RIS-assisted sensing in presence of reconfigurable smart surface (RIS) sidelobes

Abstract

Techniques are disclosed for RIS assisted sensing in the presence of a reconfigurable intelligent surface (RIS) sidelobe. In one aspect, a method of wireless sensing includes transmitting a first sensing signal to an RIS, the RIS configured to have a first main lobe reflection angle and a first side lobe reflection angle; detecting a first multipath reflection of the first sensing signal; transmitting a second sensing signal to the RIS, the RIS being configured to have a second main lobe reflection angle that is the same as the first side lobe reflection angle; detecting a second multipath reflection of the second sensing signal; and identifying a path of the first multipath reflection as a sidelobe path to be ignored during a sensing operation based on a received power of a corresponding path of the second multipath reflection, e.g., the sidelobe path of the first sensing operation will have a higher power during the second sensing operation.

Description

Background Art 1. Technical Field

[0001] Aspects of the present disclosure generally relate to wireless communications, including wireless positioning and wireless sensing.

[0002] 2. Description of Related Technologies

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

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

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

[0006] In one aspect, a method of wireless sensing performed by a base station includes: transmitting a first sensing signal to a reconfigurable smart surface (RIS), the reconfigurable smart surface (RIS) configured to have a first main lobe reflection angle and a first side lobe reflection angle; detecting a first multipath reflection of the first sensing signal; transmitting a second sensing signal to the RIS, the RIS configured to have a second main lobe reflection angle that is the same angle as the first side lobe reflection angle; detecting a second multipath reflection of the second sensing signal; and identifying a path of the first multipath reflection as a sidelobe path to be ignored during a sensing operation based on a received power of a corresponding path of the second multipath reflection.

[0007] In one aspect, a method of wireless sensing performed by a RIS includes: receiving a configuration instruction from a BS; configuring array elements of the RIS to have a first main lobe reflection angle according to the configuration instruction; reflecting a first sensing signal received from the base station; configuring the array elements of the RIS to have a second main lobe reflection angle according to the configuration instruction; and reflecting a second sensing signal received from the base station.

[0008] In one aspect, a base station includes: a memory; at least one transceiver; and at least one processor communicatively coupled to the memory and the at least one transceiver. The at least one processor is configured to: transmit a first sensing signal to a RIS via the at least one transceiver, the RIS configured to have a first main lobe reflection angle and a first side lobe reflection angle; detect a first multipath reflection of the first sensing signal; transmit a second sensing signal to the RIS via the at least one transceiver, the RIS configured to have a second main lobe reflection angle that is the same as the first side lobe reflection angle; detect a second multipath reflection of the second sensing signal; and identify a path of the first multipath reflection as a sidelobe path to be ignored during a sensing operation based on a received power of a corresponding path of the second multipath reflection.

[0009] In one aspect, a RIS includes: an antenna element array; a memory; at least one transceiver; and at least one processor communicatively coupled to the memory, the at least one transceiver, and the antenna element array. The at least one processor is configured to: receive a configuration instruction from a base station via the at least one transceiver; configure the antenna element array to have a first main lobe reflection angle according to the configuration instruction; reflect a first sensing signal received from the base station; configure the antenna element array to have a second main lobe reflection angle according to the configuration instruction; and reflect a second sensing signal received from the base station.

[0010] Other objects and advantages associated with the aspects disclosed herein will be apparent to those skilled in the art based on the drawings and detailed description. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0011] The accompanying drawings are presented to aid in describing various aspects of the present disclosure and are provided solely for illustration and not limitation of the aspects.

[0012] Figure 1 An example wireless communication system according to aspects of the present disclosure is illustrated.

[0013] Figure 2A 、 Figure 2B and Figure 2C Example wireless network structures according to aspects of the present disclosure are illustrated.

[0014] Figure 3A 、 Figure 3B and Figure 3C is a simplified block diagram of several sample aspects of components that may be employed in a user equipment (UE), a base station (BS), and a network entity, respectively, and configured to support communications as taught herein.

[0015] Figure 4A An example monostatic radar system is illustrated.

[0016] Figure 4B An example bistatic radar system is illustrated.

[0017] Figure 5 Typical circuits in telecommunication devices that can perform RF communication and RF sensing according to aspects of the present disclosure are illustrated.

[0018] Figure 6 An example of a single-base ISAC according to aspects of the present disclosure is illustrated.

[0019] Figure 7 An example of a multi-base ISAC according to aspects of the present disclosure is illustrated.

[0020] Figure 8A and Figure 8B The use of reconfigurable smart surfaces (RIS) to extend 5G coverage with negligible power consumption is demonstrated.

[0021] Figure 8C Components of an exemplary RIS are illustrated in more detail.

[0022] Figure 9 An example of using RIS to extend coverage is illustrated in more detail.

[0023] Figure 10 An example of monostatic sensing using RIS is illustrated.

[0024] Figure 11 Graph showing the energy of a signal reflected from a varactor-controlled RIS versus angle.

[0025] Figure 12A and Figure 12B Illustrated are possible problems that may be caused by side lobes during sensing.

[0026] Figure 13A and Figure 13B Parts of a method for reducing sensing errors caused by interference generated by side lobes according to aspects of the present disclosure are illustrated.

[0027] Figure 14 is a flow diagram of example procedures performed by a BS associated with RIS-assisted sensing in the presence of RIS sidelobes, according to aspects of the present disclosure.

[0028] Figure 15 is a flow chart of example processes performed by a RIS associated with RIS-assisted sensing in the presence of RIS sidelobes, according to aspects of the present disclosure. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0029] Techniques for performing RIS-assisted sensing in the presence of RIS sidelobes are disclosed. In one aspect, a method of wireless sensing includes transmitting a first sensing signal to a RIS, the RIS configured to have a first mainlobe reflection angle and a first sidelobe reflection angle; detecting a first multipath reflection of the first sensing signal; transmitting a second sensing signal to the RIS, the RIS configured to have a second mainlobe reflection angle that is the same as the first sidelobe reflection angle; detecting a second multipath reflection of the second sensing signal; and identifying a path of the first multipath reflection as a sidelobe path to be ignored during a sensing operation based on a received power of a corresponding path of the second multipath reflection, e.g., the sidelobe path of the first sensing operation will have a higher power during the second sensing operation.

[0030] Various aspects of the present disclosure are provided below in the description and related drawings of various examples provided for illustrative purposes. Alternative aspects may be designed without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. Additionally, well-known elements of the present disclosure will not be described in detail or will be omitted to avoid obscuring the relevant details of the present disclosure.

[0031] The words "exemplary" and / or "example" are used herein to mean "serving as an example, instance, or illustration." Any aspect described herein as "exemplary" and / or "example" is not necessarily to be construed as preferred or advantageous over other aspects. Likewise, the term "aspects of the disclosure" does not require that all aspects of the disclosure include the discussed feature, advantage, or mode of operation.

[0032] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that any of a variety of different techniques and methods may be used to represent the information and signals described below. For example, data, instructions, commands, information, signals, bits, symbols, and chips that may be mentioned throughout the following description may be represented by voltages, currents, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or magnetic particles, light fields or optical particles, or any combination thereof, depending in part on the specific application, in part on the desired design, in part on the corresponding technology, and so on.

[0033] In addition, many aspects are described in terms of sequences of actions to be performed by, for example, elements of a computing device. It will be appreciated that the various actions described herein may be performed by specific circuits (e.g., application specific integrated circuits (ASICs)), by program instructions executed by one or more processors, or by a combination of the two. Additionally, the sequences of actions described herein may be viewed as being fully embodied within any form of non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having stored therein a corresponding set of computer instructions that, when executed, will cause or command the associated processor of the device to perform the functionality described herein. Accordingly, various aspects of the present disclosure may be embodied in a variety of different forms, all of which are contemplated to be within the scope of the claimed subject matter. Additionally, for each of the various aspects described herein, the corresponding form of any such aspect may be described herein as, for example, "logic configured to perform the described actions."

[0034] As used herein, unless otherwise specified, the terms "user equipment" (UE) and "base station" are not intended to be specific or otherwise limited to any particular radio access technology (RAT). In general, a UE can be any wireless communication device used by a user to communicate over a wireless communication network (e.g., a mobile phone, a router, a tablet computer, a laptop computer, a consumer asset location device, a wearable device (e.g., a smart watch, glasses, augmented reality (AR) / virtual reality (VR) headset, etc.), a vehicle (e.g., a car, a motorcycle, a bicycle, etc.), an Internet of Things (IoT) device, etc.). A UE can be mobile or can be stationary (e.g., at certain times) and can communicate with a radio access network (RAN). As used herein, the term "UE" can be interchangeably referred to as an "access terminal" or "AT," "client device," "wireless device," "subscriber device," "subscriber terminal," "subscriber station," "user terminal" or "UT," "mobile device," "mobile terminal," "mobile station," or variations thereof. In general, a UE can communicate with a core network via the RAN, and through the core network, the UE can connect to external networks such as the Internet and to other UEs. Of course, other mechanisms for connecting to the core network and / or the Internet are also possible for the UE, such as through a wired access network, a wireless local area network (WLAN) network (e.g., based on the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 specification, etc.), etc.

[0035] A base station may operate according to one of several RATs to communicate with UEs, depending on the network in which it is deployed, and may alternatively be referred to as an access point (AP), network node, Node B, evolved Node B (eNB), next-generation eNB (ng-eNB), new radio (NR) Node B (also referred to as gNB or gNodeB), etc. A base station may primarily support wireless access for UEs, including supporting data, voice, and / or signaling connections for the supported UEs. In some systems, a base station may only provide edge node signaling functions, while in other systems, a base station may provide additional control and / or network management functions. The communication link through which a UE can transmit signals to a base station is called an uplink (UL) channel (e.g., a reverse traffic channel, a reverse control channel, an access channel, etc.). The communication link through which a base station can transmit signals to a UE is called a downlink (DL) or forward link channel (e.g., a paging channel, a control channel, a broadcast channel, a forward traffic channel, etc.). As used herein, the term "traffic channel (TCH)" may refer to either an uplink / reverse traffic channel or a downlink / forward traffic channel.

[0036] The term "base station" may refer to a single physical transmit receive point (TRP) or multiple physical TRPs that may or may not be co-located. For example, where the term "base station" refers to a single physical TRP, the physical TRP may be an antenna of the base station corresponding to the cell (or several cell sectors) of the base station. Where the term "base station" refers to multiple co-located physical TRPs, the physical TRP may be an antenna array of the base station (e.g., as in a multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) system or where the base station employs beamforming). Where the term "base station" refers to multiple non-co-located physical TRPs, the physical TRP may be a distributed antenna system (DAS) (a network of spatially separated antennas connected to a common source via a transmission medium) or a remote radio head (RRH) (a remote base station connected to a serving base station). Alternatively, the non-co-located physical TRPs may be a serving base station that receives measurement reports from a UE and a neighboring base station whose reference radio frequency (RF) signal the UE is measuring. Because, as used herein, a TRP is a point at which a base station transmits and receives wireless signals, references to transmitting from a base station or receiving at a base station should be understood to refer to a specific TRP of a base station.

[0037] In some implementations supporting UE positioning, a base station may not support wireless access by the UE (e.g., may not support data, voice, and / or signaling connections for the UE), but may instead transmit a reference signal to the UE to be measured by the UE and / or may receive and measure signals transmitted by the UE. Such a base station may be referred to as a positioning beacon (e.g., when transmitting a signal to the UE) and / or as a position measurement unit (e.g., when receiving and measuring a signal from the UE).

[0038] An "RF signal" comprises an electromagnetic wave of a given frequency that transmits information through the space between a transmitter and a receiver. As used herein, a transmitter may transmit a single "RF signal" or multiple "RF signals" to a receiver. However, due to the propagation characteristics of RF signals through multipath channels, a receiver may receive multiple "RF signals" corresponding to each transmitted RF signal. The same transmitted RF signal on different paths between a transmitter and a receiver may be referred to as a "multipath" RF signal. As used herein, an RF signal may also be referred to as a "wireless signal" or simply as a "signal" when the context clearly indicates that the term "signal" refers to either a wireless signal or an RF signal.

[0039] Figure 1An example wireless communication system 100 according to various aspects of the present disclosure is illustrated. The wireless communication system 100 (which may also be referred to as a wireless wide area network (WWAN)) may include various base stations 102 (labeled "BS") and various UEs 104. The base stations 102 may include macrocell base stations (high-power cellular base stations) and / or small cell base stations (low-power cellular base stations). In one aspect, the macrocell base stations may include eNBs and / or ng-eNBs (where the wireless communication system 100 corresponds to an LTE network), or gNBs (where the wireless communication system 100 corresponds to an NR network), or a combination of the two, and the small cell base stations may include femtocells, picocells, microcells, etc.

[0040] The base stations 102 may collectively form a RAN and interface with a core network 170 (e.g., an evolved packet core (EPC) or a 5G core (5GC)) via backhaul links 122. The base stations 102 may also interface with one or more location servers 172 (e.g., a location management function (LMF) or a secure user plane location (SUPL) location platform (SLP)) via the core network 170. The location servers 172 may be part of the core network 170 or external to the core network 170. The location servers 172 may be integrated with the base stations 102. The UE 104 may communicate with the location servers 172 directly or indirectly. For example, the UE 104 may communicate with the location server 172 via the base station 102 currently serving the UE 104. The UE 104 may also communicate with the location server 172 via another path, such as via an application server (not shown), via another network, such as via a wireless local area network (WLAN) access point (AP) (e.g., AP 150 described below), etc. For signaling purposes, communication between UE 104 and location server 172 may be represented as an indirect connection (e.g., through core network 170, etc.) or a direct connection (e.g., as shown via direct connection 128), with intermediate nodes (if any) omitted from the signaling diagram for clarity.

[0041] Among other functions, the base stations 102 may perform functions related to one or more of the following: delivering user data, radio channel encryption and decryption, integrity protection, header compression, mobility control functions (e.g., handover, dual connectivity), inter-cell interference coordination, connection establishment and release, load balancing, distribution of non-access stratum (NAS) messages, NAS node selection, synchronization, RAN sharing, multimedia broadcast multicast service (MBMS), subscriber and equipment tracking, RAN information management (RIM), paging, positioning, and delivery of warning messages. The base stations 102 may communicate with each other directly or indirectly (e.g., through EPC / 5GC) over a backhaul link 134, which may be wired or wireless.

[0042] Base stations 102 can communicate wirelessly with UEs 104. Each of base stations 102 can provide communication coverage for a corresponding geographic coverage area 110. In one aspect, one or more cells can be supported by base stations 102 in each geographic coverage area 110. A "cell" is a logical communication entity used to communicate with a base station (e.g., via a frequency resource, which is referred to as a carrier frequency, component carrier, carrier, frequency band, etc.) and can be associated with an identifier (e.g., a physical cell identifier (PCI), an enhanced cell identifier (ECI), a virtual cell identifier (VCI), a cell global identifier (CGI), etc.) that distinguishes cells operating on the same or different carrier frequencies. In some cases, different cells can be configured according to different protocol types (e.g., machine type communication (MTC), narrowband IoT (NB-IoT), enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB), or other protocol types) that can provide access to different types of UEs. Because a cell is supported by a specific base station, the term "cell" can refer to either or both the logical communication entity and the base station supporting the logical communication entity, depending on the context. Furthermore, since the TRP is typically the physical transmission point of a cell, the terms "cell" and "TRP" may be used interchangeably. In some cases, the term "cell" may also refer to a geographic coverage area (e.g., a sector) of a base station, as long as a carrier frequency can be detected and used for communications within a portion of the geographic coverage area 110.

[0043] Although the geographic coverage areas 110 of adjacent macrocell base stations 102 may partially overlap (e.g., in a handover area), some areas of the geographic coverage areas 110 may substantially overlap with the larger geographic coverage area 110. For example, a small cell base station 102' (labeled "SC" for "small cell") may have a geographic coverage area 110' that substantially overlaps with the geographic coverage areas 110 of one or more macrocell base stations 102. A network that includes both small cell base stations and macrocell base stations may be referred to as a heterogeneous network. A heterogeneous network may also include a Home eNB (HeNB), which may provide service to a restricted group called a Closed Subscriber Group (CSG).

[0044] The communication link 120 between the base station 102 and the UE 104 may include uplink (also known as reverse link) transmissions from the UE 104 to the base station 102 and / or downlink (DL) (also known as forward link) transmissions from the base station 102 to the UE 104. The communication link 120 may utilize MIMO antenna technology, including spatial multiplexing, beamforming, and / or transmit diversity. The communication link 120 may be over one or more carrier frequencies. The allocation of carriers may be asymmetric for the downlink and uplink (e.g., more or fewer carriers may be allocated to the downlink than to the uplink).

[0045] The wireless communication system 100 may further include a wireless local area network (WLAN) access point (AP) 150 that communicates with a wireless local area network (WLAN) station (STA) 152 in an unlicensed spectrum (e.g., 5 GHz) via a communication link 154. When communicating in the unlicensed spectrum, the WLAN STA 152 and / or the WLAN AP 150 may perform a clear channel assessment (CCA) or a listen-before-talk (LBT) procedure prior to communication to determine whether a channel is available.

[0046] The small cell base station 102' can operate in licensed and / or unlicensed spectrum. When operating in the unlicensed spectrum, the small cell base station 102' can adopt LTE or NR technology and use the same 5 GHz unlicensed spectrum used by the WLAN AP 150. The small cell base station 102' using LTE / 5G in the unlicensed spectrum can improve the coverage and / or increase the capacity of the access network. NR in the unlicensed spectrum can be referred to as NR-U. LTE in the unlicensed spectrum can be referred to as LTE-U, License Assisted Access (LAA), or MulteFire.

[0047] The wireless communication system 100 may further include a millimeter wave (mmW) base station 180 that can operate at mmW and / or near-mmW frequencies to communicate with UE 182. Extremely high frequency (EHF) is a portion of the RF spectrum in the electromagnetic spectrum. EHF has a range of 30 GHz to 300 GHz, with wavelengths between 1 mm and 10 mm. Radio waves in this frequency band may be referred to as millimeter waves. Near-mmW frequencies extend down to frequencies of 3 GHz, with wavelengths of 100 mm. Super high frequency (SHF) frequency bands extend between 3 GHz and 30 GHz and are also referred to as centimeter waves. Communications using mmW / near-mmW radio frequency bands have high path loss and relatively short ranges. The mmW base station 180 and the UE 182 may utilize beamforming (transmit and / or receive) on the mmW communication link 184 to compensate for the extremely high path loss and short range. It should also be understood that, in alternative configurations, one or more base stations 102 may also transmit using mmW or near-mmW frequencies and beamforming. Therefore, it should be understood that the foregoing illustrations are merely examples and should not be construed as limiting the various aspects disclosed herein.

[0048] Transmit beamforming is a technique for focusing an RF signal in a specific direction. Traditionally, when a network node (e.g., a base station) broadcasts an RF signal, it broadcasts the signal in all directions (omnidirectionally). With transmit beamforming, the network node determines where a given target device (e.g., a UE) is located (relative to the transmitting network node) and projects a stronger downlink RF signal in that specific direction, thereby providing the receiving device with a faster and stronger RF signal (in terms of data rate). To change the directionality of an RF signal while transmitting, the network node can control the phase and relative amplitude of the RF signal at each of the one or more transmitters broadcasting the RF signal. For example, the network node can use an array of antennas (referred to as a "phased array" or "antenna array") that form RF beams that can be "steered" to point in different directions without actually moving the antennas. Specifically, the RF currents from the transmitters are fed to the individual antennas in the correct phase relationship so that the radio waves from the individual antennas add together in the desired direction to increase radiation, while canceling out in undesired directions to suppress radiation.

[0049] The transmit beams can be quasi-co-located, meaning that they appear to the receiver (e.g., UE) to have the same parameters, regardless of whether the network node's own transmit antennas are physically co-located. In NR, there are four types of quasi-co-location (QCL) relationships. Specifically, a given type of QCL relationship means that certain parameters about the second reference RF signal on the second beam can be derived based on information about the source reference RF signal on the source beam. Thus, if the source reference RF signal is QCL type A, the receiver can use the source reference RF signal to estimate the Doppler shift, Doppler spread, average delay, and delay spread of the second reference RF signal sent on the same channel. If the source reference RF signal is QCL type B, the receiver can use the source reference RF signal to estimate the Doppler shift and Doppler spread of the second reference RF signal sent on the same channel. If the source reference RF signal is QCL type C, the receiver can use the source reference RF signal to estimate the Doppler shift and average delay of the second reference RF signal sent on the same channel. If the source reference RF signal is QCL type D, the receiver may use the source reference RF signal to estimate spatial reception parameters of a second reference RF signal transmitted on the same channel.

[0050] In receive beamforming, a receiver uses receive beams to amplify RF signals detected on a given channel. For example, the receiver may increase the gain setting of the antenna array in a particular direction and / or adjust the phase setting of the antenna array in a particular direction to amplify (e.g., increase the gain level of) the RF signal received from that direction. Thus, when a receiver is said to be beamforming in a certain direction, this means that the beam gain in that direction is high relative to the beam gain along other directions, or that the beam gain in that direction is the highest compared to the beam gain in that direction of all other receive beams available to the receiver. This results in a stronger received signal strength (e.g., reference signal received power (RSRP), reference signal received quality (RSRQ), signal to interference plus noise ratio (SINR), etc.) for the RF signal received from that direction.

[0051] The transmit beam and receive beam can be spatially correlated. This spatial relationship means that the parameters of the second beam (e.g., transmit beam or receive beam) used for the second reference signal can be derived based on information about the first beam (e.g., receive beam or transmit beam) of the first reference signal. For example, a UE may use a specific receive beam to receive a reference downlink reference signal (e.g., a synchronization signal block (SSB)) from a base station. The UE can then form a transmit beam for transmitting an uplink reference signal (e.g., a sounding reference signal (SRS)) to the base station based on the parameters of the receive beam.

[0052] Note that depending on the entity forming the "downlink" beam, the beam can be either a transmit beam or a receive beam. For example, if the base station is forming a downlink beam to transmit a reference signal to the UE, the downlink beam is a transmit beam. However, if the UE is forming a downlink beam, the downlink beam is a receive beam for receiving downlink reference signals. Similarly, depending on the entity forming the "uplink" beam, the beam can be either a transmit beam or a receive beam. For example, if the base station is forming an uplink beam, the uplink beam is an uplink receive beam, while if the UE is forming an uplink beam, the uplink beam is an uplink transmit beam.

[0053] The electromagnetic spectrum is typically subdivided into various categories, bands, channels, etc. based on frequency / wavelength. In 5G NR, two initial operating bands have been identified as frequency range designations FR1 (410 MHz–7.125 GHz) and FR2 (24.25 GHz–52.6 GHz). It should be understood that although a portion of FR1 is greater than 6 GHz, FR1 is often (interchangeably) referred to as the “sub-6 GHz” band in various documents and articles. A similar naming issue sometimes occurs with respect to FR2, which is often (interchangeably) referred to as the “millimeter wave” band in documents and articles, although it is different from the extremely high frequency (EHF) band (30 GHz–300 GHz) identified as the “millimeter wave” band by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU).

[0054] Frequencies between FR1 and FR2 are generally referred to as mid-band frequencies. Recent 5G NR research has identified the operating band for these mid-band frequencies as frequency range designation FR3 (7.125 GHz–24.25 GHz). The frequency bands falling within FR3 can inherit FR1 characteristics and / or FR2 characteristics, thus effectively extending the features of FR1 and / or FR2 to mid-band frequencies. In addition, higher frequency bands are currently being explored to extend 5G NR operation to more than 52.6 GHz. For example, three higher operating bands have been identified as frequency range designations FR4a or FR4-1 (52.6 GHz–71 GHz), FR4 (52.6 GHz–114.25 GHz), and FR5 (114.25 GHz–300 GHz). Each of these higher frequency bands falls within the EHF band.

[0055] In view of the above aspects, unless otherwise specified, it should be understood that if used herein, the term "sub-6 GHz" or the like may broadly refer to frequencies that may be less than 6 GHz, may be within FR1, or may include mid-band frequencies. Furthermore, unless otherwise specified, it should be understood that if used herein, the term "millimeter wave" or the like may broadly refer to frequencies that may include mid-band frequencies, may be within FR2, FR4, FR4-a or FR4-1 and / or FR5, or may be within the EHF band.

[0056] In a multi-carrier system such as 5G, one of the carrier frequencies is referred to as the "primary carrier" or "anchor carrier" or "primary serving cell" or "PCell", and the remaining carrier frequencies are referred to as "secondary carriers" or "secondary serving cells" or "SCells". In carrier aggregation, the anchor carrier is a carrier operating on the primary frequency (e.g., FR1) utilized by the UE 104 / 182 and the cell in which the UE 104 / 182 performs an initial radio resource control (RRC) connection establishment procedure or initiates an RRC connection re-establishment procedure. The primary carrier carries all common and UE-specific control channels and can be a carrier in a licensed frequency (however, this is not always the case). A secondary carrier is a carrier operating on a second frequency (e.g., FR2) that can be configured and used to provide additional radio resources once an RRC connection is established between the UE 104 and the anchor carrier. In some cases, the secondary carrier can be a carrier in an unlicensed frequency. The secondary carrier may contain only necessary signaling information and signals. For example, since the primary uplink carrier and the primary downlink carrier are generally UE-specific, those UE-specific signaling information and signals may not be present in the secondary carrier. This means that different UEs 104 / 182 in a cell may have different downlink primary carriers. The same is true for the uplink primary carrier. The network can change the primary carrier of any UE 104 / 182 at any time. This is done, for example, to balance the load on different carriers. Since a "serving cell" (whether PCell or SCell) corresponds to the carrier frequency / component carrier through which a base station communicates, the terms "cell", "serving cell", "component carrier", "carrier frequency", etc. can be used interchangeably.

[0057] For example, still referring to Figure 1 One of the frequencies utilized by macrocell base station 102 may be an anchor carrier (or "PCell"), and the other frequencies utilized by macrocell base station 102 and / or mmW base station 180 may be secondary carriers ("SCells"). Simultaneous transmission and / or reception of multiple carriers enables UE 104 / 182 to significantly increase its data transmission and / or reception rate. For example, two 20 MHz aggregated carriers in a multi-carrier system would theoretically result in a doubled data rate (i.e., 40 MHz) compared to the data rate achieved with a single 20 MHz carrier.

[0058] Wireless communication system 100 may further include UE 164, which may communicate with macrocell base station 102 via communication link 120 and / or with mmW base station 180 via mmW communication link 184. For example, macrocell base station 102 may support a PCell and one or more SCells for UE 164, and mmW base station 180 may support one or more SCells for UE 164.

[0059] In some cases, UE 164 and UE 182 are capable of sidelink communication. Sidelink-capable UEs (SL-UEs) can communicate with base station 102 via communication link 120 using a Uu interface (i.e., the air interface between the UE and the base station). SL-UEs (e.g., UE 164, UE 182) can also communicate directly with each other via a wireless sidelink 160 using a PC5 interface (i.e., the air interface between sidelink-capable UEs). A wireless sidelink (or simply "sidelink") is an adaptation of a core cellular network (e.g., LTE, NR) standard that allows direct communication between two or more UEs without going through a base station. Sidelink communication can be unicast or multicast and can be used for device-to-device (D2D) media sharing, vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communication, vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communication (e.g., cellular V2X (cV2X) communication, enhanced V2X (eV2X) communication, etc.), emergency rescue applications, etc. One or more SL-UEs in a group of SL-UEs utilizing sidelink communication may be located within the geographic coverage area 110 of the base station 102. Other SL-UEs in such a group may be outside the geographic coverage area 110 of the base station 102 or unable to receive transmissions from the base station 102 for other reasons. In some cases, each group of SL-UEs communicating via sidelink communication may utilize a one-to-many (1:M) system, where each SL-UE transmits to each other SL-UE in the group. In some cases, the base station 102 facilitates the scheduling of resources for the sidelink communication. In other cases, the sidelink communication is performed between the SL-UEs without involving the base station 102.

[0060] In one aspect, the sidelink 160 may operate on a wireless communication medium of interest, which may be shared with other vehicles and / or infrastructure access points, as well as with other wireless communications between other RATs. A "medium" may include one or more time, frequency, and / or spatial communication resources associated with wireless communications between one or more transmitter / receiver pairs (e.g., encompassing one or more channels across one or more carriers). In one aspect, the medium of interest may correspond to at least a portion of an unlicensed frequency band shared between various RATs. While different licensed frequency bands have been reserved for certain communication systems (e.g., by government entities such as the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in the United States), these systems (particularly those employing small cell access points) have recently expanded operations into unlicensed frequency bands such as the Unlicensed National Information Infrastructure (U-NII) band used by wireless local area network (WLAN) technologies (most notably the IEEE 802.11x WLAN technology, commonly referred to as "Wi-Fi"). Example systems of this type include different variations of CDMA systems, TDMA systems, FDMA systems, orthogonal FDMA (OFDMA) systems, single-carrier FDMA (SC-FDMA) systems, and the like.

[0061] It should be noted that although Figure 1 Only two of these UEs are illustrated as SL-UEs (i.e., UEs 164 and 182), but any of the illustrated UEs may be SL-UEs. Furthermore, while only UE 182 is described as capable of beamforming, any of the illustrated UEs (including UE 164) may be capable of beamforming. Where SL-UEs are capable of beamforming, they may beamform toward each other (i.e., toward other SL-UEs), toward other UEs (e.g., UE 104), toward a base station (e.g., base stations 102, 180, small cell 102′, access point 150), and so forth. Thus, in some cases, UEs 164 and 182 may utilize beamforming via sidelink 160.

[0062] exist Figure 1 In the example of FIG, the UE illustrated (for simplicity, Figure 1Any UE in the example (shown as a single UE 104 in FIG) may receive a signal 124 from one or more Earth-orbiting space vehicles (SVs) 112 (e.g., satellites). In one aspect, the SVs 112 may be part of a satellite positioning system that the UE 104 may use as an independent source of location information. A satellite positioning system typically includes a system of transmitters (e.g., SVs 112) positioned to enable a receiver (e.g., UE 104) to determine its position on or above the Earth based, at least in part, on positioning signals (e.g., signals 124) received from the transmitters. Such transmitters typically transmit a signal with a repeating pseudorandom noise (PN) code marked with a set number of chips. While typically located in the SVs 112, the transmitters may sometimes be located on ground-based control stations, base stations 102, and / or other UEs 104. The UE 104 may include one or more dedicated receivers specifically designed to receive the signal 124 in order to derive geographic location information from the SVs 112.

[0063] In a satellite positioning system, the use of signal 124 may be enhanced by various satellite-based augmentation systems (SBAS) that may be associated with or otherwise enabled for use with one or more global and / or regional navigation satellite systems. For example, SBAS may include augmentation systems that provide integrity information, differential corrections, and the like, such as the Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS), the European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service (EGNOS), the Multifunctional Satellite Augmentation System (MSAS), the Global Positioning System (GPS)-Assisted Geo-Augmented Navigation, or the GPS and Geo-Augmented Navigation System (GAGAN). Thus, as used herein, a satellite positioning system may include any combination of one or more global and / or regional navigation satellites associated with such one or more satellite positioning systems.

[0064] In one aspect, SV 112 may additionally or alternatively be part of one or more non-terrestrial networks (NTNs). In an NTN, SV 112 connects to an earth station (also referred to as a ground station, NTN gateway, or gateway), which in turn connects to elements in the 5G network, such as a modified base station 102 (without a ground antenna) or a network node in a 5GC. This element, in turn, provides access to other elements in the 5G network and ultimately provides access to entities external to the 5G network, such as Internet web servers and other user devices. Thus, UE 104 may receive communication signals (e.g., signal 124) from SV 112 instead of or in addition to communication signals from terrestrial base station 102.

[0065] The wireless communication system 100 may further include one or more UEs, such as UE 190, which are indirectly connected to one or more communication networks via one or more device-to-device (D2D) or peer-to-peer (P2P) links (referred to as "side links"). Figure 1 In the example of FIG1 , UE 190 has a D2D P2P link 192 with one of UEs 104 connected to one of base stations 102 (e.g., UE 190 can indirectly obtain cellular connectivity through the D2D P2P link), and has a D2D P2P link 194 with WLAN STA 152 connected to WLAN AP 150 (UE 190 can indirectly obtain WLAN-based Internet connectivity through the D2D P2P link). In one example, D2D P2P links 192 and 194 can be supported by any well-known D2D RAT, such as LTE Direct (LTE-D), WiFi Direct (WiFi-D), wait.

[0066] Figure 2A An example wireless network architecture 200 is illustrated. For example, 5GC 210 (also known as the Next Generation Core (NGC)) can be functionally considered to include control plane (C-plane) functions 214 (e.g., UE registration, authentication, network access, gateway selection, etc.) and user plane (U-plane) functions 212 (e.g., UE gateway functions, access to data networks, IP routing, etc.), which operate in conjunction to form the core network. A user plane interface (NG-U) 213 and a control plane interface (NG-C) 215 connect gNBs 222 to 5GC 210, and specifically to user plane functions 212 and control plane functions 214, respectively. In additional configurations, ng-eNBs 224 can also connect to 5GC 210 via NG-C 215 to control plane functions 214 and NG-U 213 to user plane functions 212. Furthermore, ng-eNBs 224 can communicate directly with gNBs 222 via backhaul connections 223. In some configurations, the next generation RAN (NG-RAN) 220 may have one or more gNBs 222, while other configurations include one or more of ng-eNBs 224 and gNBs 222. Either gNB 222 or ng-eNB 224 (or both) may communicate with one or more UEs 204 (e.g., any of the UEs described herein).

[0067] Another optional aspect may include a location server 230 that can communicate with the 5GC 210 to provide location assistance for the UE 204. The location server 230 can be implemented as multiple separate servers (e.g., physically separate servers, different software modules on a single server, different software modules distributed across multiple physical servers, etc.), or alternatively, each can correspond to a single server. The location server 230 can be configured to support one or more location services for the UE 204 that can connect to the location server 230 via the core network, the 5GC 210, and / or via the Internet (not shown). In addition, the location server 230 can be integrated into a component of the core network, or alternatively can be external to the core network (e.g., a third-party server, such as an original equipment manufacturer (OEM) server or a service server).

[0068] Figure 2B Another example wireless network structure 240 is illustrated. 5GC 260 (which may correspond to Figure 2AThe 5GC 210 in the 5GC 210 can be functionally considered as a control plane function provided by the access and mobility management function (AMF) 264 and a user plane function provided by the user plane function (UPF) 262, which operate in conjunction to form the core network (i.e., the 5GC 260). The functions of the AMF 264 include: registration management, connection management, reachability management, mobility management, lawful interception, transmission of session management (SM) messages between one or more UEs 204 (e.g., any of the UEs described herein) and the session management function (SMF) 266, a transparent proxy service for routing SM messages, access authentication and access authorization, transmission of short message service (SMS) messages between the UE 204 and the short message service function (SMSF) (not shown), and security anchor functionality (SEAF). The AMF 264 also interacts with the authentication server function (AUSF) (not shown) and the UE 204, and receives intermediate keys established as a result of the UE 204 authentication process. In case of UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System) Subscriber Identity Module (USIM) based authentication, the AMF 264 retrieves security material from the AUSF. The functionality of the AMF 264 also includes Security Context Management (SCM). The SCM receives keys from the SEAF, which the SCM uses to derive access network specific keys. The functionality of the AMF 264 also includes location service management for regulatory services, for transmission of location service messages between the UE 204 and the Location Management Function (LMF) 270 (which acts as the location server 230), for transmission of location service messages between the NG-RAN 220 and the LMF 270, for allocation of Evolved Packet System (EPS) bearer identifiers for interoperation with EPS, and UE 204 mobility event notifications. In addition, the AMF 264 also supports functionality for non-3GPP (3rd Generation Partnership Project) access networks.

[0069] The functions of the UPF 262 include: acting as an anchor point for intra-RAT / inter-RAT mobility (when applicable), acting as an external protocol data unit (PDU) session point for interconnection to a data network (not shown), providing packet routing and forwarding, packet inspection, user plane policy rule enforcement (e.g., gating, redirection, traffic steering), lawful interception (user plane collection), traffic usage reporting, user plane quality of service (QoS) handling (e.g., uplink / downlink rate enforcement, reflective QoS marking in downlink), uplink traffic verification (service data flow (SDF) to QoS flow mapping), transport level packet marking in uplink and downlink, downlink packet buffering and downlink data notification triggering, and transmitting and forwarding one or more "end markers" to the source RAN node. The UPF 262 may also support the delivery of location service messages between the UE 204 and a location server (such as the SLP 272) on the user plane.

[0070] The functions of the SMF 266 include session management, UE Internet Protocol (IP) address allocation and management, selection and control of user plane functions, traffic steering configuration for routing traffic to the correct destination at the UPF 262, partial control of policy enforcement and QoS, and downlink data notification. The interface through which the SMF 266 communicates with the AMF 264 is called the N11 interface.

[0071] Another optional aspect may include an LMF 270 that can communicate with the 5GC 260 to provide location assistance for the UE 204. The LMF 270 can be implemented as multiple separate servers (e.g., physically separate servers, different software modules on a single server, different software modules distributed across multiple physical servers, etc.), or alternatively, each can correspond to a single server. The LMF 270 can be configured to support one or more location services for the UE 204, which can connect to the LMF 270 via the core network, the 5GC 260, and / or via the Internet (not shown). The SLP 272 may support similar functionality as the LMF 270, but the LMF 270 may communicate with the AMF 264, the NG-RAN 220, and the UE 204 on a control plane (e.g., using interfaces and protocols intended to carry signaling messages rather than voice or data), and the SLP 272 may communicate with the UE 204 and external clients (e.g., third-party servers 274) on a user plane (e.g., using protocols intended to carry voice and / or data, such as the Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) and / or IP).

[0072] Yet another optional aspect may include a third-party server 274 that can communicate with the LMF 270, SLP 272, 5GC 260 (e.g., via the AMF 264 and / or UPF 262), NG-RAN 220, and / or UE 204 to obtain location information (e.g., a location estimate) of the UE 204. Thus, in some cases, the third-party server 274 may be referred to as a location service (LCS) client or external client. The third-party servers 274 may be implemented as multiple separate servers (e.g., physically separate servers, different software modules on a single server, different software modules distributed across multiple physical servers, etc.), or alternatively may each correspond to a single server.

[0073] The user plane interface 263 and the control plane interface 265 connect the 5GC 260, and specifically the UPF 262 and AMF 264, respectively, to one or more gNBs 222 and / or ng-eNBs 224 in the NG-RAN 220. The interface between the gNB 222 and / or ng-eNB 224 and the AMF 264 is referred to as the "N2" interface, while the interface between the gNB 222 and / or ng-eNB 224 and the UPF 262 is referred to as the "N3" interface. The gNBs 222 and / or ng-eNBs 224 of the NG-RAN 220 can communicate directly with each other via a backhaul connection 223, referred to as an "Xn-C" interface. One or more of the gNBs 222 and / or ng-eNBs 224 can communicate with one or more UEs 204 via a wireless interface, referred to as a "Uu" interface.

[0074] The functionality of a gNB 222 can be divided between a gNB Central Unit (gNB-CU) 226, one or more gNB Distributed Units (gNB-DUs) 228, and one or more gNB Radio Units (gNB-RUs) 229. The gNB-CU 226 is a logical node that includes base station functions, including delivery of user data, mobility control, radio access network sharing, positioning, session management, and more, in addition to those functions specifically assigned to the gNB-DU 228. More specifically, the gNB-CU 226 generally hosts the RRC, Service Data Adaptation Protocol (SDAP), and Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) protocols for the gNB 222. The gNB-DU 228 is a logical node that generally hosts the Radio Link Control (RLC) and Medium Access Control (MAC) layers of the gNB 222. Its operation is controlled by the gNB-CU 226. One gNB-DU 228 can support one or more cells, and one cell is supported by only one gNB-DU 228. The interface 232 between the gNB-CU 226 and one or more gNB-DUs 228 is referred to as the "F1" interface. The physical (PHY) layer functionality of the gNB 222 is typically hosted by one or more independent gNB-RUs 229, which perform functions such as power amplification and signal transmission / reception. The interface between the gNB-DU 228 and the gNB-RU 229 is referred to as the "Fx" interface. Thus, the UE 204 communicates with the gNB-CU 226 via the RRC, SDAP, and PDCP layers, with the gNB-DU 228 via the RLC and MAC layers, and with the gNB-RU 229 via the PHY layer.

[0075] The deployment of a communication system such as a 5G NR system can be arranged in a variety of ways using various components or constituent parts. In a 5G NR system or network, a network node, a network entity, a mobility element of the network, a RAN node, a core network node, a network element or a network equipment (such as a base station or one or more units (or one or more components) that perform base station functionality) can be implemented in an aggregated or decomposed architecture. For example, a base station (such as a Node B (NB), an evolved NB (eNB), an NR base station, a 5G NB, an access point (AP), a transmit receive point (TRP) or a cell, etc.) can be implemented as an aggregated base station (also known as a standalone base station or a single-chip base station) or a decomposed base station.

[0076] A converged base station may be configured to utilize a radio protocol stack that is physically or logically integrated within a single RAN node. A decomposed base station may be configured to utilize a protocol stack that is physically or logically distributed across two or more units, such as one or more central or centralized units (CUs), one or more distributed units (DUs), or one or more radio units (RUs). In some aspects, a CU may be implemented within a RAN node, and one or more DUs may be co-located with the CU, or alternatively, may be geographically or virtually distributed across one or more other RAN nodes. A DU may be implemented to communicate with one or more RUs. Each of the CU, DU, and RU may also be implemented as a virtual unit, namely a virtual central unit (VCU), a virtual distributed unit (VDU), or a virtual radio unit (VRU).

[0077] Base station type operation or network design can take into account the aggregated nature of base station functionality. For example, a disaggregated base station can be utilized in an integrated access backhaul (IAB) network, an open radio access network (O-RAN (such as a network configuration initiated by the O-RAN Alliance)), or a virtualized radio access network (vRAN, also known as a cloud radio access network (C-RAN)). Disaggregation can include distributing functionality across two or more units at various physical locations, as well as virtually distributing functionality of at least one unit, which can enable flexibility in network design. Various units of a disaggregated base station or disaggregated RAN architecture can be configured for wired or wireless communication with at least one other unit.

[0078] Figure 2C An example disaggregated base station architecture 250 according to aspects of the present disclosure is illustrated. Disaggregated base station architecture 250 may include one or more central units (CUs) 280 (e.g., gNB-CUs 226), which may communicate directly with a core network 267 (e.g., 5GC 210, 5GC 260) via backhaul links, or indirectly with the core network 267 through one or more disaggregated base station units (e.g., a near real-time (near-RT) RAN intelligent controller (RIC) 259 via an E2 link, or a non-real-time (non-RT) RIC 257 associated with a service management and orchestration (SMO) framework 255, or both). CUs 280 may communicate with one or more distributed units (DUs) 285 (e.g., gNB-DUs 228) via corresponding midhaul links (e.g., an F1 interface). DUs 285 may communicate with one or more radio units (RUs) 287 (e.g., gNB-RUs 229) via corresponding fronthaul links. The RUs 287 can communicate with corresponding UEs 204 via one or more radio frequency (RF) access links. In some implementations, a UE 204 can be served by multiple RUs 287 simultaneously.

[0079] Each of the units (i.e., CU 280, DU 285, RU 287, and near-RT RIC 259, non-RT RIC 257, and SMO framework 255) may include or be coupled to one or more interfaces configured to receive or transmit signals, data, or information (collectively, signals) via a wired or wireless transmission medium. Each of the units, or an associated processor or controller that provides instructions to the communication interface of these units, may be configured to communicate with one or more of the other units via the transmission medium. For example, these units may include a wired interface configured to receive or transmit signals to one or more of the other units via the wired transmission medium. Additionally, these units may include a wireless interface that may include a receiver, transmitter, or transceiver (such as a radio frequency (RF) transceiver) configured to receive signals or transmit signals to one or more of the other units, or both, via a wireless transmission medium.

[0080] In some aspects, the CU 280 may host one or more higher layer control functions. Such control functions may include radio resource control (RRC), packet data convergence protocol (PDCP), service data adaptation protocol (SDAP), etc. Each control function may be implemented using an interface that is configured to communicate signals with other control functions hosted by the CU 280. The CU 280 may be configured to handle user plane functionality (i.e., central unit-user plane (CU-UP)), control plane functionality (i.e., central unit-control plane (CU-CP)), or a combination thereof. In some specific implementations, the CU 280 may be logically split into one or more CU-UP units and one or more CU-CP units. When implemented in an O-RAN configuration, the CU-UP unit may communicate bidirectionally with the CU-CP unit via an interface (such as an E1 interface). As needed, the CU 280 may be implemented to communicate with the DU 285 for network control and signal transmission.

[0081] The DU 285 may correspond to a logical unit that includes one or more base station functions for controlling the operation of one or more RUs 287. In some aspects, the DU 285 may host one or more of a radio link control (RLC) layer, a medium access control (MAC) layer, and one or more higher physical (PHY) layers (such as modules for forward error correction (FEC) encoding and decoding, scrambling, modulation and demodulation, etc.), depending at least in part on a functional split, such as that defined by the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP). In some aspects, the DU 285 may also host one or more lower PHY layers. Each layer (or module) may be implemented using an interface configured to communicate signals with other layers (and modules) hosted by the DU 285 or with control functions hosted by the CU 280.

[0082] Lower layer functionality may be implemented by one or more RUs 287. In some deployments, a RU 287 controlled by a DU 285 may correspond to a logical node that hosts RF processing functionality or low PHY layer functionality (such as performing Fast Fourier Transform (FFT), Inverse FFT (iFFT), digital beamforming, Physical Random Access Channel (PRACH) extraction and filtering, etc.), or both, based at least in part on a functional split (such as a lower layer functional split). In such an architecture, the RU 287 may be implemented to handle over-the-air (OTA) communications with one or more UEs 204. In some implementations, both real-time and non-real-time aspects of control and user plane communications with the RU 287 may be controlled by the corresponding DU 285. In some scenarios, this configuration may enable the implementation of the DU 285 and CU 280 in a cloud-based RAN architecture (such as a vRAN architecture).

[0083] The SMO framework 255 can be configured to support RAN deployment and provisioning of both non-virtualized and virtualized network elements. For non-virtualized network elements, the SMO framework 255 can be configured to support the deployment of dedicated physical resources for RAN coverage requirements, which can be managed via an operations and maintenance interface (such as the O1 interface). For virtualized network elements, the SMO framework 255 can be configured to interact with a cloud computing platform (such as Open Cloud (O-Cloud) 269) to perform network element lifecycle management (such as instantiating virtualized network elements) via a cloud computing platform interface (such as the O2 interface). Such virtualized network elements may include, but are not limited to, CU 280, DU 285, RU 287, and near-RT RIC 259. In some implementations, the SMO framework 255 can communicate with hardware aspects of the 4G RAN (such as Open eNB (O-eNB) 261) via the O1 interface. Additionally, in some implementations, the SMO framework 255 can communicate directly with one or more RUs 287 via the O1 interface. The SMO framework 255 may also include a non-RT RIC 257 configured to support the functionality of the SMO framework 255 .

[0084] The non-RT RIC 257 can be configured to include logic functions that enable non-real-time control and optimization of RAN elements and resources, artificial intelligence / machine learning (AI / ML) workflows including model training and updating, or policy-based guidance of applications / features in the near-RT RIC 259. The non-RT RIC 257 can be coupled to or in communication with the near-RT RIC 259 (e.g., via an A1 interface). The near-RT RIC 259 can be configured to include logic functions that enable near-real-time control and optimization of RAN elements and resources through data collection and actions over an interface (e.g., via an E2 interface) that connects one or more CUs 280, one or more DUs 285, or both, and the O-eNB with the near-RT RIC 259.

[0085] In some implementations, the non-RT RIC 257 may receive parameters or external enrichment information from an external server to generate an AI / ML model to be deployed in the near-RT RIC 259. Such information may be utilized by the near-RT RIC 259 and may be received from non-network data sources or from network functions at the SMO framework 255 or the non-RT RIC 257. In some examples, the non-RT RIC 257 or the near-RT RIC 259 may be configured to tune RAN behavior or performance. For example, the non-RT RIC 257 may monitor long-term trends and patterns in performance and employ AI / ML models to perform corrective actions through the SMO framework 255 (such as via reconfiguration of O1) or via the creation of RAN management policies (such as A1 policies).

[0086] Figure 3A 、 Figure 3B and Figure 3C 2. The diagram illustrates a method that may be incorporated into a UE 302 (which may correspond to any UE described herein), a base station 304 (which may correspond to any base station described herein), and a network entity 306 (which may correspond to or embody any network function described herein, including location server 230 and LMF 270), or alternatively may be independent thereof. Figure 2A and Figure 2B Several example components (represented by corresponding blocks) in the NG-RAN 220 and / or 5GC 210 / 260 infrastructure (such as a dedicated network) depicted in the present disclosure are shown to support operations as described herein. It should be understood that these components can be implemented in different types of devices with different specific implementations (e.g., in an ASIC, in a system on a chip (SoC)), etc. The illustrated components can also be incorporated into other devices in the communication system. For example, other devices in the system may include components similar to those described as providing similar functionality. In addition, a given device may include one or more of these components. For example, a device may include multiple transceiver components that enable the device to operate on multiple carriers and / or communicate via different technologies.

[0087] UE 302 and base station 304 each include one or more wireless wide area network (WWAN) transceivers 310 and 350, respectively, which provide means (e.g., means for transmitting, means for receiving, means for measuring, means for tuning, means for preventing transmission, etc.) for communicating via one or more wireless communication networks (not shown), such as NR networks, LTE networks, GSM networks, etc. WWAN transceivers 310 and 350 can each be connected to one or more antennas 316 and 356, respectively, for communicating with other network nodes (such as other UEs, access points, base stations (e.g., eNBs, gNBs), etc.) via at least one designated RAT (e.g., NR, LTE, GSM, etc.) over a wireless communication medium of interest (e.g., a certain set of time / frequency resources in a particular spectrum). The WWAN transceivers 310 and 350 can be configured in various ways according to the designated RAT to transmit and encode signals 318 and 358 (e.g., messages, indicators, information, etc.), and conversely, to receive and decode signals 318 and 358 (e.g., messages, indicators, information, pilots, etc.). Specifically, the WWAN transceivers 310 and 350 include one or more transmitters 314 and 354 for transmitting and encoding the signals 318 and 358, and one or more receivers 312 and 352 for receiving and decoding the signals 318 and 358, respectively.

[0088] At least in some cases, the UE 302 and the base station 304 each further include one or more short-range wireless transceivers 320 and 360, respectively. The short-range wireless transceivers 320 and 360 can be connected to one or more antennas 326 and 366, respectively, and provide for communicating over the wireless communication medium of interest via at least one designated RAT (e.g., WiFi, LTE-D, The short-range wireless transceivers 320 and 360 are components for communicating (e.g., components for transmitting, components for receiving, components for measuring, components for tuning, components for preventing transmission, etc.) with other network nodes (such as other UEs, access points, base stations, etc.) using a PC5, dedicated short-range communication (DSRC), wireless access for vehicular environments (WAVE), near-field communication (NFC), ultra-wideband (UWB), etc.). The short-range wireless transceivers 320 and 360 can be configured in various ways according to the specified RAT to transmit and encode signals 328 and 368 (e.g., messages, indications, information, etc.), and conversely, to receive and decode signals 328 and 368 (e.g., messages, indications, information, pilots, etc.). Specifically, the short-range wireless transceivers 320 and 360 include: one or more transmitters 324 and 364 for transmitting and encoding signals 328 and 368, respectively, and one or more receivers 322 and 362 for receiving and decoding signals 328 and 368, respectively. As a specific example, the short-range wireless transceivers 320 and 360 may be WiFi transceivers, transceiver, and / or transceiver, NFC transceiver, UWB transceiver or vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) and / or vehicle-to-everything (V2X) transceiver.

[0089] At least in some cases, UE 302 and base station 304 also include satellite signal receivers 330 and 370. Satellite signal receivers 330 and 370 can be connected to one or more antennas 336 and 376, respectively, and can provide components for receiving and / or measuring satellite positioning / communication signals 338 and 378, respectively. If satellite signal receivers 330 and 370 are satellite positioning system receivers, satellite positioning / communication signals 338 and 378 can be Global Positioning System (GPS) signals, Global Navigation Satellite System (GLONASS) signals, Galileo signals, BeiDou signals, Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (NAVIC), Quasi-Zenith Satellite System (QZSS), etc. If satellite signal receivers 330 and 370 are non-terrestrial network (NTN) receivers, satellite positioning / communication signals 338 and 378 can be communication signals (e.g., carrying control and / or user data) originating from a 5G network. Satellite signal receivers 330 and 370 can include any suitable hardware and / or software for receiving and processing satellite positioning / communication signals 338 and 378, respectively. Satellite signal receivers 330 and 370 may request information and operations from other systems as appropriate and, at least in some cases, perform calculations using measurements obtained by any suitable satellite positioning system algorithm to determine the positions of UE 302 and base station 304, respectively.

[0090] The base station 304 and the network entity 306 each include one or more network transceivers 380 and 390, respectively, which provide means (e.g., means for transmitting, means for receiving, etc.) for communicating with other network entities (e.g., other base stations 304, other network entities 306). For example, the base station 304 may employ one or more network transceivers 380 to communicate with other base stations 304 or network entities 306 via one or more wired or wireless backhaul links. For another example, the network entity 306 may employ one or more network transceivers 390 to communicate with one or more base stations 304 via one or more wired or wireless backhaul links, or to communicate with other network entities 306 via one or more wired or wireless core network interfaces.

[0091] A transceiver can be configured to communicate over a wired or wireless link. A transceiver (whether a wired transceiver or a wireless transceiver) includes transmitter circuitry (e.g., transmitters 314, 324, 354, 364) and receiver circuitry (e.g., receivers 312, 322, 352, 362). In some implementations, a transceiver can be an integrated device (e.g., implementing transmitter circuitry and receiver circuitry in a single device), in some implementations can include separate transmitter circuitry and separate receiver circuitry, or in other implementations can be implemented in other ways. The transmitter circuitry and receiver circuitry of a wired transceiver (e.g., in some implementations, network transceivers 380 and 390) can be coupled to one or more wired network interface ports. Wireless transmitter circuitry (e.g., transmitters 314, 324, 354, 364) may include or be coupled to multiple antennas (e.g., antennas 316, 326, 356, 366), such as antenna arrays, which allow a corresponding device (e.g., UE 302, base station 304) to perform transmit "beamforming," as described herein. Similarly, wireless receiver circuitry (e.g., receivers 312, 322, 352, 362) may include or be coupled to multiple antennas (e.g., antennas 316, 326, 356, 366), such as antenna arrays, which allow a corresponding device (e.g., UE 302, base station 304) to perform receive beamforming, as described herein. In one aspect, the transmitter circuitry and the receiver circuitry may share the same multiple antennas (e.g., antennas 316, 326, 356, 366), such that a corresponding device may only receive or only transmit at a given time, rather than both receive and transmit at the same time. The wireless transceivers (eg, WWAN transceivers 310 and 350, short-range wireless transceivers 320 and 360) may also include a network listening module (NLM) or the like for performing various measurements.

[0092] As used herein, various wireless transceivers (e.g., in some implementations, transceivers 310, 320, 350, and 360, and network transceivers 380 and 390) and wired transceivers (e.g., in some implementations, network transceivers 380 and 390) may be generally referred to as a "transceiver," "at least one transceiver," or "one or more transceivers." Thus, whether a particular transceiver is a wired or wireless transceiver may be inferred based on the type of communication being performed. For example, backhaul communications between network devices or servers typically involve signaling via a wired transceiver, while wireless communications between a UE (e.g., UE 302) and a base station (e.g., base station 304) will typically involve signaling via a wireless transceiver.

[0093] UE 302, base station 304, and network entity 306 also include other components that can be used in conjunction with the operations disclosed herein. UE 302, base station 304, and network entity 306 each include one or more processors 332, 384, and 394 for providing functionality related to, for example, wireless communication, as well as for providing other processing functionality. Thus, processors 332, 384, and 394 can provide means for processing, such as means for determining, means for computing, means for receiving, means for transmitting, means for indicating, and the like. In one aspect, processors 332, 384, and 394 can include, for example, one or more general-purpose processors, multi-core processors, central processing units (CPUs), ASICs, digital signal processors (DSPs), field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), other programmable logic devices or processing circuits, or various combinations thereof.

[0094] UE 302, base station 304, and network entity 306, respectively, include memory circuitry implementing memories 340, 386, and 396 (e.g., each including a memory device) for maintaining information (e.g., information indicating reserved resources, thresholds, parameters, etc.). Thus, memories 340, 386, and 396 may provide means for storing, means for retrieving, means for maintaining, etc. In some cases, UE 302, base station 304, and network entity 306 may include sensing processors 342, 388, and 398, respectively. Sensing processors 342, 388, and 398 may be hardware circuits that are part of or coupled to processors 332, 384, and 394, respectively, which, when executed, cause UE 302, base station 304, and network entity 306 to perform the functionality described herein. In other aspects, the sensing processors 342, 388, and 398 may be external to the processors 332, 384, and 394 (e.g., part of a modem processing system, integrated with another processing system, etc.). Alternatively, the sensing processors 342, 388, and 398 may be memory modules stored in the memories 340, 386, and 396, respectively, which, when executed by the processors 332, 384, and 394 (or a modem processing system, another processing system, etc.), cause the UE 302, the base station 304, and the network entity 306 to perform the functionality described herein. Figure 3A Possible locations for the sensing processor 342 are illustrated, and the sensing processor may be, for example, part of one or more WWAN transceivers 310, memory 340, one or more processors 332, or any combination thereof, or may be a standalone component. Figure 3B Possible locations for the sensing processor 388 are illustrated and may be, for example, part of one or more WWAN transceivers 350, memory 386, one or more processors 384, or any combination thereof, or may be a standalone component. Figure 3C Possible locations for the sensing processor 398 are illustrated and may be, for example, part of one or more network transceivers 390, memory 396, one or more processors 394, or any combination thereof, or may be a standalone component.

[0095] The UE 302 may include one or more sensors 344 coupled to the one or more processors 332 to provide a means for sensing or detecting movement and / or orientation information independent of motion data derived from signals received by the one or more WWAN transceivers 310, the one or more short-range wireless transceivers 320, and / or the satellite signal receiver 330. By way of example, the sensors 344 may include an accelerometer (e.g., a microelectromechanical system (MEMS) device), a gyroscope, a geomagnetic sensor (e.g., a compass), an altimeter (e.g., a barometric altimeter), and / or any other type of motion detection sensor. Furthermore, the sensors 344 may include multiple different types of devices and combine their outputs to provide motion information. For example, the sensors 344 may use a combination of a multi-axis accelerometer and an orientation sensor to provide the ability to calculate a position in a two-dimensional (2D) and / or three-dimensional (3D) coordinate system.

[0096] In addition, the UE 302 includes a user interface 346 that provides means for providing indications to the user (e.g., audible and / or visual indications) and / or for receiving user input (e.g., when the user actuates a sensing device such as a keypad, touch screen, microphone, etc.). Although not shown, the base station 304 and the network entity 306 may also include a user interface.

[0097] Referring in more detail to the one or more processors 384, in the downlink, IP packets from the network entity 306 may be provided to the processor 384. The one or more processors 384 may implement functionality for the RRC layer, the Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) layer, the Radio Link Control (RLC) layer, and the Medium Access Control (MAC) layer. One or more processors 384 may provide: RRC layer functionality associated with broadcasting of system information (e.g., Master Information Block (MIB), System Information Block (SIB)), RRC connection control (e.g., RRC connection paging, RRC connection establishment, RRC connection modification, and RRC connection release), inter-RAT mobility, and measurement configuration for UE measurement reporting; PDCP layer functionality associated with header compression / decompression, security (ciphering, deciphering, integrity protection, integrity verification), and handover support functions; RLC layer functionality associated with delivery of upper layer PDUs, error correction through automatic repeat request (ARQ), concatenation, segmentation, and reassembly of RLC service data units (SDUs), resegmentation of RLC data PDUs, and reordering of RLC data PDUs; and MAC layer functionality associated with mapping between logical channels and transport channels, scheduling information reporting, error correction, priority handling, and logical channel prioritization.

[0098] Transmitter 354 and receiver 352 may implement Layer 1 (L1) functionality associated with various signal processing functions. Layer 1, including the physical (PHY) layer, may include error detection on transport channels, forward error correction (FEC) coding / decoding of transport channels, interleaving, rate matching, mapping to physical channels, modulation / demodulation of physical channels, and MIMO antenna processing. Transmitter 354 handles mapping to signal constellations based on various modulation schemes (e.g., binary phase-shift keying (BPSK), quadrature phase-shift keying (QPSK), M-phase-shift keying (M-PSK), and M-quadrature amplitude modulation (M-QAM). The coded and modulated symbols may then be split into parallel streams. Each stream may then be mapped to orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) subcarriers, multiplexed with reference signals (e.g., pilots) in the time and / or frequency domains, and then combined using an inverse fast Fourier transform (IFFT) to produce a physical channel carrying a time-domain OFDM symbol stream. The OFDM symbol stream is spatially pre-decoded to generate multiple spatial streams. Channel estimates from a channel estimator may be used to determine the coding and modulation schemes and for spatial processing. The channel estimates may be derived from a reference signal and / or channel condition feedback transmitted by the UE 302. Each spatial stream may then be provided to one or more different antennas 356. The transmitter 354 may modulate an RF carrier with the corresponding spatial stream for transmission.

[0099] At UE 302, receiver 312 receives the signal via its corresponding antenna 316. Receiver 312 recovers the information modulated onto the RF carrier and provides this information to one or more processors 332. Transmitter 314 and receiver 312 implement Layer 1 functionality associated with various signal processing functions. Receiver 312 may perform spatial processing on the information to recover any spatial streams destined for UE 302. If there are multiple spatial streams destined for UE 302, they may be combined by receiver 312 into a single OFDM symbol stream. Receiver 312 then converts the OFDM symbol stream from the time domain to the frequency domain using a Fast Fourier Transform (FFT). The frequency domain signal includes a separate OFDM symbol stream for each subcarrier of the OFDM signal. The symbols on each subcarrier, as well as the reference signal, are recovered and demodulated by determining the most likely signal constellation point transmitted by base station 304. These soft decisions may be based on channel estimates calculated by a channel estimator. The soft decisions are then decoded and deinterleaved to recover the data and control signals originally transmitted by base station 304 on the physical channel. The data and control signals are then provided to one or more processors 332, which implement layer 3 (L3) and layer 2 (L2) functionality.

[0100] In the downlink, one or more processors 332 provide demultiplexing between transport and logical channels, packet reassembly, decryption, header decompression, and control signal processing to recover IP packets from the core network. One or more processors 332 are also responsible for error detection.

[0101] Similar to the functionality described in conjunction with downlink transmissions performed by the base station 304, the one or more processors 332 provide: RRC layer functionality associated with system information (e.g., MIB, SIB) acquisition, RRC connection, and measurement reporting; PDCP layer functionality associated with header compression / decompression and security (encryption, decryption, integrity protection, integrity verification); RLC layer functionality associated with delivery of upper layer PDUs, error correction through ARQ, concatenation, segmentation, and reassembly of RLC SDUs, resegmentation of RLC data PDUs, and reordering of RLC data PDUs; and MAC layer functionality associated with mapping between logical channels and transport channels, multiplexing of MAC SDUs onto transport blocks (TBs), demultiplexing of MAC SDUs from TBs, scheduling information reporting, error correction through hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ), priority handling, and logical channel prioritization.

[0102] Channel estimates derived by a channel estimator from a reference signal or feedback sent by base station 304 may be used by transmitter 314 to select appropriate coding and modulation schemes and to facilitate spatial processing. The spatial streams generated by transmitter 314 may be provided to different antennas 316. Transmitter 314 may modulate an RF carrier with the corresponding spatial stream for transmission.

[0103] Uplink transmissions are processed at the base station 304 in a manner similar to that described in conjunction with the receiver functionality at the UE 302. The receiver 352 receives the signal through its respective antenna 356. The receiver 352 recovers the information modulated onto the RF carrier and provides the information to one or more processors 384.

[0104] In the uplink, one or more processors 384 provide demultiplexing between transport and logical channels, packet reassembly, decryption, header decompression, and control signal processing to recover IP packets from UE 302. The IP packets from one or more processors 384 may be provided to the core network. The one or more processors 384 are also responsible for error detection.

[0105] For convenience, UE 302, base station 304 and / or network entity 306 Figure 3A 、 Figure 3B and Figure 3C1 is shown as including various components that can be configured according to the various examples described herein. However, it should be understood that the illustrated components may have different functionality in different designs. In particular, Figures 3A to 3C Various components in are optional in alternative configurations, and various aspects include configurations that may vary due to design choice, cost, use of the device, or other considerations. For example, in Figure 3A In the case of , a specific implementation of UE 302 may omit WWAN transceiver 310 (e.g., a wearable device or tablet or PC or laptop may have Wi-Fi and / or Bluetooth capabilities but no cellular capabilities), or may omit short-range wireless transceiver 320 (e.g., only cellular, etc.), or may omit satellite signal receiver 330, or may omit sensor 344, etc. In another example, in Figure 3B In certain embodiments, a particular implementation of the base station 304 may omit the WWAN transceiver 350 (e.g., a Wi-Fi "hotspot" access point without cellular capabilities), or may omit the short-range wireless transceiver 360 (e.g., cellular only, etc.), or may omit the satellite signal receiver 370, etc. For the sake of brevity, illustrations of various alternative configurations are not provided herein, but will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art.

[0106] Various components of the UE 302, base station 304, and network entity 306 may be communicatively coupled to one another via data buses 334, 382, ​​and 392, respectively. In one aspect, the data buses 334, 382, ​​and 392 may form or be part of communication interfaces for the UE 302, base station 304, and network entity 306, respectively. For example, where different logical entities are embodied in the same device (e.g., gNB and location server functionality incorporated into the same base station 304), the data buses 334, 382, ​​and 392 may provide for communication between the different logical entities.

[0107] Figure 3A 、 Figure 3B and Figure 3C The components of can be implemented in various ways. In some specific implementations, Figure 3A 、 Figure 3B and Figure 3CThe components of the present invention may be implemented in one or more circuits, such as, for example, one or more processors and / or one or more ASICs (which may include one or more processors). Here, each circuit may use and / or be combined with at least one memory component for storing information or executable code used by the circuit to provide the functionality. For example, some or all of the functionality represented by blocks 310 to 346 may be implemented by the processor and memory components of UE 302 (e.g., by executing appropriate code and / or by appropriate configuration of the processor components). Similarly, some or all of the functionality represented by blocks 350 to 388 may be implemented by the processor and memory components of base station 304 (e.g., by executing appropriate code and / or by appropriate configuration of the processor components). In addition, some or all of the functionality represented by blocks 390 to 398 may be implemented by the processor and memory components of network entity 306 (e.g., by executing appropriate code and / or by appropriate configuration of the processor components). For simplicity, various operations, actions, and / or functions are described herein as being performed "by a UE," "by a base station," "by a network entity," etc. However, it will be appreciated that such operations, actions and / or functions may actually be performed by specific components or combinations of components of the UE 302, base station 304, network entity 306, etc., such as processors 332, 384, 394, transceivers 310, 320, 350 and 360, memories 340, 386 and 396, sensing processors 342, 388 and 398, etc.

[0108] In some designs, the network entity 306 may be implemented as a core network component. In other designs, the network entity 306 may operate independently of a network operator or cellular network infrastructure (e.g., NG RAN 220 and / or 5GC 210 / 260). For example, the network entity 306 may be a component of a dedicated network that may be configured to communicate with the UE 302 via the base station 304 or independently of the base station 304 (e.g., via a non-cellular communication link such as WiFi).

[0109] Wireless communication signals (e.g., RF signals configured to carry OFDM symbols) sent between a UE and a base station can be reused for environmental sensing (also known as "RF sensing" or "radar"). Integrated sensing and communication (ISAC) is a form of RF sensing that can be performed by 5G networks and is considered an important feature for enhanced 5G (5G+) and sixth-generation (6G) networks. ISAC is attractive because it is cost-effective due to the shared RF, and possibly baseband, hardware used for sensing and communication, and spectrum-efficient due to the constant availability of spectrum for both sensing and communication.

[0110] Environmental sensing using wireless communication signals can be considered a consumer-grade radar with advanced detection capabilities, enabling contactless / device-free interaction with devices / systems, etc. The wireless communication signal can be a cellular communication signal, such as an LTE or NR signal, a WLAN signal, etc. As a specific example, the wireless communication signal can be an OFDM waveform as utilized in LTE and NR. High-frequency communication signals, such as mmW RF signals, are particularly beneficial for use as radar signals because the higher frequency at least provides more accurate ranging (distance) detection.

[0111] Use cases for macrosensing include weather monitoring, autonomous driving, dynamic mapping, low-altitude airspace management (such as for unmanned ariel vehicles (UAVs)), and intruder detection. Use cases for microsensing include gesture recognition, vital sign detection, and high-resolution imaging using THz signals. Other use cases include sensor-assisted communications, such as sensor-assisted beam management.

[0112] Radar sensing can be categorized as monostatic sensing and bistatic / multistatic sensing. In monostatic sensing, one entity both transmits and receives sensing signals, while in bistatic or multistatic sensing, one entity transmits a sensing signal and another entity (bistatic) or more than one other entity (multistatic) receives the sensing signal reflected by the target object.

[0113] Figure 4A and Figure 4B Two of these various types of radar are illustrated. Specifically, Figure 4A is a diagram 400 illustrating a monostatic radar scenario, and Figure 4B 4 is a diagram illustrating a bistatic radar scenario. Monostatic radar has the advantage of not requiring pairing or grouping of Tx and Rx entities (because they are the same entity), but has the disadvantage of requiring self-interference mitigation. Bistatic or multistatic radar has the advantage of not requiring self-interference mitigation, but has the disadvantage of requiring pairing or grouping of Tx and Rx entities.

[0114] exist Figure 4A In FIG, a base station 402 may be configured for full-duplex operation, whereby the transmitter (Tx) and receiver (Rx) are co-located. For example, a transmitted radio signal 406 may be reflected by a target object (such as a building 404), and the receiver on the base station 402 is configured to receive and measure the reflected beam 408. This is a typical use case for traditional or conventional radar.

[0115] exist Figure 4B, a base station 412 may be configured as a transmitter (Tx) and a UE 414 may be configured as a receiver (Rx). In this example, the transmitter and receiver are not co-located, i.e., they are separated by a distance comparable to the intended target distance, for example. The base station 412 may be configured to transmit a beam, such as an omnidirectional downlink RF signal 406, which may be received by the UE 414. A portion of the RF signal 406 may be reflected or refracted by the building 404, and the UE 414 may receive this reflected signal 416. This is a typical use case for RF sensing based on wireless communications (e.g., WiFi-based, LTE-based, NR-based). Note that although Figure 4B The example uses downlink RF signal 406 as the RF sensing signal, but uplink RF signals can also be used as the RF sensing signal. In the downlink scenario, as shown, the transmitter is base station 412 and the receiver is UE 414, while in the uplink scenario, the transmitter is the UE and the receiver is the base station. A multistatic radar system is a generalization of a bistatic radar system and includes at least three components, such as one receiver and two transmitters, two receivers and one transmitter, or multiple receivers and multiple transmitters.

[0116] For more details, refer to Figure 4B , the base station 412 transmits an RF sensing signal (e.g., a PRS) to the UE 414, but some of the RF sensing signals are reflected off a target object, such as a building 404. The UE 414 can measure the ToA of the RF signal 406 received directly from the base station and the ToA of the reflected signal 416 reflected from the target object (e.g., the building 404).

[0117] Base station 412 can be configured to transmit a single RF signal 406 or multiple RF signals to a receiver (e.g., UE 414). However, due to the propagation characteristics of RF signals through multipath channels, UE 414 may receive multiple RF signals corresponding to each transmitted RF signal. Each path may be associated with a cluster of one or more channel taps. Typically, the time at which the receiver detects the first cluster of channel taps is considered the ToA of the RF signal on a line-of-site (LOS) path (i.e., the shortest path between the transmitter and the receiver). Later clusters of channel taps are considered to have been reflected by objects between the transmitter and the receiver and, therefore, have been along a non-LOS (NLOS) path between the transmitter and the receiver.

[0118] Therefore, returning to the reference Figure 4B, RF signal 406 follows a LOS path between base station 412 and UE 414, and reflected signal 416 represents an RF sensing signal that follows a NLOS path between base station 412 and UE 414 due to reflection off building 404 (or another target object). Base station 412 may have sent multiple RF sensing signals ( Figure 4B (not shown in the figure), some of the multiple RF sensing signals follow LOS paths, and other of the multiple RF sensing signals follow NLOS paths. Alternatively, the base station 412 may have transmitted a single RF sensing signal in a sufficiently wide beam such that a portion of the RF sensing signal follows the LOS path and a portion of the RF sensing signal follows the NLOS path.

[0119] Based on the difference between the ToA of the LOS path, the ToA of the NLOS path, and the speed of light, UE 414 can determine the distance to building 404. In addition, if UE 414 is capable of receiving beamforming, UE 414 may be able to determine the general direction to building 404 as the direction of reflected signal 416, which is the RF sensing signal following the NLOS path as received. UE 414 may then optionally report this information to the transmitting base station 412, an application server associated with the core network, an external client, a third-party application, or some other entity. Alternatively, UE 414 may report the ToA measurement to base station 412 or other entity, and base station 412 may determine the distance to the target object and optionally the direction to the target object.

[0120] It should be noted that if the RF sensing signal is an uplink RF signal sent by UE 414 to base station 412, base station 412 will perform object detection based on the uplink RF signal just as UE 414 performs object detection based on downlink RF signals.

[0121] Integrated sensing and communications (ISAC) is a term that describes the convergence of RF communications and RF sensing, such as radar. The trend toward digitalization in commercial radar is converging the architecture of its RF front-end (i.e., all components in the receiver that process the signal at its raw incoming radio frequency and then convert it to a lower intermediate frequency) and its waveform to become increasingly similar to those used for communications. For example, waveforms used in automotive radar are evolving from analog frequency-modulated carrier (FMCW) to orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) symbols, such as those used in telecommunications. Furthermore, carrier frequencies used in telecommunications are gradually shifting to higher frequency bands (24 GHz, 60 GHz, 77 GHz, and potentially even higher), including those used for radar.

[0122] Figure 51 illustrates typical circuits in a telecommunications device 500 that can perform RF communication and RF sensing (eg, ISAC) according to aspects of the present disclosure. Figure 5 , device 500 includes a transmitter circuit 502 that provides unified radar and communication transmit processing, and a receiver circuit 504 that provides unified radar and communication receive processing. A data source 506 provides communication data and sensed data (e.g., radar signals) to the transmitter circuit 502. The receiver circuit 504 provides the received data to a radar Rx processing circuit 508 and a communication Rx processing circuit 510. The device 500 operates within an environment 512 (which may also be referred to as a radio channel 512). The data source 506 may also provide sensed data to the radar Rx processing circuit 508. Figure 5 As can be seen in FIG, using OFDM symbols for RF sensing provides the following benefit: the same RF front end can be used for both RF communication and RF sensing, ie both functions can use shared components.

[0123] Thus, ISACs can provide benefits such as cost efficiency (e.g., there can be a joint RF (and possibly baseband) hardware platform for communication and sensing) and spectrum efficiency (e.g., constant availability of spectrum for both communication and radar functions). Another benefit is that RF sensing is an additional motivation for the market introduction of vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communications.

[0124] In some aspects, the general processing of the steps of the OFDM radar at the receiver side may include fast Fourier transform (FFT) processing, followed by one or more of the following operations: (1) removal of modulation symbols (data content), which eliminates the per-resource element (RE) modulation symbols by dividing the transmitted value of each per-resource element (RE) modulation symbol at the associated RE; (2) time domain (symbol-by-symbol) FFT for target velocity (Doppler) estimation; and (3) frequency domain (subcarrier-by-subcarrier) IFFT for target range estimation. Steps (2) and (3) are similar to the 2D-FFT processing of the FMCW radar, and the performance of the OFDM radar is similar to that of the FMCW radar.

[0125] It should be noted that OFDM signals can be used for radar purposes if the modulation symbols (data content) of the transmitted OFDM signal are known at the receiver. For monostatic radars, where the transmitter and receiver are the same node, the receiver naturally knows the exact transmitted signal. For bistatic radars, where the transmitter and receiver are different nodes, the receiver can still know the exact transmitted signal, for example, when using a known or predefined transmitted signal sequence, or if the data is correctly decoded, such as by a cyclic redundancy check (CRC) of the received communication signal. It should also be noted that, unlike phase modulated carrier (PMCW)-based radars, where the autocorrelation properties of the sequence may be necessary, for OFDM radars, a specific sequence is not mandatory (except that the peak-to-average power ratio (PAPR) should be considered). For example, an OFDM signal based on a Zadoff-Chu sequence has a constant amplitude and will therefore have a higher signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) at the receiver.

[0126] Use cases may include macrosensing, such as weather monitoring, autonomous driving, dynamic mapping, low-altitude airspace and ground management (e.g., UAV, vehicle, and pedestrian sensing), and intruder detection. Use cases may include microsensing, such as gesture recognition, vital sign detection, and high-resolution imaging using terahertz (THz) signals. Use cases may include sensing-assisted communications, such as beam management.

[0127] Sensing UEs may include legacy UEs and / or sensing-dedicated UEs. Examples of legacy UEs are ordinary UEs, such as mobile phones or vehicle UEs (VUEs). Legacy UEs tend to be highly mobile and have low antenna gain. Sensing-dedicated UEs include sensing roadside units (RSUs) that have a fixed location but have high antenna gain. There are often many more legacy UEs than sensing UEs. Regardless of the type, the location of each sensing UE is known to the network and is determined by a global positioning signal (GPS) or calculated using other positioning methods such as round trip time (RTT) calculation, time delay of arrival (TDOA), etc.

[0128] Figure 6 An example 600 of a single-base ISAC according to aspects of the present disclosure is illustrated. A single-base ISAC has the advantage of not requiring the Tx entity and the Rx entity to be paired or grouped since they are the same entity, and the ISAC's reuse of OFDM symbols allows the same hardware chain to be used for both sensing and communication. Figure 6 In the example shown in , a single gNB transmits a sensing signal using a TX antenna panel and receives a reflected sensing signal via an RX antenna panel. Figure 6In the example shown in [1], the sensing signals are reflected from a UAV, but this technique can be used to sense other types of objects. Information about the reflected sensing signals is typically processed by a location server, which can be integrated with the gNB or separate from the gNB.

[0129] To accurately estimate the distance and speed of the target object, the sensing UE may need to sense for a certain duration, for example, to measure micro-Doppler frequency characteristics. To accurately estimate the location of the target object, multi-base sensing may be required. Figure 7 An example of this operation is shown in .

[0130] Figure 7 An example 700 of a multi-base ISAC according to aspects of the present disclosure is illustrated. Dual-base and multi-base ISACs have the advantage of not requiring self-interference mitigation, and the reuse of OFDM symbols by the ISAC allows the same hardware chain to be used for both sensing and communication. Figure 7 In the example shown in , the first gNB transmits a sensing signal using a TX antenna panel. The sensing signal is reflected from a UAV or other object. The reflected signal is received by the second gNB, which receives the reflected sensing signal via the RX antenna panel. The reflected sensing signal is received by the sensing UE. Both the second gNB and the sensing UE will typically report the received reflected sensing signal to a location server, which may be integrated with the first gNB or the second gNB or may be separate from the first gNB or the second gNB. Although Figure 7 The use of a mobile phone as a sensing UE is shown, but other types of UEs may be sensing UEs, such as connected vehicles, roadside units (RSUs), or Figure 7 Other types of sensing UEs not shown.

[0131] Figure 8A and Figure 8B This paper demonstrates the use of reconfigurable smart surfaces (RIS) to extend 5G coverage with negligible power consumption. RIS are nearly passive devices that reflect incoming waves in a desired direction. This direction can be controlled by the gNB. Figure 8A 804 but cannot communicate with the second UE 806 because the second transmit beam 808 transmitted in the direction of the second UE 806 is blocked by an obstacle 810. Figure 8B In the example, by using RIS 812 controlled by gNB 800, gNB 800 can reach second UE 806 by sending a third beam 814 to RIS 812, which transmits a reflected beam 816 that bypasses obstacle 810 to second UE 806. RIS 812 can be used not only to expand 5G coverage for communications but also to assist in network sensing.

[0132] Figure 8C The components of an exemplary RIS are illustrated in more detail. Figure 8C In the example illustrated in FIG8 , RIS 812 includes an array of antenna elements 818 that are controlled by array control circuitry 820. For a varactor-based RIS design, array control circuitry 820 provides a control voltage to each antenna element in array 818. The control voltage provided to array 818 controls the reflection angle exhibited by array 818. In the example illustrated in FIG8 , RIS 812 includes one or more processors 822, memory 824, and one or more transceivers 826, which may be wired, wireless, or both.

[0133] Figure 9 An example of using RIS to extend coverage is illustrated in more detail. Figure 9 The simplified example shown involves a gNB 900 and a RIS 902 (both at fixed locations) and a mobile UE 904 that does not have a line of sight (LOS) channel to the gNB 900 due to an obstacle 906. Figure 9 In the example shown, gNB 900 transmits a series of directional beams labeled A through E. One of the beams, beam C, is directed toward RIS 902. RIS 902 can reflect incoming beam C at different possible angles, as shown by the reflected beams labeled J through M. One of the reflected angles, reflected beam L, is directed toward UE 904.

[0134] The angle 908 at which RIS 902 receives the incident beam is called the angle of incidence, and the angle 910 at which RIS 902 transmits the reflected beam is called the angle of reflection. RIS 902 does not have control over the angle of incidence, but the reflection angle associated with the incident angle can be controlled by a set of control voltages applied to the antenna elements of RIS 902. For a varactor-based RIS, the reflection angle for a given incident angle is controlled by the varactor capacitance C, which is controlled by the control voltage. For the same reflection angle, the required capacitance C will vary as the incident angle changes. For diode-based RIS, the control method may differ, but RIS control depends on both the incident and reflection angles in the same manner. For DL ​​signals, angle 908 is the incident angle, and angle 910 is the reflection angle. However, for UL signals, angle 910 is the incident angle, and angle 908 is the reflection angle.

[0135] Figure 10 An example of monostatic sensing using RIS is illustrated. Figure 10 shows that the Figure 9A scenario of gNB 900, RIS 902, and obstacle 906 is shown, the description of which will not be repeated here. gNB 900 transmits a DL transmission 1000, which is reflected from RIS 902 as beam 1002. Beam 1002 reflects from person 1004 as reflected beam 1006. Reflected beam 1006 reflects from RIS 902 as beam 1008, which is received by gNB 900. For DL ​​transmissions, RIS 902 should ideally be programmed to have reflection angle 910 and angle of incidence 908, and for UL reflections, RIS 902 should ideally be programmed to have reflection angle 908 and angle of incidence 910. If these angles 908 and 910 differ from each other, then for a varactor-controlled RIS, the DL control voltage should be different from the UL control voltage.

[0136] However, if the object being sensed is within a certain range of the RIS, for example, 150 meters or closer to a varactor-controlled RIS with a control switching frequency of 1 MHz (i.e., 1 μs delay), there will not be time to change the control voltage from the DL mode to a different control voltage for the UL mode before the reflection reaches the RIS. As a result, the same control voltage will be used for both the DL beam and the UL reflection. This may cause strong side lobes in the UL signal reflected from the RIS 902 to the gNB 900. This is particularly important in Figure 11 Shown in.

[0137] Figure 11 FIG1 is a graph 1100 showing the energy versus angle of a signal reflected from a varactor-controlled RIS in a particular example where the DL reflection angle is a certain value (e.g., 40 degrees) and the UL reflection angle should be another value (e.g., 0 degrees), and shows what would happen if the DL control voltage were reused for the UL. Figure 11 In the example shown, curve 1102 illustrates the general shape of the reflected beam energy of the DL signal when the control voltage is set to a set of values ​​that produces a 40-degree DL reflection angle at an incident angle of 0 degrees, and curve 1104 illustrates the general shape of the reflected beam energy of the UL signal when the control voltage is set to a set of values ​​that produces a 0-degree UL reflection angle at an incident angle of 40 degrees. Both curves show a single peak, i.e., 40 degrees for the DL signal and 0 degrees for the UL signal.

[0138] Figure 11 Also shown is curve 1106, which illustrates the general shape of the UL signal reflection beam energy when the DL control voltage is reused for the UL signal, as might be the case if the sensed object is close enough to the RIS that the UL reflection arrives before the RIS can change from the DL control voltage. Curve 1106 includes three peaks: a main peak at an angle of 0 degrees, but with two side lobes at -40 degrees and 40 degrees, respectively.

[0139] Sidelobes can also exist in scenarios where the RIS has time to switch between the DL control voltage used for sensing signals and a different UL control voltage used for UL reflections, but quantization limits the resolution of the selectable DL and UL angles for some incident and reflection angle pairs. For example, a -4 dB sidelobe may appear when the UL reflection angle should ideally be 25 degrees, but control voltage quantization limits the UL reflection angle to multiples of 30 degrees, due to a 5-degree phase mismatch. The presence of only one or more sidelobes may not be a problem unless the sidelobes in the DL beam reflected by the RIS happen to hit another scattering object that reflects the signal back to the gNB directly or indirectly via the RIS.

[0140] Figure 12A and Figure 12B Illustrated are possible problems that may be caused by side lobes during sensing. Figure 12A and Figure 12B Sensing operations involving the gNB 900 and RIS 902 operating in an environment with multiple targets or obstacles, such as a target object 1200 and a scattering object 1202, are illustrated.

[0141] exist Figure 12A In the example shown, gNB 900 transmits a DL sensing signal 1204 to RIS 902, which transmits a reflected signal having a main lobe 1206 and a side lobe 1208. Main lobe 1206 reflects from target object 1200, but side lobe 1208 reflects from scattering object 1202 as reflection 1210. As a result, gNB 900 may receive multiple reflections, such as a reflection directly from target object 1200, a reflection from target object 1200 that is further reflected from RIS 902, a reflection directly from scattering object 1202, and a reflection from scattering object 1202 that is further reflected from RIS 902.

[0142] exist Figure 12B In the example shown, the target object transmits or reflects UL signal 1212 toward RIS 902, which transmits a reflected signal having a main lobe 1214 and side lobes 1216. Main lobe 1214 reaches gNB 900 directly, but side lobe 1216 reflects from scattering object 1202 as reflection 1218. As a result, gNB 900 again receives multiple reflections, such as the signal reflected directly from RIS 902, as well as reflections from RIS 902 that further reflect from scattering object 1202.

[0143] Therefore, the presence of sidelobes can cause problems, such as generating multipath signal responses or otherwise interfering with target sensing. Therefore, this paper proposes techniques for enhancing RIS-assisted sensing to reduce sensing errors caused by interference generated by sidelobes, which can also include target position and velocity estimation errors.

[0144] Figure 13A and Figure 13B Parts of a method for reducing sensing errors caused by interference generated by side lobes according to aspects of the present disclosure are illustrated. Figure 13A and Figure 13B Sensing operations involving gNB 900 and RIS 902 operating in an environment with multiple targets or obstacles, such as target object 1200 and scattering objects 1202, are illustrated.

[0145] exist Figure 13A In FIG. 1 , gNB 900 transmits sensing signal 1300 to RIS 902, which transmits reflected signal 1302 along the mainlobe and reflected signal 1304 along the sidelobe. Mainlobe signal 1302 is reflected from target 1200 as signal 1306, and sidelobe signal 1304 is reflected from scattering object 1202 as signal 1308. Signals 1306 and 1308 arrive at gNB 900, which detects the two signals as power peak 1310 at time t1 and power peak 1312 at time t2.

[0146] However, gNB 900 does not know which signal caused which power peak. For example, scattering object 1202 may be closer to or farther away from gNB 900 than target object 1200, which means that the order of received power peaks is not decisive. Likewise, scattering object 1202 may be much larger or smaller than target object 1200, which means that the magnitude of the power peak is not a reliable means of distinguishing reflections of the mainlobe signal from reflections of the sidelobe signal, even though the mainlobe signal will have greater power than the sidelobe signal. Therefore, in some aspects, gNB 900 will send a second sensing signal, such as Figure 13B As shown in .

[0147] exist Figure 13B In the RIS 902, the RIS 902 is reconfigured to have a reflection angle such that the main lobe is now directed towards the Figure 13AgNB 900 then transmits a second sensed signal 1314 to RIS 902, which transmits reflected signal 1316 along the main lobe and reflected signal 1318 along the side lobe. Main lobe signal 1316 reflects from scattering object 120 as signal 1320, and side lobe signal 1318 reflects from target 1200 as signal 1322. Signals 1320 and 1322 arrive at gNB 900, which detects the two signals as power peak 1324 at time t1 and power peak 1326 at time t2.

[0148] Since more power is sent in the direction that was previously sent by the side lobes, the power peak (i.e., Figure 13B Power peak 1324 at time t2 in the second transmission is determined to be the signal reflected from scattering object 1202. gNB 900 then knows it can ignore the signal received at time t1. It's also possible that power peak 1326 shows a decrease in power due to a decrease in the power of sidelobe signal 1318. The amount of decrease depends on whether the sidelobe of the second transmission happens to be pointing towards target object 1200. If so, the power of peak 1326 may be slightly reduced; if not, the power of peak 1326 may be significantly reduced. In another scenario, such as when scattering object 1202 is farther from gNB 900 than target object 1200, the second power peak will show an increase in power, and gNB 900 will know that the signal received at time t2 is from scattering object 1202 and can therefore be ignored.

[0149] In scenarios where there are multiple side lobes resulting in the detection of multiple power peaks, the same technique can be extended, for example, to transmit multiple sensing signals and additional sensing signals, one sensing signal having a main lobe in the original direction and each additional sensing signal having a main lobe in the direction of the side lobe of the first sensing signal.

[0150] In some aspects, the RIS main lobe angle for the first sensing transmission 1300 may be determined by the gNB 900 and indicated to the RIS 902. In some aspects, the RIS main lobe angle for the first sensing transmission 1300 may be determined by the RIS 902. In some aspects, the sidelobe pattern depends on the RIS main lobe angle.

[0151] In some aspects, RIS 902 does not report its sidelobe information to gNB 900. In some aspects, gNB 900 configures RIS 902 to perform multiple sensings, with the understanding that for each additional sensing, RIS 902 sets the mainlobe angle to a different sidelobe angle than the first sensing transmission. In this approach, RIS 902 is responsible for adjusting the mainlobe angle for subsequent sensing transmissions. It should be noted that gNB 900 does not need to know the exact angles of the sidelobes: gNB 900 only needs to detect which power peaks increase from the first sensing and discard the signal received at that time delay.

[0152] In some aspects, the RIS 902 reports only the number of sidelobes to the gNB 900. In response, the gNB 900 allocates sensing resources based on the reported number of sidelobes and instructs the RIS to repeat the sensing transmission that number of times, each time setting the mainlobe angle to a different sidelobe angle than the first sensing transmission. Here, the RIS 902 is also responsible for selecting the mainlobe angle for subsequent transmissions, and the gNB 900 does not need to know the exact angles of the sidelobes.

[0153] In some aspects, the RIS 902 reports its sidelobe information (e.g., the number of sidelobes, the angle of each sidelobe, etc.) to the gNB 900. If the gNB 900 finds more than one strong path in the received signal, for example, multiple power peaks are detected at different time delays, the gNB 900 instructs the RIS 902 to perform one or more additional sensing passes, where the main lobe angle is set to one of the sidelobe angles from the first sensing transmission. In this approach, the gNB 900 can optionally decide which sidelobe angle(s) to measure and in what order for subsequent sensing transmissions.

[0154] There are various ways in which the RIS 902 can report its sidelobe information to the gNB 900. Examples of sidelobe information that the RIS 902 can convey to the gNB 900 include, but are not limited to, the number of sidelobes, the sidelobe angle, sidelobe width (e.g., 3dB width), and sidelobe gain of each sidelobe, as well as the angle, width, and / or gain of the mainlobe. In some aspects, the sidelobe gain of each sidelobe can be expressed as an absolute value or as a value relative to the mainlobe gain.

[0155] In some aspects, a new information element (IE) may be defined for reporting sidelobe information from RIS. Two examples of such IEs named RIS-SidelobeInfo (or other names) are shown below:

[0156] Format Option 1:

[0157]

[0158] in

[0159] SidelobeAngleINTEGER(0…180)

[0160] SidelobeWidthINTEGER(0…180)

[0161] SidelobeGain INTEGER (0…K)

[0162] Format Option 2:

[0163]

[0164] in

[0165] Sidelobe SEQUENCE[SidelobeAngle,

[0166] SidelobeWidth,SidelobeGain]

[0167] In some aspects, the RIS 902 may need to report sidelobe information to the gNB 900. For example, the presence, number, and relative angles of sidelobes may depend on the characteristics of a particular RIS 902, which the gNB 900 may not be aware of. Furthermore, in some aspects, a UE may control the RIS 902, in which case the gNB 900 may not have any information about the main lobe or sidelobes. In some aspects, even if the gNB 900 controls the RIS 902, the array of RIS 902s may be too large for the gNB 900 to maintain information about every possible combination of incidence angle, reflection angle, and all sidelobes that may occur under each combination of these conditions, especially if the 2D angular resolution is low (e.g., 0.1 degrees). Rather than maintaining such information for every RIS 902 interacting with the gNB 900, the gNB 900 may be responsible for each RIS 902 maintaining such information and providing the gNB 900 with only information related to a specific subset of all possible incidence and reflection angles, regardless of whether the mainlobe angle is selected by the gNB 900 or the RIS 902.

[0168] In some aspects, the RIS 902 may communicate the sidelobe information to the gNB 900 via uplink control information (UCI), via medium access control (MAC) control elements (CEs), or via radio resource control (RRC) signaling. In some aspects, the RIS may communicate the sidelobe information to a network entity, such as a server or application function (e.g., a sensing management function entity) in the core network, for example, via non-access stratum (NAS) signaling. The network entity may then forward the sidelobe information to the gNB 900 as needed.

[0169] In some scenarios, the RIS 902 can be configured to perform beam scanning on the reflected sensing signals. In some aspects, the RIS 902 can report sidelobe information for each of its beams. In some aspects, the RIS 902 can report sidelobes in both the incident and reflected beam patterns. For example, the RIS 902 can transmit first sidelobe information to the gNB 900, then update the beams, and then transmit second sidelobe information to the gNB 900 and again update the beams.

[0170] In some aspects, a table in which the RIS 902 reports its sidelobe information before performing RIS 902 beam scanning is updated. This sidelobe information may be indexed by mainlobe angle. In some aspects, the table may also include other information, such as corresponding angle of incidence, angle of reflection, number of quantization bits, etc. In some aspects, the RIS 902 mainlobe angle used for beam scanning may be indicated by the gNB 900. In some aspects, the RIS 902 mainlobe angle used for beam scanning may be determined by the RIS 902 and reported to the gNB 900. In some aspects, the RIS 902 may be triggered to report to the gNB 900 upon receiving an indication or instruction from the gNB 900 to begin the RIS beam scanning process. This information may be transmitted before beam scanning begins, allowing the RIS to subsequently update the beam without having to retransmit the sidelobe information to the gNB 900 each time.

[0171] In some aspects, the gNB 900 may dynamically control the beam scanning process of the RIS 902. In some aspects, the gNB 900 may instruct the RIS 902 to use the sidelobe angle of one sensing transmission as the mainlobe angle for the next sensing transmission, rather than scanning by incrementing the angle by a set number of degrees each time. In some aspects, the gNB 900 may indicate to the RIS 902 which mainlobe angle to use next. For example, the gNB 900 may instruct the RIS 902 to use the sidelobe angle reported by the RIS 902 as the next mainlobe angle or the last sidelobe angle listed in the RIS sidelobe information table.

[0172] Figure 14 is a flow chart of an example process 1400 associated with RIS-assisted sensing in the presence of RIS sidelobes according to aspects of the present disclosure. In some implementations, Figure 14 One or more process blocks of may be performed by a base station (e.g., base station 102). In some implementations, Figure 14 One or more process blocks of may be performed by another device or a group of devices separate from or including the base station. Additionally or alternatively, Figure 14One or more process blocks of process 1400 may be performed by one or more components of BS 304 (such as processor 384, memory 386, WWAN transceiver 350, short-range wireless transceiver 360, satellite signal receiver 370, network transceiver 380, and sensing processor 388), any or all of which may be means for performing the operations of process 1400.

[0173] like Figure 14 As shown, process 1400 may include, at block 1410, transmitting a first sensing signal to a RIS, the RIS being configured to have a first main lobe reflection angle and a first side lobe reflection angle. Means for performing the operations of block 1410 may include processor 384, memory 386, or WWAN transceiver 350 of BS 304. For example, base station 304 may transmit the first sensing signal to the RIS using transmitter 354.

[0174] like Figure 14 As further shown, process 1400 may include, at block 1420, detecting a first multipath reflection of the first sensed signal. Means for performing the operations of block 1420 may include processor 384, memory 386, or WWAN transceiver 350 of BS 304. For example, base station 304 may use receiver 352 to detect the first multipath reflection of the first sensed signal.

[0175] like Figure 14 As further shown, process 1400 may include, at block 1430, transmitting a second sensing signal to the RIS, the RIS being configured to have a second main lobe reflection angle that is the same as the first side lobe reflection angle. Means for performing the operations of block 1430 may include processor 384, memory 386, or WWAN transceiver 350 of BS 304. For example, base station 304 may transmit the second sensing signal to the RIS using transmitter 354.

[0176] like Figure 14 As further shown in FIG, process 1400 may include, at block 1440, detecting a second multipath reflection of the second sensed signal. Means for performing the operations of block 1440 may include processor 384, memory 386, or WWAN transceiver 350 of BS 304. For example, base station 304 may use receiver 352 to detect the second multipath reflection of the second sensed signal.

[0177] like Figure 14As further shown in FIG, process 1400 may include, at block 1450, identifying one path of the first multipath reflection as a sidelobe path to be ignored during a sensing operation based on a received power of a corresponding path of the second multipath reflection. Means for performing the operations of block 1450 may include processor 384, memory 386, or WWAN transceiver 350 of BS 304. For example, base station 304 may use processor 384 and memory 386 to identify one path of the first multipath reflection as a sidelobe path to be ignored during a sensing operation based on a received power of a corresponding path of the second multipath reflection.

[0178] In some aspects, identifying the one path of the first multipath reflection as the sidelobe path based on the received power of the corresponding path of the second multipath reflection includes: detecting that the received power of the corresponding path of the second multipath reflection is greater than the received power of the one path of the first multipath reflection.

[0179] In some aspects, process 1400 further includes, before transmitting the first sensing signal, configuring the RIS to use the first mainlobe reflection angle. In some aspects, the BS 304 may specify the first mainlobe reflection angle. In some aspects, the BS 304 may indicate to the RIS how many measurements to perform and let the RIS determine which angle to use for the first mainlobe reflection angle.

[0180] In some aspects, process 1400 includes, prior to transmitting the second sensing signal, configuring the RIS to use the second mainlobe reflection angle. In some aspects, the BS 304 may specify the second mainlobe reflection angle. In some aspects, the BS 304 may have indicated to the RIS how many measurements to perform, and the RIS determines which angle to use for the second mainlobe reflection angle. In some aspects, the BS 304 may specify the first mainlobe reflection angle to use, but the RIS determines which angle to use for the second mainlobe reflection angle.

[0181] In some aspects, process 1400 includes, prior to detecting the first multipath reflection, receiving information about the first mainlobe, the first sidelobe, or both from the RIS. In some aspects, the BS 304 may use this information to assist in analyzing the first multipath reflection measurement. In some aspects, the BS 304 may use this information to select a next mainlobe reflection angle.

[0182] In some aspects, process 1400 includes, prior to detecting the second multipath reflection, receiving information from the RIS regarding the second mainlobe reflection angle, the second sidelobe reflection angle, or both. In some aspects, the BS 304 may use this information to assist in analyzing the second multipath reflection measurement. In some aspects, the BS 304 may use this information to select a third mainlobe reflection angle or a subsequent mainlobe reflection angle.

[0183] In some aspects, process 1400 includes receiving, from the RIS, sidelobe information associated with the first mainlobe reflection angle, the second mainlobe reflection angle, or both.

[0184] In some aspects, receiving the sidelobe information includes receiving at least one of: information indicating how many sidelobes are present; or, for each sidelobe, information indicating the angle of the sidelobe, the width of the sidelobe, the gain of the sidelobe, or a combination thereof.

[0185] In some aspects, receiving the sidelobe information further comprises receiving information indicating an angle of the main lobe, a width of the main lobe, a gain of the main lobe, or a combination thereof.

[0186] Process 1400 may include additional implementations, such as any single implementation or any combination of implementations described below and / or in conjunction with one or more other processes described elsewhere herein. Figure 14 Example blocks of process 1400 are shown, but in some implementations, process 1400 may include Figure 14 1400. In some embodiments, the process 1400 may include additional blocks, fewer blocks, different blocks, or blocks arranged in a different manner than those depicted in FIG. Additionally or alternatively, two or more blocks of the blocks of process 1400 may be performed in parallel.

[0187] Figure 15 is a flow chart of an example process 1500 associated with RIS-assisted sensing in the presence of RIS sidelobes according to aspects of the present disclosure. In some implementations, Figure 15 One or more process blocks of may be performed by a RIS (e.g., RIS 812). In some implementations, Figure 15 One or more process blocks of the process 1500 may be performed by another device or group of devices separate from the RIS or including the UE. In some aspects, the RIS 812 may include components such as a processor 822, a memory 824, a transceiver 826, and an antenna element array 818, any or all of which may be means for performing the operations of process 1500.

[0188] like Figure 15 As shown, process 1500 may include, at block 1510, receiving a configuration instruction from the BS. Means for performing the operations of block 1510 may include a processor, memory, or transceiver of any of the devices described herein. For example, RIS 812 may use its transceiver 826 to receive the configuration instruction.

[0189] like Figure 15As further shown, process 1500 may include, at block 1520, configuring the array elements of the RIS to have a first main lobe reflection angle according to the configuration instructions. Means for performing the operations of block 1520 may include a processor, memory, or transceiver of the RIS. For example, the RIS 812 may configure the array control circuit 820 using its processor 822 to set appropriate control voltages for each element of its array 818 to configure its array 818 to have the first main lobe reflection angle according to the configuration instructions.

[0190] like Figure 15 As further shown in FIG, process 1500 may include, at block 1530, reflecting a first sensing signal received from a base station. Means for performing the operations of block 1530 may include a processor, memory, or transceiver of any of the devices described herein. For example, RIS 812 may use its antenna element array 818 to reflect the first sensing signal received from the base station.

[0191] like Figure 15 As further shown, process 1500 may include, at block 1540, configuring the array elements of the RIS to have a second main lobe reflection angle according to the configuration instructions. Means for performing the operations of block 1540 may include a processor, memory, or transceiver of the RIS. For example, the RIS 812 may use its processor 822 to configure the array control circuit 820 to set appropriate control voltages for each element of its array 818 to configure its array 818 to have the second main lobe reflection angle according to the configuration instructions.

[0192] like Figure 15 As further shown in FIG. 1 , process 1500 may include, at block 1550, reflecting a second sensing signal received from the base station. Means for performing the operations of block 1550 may include a processor, memory, or transceiver of any of the devices described herein. For example, RIS 812 may use its element array 818 to reflect the second sensing signal received from the base station.

[0193] In some aspects, receiving the configuration instruction from the BS includes receiving an indication of the first main lobe reflection angle to use. In some aspects, the RIS 902 may then select the second main lobe reflection angle without further instruction from the BS.

[0194] In some aspects, receiving the configuration instruction from the BS further comprises receiving an indication of the second main lobe reflection angle to use.

[0195] In some aspects, the RIS determines the second mainlobe reflection angle to use.

[0196] In some aspects, the RIS determines the first mainlobe reflection angle to use and the second mainlobe reflection angle to use. For example, in some aspects, the BS simply indicates to the RIS how many measurements are to be performed, and the RIS selects the first mainlobe reflection angle, the second mainlobe reflection angle, and any subsequent mainlobe reflection angles if more than two measurements are to be performed.

[0197] In some aspects, process 1500 includes transmitting, to the BS, sidelobe information associated with the first mainlobe reflection angle, the second mainlobe reflection angle, or both.

[0198] In some aspects, transmitting the sidelobe information includes transmitting at least one of: information indicating how many sidelobes are present; or, for each sidelobe, information indicating the angle of the sidelobe, the width of the sidelobe, the gain of the sidelobe, or a combination thereof.

[0199] In some aspects, transmitting the sidelobe information further comprises transmitting information indicating an angle of the main lobe, a width of the main lobe, a gain of the main lobe, or a combination thereof.

[0200] Process 1500 may include additional implementations, such as any single implementation or any combination of implementations described below and / or in conjunction with one or more other processes described elsewhere herein. Figure 15 Example blocks of process 1500 are shown, but in some implementations, process 1500 may include Figure 15 The blocks depicted in the process 1500 may include additional blocks, fewer blocks, different blocks, or blocks arranged in a different manner than those depicted in the process 1500. Additionally or alternatively, two or more blocks of the blocks of the process 1500 may be performed in parallel.

[0201] As will be appreciated, the technical advantage of the techniques described herein is that they reduce sensing errors caused by interference from strong RIS sidelobes, even when sidelobes are unavoidable. For varactor-based RIS designs, the techniques described herein allow the RIS to use the entire RIS array, rather than splitting the RIS array into a dedicated DL half and a dedicated UL half. Splitting the RIS in half results in a 12dB reduction in power gain. The same techniques can also compensate for errors caused by control voltage quantization.

[0202] In the above detailed description, it can be seen that different features are grouped together in each example. This disclosure should not be understood as an intention that the example clauses have more features than the features explicitly mentioned in each clause. On the contrary, the various aspects of the present disclosure may include less than all the features of the disclosed individual example clauses. Therefore, the following clauses should be considered to be incorporated into the description accordingly, wherein each clause itself can be used as a separate example. Although each dependent clause may refer to a specific combination of a clause with one of the other clauses in a clause, the aspects of the dependent clause are not limited to a specific combination. It should be understood that other example clauses may also include a combination of the dependent clause aspects with the subject matter of any other dependent clause or independent clause or a combination of any feature with other dependent clauses and independent clauses. The various aspects disclosed herein explicitly include these combinations, unless explicitly expressed or can be easily inferred that a specific combination is not intended to be used (for example, contradictory aspects, such as defining an element as both an electrical insulator and an electrical conductor). In addition, it is also expected that various aspects of a clause may be included in any other independent clause, even if the clause is not directly dependent on the independent clause.

[0203] Specific implementation examples are described in the following numbered clauses:

[0204] Clause 1. A method of wireless sensing performed by a base station, the method comprising: transmitting a first sensing signal to a reconfigurable smart surface (RIS), the reconfigurable smart surface (RIS) being configured to have a first main lobe reflection angle and a first side lobe reflection angle; detecting a first multipath reflection of the first sensing signal; transmitting a second sensing signal to the RIS, the RIS being configured to have a second main lobe reflection angle that is the same angle as the first side lobe reflection angle; detecting a second multipath reflection of the second sensing signal; and identifying one path of the first multipath reflection as a sidelobe path to be ignored during a sensing operation based on a received power of a corresponding path of the second multipath reflection.

[0205] Clause 2. A method according to clause 1, wherein identifying the one path of the first multipath reflection as the sidelobe path based on the received power of the corresponding path of the second multipath reflection includes: detecting that the received power of the corresponding path of the second multipath reflection is greater than the received power of the one path of the first multipath reflection.

[0206] Clause 3. The method of any one of clauses 1 to 2, further comprising: configuring the RIS to use the first main lobe reflection angle before transmitting the first sensing signal.

[0207] Clause 4. The method of clause 3, further comprising: configuring the RIS to use the second main lobe reflection angle before transmitting the second sensing signal.

[0208] Clause 5. The method of any one of clauses 1 to 4, further comprising: before detecting the first multipath reflection, receiving information about the first main lobe, the first side lobe, or both from the RIS.

[0209] Clause 6. The method of clause 5, further comprising: before detecting the second multipath reflection, receiving information about the second mainlobe reflection angle, the second sidelobe reflection angle, or both from the RIS.

[0210] Clause 7. The method of any one of clauses 1 to 6, further comprising: receiving sidelobe information associated with the first mainlobe reflection angle, the second mainlobe reflection angle, or both from the RIS.

[0211] Clause 8. A method according to clause 7, wherein receiving the sidelobe information comprises receiving at least one of: information indicating how many sidelobes are present; or, for each sidelobe, information indicating the angle of the sidelobe, the width of the sidelobe, the gain of the sidelobe, or a combination thereof.

[0212] Clause 9. The method of clause 8, wherein receiving the sidelobe information further comprises receiving information indicating an angle of the main lobe, a width of the main lobe, a gain of the main lobe, or a combination thereof.

[0213] Item 10. A method of wireless sensing performed by a reconfigurable smart surface (RIS), the method comprising: receiving a configuration instruction from a base station (BS); configuring array elements of the RIS to have a first main lobe reflection angle according to the configuration instruction; reflecting a first sensing signal received from the base station; configuring the array elements of the RIS to have a second main lobe reflection angle according to the configuration instruction; and reflecting a second sensing signal received from the base station.

[0214] Clause 11. The method of clause 10, wherein receiving the configuration instruction from the BS comprises receiving an indication of the first main lobe reflection angle to use.

[0215] Clause 12. The method of clause 11, wherein receiving the configuration instruction from the BS further comprises receiving an indication of the second main lobe reflection angle to use.

[0216] Clause 13. The method of any one of clauses 11 to 12, wherein the RIS determines the second mainlobe reflection angle to be used.

[0217] Clause 14. The method of any one of clauses 10 to 13, wherein the RIS determines the first main lobe reflection angle to use and the second main lobe reflection angle to use.

[0218] Clause 15. The method of any one of clauses 10 to 14, further comprising transmitting sidelobe information associated with the first mainlobe reflection angle, the second mainlobe reflection angle, or both to the BS.

[0219] Clause 16. A method according to clause 15, wherein transmitting the sidelobe information includes transmitting at least one of the following: information indicating how many sidelobes are present; or for each sidelobe, information indicating the angle of the sidelobe, the width of the sidelobe, the gain of the sidelobe, or a combination thereof.

[0220] Clause 17. The method of clause 16, wherein transmitting the sidelobe information further comprises transmitting information indicating an angle of the main lobe, a width of the main lobe, a gain of the main lobe, or a combination thereof.

[0221] Item 18. A base station comprising: a memory; at least one transceiver; and at least one processor, the at least one processor being communicatively coupled to the memory and the at least one transceiver, the at least one processor being configured to: transmit a first sensing signal to a reconfigurable smart surface (RIS) via the at least one transceiver, the reconfigurable smart surface (RIS) being configured to have a first main lobe reflection angle and a first side lobe reflection angle; detect a first multipath reflection of the first sensing signal; transmit a second sensing signal to the RIS via the at least one transceiver, the RIS being configured to have a second main lobe reflection angle that is the same angle as the first side lobe reflection angle; detect a second multipath reflection of the second sensing signal; and identify a path of the first multipath reflection as a sidelobe path to be ignored during a sensing operation based on a received power of a corresponding path of the second multipath reflection.

[0222] Clause 19. A base station according to clause 18, wherein in order to identify the one path of the first multipath reflection as the sidelobe path based on the received power of the corresponding path of the second multipath reflection, the at least one processor is configured to detect that the received power of the corresponding path of the second multipath reflection is greater than the received power of the one path of the first multipath reflection.

[0223] Clause 20. The base station of any of clauses 18 to 19, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to: configure the RIS to use the first main lobe reflection angle prior to transmitting the first sensing signal.

[0224] Clause 21. The base station of clause 20, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to: configure the RIS to use the second main lobe reflection angle before transmitting the second sensing signal.

[0225] Clause 22. A base station according to any of clauses 18 to 21, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to: receive information about the first main lobe, the first side lobe, or both from the RIS via the at least one transceiver before detecting the first multipath reflection.

[0226] Clause 23. The base station of clause 22, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to: receive information regarding the second main lobe reflection angle, the second side lobe reflection angle, or both from the RIS via the at least one transceiver before detecting the second multipath reflection.

[0227] Clause 24. The base station of any one of clauses 18 to 23, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to receive sidelobe information associated with the first mainlobe reflection angle, the second mainlobe reflection angle, or both from the RIS via the at least one transceiver.

[0228] Clause 25. A base station according to clause 24, wherein in order to receive the sidelobe information, the at least one processor is configured to receive at least one of the following: information indicating how many sidelobes are present; or for each sidelobe, information indicating the angle of the sidelobe, the width of the sidelobe, the gain of the sidelobe, or a combination thereof.

[0229] Clause 26. The base station of clause 25, wherein to receive the sidelobe information, the at least one processor is configured to receive information indicating an angle of the main lobe, a width of the main lobe, a gain of the main lobe, or a combination thereof.

[0230] Item 27. A reconfigurable smart surface (RIS), comprising: an antenna element array controlled by an array control circuit; a memory; at least one transceiver; and at least one processor, the at least one processor being communicatively coupled to the control unit, the memory, and the at least one transceiver, the at least one processor being configured to: receive a configuration instruction from a base station (BS) via the at least one transceiver; configure the antenna element array to have a first main lobe reflection angle according to the configuration instruction; reflect a first sensing signal received from the base station; configure the antenna element array to have a second main lobe reflection angle according to the configuration instruction; and reflect a second sensing signal received from the base station.

[0231] Clause 28. The RIS of clause 27, wherein to receive the configuration instruction from the BS, the at least one processor is configured to receive an indication of the first main lobe reflection angle to use.

[0232] Clause 29. The RIS of clause 28, wherein to receive the configuration instruction from the BS, the at least one processor is configured to receive an indication of the second main lobe reflection angle to use.

[0233] Clause 30. The RIS of any of clauses 28 to 29, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to determine the second mainlobe reflection angle to use.

[0234] Clause 31. The RIS of any of clauses 27 to 30, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to determine the first main lobe reflection angle to use and the second main lobe reflection angle to use.

[0235] Clause 32. The RIS of any one of clauses 27 to 31, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to transmit sidelobe information associated with the first mainlobe reflection angle, the second mainlobe reflection angle, or both to the BS via the at least one transceiver.

[0236] Clause 33. A RIS according to clause 32, wherein, in order to transmit the sidelobe information, the at least one processor is configured to transmit at least one of: information indicating how many sidelobes are present; or, for each sidelobe, information indicating the angle of the sidelobe, the width of the sidelobe, the gain of the sidelobe, or a combination thereof.

[0237] Clause 34. The RIS of clause 33, wherein to transmit the sidelobe information, the at least one processor is configured to transmit information indicating an angle of the main lobe, a width of the main lobe, a gain of the main lobe, or a combination thereof.

[0238] Clause 35. An apparatus comprising: a memory; a transceiver; and a processor communicatively coupled to the memory and the transceiver, the memory, the transceiver, and the processor configured to perform the method of any one of clauses 1 to 17.

[0239] Clause 36. An apparatus comprising means for performing the method of any one of clauses 1 to 17.

[0240] Clause 37. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer-executable instructions comprising at least one instruction for causing a computer or processor to perform the method of any one of clauses 1 to 17.

[0241] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that information and signals may be represented using any of a variety of different techniques and methods. For example, data, instructions, commands, information, signals, bits, symbols, and chips that may be referred to throughout the above description may be represented by voltages, currents, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or particles, light fields or particles, or any combination thereof.

[0242] In addition, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that the various illustrative logic blocks, modules, circuits, and algorithmic steps described in conjunction with the various aspects disclosed herein can be implemented as electronic hardware, computer software, or a combination of the two. In order to clearly illustrate this interchangeability of hardware and software, various illustrative components, blocks, modules, circuits, and steps have been generally described above in terms of their functionality. Whether such functionality is implemented as hardware or software depends on the specific application and the design constraints imposed on the entire system. Those skilled in the art may implement the described functionality in different ways for each specific application, but such specific implementation decisions should not be interpreted as resulting in a departure from the scope of this disclosure.

[0243] The various illustrative logical blocks, modules, and circuits described in conjunction with the various aspects disclosed herein may be implemented or performed with a general-purpose processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an ASIC, a field programmable gate array (FPGA), or other programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic components, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof designed to perform the functions described herein. A general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor, but in the alternative, the processor may be any conventional processor, controller, microcontroller, or state machine. A processor may also be implemented as a combination of computing devices, such as a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, a plurality of microprocessors, a combination of one or more microprocessors and a DSP core, or any other such configuration.

[0244] The methods, sequences, and / or algorithms described in conjunction with the various aspects disclosed herein may be embodied directly in hardware, in a software module executed by a processor, or in a combination of the two. The software module may reside in random access memory (RAM), flash memory, read-only memory (ROM), erasable programmable ROM (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable ROM (EEPROM), registers, a hard disk, a removable disk, a CD-ROM, or any other form of storage medium known in the art. An example storage medium is coupled to the processor so that the processor can read information from the storage medium and write information to the storage medium. In an alternative embodiment, the storage medium may be integral to the processor. The processor and storage medium may reside in an ASIC. The ASIC may reside in a user terminal (e.g., UE). In an alternative embodiment, the processor and storage medium may reside in the user terminal as discrete components.

[0245] In one or more example aspects, the functions described may be implemented in hardware, software, firmware, or any combination thereof. If implemented in software, the functions may be stored as one or more instructions or codes on a computer-readable medium or sent via a computer-readable medium. Computer-readable media include both computer storage media and communication media, which include any media that facilitate the transfer of a computer program from one place to another. Storage media can be any available medium that can be accessed by a computer. By way of example and not limitation, such computer-readable media may include RAM, ROM, EEPROM, CD-ROM, or other optical disk storage devices, magnetic disk storage devices, or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium that can be used to carry or store desired program code in the form of an instruction or data structure and that can be accessed by a computer. In addition, any connection is appropriately referred to as a computer-readable medium. For example, if the software is sent from a website, server, or other remote source using a coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, digital subscriber line (DSL), or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio, and microwaves, the coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, DSL, or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio, and microwaves are included in the definition of medium. Disk and disc, as used herein, include compact disc (CD), laser disc, optical disc, digital versatile disc (DVD), floppy disk, and Blu-ray disc. Disks usually reproduce data magnetically, while discs reproduce data optically with lasers. Combinations of the above should also be included within the scope of computer-readable media.

[0246] While the foregoing disclosure illustrates exemplary aspects of the present disclosure, it should be noted that various changes and modifications may be made herein without departing from the scope of the present disclosure as defined by the appended claims. Furthermore, the functions, steps, and / or actions of the method claims according to the various aspects of the present disclosure described herein need not be performed in any particular order. Furthermore, although elements of the present disclosure may be described or claimed in the singular, plural forms are contemplated unless otherwise expressly stated to be limited to the singular.

Claims

1. A wireless sensing method performed by a base station, the method comprising: transmitting a first sensing signal to a reconfigurable smart surface (RIS), wherein the reconfigurable smart surface (RIS) is configured to have a first main lobe reflection angle and a first side lobe reflection angle; detecting a first multipath reflection of the first sensing signal; transmitting a second sensing signal to the RIS, wherein the RIS is configured to have a second main lobe reflection angle that is the same as the first side lobe reflection angle; detecting a second multipath reflection of the second sensing signal; as well as One path of the first multipath reflection is identified as a sidelobe path to be ignored during a sensing operation based on a received power of a corresponding path of the second multipath reflection.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein identifying the one path of the first multipath reflection as the sidelobe path based on the received power of the corresponding path of the second multipath reflection comprises: It is detected that the reception power of the corresponding path of the second multipath reflection is greater than the reception power of the one path of the first multipath reflection.

3. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: Before transmitting the first sensing signal, the RIS is configured to use the first main lobe reflection angle.

4. The method according to claim 3, further comprising: Before transmitting the second sensing signal, the RIS is configured to use the second main lobe reflection angle.

5. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: Prior to detecting the first multipath reflection, information regarding the first main lobe, the first side lobe, or both is received from the RIS.

6. The method according to claim 5, further comprising: Prior to detecting the second multipath reflection, information regarding the second mainlobe reflection angle, the second sidelobe reflection angle, or both is received from the RIS.

7. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: Sidelobe information associated with the first mainlobe reflection angle, the second mainlobe reflection angle, or both is received from the RIS.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein receiving the sidelobe information comprises receiving at least one of: Information indicating how many sidelobes are present; or For each sidelobe, information indicating the angle of the sidelobe, the width of the sidelobe, the gain of the sidelobe, or a combination thereof.

9. The method according to claim 8, wherein receiving the sidelobe information further comprises: Information indicating the angle of the main lobe, the width of the main lobe, the gain of the main lobe, or a combination thereof is received.

10. A method of wireless sensing performed by a reconfigurable smart surface (RIS), the method comprising: receiving a configuration instruction from a base station (BS); configuring the array elements of the RIS to have a first main lobe reflection angle according to the configuration instruction; reflecting a first sensing signal received from a base station; configuring the array elements of the RIS to have a second main lobe reflection angle according to the configuration instruction; as well as A second sensing signal received from the base station is reflected.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein receiving the configuration instruction from the BS comprises: An indication of the first mainlobe reflection angle to use is received.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein receiving the configuration instruction from the BS further comprises: An indication of the second mainlobe reflection angle to use is received.

13. The method of claim 11, wherein the RIS determines the second mainlobe reflection angle to be used.

14. The method of claim 10, wherein the RIS determines the first main lobe reflection angle to be used and the second main lobe reflection angle to be used.

15. The method according to claim 10, further comprising: Sidelobe information associated with the first mainlobe reflection angle, the second mainlobe reflection angle, or both is transmitted to the BS.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein transmitting the sidelobe information comprises transmitting at least one of: Information indicating how many sidelobes are present; or For each sidelobe, information indicating the angle of the sidelobe, the width of the sidelobe, the gain of the sidelobe, or a combination thereof.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein transmitting the sidelobe information further comprises: Information indicating the angle of the main lobe, the width of the main lobe, the gain of the main lobe, or a combination thereof is transmitted.

18. A base station, comprising: Memory; at least one transceiver; and at least one processor communicatively coupled to the memory and the at least one transceiver, the at least one processor configured to: transmitting a first sensing signal to a reconfigurable smart surface (RIS) via the at least one transceiver, the reconfigurable smart surface (RIS) being configured to have a first main lobe reflection angle and a first side lobe reflection angle; detecting a first multipath reflection of the first sensing signal; transmitting a second sensing signal to the RIS via the at least one transceiver, the RIS being configured to have a second main lobe reflection angle that is the same as the first side lobe reflection angle; detecting a second multipath reflection of the second sensing signal; as well as One path of the first multipath reflection is identified as a sidelobe path to be ignored during a sensing operation based on a received power of a corresponding path of the second multipath reflection.

19. The base station according to claim 18, wherein, in order to identify the one path of the first multipath reflection as the sidelobe path based on the received power of the corresponding path of the second multipath reflection, the at least one processor is configured to detect that the received power of the corresponding path of the second multipath reflection is greater than the received power of the one path of the first multipath reflection.

20. The base station of claim 18, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to configure the RIS to use the first main lobe reflection angle before transmitting the first sensing signal.

21. The base station of claim 20, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to configure the RIS to use the second main lobe reflection angle before transmitting the second sensing signal.

22. The base station of claim 18, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to: receive information about the first main lobe, the first side lobe, or both from the RIS via the at least one transceiver before detecting the first multipath reflection, and receive information about the second main lobe reflection angle, the second side lobe reflection angle, or both before detecting the second multipath reflection.

23. The base station of claim 18, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to receive sidelobe information associated with the first mainlobe reflection angle, the second mainlobe reflection angle, or both from the RIS via the at least one transceiver.

24. The base station of claim 23, wherein to receive the sidelobe information, the at least one processor is configured to receive at least one of: Information indicating how many side lobes are present; For each sidelobe, information indicating the angle of the sidelobe, the width of the sidelobe, the gain of the sidelobe, or a combination thereof; or Information indicating the angle of the main lobe, the width of the main lobe, the gain of the main lobe, or a combination thereof.

25. A reconfigurable smart surface (RIS), comprising: an array of antenna elements controlled by array control circuitry; Memory; at least one transceiver; and at least one processor communicatively coupled to the control unit, the memory, and the at least one transceiver, the at least one processor configured to: receiving, via the at least one transceiver, a configuration instruction from a base station (BS); configuring the antenna element array to have a first main lobe reflection angle according to the configuration instruction; reflecting a first sensing signal received from a base station; configuring the antenna element array to have a second main lobe reflection angle according to the configuration instruction; as well as A second sensing signal received from the base station is reflected.

26. The RIS of claim 25, wherein to receive the configuration instruction from the BS, the at least one processor is configured to receive an indication of the first main lobe reflection angle to use.

27. The RIS of claim 26, wherein to receive the configuration instruction from the BS, the at least one processor is configured to receive an indication of the second main lobe reflection angle to use.

28. The RIS of claim 26, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to determine the second mainlobe reflection angle to use.

29. The RIS of claim 25, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to determine the first main lobe reflection angle to use and the second main lobe reflection angle to use.

30. The RIS of claim 25, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to transmit at least one of the following to the BS via the at least one transceiver: sidelobe information associated with the first mainlobe reflection angle, the second mainlobe reflection angle, or both; Information indicating how many side lobes are present; For each sidelobe, information indicating the angle of the sidelobe, the width of the sidelobe, the gain of the sidelobe, or a combination thereof; or Information indicating the angle of the main lobe, the width of the main lobe, the gain of the main lobe, or a combination thereof.

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