index, a symbol index, a switching duration, or a combination thereof.

21. The method of claim 20, wherein communicating the beam switching gap position comprises communicating an index into a predefined table of beam switching gap positions, a maximum switching duration for a particular beam switching gap position, or a combination thereof.

22. The method of claim 14, wherein the network entity comprises a base station or a gNodeB.

23. A network entity, comprising: Memory; at least one transceiver; and at least one processor, the at least one processor being communicatively coupled to the memory and the at least one transceiver, the at least one processor being configured to: Identifying opportunities for radio frequency (RF) sensing during which a user equipment (UE) does not transmit a signal, the opportunities comprising a guard period of the UE, a bandwidth part (BWP) switching period of the UE, or a beam switching period of the UE; as well as During the opportunity for RF sensing, an RF sensing signal is transmitted, an RF sensing signal is received, or both, via the at least one transceiver.

24. The network entity of claim 23, wherein to identify the opportunity for RF sensing, the at least one processor is configured to identify a guard period for the UE, wherein the guard period is associated with a sounding reference signal (SRS) transmitted by the UE.

25. The network entity of claim 23, wherein to identify the opportunity for RF sensing, the at least one processor is configured to identify a BWP switching period for the UE.

26. The network entity of claim 23, wherein to identify the opportunity for RF sensing, the at least one processor is configured to identify a beam switching period for the UE.

27. The network entity of claim 23, the network entity comprising a base station or a gNodeB.

28. A user equipment (UE), the user equipment (UE) comprising: Memory; at least one transceiver; and at least one processor, the at least one processor being communicatively coupled to the memory and the at least one transceiver, the at least one processor being configured to: determining an opportunity for a network entity to perform radio frequency (RF) sensing when the UE is not transmitting a signal, the opportunity comprising a guard period of the UE, a bandwidth part (BWP) switching period of the UE, or a beam switching period of the UE; as well as The opportunity for RF sensing is indicated to the network entity via the at least one transceiver.

29. The UE of claim 28, wherein to indicate the opportunity for RF sensing, the at least one processor is configured to indicate a BWP switching period for the UE.

30. The UE of claim 28, wherein to indicate the opportunity for RF sensing, the at least one processor is configured to indicate a beam switching period for the UE.

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