Method, apparatus and computer program for identifying radio tag in network

Abstract

There is provided a method comprising: (i) determining that at least one tag has responded to an activation signal; (ii) causing at least one muting signal to be sent to the at least one tag that has responded; causing a repetition of (i) and (ii) until a stop criterion is met; and grouping the one or more tags that have responded to.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present application relates to a method, apparatus, system and computer program, and particularly, but not exclusively, to identifying tags in a network. Background Art

[0002] A communication system can be considered as a facility that enables communication sessions by providing carrier waves between two or more entities involved in a communication path, such as user terminals, base stations, and / or other nodes. For example, a communication system can be provided by a communication network and one or more compatible communication devices. A communication session can include, for example, the communication of data used to carry communications such as voice, video, electronic mail (email), text messages, multimedia, and / or content data. Non-limiting examples of the services provided include two-way or multi-way calls, data communications or multimedia services, and access to data network systems such as the Internet.

[0003] Communication systems and associated equipment typically operate according to a given standard or specification, which specifies what entities associated with the system are allowed to do and how it should be achieved. Communication protocols and / or parameters that should be used for the connection are also typically defined. An example of a communication system is UTRAN (3G radio). Another example of a communication system is the Long Term Evolution (LTE) of the Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) radio access technology and the so-called 5G or New Radio (NR) networks. NR is being standardized by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP). The Internet of Things (IoT) consists of a network of physical devices that can communicate over the Internet. The "Internet of Everything" refers to the networked connectivity of people, processes, data and things. Summary of the Invention

[0004] According to a first aspect, a method is disclosed, comprising: (i) determining that at least one tag has responded to an activation signal; (ii) causing at least one mute signal to be sent to at least one tag that has responded; causing (i) and (ii) to be repeated until a stopping criterion is met; and grouping the one or more tags that have responded.

[0005] According to some examples, grouping is performed after a stopping criterion is met.

[0006] According to some examples, grouping the one or more tags includes generating a plurality of groups, each group including a different set of tags.

[0007] According to some examples, grouping is performed in such a way that each tag may be in only one group.

[0008] Determining that at least one tag has responded according to some examples includes: determining that the response meets a threshold.

[0009] According to some examples, the threshold includes signal strength.

[0010] According to some examples, grouping is performed according to at least one of the following: (i) being performed for multiple iterations, where the iteration index indicates which iteration at least one tag has responded to; the signal quality of the received response; the threshold number of tags allowed in the group; the threshold time delay of the response to the activation signal.

[0011] According to some examples, the method includes: after grouping, determining transmission configuration information for one or more tags.

[0012] According to some examples, determining the transmission configuration includes one or more of the following: determining non-overlapping carrier frequencies; determining time offsets; determining spatial frequency reuse.

[0013] According to some examples, determining the transmission configuration information is performed based on each group or based on each tag.

[0014] According to some examples, the method includes: causing the tag to send the information stored in the tag.

[0015] According to some examples, the information stored in the tag includes one or more of the following: identifier information; location information; temperature information; pressure information; speed information; acceleration information; brightness information; humidity information; information related to the purpose of the tag arrangement.

[0016] According to some examples, the at least one mute signal includes a 1-bit signal.

[0017] According to some examples, the stop criteria include one or more of the following: no additional tags are identified in response to the activation signal; the repeated threshold number of (i) and (ii) is reached; the expiration of a timer related to the repetition; when the total number of target tags is known, determining that the threshold percentage of the total has responded; the threshold maximum number of tags has responded.

[0018] According to some examples, the method is performed by: a network node; or an activator node that performs the transmission of the activation signal.

[0019] According to some examples, the network node includes a location management function.

[0020] According to some examples, the activator node includes a user equipment or a base station.

[0021] According to some examples, the tag includes a passive radio device.

[0022] According to a second aspect, there is provided an apparatus comprising: at least one processor; and at least one memory storing instructions which, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to at least perform: (i) determining that at least one tag has responded to an activation signal; (ii) causing at least one mute signal to be sent to the at least one tag that has responded; repeating (i) and (ii) until a stop criterion is met; and grouping one or more tags that have responded.

[0023] According to some examples, the grouping is performed after the stop criterion is met.

[0024] According to some examples, grouping one or more tags includes: generating a plurality of groups, each group including a different set of tags.

[0025] According to some examples, the grouping is performed in such a way that each tag can be in only one group.

[0026] According to some examples, determining that at least one tag has responded includes: determining that the response meets a threshold.

[0027] According to some examples, the threshold includes signal strength.

[0028] According to some examples, the at least one processor; and the at least one memory storing instructions which, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to at least further perform: grouping according to at least one of the following: where (i) is performed for multiple iterations, and the iteration index indicates to which iteration at least one tag has responded; the signal quality of the received response; the threshold number of tags allowed in a group; the response threshold time delay to the activation signal.

[0029] According to some examples, the at least one processor; and the at least one memory storing instructions which, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to at least further perform: after grouping, determining transmission configuration information for one or more tags.

[0030] According to some examples, determining the transmission configuration information includes one or more of the following: determining non-overlapping carrier frequencies; determining a time offset; determining spatial frequency reuse.

[0031] According to some examples, determining the transmission configuration information is performed based on each group, or based on each tag.

[0032] According to some examples, the at least one processor; and the at least one memory storing instructions which, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to at least further perform: causing the tag to send the information stored in the tag.

[0033] According to some examples, the information stored in the tag includes one or more of the following: identifier information; location information; temperature information; pressure information; speed information; acceleration information; brightness information; humidity information; information related to the purpose of the tag arrangement.

[0034] According to some examples, the at least one silence signal includes a 1-bit signal.

[0035] According to some examples, the stop criteria includes one or more of the following: no additional tags are identified in response; a threshold number of repetitions of (i) and (ii) is reached; expiration of a timer related to the repetition; when the total number of target tags is known, it is determined that a threshold percentage of the total has responded; a threshold maximum number of tags have responded.

[0036] According to some examples, the apparatus includes: a network node; or an activator node that performs the transmission of an activation signal.

[0037] According to some examples, the network node includes a location management function.

[0038] According to some examples, the activator node includes a user equipment or a base station.

[0039] According to some examples, the tag includes a passive radio device.

[0040] According to some examples, the network node includes a location management function.

[0041] According to some examples, the activator node includes a user equipment or a base station.

[0042] According to a third aspect, there is provided an apparatus including: means for (i) determining that at least one tag has responded to an activation signal; means for (ii) causing at least one silence signal to be sent to the at least one tag that has responded; means for causing the repetition of (i) and (ii) until a stop criterion is met; and means for grouping one or more tags that have responded.

[0043] According to some examples, the grouping is performed after the stop criterion is met.

[0044] According to some examples, grouping one or more tags includes: generating a plurality of groups, each group including a different set of tags.

[0045] According to some examples, the grouping is performed in such a way that each tag can be in only one group.

[0046] According to some examples, determining that at least one tag has responded includes: determining that the response meets a threshold.

[0047] According to some examples, the threshold includes signal strength.

[0048] According to some examples, the components for grouping are configured such that grouping is performed according to at least one of the following: (i) being executed for multiple iterations, where the iteration index indicates for which iteration at least one tag has responded; the signal quality of the received response; the threshold number of tags allowed in the group; the response threshold delay for the activation signal.

[0049] According to some examples, the apparatus includes components for determining transmission configuration information for one or more tags after grouping.

[0050] According to some examples, determining the transmission configuration information includes one or more of the following: determining non-overlapping carrier frequencies; determining a time offset; determining spatial frequency reuse.

[0051] According to some examples, determining the transmission configuration information is performed based on each group or based on each tag.

[0052] According to some examples, the apparatus includes components for causing the tags to send the information stored in the tags.

[0053] According to some examples, the information stored in the tags includes one or more of the following: identifier information; location information; temperature information; pressure information; speed information; acceleration information; brightness information; humidity information; information related to the purpose of the tag arrangement.

[0054] According to some examples, the at least one mute signal includes a 1-bit signal.

[0055] According to some examples, the stop criteria include one or more of the following: no additional tags are identified in response to the activation signal; the threshold number of (i) and (ii) is reached; expiration of a timer related to repetition; when the total number of target tags is known, determining that a threshold percentage of the total has responded; the threshold maximum number of tags has responded.

[0056] According to some examples, the apparatus includes a network node; or an activator node that performs the transmission of the activation signal.

[0057] According to some examples, the network node includes a location management function.

[0058] According to some examples, the activator node includes a user equipment or a base station.

[0059] According to some examples, the tag includes a passive radio device.

[0060] According to some examples, the network node includes a location management function.

[0061] According to some examples, the activator node includes a user equipment or a base station.

[0062] According to a fourth aspect, there is provided a system including: a network node; at least one activator node; at least one reader node; at least one tag; the network node or at least one activator node is configured to: (i) in response to an activation signal sent by at least one activator node, determine that at least one tag has responded to at least one reader node; the network node or at least one activator node is configured to: (ii) cause at least one mute signal to be sent to at least one tag that has responded; the network node or at least one activator node is configured to: cause the repetition of (i) and (ii) until a stop criterion is met; and the network node or at least one activator node is configured to: group one or more tags that have responded.

[0063] According to some examples, the system is configured to: based on the results of the repetition of (i) and (ii), the activator node and / or the reader node are changed in subsequent repetitions.

[0064] According to a fifth aspect, there is provided a non-transitory computer-readable medium including program instructions that, when executed by a device, cause the device to at least perform the following: (i) determine that at least one tag has responded to an activation signal; (ii) cause at least one mute signal to be sent to at least one tag that has responded; cause the repetition of (i) and (ii) until a stop condition is met; and group one or more tags that have responded.

[0065] According to a sixth aspect, there is provided a non-transitory computer-readable medium including program instructions stored thereon for at least performing the following: (i) determine that at least one tag has responded to an activation signal; (ii) cause at least one mute signal to be sent to at least one tag that has responded; cause the repetition of (i) and (ii) until a stop condition is met; and group one or more tags that have responded.

[0066] According to a seventh aspect, there is provided a computer program including instructions that, when executed by a device, cause the device to at least perform the following: (i) determine that at least one tag has responded to an activation signal; (ii) cause at least one mute signal to be sent to at least one tag that has responded; cause the repetition of (i) and (ii) until a stop criterion is met; and group one or more tags that have responded.

[0067] According to an eighth aspect, there is provided a computer program comprising instructions stored thereon for at least performing the following: (i) determining that at least one tag has responded to an activation signal; (ii) causing at least one mute signal to be sent to the at least one tag that has responded; causing the repetition of (i) and (ii) until a stop condition is met; and grouping one or more tags that have responded. Description of the Drawings

[0068] Some example embodiments will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

[0069] Figure 1 is a flowchart of a method according to one example

[0070] Figure 2 schematically shows a system architecture according to one example

[0071] Figure 3 is a flowchart of a method according to one example;

[0072] FIG. 4 is a signaling diagram according to one example;

[0073] FIG. 5 is a signaling diagram according to one example;

[0074] Figure 6 shows a representation of a device according to one example;

[0075] Figure 7 shows a representation of a control device according to one example;

[0076] Figure 8 is a flowchart of a method according to one example;

[0077] Figure 9 is a schematic representation of a non - volatile storage medium. Detailed Description

[0078] A passive radio device is a device that utilizes the energy from a wireless signal transmitted on a specific carrier and / or bandwidth. The passive radio device charges a simple circuit system which, once activated, will transmit and / or reflect a signal that encodes at least the ID of the passive radio device. A typical system structure around a passive radio device includes:

[0079] 1. Activator: This device sends an activation signal with the aim of waking up the passive radio device.

[0080] 2. Passive radio device: Utilizes the energy within a certain frequency range and listens for the activation signal. Once such a signal is detected, the passive radio device transmits and / or reflects a signal dedicated to the radio ID.

[0081] 3. Reader: A device that listens for and monitors passive radio signals. The reader can be co-located with the activator or not.

[0082] The part of a passive radio device that enables it to communicate via radio can be referred to as a "radio tag" or simply a "tag".

[0083] Regarding IoT applications, 3GPP has specified NB-IoT / eMTC and NR RedCap (reduced capabilities) before Release 18 (Rel-18) to enable low-cost and low-power devices to be used for wide-area IoT communication. These IoT devices typically consume tens or hundreds of milliwatts of power when transmitting / receiving and are relatively inexpensive (perhaps only costing a few dollars per device). However, to achieve "Internet of Everything", IoT devices with costs and power consumption ten or even a hundred times lower may be required, such as in applications where battery-free devices are needed. 3GPP aims at new 3GPP IoT technologies suitable for cellular deployment, which rely on ultra-low-complexity devices with ultra-low power consumption for extremely low-end IoT applications.

[0084] Reading passive IoT devices poses some challenges, at least in part due to the inherent characteristics of passive radios. For example, passive radios do not have an independent power source. Passive radios are usually mobile. Typically, due to low receiver complexity, passive radios can only hear other radios in their immediate vicinity (e.g., within a radius of 5 - 10 meters). Therefore, the tag may not be able to perform typical access initiation procedures such as paging response, random access, and neighboring cell monitoring procedures. In addition, the introduction of new tags in an area, the mobility of tags, and the data collection and transmission capabilities should be transparent to the NW (network) such as the NR (New Radio) NW. At least in part due to the above limitations, the NW may not be able to apply typical NR UE paging operations.

[0085] In some examples, the NW can read the tag only when the tag hears an activation signal that is loud enough (e.g., has a strong enough signal), so that:

[0086] a. The tag can be fully charged; and

[0087] b. The tag can generate a signal that is loud enough (e.g., has sufficient strength) in response to the activation signal to be heard by another nearby NW element (e.g., a base station (gNB), a roadside unit (RSU), a user equipment (UE), usually located within no more than about 100 meters).

[0088] In the example, there are at least challenges that may be associated with point b, at least in part for the following reasons:

[0089] ● Multiple tags can respond on the same time - frequency resource, interfering with each other during their responses. This interference is referred to as tag - to - tag interference (TT). TT

[0090] The interference may affect the ability of the reader to distinguish between simultaneously responding tags by using the same time - frequency resource.

[0091] ● Tags typically respond / refect on the same carrier as the carrier used by the activation signal. Since the activation signal is usually much stronger than the tag response (e.g., tens of dB stronger), activator - to - tag (AT) interference may occur. In other words, the tag response is overwhelmed by the activation signal, and the reader must be able to isolate the activation signal before attempting to detect the tag.

[0092] What is solved or at least mitigated by the embodiments of the present disclosure is the situation where the reading of passive IoT tags is affected by tag - to - tag (TT) and / or activator - to - tag (AT) interference. In some examples, the context of the embodiments is in the licensed band and may be at a relatively long distance. For example, this is different from or IoT deployments that operate in the unlicensed spectrum and are short - range communication systems. In some embodiments, the environment of this disclosure is 5G NR NW.

[0093] In summary, the present invention discloses a multi - step method for reading a set of configurable or re - configurable passive radios (tags) via a network. Configurable and re - configurable can also be referred to as programmable and re - programmable respectively. In some examples, the context is 5G NR.

[0094] Figure 1 An overview of some examples is shown, where at S101, the NW iteratively (or repeatedly) triggers the discovery and silencing of tags. In some examples, this iterative process continues until no more tags can be discovered. In some examples, after each iteration, the tags that are successfully detected are silenced by the NW. In some examples, this silencing is achieved by sending a signal to the discovered tags so that they do not interfere with the tags that have not yet been discovered. In some examples, the silencing signal is a 1 - bit signal. The "discovery" of a tag can also be referred to as the identification of a tag. When using the term "discovery", this does not necessarily mean that the NW has no prior knowledge of the "discovered" tags. For example, the term "discovery" of a tag is typically used to represent receiving a response to an activation signal from the tag.

[0095] At S102, the NW groups the discovered tags into sets or groups. In some examples, this grouping is performed based on at least one of the following: (i) the iteration index at which it is discovered (e.g., index 1 represents the first iteration, index 2 represents the second iteration, etc., or in other words, the tag is placed in a group indicating which iteration or repetition the tag responds to); (ii) the quality of detection of the reader (e.g., the received power of each tag); (iii) the threshold number of tags allowed in the group; (iv) the threshold delay in response to the activation signal. According to some examples, once the tags are grouped, each group includes a different set of tags. In some examples, it can be considered that each tag can only be in one of the grouped groups at any time.

[0096] At S103, the NE configures or assigns (multiple) parameters to each group or tag. For example, the (multiple) parameters may include transmission parameters for the tag. In some examples, the assigned parameters indicate the (sub)carrier frequency and / or time offset. In some examples, the (multiple) parameters are assigned based on each tag. This helps to minimize tag - to - tag and activator - to - tag interference.

[0097] At S104, the NW configures (or programs) the tag for reading the tag. For example, information can be read from the tag according to the (multiple) transmission parameters configured in S103. Reading information from the tag can also be performed according to the silence in S101. For example, during the reading process, the tags in one or more groups can be silenced, while the tags in one or more other groups can send / respond to stimuli (such as activation signals) to provide their stored information for reading by the reader. As a non - limiting example, the information read can include one or more of the following: identifier information; location information; temperature information; pressure information; speed information; acceleration information; brightness information; humidity information; information related to the purpose of tag arrangement. For example, the purpose of the tag can be to track the movement of goods in a factory or warehouse.

[0098] Optionally and / or periodically repeat S101 to S104 or S101 to S102.

[0099] Therefore, it will be understood that the present disclosure proposes a method that enables a reader in a network to read multiple tags that may be (or otherwise would be) affected by TT and / or AT interference.

[0100] In some examples, a programmable tag can be considered a tag that can be configured to generate a response: at a carrier frequency selected from a set of frequencies F = {f1,..., fN}; with a selected (variable) delay t >= 0 in response to an activation signal; with a selected phase in response to an activation signal.

[0101] In some examples, reading a tag can be considered to include obtaining the information stored by the tag. For example, the information stored by the tag can include one or more of the following: tag ID; tag location; collected data. In some examples, the collected data includes measurement data. In some examples, the measurement data includes any information, which includes one or more of the following: temperature; pressure; speed; acceleration; brightness; and humidity, etc.

[0102] Figure 2 An example structure is shown, which schematically shows network 200. In some examples, network 200 includes 5G NR NW. The node is shown at 202. The node can be, for example, a network node such as a control device or a base station (gNB). Alternatively, node 202 can be a UE. Node 202 communicates with activator 204 and reader 206. In some examples, one or more of activator 204 and reader 206 are located within node 202. In some examples, one or more of activator 204 and reader 206 are located outside node 202, for example, in separate one or more entities. Tags 208, 210, and 212 are located in network 200. Generally, tags 208, 210, 212 can be considered to belong to a tag set (or group) 214. Activator 204 is configured to activate one or more of tags 208, 210, 212. Reader 206 is configured to read the information received from one or more of tags 208, 210, 212. Of course, Figure 2 is a schematic example for illustrative purposes, and the tag set 214 can actually include any number of tags.

[0103] In one example, activator 204 is requested by the network to activate tag set 214 to obtain information ("content") from it. Reader 206 reads the content obtained from tag 214 by network 200.

[0104] In some examples, before activating a tag, the ID of one or more tags in set 214 is at least somewhat known to network 200. For example, the network can store information about one or more tags or can access information about one or more tags. For example, this information can include the ID of one or more tags and the location information of these one or more tags. For example, the network can know a tag set in a warehouse or a factory from which it needs to obtain information. Then, the network can cause an activation signal to be sent to that location to initiate the acquisition of the tag information. Nevertheless, in some examples, the network can also use the process described in more detail below to discover new tags that the network did not previously know.

[0105] Figure 3Schematically shows steps for an iterative tag detection process according to an example.

[0106] At S301, network 200 or node 202 selects at least one activator and at least one reader, and configures them as at least one activator-reader pair. According to some examples, these can be considered as activator-reader pairs, such as activator 204 and reader 206. The network configures the activator and the reader for detecting tags in the network, such as tag set 214. The tag set can be considered to include K tags, where K is an integer greater than or equal to 1. In some examples, there can be more than one activator and / or more than one reader, and node 202 can include a gNB or an LMF.

[0107] Network 200 or node 202 also initializes the tag set, as shown at S302. For example, the initialization includes activator 204 sending an activation signal.

[0108] At S303, reader 206 detects the tag set. For example, reader 206 can detect the loudest tag L, where L < K. The reader reports the list of detected tags to the network or the node. For example, the list can be in the form of detected tags D_new = {ID1,...ID L}. In some examples, the reader reports the list of detected tags to the network.

[0109] At S304, the network or the node stores D_new as the newly detected tag set. For example, the network or the node stores "set 1" for the first iteration and "set 2" for the next iteration, and so on.

[0110] At S305, the network determines whether there are any newly detected tags in the most recent iteration (e.g., D_new = empty?).

[0111] If the determination at S305 is "no", the process proceeds to S306, where a mute command is sent to the newly detected tags. For example, the mute signal can be sent from activator 204. Muting the detected tags can reduce interference when performing subsequent detection iterations.

[0112] If the determination at S305 is "yes", the process proceeds to S307, where it is determined that all tags have been detected.

[0113] The network can then apply frequency and time offsets to the K tags, which will be described in more detail below.

[0114] In some examples, before configuring the activators and readers for tag reading, a strategy (e.g., by the NW) is selected to configure or program the carrier and time offset for each tag response to minimize TT and AT interference (and thus increase the likelihood of read success).

[0115] As described above, in some examples, there can be more than one activator and more than one reader. In some examples, the activator and / or reader can vary between one iteration and another. For example, the NW can start by selecting several activators and readers and running a first iteration. Based on the results of the first iteration, the NW can down-select the activators / readers, selecting only those that are determined to be close enough to at least some of the target tags.

[0116] FIG. 4 is an exemplary signaling diagram showing the communication between a network (NW) 400, an activator 404, a reader 406, tags 408, 410, and 412. It should be understood that "network 400" can refer to a device or control function in the network, such as a radio network controller, a base station, or a gNB, etc. In some examples, a Location Management Function (LMF) performs the steps of NW 400.

[0117] At S401, the NW 400 performs one or more configurations. For example, the NW 400 assigns a carrier and / or bandwidth to the tags. In some examples, the carrier and / or bandwidth is assigned to the tags based on parameters, such as the location of each tag. When available, rough location information can be used to assign an initial carrier frequency to the tags. In other examples, the carrier and / or bandwidth can be randomly assigned to the tags. The NW 400 also selects the activator 404 from one or more available activators and the reader 406 from one or more available readers.

[0118] The first iteration (detection) of tag detection is generally shown at block 420. "Iteration" can also be referred to as "repetition".

[0119] At S402, the NW 400 configures or programs the tags 408, 410, 412 to enable tag detection. For example, the NW 400 may configure the tag with the carrier and / or bandwidth assigned at S401. In some examples, by being "configured" or "programmed", the tag can be considered to have a memory and the tag can execute simple procedures and instructions, which can be conveyed in a conductive manner (and thus pre-programmed) or over the air, i.e., the NW sends a configuration signal that the tag detects and triggers a corresponding reconfiguration. In an alternative implementation, the tag can be equipped with different RF filters per carrier, and thus, the NW implicitly programs the tag by sending an activation signal to a selected carrier. Then, the tag equipped to detect that subcarrier will automatically respond.

[0120] At S403a, the NW 400 configures the activator 404 for tag detection. For example, at S403a, the NW 400 may send a signal to the activator 404 that includes tag response parameters such as carrier frequency and bandwidth. At S403b, the NW configures the reader 406 for tag detection. For example, at S403b, the NW 400 may send a signal to the reader 406 that includes tag response parameters such as carrier frequency and bandwidth.

[0121] At S404, the activator 404 sends an activation signal arranged to activate one or more tags. Taking FIG. 4 as an example, the activation signal may include identifiers targeted at specific tags (e.g., ID1 for tag 408, ID2 for tag 410, ID3 for tag 412, etc.).

[0122] Then each tag generates a response to the activation signal, typically as shown at S405. In some examples, the response from each tag includes information of the identifier of each corresponding tag. In some examples, at this stage, each tag does not share the data it has collected with the reader 406 (e.g., does not share any data on sensed information such as temperature; pressure; speed; acceleration; brightness, etc.). According to some examples, the configuration of the initial tag response is known to the reader 406 because it is fixed (i.e., default carrier, BW, etc.) or programmed by the NW, for example.

[0123] At S406, the reader 406 detects tags based on the received responses. In some examples, the reader detects the L loudest tags. In some examples, L < K, where K is the total number of target tags for discovery in the cell coverage of the NW 400. In some examples, the reader 406 performs interference cancellation / suppression methods in order to detect the loudest tags. In some examples, a tag will only be considered "detected" if its response signal is above a threshold intensity. In some instances, serial or parallel interference / cancellation methods are used.

[0124] As shown in S407, the reader 406 then reports the detection results to the NW 400. For example, the report can be in the form of group1 = {ID1,...,ID L )). The NW 400 stores this information. As shown in S408, the NW 400 evaluates the report received at S407. At this stage, the NW 400 can also select a strategy for further iterations. Only as an example, the determined strategy can be to mute tag 408 and re-detect tags 410, 412.

[0125] At S409, the NW mutes the tags in group 1 (i.e., the tags discovered during the first iteration 420). For example, if tag 408 is detected during the first iteration and tags 410 and 412 remain undetected, then a mute signal is sent to tag 408 at S409. In some examples, the NW 400 sends a signal to the activator 404, and then the activator 404 sends a corresponding mute signal to tag 408. In some examples, the mute signal includes a 1-bit mute indication and thus has a very low signaling overhead.

[0126] A second iteration of tag detection is performed at S410, also schematically shown by block 422. In some examples, the tag detection at S410 is a repetition of S402 to S408 (of course different tags, if any, will be expected to be detected during the second iteration since the (multiple) tags detected during the first iteration are now muted). In some examples, the activation signal can be modified or modulated between iterations. For example, for each successive iteration, the activation signal can be made stronger than the previous activation signal.

[0127] According to some examples, tag detection and muting of detected tags continues until a stop criterion is met. For example, the stop criterion can be one or more of the following: no more tags can be successfully identified by the reader; a threshold number of iterations is reached; the total discovery timer has expired; more than x% of the tags have been discovered, a threshold maximum number of tags have been identified, etc. Additionally, in some examples, the NW 400 can periodically monitor the area in case new tags enter and resource allocation needs to be coordinated. It should also be noted that by performing sequential tag muting, the NW also sequentially minimizes TT interference such that the reader 406 can receive tags in decreasing order of the strength of tag responses.

[0128] In FIG. 4, the box 422 represents the second iteration, but if the iteration is performed multiple times up to N, the box 422 can represent the Nth iteration, where N can be a predetermined integer value greater than or equal to 1. For example, if the detection of tags has been completed during the first iteration (e.g., the stop criterion has been met during the first iteration), then the next iteration does not need to be performed.

[0129] After S410 (or after the last iteration), the NW 400 has the necessary information to group the detected tags, as shown in S411. For example, the tags in group 1 are the loudest (as seen by the reader), and the responses of these tags are within the same RX power range. In some examples, the network 400 can also provide thresholds (e.g., RSRP, RSSI) representative of group 1. The tags in group 2 are the second loudest, and the responses of these tags are within the same RX power range as seen by the reader, and so on.

[0130] The tag reading block is generally shown at 424. Within this block, the NW 400 programs the tags for reading, as shown in S412. For example, the tags can be programmed to read according to the selected configuration.

[0131] According to some examples, to reduce TT interference within each tag group, the NW can program the tags within each group with different carrier frequencies, e.g., by assigning non-overlapping carriers from a carrier list F such as Fsubgroup1 to the corresponding tags from group 1, e.g.:

[0132] i. f1 for tag ID 1, in other words, carrier f1 is selected for at least one tag including the activated tag ID1

[0133] ii. f2 for tag ID 2, in other words, carrier f2 is selected for at least one tag including the activated tag ID2

[0134] iii. fL for at least one tag including the activated tag IDL, and so on.

[0135] Then, NW 400 can assign non-overlapping carriers from list F, such as Fgroup2, to the tags in group2, etc.

[0136] To reduce TT interference across groups, depending on the cardinality of frequency group F, in some examples, NW 400 can also assign non-overlapping carriers between groups, i.e., the tag groups use disjoint subgroups of F. In some examples, different carrier frequencies can be assigned to each group. In some examples, each tag is assigned a different carrier frequency (even within the same group).

[0137] To reduce TT interference between tag groups, but also to reduce AT interference, in some examples, NW 400 can configure the responses of each tag, as shown at S413. For example, NW 400 can delay the responses of each group of tags. For example, the delay can be a fixed delay, which may be useful if the tag groups use overlapping frequencies, e.g.:

[0138] a. All the tags in Group1 are delayed by time t1

[0139] b. All the tags in Group2 are delayed by time t2

[0140] In some examples, when location information is available, the location information can be used, for example, to perform spatial frequency reuse to reduce interference. Coarse location information can adequately schedule tags in different regions to effectively use different space-time-frequency resources, or to perform region-related tag muting.

[0141] Regardless of which configuration or combination of configurations is used for programming the tag responses (non-overlapping carrier frequencies, time offsets, spatial frequency reuse), it will be understood that, according to examples, this can be performed on a per-group and / or per-tag basis.

[0142] At this stage, NW 400 has generated a tag map. In some examples, this map is stored in a lookup table (LUT), etc. For example, for each tag, the map can define the group, the activation frequency, and the time delay for the response, e.g., {groupY - FgroupY - tY}.

[0143] Then NW 400 configures the activator 404 for activation and the reader 406 for reading according to the configuration map. Tags 408, 410, and 412 are programmed according to the generated map.

[0144] Then, as shown at S414, the activator 404 activates the tag, causing the tag to send information for reading (e.g., reading stored information; such as temperature; humidity; speed, etc.).

[0145] As shown at S415, the reader 406 receives time and frequency multiplexed responses from tags 408, 410, 412.

[0146] At S416, the reader 406 reports the result to the network 400.

[0147] It will be noted that in the example of FIG. 4, the NW entity 400 performs or controls a number of tasks. For example, the NW entity 400 evaluates the detection report at S408 and performs grouping at S411.

[0148] In the example of FIG. 4, the activator 404 and the reader 406 are separate entities, and in other examples they may be configured as a single entity. In this case, the single entity is capable of performing S404 to S407 and S413 to S416.

[0149] In some examples, one or more steps performed by the NW entity 400 may be offloaded or delegated to another entity in the network, such as an entity expected to be physically closer to the tag.

[0150] FIG. 5 shows an example where some steps have been moved from the NW entity to the activator. It will be understood that features and steps in FIG. 5 that are the same as or similar to those in FIG. 4 have the same reference numerals, but the numerals are 100 higher (e.g., S501 corresponds to S401, etc.). For brevity, only the main differences between FIGS. 4 and 5 will be discussed below. It will be understood that in the example, the activator 504 is configured to perform additional duties, and this may be initiated as a pre-configuration by the network 500. Similarly, the reader 506 is pre-configured to report to the activator 504 instead of to the network 500 where applicable.

[0151] At S507, the reader 506 reports the detection result to the activator 504, rather than the NW 500.

[0152] As shown at S508, the activator 504 (instead of the NW 500) evaluates the report received at S507. At this stage, the activator 504 may also select a strategy for further iterations. By way of example only, the determined strategy may be to mute the tag 508 and re-detect the tags 510, 512. If one or more tags are detected, they will be muted by the mute signal.

[0153] As shown at S509, the activator sends a mute signal to the tag(s) to be muted (in this case, the tag 508). In this example, the activator autonomously sends the mute signal without prompting or indication from the NW 500.

[0154] Then, at S511, the activator 504 (instead of the NW 500) performs the grouping of tags into groups after the iteration has been completed.

[0155] It should also be noted that in the example of FIG. 5, in the tag reading phase typically shown at 524, for example, S512, S513, S514, and S516 are performed by the activator 504 instead of the NW 500 (see FIG. 4, where S412, S413, and S416 are performed by the NW 400).

[0156] By delegating tasks from the NW 500 to the activator 504, this can localize more parts of the overall process to the location of the tag itself. As an example, in the case where the tag is placed on an item in a warehouse, the activator 504 can be a UE located within the warehouse. This can reduce the signaling within the network because fewer signals need to be transmitted back to the NW 500 compared to the example of FIG. 4.

[0157] In one example, the NW entity includes the LMF, and the activator includes the UE. The reader can be included in the UE (which may or may not be the same UE as the activator) or can be included in the base station. In other examples, the actuator 504 and the reader 506 can be configured as a single entity. In this case, steps S505 and S506 can be completed by a single entity, and steps S507, S513, and S516 can be skipped.

[0158] Figure 6 An example of the terminal 600 is shown. The terminal 600 can be provided by any device capable of sending and receiving radio signals. Non-limiting examples include user equipment, mobile stations (MS) or mobile devices, such as mobile phones or so-called "smartphones", computers provided with wireless interface cards or other wireless interface facilities (e.g., USB dongles), personal data assistants (PDAs) or tablets provided with wireless communication capabilities, machine type communication (MTC) devices, Internet of Things (IoT) type communication devices, or any combination of these devices or similar devices. The terminal 600 can provide, for example, communication for carrying data of the communication. The communication can be one or more of voice, email, text message, multimedia, data, machine data, etc.

[0159] The terminal 600 can receive signals via a suitable receiving device over the air or radio interface 607 for receiving radio signals, and can send signals via a suitable device for sending radio signals. In Figure 6 it, the transceiver device is schematically represented by block 606. The transceiver device 606 can be provided by, for example, radio components and an associated antenna arrangement. The antenna arrangement can be arranged inside or outside the mobile device.

[0160] The terminal 600 may be provided with at least one processor 601, at least one ROM 602a, at least one RAM 602b, and other possible components for performing the tasks it is designed to perform with the assistance of software and hardware, including controlling access to and communicating with the access system and other communication devices. Data processing, storage, and other related control means may be provided on a suitable circuit board and / or chipset. This feature is indicated by reference numeral 604.

[0161] The device may optionally have a user interface, such as a keyboard 605, a touch-sensitive display screen or tablet, a combination thereof, etc. Depending on the type of the device, one or more of a display 608, a speaker, and a microphone may be optionally provided.

[0162] When Figure 1 、 2 、3, 4, and the activator (and / or reader) disclosed in FIG. 5 take the form of a UE, which may take the form of the UE schematically shown in Figure 6 .

[0163] Figure 7 An example of a control device for a communication system is shown. The control device is to be coupled, for example, to a base station of an access system and / or to control a base station of an access system, such as a RAN node (e.g., a base station, a gNB), a central unit of a cloud architecture, or a core network node (such as an MME or an S-GW), a scheduling entity (such as a spectrum management entity), or a server or a host. The control device may be integrated with or external to a node or module of the core network or the RAN. In some embodiments, the base station includes a separate control device unit or module. In other embodiments, the control device may be another network element, such as a radio network controller or a spectrum controller. In some embodiments, each base station may have such a control device and a control device provided in a radio network controller. The control device 700 may be arranged to provide control over communications within the service area of the system. The control device 700 includes at least one memory 701, at least one data processing unit 702, 703, and an input / output interface 704. Via this interface, the control device may be coupled to the receiver and transmitter of the base station. The receiver and / or transmitter may be implemented as a radio front end or a remote radio head. For example, the control device 700 or the processor 701 may be configured to execute appropriate software code to provide control functions. For example, if the reader (or activator) has been explained in the previous embodiments / examples in the form of a base station or other network element, then the reader (or activator) may be in the form of, as Figure 7The form of the control device shown in the same figure. Similarly, network entities (such as NW entity 400 in FIG. 4 and NW entity 500 in FIG. 5) can also adopt the form of the control device as shown in Figure 7 the same figure.

[0164] Figure 8 is a flowchart of a method according to an example. Figure 8 The flowchart of can be viewed from the perspective of a device. For example, the device can be a network entity, such as a location management function or a base station. Alternatively, the device can be a user equipment. Z

[0165] As shown at S801, the method includes: determining that at least one tag has responded to an activation signal.

[0166] At S802, the method includes: causing at least one mute signal to be sent to at least one tag that has responded.

[0167] At S803, the method includes: causing the repetition of S801 and S802 until a stop criterion is met.

[0168] At S804, the method includes: grouping one or more tags that have responded.

[0169] Figure 9 shows a schematic representation of non-volatile storage media 900a (such as a computer optical disc (CD) or a digital versatile disc (DVD)) and 900b (such as a universal serial bus (USB) memory stick) storing instructions and / or parameters 902, which when executed by a processor allow the processor to execute Figure 8 one or more steps of the method of.

[0170] It should be understood that the device may include or be coupled to other units or modules for transmission and / or reception, such as a radio part or a radio head. Although the device has been described as a single entity, different modules and memories may be implemented in one or more physical or logical entities.

[0171] It should be noted that although some embodiments are described with respect to 5G networks, similar principles can also be applied to other networks and communication systems. Therefore, although some embodiments have been described above by way of example with reference to certain exemplary architectures of wireless networks, technologies, and standards, the embodiments can be applied to any other suitable form of communication system other than the communication systems shown and described herein.

[0172] It should also be noted herein that although the above describes exemplary embodiments, various changes and modifications can be made to the disclosed solutions without departing from the scope of the present invention.

[0173] As used herein, "at least one of the following: <list of two or more elements>" and "at least one of <list of two or more elements>" and similar phrases, where the list of two or more elements is joined by "and" or "or", means at least any one element, or at least any two or more elements, or at least all of the elements.

[0174] In general, various embodiments may be implemented by hardware or dedicated circuitry, software, logic, or any combination thereof. Some aspects of the present disclosure may be implemented by hardware, while other aspects may be implemented by firmware or software that may be executed by a controller, microprocessor, or other computing device, but the present disclosure is not limited thereto. Although aspects of the present disclosure may be shown and described as block diagrams, flowcharts, or using some other graphical representation, it is fully understood that the blocks, devices, systems, techniques, or methods described herein may be implemented as non-limiting examples in hardware, software, firmware, dedicated circuitry or logic, general hardware or a controller or other computing device, or some combination thereof.

[0175] As used in this application, the term "circuitry" may refer to one or more or all of the following:

[0176] (a) A pure hardware circuit implementation (e.g., implemented only in analog and / or digital circuitry) and (b) a combination of hardware circuitry and software, e.g., as applicable:

[0177] (i) A combination of (one or more) analog and / or digital hardware circuits and software / firmware, and

[0178] (ii) A combination of (one or more) hardware processors and software (including (one or more) digital signal processors), any portion of the software and (one or more) memories, which together cause a device (such as a mobile phone or a server) to perform various functions, and (c) (one or more) hardware circuits and / or (one or more) processors, such as (one or more) microprocessors or a portion of (one or more) microprocessors, which require software (e.g., firmware) to operate, but the software may be absent when not required to operate.

[0179] This definition of circuitry applies to all uses of the term in this application, including in any claims. As another example, as used in this application, the term circuitry also encompasses implementations of only hardware circuits or processors (or multiple processors) or a portion of a hardware circuit or processor and its (or their) accompanying software and / or firmware. For example, if applicable to a particular claim element, the term circuitry also encompasses a baseband integrated circuit or a processor integrated circuit for a mobile device, or a similar integrated circuit in a server, a cellular network device, or other computing or networking device.

[0180] Embodiments of the present disclosure can be implemented by, for example, computer software executable by a data processor of a mobile device in a processor entity, can also be implemented by hardware, or can be implemented by a combination of software and hardware. Computer software or programs, also referred to as program products, include software routines, applets, and / or macros, can be stored in any device-readable data storage medium, and include program instructions for performing specific tasks. The computer program product can include one or more computer-executable components, which are configured to execute the embodiments when the program runs. One or more computer-executable components can be at least one software code or a part thereof.

[0181] It should also be noted in this regard that any box in the logical flow in the figure can represent a program step, or an interconnected logical circuit, a box and a function, or a combination of a program step and a logical circuit, a box and a function. Software can be stored on a physical medium such as a memory chip or a memory block implemented within a processor, a magnetic medium such as a hard disk or a floppy disk, and an optical medium such as a DVD and its data variant CD. The physical medium is a non-transitory medium.

[0182] The term "non-transitory" used herein is a limitation on the medium itself (i.e., tangible, not a signal), rather than a limitation on the persistence of data storage (e.g., RAM vs. ROM).

[0183] The memory can be of any type suitable for the local technical environment and can be implemented using any suitable data storage technology, such as semiconductor-based memory devices, magnetic memory devices and systems, optical memory devices and systems, fixed memory and removable memory. As a non-limiting example, the data processor can be of any type suitable for the local technical environment and can include one or more of a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, a microprocessor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), an FPGA, a gate-level circuit, and a processor based on a multi-core processor architecture.

[0184] Embodiments of the present invention can be practiced in various components such as integrated circuit modules. The design of an integrated circuit is generally a highly automated process. Complex and powerful software tools can be used to convert a logic-level design into a semiconductor circuit design ready to be etched and formed on a semiconductor substrate.

[0185] The scope of protection sought by the various embodiments of the present disclosure is set forth in the independent claims. Embodiments and features (if any) described in this specification that do not fall within the scope of the independent claims will be construed as useful examples for understanding the various embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0186] The foregoing description has provided a complete and detailed description of exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure by way of non-limiting examples. However, in light of the foregoing description, various modifications and adaptations may become apparent to those skilled in the relevant arts when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and the appended claims. However, all such and similar modifications of the teachings of the present disclosure will still fall within the scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims. In fact, there are also embodiments that include combinations of one or more of the embodiments and any other embodiments discussed previously.

Claims

1. A method, comprising: (i) determining that at least one tag has responded to an activation signal; (ii) causing at least one silence signal to be sent to the at least one tag that has responded; causing (i) and (ii) to be repeated until a stop criterion is met; and grouping one or more tags that have responded.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the grouping is performed according to at least one of the following: (i) being performed for multiple iterations, an iteration index indicating to which iteration the at least one tag has responded; the signal quality of the received response; A threshold number of tags allowed in a group; A threshold time delay of the response to the activation signal.

3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, comprising: After the grouping, determining transmission configuration information for the one or more tags.

4. The method according to claim 3, wherein the determining the transmission configuration information includes one or more of the following: determining non-overlapping carrier frequencies; determining a time offset; determining spatial frequency reuse.

5. The method according to any one of claims 3 to 4, wherein the determining the transmission configuration information is performed based on each group, or based on each tag.

6. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, comprising: Causing the tag to send the information stored in the tag.

7. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the at least one silence signal includes a 1-bit signal.

8. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the stop criterion includes one or more of the following: no additional tag is identified as responding to the activation signal; a threshold number of repetitions of (i) and (ii) is reached; expiration of a timer associated with the repetition; determining that a threshold percentage of the total number has responded when the total number of target tags is known; a threshold maximum number of tags has responded.

9. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 8, performed by: a network node; or an activator node that performs the sending of the activation signal.

10. A device comprising: At least one processor; and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to at least perform: (i) determining that at least one tag has responded to an activation signal; (ii) causing at least one silence signal to be sent to the at least one tag that has responded; causing (i) and (ii) to be repeated until a stop criterion is met; and grouping one or more tags that have responded.

11. The apparatus according to claim 10, the at least one processor; and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to at least further perform: grouping according to at least one of the following: wherein (i) is performed for multiple iterations, and an iteration index indicates to which iteration the at least one tag has responded; the signal quality of the received response; a threshold number of tags allowed in a group; a threshold time delay of the response to the activation signal.

12. The apparatus according to claim 11 or 12, the at least one processor; and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to at least further perform: after the grouping, determining transmission configuration information for the one or more tags.

13. The apparatus according to claim 12, wherein said determining the transmission configuration information includes one or more of the following: determining non-overlapping carrier frequencies; determining a time offset; determining spatial frequency reuse.

14. The apparatus according to any one of claims 12 to 13, wherein said determining the transmission configuration information is performed based on each group, or based on each tag.

15. The apparatus according to any one of claims 10 to 14, said at least one processor; and at least one memory storing instructions which, when executed by said at least one processor, cause the apparatus to at least further perform: causing the tag to send the information stored in the tag.

16. The apparatus according to any one of claims 10 to 15, wherein said at least one silence signal comprises a 1-bit signal.

17. The apparatus according to any one of claims 10 to 16, wherein said stop criteria includes one or more of the following: no additional tags are identified in response to the activation signal; a threshold number of repetitions of (i) and (ii) is reached; expiration of a timer associated with the repetition; determining that a threshold percentage of the total number has responded, where the total number of target tags is known; a threshold maximum number of tags have responded.

18. The device according to any one of claims 10 to 17, wherein the device comprises: A network node; Or an activator node that performs the transmission of the activation signal.

19. A system comprising: A network node; At least one activator node; At least one reader node; At least one tag; The network node or the at least one activator node is configured to: (i) in response to an activation signal sent by the at least one activator node, determine that the at least one tag has responded to the at least one reader node; The network node or the at least one activator node is configured to: (ii) cause the at least one silence signal to be sent to the at least one tag that has responded; The network node or the at least one activator node is configured to: cause the repetition of (i) and (ii) until a stop criterion is met; and The network node or the at least one activator node is configured to: perform grouping on one or more tags that have responded.

20. A non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising program instructions which, when executed by an apparatus, cause the apparatus to at least perform the following: (i) Determine that at least one tag has responded to an activation signal; (ii) Cause at least one silence signal to be sent to the at least one tag that has responded; Cause the repetition of (i) and (ii) until a stop criterion is met; and Group one or more tags that have responded.

Images