Sensing circuit for radio frequency exposure compliance

Abstract

Certain aspects of the present disclosure provide techniques for compliant operation of a wireless device in accordance with radio frequency (RF) exposure. A method executable by a wireless device includes: switching a sensing circuit to a first mode in response to one or more first criteria being satisfied; switching the sensing circuit to a second mode in response to one or more second criteria being satisfied; and transmit a signal at a transmit power determined based at least in part on a radio frequency (RF) exposure limit and based at least in part on one or more measurements associated with the sensing circuit if the sensing circuit is operating in the second mode.

Description

[0001] CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0002] This application claims priority to U.S. patent application serial number 18 / 470,851 filed on September 20, 2023, which claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Serial No. 63 / 376,532 filed on September 21, 2022, and is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety for all purposes. Background Art Technical Field

[0003] Aspects of the present disclosure relate to wireless communications and, more particularly, to radio frequency (RF) exposure compliance.

[0004] Related technologies

[0005] Wireless communication systems are widely deployed to provide a variety of telecommunication services, such as telephony, video, data, messaging, broadcasting, etc. Modern wireless devices, such as cellular phones, are often required to meet radio frequency (RF) exposure limits set by certain government and international standards and regulations. To ensure compliance with the standards, such devices currently undergo an extensive certification process before being shipped to the market. To ensure that wireless devices comply with RF exposure limits, technologies have been developed that enable wireless devices to assess RF exposure from the wireless device and adjust the transmit power of the wireless device accordingly to comply with the RF exposure limits. Summary of the invention

[0006] The systems, methods, and devices of the present disclosure each have several aspects, no single one of which is solely responsible for its desirable characteristics. Without limiting the scope of the present disclosure as expressed in the appended claims, some features will now be briefly discussed. After considering this discussion, and particularly after reading the section entitled "Detailed Description of the Invention," it will be understood how the features of the present disclosure provide advantages including, for example, improved wireless communication performance and increased energy efficiency during transmission due to management of sensing circuits for evaluating radio frequency exposure scenarios.

[0007] Certain aspects of the subject matter described in this disclosure may be implemented in a method for wireless communication by a wireless device. The method as a whole includes: switching a sensing circuit to a first mode in response to satisfying one or more first criteria; and switching the sensing circuit to a second mode in response to satisfying one or more second criteria. The method also includes transmitting a signal at a transmit power determined at least in part based on a radio frequency (RF) exposure limit and at least in part based on one or more measurements associated with the sensing circuit when the sensing circuit is operating in the second mode.

[0008] Certain aspects of the subject matter described in the present disclosure may be implemented in a device for wireless communication. The device includes one or more memories that collectively store computer executable instructions. The device also includes one or more processors that are coupled to the one or more memories. The one or more processors are collectively configured to execute computer executable instructions to cause the device to perform operations. The operation includes switching a sensing circuit to a first mode in response to satisfying one or more first criteria. The operation also includes switching the sensing circuit to a second mode in response to satisfying one or more second criteria. The operation also includes transmitting a signal at a transmit power determined at least in part based on radio frequency (RF) exposure limits and at least in part based on one or more measurements associated with the sensing circuit when the sensing circuit is operating in the second mode.

[0009] Certain aspects of the subject matter described in this disclosure may be implemented in an apparatus for wireless communication. The apparatus includes: means for switching a sensing circuit to a first mode in response to satisfying one or more first criteria; and means for switching the sensing circuit to a second mode in response to satisfying one or more second criteria. The apparatus also includes means for transmitting a signal at a transmit power determined at least in part based on a radio frequency (RF) exposure limit and at least in part based on one or more measurements associated with the sensing circuit if the sensing circuit is operating in the second mode.

[0010] Certain aspects of the subject matter described in the present disclosure may be implemented in a non-transitory computer-readable medium. The non-transitory computer-readable medium includes computer-executable instructions that, when collectively executed by one or more processors of a processing system, cause the processing system to perform a method. The method includes: switching a sensing circuit to a first mode in response to satisfying one or more first criteria; and switching the sensing circuit to a second mode in response to satisfying one or more second criteria. The method also includes transmitting a signal at a transmit power determined at least in part based on a radio frequency (RF) exposure limit and at least in part based on one or more measurements associated with the sensing circuit when the sensing circuit is operating in the second mode.

[0011] Certain aspects of the subject matter described in the present disclosure may be implemented in a computer program product. The computer program product may be embodied on a computer-readable storage medium. The computer-readable storage medium includes code for performing a method. The method includes: switching a sensing circuit to a first mode in response to satisfying one or more first criteria; and switching the sensing circuit to a second mode in response to satisfying one or more second criteria. The method also includes transmitting a signal at a transmit power determined at least in part based on a radio frequency (RF) exposure limit and at least in part based on one or more measurements associated with the sensing circuit when the sensing circuit is operating in the second mode.

[0012] Certain aspects of the subject matter described in the present disclosure may be implemented in a method for wireless communication by a wireless device. The method as a whole includes: determining a transmit power parameter; and disabling or maintaining disabled one or more sensors associated with radio frequency (RF) exposure when the transmit power parameter is less than a first threshold. The method also includes enabling or maintaining enabled one or more sensors associated with RF exposure when the transmit power parameter is greater than a second threshold. The method also includes transmitting a signal at a transmit power determined at least in part based on an RF exposure limit and at least in part based on one or more measurements from one or more sensors associated with RF exposure when one or more sensors associated with RF exposure are enabled.

[0013] Certain aspects of the subject matter described in the present disclosure may be implemented in a device for wireless communication. The device includes one or more memories that collectively store computer executable instructions. The device also includes one or more processors that are coupled to the one or more memories. The one or more processors are collectively configured to execute computer executable instructions to cause the device to perform operations. The operation includes determining a transmit power parameter. The operation also includes disabling or maintaining disabling one or more sensors associated with radio frequency (RF) exposure when the transmit power parameter is less than a first threshold. The operation also includes enabling or maintaining enabling one or more sensors associated with RF exposure when the transmit power parameter is greater than a second threshold. The operation also includes transmitting a signal at a transmit power determined at least in part based on an RF exposure limit and at least in part based on one or more measurements from one or more sensors associated with RF exposure when one or more sensors associated with RF exposure are enabled.

[0014] Certain aspects of the subject matter described in the present disclosure may be implemented in an apparatus for wireless communication. The apparatus includes a component for determining a transmit power parameter. The apparatus also includes a component for disabling one or more sensors associated with radio frequency (RF) exposure or a component for maintaining the disabling of one or more sensors associated with radio frequency (RF) exposure when the transmit power parameter is less than a first threshold. The apparatus also includes a component for enabling one or more sensors associated with RF exposure or a component for maintaining the enabling of one or more sensors associated with RF exposure when the transmit power parameter is greater than a second threshold. The apparatus also includes a component for transmitting a signal at a transmit power determined at least in part based on an RF exposure limit and at least in part based on one or more measurements from one or more sensors associated with RF exposure when one or more sensors associated with RF exposure are enabled.

[0015] Certain aspects of the subject matter described in the present disclosure may be implemented in a non-transitory computer-readable medium. The non-transitory computer-readable medium includes computer-executable instructions that, when executed collectively by one or more processors of a processing system, cause the processing system to perform a method. The method includes: determining a transmit power parameter; and disabling or maintaining disabled one or more sensors associated with radio frequency (RF) exposure when the transmit power parameter is less than a first threshold. The method also includes enabling or maintaining enabled one or more sensors associated with RF exposure when the transmit power parameter is greater than a second threshold. The method also includes transmitting a signal at a transmit power determined at least in part based on an RF exposure limit and at least in part based on one or more measurements from one or more sensors associated with RF exposure when one or more sensors associated with RF exposure are enabled.

[0016] Certain aspects of the subject matter described in the present disclosure may be implemented in a computer program product. The computer program product may be embodied on a computer-readable storage medium. The computer-readable storage medium includes code for performing a method. The method includes: determining a transmit power parameter; and disabling or maintaining disabled one or more sensors associated with radio frequency (RF) exposure when the transmit power parameter is less than a first threshold. The method also includes enabling or maintaining enabled one or more sensors associated with RF exposure when the transmit power parameter is greater than a second threshold. The method also includes transmitting a signal at a transmit power determined at least in part based on an RF exposure limit and at least in part based on one or more measurements from one or more sensors associated with RF exposure when one or more sensors associated with RF exposure are enabled.

[0017] Other aspects provide: an apparatus operable to, configured to, or otherwise adapted to perform any one or more of the foregoing methods and / or those described elsewhere herein; a non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising instructions that, when executed by a processor of the apparatus, cause the apparatus to perform the foregoing methods and those described elsewhere herein; a computer program product embodied on a computer-readable storage medium, comprising code for performing the foregoing methods and those described elsewhere herein; and / or an apparatus comprising components for performing the foregoing methods and those described elsewhere herein. By way of example, an apparatus may include a processing system, a device having a processing system, or a processing system cooperating through one or more networks.

[0018] To achieve the aforementioned and related purposes, one or more aspects include the features fully described below and particularly pointed out in the claims. The following description and the accompanying drawings set forth in detail certain exemplary features of the one or more aspects. However, these features indicate only some of the various ways in which the principles of the various aspects can be employed. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0019] In order that the above-mentioned features of the present disclosure can be understood in detail, a more specific description briefly summarized above can be obtained by referring to some aspects illustrated in the accompanying drawings. However, it should be noted that the accompanying drawings illustrate only certain typical aspects of the present disclosure and are therefore not to be considered as limiting the scope thereof, as the specification may admit to other equally effective aspects.

[0020] Figure 1 is a block diagram conceptually illustrating an example wireless communication network in accordance with certain aspects of the present disclosure.

[0021] Figure 2 is a block diagram conceptually illustrating designs of example base stations (BSs) and user equipment (UEs) in accordance with certain aspects of the present disclosure.

[0022] Figure 3 is a block diagram of an example radio frequency (RF) transceiver in accordance with certain aspects of the present disclosure.

[0023] Figure 4A and Figure 4B is a graph illustrating an example of transmit power over time subject to time-averaged RF exposure limits in accordance with certain aspects of the present disclosure.

[0024] Figure 5 A block diagram illustrating an example wireless device with sensing circuitry in accordance with certain aspects of the present disclosure is illustrated.

[0025] Figure 6 is a diagram illustrating an example mode of a sensing circuit according to certain aspects of the present disclosure.

[0026] Figure 7 is a flow chart illustrating example operations for managing sensing circuits in accordance with certain aspects of the present disclosure.

[0027] Figure 8 A table illustrating example transmit power limits associated with different device use cases in accordance with certain aspects of the present disclosure.

[0028] Fig. 9 is a flow diagram illustrating example operations for wireless communications by a wireless device in accordance with certain aspects of the present disclosure.

[0029] Fig.10 is a flow chart illustrating additional example operations for wireless communications by a wireless device in accordance with certain aspects of the present disclosure.

[0030] Fig.11 Illustrated are communications devices that may include various components configured to perform operations for the techniques disclosed herein in accordance with certain aspects of the present disclosure.

[0031] To facilitate understanding, identical reference numerals have been used, where possible, to designate identical elements that are common to the figures. It is contemplated that elements disclosed in one aspect may be beneficially utilized on other aspects without specific recitation. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0032] Aspects of the present disclosure provide apparatus, methods, processing systems, and computer-readable media for triggering sensing circuit control to achieve radio frequency (RF) exposure compliance.

[0033] In some cases, the RF exposure compliance of a wireless device may be different depending on the RF exposure scenario exhibited by the wireless device. For example, the wireless device may be close to the user's head, body, and / or hands, where RF exposure may be higher. In some cases, the wireless device may be positioned away from the user's body (e.g., when charging or used as a hotspot), where RF exposure may be lower. Different RF exposure limits (e.g., time-averaged transmit power limits) for RF exposure compliance may be used depending on the RF exposure scenario exhibited by the wireless device. Certain RF exposure scenarios may be indicated via a device state index (DSI) and / or a device range index (DRI), where the DSI may indicate whether the wireless device is on or off the user's body, and the DRI may indicate whether the wireless device is within a certain range of exposing human tissue to RF, as further described herein.

[0034] The wireless device may use sensing circuitry to determine an RF exposure scenario for the wireless device. Repeatedly operating the sensing circuitry to evaluate an RF exposure scenario increases power consumption of the wireless device. In some cases, operating the sensing circuitry too frequently to evaluate an RF exposure scenario may result in wasted energy, for example, when the wireless device is transmitting at a power level below an RF exposure limit associated with the current RF exposure scenario. In some cases, operating the sensing circuitry (e.g., circuitry that uses radar to detect proximity of an object) may generate interference to wireless communications, such as self-interference at the wireless device or interference to other wireless devices.

[0035] Various aspects of the present disclosure provide apparatus and methods for triggering a sensing circuit to implement RF exposure compliance. As an example, a wireless device (e.g., a user equipment (UE) or customer premises equipment (CPE)) may use a sensing circuit to evaluate an RF exposure scenario if a transmit power parameter satisfies a certain criterion (e.g., an average transmit power is greater than or equal to a threshold). In this example, the sensing circuit may determine an RF exposure scenario for the wireless device, and the wireless device may transmit a signal based on a transmit power of an RF exposure limit associated with the RF exposure scenario (e.g., a device usage scenario). If the transmit power parameter does not satisfy a certain criterion (e.g., an average transmit power is less than or equal to a threshold), the wireless device may avoid using the sensing circuit to evaluate the RF exposure scenario. The wireless device may transmit a signal at a transmit power based on RF exposure compliance without using the sensing circuit to determine the RF exposure scenario.

[0036] The apparatus and method for triggering a sensing circuit described herein may facilitate improved wireless communication performance (e.g., lower latency, higher throughput, lower block error rate (BER), and / or reduced interference) and / or improved energy efficiency. For example, if the wireless device is transmitting at a high average transmit power that complies with RF exposure limits, the sensing circuit may be used to determine whether the wireless device is in an RF exposure scenario (such as a hotspot exposure scenario) where an increased higher transmit power can be utilized. In such cases, the sensing circuit may achieve improved uplink or sidelink performance or throughput due to the higher transmit power. In some cases, if the wireless device is transmitting at a low average transmit power that complies with RF exposure limits, the wireless device may avoid using the sensing circuit to evaluate the RF exposure scenario. In such cases, the sensing circuit may be operated less frequently (e.g., an inertial measurement unit (IMU) for other purposes) or in an idle mode (e.g., in a low power state or powered off), and the wireless device may benefit from reduced power consumption from the sensing circuit and / or reduced interference caused by certain sensing circuits (e.g., RF-based proximity sensors). Under all use case conditions, the wireless device may transmit signals at a certain transmit power to ensure RF exposure compliance for a given use case (eg, RF exposure scenario) of the wireless device.

[0037] The following description provides an example of RF exposure compliance in a communication system, without limiting the scope, applicability or examples set forth in the claims. Without departing from the scope of the present disclosure, the functions and arrangements of the elements discussed may be changed. Various procedures or components may be omitted, replaced or added to each example as appropriate. For example, the method described may be performed in a different order than described, and various steps may be added, omitted or combined. In addition, the features described for some examples may be combined in some other examples. For example, any number of aspects set forth herein may be used to implement a device or practice method. In addition, the scope of the present disclosure is intended to cover such devices or methods practiced using other structures, functionalities, or structures and functionalities that supplement or replace the various aspects of the present disclosure set forth herein. It should be understood that any aspect of the disclosure disclosed herein may be embodied by one or more elements of the claims. The word "exemplary" is used herein to mean "used as an example, instance, or illustration". Any aspect described herein as "exemplary" is not necessarily interpreted as being preferred or having an advantage over other aspects.

[0038] Generally speaking, any number of wireless networks may be deployed in a given geographic area. Each wireless network may support a specific radio access technology (RAT) and may operate on one or more frequencies. RAT may also be referred to as a radio technology, an air interface, etc. Frequency may also be referred to as a carrier, a subcarrier, a frequency channel, a tone, a subband, etc. Each frequency may support a single RAT in a given geographic area to avoid interference between wireless networks of different RATs, or may support multiple RATs.

[0039] The techniques described herein can be used for various wireless networks and radio technologies. Although various aspects may be described herein using terms typically associated with 3G, 4G, and / or 5G (e.g., New Radio (NR)) wireless technologies, various aspects of the present disclosure may be applied to communication systems based on other generations and / or to wireless technologies such as 802.11, 802.15, etc.

[0040] NR access can support various wireless communication services, such as enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB) targeting wide bandwidth (e.g., 80 MHz or greater), millimeter wave (mmWave) targeting high carrier frequency (e.g., 24 GHz to 53 GHz or greater), massive machine type communication MTC (mMTC) targeting non-backward compatible MTC technology, and / or mission critical services targeting ultra-reliable low latency communication (URLLC). These services may include latency and reliability requirements. These services may also have different transmission time intervals (TTIs) to meet corresponding quality of service (QoS) requirements. In addition, these services can coexist in the same subframe. NR supports beamforming and can dynamically configure beam directions. Multiple input multiple output (MIMO) transmission using precoding can also be supported as multi-layer transmission. Aggregation of multiple cells can be supported.

[0041] Example Wireless Communications Networks and Devices

[0042] Figure 1 An example wireless communication network 100 is illustrated in which aspects of the present disclosure may be performed. For example, the wireless communication network 100 may be a NR system (e.g., a 5G NR network), an Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA) system (e.g., a 4G network), a Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) (e.g., a 2G / 3G network), or a Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) system (e.g., a 2G / 3G network), or may be configured for communication in accordance with IEEE standards such as one or more of the 802.11 standards. Figure 1 As shown, UE 120a includes an RF exposure manager 122 that controls certain sensing circuits for RF exposure scenario assessment, in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure.

[0043] like Figure 1 As illustrated in , the wireless communication network 100 may include multiple BSs 110a to 110z (each also individually referred to herein as BS 110, or collectively referred to as BS 110) and other network entities. BS 110 may provide communication coverage for a specific geographic area (sometimes referred to as a "cell"), which may be stationary or movable depending on the location of a mobile BS. In some examples, BS 110 may be interconnected with each other and / or connected to one or more other BSs or network nodes (not shown) in the wireless communication network 100 through various types of backhaul interfaces (e.g., direct physical connections, wireless connections, virtual networks, etc.) using any suitable transmission network. Figure 1 In the example shown, BSs 110a, 110b, and 110c may be macro BSs for macro cells 102a, 102b, and 102c, respectively. BS 110x may be a pico BS for pico cell 102x. BSs 110y and 110z may be femto BSs for femto cells 102y and 102z, respectively. A BS may support one or more cells.

[0044] BS 110 communicates with UEs 120a-y (each also individually referred to herein as UE 120 or collectively referred to as UE 120) in the wireless communication network 100. UEs 120 (e.g., 120x, 120y, etc.) may be dispersed throughout the wireless communication network 100, and each UE 120 may be stationary or mobile. The wireless communication network 100 may also include a relay station (e.g., relay station 110r) (also referred to as a relay, etc.) that receives transmissions of data and / or other information from an upstream station (e.g., BS 110a or UE 120r) and transmits the transmissions of the data and / or other information to a downstream station (e.g., UE 120 or BS 110), or relays transmissions between UEs 120 to facilitate communication between devices.

[0045] The network controller 130 may communicate with a collection of BSs 110 and provide coordination and control (e.g., via backhaul) for these BSs 110. In some cases, such as in a 5G NR system, the network controller 130 may include a centralized unit (CU) and / or a distributed unit (DU). In various aspects, the network controller 130 may communicate with a core network 132 (e.g., a 5G core network (5GC)), which provides various network functions such as access and mobility management, session management, user plane functions, policy control functions, authentication server functions, unified data management, application functions, network open functions, network repository functions, network slice selection functions, etc.

[0046] Figure 21 and 120a (eg, Figure 1 Example communication components of a wireless communication network 100).

[0047] At BS 110a, a transmit processor 220 may receive data from a data source 212 and control information from a controller / processor 240. The control information may be for a physical broadcast channel (PBCH), a physical control format indicator channel (PCFICH), a physical hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) indicator channel (PHICH), a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH), a group common PDCCH (GC PDCCH), etc. The data may be for a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH), etc. A medium access control (MAC)-control element (MAC-CE) is a MAC layer communication structure that may be used for control command exchange between wireless nodes. The MAC-CE may be carried in a shared channel such as a PDSCH, a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH), or a physical sidelink shared channel (PSSCH).

[0048] The processor 220 may process (e.g., encode and symbol map) data and control information to obtain data symbols and control symbols, respectively. The transmit processor 220 may also generate reference symbols such as for a primary synchronization signal (PSS), a secondary synchronization signal (SSS), a PBCH demodulation reference signal (DMRS), and a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS). The transmit (TX) multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) processor 230 may perform spatial processing (e.g., pre-decoding) on ​​data symbols, control symbols, and / or reference symbols (where applicable), and may provide an output symbol stream to a modulator (MOD) in a transceiver 232a-232t. Each modulator in the transceiver 232a-232t may process a corresponding output symbol stream (e.g., for OFDM, etc.) to obtain an output sample stream. Each modulator in the transceiver 232a to 232t may further process (e.g., transform to analog, amplify, filter, and up-convert) the output sample stream to obtain a downlink signal. Downlink signals from transceivers 232a-232t may be transmitted via antennas 234a-234t, respectively.

[0049] At UE 120a, antennas 252a-252r may receive downlink signals from BS110a and may provide received signals to transceivers 254a-254r, respectively. Transceivers 254a-254r may condition (e.g., filter, amplify, downconvert, and digitize) the corresponding received signals to obtain input samples. Each demodulator (DEMOD) in transceivers 232a-232t may further process the input samples (e.g., for OFDM, etc.) to obtain received symbols. MIMO detector 256 may obtain received symbols from all demodulators in transceivers 254a-254r, perform MIMO detection on the received symbols (where applicable), and provide detected symbols. Receive processor 258 may process (e.g., demodulate, deinterleave, and decode) the detected symbols, provide decoded data for UE 120a to data sink 260, and provide decoded control information to controller / processor 280.

[0050] On the uplink, at the UE 120a, a transmit processor 264 may receive and process data from a data source 262 (e.g., for a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH)) and control information (e.g., for a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH)) from a controller / processor 280. The transmit processor 264 may also generate reference symbols for reference signals (e.g., for a sounding reference signal (SRS)). The symbols from the transmit processor 264 may be pre-decoded by a TX MIMO processor 266 (if applicable), further processed by a modulator (MOD) in the transceivers 254 a through 254 r (e.g., for single carrier frequency division multiplexing (SC-FDM), etc.), and transmitted to the BS 110 a. At the BS 110 a, the uplink signal from the UE 120 a may be received by the antenna 234, processed by the demodulators in the transceivers 232 a through 232 t, detected by the MIMO detector 236 (if applicable), and further processed by the receive processor 238 to obtain decoded data and control information transmitted by the UE 120 a. The receive processor 238 may provide the decoded data to a data sink 239 and the decoded control information to the controller / processor 240.

[0051] Memories 242 and 282 may store data and program codes for BS 110a and UE 120a, respectively.A scheduler 244 may schedule UEs for data transmission on the downlink and / or uplink.

[0052] The antenna 252, processors 266, 258, 264 and / or controller / processor 280 of the UE 120a and / or the antenna 234, processors 220, 230, 238 and / or controller / processor 240 of the BS 110a may be used to perform the various techniques and methods described herein. Figure 2 As shown, the controller / processor 280 of the UE 120a has an RF exposure manager 281 that represents the RF exposure manager 122, in accordance with aspects described herein. Although shown at the controller / processor, other components of the UE 120a and BS 110a may be used to perform the operations described herein.

[0053] NR can use orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) with a cyclic prefix (CP) on the uplink and downlink. NR can use time division duplex (TDD) to support half-duplex operation. OFDM and single carrier frequency division multiplexing (SC-FDM) divide the system bandwidth into multiple orthogonal subcarriers, which are also commonly referred to as tones, frequency bands, etc. Each subcarrier can be modulated with data. Modulation symbols can be transmitted in the frequency domain using OFDM and in the time domain using SC-FDM. The spacing between adjacent subcarriers can be fixed, and the total number of subcarriers can depend on the system bandwidth. The system bandwidth can also be divided into subbands. For example, one subband can cover multiple resource blocks (RBs).

[0054] Although the reference Figure 1 and Figure 2 UE 120a is described as communicating with a BS and / or within a network, but UE 120a may be configured to communicate / transmit directly to another UE 120 or directly to another wireless device without relaying the communication through a network. Figure 2 The BS 110 a illustrated in FIG. 4 and described above is an example of another UE 120 .

[0055] Example RF Transceiver

[0056] Figure 3 is a block diagram of an example RF transceiver circuit 300 according to certain aspects of the present disclosure. The RF transceiver circuit 300 includes at least one transmit (TX) path 302 (also referred to as a transmit chain) for transmitting signals via one or more antennas 306 and at least one receive (RX) path 304 (also referred to as a receive chain) for receiving signals via antenna 306. When TX path 302 and RX path 304 share antenna 306, these paths can be connected to the antenna via interface 308, which can include any of a variety of suitable RF devices, such as switches, duplexers, diplexers, multiplexers, etc.

[0057] Receiving an in-phase (I) or quadrature (Q) baseband analog signal from a digital-to-analog converter (DAC) 310, the TX path 302 may include a baseband filter (BBF) 312, a mixer 314, a driver amplifier (DA) 316, and a power amplifier (PA) 318. The BBF 312, the mixer 314, and the DA 316 may be included in one or more radio frequency integrated circuits (RFICs). For some implementations, the PA 318 may be external to the RFIC.

[0058] The BBF 312 filters the baseband signal received from the DAC 310, and the mixer 314 mixes the filtered baseband signal with a transmit local oscillator (LO) signal to convert the baseband signal of interest to a different frequency (e.g., upconvert from baseband to radio frequency). This frequency conversion process produces sum and difference frequencies between the LO frequency and the frequency of the baseband signal of interest. The sum and difference frequencies are referred to as beat frequencies. The beat frequencies are typically in the RF range, so that the signal output by the mixer 314 is typically an RF signal, which may be amplified by the DA 316 and / or by the PA 318 before being transmitted through the antenna 306. Although one mixer 314 is illustrated, several mixers may be used to upconvert the filtered baseband signal to one or more intermediate frequencies and thereafter upconvert the intermediate frequency (IF) signal to a frequency for transmission.

[0059] The RX path 304 may include a low noise amplifier (LNA) 324, a mixer 326, and a baseband filter (BBF) 328. The LNA 324, the mixer 326, and the BBF 328 may be included in one or more RFICs, which may be the same RFIC as the RFIC that includes the TX path components, or may be a different RFIC. The RF signal received via the antenna 306 may be amplified by the LNA 324, and the mixer 326 mixes the amplified RF signal with a receive local oscillator (LO) signal to convert the RF signal of interest to a different baseband frequency (e.g., down-convert). The baseband signal output by the mixer 326 may be filtered by the BBF 328 before being converted to a digital I or Q signal by an analog-to-digital converter (ADC) 330 for digital signal processing.

[0060] Some transceivers may use a frequency synthesizer with a voltage controlled oscillator (VCO) to generate a stable, tunable LO with a specific tuning range. Thus, the transmit LO may be generated by a TX frequency synthesizer 320, which may be buffered or amplified by an amplifier 322 before being mixed with the baseband signal in a mixer 314. Similarly, the receive LO may be generated by an RX frequency synthesizer 332, which may be buffered or amplified by an amplifier 334 before being mixed with the RF signal in a mixer 326.

[0061] The controller 336 may direct the operation of the RF transceiver circuit 300, such as transmitting signals via the TX path 302 and / or receiving signals via the RX path 304. The controller 336 may be a processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field programmable gate array (FPGA) or other programmable logic device (PLD), discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof. The memory 338 may store data and program code for operating the RF transceiver circuit 300. The controller 336 and / or the memory 338 may include control logic. In some cases, the controller 336 may determine the transmit power (e.g., a specific gain level at the PA 318) applied to the TX path 302 that complies with RF exposure limits set by country-specific regulations and / or international standards, as further described herein.

[0062] Example RF Exposure Compliance

[0063] RF exposure can be expressed in terms of specific absorption rate (SAR), which measures the energy absorbed per unit mass of human tissue and may have units of watts per kilogram (W / kg). RF exposure can also be expressed in terms of power density (PD), which measures the energy absorbed per unit area and may have units of mW / cm 2 In some cases, a maximum permissible exposure (MPE) limit (in the form of PD) may be imposed on wireless devices using transmit frequencies above 6 GHz. MPE limits are area-based exposure regulatory metrics, such as energy density limits, which are defined as the number of watts per square meter (W / m2) averaged over a defined area and time-averaged over a frequency-dependent time window. 2 )) to prevent hazardous human exposure represented by changes in tissue temperature.

[0064] SAR may be used to assess RF exposure for transmission frequencies less than 6 GHz, which covers wireless communication technologies such as 2G / 3G (e.g., CDMA), 4G (e.g., Long Term Evolution (LTE)), 5G (e.g., NR in the 6 GHz band), IEEE 802.11ac, etc. PD may be used to assess RF exposure for transmission frequencies above 6 GHz, which covers wireless communication technologies such as IEEE 802.11ad, 802.11ay, 5G in the millimeter wave band, etc. Therefore, different metrics may be used to assess RF exposure for different wireless communication technologies.

[0065] A wireless device (e.g., UE 120, CPE) may use multiple wireless communication technologies to send signals simultaneously. For example, a wireless device may use a first wireless communication technology (e.g., 3G, 4G, 5G, etc.) operating at or below 6 GHz and a second wireless communication technology (e.g., millimeter wave 5G in the 24 GHz to 60 GHz band, IEEE 802.11ad or 802.11ay) operating above 6 GHz to send signals simultaneously. In some aspects, a wireless device may use a first wireless communication technology (e.g., 3G, 4G, 5G, IEEE 802.11ac, etc. in the sub-6 GHz band) (where RF exposure is measured in SAR) and a second wireless communication technology (e.g., 5G, IEEE 802.11ad, 802.11ay, etc. in the 24 GHz to 60 GHz band) (where RF exposure is measured in PD) to send signals simultaneously. As used herein, sub-6 GHz frequency bands may include frequency bands from 300 MHz to 6,000 MHz in some examples, and may include frequency bands within the range of 6,000 MHz and / or 7,000 MHz in some examples.

[0066] In some cases, compliance with RF exposure limits may be performed as a time-averaged RF exposure assessment within a specified moving time window (T) associated with the RF exposure limit (e.g., 2 seconds for the 60 GHz band, 100 or 360 seconds for bands ≤ 6 GHz, etc.). Figure 4A 4 is a graph 400A of transmit power (P(t)) over time within a time window (T) associated with RF exposure limits in accordance with certain aspects of the present disclosure. As an example, during certain transmit opportunities within the time window (T), the instantaneous transmit power may exceed the maximum time-averaged transmit power level P(t). limit That is, the transmission power can be greater than the maximum time average transmission power level P limit In some cases, the UE may max Send, P max It can be the maximum transmit power supported by the UE. In some cases, in certain transmission occasions, the UE can be less than or equal to the maximum time-averaged transmit power level P limit The maximum time average transmission power level P limit represents the time-averaged threshold value in terms of transmit power for RF exposure limit within a time window (T), and in some cases, P limit The maximum time average power level or limit may be referred to as the maximum time average power level. Graph 400A also illustrates gaps between transmit bursts, where these gaps represent periods during which no transmissions are being sent from the device. In some cases, the transmit power may be maintained at a maximum average transmit power level (e.g., P) allowed for RF exposure compliance. limit) to enable continuous transmission during the time window.

[0067] Figure 4B 400B is a graph of transmit power (P(t)) over time illustrating a time-averaged pattern that provides reserve power to enable continuous transmission within a time window (T) in accordance with certain aspects of the present disclosure. As shown, the transmit power may be turned off before the transmitter is turned off to reserve sufficient transmit power (e.g., before P limit With P reserve The difference between the maximum instantaneous power (P max ) falls back to the reserve power (P reserve ), so that the UE can continue to operate at a lower power (P reserve ) to maintain continuous transmission (e.g., maintain a radio connection with a receiving entity) during the time window. rese r ve Set to the minimum power used to maintain the link or this minimum power plus a margin. max The transmission duration under P may be referred to as the burst transmission time (or high power duration). When more margin is available in the future (after T seconds), the transmitter may be allowed to transmit again at a higher power (e.g., at P max (sent in short bursts below).

[0068] Although in Figure 4B Lieutenant General Reserve Power (P reserve ) is illustrated as being used during the time window (T), but in some aspects, the UE may not use the reserve power (P reser v e ). For example, the UE may transmit in burst time with P max Send and avoid sending during the duration of the time window. In such a case, the UE may have P reserve The UE can use the unused portion of P rese r ve to manage certain sensing circuits, as further described herein.

[0069] In some respects, Figure 4B In the time average mode illustrated in FIG, the UE can be above the average power level but less than P max Although Figure 4B A single transmit burst is illustrated in FIG. 1 , but it should be understood that the UE may instead utilize multiple transmit bursts within the time window (T), for example, as described herein with respect to Figure 4A wherein these transmit bursts are transmitted during which the transmit power is maintained at or below P reserveIn addition, it should be understood that the transmit power of each transmit burst may vary (within a burst and / or compared to other bursts), and at least a portion of the burst may be above a maximum average power level (e.g., P limit ) to transmit. In some aspects, the UE may not use the reserve power (P reserve ).

[0070] Example Sensing Circuit for RF Exposure Compliance

[0071] A multi-mode / multi-band UE has multiple transmit antennas that can transmit simultaneously in the sub-6 GHz band and the frequency band greater than 6 GHz band (such as the mmWave band). As described herein, RF exposure in the sub-6 GHz band can be evaluated in terms of SAR, and RF exposure in the frequency band greater than 6 GHz can be evaluated in terms of PD. Due to regulations regarding simultaneous exposure, wireless devices can limit the maximum transmit power for both the sub-6 GHz band and the frequency band greater than 6 GHz.

[0072] Various aspects of the present disclosure provide apparatus and methods for triggering a sensing circuit to implement RF exposure compliance. As an example, if a transmit power parameter satisfies a certain criterion (e.g., an average transmit power is greater than or equal to a threshold), a wireless device (e.g., a user equipment (UE) or a customer premises equipment (CPE)) may use a sensing circuit to evaluate an RF exposure scenario. In this example, the sensing circuit may determine an RF exposure scenario for the wireless device, and the wireless device may transmit a signal based on a transmit power with a power limit associated with the RF exposure limit and the RF exposure scenario. If the transmit power parameter does not satisfy a certain criterion (e.g., an average transmit power is less than or equal to a threshold), the wireless device may avoid using the sensing circuit to evaluate the RF exposure scenario. The wireless device may transmit a signal at a transmit power based on RF exposure compliance without using the sensing circuit to determine the RF exposure scenario.

[0073] The apparatus and methods described herein for managing sensing circuits may facilitate improved wireless communication performance (e.g., lower latency, higher throughput, lower block error rate (BER), and / or reduced interference between wireless networks), improved energy efficiency, and / or reduced interference. In some cases, a wireless device may transmit at high average power or may have multiple radio components active such that the total RF exposure is high and approaches RF exposure limits. In such cases, the transmit power for one or more RATs may be set according to the RF exposure limits, for example, as described herein with respect to Figure 4BThe apparatus and methods described herein for managing sensing circuits may trigger certain sensing circuits to evaluate RF exposure scenarios, for example, to detect device motion and / or proximity of a user and / or bystander. In certain RF exposure scenarios or use cases (e.g., hotspot RF exposure scenarios or when the device is at the edge of coverage and a higher transmit power may be used), the wireless device may transmit at a higher transmit power if the device is not close to the body and still complies with RF exposure limits. The apparatus and methods described herein for managing sensing circuits may result in improved wireless communication performance due to the higher allowed transmit power.

[0074] In some cases, the wireless device may transmit at a lower average power, where the transmit power is below the RF exposure limit. In such cases, the wireless device may avoid using the sensing circuit to assess the RF exposure scenario. The apparatus and method described herein for managing the sensing circuit may achieve reduced power consumption and / or reduced interference because the sensing circuit is not used for RF exposure assessment.

[0075] Figure 5 An example wireless device 500 in which aspects of the present disclosure may be implemented is illustrated. In some cases, the wireless device 500 may be a battery-powered device such as a cellular phone, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a handheld device, a wireless device, a laptop computer, a tablet computer, a smart phone, a wearable device, etc. In some cases, the wireless device 500 may be customer premises equipment (CPE). In some aspects, the UE 120a or the BS 110 may be an example of the wireless device 500.

[0076] The wireless device 500 may include a processor 504 that controls the operation of the device 500. The processor 504 may also be referred to as a central processing unit (CPU). A memory 506, which may include both read-only memory (ROM) and random access memory (RAM), provides instructions and data to the processor 504. A portion of the memory 506 may also include non-volatile random access memory (NVRAM). The processor 504 typically performs logical and arithmetic operations based on program instructions stored in the memory 506. The processor 504 may manage the mode in which the sensing circuit 516 is operating, as further described herein.

[0077] In some aspects, the wireless device 500 may also include a housing 508, which may include a transmitter 510 and a receiver 512 to allow data to be sent and received between the wireless device 500 and a remote location. For some aspects, the transmitter 510 and the receiver 512 may be combined into a transceiver 514. One or more antennas 524 may be attached or otherwise coupled to the housing 508 and electrically connected to the transceiver 514. The wireless device 500 may also include (not shown) multiple transmitters, multiple receivers, and / or multiple transceivers.

[0078] The wireless device 500 may also include a sensing circuit 516 that may be used to contribute to determining an RF exposure scenario. The processor 504 may communicate with the sensing circuit 516 to read measurements from the sensing circuit 516 and / or control a mode of the sensing circuit 516, as further described herein. Measurements of the sensing circuit 516 may indicate an RF exposure scenario. For example, the sensing circuit 516 may detect certain movements of the wireless device 500, such as acceleration, where the detected movement may indicate that the wireless device 500 is on the user's body (e.g., in a pocket or hand). An on-body / off-body sensor 518 may detect whether the wireless device 500 is held in a hand and against the user's head.

[0079] The sensing circuit 516 can operate in a number of different modes, which can be controlled by the processor 504. For example, the sensing circuit 516 can operate in a first mode, in which the processor 504 avoids reading measurements from the sensing circuit 516 to evaluate RF exposure scenarios. The sensing circuit 516 can operate in a second mode, in which the processor 504 reads measurements from the sensing circuit 516 to evaluate RF exposure scenarios. The first mode can be considered a low power and / or low interference mode, while the second mode can be considered a normal operating mode.

[0080] The sensing circuit 516 may include an on-body / off-body sensor 518, a proximity sensor 520, and / or any other suitable sensor that may be used for human and / or object detection. The on-body / off-body sensor 518 may detect whether the wireless device 500 is on or off human tissue. For example, the on-body / off-body sensor 518 may detect that the wireless device 500 is in a user's pocket or held in the user's hand. The on-body / off-body sensor 518 may include one or more accelerometers, inertial measurement units, capacitive sensors, infrared sensors, visible light sensors or cameras, pressure sensors, and the like.

[0081] The proximity sensor 520 may detect whether human tissue is next to or near the wireless device 500. For example, the proximity sensor 520 may detect that there is no human tissue within a certain range of the wireless device 500 to enable higher transmission power, such as in a hot spot exposure scenario. The proximity sensor 520 may include a radar sensor, a frequency modulated continuous wave (FMCW) sensor, a transceiver (e.g., transceiver 514), etc. In some cases, the proximity sensor 520 (e.g., FMCW radar) may send wide bandwidth RF pulses and monitor reflections to use radar to detect objects near the wireless device 500. The proximity sensor 520 may generate radio interference, such as self-interference at the wireless device 500 and / or interference at other wireless devices (such as another UE). In some aspects, there may be scheduling conflicts between the FMCW radar and other physical channels (e.g., PUSCH, PUCCH, PDSCH, and / or PDCCH). That is, if the FMCW radar transmits pulses during a scheduled downlink or uplink transmission, the FMCW radar may affect the downlink and / or uplink performance at the wireless device 500 and / or other wireless devices. In some cases, the FMCW radar may transmit pulses during certain transmission opportunities (such as random access opportunities) to reduce the impact of interference. Using the apparatus and method described herein for performing sensing circuit control for RF exposure compliance can reduce the impact of interference and scheduling conflicts described above.

[0082] In certain aspects, the proximity sensor 520 may be operated when the on / off body sensor 518 detects that the wireless device 500 is removed from the user's body. The proximity sensor 520 may be in an idle mode until the on / off body sensor 518 detects that the wireless device 500 is removed from the user's body.

[0083] The wireless device 500 may also include a digital signal processor (DSP) 522 for use in processing signals. For example, the DSP 522 may modulate / demodulate signals to be transmitted or received according to various wireless communication standards (such as NR, E-UTRA, UMTS, CDMA, and / or IEEE). In some configurations, the processor 504 and the DSP 522 are implemented together. In some examples, the processor 504 and / or the DSP 522 include a modem or are included in a modem. In some examples, the DSP 522 determines and / or controls the power available to the transmitter 510, for example based on measurements from the sensing circuit 516, and the processor 504 controls the operation of the sensing circuit 516, for example based on power or other information from the DSP 522. In some aspects, the processor 504 and / or the DSP 522 may represent the present invention with respect to Figure 2 and Figure 3For example, processor 504 may correspond to controller / processor 280 and / or controller 336, and DSP 522 may correspond to a modulator / demodulator in transceivers 254a to 254r.

[0084] It should be understood that various aspects of the present disclosure can be used for various applications. Although the present disclosure is not limited to this aspect, the circuits disclosed herein can be used in many devices, such as in computers, communication systems, televisions, audio equipment (such as music players and microphones), camera equipment, and test equipment. By way of example only, communication systems intended to be included within the scope of the present disclosure include cellular radiotelephone communication systems, satellite communication systems, two-way radio communication systems, one-way pagers, two-way pagers, personal communication systems (PCS), personal digital assistants (PDAs), etc.

[0085] Figure 66 is a diagram of example modes of a sensing circuit (e.g., sensing circuit 516) according to certain aspects of the present disclosure. The sensing circuit may operate in a first mode 602. The operation of the sensing circuit in the first mode 602 may consume a certain amount of power and / or generate a certain amount of interference. In the first mode 602, the wireless device may avoid obtaining (e.g., reading) one or more measurements from the sensing circuit to assess compliance with RF exposure limits (e.g., assessing RF exposure scenarios). In some cases, the sensing circuit may be disabled in the first mode 602. In some cases, while in the first mode 602, the sensing circuit may operate in an idle mode (e.g., a power saving mode or a low interference mode). In some cases, while in the first mode 602, the wireless device may avoid polling on-body / off-body and / or object proximity results to assess RF exposure scenarios. In some cases, while in the first mode 602, the wireless device may avoid scheduling the use of certain sensing circuits (such as FMCW radar). In some cases, while in the first mode 602, the sensing circuit may be in an idle mode, where the sensing circuit may be temporarily turned off or in a low power state. The first mode 602 may not mean that the sensing circuit is powered off, non-operating, or in a low power state. In the first mode 602, the wireless device may avoid actively polling the sensing circuit for measurements to perform RF exposure assessments, and therefore, the wireless device may not increase power consumption for operations beyond (or independent of) RF exposure assessments. For example, the first mode 602 may not preclude an accelerometer (or another sensor) from being used by the wireless device to determine whether the device is in a portrait orientation or a landscape orientation independent of RF exposure assessments. While in the first mode 602, the wireless device may transmit signals at a transmit power determined at least in part based on an RF exposure limit in the absence of any measurements associated with the sensing circuit. A transmit power limit (e.g., P) associated with an RF exposure limit may be set in response to the sensing circuit operating in the first mode. limit ). For example, when in power saving mode / low interference mode, the transmit power limit may be set to a default transmit power limit.

[0086] The sensing circuitry may also operate in a second mode 604. Operation of the sensing circuitry in the second mode 604 may consume an increased amount of power and / or generate an increased amount of interference relative to the first mode 602. In some cases, while in the second mode 604, the wireless device may obtain one or more measurements from the sensing circuitry to assess compliance with RF exposure limits (e.g., assess RF exposure scenarios). While in the second mode 604, the wireless device may poll on-body / off-body and / or object proximity results to determine RF exposure scenarios. While in the second mode 604, the wireless device may schedule the use of certain sensing circuitry (such as FMCW radar). In some cases, if the on-body / off-body sensor detects that the wireless device is away from the user's body, the wireless device may schedule the FMCW radar. In the second mode 604, the wireless device may transmit a signal at a transmit power determined at least in part based on the RF exposure limits and at least in part based on one or more measurements associated with the sensing circuitry. The transmit power limit (e.g., P) may be adjusted in response to one or more measurements associated with the sensing circuitry operating in the second mode. limit ). For example, if measurements associated with the sensing circuitry indicate that the wireless device is in a hotspot scenario, the transmit power limit may be adjusted for a particular RF exposure scenario.

[0087] For certain aspects, when the transmit power parameter satisfies the first criterion (e.g., in response to identifying or detecting that the first criterion is satisfied), the sensing circuit may transition from operating in the second mode 604 to operating in the first mode 602. In some cases, the transmit power parameter may satisfy the first criterion if the transmit power parameter is less than (or in some cases equal to) a certain threshold associated with the first criterion. The first criterion may be equal to the second criterion in some examples, and may be different in other examples.

[0088] In certain aspects, when a transmit power parameter of the wireless device satisfies a second criterion (e.g., in response to identifying or detecting that the second criterion is satisfied), the sensing circuit may transition from operating in the first mode 602 to operating in the second mode 604. The transmit power parameter may include a current (e.g., instantaneous) transmit power or an average transmit power over a certain duration (such as a time window associated with an RF exposure limit). In some cases, the transmit power parameter may satisfy the second criterion if the transmit power parameter is greater than (or in some cases equal to) a particular threshold associated with the second criterion.

[0089] The first criterion and / or the second criterion may be associated with various transmit power parameters to trigger a transition between the first mode 602 and the second mode 604. The transmit power parameters and corresponding thresholds may include an average transmit power over a certain duration (such as a time window associated with an RF exposure limit). For example, if the average transmit power over the time window (e.g., Figure 4A and Figure 4B If T in ( ) is greater than (or in some cases equal to) the threshold, the wireless device may switch to the second mode 604.

[0090] The transmit power parameter and corresponding threshold may include a normalized RF exposure associated with one or more radio components of the wireless device. The normalized RF exposure of the antenna group may be determined according to the following expression:

[0091]

[0092] Where W i The number of intervals corresponding to the RF exposure compliance time window of the i-th radio component, and NE usage i is the past W of the i-th radio component. i The wireless device may periodically (e.g., every X milliseconds) update the normalized RF exposure total.NE.usage of the jth antenna group j If the total.NE.usage of the antenna group j The maximum value in is less than the first threshold (TH_1): The first criterion is satisfied, and if the total.NE.usage of the antenna group j The maximum value in is greater than the second threshold (TH_2): Then the second criterion may be satisfied. In some cases, the first threshold associated with the first criterion may be less than the second threshold associated with the second criterion, and the second threshold associated with the second criterion may be less than 1 (e.g., TH_1<TH_2<1). For example, the first threshold associated with the first criterion may be set to a value of 0.1, and the second threshold associated with the second criterion may be set to a value of 0.3.

[0093] The transmit power parameters and corresponding thresholds may include a reserve above that associated with RF exposure limits (such as those described herein with respect to Figure 4B The P reserve ) of the RF exposure margin. In some cases, the wireless device may use multiple reserves associated with different radio components and / or antenna groups. The total reserve may be determined according to the following expression:

[0094] total.res=∑ i res i (2)

[0095] where res i is the reserve assigned to a specific radio component or antenna group (i).

[0096] The sum of RF exposures above reserve can be determined according to the following expression:

[0097]

[0098] Among them, NE.report i is the normalized RF exposure for a particular radio component or antenna group (i).

[0099] The allowable margin above the reserve can be determined according to the following expression:

[0100] Allowed.margin.above.res=

[0101] 1-total.res-sum.above.res (4).

[0102] The transmit power parameter (η) associated with the margin may be determined according to the following expression:

[0103]

[0104] The transmit power parameter (η) associated with the margin may be considered as a value between 0 and 1 (eg, 0≤η≤1). If η is greater than a first threshold, the first criterion may be satisfied, and if η is less than a second threshold, the second criterion may be satisfied.

[0105] The transmit power parameters and corresponding thresholds may include relative to a reserve (such as the Figure 4B The P reserve ) of the RF exposure usage. In some aspects, the RF exposure margin above the reserve associated with the RF exposure limit threshold may involve determining that the amount of budget available for the wireless device is above the reserve. For example, if the reserve usage is below a first threshold, the wireless device may consider making a transition or transitioning to operating the sensing circuit in the first mode 602. If the reserve usage is above a second threshold, the wireless device may consider making a transition or transitioning to operating the sensing circuit in the second mode 604.

[0106] The transmit power parameter and the corresponding threshold may include a ratio of uplink time slots to downlink time slots configured for TDD communication. For example, the wireless device may be configured with a first number of uplink time slots and a second number of downlink time slots across a plurality of time slots for TDD communication. If the ratio of uplink time slots to downlink time slots is lower than (e.g., less than) a first threshold, the wireless device may transition to operating the sensing circuit in a first mode 602. If the ratio of uplink time slots to downlink time slots is higher than (e.g., greater than) a second threshold, the wireless device may consider transitioning or transitioning to operating the sensing circuit in a second mode 604 (e.g., a high power mode).

[0107] The transmit power parameter and the corresponding threshold may include a state associated with discontinuous reception (DRX). In a wireless communication network, a wireless device (e.g., UE 120) may operate in one of several modes (such as an idle mode or a connected mode) at any given moment. In the connected mode, the wireless device may actively exchange data with one or more devices (e.g., a base station). In the idle mode, the wireless device may operate in a low power state for a period of time to save power (e.g., battery power), and may periodically wake up to monitor paging messages (e.g., on the PDCCH). The paging message may alert the UE of an incoming call and / or data scheduled for a downlink. If the wireless device is in the connected mode (e.g., DRX is disabled), the wireless device may consider making a transition or transitioning to operating the sensing circuit in the second mode 604. If the wireless device is in the idle mode (e.g., DRX is enabled), the wireless device may consider making a transition or transitioning to operating the sensing circuit in the first mode 602.

[0108] The transmit power parameter and the corresponding threshold may include a rate associated with uplink scheduling, a rate associated with downlink scheduling, or a combination thereof. The wireless device may be frequently scheduled for uplink or downlink transmissions, and the wireless device may consider the scheduling rate for uplink / downlink when determining whether to trigger a transition between the first mode 602 and the second mode 604. For example, if the uplink scheduling rate is greater than the first threshold (and / or if the downlink scheduling rate is less than the second threshold), the wireless device may consider making a transition or transitioning to operating the sensing circuit in the second mode 604. If the uplink scheduling rate is less than the first threshold or the third threshold (and / or if the downlink scheduling rate is greater than the second threshold or the fourth threshold), the wireless device may consider making a transition or transitioning to operating the sensing circuit in the first mode 602.

[0109] The transmit power parameter and corresponding threshold may include an uplink / sidelink buffer size. The buffer size may be the size of the data stored for uplink or sidelink transmission. A larger buffer size may indicate that the wireless device will transmit for an extended period of time, while a short buffer size may indicate that the wireless device will transmit for a short period of time. If the buffer size is greater than the threshold, the wireless device may consider making a transition or transitioning to operating the sensing circuit in the second mode 604. If the buffer size is less than the same or another threshold, the wireless device may consider making a transition or transitioning to operating the sensing circuit in the first mode 602.

[0110] The wireless device may consider any combination of transmit power parameters described herein to trigger a transition between the first mode 602 and the second mode 604. In certain aspects, the wireless device may assign a weight to each of the transmit power parameters used to evaluate the first criterion and / or the second criterion. In some cases, the wireless device may evaluate a different set of transmit power parameters to determine whether the first criterion is met than evaluating a set of transmit power parameters to determine whether the second criterion is met. One or more thresholds associated with the first criterion and / or the second criterion may be determined or preconfigured by the wireless device.

[0111] In some aspects, the first criterion may be associated with one or more thresholds. The second criterion may also be associated with one or more thresholds. The one or more thresholds associated with the first criterion may be one or more thresholds that are the same or different from the one or more thresholds associated with the second criterion. The thresholds for the first criterion and the second criterion may be configuration parameters. In some aspects, the thresholds for the second criterion may be set to one or more values ​​to provide sufficient time for the sensing circuit to be enabled or powered on or scheduled (e.g., during a time slot or TTI) to facilitate the use of the sensing circuit to evaluate the RF exposure scenario.

[0112] Although Figure 6 Two modes are illustrated in FIG, but it should be understood that additional modes may be implemented. For example, a third and / or fourth mode may be implemented. In some examples, each additional mode may be associated with a corresponding additional or alternative sensor that is enabled or disabled. The order in which the wireless device utilizes the modes may be determined by the priority of the sensors included in each mode, how much power the sensors in each mode require to operate, the sensing resolution or distance of the sensors in each mode, the power-up time or expected time of the scheduled sensors in each mode, or other characteristics. Corresponding criteria and / or thresholds may be used to transition between the various modes.

[0113] Those skilled in the art will understand that Figure 6 The transmit power parameters described are examples only. Other parameters or parameter categories may be used in addition to or instead of those described.

[0114] Figure 7 is a flow diagram of example operations 700 for managing sensing circuits in accordance with certain aspects of the present disclosure. Operations 700 may be performed, for example, by a wireless device (eg, a UE 120a in the wireless communication network 100, or a CPE).

[0115] Operations 700 may optionally begin at block 702, where the wireless device may operate the sensing circuit in a first mode (e.g., first mode 602), as described above. Although the term "operation" is used in this block, it should be understood that the sensing circuit may be disconnected or idle, as described above.

[0116] At block 704, the wireless device may determine, without using a sensing circuit (e.g., sensing circuit 516), that the transmit power used for transmission complies with a first transmit power limit associated with an RF exposure limit (e.g., a time-averaged transmit power limit P ). limit As an example, the first transmit power limit may be associated with a default RF exposure scenario (such as an on-body exposure scenario), as described herein with respect to Figure 8 Further described. In the first mode, the wireless device may avoid using the sensing circuit to evaluate the RF exposure scenario of the wireless device. The wireless device may operate with less power consumption and / or less interference, for example, because the sensing circuit is not used to evaluate the RF exposure scenario.

[0117] At block 706, the wireless device may determine whether the transmit power parameter satisfies a second criterion, such as described herein with respect to Figure 6 The transmit power parameters may include, for example, an average transmit power over a time window associated with an RF exposure limit, a normalized RF exposure associated with one or more radio components of the wireless device, an RF exposure margin above a reserve associated with an RF exposure limit, an RF exposure usage relative to a reserve, a ratio of uplink time slots to downlink time slots configured for TDD communication, a state associated with DRX, a rate associated with uplink scheduling, a rate associated with downlink scheduling, a size of data stored for transmission, or any combination thereof.

[0118] If the transmit power parameter does not satisfy the second criterion, operation 700 proceeds to block 704, where the wireless device may determine that the transmit power used for transmission complies with the RF exposure limit without using the sensing circuit. Thus, when the transmit power does not satisfy the second criterion, the sensing circuit may continue to operate in the first mode. For example, the wireless device may transmit at a low power, where the transmit power is below the RF exposure limit regardless of the RF exposure scenario. Operating the sensing circuit in the first mode may result in reduced power consumption in the wireless device and / or reduced interference from the sensing circuit.

[0119] If the transmit power satisfies the second criterion, operation 700 proceeds to block 708, where the wireless device may operate the sensing circuit in a second mode (e.g., second mode 604). In the second mode, the wireless device may determine that the transmit power used for transmission complies with the RF exposure limit determined using the sensing circuit. Operating the sensing circuit in the second mode may result in increased power consumption and / or increased interference relative to the first mode.

[0120] At block 710, the wireless device may determine that the transmit power used for the transmission complies with a second transmit power limit associated with an RF exposure limit. For example, the second transmit power limit may be associated with an on-body RF exposure scenario. The wireless device may determine that the DSI indicates an on-body scenario, and the wireless device may use a transmit power limit corresponding to such an RF exposure scenario.

[0121] At block 712, the wireless device may determine whether the wireless device is on or off the user's body using sensing circuitry (e.g., on-body / off-body sensor 518). The sensing circuitry may obtain one or more measurements (e.g., one or more accelerations) indicating whether the wireless device is positioned proximate to human tissue. If the wireless device is detected as being on the user's body, operations 700 may continue at block 710 with applying a second transmit power limit for RF exposure compliance.

[0122] If it is determined that the wireless device is not on the user's body (e.g., the wireless device is positioned away from the user's body), operation 700 may proceed to block 714, where the wireless device may determine whether there is an object near the user (e.g., within a certain range of the user). Sensing circuitry (e.g., proximity sensor 520) may obtain one or more measurements (e.g., reflections from radar pulses) indicating whether human tissue is near the wireless device. In some aspects, the wireless device may avoid using the proximity sensor to evaluate the RF exposure scenario until it is determined that the wireless device is not on the user's body. In such cases, selective use of the proximity sensor may further reduce power consumption and / or interference caused by evaluating the RF exposure scenario.

[0123] If, based on the measurements, there are no objects in the vicinity of the wireless device, operations 700 may proceed to block 716, where the wireless device may use a third transmit power limit for RF exposure compliance, e.g., as described herein with respect to Figure 8 As further described. A third transmit power limit may be associated with a scenario in which the wireless device is considered to be off the user's body and in which human tissue or an object is located outside a certain range and is not considered to be near the wireless device. For example, the wireless device may determine an off-body scenario for DSI and DRI without detecting a bystander, and the wireless device may use a transmit power limit corresponding to such an RF exposure scenario.

[0124] If the object is in the vicinity of the wireless device, operations 700 may proceed to block 718, where the wireless device may use a fourth transmit power limit associated with the RF exposure limit for RF exposure compliance, e.g., as described herein with respect to Figure 8Further described. In some examples, if it is determined that not only is there an object, but the object includes human tissue or is likely associated with a living thing or an animate subject, then operation 700 proceeds only to block 718. A fourth transmit power limit may be associated with a scenario in which the wireless device is considered to be off the user's body and in which human tissue or an object is within a certain range considered to be near the wireless device. For example, the wireless device may determine that the DSI and DRI indicate an off-body scenario in which a bystander is detected, and the wireless device may use a transmit power limit corresponding to such an RF exposure scenario.

[0125] At block 720, the wireless device may determine whether the transmit power satisfies a first criterion, such as described herein with respect to Figure 6 If the transmit power parameter satisfies the first criterion, operations 700 may proceed to block 702, where the wireless device may operate the sensing circuit in the first mode. If the transmit power parameter does not satisfy the first criterion, the wireless device may continue to evaluate the RF exposure scenario with the sensing circuit, for example, at block 712 (or in some aspects at block 714).

[0126] In some aspects, the wireless device may evaluate whether the wireless device is on the user's body in parallel (e.g., concurrently) with object proximity detection. For example, when the wireless device uses object proximity detection to determine the RF exposure scenario, the wireless device may also read measurements from an on-body / off-body sensor to determine whether the wireless device is on the body. If the wireless device is detected to be on the user's body, the wireless device may avoid using a proximity sensor to evaluate the RF exposure scenario. In some examples, the same sensor is used for both on-body / off-body detection and proximity detection. For example, an antenna may be used to transmit an FM wave, and one or more other antennas may be used to receive reflections of the FM wave and / or field coupling from the transmission of the FM wave. In some such configurations, signals present at one or more other antennas may be processed differently to distinguish between on-body / off-body detection and proximity detection at a longer distance. Therefore, in some examples, sensor 518 and sensor 520 are the same sensor or a shared component.

[0127] Figure 8 10. Table illustrating example transmit power limits associated with different RF exposure scenarios according to certain aspects of the present disclosure. In this example, the RF exposure scenarios can be based on the DSI and / or the DRI. In certain aspects, each of the RF exposure scenarios can be associated with a specific transmit power limit (e.g., a time average transmit power limit P). limit), the specific transmit power limit is associated with an RF exposure limit, which may further depend on a frequency range (e.g., below 6 GHz and > 6 GHz). The RF exposure scenario may be determined by a sensing circuit, as described herein. For example, an on-body / off-body sensor may be used to determine the DSI, and a proximity sensor may be used to determine the DRI. An RF exposure scenario may refer to a specific use case associated with a wireless device (e.g., on-body, off-body with bystander detected, off-body with no bystander detected).

[0128] As an example, an on-body RF exposure scenario (e.g., DSI=0, DRI=0) may be associated with certain first transmit power limits. In such a scenario, the transmit power limits associated with the RF exposure limits may be set to a first power limit P1 in a first frequency range (below 6 GHz) or a fourth power limit P4 in a second frequency range (e.g., >6 GHz). The wireless device may be positioned, for example, close to a human head or in a pocket of a user. Reference Figure 7 , the wireless device may set the first transmit power limit and / or the second transmit power limit to a value (eg, P1, P4) associated with an on-body RF exposure scenario.

[0129] In a second example, an off-body RF exposure scenario with a bystander detected (e.g., DSI=1, DRI=0) may be associated with certain second transmit power limits (e.g., a second power limit P2 at the first frequency range and a fifth power limit P5 at the second frequency range). Figure 7 , the wireless device may set a second power limit (P limit ) is set to a value (e.g., P2, P5) associated with an off-body RF exposure scenario and a bystander detected.

[0130] In a third example, an off-body RF exposure scenario where no bystanders are detected may be associated with certain third transmit power limits (e.g., a third power limit P3 at the first frequency range and a sixth power limit P6 at the second frequency range). A hotspot exposure scenario may be an example of an off-body RF exposure scenario where no bystanders are detected. In some cases, the third transmit power limit may allow a highest transmit power relative to other transmit power limits associated with other RF exposure scenarios. The third transmit power limit may enable improved wireless communication performance of the wireless device, such as lower latency, higher throughput, and / or lower block error rate. Reference Figure 7 The wireless device may set the third transmit power limit to a value (eg, P3, P6) associated with an off-body RF exposure scenario and no bystanders detected.

[0131] Those skilled in the art will understand that Figure 8The illustrated RF exposure scenarios and corresponding transmit power limits are examples only. Other RF exposure scenarios and corresponding transmit power limits may be used in addition to or instead of those illustrated.

[0132] For example, additional DSIs and / or DRIs may be distinguished and associated with varying transmit power limits. In some examples, the DSI may indicate not only whether the wireless device is on the body, but also which part of the body the wireless device is on (e.g., head, body, limbs). In some examples, instead of using the DRI to indicate whether an object or person is present (e.g., within a predefined range), there are multiple DRI levels corresponding to objects or people located at different distances from the wireless device. In other examples, the DRI does not have a defined level, but is continuously variable across the detectable range (and corresponds to a variable transmit power limit).

[0133] Fig. 9 900 for wireless communications in accordance with certain aspects of the present disclosure. Operations 900 may be performed, for example, by a wireless device (e.g., UE 120a or wireless device 500 in wireless communication network 100). Operations 900 may be implemented as a processor (e.g., Figure 2 In addition, the signal transmission and / or reception performed by the wireless device in operation 900 may be performed by one or more antennas (e.g., Figure 2 In some aspects, the transmission and / or reception of signals by the wireless device may be achieved by obtaining and / or outputting signals via a bus interface of one or more processors (eg, controller / processor 280).

[0134] Operations 900 may optionally begin at block 902, where the wireless device may switch a sensing circuit (e.g., sensing circuit 516) to a first mode (e.g., first mode 602) in response to satisfying one or more first criteria, e.g., as described herein with respect to Figures 5 to 8 When in the first mode, the wireless device may avoid evaluating RF exposure scenarios with the sensing circuit. For some aspects, the first mode may enable the wireless device to consume less power and / or generate less interference, for example, due to the operation of the sensing circuit. When the sensing circuit is in the first mode, the wireless device may avoid obtaining measurements from the sensing circuit to evaluate compliance with RF exposure limits. In some aspects, the wireless device may disable or keep disabled at least one sensor (e.g., proximity sensor 520) of the sensing circuit when the sensing circuit is in the first mode. The idle mode may include a power saving mode and / or a low interference mode. For example, when a transmit power parameter of the wireless device satisfies a first criterion, the first criterion may be satisfied, as described herein with respect to Figure 6As an example, the first criterion may be satisfied when the average transmit power is less than the first threshold. In some aspects, the wireless device may transition from the second mode to the first mode in response to the transmit power parameter of the wireless device satisfying the first criterion, as described herein with respect to Figure 6 described.

[0135] At block 904, the wireless device may switch the sensing circuit to a second mode (eg, second mode 604) in response to satisfying one or more second criteria, such as described herein with respect to Figures 5 to 8 When in the second mode, the wireless device may use the sensing circuit to evaluate the RF exposure scenario, for example, as described herein with respect to Figure 7 In some aspects, when the sensing circuit is in the second mode, the wireless device may obtain one or more measurements from the sensing circuit to evaluate compliance with the RF exposure limit. In the second mode, for example, if the sensing circuit detects that the wireless device is in a certain RF exposure scenario (e.g., a hotspot RF exposure scenario) that allows increased transmit power associated with the RF exposure limit, the wireless device may be allowed to transmit at a higher transmit power (compared to the first mode). The higher transmit power allowed in the second mode may facilitate improved wireless communication performance. For example, when the transmit power parameter of the wireless device satisfies the second criterion, the second criterion may be met, as described herein with respect to Figure 6 As an example, when the average transmit power is greater than the second threshold, the second criterion may be satisfied. In some aspects, the wireless device may transition from the first mode to the second mode in response to the transmit power parameter of the wireless device satisfying the second criterion, as described herein with respect to Figure 6 described.

[0136] At block 906, the wireless device may transmit a signal based at least in part on the RF exposure limit and at a transmit power determined based at least in part on one or more measurements associated with the sensing circuit if the sensing circuit is operating in the second mode, e.g., as described herein with respect to Figures 5 to 8 The measurements may indicate an RF exposure scenario (e.g., device usage) exhibited by the wireless device, and the transmit power limit associated with the RF exposure limit may depend on the RF exposure scenario. The measurements may indicate whether the wireless device is positioned proximate to human tissue and whether human tissue or an object is in the vicinity of the wireless device, for example, as described herein with respect to Figure 6 and Figure 7 described.

[0137] For certain aspects, the RF exposure limit may be a time-averaged RF exposure limit across a moving time window, for example, as described herein with respect to Figure 4A and Figure 4BThe transmit power may be associated with a time interval within the moving time window, and the remainder of the moving time window may be associated with past transmissions. For example, the wireless device may determine the transmit power such that the transmit power satisfies the RF exposure limit in terms of the time average RF exposure limit.

[0138] In some aspects, the wireless device may set a time-averaged power limit (eg, P) associated with the RF exposure limit in response to the sensing circuit switching to the first mode. limit ). For example, when in the first mode, the wireless device may use a default time average power limit associated with the RF exposure limit. When in the first mode, the wireless device may consider that the wireless device is in a specific RF exposure scenario (e.g., DSI=0, DRI=0), and therefore, the wireless device may determine the transmit power using the transmit power limit associated with the specific RF exposure scenario.

[0139] For certain aspects, when the sensing circuit is in the second mode, the wireless device may adjust a transmit power limit associated with the RF exposure limit based on measurements associated with the sensing circuit. For example, when in the second mode, the wireless device may use measurements associated with the sensing circuit to evaluate an RF exposure scenario and determine an exposure transmit power limit associated with the RF exposure scenario. In certain aspects, the wireless device may identify an RF exposure scenario from a plurality of RF exposure scenarios based on measurements associated with the sensing circuit, and to adjust the transmit power limit, the wireless device may adjust the transmit power limit based on the identified RF exposure scenario.

[0140] For certain aspects, an RF exposure scenario may correspond to at least a device state index, a device range index, or a combination thereof, such as described herein with respect to Figure 8 The RF exposure scenario may also correspond to one or more transmit power limits and / or one or more RF exposure limits, which may depend on the frequency of the transmission.

[0141] For certain aspects, one or more thresholds associated with one or more first criteria may be different from one or more thresholds associated with one or more second criteria, for example, as described herein with respect to Figure 6 described.

[0142] In some aspects, the one or more first criteria or the one or more second criteria may be an average transmit power over a time window associated with an RF exposure limit, a normalized RF exposure associated with one or more radio components, an RF exposure margin above a reserve associated with the RF exposure limit, an RF exposure usage relative to a reserve, a ratio of uplink time slots to downlink time slots configured for TDD communication, a state associated with DRX, a rate associated with uplink scheduling, a rate associated with downlink scheduling, a size of data stored for transmission, or any combination thereof, for example, as described herein with respect to Figure 6 described.

[0143] For certain aspects, one or more first criteria may be satisfied when the average transmit power is less than or equal to a first threshold, the normalized RF exposure is less than or equal to a second threshold, the RF exposure margin above reserve is greater than or equal to a third threshold, the ratio of uplink time slots to downlink time slots is less than or equal to a fourth threshold, DRX is enabled, the rate associated with uplink scheduling is less than or equal to a fifth threshold, the rate associated with downlink scheduling is greater than or equal to a sixth threshold, the size of the stored data is less than or equal to a seventh threshold, or any combination thereof, e.g., as described herein with respect to Figure 6 described.

[0144] In certain aspects, one or more second criteria may be satisfied when the average transmit power is greater than or equal to a first threshold, the normalized RF exposure is greater than or equal to a second threshold, the RF exposure margin above reserve is less than or equal to a third threshold, the ratio of uplink time slots to downlink time slots is greater than or equal to a fourth threshold, DRX is disabled, the rate associated with uplink scheduling is greater than or equal to a fifth threshold, the rate associated with downlink scheduling is less than or equal to a sixth threshold, the size of the stored data is greater than or equal to a seventh threshold, or any combination thereof, for example, as described herein with respect to Figure 6 described.

[0145] Fig.10 1 is a flow chart illustrating example operations 1000 for wireless communications in accordance with certain aspects of the present disclosure. Operations 1000 may be performed, for example, by a wireless device (e.g., UE 120a or wireless device 500 in wireless communication network 100). Operations 1000 may be implemented as a processor on one or more processors (e.g., Figure 2 In addition, the signal transmission and / or reception performed by the wireless device in operation 1000 may be performed by one or more antennas (e.g., Figure 2 In some aspects, the transmission and / or reception of signals by the wireless device may be achieved by obtaining and / or outputting signals via a bus interface of one or more processors (eg, controller / processor 280).

[0146] Operations 1000 may optionally begin at block 1002, where the wireless device may determine a transmit power parameter, e.g., as described herein with respect to Figure 6 The transmission power parameters may include the following: Figure 6 Any of the metrics described above. For example, transmit power may include average transmit power, normalized RF exposure, uplink / sidelink buffer size, or any combination thereof.

[0147] At block 1004, if the transmit power parameter is less than or equal to the first threshold, the wireless device may disable or remain disabled one or more sensors associated with RF exposure (e.g., on-body / off-body sensor 518 and / or proximity sensor 520), e.g., as described herein with respect to Figures 5 to 8 The sensor may be used to assess an RF exposure scenario, wherein a transmit power limit associated with an RF exposure limit may be associated with the RF exposure scenario, for example, as described herein with respect to Figure 8 For example, the wireless device may transition from operating in the second mode to operating in the first mode in response to identifying that the transmit power parameter satisfies a first criterion (e.g., identifying that the transmit power parameter is less than or equal to a first threshold), as described herein with respect to Figure 6 described.

[0148] At block 1006, if the transmit power parameter is greater than or equal to the second threshold, the wireless device may enable or maintain enabled one or more sensors associated with RF exposure, for example, as described herein with respect to Figures 5 to 8 For example, the wireless device may transition from operating in the first mode to operating in the second mode in response to identifying that the transmit power parameter satisfies a second criterion (e.g., identifying that the transmit power parameter is greater than or equal to a second threshold), as described herein with respect to Figure 6 In some aspects, the first threshold value may be equal to or different from the second threshold value, for example, as described herein with respect to Figure 6 described.

[0149] At block 1008, the wireless device may transmit a signal at a transmit power determined at least in part based on the RF exposure limit and, if the one or more sensors associated with RF exposure are enabled, based at least in part on one or more measurements from the one or more sensors associated with RF exposure, e.g., as described herein with respect to Figures 5 to 8 described.

[0150] Although Figures 1 to 11The depicted examples are described herein with respect to a UE that performs various methods for providing RF exposure compliance to facilitate understanding, but aspects of the present disclosure may also be applied to other wireless devices that perform the RF exposure compliance described herein, such as wireless stations, access points, base stations, and / or CPE. In addition, although the examples are described with respect to communications between a UE (or another wireless device) and a network entity, the UE (or another wireless device) may communicate with a device other than a network entity (e.g., another UE) or with another device in a user's home that is not a network entity.

[0151] It will be appreciated that the modes for sensing circuits described herein may enable reduced interference and / or desired wireless communication performance, such as reduced latency, increased uplink data rates, and / or uplink connectivity at the edge of a cell.

[0152] Example Communication Device

[0153] Fig.11 Examples include those that may be configured to perform operations such as Fig. 9 and Fig.10 The various components of operation (e.g., corresponding to means plus functional components) of the illustrated communication device 1100 (e.g., UE 120). The communication device 1100 includes a processing system 1102 that can be coupled to a transceiver 1108 (e.g., a transmitter and / or a receiver). The transceiver 1108 is configured to send and receive signals for the communication device 1100 via an antenna 1110, such as various signals as described herein. The processing system 1102 can be configured to perform processing functions of the communication device 1100, including processing signals received and / or to be transmitted by the communication device 1100.

[0154] The processing system 1102 includes a processor 1104 coupled to a computer-readable medium / memory 1112 via a bus 1106. In some aspects, the computer-readable medium / memory 1112 is configured to store instructions (e.g., computer-executable code) that, when executed by the processor 1104, cause the communication device 1100 to perform Fig. 9 and Fig.10 Operations 900 and 1000 are illustrated or other operations for performing various techniques discussed herein for providing RF exposure compliance. In some aspects, the computer-readable medium / memory 1112 stores code 1114 for switching, code 1116 for determining, code 1118 for setting, code 1120 for adjusting, code 1122 for sending (or providing), code 1124 for identifying, code 1126 for obtaining, code 1128 for disabling, code 1130 for enabling, code 1132 for operating, or any combination thereof.

[0155] In some aspects, the processing system 1102 has circuitry 1134 configured to implement code stored in the computer-readable medium / memory 1112. In some aspects, the circuitry 1134 is coupled to the processor 1104 and / or the computer-readable medium / memory 1112 via the bus 1106.

[0156] For example, circuit 1134 includes circuit 1136 for switching, circuit 1138 for determining, circuit 1140 for setting, circuit 1142 for adjusting, circuit 1144 for sending (or providing), circuit 1146 for identifying, circuit 1148 for obtaining, circuit 1150 for disabling, circuit 1152 for enabling, circuit 1154 for operating, or any combination thereof.

[0157] In some examples, means for sending or transmitting (or means for outputting for sending) may include Figure 2 The illustrated transceiver 232 and / or antenna 234 and / or Fig.11 The transceiver 1108 and antenna 1110 of the communication device 1100.

[0158] In some cases, a device may not actually send, for example, signals and / or data, but may have an interface (components for outputting) signals and / or data for transmission. For example, a processor may output signals and / or data to a radio frequency (RF) front end via a bus interface for transmission. Similarly, a device may not actually receive signals and / or data, but may have an interface (components for obtaining) for obtaining signals and / or data received from another device. For example, a processor may obtain (or receive) signals and / or data from an RF front end via a bus interface for reception. In various aspects, the RF front end may include various components, including transmit and receive processors, transmit and receive MIMO processors, modulators, demodulators, etc., such as Figure 2 as depicted in the example.

[0159] In some examples, means for switching, means for determining, means for setting, means for adjusting, means for identifying, means for obtaining, means for disabling, and / or means for operating may include various processing system components, such as: Fig.11 One or more processors 1104, or Figure 2 Aspects of the BS 102 are depicted, including a receive processor 238 , a transmit processor 220 , a TX MIMO processor 230 , and / or a controller / processor 240 .

[0160] Example aspects

[0161] Specific implementation examples are described in the following numbered clauses:

[0162] Aspect 1: A method for wireless communication by a wireless device, comprising: switching a sensing circuit to a first mode in response to satisfying one or more first criteria; switching the sensing circuit to a second mode in response to satisfying one or more second criteria; and sending a signal at a transmit power determined at least in part based on a radio frequency (RF) exposure limit and at least in part based on one or more measurements associated with the sensing circuit while the sensing circuit is operating in the second mode.

[0163] Aspect 2: The method according to aspect 1, further comprising determining the transmit power so that the transmit power satisfies the RF exposure limit in terms of a time-averaged RF exposure limit.

[0164] Aspect 3: The method according to aspect 1 or 2, further comprising setting a time-averaged transmit power limit associated with the RF exposure limit in response to the sensing circuit switching to the first mode.

[0165] Aspect 4: The method according to any one of aspects 1 to 3 further includes adjusting a time-averaged transmit power limit associated with the RF exposure limit based on the one or more measurements associated with the sensing circuit when the sensing circuit is in the second mode.

[0166] Aspect 5: The method according to Aspect 4 also includes identifying an RF exposure scenario among multiple RF exposure scenarios based on the one or more measurements associated with the sensing circuit, wherein adjusting the time-averaged transmit power limit includes adjusting the time-averaged transmit power limit based on the identified RF exposure scenario.

[0167] Aspect 6: The method according to aspect 5, wherein the RF exposure scenario corresponds to at least a device state index.

[0168] Aspect 7: The method according to aspect 5 or 6, wherein the one or more measurements indicate whether the wireless device is positioned close to human tissue and whether the human tissue is in the vicinity of the wireless device.

[0169] Aspect 8: The method according to any one of aspects 1 to 7, further comprising refraining from obtaining the one or more measurements from the sensing circuit to assess compliance with the RF exposure limit when the sensing circuit is in the first mode.

[0170] Aspect 9: The method according to any one of aspects 1 to 8, further comprising disabling or keeping disabled at least one sensor of the sensing circuit when the sensing circuit is in the first mode.

[0171] Aspect 10: The method according to any one of aspects 1 to 9, further comprising operating the sensing circuit in an idle mode when the sensing circuit is in the first mode.

[0172] Aspect 11: The method according to aspect 10, wherein the idle mode includes a power saving mode.

[0173] Aspect 12: The method according to any one of aspects 1 to 11, further comprising obtaining the one or more measurements from the sensing circuit to assess compliance with the RF exposure limit when the sensing circuit is in the second mode.

[0174] Aspect 13: The method according to any one of aspects 1 to 12, wherein one or more thresholds associated with the one or more first criteria are different from one or more thresholds associated with the one or more second criteria.

[0175] Aspect 14: A method according to any one of Aspects 1 to 13, wherein the one or more first criteria or the one or more second criteria include: average transmit power over a time window associated with the RF exposure limit; normalized RF exposure associated with one or more radio components; an RF exposure margin above a reserve associated with the RF exposure limit; RF exposure usage relative to the reserve; a ratio of uplink time slots to downlink time slots configured for time division duplex (TDD) communication; a state associated with discontinuous reception (DRX); a rate associated with uplink scheduling; a rate associated with downlink scheduling; a size of data stored for transmission; or any combination thereof.

[0176] Aspect 15: A method according to Aspect 14, wherein the one or more first criteria are satisfied in the following circumstances: the average transmit power is less than or equal to a first threshold; the normalized RF exposure is less than or equal to a second threshold; the RF exposure margin above the reserve is greater than or equal to a third threshold; the ratio of uplink time slots to downlink time slots is less than or equal to a fourth threshold; DRX is enabled; the rate associated with uplink scheduling is less than or equal to a fifth threshold; the rate associated with downlink scheduling is greater than or equal to a sixth threshold; the size of the stored data is less than or equal to a seventh threshold; or any combination thereof.

[0177] Aspect 16: A method according to Aspect 14 or 15, wherein the one or more second criteria are satisfied in the following circumstances: the average transmit power is greater than or equal to a first threshold; the normalized RF exposure is greater than or equal to a second threshold; the RF exposure margin above the reserve is less than or equal to a third threshold; the ratio of uplink time slots to downlink time slots is greater than or equal to a fourth threshold; DRX is disabled; the rate associated with uplink scheduling is greater than or equal to a fifth threshold; the rate associated with downlink scheduling is less than or equal to a sixth threshold; the size of the stored data is greater than or equal to a seventh threshold; or any combination thereof.

[0178] Aspect 17: A method for wireless communication by a wireless device, the method comprising: determining a transmit power parameter; disabling or keeping disabled one or more sensors associated with radio frequency (RF) exposure when the transmit power parameter is less than a first threshold; enabling or keeping enabled the one or more sensors associated with RF exposure when the transmit power parameter is greater than a second threshold; and sending a signal at a transmit power determined at least in part based on an RF exposure limit and at least in part based on one or more measurements from the one or more sensors associated with RF exposure when the one or more sensors associated with RF exposure are enabled.

[0179] Aspect 18: The method according to Aspect 17, wherein the second threshold is equal to the first threshold.

[0180] Aspect 19: A device for wireless communication, the device comprising: one or more memories, the one or more memories collectively storing computer-executable instructions; and one or more processors, the one or more processors coupled to the one or more memories, the one or more processors collectively configured to execute the computer-executable instructions to cause the device to perform operations, the operations comprising: switching a sensing circuit to a first mode in response to satisfying one or more first criteria; switching the sensing circuit to a second mode in response to satisfying one or more second criteria; and sending a signal at a transmit power determined at least in part based on a radio frequency (RF) exposure limit and at least in part based on one or more measurements associated with the sensing circuit when the sensing circuit is operating in the second mode.

[0181] Aspect 20: A device for wireless communication, the device comprising: one or more memories, the one or more memories collectively storing computer-executable instructions; and one or more processors, the one or more processors coupled to the one or more memories, the one or more processors collectively configured to execute the computer-executable instructions to cause the device to perform operations, the operations comprising: determining a transmit power parameter; disabling or keeping disabled one or more sensors associated with radio frequency (RF) exposure when the transmit power parameter is less than a first threshold; enabling or keeping enabled the one or more sensors associated with RF exposure when the transmit power parameter is greater than a second threshold; and sending a signal at a transmit power determined at least in part based on an RF exposure limit and at least in part based on one or more measurements from the one or more sensors associated with RF exposure when the one or more sensors associated with RF exposure are enabled.

[0182] Aspect 21: An apparatus for wireless communication, the apparatus comprising: a component for switching a sensing circuit to a first mode in response to satisfying one or more first criteria; a component for switching the sensing circuit to a second mode in response to satisfying one or more second criteria; and a component for sending a signal at a transmission power determined at least in part based on a radio frequency (RF) exposure limit and at least in part based on one or more measurements associated with the sensing circuit when the sensing circuit is operating in the second mode.

[0183] Aspect 22: An apparatus for wireless communication, the apparatus comprising: a component for determining a transmit power parameter; a component for disabling or keeping disabled one or more sensors associated with radio frequency (RF) exposure when the transmit power parameter is less than a first threshold; a component for enabling or keeping enabled the one or more sensors associated with RF exposure when the transmit power parameter is greater than a second threshold; and a component for sending a signal at a transmit power determined at least in part based on an RF exposure limit and at least in part based on one or more measurements from the one or more sensors associated with RF exposure when the one or more sensors associated with RF exposure are enabled.

[0184] Aspect 23: A computer-readable medium having instructions stored thereon, the instructions being used to: switch a sensing circuit to a first mode in response to satisfying one or more first criteria; switch the sensing circuit to a second mode in response to satisfying one or more second criteria; and transmit a signal at a transmit power determined at least in part based on a radio frequency (RF) exposure limit and at least in part based on one or more measurements associated with the sensing circuit while the sensing circuit is operating in the second mode.

[0185] Aspect 24: A computer-readable medium having instructions stored thereon, the instructions being used to: determine a transmit power parameter; disable or keep disabled one or more sensors associated with radio frequency (RF) exposure when the transmit power parameter is less than a first threshold; enable or keep enabled the one or more sensors associated with RF exposure when the transmit power parameter is greater than a second threshold; and transmit a signal at a transmit power determined at least in part based on an RF exposure limit and at least in part based on one or more measurements from the one or more sensors associated with RF exposure when the one or more sensors associated with RF exposure are enabled.

[0186] Aspect 25: A device comprising: one or more memories, the one or more memories collectively storing computer-executable instructions; one or more processors, the one or more processors coupled to the one or more memories and collectively configured to execute the computer-executable instructions so that the device performs a method according to any one of Aspects 1 to 18.

[0187] Aspect 26: An apparatus comprising means for performing the method according to any one of aspects 1 to 18.

[0188] Aspect 27: A non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising computer-executable instructions, which, when collectively executed by one or more processors of a processing system, cause the processing system to perform the method according to any one of aspects 1 to 18.

[0189] Aspect 28: A computer program product embodied on a computer-readable storage medium, the computer program product comprising code for executing the method according to any one of aspects 1 to 18.

[0190] The techniques described herein may be used for various wireless communication technologies, such as NR (e.g., 5G NR), 3GPP Long Term Evolution (LTE), Advanced LTE (LTE-A), Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA), Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA), Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA), Single Carrier Frequency Division Multiple Access (SC-FDMA), Time Division Synchronous Code Division Multiple Access (TD-SCDMA), and other networks. The terms "network" and "system" are often used interchangeably. A CDMA network may implement a radio technology such as Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (UTRA), cdma2000, and the like. UTRA includes Wideband CDMA (WCDMA) and other variants of CDMA. cdma2000 covers IS-2000, IS-95, and IS-856 standards. A TDMA network may implement a radio technology such as Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM). OFDMA networks may implement radio technologies such as NR (e.g., 5G RA), Evolved UTRA (E-UTRA), Ultra Mobile Broadband (UMB), IEEE 802.11 (Wi-Fi), IEEE 802.16 (WiMAX), IEEE 802.20, Flash-OFDMA, and the like. UTRA and E-UTRA are part of the Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS). LTE and LTE-A are versions of UMTS that use E-UTRA. UTRA, E-UTRA, UMTS, LTE, LTE-A, and GSM are described in documents from an organization named "3rd Generation Partnership Project" (3GPP). cdma2000 and UMB are described in documents from an organization named "3rd Generation Partnership Project 2" (3GPP2). NR is an emerging wireless communication technology under development.

[0191] In 3GPP, the term "cell" can refer to the coverage area of ​​a Node B (NB) and / or a NB subsystem serving the coverage area, depending on the context in which the term is used. In NR systems, the terms "cell" and BS, next generation NodeB (gNB or gNodeB), access point (AP), distributed unit (DU), carrier, or transmit receive point (TRP) can be used interchangeably. The BS can provide communication coverage for macro cells, pico cells, femto cells, and / or other types of cells. A macro cell can cover a relatively large geographic area (e.g., a radius of several kilometers) and can allow unrestricted access by UEs with service subscriptions. A pico cell can cover a relatively small geographic area and can allow unrestricted access by UEs with service subscriptions. A femto cell can cover a relatively small geographic area (e.g., a home) and can allow restricted access by UEs associated with the femto cell (e.g., UEs in a closed subscriber group (CSG), UEs of users in a home, etc.). A BS for a macro cell may be referred to as a macro BS. A BS for a pico cell may be referred to as a pico BS. A BS for a femto cell may be referred to as a femto BS or a home BS.

[0192] UE and customer premises equipment (CPE) may also be referred to as mobile stations, terminals, access terminals, subscriber units, stations, cellular phones, smart phones, personal digital assistants (PDAs), wireless modems, wireless communication devices, handheld devices, laptop computers, cordless phones, wireless local loop (WLL) stations, tablet computers, cameras, gaming devices, netbooks, smartbooks, ultrabooks, appliances, medical devices or medical equipment, biometric sensors / devices, wearable devices (such as smart watches, smart clothing, smart glasses, smart wristbands, smart jewelry (e.g., smart rings, smart bracelets, etc.)), entertainment devices (e.g., music devices, video devices, satellite radios, etc.), vehicle components or sensors, smart meters / sensors, industrial manufacturing equipment, global positioning system devices, or any other suitable device configured to communicate via wireless or wired media. Some UEs may be considered machine type communication (MTC) devices or evolved MTC (eMTC) devices. MTC and eMTC UEs include, for example, robots, drones, remote devices, sensors, meters, monitors, location tags, etc. that can communicate with a BS, another device (e.g., a remote device), or some other entity. A wireless node can provide, for example, a connection to or to a network (e.g., a wide area network such as the Internet or a cellular network) via a wired or wireless communication link. Some UEs may be considered Internet of Things (IoT) devices, which may be narrowband IoT (NB-IoT) devices.

[0193] In some examples, access to the air interface can be scheduled. A scheduling entity (e.g., BS) allocates resources for communications between some or all devices and equipment within its service area or cell. A scheduling entity may be responsible for scheduling, assigning, reconfiguring, and releasing resources for one or more subordinate entities. That is, for scheduled communications, subordinate entities use resources allocated by the scheduling entity. The base station is not the only entity that acts as a scheduling entity. In some examples, a UE may be used as a scheduling entity and may schedule resources for one or more subordinate entities (e.g., one or more other UEs), and other UEs may utilize the resources scheduled by the UE for wireless communications. In some examples, a UE may be used as a scheduling entity in a peer-to-peer (P2P) network or in a mesh network. In a mesh network example, in addition to communicating with a scheduling entity, UEs may also communicate directly with each other.

[0194] The method disclosed herein includes one or more steps or actions for implementing the method. The steps and / or actions of the method can be interchangeable with each other without departing from the scope of the claims. In other words, unless a specific order of steps or actions is specified, the order and / or use of specific steps and / or actions can be modified without departing from the scope of the claims.

[0195] As used herein, "processor", "at least one processor" or "one or more processors" generally refers to a single processor configured to perform one or more operations or multiple processors configured to collectively perform one or more operations. In the case of multiple processors, the execution of one or more operations may be divided among different processors, but a processor may perform multiple operations and multiple processors may collectively perform a single operation. Similarly, "memory", "at least one memory" or "one or more memories" generally refers to a single memory configured to store data and / or instructions or multiple memories configured to collectively store data and / or instructions.

[0196] As used herein, a phrase referring to "at least one of" a list of items refers to any combination of those items (including single members). For example, "at least one of a, b, or c" is intended to cover a, b, c, ab, ac, bc, and abc, as well as any combination with multiple identical elements (e.g., aa, aaa, aab, aac, abb, acc, bb, bbb, bbc, cc, and cCc, or any other ordering of a, b, and c).

[0197] As used herein, the term "determining" encompasses a wide variety of actions. For example, "determining" may include calculating, computing, processing, deriving, generating, investigating, searching (e.g., searching in a table, a database, or another data structure), ascertaining, and the like. Furthermore, "determining" may include receiving (e.g., receiving information), accessing (e.g., accessing data in a memory), and the like. Furthermore, "determining" may include resolving, selecting, choosing, establishing, and the like.

[0198] The preceding description is provided to enable any person skilled in the art to practice the various aspects described herein. Various modifications to these aspects will be apparent to those skilled in the art, and the general principles defined herein can be applied to other aspects. Therefore, the claims are not intended to be limited to the various aspects shown herein, but should be given the full scope consistent with the language of the claims, wherein unless otherwise specified, references to elements in the singular form are not intended to mean "one and only one", but "one or more". Unless otherwise specified, the term "some" refers to one or more. All structural and functional equivalents of the elements of the various aspects described throughout the disclosure that are known or will be known to a person of ordinary skill in the art are expressly incorporated herein by reference, and are intended to be covered by the claims. In addition, nothing disclosed herein is intended to be dedicated to the public, whether or not such disclosure is explicitly recorded in the claims. Any claim element should not be interpreted according to the provisions of 35 U.S.C. § 112 (f), unless the element is explicitly recorded using the phrase "parts for...", or in the case of a method claim, the element is recorded using the phrase "steps for...".

[0199] The various operations of the above method can be performed by any suitable component capable of performing the corresponding function. The component may include various hardware and / or software components and / or modules, including but not limited to circuits, application specific integrated circuits (ASICs) or processors. Generally, where there are operations illustrated in the accompanying drawings, those operations may have corresponding corresponding components plus functional components with similar numbers.

[0200] The various illustrative logical blocks, modules, and circuits described in conjunction with the present disclosure may be implemented or executed with a general purpose processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field programmable gate array (FPGA) or other programmable logic device (PLD), 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 commercially available processor, controller, microcontroller, or state machine. The processor may also be implemented as a combination of computing devices, such as a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, a plurality of microprocessors, one or more microprocessors combined with a DSP core, or any other such configuration.

[0201] If implemented in hardware, an example hardware configuration may include a processing system in a wireless node. The processing system may be implemented using a bus architecture. Depending on the specific application of the processing system and the overall design constraints, the bus may include any number of interconnecting buses and bridges. The bus may link various circuits together, including a processor, a machine-readable medium, and a bus interface. The bus interface may be used to connect a network adapter, etc., to the processing system via the bus. The network adapter may be used to implement signal processing functions at the physical (PHY) layer. In the UE (see Figure 1 ), a user interface (e.g., a keypad, display, mouse, joystick, etc.) may also be connected to the bus. The bus may also link various other circuits, such as timing sources, peripherals, voltage regulators, power management circuits, and the like, which are well known in the art and therefore will not be described further. The processor may be implemented using one or more general purpose processors and / or special purpose processors. Examples include microprocessors, microcontrollers, DSP processors, and other circuits that can execute software. Those skilled in the art will recognize how best to implement the described functionality of the processing system depending on the specific application and the overall design constraints imposed on the entire system.

[0202] If implemented in software, each function may be stored on or sent through a computer-readable medium as one or more instructions or codes. Software should be broadly interpreted as meaning instructions, data, or any combination thereof, whether referred to as software, firmware, middleware, microcode, hardware description language, or other. Computer-readable media include both computer storage media and communication media, including any media that facilitates the transfer of computer programs from one place to another. The processor may be responsible for managing the bus and general processing, including executing software modules stored on a machine-readable storage medium. A computer-readable storage medium may be coupled to a 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. For example, a machine-readable medium may include a transmission line, a carrier modulated by data, and / or a computer-readable storage medium having instructions stored thereon that is separated from a wireless node, all of which may be accessed by a processor through a bus interface. Alternatively or in addition, a machine-readable medium or any part thereof may be integrated into a processor, such as in the case of having a cache and / or a general register stack. By way of example, examples of machine-readable storage media may include RAM (random access memory), flash memory, ROM (read only memory), PROM (programmable read only memory), EPROM (erasable programmable read only memory), EEPROM (electrically erasable programmable read only memory), registers, magnetic disks, optical disks, hard drives, or any other suitable storage media, or any combination thereof. Machine-readable media may be implemented in a computer program product.

[0203] A software module may include a single instruction, perhaps multiple instructions, and may be distributed over several different code segments, between different programs, and across multiple storage media. A computer-readable medium may include multiple software modules. A software module includes instructions that, when executed by a device such as a processor, cause a processing system to perform various functions. A software module may include a sending module and a receiving module. Each software module may reside in a single storage device or may be distributed across multiple storage devices. By way of example, when a triggering event occurs, a software module may be loaded from a hard drive into a RAM. During the execution of a software module, a processor may load some of the instructions into a cache to increase access speed. One or more cache lines may then be loaded into a general register stack for execution by the processor. When the functionality of a software module is mentioned below, it will be understood that such functionality is implemented by a processor when executing instructions from the software module.

[0204] Moreover, any connection is properly termed a computer-readable medium. For example, if the software is transmitted from a website, server, or other remote source using a coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, digital subscriber line (DSL), or wireless technology such as infrared (IR), radio, and microwave, then the coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, DSL, or wireless technology such as infrared, radio, and microwave are included in the definition of medium. As used herein, disk and disc include compact disc (CD), laser disc, optical disc, digital versatile disc (DVD), floppy disk and Optical disks, where magnetic disks typically reproduce data magnetically, and optical disks use lasers to reproduce data optically. Thus, in some aspects, computer-readable media may include non-transitory computer-readable media (e.g., tangible media). Additionally, for other aspects, computer-readable media may include transient computer-readable media (e.g., signals). Combinations of the above should also be included within the scope of computer-readable media.

[0205] Thus, certain aspects may include a computer program product for performing the operations presented herein. For example, such a computer program product may include a computer-readable medium having instructions stored (and / or encoded) thereon, which instructions can be executed by one or more processors to perform the operations described herein, for example, for performing the operations described herein and in Fig. 9 and Fig.10 Instructions for the operations illustrated in .

[0206] In addition, it should be understood that the modules and / or other appropriate components for performing the methods and techniques described herein can be downloaded and / or otherwise obtained by the user terminal and / or base station where applicable. For example, such a device can be coupled to a server to facilitate the transfer of components for performing the methods described herein. Alternatively, the various methods described herein can be provided via a storage component (e.g., RAM, ROM, or a physical storage medium such as a compact disc (CD) or a floppy disk) so that the user terminal and / or base station can obtain the various methods when the storage component is coupled to or provided to the device. In addition, any other appropriate technology for providing the methods and techniques described herein to the device can be used.

[0207] It is to be understood that the claims are not limited to the precise configuration and components illustrated above. Various modifications, changes and variations may be made in the arrangement, operation and details of the methods and apparatus described above without departing from the scope of the claims.

Claims

1. A method for wireless communication by a wireless device, the method comprising: switching the sensing circuit to a first mode in response to one or more first criteria being satisfied; switching the sensing circuit to a second mode in response to one or more second criteria being satisfied; as well as A signal is transmitted at a transmit power determined based at least in part on a radio frequency (RF) exposure limit and based at least in part on one or more measurements associated with the sensing circuit if the sensing circuit is operating in the second mode. 2 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising determining the transmit power such that the transmit power satisfies the RF exposure limit in terms of a time-averaged RF exposure limit. 3 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising setting a time-averaged transmit power limit associated with the RF exposure limit in response to the sensing circuit switching to the first mode.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising adjusting a time-averaged transmit power limit associated with the RF exposure limit based on the one or more measurements associated with the sensing circuit while the sensing circuit is in the second mode.

5. The method of claim 4 further comprises identifying an RF exposure scenario among a plurality of RF exposure scenarios based on the one or more measurements associated with the sensing circuit, wherein adjusting the time-averaged transmit power limit comprises adjusting the time-averaged transmit power limit based on the identified RF exposure scenario. The method of claim 5 , wherein the RF exposure scenario corresponds to at least a device state index.

7. The method of claim 5, wherein the one or more measurements indicate whether the wireless device is positioned proximate to human tissue and whether the human tissue is in the vicinity of the wireless device.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising refraining from obtaining the one or more measurements from the sensing circuit to assess compliance with the RF exposure limit while the sensing circuit is in the first mode. 9 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising disabling or maintaining disabled at least one sensor of the sensing circuit while the sensing circuit is in the first mode. 10 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising operating the sensing circuit in an idle mode when the sensing circuit is in the first mode. The method of claim 10 , wherein the idle mode comprises a power save mode.

12. The method of claim 1, further comprising obtaining the one or more measurements from the sensing circuit to assess compliance with the RF exposure limit while the sensing circuit is in the second mode.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein one or more thresholds associated with the one or more first criteria are different from one or more thresholds associated with the one or more second criteria.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more first criteria or the one or more second criteria include: an average transmit power over a time window associated with the RF exposure limit; a normalized RF exposure associated with one or more radio components; an RF exposure margin above a reserve associated with the RF exposure limit; the amount of RF exposure relative to the reserve; a ratio of uplink time slots to downlink time slots configured for time division duplex (TDD) communications; States associated with discontinuous reception (DRX); The rate associated with uplink scheduling; The rate associated with downlink scheduling; the size of the data stored for transmission; or Any combination of them.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the one or more first criteria are satisfied when: The average transmit power is less than or equal to a first threshold; The normalized RF exposure is less than or equal to a second threshold; the RF exposure margin above the reserve is greater than or equal to a third threshold; said ratio of uplink time slots to downlink time slots is less than or equal to a fourth threshold; DRX is enabled; The rate associated with uplink scheduling is less than or equal to a fifth threshold; The rate associated with downlink scheduling is greater than or equal to a sixth threshold; The size of the stored data is less than or equal to a seventh threshold; or Any combination of them.

16. The method of claim 14, wherein the one or more second criteria are satisfied if: The average transmit power is greater than or equal to a first threshold; The normalized RF exposure is greater than or equal to a second threshold; the RF exposure margin above the reserve is less than or equal to a third threshold; said ratio of uplink time slots to downlink time slots is greater than or equal to a fourth threshold; DRX is disabled; The rate associated with uplink scheduling is greater than or equal to a fifth threshold; The rate associated with downlink scheduling is less than or equal to a sixth threshold; The size of the stored data is greater than or equal to a seventh threshold; or Any combination of them.

17. A method for wireless communication by a wireless device, the method comprising: Determining transmit power parameters; disabling or maintaining disabled one or more sensors associated with radio frequency (RF) exposure if the transmit power parameter is less than a first threshold; enabling or maintaining enabled the one or more sensors associated with RF exposure if the transmit power parameter is greater than a second threshold; as well as A signal is transmitted at a transmit power determined based at least in part on the RF exposure limit and, if the one or more sensors associated with RF exposure are enabled, based at least in part on one or more measurements from the one or more sensors associated with RF exposure.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein the second threshold is equal to the first threshold.

19. An apparatus for wireless communication, the apparatus comprising: one or more memories that collectively store computer-executable instructions; and one or more processors, the one or more processors coupled to the one or more memories, the one or more processors collectively configured to execute the computer-executable instructions to cause the apparatus to perform operations comprising: switching the sensing circuit to a first mode in response to one or more first criteria being satisfied; switching the sensing circuit to a second mode in response to one or more second criteria being satisfied; and A signal is transmitted at a transmit power determined based at least in part on a radio frequency (RF) exposure limit and based at least in part on one or more measurements associated with the sensing circuit if the sensing circuit is operating in the second mode.

20. The apparatus of claim 19, the operations further comprising determining the transmit power such that the transmit power satisfies the RF exposure limit in terms of a time-averaged RF exposure limit.

21. The apparatus of claim 19, the operations further comprising setting a time-averaged transmit power limit associated with the RF exposure limit in response to the sensing circuit switching to the first mode.

22. The apparatus of claim 19, the operations further comprising adjusting a time-averaged transmit power limit associated with the RF exposure limit based on the one or more measurements associated with the sensing circuit when the sensing circuit is in the second mode.

23. An apparatus according to claim 22, the operation also includes identifying an RF exposure scenario among a plurality of RF exposure scenarios based on the one or more measurements associated with the sensing circuit, wherein adjusting the time-averaged transmit power limit includes adjusting the time-averaged transmit power limit based on the identified RF exposure scenario.

24. The apparatus of claim 19, the operations further comprising refraining from obtaining the one or more measurements from the sensing circuit to assess compliance with the RF exposure limit while the sensing circuit is in the first mode.

25. The apparatus of claim 19, the operation further comprising disabling or maintaining disabled at least one sensor of the sensing circuit when the sensing circuit is in the first mode.

26. The apparatus of claim 19, the operations further comprising operating the sensing circuit in an idle mode when the sensing circuit is in the first mode.

27. The apparatus of claim 26, wherein the idle mode comprises a power save mode.

28. The apparatus of claim 19, the operations further comprising obtaining the one or more measurements from the sensing circuit to assess compliance with the RF exposure limit while the sensing circuit is in the second mode.

29. An apparatus for wireless communication, the apparatus comprising: one or more memories that collectively store computer-executable instructions; and one or more processors, the one or more processors coupled to the one or more memories, the one or more processors collectively configured to execute the computer-executable instructions to cause the apparatus to perform operations comprising: Determining transmit power parameters; disabling or maintaining disabled one or more sensors associated with radio frequency (RF) exposure if the transmit power parameter is less than a first threshold; enabling or maintaining enabled the one or more sensors associated with RF exposure if the transmit power parameter is greater than a second threshold; and A signal is transmitted at a transmit power determined based at least in part on the RF exposure limit and, if the one or more sensors associated with RF exposure are enabled, based at least in part on one or more measurements from the one or more sensors associated with RF exposure.

30. The apparatus of claim 29, wherein the second threshold is equal to the first threshold.

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