Process for reporting sinr and / or RSSI with application-related grainities in WLAN sensing

Abstract

Systems, methods, and devices may process reporting information, such as channel state information, received signal strength indication, signal-to-noise ratio, signal-to-interference and / or noise ratio, and / or similar information, with application or scenario-related granularity of wireless local area network sensing between an initiator and a responder.

Description

[0001] CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0002] This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 63 / 438,696, filed January 12, 2023, and U.S. Provisional Application No. 63 / 439,467, filed January 17, 2023, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. Background Art

[0003] In a wireless local area network, access points and / or stations may need to perform sensing in order for the wireless local area network to perform efficiently.New, improved and / or enhanced methods for performing such sensing are needed. Summary of the Invention

[0004] Systems, methods, and devices can utilize application- or scenario-dependent granularity of wireless local area network sensing between initiators and responders to process reporting information, such as channel state information, received signal strength indication, signal-to-noise ratio, signal-to-interference and / or noise ratio, etc. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0005] The present invention may be understood in more detail from the following description given by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which like reference numerals represent like elements, and in which:

[0006] Figure 1A is a system diagram illustrating an example communication system in which one or more disclosed embodiments may be implemented;

[0007] Figure 1B is a diagram showing that according to an embodiment, Figure 1A A system diagram of an exemplary wireless transmit / receive unit (WTRU) for use within the illustrated communication system;

[0008] Figure 1C is a diagram showing that according to an embodiment, Figure 1A A system diagram of an example radio access network (RAN) and an example core network (CN) used within the communication system shown in FIG.

[0009] Figure 1D is a diagram showing that according to an embodiment, Figure 1A A system diagram of another example RAN and another example CN used within the communication system shown in FIG;

[0010] Figure 2 An example of the format of the Sensing Measurement Setup Request frame Action field is shown;

[0011] Figure 3 An example of the format of the Sensing Measurement Setup Response frame Action field is shown;

[0012] Figure 4An example of a sensed measurement parameter element format is shown;

[0013] Figure 5 shows an example design of the presence and control bitmap field format for reporting RSSI;

[0014] Figure 6 shows an example design of a Sensing Measurement Report Control field for reporting RSSI;

[0015] Figure 7 shows an example design of the presence and control bitmap field format for reporting SINR;

[0016] Figure 8 shows an example design of a Sensing Measurement Report Control field for reporting SINR;

[0017] Figure 9 An example process for indicating whether RSSI and / or SINR measurements are required and the granularity of the measurements is shown;

[0018] Figure 10 An example design of a sensing measurement parameter field format indicating whether RSSI and / or SINR is required and the corresponding granularity is shown;

[0019] Figure 11 An example of a sensing measurement parameter field format indicating whether SNR is required and the corresponding minimum and maximum SNR values is shown;

[0020] Figure 12 An example of an enhanced sensing element format is shown; and

[0021] Figure 13 An example of an enhanced sensing field format is shown. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0022] Figure 1A is a diagram illustrating an example communication system 100 in which one or more disclosed embodiments may be implemented. The communication system 100 may be a multiple access system that provides content, such as voice, data, video, messaging, broadcast, etc., to multiple wireless users. The communication system 100 may enable multiple wireless users to access such content by sharing system resources, including wireless bandwidth. For example, the communication system 100 may employ one or more channel access methods, such as code division multiple access (CDMA), time division multiple access (TDMA), frequency division multiple access (FDMA), orthogonal FDMA (OFDMA), single carrier FDMA (SC-FDMA), zero tail unique word discrete Fourier transform spread OFDM (ZT-UW DTS-S-OFDM), unique word OFDM (UW-OFDM), resource block filtered OFDM, filter bank multi-carrier (FBMC), etc.

[0023] like Figure 1A As shown, the communication system 100 may include wireless transmit / receive units (WTRUs) 102a, 102b, 102c, 102d, a radio access network 104 / 113, a core network 106 / 115, a public switched telephone network (PSTN) 108, the Internet 110, and other networks 112. However, it will be appreciated that the disclosed embodiments contemplate any number of WTRUs, base stations, networks, and / or network elements. Any of the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, 102d may be any type of device configured to operate and / or communicate in a wireless environment. By way of example, the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, 102d (any of which may be referred to as a “station” (STA)) may be configured to transmit and / or receive wireless signals and may include user equipment (UE), a mobile station, a fixed or mobile subscriber unit, a subscription-based unit, a pager, a cellular phone, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a smartphone, a laptop, a netbook, a personal computer, a wireless sensor, a hotspot or MiFi device, an Internet of Things (IoT) device, a watch or other wearable device, a head-mounted display (HMD), a vehicle, a drone, medical equipment and applications (e.g., remote surgery), industrial equipment and applications (e.g., robots and / or other wireless devices operating in industrial and / or automated process chain environments), consumer electronic devices, devices operating on commercial and / or industrial wireless networks, etc. Any of the wireless transmit / receive units 102a, 102b, 102c, and 102d may be interchangeably referred to as a UE.

[0024] The communication system 100 may also include a base station 114a and / or a base station 114b. Each of the base stations 114a, 114b may be any type of device configured to wirelessly connect to at least one of the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, 102d to facilitate access to one or more communication networks, such as the CN 106, the Internet 110, and / or other networks 112. By way of example, the base stations 114a, 114b may be a base transceiver station (BTS), a NodeB, an eNodeB, a Home NodeB, a Home eNodeB, a next generation NodeB (e.g., a gNodeB (gNB)), a new radio (NR) NodeB, a site controller, an access point (AP), a wireless router, etc. While the base stations 114a, 114b are each depicted as a single element, it will be appreciated that the base stations 114a, 114b may include any number of interconnected base stations and / or network elements.

[0025] Base station 114a may be part of RAN 104, which may also include other base stations and / or network elements (not shown), such as a base station controller (BSC), a radio network controller (RNC), relay nodes, etc. Base station 114a and / or base station 114b may be configured to transmit and / or receive wireless signals on one or more carrier frequencies, which may be referred to as cells (not shown). These frequencies may be in licensed spectrum, unlicensed spectrum, or a combination of licensed and unlicensed spectrum. A cell may provide wireless service coverage to a specific geographic area, which may be relatively fixed or may change over time. A cell may be further divided into cell sectors. For example, the cell associated with base station 114a may be divided into three sectors. Thus, in one embodiment, base station 114a may include three transceivers, one for each sector of the cell. In one embodiment, base station 114a may employ multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) technology and may use multiple transceivers for each sector of the cell. For example, beamforming may be used to transmit and / or receive signals in a desired spatial direction.

[0026] The base stations 114a, 114b may communicate with one or more of the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, 102d over an air interface 116, which may be any suitable wireless communication link (e.g., radio frequency (RF), microwave, centimeter wave, micrometer wave, infrared (IR), ultraviolet (UV), visible light, etc.). The air interface 116 may be established using any suitable radio access technology (RAT).

[0027] More specifically, as described above, the communication system 100 may be a multiple-access system and may employ one or more channel access schemes, such as CDMA, TDMA, FDMA, OFDMA, SC-FDMA, and the like. For example, the base station 114a in the RAN 104 and the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may implement a radio technology such as Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) Terrestrial Radio Access (UTRA), which may use Wideband CDMA (WCDMA) to establish the air interface 116. WCDMA may include communication protocols such as High Speed Packet Access (HSPA) and / or Evolved HSPA (HSPA+). HSPA may include High Speed Downlink (DL) Packet Access (HSDPA) and / or High Speed Uplink (UL) Packet Access (HSUPA).

[0028] In one embodiment, the base station 114a and the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may implement a radio technology such as Evolved UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA), which may establish the air interface 116 using Long Term Evolution (LTE) and / or LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) and / or LTE-Advanced Pro (LTE-A Pro).

[0029] In one embodiment, the base station 114a and the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may implement a radio technology such as NR radio access and may establish the air interface 116 using NR.

[0030] In one embodiment, the base station 114a and the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may implement multiple radio access technologies. For example, the base station 114a and the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may implement both LTE radio access and NR radio access, for example, using dual connectivity (DC) principles. Thus, the air interface used by the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may be characterized by multiple types of radio access technologies and / or transmissions to / from multiple types of base stations, such as eNBs and gNBs.

[0031] In other embodiments, the base station 114a and the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may implement wireless technologies such as IEEE 802.11 (i.e., Wireless Fidelity (WiFi)), IEEE 802.16 (i.e., Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX)), CDMA2000, CDMA2000 1X, CDMA2000 EV-DO, Interim Standard 2000 (IS-2000), Interim Standard 95 (IS-95), Interim Standard 856 (IS-856), Global System for Mobile communications (GSM), Enhanced Data rates for GSM Evolution (EDGE), GSM EDGE (GERAN), etc.

[0032] Figure 1AThe base station 114b in the may be, for example, a wireless router, a Home NodeB, a Home eNodeB, or an access point, and may utilize any suitable RAT to facilitate wireless connectivity in a local area, such as a place of business, a home, a vehicle, a campus, an industrial facility, an air corridor (e.g., for use by drones), a road, and the like. In one embodiment, the base station 114b and the WTRUs 102c, 102d may implement a radio technology such as IEEE 802.11 to establish a wireless local area network (WLAN). In one embodiment, the base station 114b and the WTRUs 102c, 102d may implement a radio technology such as IEEE 802.15 to establish a wireless personal area network (WPAN). In another embodiment, the base station 114b and the WTRUs 102c, 102d may utilize a cellular-based RAT (e.g., WCDMA, CDMA2000, GSM, LTE-A, LTE-A Pro, NR, etc.) to establish a picocell or a femtocell. Figure 1A As shown, base station 114b may have a direct connection to the Internet 110. Thus, base station 114b may not need to access the Internet 110 via CN 106.

[0033] The RAN 104 may be in communication with the CN 106, which may be any type of network configured to provide voice, data, applications, and / or Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) services to one or more of the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, 102d. Data may have varying quality of service (QoS) requirements, such as different throughput requirements, latency requirements, fault tolerance requirements, reliability requirements, data throughput requirements, mobility requirements, etc. The CN 106 may provide call control, billing services, mobile location-based services, prepaid calling, Internet connectivity, video distribution, etc., and / or perform advanced security functions (e.g., user authentication). Although Figure 1A Although not shown, it will be appreciated that the RAN 104 and / or the CN 106 may be in direct or indirect communication with other RANs that employ the same RAT as the RAN 104 or a different RAT as the RAN 104. For example, in addition to being connected to the RAN 104, which may utilize NR radio technology, the CN 106 may also be in communication with another RAN (not shown) that employs GSM, UMTS, CDMA2000, WiMAX, E-UTRA, or WiFi radio technology.

[0034] The CN 106 may also serve as a gateway for the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, 102d to access the PSTN 108, the Internet 110, and / or other networks 112. The PSTN 108 may include a circuit-switched telephone network that provides plain old telephone service (POTS). The Internet 110 may include a global system of interconnected computer networks and devices that use common communication protocols, such as the Transmission Control Protocol (TCP), the User Datagram Protocol (UDP), and / or the Internet Protocol (IP) from the TCP / IP Internet protocol suite. The networks 112 may include wired and / or wireless communication networks owned and / or operated by other service providers. For example, the networks 112 may include another CN connected to one or more RANs, which may employ the same RAT as the RAN 104 or a different RAT.

[0035] Some or all of the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, 102d in the communication system 100 may include multi-mode capabilities (e.g., the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, 102d may include multiple transceivers to communicate with different wireless networks via different wireless links). Figure 1A The WTRU 102c shown may be configured to communicate with the base station 114a, which may employ a cellular-based radio technology, and with the base station 114b, which may employ an IEEE 802 radio technology.

[0036] Figure 1B is a system diagram illustrating an example WTRU 102. Figure 1B As shown, the WTRU 102 may include, among other things, a processor 118, a transceiver 120, a transmit / receive element 122, a speaker / microphone 124, a keypad 126, a display / touchpad 128, non-removable memory 130, removable memory 132, a power supply 134, a global positioning system (GPS) chipset 136, and / or other peripherals 138. It will be appreciated that the WTRU 102 may include any subcombination of the foregoing elements while remaining consistent with an embodiment.

[0037] The processor 118 may be a general purpose processor, a special purpose processor, a conventional processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), a plurality of microprocessors, one or more microprocessors associated with a DSP core, a controller, a microcontroller, an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field programmable gate array (FPGA), any other type of integrated circuit (IC), a state machine, etc. The processor 118 may perform signal decoding, data processing, power control, input / output processing, and / or any other functionality that enables the WTRU 102 to operate in a wireless environment. The processor 118 may be coupled to the transceiver 120, which may be coupled to the transmit / receive element 122. Although Figure 1B The processor 118 and the transceiver 120 are depicted as separate components, but it will be appreciated that the processor 118 and the transceiver 120 may be integrated together in an electronic package or chip.

[0038] The transmit / receive element 122 may be configured to transmit signals to or receive signals from a base station (e.g., base station 114a) via the air interface 116. For example, in one embodiment, the transmit / receive element 122 may be an antenna configured to transmit and / or receive RF signals. In one embodiment, the transmit / receive element 122 may be an emitter / detector configured to transmit and / or receive, for example, IR, UV, or visible light signals. In another embodiment, the transmit / receive element 122 may be configured to transmit and / or receive both RF and light signals. It should be appreciated that the transmit / receive element 122 may be configured to transmit and / or receive any combination of wireless signals.

[0039] Although the transmit / receive element 122 is Figure 1B Although depicted as a single element in the embodiment, the WTRU 102 may include any number of transmit / receive elements 122. More specifically, the WTRU 102 may employ MIMO technology. Thus, in one embodiment, the WTRU 102 may include two or more transmit / receive elements 122 (e.g., multiple antennas) for transmitting and receiving wireless signals over the air interface 116.

[0040] The transceiver 120 may be configured to modulate signals to be transmitted by the transmit / receive element 122 and demodulate signals received by the transmit / receive element 122. As described above, the WTRU 102 may have multi-mode capabilities. Thus, the transceiver 120 may include multiple transceivers to enable the WTRU 102 to communicate via multiple RATs, such as NR and IEEE 802.11.

[0041] The processor 118 of the WTRU 102 may be coupled to and may receive user input data from a speaker / microphone 124, a keypad 126, and / or a display / touchpad 128 (e.g., a liquid crystal display (LCD) display unit or an organic light emitting diode (OLED) display unit). The processor 118 may also output user data to the speaker / microphone 124, the keypad 126, and / or the display / touchpad 128. Furthermore, the processor 118 may access information from and store data in any suitable type of memory, such as non-removable memory 130 and / or removable memory 132. The non-removable memory 130 may include random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), a hard disk, or any other type of memory storage device. The removable memory 132 may include a subscriber identity module (SIM) card, a memory stick, a secure digital (SD) memory card, and the like. In other embodiments, the processor 118 may access information from and store data in memory that is not physically located on the WTRU 102, such as on a server or a home computer (not shown).

[0042] The processor 118 may receive power from the power source 134 and may be configured to distribute and / or control power to the other components in the WTRU 102. The power source 134 may be any suitable device for powering the WTRU 102. For example, the power source 134 may include one or more dry cell batteries (e.g., nickel-cadmium (NiCd), nickel-zinc (NiZn), nickel-metal hydride (NiMH), lithium-ion (Li-ion), etc.), solar cells, fuel cells, etc.

[0043] The processor 118 may also be coupled to the GPS chipset 136, which may be configured to provide location information (e.g., longitude and latitude) regarding the current location of the WTRU 102. In addition to or as an alternative to the information from the GPS chipset 136, the WTRU 102 may receive location information from a base station (e.g., base stations 114a, 114b) over the air interface 116 and / or determine its location based on the timing of signals received from two or more neighboring base stations. It will be appreciated that the WTRU 102 may acquire location information by any suitable location-determination method while remaining consistent with the embodiments.

[0044] The processor 118 may also be coupled to other peripherals 138, which may include one or more software and / or hardware modules that provide additional features, functionality, and / or wired or wireless connectivity. For example, the peripherals 138 may include an accelerometer, an electronic compass, a satellite transceiver, a digital camera (for photos and / or video), a universal serial bus (USB) port, a vibration device, a television transceiver, a hands-free headset, Modules, frequency modulation (FM) radio units, digital music players, media players, video game player modules, internet browsers, virtual reality and / or augmented reality (VR / AR) devices, activity trackers, etc. Peripheral devices 138 may include one or more sensors. The sensors may be one or more of the following: a gyroscope, an accelerometer, a Hall effect sensor, a magnetometer, an orientation sensor, a proximity sensor, a temperature sensor, a time sensor; a geolocation sensor; an altimeter, a light sensor, a touch sensor, a magnetometer, a barometer, a gesture sensor, a biometric sensor, a humidity sensor, etc.

[0045] The WTRU 102 may include a full-duplex radio for which transmission and reception of some or all of the signals (e.g., signals associated with particular subframes for UL (e.g., for transmission) and DL (e.g., for reception)) may be concurrent and / or simultaneous. The full-duplex radio may include an interference management unit to reduce and / or substantially eliminate self-interference through hardware (e.g., a choke) or through signal processing by a processor (e.g., a separate processor (not shown) or the processor 118). In one embodiment, the WTRU 102 may include a half-duplex radio for which transmission and reception of some or all of the signals (e.g., signals associated with particular subframes for UL (e.g., for transmission) or DL (e.g., for reception)) may be concurrent and / or simultaneous.

[0046] Figure 1C 1 is a system diagram illustrating the RAN 104 and the CN 106 according to an embodiment. As noted above, the RAN 104 may employ an E-UTRA radio technology to communicate with the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c over the air interface 116. The RAN 104 may also be in communication with the CN 106.

[0047] The RAN 104 may include eNode-Bs 160a, 160b, and 160c, though it will be appreciated that the RAN 104 may include any number of eNode-Bs while remaining consistent with an embodiment. The eNode-Bs 160a, 160b, and 160c may each include one or more transceivers for communicating with the WTRUs 102a, 102b, and 102c over the air interface 116. In one embodiment, the eNode-Bs 160a, 160b, and 160c may implement MIMO technology. Thus, for example, the eNode-B 160a may use multiple antennas to transmit wireless signals to and / or receive wireless signals from the WTRU 102a.

[0048] Each of the eNode-Bs 160a, 160b, 160c may be associated with a particular cell (not shown) and may be configured to handle radio resource management decisions, handover decisions, user scheduling in UL and / or DL, etc. Figure 1C As shown in FIG, eNode-Bs 160a, 160b, 160c may communicate with one another via an X2 interface.

[0049] Figure 1C The CN 106 shown in FIG may include a mobility management entity (MME) 162, a serving gateway (SGW) 164, and a packet data network (PDN) gateway (PGW) 166. While each of the foregoing elements is depicted as part of the CN 106, it should be understood that any of these elements may be owned and / or operated by an entity other than the CN operator.

[0050] The MME 162 may be connected to each of the eNode-Bs 162a, 162b, 162c in the RAN 104 via an S1 interface and may serve as a control node. For example, the MME 162 may be responsible for authenticating users of the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, bearer activation / deactivation, selecting a particular serving gateway during an initial attach of the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, and the like. The MME 162 may also provide a control plane function for facilitating switching between the RAN 104 and other RANs (not shown) that employ other radio technologies, such as GSM and / or WCDMA.

[0051] The SGW 164 may be connected to each of the eNode-Bs 160a, 160b, 160c in the RAN 104 via an S1 interface. The SGW 164 may generally route and forward user data packets to / from the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c. The SGW 164 may perform other functions, such as anchoring the user plane during inter-eNode B handovers, triggering paging when downlink data is available for the WTRUs 102a, 102B, 102c, managing and storing the context of the WTRUs 102a, 102B, 102c, and the like.

[0052] The SGW 164 may be connected to the PGW 166, which may provide the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c with access to packet-switched networks, such as the Internet 110, to facilitate communications between the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c and IP-enabled devices.

[0053] The CN 106 may facilitate communications with other networks. For example, the CN 106 may provide the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c with access to circuit-switched networks, such as the PSTN 108, to facilitate communications between the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c and traditional land-line communications devices. For example, the CN 106 may include, or may be in communication with, an IP gateway (e.g., an IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) server) that serves as an interface between the CN 106 and the PSTN 108. In addition, the CN 106 may provide the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c with access to other networks 112, which may include other wired and / or wireless networks owned and / or operated by other service providers.

[0054] Although the WTRU Figures 1A-1D Although described as a wireless terminal, it is contemplated that in certain representative embodiments, such a terminal may utilize a wired communication interface with a communication network (eg, temporarily or permanently).

[0055] Figure 1D 1 is a system diagram illustrating the RAN 104 and the CN 106 according to an embodiment. As described above, the RAN 104 may employ NR wireless technology to communicate with the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c over the air interface 116. The RAN 104 may also be in communication with the CN 106.

[0056] The RAN 104 may include gNBs 180a, 180b, and 180c, though it will be appreciated that the RAN 104 may include any number of gNBs while remaining consistent with an embodiment. Each of the gNBs 180a, 180b, and 180c may include one or more transceivers for communicating with the WTRUs 102a, 102b, and 102c over the air interface 116. In one embodiment, the gNBs 180a, 180b, and 180c may implement MIMO technology. For example, the gNBs 180a and 180b may utilize beamforming to transmit signals to and / or receive signals from the gNBs 180a, 180b, and 180c. Thus, the gNB 180a may, for example, use multiple antennas to transmit wireless signals to and / or receive wireless signals from the WTRU 102a. In one embodiment, the gNBs 180a, 180b, and 180c may implement carrier aggregation technology. For example, the gNB 180a may transmit multiple component carriers to the WTRU 102a (not shown). A subset of these component carriers may be on unlicensed spectrum, while the remaining component carriers may be on licensed spectrum. In one embodiment, the gNBs 180a, 180b, and 180c may implement coordinated multi-point (CoMP) technology. For example, the WTRU 102a may receive coordinated transmissions from gNB 180a and gNB 180b (and / or gNB 180c).

[0057] The WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may communicate with the gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c using transmissions associated with scalable parameter sets. For example, the OFDM symbol spacing and / or OFDM subcarrier spacing may vary for different transmissions, different cells, and / or different portions of the wireless transmission spectrum. The WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may communicate with the gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c using subframes or transmission time intervals (TTIs) of varying or scalable lengths (e.g., containing a varying number of OFDM symbols and / or an absolute time duration of varying length).

[0058] The gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c may be configured to communicate with the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c in a standalone configuration and / or a non-standalone configuration. In a standalone configuration, the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may communicate with the gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c without also accessing other RANs (e.g., the eNode-Bs 160a, 160b, 160c). In a standalone configuration, the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may utilize one or more of the gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c as mobility anchor points. In a standalone configuration, the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may communicate with the gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c using signals in an unlicensed band. In a non-standalone configuration, the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may communicate / connect with the gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c while also communicating / connecting with another RAN, such as the eNode-Bs 160a, 160b, 160c. For example, the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may implement DC principles to communicate with one or more gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c and one or more eNode-Bs 160a, 160b, 160c substantially simultaneously. In a non-standalone configuration, the eNode-Bs 160a, 160b, 160c may serve as mobility anchors for the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, while the gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c may provide additional coverage and / or throughput to serve the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c.

[0059] Each of the gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c may be associated with a specific cell (not shown) and may be configured to handle radio resource management decisions, handover decisions, user scheduling in UL and / or DL, support for network slicing, interworking between DC, NR, and E-UTRA, routing of user plane data to a user plane function (UPF) 184a, 184b, routing of control plane information to an access and mobility management function (AMF) 182a, 182b, etc. Figure 1D As shown, gNBs 180a, 180b, and 180c can communicate with each other via the Xn interface.

[0060] Figure 1DThe CN 106 shown in FIG may include at least one AMF 182 a, 182 b, at least one UPF 184 a, 184 b, at least one session management function (SMF) 183 a, 183 b, and may include a data network (DN) 185 a, 185 b. Although each of the aforementioned elements is depicted as part of the CN 106, it should be understood that any of these elements may be owned and / or operated by an entity other than the CN operator.

[0061] The AMF 182a, 182b may be connected to one or more of the gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c in the RAN 104 via the N2 interface and may act as a control node. For example, the AMF 182a, 182b may be responsible for authenticating users of the WTRU 102a, 102b, 102c, supporting network slicing (e.g., handling different protocol data unit (PDU) sessions with different requirements), selecting a specific SMF 183a, 183b, managing registration areas, terminating non-access stratum (NAS) signaling, mobility management, and the like. The AMF 182a, 182b may use network slicing to customize CN support for the WTRU 102a, 102b, 102c based on the type of service being used by the WTRU 102a, 102b, 102c. For example, different network slices may be established for different use cases, such as services relying on ultra-reliable low latency (URLLC) access, services relying on enhanced massive mobile broadband (eMBB) access, services for MTC access, and the like. The AMFs 182a, 182b may provide a control plane function for switching between the RAN 104 and other RANs (not shown) that employ other radio technologies, such as LTE, LTE-A, LTE-A Pro and / or non-3GPP access technologies (e.g., WiFi).

[0062] The SMFs 183a and 183b can connect to the AMFs 182a and 182b in the CN 106 via the N11 interface. The SMFs 183a and 183b can also connect to the UPFs 184a and 184b in the CN 106 via the N4 interface. The SMFs 183a and 183b can select and control the UPFs 184a and 184b and configure traffic routing through the UPFs 184a and 184b. The SMFs 183a and 183b can perform other functions, such as managing and allocating UE IP addresses, managing PDU sessions, controlling policy enforcement and QoS, and providing DL data notifications. The PDU session type can be IP-based, non-IP-based, Ethernet-based, etc.

[0063] The UPFs 184a, 184b may be connected to one or more of the gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c in the RAN 104 via an N3 interface, which may provide the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c with access to packet-switched networks, such as the Internet 110, to facilitate communications between the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c and IP-enabled devices. The UPFs 184, 184b may perform other functions, such as routing and forwarding packets, enforcing user plane policies, supporting multi-homed PDU sessions, handling user plane QoS, buffering DL packets, providing mobility anchoring, and the like.

[0064] The CN 106 may facilitate communications with other networks. For example, the CN 106 may include, or may communicate with, an IP gateway (e.g., an IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) server) that serves as an interface between the CN 106 and the PSTN 108. Furthermore, the CN 106 may provide the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c with access to other networks 112, which may include other wired and / or wireless networks owned and / or operated by other service providers. In one embodiment, the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may connect to the DNs 185a, 185b through the UPFs 184a, 184b via the N3 interface to the UPFs 184a, 184b and the N6 interface between the UPFs 184a, 184b and the local DNs 185a, 185b, and the DNs 185a, 185b.

[0065] Given that Figures 1A-1D and Figures 1A-1D

[0015] As described herein, one or more or all of the functionality described herein with respect to one or more of the following may be performed by one or more emulated devices (not shown): the WTRUs 102a-d, base stations 114a-b, eNode-Bs 160a-c, MMEs 162, SGWs 164, PGWs 166, gNBs 180a-c, AMFs 182a-b, UPFs 184a-b, SMFs 183a-b, DNs 185a-b, and / or any other devices described herein. An emulated device may be one or more devices configured to emulate one or more or all of the functionality described herein. For example, an emulated device may be used to test other devices and / or simulate network and / or WTRU functionality.

[0066] The simulation device can be designed to implement one or more tests of other devices in a laboratory environment and / or an operator network environment. For example, one or more simulation devices can perform one or more or all functions while being fully or partially implemented and / or deployed as part of a wired and / or wireless communication network in order to test other devices within the communication network. The one or more simulation devices can perform one or more or all functions while being temporarily implemented / deployed as part of a wired and / or wireless communication network. The simulation device can be directly coupled to another device for testing purposes and / or can use over-the-air wireless communication to perform testing.

[0067] One or more emulation devices can perform one or more functions (including all functions) without being implemented / deployed as part of a wired and / or wireless communication network. For example, the emulation device can be used in a test scenario in a test lab and / or a wired and / or wireless communication network that is not deployed (e.g., testing) to enable testing of one or more components. The one or more emulation devices can be test devices. The emulation device can transmit and / or receive data using direct RF coupling and / or wireless communication via RF circuitry (e.g., which can include one or more antennas).

[0068] In some embodiments, Figures 1A-1D The other network 112 may be a WLAN.

[0069] A WLAN in infrastructure basic service set (BSS) mode may have an access point (AP) for the BSS and one or more stations (STAs) associated with the AP. The AP may have access or an interface to a distribution system (DS) or another type of wired / wireless network that carries traffic entering and / or leaving the BSS. Traffic originating from outside the BSS and destined for a STA may arrive through the AP and be delivered to the STA. Traffic originating from a STA destined for a destination outside the BSS may be sent to the AP for delivery to the corresponding destination. Traffic between STAs within a BSS may be sent through the AP, for example, where a source STA may send traffic to the AP, and the AP may deliver the traffic to the destination STA. Traffic between STAs within a BSS may be considered and / or referred to as peer-to-peer traffic. This peer-to-peer traffic may be sent between a source and destination STA (e.g., directly between the source and destination STAs) using a direct link setup (DLS). In certain representative embodiments, the DLS may use 802.11e DLS or 802.11z tunneled DLS (TDLS). A WLAN using an independent BSS (IBSS) mode cannot have an AP, and STAs (eg, all STAs) within or using the IBSS can communicate directly with each other. The IBSS communication mode may sometimes be referred to herein as an "ad-hoc" communication mode.

[0070] When using 802.11ac infrastructure operation mode or a similar operation mode, the AP can send beacons on a fixed channel (such as a primary channel). The primary channel can be a fixed width (e.g., a 20 MHz wide bandwidth) or a dynamically set width. The primary channel can be the operating channel of the BSS and can be used by STAs to establish a connection with the AP. In certain representative embodiments, such as in an 802.11 system, carrier sense multiple access with collision avoidance (CSMA / CA) can be implemented. For CSMA / CA, STAs (e.g., each STA) including the AP can sense the primary channel. If the primary channel is sensed / detected and / or determined to be busy by a specific STA, the specific STA can back off. One STA (e.g., only one station) can transmit at any given time in a given BSS.

[0071] High throughput (HT) STAs may communicate using a 40 MHz wide channel, for example, by combining a primary 20 MHz channel with adjacent or non-adjacent 20 MHz channels to form a 40 MHz wide channel.

[0072] Very high throughput (VHT) STAs can support 20MHz, 40MHz, 80MHz and / or 160MHz wide channels. 40MHz and / or 80MHz channels can be formed by combining consecutive 20MHz channels. A 160MHz channel can be formed by combining 8 consecutive 20MHz channels, or by combining two discontinuous 80MHz channels, which can be referred to as an 80+80 configuration. For the 80+80 configuration, after channel coding, the data can pass through a segment parser that can divide the data into two streams. Each stream can be subjected to inverse fast Fourier transform (IFFT) processing and time domain processing respectively. The streams can be mapped onto two 80MHz channels, and the data can be transmitted by the transmitting STA. At the receiver of the receiving STA, the operation of the above-mentioned 80+80 configuration can be reversed, and the combined data can be sent to the media access control (MAC).

[0073] Sub-1 GHz operating modes are supported by 802.11af and 802.11ah. The channel operating bandwidth and carrier frequency are reduced in 802.11af and 802.11ah relative to those used in 802.11n and 802.11ac. 802.11af supports 5 MHz, 10 MHz, and 20 MHz bandwidths in the TV White Space (TVWS) spectrum, while 802.11ah supports 1 MHz, 2 MHz, 4 MHz, 8 MHz, and 16 MHz bandwidths using non-TVWS spectrum. According to a representative embodiment, 802.11ah may support meter type control / machine type communication (MTC), such as MTC devices in macro coverage areas. MTC devices may have certain capabilities, for example, limited capabilities including support for certain and / or limited bandwidths (e.g., only support). MTC devices may include batteries with a battery life above a threshold (e.g., to maintain very long battery life).

[0074] WLAN systems that can support multiple channels and channel bandwidths (e.g., 802.11n, 802.11ac, 802.11af, and 802.11ah) include a channel that can be designated as a primary channel. The primary channel can have a bandwidth equal to the maximum common operating bandwidth supported by all STAs in the BSS. The bandwidth of the primary channel can be set and / or limited by the STA that supports the smallest bandwidth operating mode among all STAs operating in the BSS. In the example of 802.11ah, for a STA that supports (e.g., only supports) 1 MHz mode (e.g., an MTC-type device), the primary channel can be 1 MHz wide, even if the AP and other STAs in the BSS support 2 MHz, 4 MHz, 8 MHz, 16 MHz, and / or other channel bandwidth operating modes. Carrier sensing and / or network allocation vector (NAV) settings can depend on the status of the primary channel. If the primary channel is busy, for example, due to a STA (which only supports 1 MHz operating mode) transmitting to the AP, then all available frequency bands can be considered busy, even if most of the available frequency bands remain idle.

[0075] In the United States, the available frequency band for 802.11ah is from 902 MHz to 928 MHz. In South Korea, the available frequency band is from 917.5 MHz to 923.5 MHz. In Japan, the available frequency band is from 916.5 MHz to 927.5 MHz. The total bandwidth available for 802.11ah ranges from 6 MHz to 26 MHz, depending on the country code.

[0076] As mentioned above, in one example Figures 1A-1DMay represent a WLAN scenario. A WLAN in infrastructure basic service set (BSS) mode may have one or more access points (APs) for the BSS and one or more stations (STA) / WTRUs associated with the APs. As discussed herein, WTRUs and STAs may be interchangeable. An AP may access or interface to a distribution system (DS) or another type of wired / wireless network that carries traffic in and out of the BSS. Traffic to STAs originating from outside the BSS may arrive through the AP (e.g., acting as a gateway and router) and may then be delivered to one or more STAs. Traffic originating from a STA to a destination outside the BSS may be sent to the AP to be delivered to the corresponding destination. Traffic between STAs within a BSS may also be sent through the AP, where the source STA sends traffic to the AP and the AP delivers the traffic to the destination STA.

[0077] In 802.11ac infrastructure mode of operation, the AP transmits a beacon on a fixed channel (typically the primary channel). This channel can be 20 MHz wide and is the operating channel of the BSS. STAs also use this channel to establish connections with the AP. The basic channel access mechanism in 802.11 systems is Carrier Sense Multiple Access with Collision Avoidance (CSMA / CA). In this mode of operation, each STA, including the AP, senses the primary channel. If the channel is detected to be busy, the STA falls back. Therefore, in a given BSS, only one STA can transmit at any given time.

[0078] In 802.11n, high throughput (HT) STAs can also use 40 MHz wide channels for communication. This is achieved by combining the primary 20 MHz channel with an adjacent 20 MHz channel to form a 40 MHz wide contiguous channel.

[0079] In 802.11ac, very high throughput (VHT) STAs can support channels of 20 MHz, 40 MHz, 80 MHz, and 160 MHz width. Similar to the 802.11n approach described above, 40 MHz and 80 MHz channels are formed by combining adjacent 20 MHz channels. A 160 MHz channel can be formed by combining eight consecutive 20 MHz channels or by combining two non-contiguous 80 MHz channels, which can also be referred to as an 80+80 configuration. For the 80+80 configuration, after channel coding, the data passes through a segment parser that divides it into two streams. An inverse discrete Fourier transform (IDFT) operation and time domain processing are performed separately for each stream. The streams are then mapped onto two channels and the data is transmitted. At the receiver, this mechanism is reversed and the combined data is sent to the MAC.

[0080] To improve spectral efficiency, in a given operating mode (e.g., 802.11ac, etc.), downlink multi-user MIMO (MU-MIMO) transmissions to multiple STAs may exist in the same symbol time frame (e.g., during a downlink OFDM symbol). In some cases, since downlink MU-MIMO uses the same symbol timing for multiple STAs, interference with the waveform transmissions of multiple STAs may not be a problem. However, all STAs involved in the MU-MIMO transmission with the AP may need to use the same channel or frequency band, so the operating bandwidth is limited to the minimum channel bandwidth supported by the STAs included in the MU-MIMO transmission with the AP.

[0081] In WLAN sensing, the sensing measurement report may include CSI for environmental measurements. It is beneficial to include a received signal strength indication (RSSI) measurement for each receive antenna and / or a received signal to interference and noise ratio (SINR) for each transmitted spatial stream. However, problems may arise because different sensing applications or different sensing scenarios for the same application may require different granularity for these measurements depending on the accuracy requirements of each sensing application or each sensing scenario for the same application. It is necessary to solve how to report RSSI and / or SINR at different granularity in the sensing measurement report. Note that although SINR and RSSI are used for demonstration purposes herein, one or both of these terms can be interchangeable with signal-to-noise ratio (SNR).

[0082] Improved wireless sensing capabilities in WLANs are needed. In one or more operating modes of a WLAN (e.g., 802.11bf, etc.), there may be: a sensing process that allows a STA to perform WLAN sensing and obtain measurement results; a sensing session, which is an instance of a sensing process with associated operating parameters for the instance; a sensing initiator, which may be a STA or other device that initiates a WLAN sensing session; a sensing responder, which may be a STA or other device that participates in a WLAN sensing session initiated by a sensing initiator; a sensing transmitter, which may be a STA or other device that transmits a PPDU for sensing measurements in a sensing session; a sensing receiver, which may be a STA or other device that receives a PPDU sent by a sensing transmitter and performs sensing measurements in a sensing session; and / or a STA or other device that may assume multiple roles in a sensing session, wherein in a sensing session, the sensing initiator may be a sensing transmitter, a sensing receiver, both, or neither.

[0083] Figure 2An example of the format of the action field of a sensing measurement setup request frame is shown. As shown, there may be a frame 200 having one or more fields, such as a category 201, an open action 202, a dialog token 203, sensing resume information 204, a measurement setup ID 205, and / or a sensing measurement parameter element 206. Although a certain number of octets are shown in the figure, these octets are for illustration purposes only, and the number of octets may be greater or less than the number of octets shown for each field.

[0084] A sensing measurement setup may allow a sensing initiator and a sensing responder to exchange and agree on operating parameters associated with a sensing measurement instance(s) for a given measurement setup ID. Such a setup may include a sensing initiator sending to a sensing responder a message such as Figure 2 In the case of the sensing measurement setup request frame indicated in , the sensing initiator intends to initiate sensing measurement setup with the sensing responder.

[0085] Figure 3 An example of the format of the action field of a sensing measurement setup response frame is shown. As shown, there may be a frame 300 having one or more fields, such as a category 301, a public action 302, a dialog token 303, a status code 304, and / or a sensing measurement parameter element 305. Although a certain number of octets are shown in the figure, these octets are for illustration purposes only, and the number of octets may be greater or less than the number of octets shown for each field.

[0086] Upon receiving the sensing measurement setup request frame, the sensing responder may Figure 3 The sensing measurement setup response frame shown in FIG. 1 is sent to the sensing initiator that sent the sensing measurement setup request frame.

[0087] Figure 4 An example of a sensing measurement parameter element format is shown. As shown, there may be a frame 400 having one or more fields, such as an element ID 401, a length 402, an element ID extension 403, a sensing measurement parameter 404, and / or a sensing sub-element 405. Although a certain number of octets are shown in the figure, these octets are for illustration purposes only, and the number of octets may be greater or less than the number of octets shown for each field.

[0088] In some cases, one or more devices, processes, and / or systems may be present to report SINR and / or RSSI with application-dependent or scenario-dependent granularity in WLAN sensing. In one case, depending on the sensing application / scenario requirements, the RSSI for each receive (Rx) antenna and / or the SINR for each spatial stream may be reported with different granularity in the sensing measurement report. The sensing initiator may indicate the desired granularity for the sensing measurement report statically or dynamically in the sensing measurement setup (e.g., in NDPA, in SR2SR sounding trigger frame, or generally in some other message).

[0089] In one case, the RSSI for each RX antenna and / or the SINR for each spatial stream may be reported using one octet per RX antenna and / or per spatial stream, such that the encoding of the RSSI and / or SINR values depends on the desired granularity as indicated in Table 1 for RSSI and Table 2 for SINR.

[0090] In one example, a 2-bit encoding can be used such that a granularity value of 0 indicates that RSSI and / or SINR are reported with 0.5 dBm and / or 0.5 dB granularity, respectively, while a granularity value of 1 indicates that RSSI and / or SINR are reported with 1 dBm and / or 1 dB granularity, respectively, etc. While a specific increment is given in this example, it is contemplated that the granularity value can be associated with any dBm increment (e.g., pre-configured via a known table or negotiated during a message exchange). As further explained herein, different increments can be associated with degrees of precision.

[0091] In such an example, a range of RSSI subfield values or SINR subfield values can be used to indicate the same RSSI and / or SINR at a larger granularity. For example, when mapped to an RSSI granularity of 3dBm = 3, an RSSI subfield value range of 0 to 5 can indicate an RSSI value of -110dBm. For the SINR subfield, when mapped to an SINR granularity of 2dB = 2, an SINR subfield value range of 0 to 3 can indicate an SINR value of -10dB.

[0092] Table 1: Example 2-bit encoding of RSSI application-dependent granularity

[0093]

[0094] Table 2: Example 2-bit encoding of SINR application-dependent granularity

[0095]

[0096] In one case, different coding tables may be used for different granularities, such that each RSSI subfield value may indicate one and only one RSSI value, where the range of values used and reserved values will be different for different granularities.

[0097] In one example, as indicated in Tables 3 and 4, a 2-bit encoding may be used for 0.5dBm granularity (granularity = 0), such that the RSSI subfield range from 0 to 180 is used to encode the RSSI range from -110dBm to -20dBm, and the range from 181 to 255 is reserved.

[0098] Table 3: Example 2-bit encoding of RSSI application-dependent granularity (granularity = 0.5 dBm)

[0099]

[0100]

[0101] Table 4: Example 2-bit encoding of RSSI application-dependent granularity (granularity = 1 dB)

[0102]

[0103] In another example, 2-bit encoding may be used for 1 dBm granularity (granularity=1), such that the RSSI subfield range from 0 to 90 is used to encode the RSSI range from -110 dBm to -20 dBm, and the range from 91 to 255 is reserved. Similarly, examples of the SINR subfield are shown in Tables 5 and 6.

[0104] Table 5: Example 2-bit encoding of SINR application-dependent granularity (granularity = 0.5 dB)

[0105]

[0106] Table 6: Example 2-bit encoding of SINR application-dependent granularity (granularity = 1 dB)

[0107]

[0108] In one case, different granularities can be used for different ranges of RSSI and / or SINR values. Specifically, the granularity can be associated with a specific measurement range. For example, there may be a granularity value (e.g., very small) for a first RSSI range and / or a first SINR range, and there may be a granularity value (e.g., small) for a second RSSI range and / or a second SINR range, and there may be a granularity value (e.g., medium / large) for a third RSSI range and / or a third SINR range. In this way, different RSSI and / or SINR resolutions can be used for different RSSI and / or SINR value ranges.

[0109] In one case, the reporting of RSSI and / or SINR may be optional, such that it is reported only upon request by the sensing initiator. In this case, the sensing initiator may indicate whether RSSI and / or SINR will be reported in the sensing measurement report. Additionally, if sensing measurements are reported, the sensing initiator may also indicate the desired granularity of the RSSI and / or SINR values. The sensing initiator may indicate this statically in the sensing measurement setup, or dynamically (e.g., in NDPA, in an SR2SR probe trigger frame, or in some other message).

[0110] Figure 5 Shown is an example design of the presence and control bitmap field format for reporting RSSI.

[0111] In one case, the sensing responder may indicate in the sensing measurement report whether RSSI is reported and the corresponding granularity of the reported RSSI value. This indication may be included in the presence of the sensing measurement report control field and the control bitmap, such as Figure 5 The presence and control bitmap of the sensing measurement report control field 500 may include one or more subfields, such as a report RSSI subfield 502 and / or an RSSI granularity subfield 503. Field 500 may also include a last SBP report subfield 501 and / or a reserved subfield 504. Although a certain number of bits are shown in the figure, these are for illustration purposes only, and the number of bits may be greater or less than the number of bits shown for each subfield.

[0112] In one example, a Report RSSI subfield value of 0 may indicate that RSSI is not reported, and a Report RSSI subfield value of 1 may indicate that RSSI is reported. In one example, the RSSI Granularity subfield may include a 2-bit encoding of the granularity used in the reported RSSI, e.g., RSSI Granularity=0 indicates a granularity of 0.5 dBm, RSSI Granularity=1 indicates a granularity of 1 dBm, RSSI Granularity=2 indicates a granularity of 2 dBm, and RSSI Granularity=3 indicates a granularity of 3 dBm.

[0113] It is intended that the values associated with any examples provided herein are illustrative only, and it is intended that any value may be used in place of the example values, such as values pre-configured with an associated meaning.

[0114] Figure 6 An example design of a sensing measurement report control field for reporting RSSI is shown. In one case, as shown, a report RSSI subfield 608 and / or an RSSI granularity subfield 609 may be included in the sensing measurement report control field 600. The field 600 may also include one or more other subfields, such as a report control length 601, a presence and control bitmap 602, a BW 603, an N TX 604, N RX 605、N b 606、I ng 607 and / or reserved 610.

[0115] Figure 7 An example design of the presence and control bitmap field format for SINR reporting is shown. In one case, the report SINR subfield 702 and / or the SINR granularity subfield 703 may be included in the presence and control bitmap of the sensing measurement report control field 700, such as Figure 7 The field 700 may also include one or more other subfields, such as the last SBP report 701 and / or the reserved 704.

[0116] Figure 8 An example design of a sensing measurement report control field for reporting SINR is shown. In one case, the report SINR subfield 808 and / or the SINR granularity subfield 809 may be included in the presence and control bitmap of the sensing measurement report control field 800, such as Figure 8 The field 800 may also include one or more other subfields, such as report control length 801, presence and control bitmap 802, BW 803, N TX 804, N RX 805, N b 806、I ng 807 and / or reserved 810.

[0117] In one example, a Report SINR subfield with a value of 0 may indicate that SINR is not reported, and a Report SINR subfield with a value of 1 may indicate that SINR is reported. In one example, the SINR Granularity subfield may include a 2-bit encoding of the granularity used in the reported SINR, e.g., SINR Granularity=0 indicates a granularity of 0.5 dB, SINR Granularity=1 indicates a granularity of 1 dB, SINR Granularity=2 indicates a granularity of 2 dB, and SINR Granularity=3 indicates a granularity of 4 dB.

[0118] Figure 9 An example process for indicating whether RSSI and / or SINR measurements are required and the granularity of the measurements is shown. As shown, there may be two devices (e.g., STA, WTRU, AP, and / or any device disclosed herein, etc.) including an initiator 901 and a responder 902. These devices may send one or more messages related to radio measurements to each other, wherein each message may include one or more information components or information segments (e.g., fields or frames as disclosed herein, or variations thereof). In one instance, each arrow may represent one or more components of a single message. In another instance, each arrow may represent one or more messages. In any of these instances, a null data packet (NDP) 905 may be sent (e.g., sent in addition to, before, after, as part of, etc.).

[0119] Generally, as disclosed herein, an NDP is a PHY layer preamble for a PPDU that does not contain a data frame (hence the term Null Data Packet). The NDP can be used to measure the channel and to generate CSI (Channel State Information) in addition to any other physical measurements of interest such as SINR, RSSI, etc.

[0120] exist Figure 9In the example shown, the sensing initiator 901 can send a message indicating a requirement. For example, it can be indicated that for certain feedback types 903, there may be a required granularity 904. For example, it can be indicated that the RSSI at each RX antenna and / or the SINR for each spatial stream are required together with the CSI in the sensing measurement report (e.g., which will be sent back by the responder 902). In one case, the sensing initiator 901 can statically indicate that RSSI and / or SINR measurements are required during the sensing measurement setup process, and this can remain valid for all sensing measurement instances associated with the measurement setup before termination. In another case, if the sensing initiator indicates that RSSI and / or SINR measurements are required, the sensing initiator can indicate the required RSSI granularity and / or SINR granularity. In one case, the indication of granularity can imply a requirement for the measurement report (e.g., meaning that fewer and / or smaller messages can be sent to convey the same thing).

[0121] Once the responder 902 receives the indication(s) / message(s), the responder 902 may estimate the CSI and / or perform measurements (e.g., RSSI and / or SINR) according to the negotiated settings (e.g., received parameters, indication from the initiator 901, etc.). The responder may send this information (e.g., CSI estimate 906 and / or measured RSSI and / or SINR 907) back to the initiator 901 (e.g., in one or more messages, each of which may have one or more components, such as frame(s), field(s), subfield(s), etc.).

[0122] Figure 10 An example design of a sensing measurement parameter field format indicating whether RSSI and / or SINR is required and the corresponding granularity is shown. In one case, the sensing initiator may include a sensing measurement setup request frame (e.g., Figure 2 ) of the sensing measurement parameter element (e.g., Figure 4 ) indicates whether RSSI and / or SINR measurement is required and the granularity of the measurement, such as Figure 10 As shown in the figure, in field 1000, there may be one or more subfields, such as sensing transmitter 1001, sensing receiver 1002, request sensing measurement report 1003, measurement setup expiration component 1004, BW 1005, transmission (TX) repetition 1006, RX repetition 1007, TX STS 1008, RX STS 1009, RSSI required 1010, RSSI granularity 1011, SINR required 1012, SINR granularity 1013, reservation 1014 and / or BSS color information 1015.

[0123] In one example, the RSSI Required subfield is set to 0 to indicate that the RSSI measurement should be included in the sensing measurement report, otherwise it is set to 0. The RSSI Granularity subfield is set to a value to indicate at which granularity the RSSI will be reported if the RSSI Required subfield is set to 0, otherwise the RSSI Required subfield is reserved.

[0124] In one example, the Required SINR subfield is set to 0 to indicate that the SINR measurement is to be included in the sensing measurement report, otherwise it is set to 0. The SINR Required field is set to a value to indicate at which granularity the SINR is to be reported if the Required SINR subfield is set to 0, otherwise the Required SINR subfield is reserved.

[0125] In one example, if a sensing application requires RSSI measurement (e.g., operating on the sensing initiator or known to the sensing initiator), the sensing initiator will send a sensing measurement setup request frame with the RSSI Required subfield set to 1, and the RSSI granularity is set to the required RSSI granularity value as requested by the corresponding sensing application (e.g., a different layer involving the sensing initiator).

[0126] In one example, if the sensing application does not require RSSI measurement, the sensing initiator will send a sensing measurement setup request frame with the RSSI Required subfield set to 0 and the RSSI Granularity subfield is reserved.

[0127] In one example, if a sensing application requires SINR measurement, the sensing initiator will send a Sensing Measurement Setup Request frame with the Required SINR subfield set to 1 and the SINR granularity set to the required RSSI granularity value requested by the corresponding sensing application.

[0128] In one example, if the sensing application does not require SINR measurement, the sensing initiator will send a sensing measurement setup request frame with the SINR Required subfield set to 0 and the SINR Granularity subfield is reserved.

[0129] In one example, if the sensing responder successfully completes the sensing measurement setup with the Required RSSI subfield set to 1 in the Sensing Measurement Parameters element, the responder will send a sensing measurement report with the Report RSSI subfield set to 1 and the RSSI Granularity subfield set to the value of the RSSI granularity as indicated in the Sensing Measurement Parameters element. Furthermore, the responder may send a single RSSI value for each RX antenna along with the CSI measurement.

[0130] In one example, if the sensing responder successfully completes the sensing measurement setup, where the Required SINR subfield in the Sensing Measurement Parameters element is set to 1, the responder will send a sensing measurement report with the Reported SINR subfield set to 1 and the SINR Granularity subfield set to the value of the SINR granularity as indicated in the Sensing Measurement Parameters element. In addition, the responder can send a single SINR value for each spatial stream along with the CSI measurement.

[0131] In one example, the sensing initiator can dynamically indicate that RSSI and / or SINR measurements are required in NDPA during the NDPA detection phase or in the SR2SR detection trigger during the SR2SR detection phase. Therefore, if corresponding measurements are required, the sensing initiator can indicate RSSI granularity and / or SINR granularity.

[0132] For context, as it relates generally to one or more examples herein, it may be noted that a Null Data Packet (NDP) may be sent in at least three different ways in a sensing measurement exchange. First, in the downlink during the NDPA probe phase. Second, in the uplink during the TF (trigger frame) probe phase. Third, in a peer-to-peer network during the SR2SR (sensing responder to sensing responder) trigger frame probe phase. The NDPA probe phase may be performed by the AP sending a Null Data Packet Announcement (NDPA) frame followed by the NDP in the downlink. The TF probe phase may be performed by the AP sending a TF to trigger a non-AP STA to send an NDP in the uplink. The SR2SR probe phase may be performed by the AP sending a TF to trigger a non-AP STA to send an NDP to another non-AP STA.

[0133] In one case, the sensing initiator can signal the upper and lower bounds of RSSI, SNR, or SINR in the sensing measurement parameter field so that the sensing responder can encode the measurement (e.g., RSSI, SINR, or SNR) value into a corresponding code within a known value range. The value range can be fixed so that the resolution of the measurement is different for different upper (Max) and lower (Min) limits of the measurement.

[0134] In one example, the initiator may signal an upper limit of 30 dB for the SNR and a lower limit of -10 dB for the SNR, assuming that only 41 codes are used out of the 255 codes available if one octet is used to encode the measurement value, as shown in Table 7. In another example, as shown in Table 8, the initiator may signal an upper limit of 20 dB for the SNR and a lower limit of 0 dB for the same number of codes (41 codes) that may indicate different granularities of the SNR measurement. In other examples, similar behavior may be suggested for different measurements such as RSSI (in dBm) or SINR.

[0135] Table 7: Example encoding of SNR with minimum and maximum values (Min = -10 dB and Max = 30 dB)

[0136]

[0137]

[0138] Table 8: Example encoding of SNR with minimum and maximum values (Min=0 and Max=20dB)

[0139]

[0140] Figure 11 An example of the format of the sensing measurement parameter field indicating whether SNR is required and the corresponding minimum SNR value and maximum SNR value is shown. In one case, if the sensing application requires SNR measurement, the sensing initiator may send a sensing measurement setup request frame with the required SNR subfield set to 1 and the minimum SNR subfield and maximum SNR subfield set to the minimum SNR value and maximum SNR value specified by the sensing initiator, such as Figure 11 In one embodiment, field 1100 may have one or more subfields, such as sensing transmitter 1101, sensing receiver 1102, request sensing measurement report 1103, measurement setup expiration component 1104, BW 1105, TX repetition 1106, RX repetition 1107, TX STS 1108, RX STS 1109, required SNR 1110, minimum SNR 1111, maximum SNR 1112, reserved SNR 1113, and / or BSS color information 1114.

[0141] In one case, the RSSI for each RX antenna and / or the SNR or SINR for each spatial stream may be reported in a sensing measurement report as one value for the entire sensing bandwidth or as an array of values containing one measurement for each 20 MHz subchannel of the sensing bandwidth. In one example, if the sensing bandwidth is 80 MHz, the sensing responder may report one measurement (e.g., RSSI, SNR, SINR) for the entire 80 MHz. In another example, the sensing responder may instead report an array of four values containing one measurement for each 20 MHz subchannel of the sensing bandwidth (such as 80 MHz).

[0142] In one case, additionally or alternatively, the RSSI for each RX antenna and / or the SNR or SINR for each spatial stream may be reported in the sensing measurement report as an array of values, each value corresponding to a unit of the sensing bandwidth. The unit of bandwidth may be a subcarrier, every Nth subcarrier, a subcarrier group, RU / MRU of any size or pattern, etc. (e.g., a certain incremental value).

[0143] In some cases, for WLAN sensing, sensing measurements may include SINR and / or RSSI measurements. Different sensing applications may require different granularity for reporting SINR and / or RSSI. However, different sensing devices may have different capabilities, such that some devices may report SINR and / or RSSI with a certain range of granularity. The problem of how to exchange this range of granularity between two devices (e.g., an AP and a STA) needs to be solved.

[0144] Figure 12 An example of an enhanced sensing element format is shown. In one scenario, a sensing device may need to indicate to a sensing initiator the range of SINR and / or RSSI granularity it can support. As shown, one or more fields may be present in the element 1200, such as an element ID 1201, a length 1202, an element ID extension 1203, and / or enhanced sensing 1204.

[0145] Figure 13 It is shown (for example, Figure 121320 and / or SINR 1322 and a minimum granularity of RSSI 1321 and / or SINR 1323. The maximum granularity of RSSI or SINR subfield may indicate the maximum granularity of RSSI or SINR reporting that the device may support. The minimum granularity of RSSI or SINR subfield may indicate the minimum granularity of RSSI or SINR reporting that the device may support). Field 1300 may include one or more other subfields, such as invitation to responder 1301, BW 1302, maximum TX STS <= 80 MHz 1303, maximum TX STS = 160 MHz 1304, maximum TX STS = 320 MHz 1305, maximum Rx STS = 80 MHz 1306, maximum Rx STS = 160 MHz 1307, maximum Rx STS = 320 MHz 1308, maximum Tx repetition 1309, maximum Rx repetition 1310, maximum TX HE-LTE total 1311, maximum RX HE-LTE total 1312, maximum Rx EHT-LTF total 1313, device category 1314, full bandwidth UL MU-MIMO 1315, maximum number of settings supported 1316, minimum time between measurements 1317, polling required 1318 and / or threshold based reporting 1319.

[0146] In one case, the granularity of RSSI and / or SNR (SINR) can be included in the RXVECTOR parameter. Table 9 gives an example of an SNR (or SINR) or RSSI granularity RXVECTOR parameter. Table 9 shows that the SNR granularity parameter follows the same conditions as the SNR parameter in RXVECTOR. When it exists, it contains a single value indicating which granularity or which coding table to use for SNR (e.g., between the actual SNR value and the SNR RXVECTOR parameter value). Similarly, the RSSI granularity parameter follows the same conditions as the RSSI parameter in RXVECTOR. When it exists, it can contain a single value indicating which granularity or which coding table to use for RSSI (e.g., between the actual RSSI value and the SNR RXVECTOR parameter value).

[0147] Table 9 Example of SNR / RSSI granularity RXVECTOR parameters

[0148]

[0149] In one case, the device may send one or more messages to set parameters associated with reporting measurements. The first one or more messages may indicate the type of measurement required. In some instances, there may be associated parameters (one or more) for feedback that are required (e.g., granularity, minimum value, maximum value, etc.) and are also indicated in the one or more messages. The first one or more messages may be acknowledged. The device may receive a response message including the one or more required measurements. The measurements may be in accordance with the requested parameters (one or more). In some cases, an NDP is sent as the basis for the measurement.

[0150] Figure 14 An example process according to one or more techniques described herein is shown. This process 1400 can be performed by a device such as those described herein. At 1401, a device can send one or more messages including a feedback type and granularity. The feedback type can inherently include a request for feedback. The requested feedback can have a specific type and granularity. The type can be more than one type. The granularity can be a minimum value, a range, a maximum value, a default value, or a reference to an index, where one or more other parameters can ultimately determine the granularity. At 1402, the device can receive a response with the originally requested feedback. The feedback can be of a specified type and a specified granularity, or at least determined based on the one or more messages.

[0151] Although features and elements of different scenarios, examples, situations, etc. are described in particular configurations, it is intended that each feature or element can be used alone without the other features and elements of the given scenario / example / situation, or in various combinations with or without the other features and elements of the given scenario / example / situation.

[0152] Although the solutions described herein are generally described from the perspective of 802.11 WLAN specific protocols, the solutions described herein are not limited to this use case and are also applicable to other wireless systems, such as 3GPP and the like.

[0153] Although SIFS is used to indicate various inter-frame spacings in the examples of the designs and procedures, all other inter-frame spacings such as RIFS, AIFS, DIFS, or other time intervals may be applicable in a given situation.

[0154] Although some values are used as examples to indicate whether RSSI / SINR is required or whether RSSI / SINR is reported, any other value may be used instead to indicate the option.

[0155] Although some values are used to indicate RSSI / SINR granularity, other values may be used instead to indicate granularity.

[0156] Although some RSSI / SINR granularities are provided as examples, other granularity values may be used instead.

[0157] The Long Training Field (LTF) may be any type of predefined sequence known at both the transmitter and receiver sides.

[0158] Although features and elements are described above in specific combinations, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that each feature or element can be used alone or in any combination with other features and elements. In addition, the methods described herein can be implemented in a computer program, software, or firmware that is incorporated into a computer-readable medium for execution by a computer or processor. Examples of computer-readable media include electronic signals (transmitted via a wired or wireless connection) and computer-readable storage media. Examples of computer-readable storage media include, but are not limited to, read-only memory (ROM), random access memory (RAM), registers, cache memory, semiconductor memory devices, magnetic media such as internal hard disks and removable disks, magneto-optical media, and optical media such as CD-ROM disks and digital versatile disks (DVDs). A processor associated with the software can be used to implement a radio frequency transceiver used in a WTRU, UE, terminal, base station, RNC, or any host computer.

Claims

1. A method implemented by an STA, the method comprising: sending one or more messages indicating a desired feedback type for each antenna or spatial stream and a desired feedback granularity for the desired feedback type, wherein the desired feedback type is one or more of: channel state information, received signal strength indication, signal-to-noise ratio, signal-to-interference and noise ratio; and One or more measurements per antenna or spatial stream are received based on the one or more messages. 2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the desired feedback granularity is an increment of the desired feedback type, wherein the increment has a precision. The method of claim 1 , wherein a channel state information estimate is received based on the one or more messages. The method of claim 1 , wherein the desired feedback granularity is specified in decibels. The method of claim 1 , wherein the one or more measurements are provided in increments specified by the desired feedback granularity. The method of claim 1 , wherein one or more null data packets (NDPs) are sent after sending the one or more messages. The method of claim 6 , wherein the one or more measurements are based on the one or more NDPs.

8. A device comprising: means for sending one or more messages indicating a desired feedback type for each antenna or spatial stream and a desired feedback granularity for the desired feedback type, wherein the desired feedback type is one or more of: channel state information, received signal strength indication, signal-to-noise ratio, signal-to-interference and noise ratio; as well as Means for receiving one or more measurements per antenna or spatial stream based on the one or more messages.

9. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the desired feedback granularity is an increment of the desired feedback type, wherein the increment has a precision.

10. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein a channel state information estimate is received based on the one or more messages. The apparatus of claim 8 , wherein the desired feedback granularity is specified in decibels.

12. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the one or more measurements are provided in increments specified by the desired feedback granularity.

13. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein one or more null data packets (NDPs) are sent after sending the one or more messages.

14. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the one or more measurements are based on the one or more NDPs.

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