Joint communication and sensing (JCS) resource configuration

Abstract

Techniques for joint communication and sensing (JCS) are disclosed. In an aspect, a wireless node (e.g., from a network component) receives a JCS resource configuration that includes a set of communication slots and a set of radar sensing slots. In an aspect, each communication symbol of each of the set of communication slots is configured for communication, and at least one symbol of each of the set of radar sensing slots is configured for radar sensing. The wireless node further performs a communication operation and a sensing operation according to the JCS resource configuration.

Description

[0001] CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0002] This patent application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 63 / 487,944, filed on March 2, 2023, entitled “JOINT COMMUNICATION AND SENSING (JCS) RESOURCE CONFIGURATION,” which is assigned to the assignee of this application and is expressly incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. Technical Field

[0003] Aspects of the present disclosure generally relate to joint communication and sensing (JCS).

[0004] Related technical description

[0005] 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-enabled 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.

[0006] The fifth-generation (5G) wireless standard, known as New Radio (NR), enables higher data speeds, increased connectivity, better coverage, and 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 Positioning Reference Signals (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 technology, and high-density 5G deployments, enable highly accurate positioning based on 5G. Summary of the Invention

[0007] 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.

[0008] In one aspect, a method of operating a wireless node includes receiving a joint communication and sensing (JCS) resource configuration, the JCS resource configuration comprising a set of communication time slots and a set of radar sensing time slots, wherein each communication symbol of each communication time slot in the set of communication time slots is configured for communication, and wherein at least one symbol of each radar sensing time slot in the set of radar sensing time slots is configured for radar sensing; and performing communication operations and sensing operations according to the JCS resource configuration.

[0009] In one aspect, a method of operating a network component includes determining a joint communication and sensing (JCS) resource configuration, the JCS resource configuration comprising a set of communication time slots and a set of radar sensing time slots, wherein each communication symbol of each communication time slot in the set of communication time slots is configured for communication, and wherein at least one symbol of each radar sensing time slot in the set of radar sensing time slots is configured for radar sensing; and sending an indication of the JCS resource configuration to a wireless node.

[0010] In one aspect, a wireless node includes: a memory; at least one transceiver; and at least one processor, the at least one processor communicatively coupled to the memory and the at least one transceiver, the at least one processor configured to: receive, via the at least one transceiver, a joint communication and sensing (JCS) resource configuration, the joint communication and sensing (JCS) resource configuration comprising a set of communication time slots and a set of radar sensing time slots, wherein each communication symbol of each communication time slot in the set of communication time slots is configured for communication, and wherein at least one symbol of each radar sensing time slot in the set of radar sensing time slots is configured for radar sensing; and perform communication operations and sensing operations in accordance with the JCS resource configuration.

[0011] In one aspect, a network component includes: a memory; at least one transceiver; and at least one processor, the at least one processor communicatively coupled to the memory and the at least one transceiver, the at least one processor configured to: determine a joint communication and sensing (JCS) resource configuration, the joint communication and sensing (JCS) resource configuration comprising a set of communication time slots and a set of radar sensing time slots, wherein each communication symbol of each communication time slot in the set of communication time slots is configured for communication, and wherein at least one symbol of each radar sensing time slot in the set of radar sensing time slots is configured for radar sensing; and send an indication of the JCS resource configuration to a wireless node via the at least one transceiver.

[0012] In one aspect, a wireless node includes: means for receiving a joint communication and sensing (JCS) resource configuration, the joint communication and sensing (JCS) resource configuration comprising a set of communication time slots and a set of radar sensing time slots, wherein each communication symbol of each communication time slot in the set of communication time slots is configured for communication, and wherein at least one symbol of each radar sensing time slot in the set of radar sensing time slots is configured for radar sensing; and means for performing communication operations and sensing operations in accordance with the JCS resource configuration.

[0013] In one aspect, a network component includes: means for determining a joint communication and sensing (JCS) resource configuration, the joint communication and sensing (JCS) resource configuration comprising a set of communication time slots and a set of radar sensing time slots, wherein each communication symbol of each communication time slot in the set of communication time slots is configured for communication, and wherein at least one symbol of each radar sensing time slot in the set of radar sensing time slots is configured for radar sensing; and means for sending an indication of the JCS resource configuration to a wireless node.

[0014] In one aspect, a non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer-executable instructions that, when executed by a wireless node, causes the wireless node to: receive a joint communication and sensing (JCS) resource configuration, the JCS resource configuration comprising a set of communication time slots and a set of radar sensing time slots, wherein each communication symbol of each communication time slot in the set of communication time slots is configured for communication, and wherein at least one symbol of each radar sensing time slot in the set of radar sensing time slots is configured for radar sensing; and perform communication operations and sensing operations in accordance with the JCS resource configuration.

[0015] In one aspect, a non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer-executable instructions that, when executed by a network component, causes the network component to: determine a joint communication and sensing (JCS) resource configuration, the JCS resource configuration comprising a set of communication time slots and a set of radar sensing time slots, wherein each communication symbol of each communication time slot in the set of communication time slots is configured for communication, and wherein at least one symbol of each radar sensing time slot in the set of radar sensing time slots is configured for radar sensing; and send an indication of the JCS resource configuration to a wireless node.

[0016] 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

[0017] 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.

[0018] Figure 1 An example wireless communication system according to aspects of the present disclosure is illustrated.

[0019] Figure 2A 、 Figure 2B and Figure 2C Example wireless network structures according to aspects of the present disclosure are illustrated.

[0020] Figure 3A 、 Figure 3B and Figure 3C is a simplified block diagram of several sample aspects of components that may be employed in a user equipment (UE), a base station, and a network entity, respectively, and configured to support communications as taught herein.

[0021] Figure 4 is a diagram illustrating an example frame structure according to aspects of the present disclosure.

[0022] Figure 5 is a diagram illustrating various downlink channels within an example downlink time slot in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure.

[0023] Figure 6 is a diagram illustrating various uplink channels within an example uplink time slot in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure.

[0024] Figure 7A and Figure 7B Different types of radar sensing are illustrated.

[0025] Figure 8 An example call flow for a New Radio (NR) based sensing procedure in which the network configures sensing parameters is illustrated in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure.

[0026] Figure 9 An NR parameter set framework according to various aspects of the present disclosure is illustrated.

[0027] Figure 10 An exemplary process of communication according to an aspect of the present disclosure is illustrated.

[0028] Figure 11 An exemplary process of communication according to an aspect of the present disclosure is illustrated.

[0029] Figure 12 The various aspects of the present disclosure are respectively illustrated Figures 10 and 11 An example specific implementation of the process.

[0030] Figure 13 The various aspects of the present disclosure are respectively illustrated Figures 10 and 11 An example specific implementation of the process.

[0031] Figure 14 An example radar sensing slot structure according to aspects of the present disclosure is illustrated.

[0032] Figure 15 An example radar sensing symbol group structure according to aspects of the present disclosure is illustrated.

[0033] Figure 16 An example radar sensing symbol group structure according to aspects of the present disclosure is illustrated.

[0034] Figure 17 Radar sensing symbols according to aspects of the present disclosure are illustrated.

[0035] Figure 18 Radar sensing symbols according to aspects of the present disclosure are illustrated.

[0036] Figure 19 A radar sensing symbol structure according to aspects of the present disclosure is illustrated.

[0037] Figure 20 Radar sensing time slot configurations according to aspects of the present disclosure are illustrated. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0038] 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.

[0039] Various aspects generally relate to joint communication and sensing (JCS). JCS refers to an integrated approach that performs both wireless communication and long-range radar sensing, providing cost-effective deployment of both radar and communication systems. In some designs, time / frequency / space radio resources are allocated to support both purposes (communication and sensing) in a JCS system. One approach to designing a JCS system is through multiplexing two different waveforms (e.g., TDM). For example, one waveform is designated to support communication (e.g., OFDM), while the other waveform is designated to support radar sensing (e.g., frequency modulated continuous wave (FMCW)).

[0040] Various aspects of the present disclosure relate to JCS resource configurations that include both communication (e.g., OFDM) time slots and radar sensing (e.g., FMCW) time slots. In some designs, a common resource structure can be defined for the JCS based on the alignment between communication (e.g., OFDM) symbols and / or time slot boundaries and radar sensing (e.g., FMCW) symbols and / or time slot boundaries. Such aspects can provide various technical advantages, such as flexible scheduling of resources for both radar sensing and communication via a common integrated system.

[0041] 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.

[0042] 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, etc.

[0043] Furthermore, many aspects are described in terms of sequences of actions to be performed by, for example, elements of a computing device. It should be understood 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 considered to be 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 an associated processor of a device to perform the functionality described herein. Thus, 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. Furthermore, 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."

[0044] 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). Generally speaking, a UE can be any wireless communication device (e.g., a mobile phone, router, tablet, laptop, consumer asset location device, wearable device (e.g., smartwatch, glasses, augmented reality (AR) / virtual reality (VR) headset, etc.), vehicle (e.g., car, motorcycle, bicycle, etc.), Internet of Things (IoT) device, etc.) used by a user to communicate over a wireless communication network. A UE can be mobile or 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 equipment," "subscriber terminal," "subscriber station," "user terminal" or "UT," "mobile device," "mobile terminal," "mobile station," or variations thereof. Generally speaking, 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 other UEs. Of course, other mechanisms are also possible for the UE to connect to the core network and / or the Internet, such as through a wired access network, a wireless local area network (WLAN) network (eg, based on the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 specification, etc.).

[0045] 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 known 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.

[0046] The term "base station" may refer to a single physical transmit-receive point (TRP) or to 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 the point through which a base station transmits and receives wireless signals, references to transmitting from or receiving at a base station should be understood to refer to a specific TRP of a base station.

[0047] In some implementations that support 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).

[0048] 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.

[0049] Figure 1 An 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.

[0050] 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 UEs 104 may communicate with the location servers 172 directly or indirectly. For example, the UE 104 may communicate with the location servers 172 via the base station 102 currently serving the UE 104. The UE 104 may also communicate with the location servers 172 via another path, such as via an application server (not shown), via another network, such as a wireless local area network (WLAN) access point (AP) (e.g., AP 150 described below), or the like. 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.

[0051] 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 the EPC / 5GC) over a backhaul link 134, which may be wired or wireless.

[0052] 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 for communicating with a base station (e.g., over a frequency resource, such as a carrier frequency, component carrier, carrier, or frequency band) 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 over 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.

[0053] While 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 known as a Closed Subscriber Group (CSG).

[0054] 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).

[0055] 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 communicating to determine whether a channel is available.

[0056] Small cell base station 102' can operate in licensed and / or unlicensed spectrum. When operating in unlicensed spectrum, small cell base station 102' can employ LTE or NR technology and use the same 5 GHz unlicensed spectrum used by WLAN AP 150. Small cell base station 102' employing LTE / 5G in unlicensed spectrum can improve access network coverage and / or increase access network capacity. NR in unlicensed spectrum may be referred to as NR-U. LTE in unlicensed spectrum may be referred to as LTE-U, License Assisted Access (LAA), or MulteFire.

[0057] The wireless communication system 100 may also 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 frequencies (EHF) are part of the RF portion of the electromagnetic spectrum. EHF has a range of 30 GHz to 300 GHz, with wavelengths between 1 and 10 mm. Radio waves in this frequency band are referred to as millimeter waves. Near-mmW frequencies extend down to frequencies of 3 GHz, with wavelengths of 100 mm. Super high frequencies (SHF) 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 range. The mmW base station 180 and the UE 182 can utilize beamforming (transmit and / or receive) on the mmW communication link 184 to compensate for the extremely high path loss and short range. Furthermore, it should 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.

[0058] Transmit beamforming is a technique used to focus an RF signal in a specific direction. Traditionally, when a network node (e.g., a base station) broadcasts an RF signal, it broadcasts it 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 alter the directionality of an RF signal during transmission, the network node controls the phase and relative amplitude of the RF signal at each of one or more transmitters broadcasting the RF signal. For example, the network node may 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 with 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.

[0059] Transmit beams can be quasi-co-located, meaning they appear to have the same parameters to a receiver (e.g., a UE), regardless of whether the network node's own transmit antenna is physically co-located. In NR, four types of quasi-co-location (QCL) relationships exist. Specifically, a given type of QCL relationship means that certain parameters about a second reference RF signal on a second beam can be derived from 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 a second reference RF signal transmitted 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 transmitted 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 transmitted 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.

[0060] 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. Therefore, when a receiver is said to be beamforming in a certain direction, it means that the beam gain in that direction is high relative to the beam gain along other directions, or 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.

[0061] The transmit beam and receive beam can be spatially correlated. This spatial correlation means that parameters for a second beam (e.g., a transmit beam or a receive beam) used for a second reference signal can be derived based on information about the first beam (e.g., a receive beam or a transmit beam) for a first reference signal. For example, a UE may use a specific receive beam to receive a reference downlink reference signal (e.g., a synchronization signal block (SSB)) from a base station. The UE 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 receive beam parameters.

[0062] 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.

[0063] 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, despite a portion of FR1 being 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 FR2, which is often (interchangeably) referred to as the "millimeter wave" band in documents and articles, despite being distinct from the extremely high frequency (EHF) band (30 GHz–300 GHz), which is identified as a "millimeter wave" band by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU).

[0064] Frequencies between FR1 and FR2 are often 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). Frequency bands falling within FR3 may inherit FR1 characteristics and / or FR2 characteristics, effectively extending the features of FR1 and / or FR2 to mid-band frequencies. Furthermore, higher frequency bands are currently being explored to extend 5G NR operation beyond 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.

[0065] In view of the above aspects, unless otherwise specifically stated, 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 specifically stated, 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.

[0066] In multi-carrier systems such as 5G, one of the carrier frequencies is referred to as the "primary carrier," "anchor carrier," or "primary serving cell," or "PCell," and the remaining carrier frequencies are referred to as "secondary carriers," "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. A secondary carrier may contain only necessary signaling information and signals. For example, since the primary uplink carrier and primary downlink carrier are typically UE-specific, UE-specific signaling information and signals may not be present in the secondary carrier. This means that different UEs 104 / 182 in a cell can have different downlink primary carriers. The same applies to the uplink primary carrier. The network can change the primary carrier for any UE 104 / 182 at any time. This is done, for example, to balance the load on different carriers. Since a "serving cell" (whether a PCell or SCell) corresponds to the carrier frequency / component carrier through which a base station communicates, the terms "cell," "serving cell," "component carrier," and "carrier frequency" may be used interchangeably.

[0067] For example, still referring to Figure 1One 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 rate and / or data 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.

[0068] The wireless communication system 100 may also include a UE 164 that may communicate with the macrocell base station 102 via a communication link 120 and / or with the mmW base station 180 via a mmW communication link 184. For example, the macrocell base station 102 may support a PCell and one or more SCells for the UE 164, and the mmW base station 180 may support one or more SCells for the UE 164.

[0069] 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 the 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 wireless sidelink 160 using the PC5 interface (i.e., the air interface between sidelink-capable UEs). A wireless sidelink (or simply "sidelink") is an adaptation of the core cellular network standard (e.g., LTE, NR) 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, and more. 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, for other reasons, unable to receive transmissions from the base station 102. 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 every other SL-UE in the group. In some cases, the base station 102 facilitates the scheduling of resources for sidelink communication. In other cases, sidelink communication is performed between the SL-UEs without involving the base station 102.

[0070] In one aspect, sidelink 160 may operate over 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 various 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 their operation 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 various variations of CDMA systems, TDMA systems, FDMA systems, orthogonal FDMA (OFDMA) systems, single-carrier FDMA (SC-FDMA) systems, and the like.

[0071] Note that although Figure 1 Only two of these UEs are illustrated as SL-UEs (i.e., UE 164 and UE 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 beamforming capable, 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 station 102, base station 180, small cell 102′, access point 150), and so forth. Thus, in some cases, UE 164 and UE 182 may utilize beamforming via sidelink 160.

[0072] exist Figure 1 In the example of FIG, the UE illustrated (for simplicity, Figure 1Any UE (shown as a single UE 104 in FIG. 1 ) may receive signals 124 from one or more Earth-orbiting space vehicles (SVs) 112 (e.g., satellites). In one aspect, SVs 112 may be part of a satellite positioning system that UEs 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 location 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 SVs 112, transmitters may also be located in ground-based control stations, base stations 102, and / or other UEs 104. UEs 104 may include one or more specialized receivers specifically designed to receive signals 124 in order to derive geographic location information from SVs 112.

[0073] 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), and / or Global Positioning System (GPS)-Assisted Geographic Augmented Navigation or GPS and Geographic 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.

[0074] 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 known 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 terrestrial antenna) or a network node in a 5GC. This element, in turn, provides access to other elements in the 5G network and ultimately 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, either instead of or in addition to communication signals from terrestrial base station 102.

[0075] The wireless communication system 100 may also include one or more UEs, such as UE 190, that are indirectly connected to one or more communication networks via one or more device-to-device (D2D) peer-to-peer (P2P) links (referred to as "side links"). Figure 1 In the example, 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 via 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 via 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), Bluetooth ® wait.

[0076] 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, 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).

[0077] Another optional aspect may include a location server 230 that can communicate with the 5GC 210 to provide location assistance to 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).

[0078] 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 to include control plane functions provided by the access and mobility management function (AMF) 264 and user plane functions provided by the user plane function (UPF) 262, which operate in conjunction to form the core network (i.e., 5GC 260). The functions of the AMF 264 include registration management, connection management, reachability management, mobility management, lawful interception, transmission of session management (SM) messages between one or more UEs 204 (e.g., any of the UEs described herein) and a session management function (SMF) 266, transparent proxy services for routing SM messages, access authentication and access authorization, transmission of short message service (SMS) messages between the UE 204 and a short message service function (SMSF) (not shown), and security anchor functionality (SEAF). The AMF 264 also interacts with an authentication server function (AUSF) (not shown) and the UE 204, and receives intermediate keys established as a result of the UE 204 authentication process. In the 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 it uses to derive access network-specific keys. The functionality of the AMF 264 also includes location service management for regulated services, transmission of location service messages between the UE 204 and the Location Management Function (LMF) 270 (which acts as the location server 230), transmission of location service messages between the NG-RAN 220 and the LMF 270, allocation of Evolved Packet System (EPS) bearer identifiers for interoperability with EPS, and notification of UE 204 mobility events. Furthermore, the AMF 264 supports functionality for non-3GPP (3rd Generation Partnership Project) access networks.

[0079] The functions of the UPF 262 include serving as an anchor point for intra-RAT / inter-RAT mobility (when applicable), serving 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 the downlink), uplink traffic verification (service data flow (SDF) to QoS flow mapping), transport level packet marking in the 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.

[0080] 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 at the UPF 262 for routing traffic to the correct destination, 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.

[0081] 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 whereas 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 designed to carry signaling messages rather than voice or data), 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 designed to carry voice and / or data, such as the Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) and / or IP).

[0082] 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, each may correspond to a single server.

[0083] 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.

[0084] The functionality of a gNB 222 is 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 typically hosts the Radio Resource Control (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 typically hosts the Radio Link Control (RLC) and Medium Access Control (MAC) layers for the gNB 222. Its operation is controlled by the gNB-CU 226. One gNB-DU 228 can support one or more cells, and a 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.

[0085] 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, network nodes, network entities, mobility elements of the network, RAN nodes, core network nodes, network elements, or 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 a converged or disaggregated architecture. For example, a base station (such as a Node B (NB), an evolved NB (eNB), an NR base station, a 5G NNB, an access point (AP), a transmit / receive point (TRP), or a cell) can be implemented as a converged base station (also known as a standalone base station or a single-chip base station) or a disaggregated base station.

[0086] 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 disaggregated 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).

[0087] Base station type operation or network design may take into account the aggregated nature of base station functionality. For example, a disaggregated base station may be utilized in an integrated access backhaul (IAB) network, an open radio access network (O-RAN, such as the 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 may include distributing functionality across two or more units at various physical locations, as well as virtually distributing the functionality of at least one unit, which enables flexibility in network design. The various units of a disaggregated base station or disaggregated RAN architecture may be configured for wired or wireless communication with at least one other unit.

[0088] 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, such as a near real-time (near-RT) RAN intelligent controller (RIC) 259 via an E2 link, 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, such as the 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.

[0089] 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 signals or transmit signals to one or more of the other units via the wired transmission medium. Additionally, these units may include a wireless interface, which 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 via the wireless transmission medium, or both.

[0090] 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 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 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 units may communicate bidirectionally with the CU-CP units 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 signaling.

[0091] 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.

[0092] 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 Transforms (FFTs), Inverse FFTs (iFFTs), digital beamforming, Physical Random Access Channel (PRACH) extraction and filtering), 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.

[0093] 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, the CU 280, DU 285, RU 287, and near-RT RIC 259. In some implementations, the SMO framework 255 can communicate with 4G RAN hardware (such as the 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 .

[0094] The non-RT RIC 257 can be configured to include logic that enables 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 that enables near-real-time control and optimization of RAN elements and resources through data collection and actions via 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.

[0095] In some implementations, the non-RT RIC 257 may receive parameters or external enrichment information from an external server to generate AI / ML models 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 execute corrective actions through the SMO framework 255 (such as via reconfiguration of O1) or through the creation of RAN management policies (such as A1 policies).

[0096] 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) within the NG-RAN 220 and / or 5GC 210 / 260 infrastructure (such as a dedicated network) depicted in the present disclosure are illustrated to support the operations described herein. It should be understood that these components may be implemented in different types of devices with different specific implementations (e.g., in an ASIC, in a system-on-chip (SoC), etc.). The illustrated components may also be incorporated into other devices in a communication system. For example, other devices in the system may include components similar to those described as providing similar functionality. Furthermore, 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.

[0097] 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 transceiver 310 and the WWAN transceiver 350 can be configured in different ways to transmit and encode signals 318 and 358 (e.g., messages, indicators, information, etc.) according to a designated RAT, and conversely, receive and decode the signals 318 and 358 (e.g., messages, indicators, information, pilots, etc.), respectively. Specifically, the WWAN transceivers 310 and 350 include one or more transmitters 314 and 354 for transmitting and encoding the signals 318 and 358, respectively, and one or more receivers 312 and 352 for receiving and decoding the signals 318 and 358, respectively.

[0098] 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 a wireless communication medium of interest via at least one designated RAT (e.g., WiFi, LTE-D, Bluetooth ® 、Zigbee ® 、Z-Wave ®, PC5, dedicated short-range communication (DSRC), wireless access for vehicular environments (WAVE), near-field communication (NFC), ultra-wideband (UWB), etc.) and other network nodes (such as other UEs, access points, base stations, etc.). Short-range wireless transceiver 320 and short-range wireless transceiver 360 can be configured in different ways to transmit and encode signals 328 and 368 (e.g., messages, indications, information, etc.) according to a specified RAT, and conversely, receive and decode signals 328 and 368 (e.g., messages, indications, information, pilots, etc.). Specifically, short-range wireless transceivers 320 and 360 include one or more transmitters 324 and 364, respectively, for transmitting and encoding signals 328 and 368, and one or more receivers 322 and 362, respectively, for receiving and decoding signals 328 and 368. As a specific example, the short-range wireless transceivers 320 and 360 may be WiFi transceivers, Bluetooth ® Transceiver, Zigbee ® and / or Z-Wave ® transceiver, NFC transceiver, UWB transceiver or vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) and / or vehicle-to-everything (V2X) transceiver.

[0099] At least in some cases, UE 302 and base station 304 also include a satellite signal receiver 330 and a satellite signal receiver 370. Satellite signal receivers 330 and 370 may be connected to one or more antennas 336 and 376, respectively, and may provide components for receiving and / or measuring satellite positioning / communication signals 338 and 378, respectively. If satellite signal receivers 330 and 370 are satellite positioning system receivers, satellite positioning / communication signals 338 and 378 may be Global Positioning System (GPS) signals, Global Navigation Satellite System (GLONASS) signals, Galileo signals, BeiDou signals, Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (NAVIC), Quasi-Zenith Satellite System (QZSS), and the like. If satellite signal receivers 330 and 370 are non-terrestrial network (NTN) receivers, satellite positioning / communication signals 338 and 378 may be communication signals originating from a 5G network (e.g., carrying control and / or user data). Satellite signal receivers 330 and 370 may include any suitable hardware and / or software for receiving and processing satellite positioning / communication signals 338 and 378, respectively. Satellite signal receivers 330 and 370 may request 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.

[0100] Base station 304 and 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, base station 304 may employ one or more network transceivers 380 to communicate with other base stations 304 or network entities 306 via one or more wired or wireless backhaul links. As another example, 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 with other network entities 306 via one or more wired or wireless core network interfaces.

[0101] A transceiver can be configured to communicate over a wired or wireless link. A transceiver (whether a wired or wireless transceiver) includes transmitter circuitry (e.g., transmitter 314, transmitter 324, transmitter 354, transmitter 364) and receiver circuitry (e.g., receiver 312, receiver 322, receiver 352, receiver 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, the transceiver can include separate transmitter circuitry and separate receiver circuitry, or in other implementations, the transceiver 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 permit 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 permit 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), so that a corresponding device can only receive or only transmit at a given time, rather than both receive and transmit at the same time. The wireless transceivers (eg, WWAN transceivers 310 and 350 , short-range wireless transceivers 320 and 360 ) may also include a network listening module (NLM) or the like for performing various measurements.

[0102] 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 can 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) typically involve signaling via a wireless transceiver.

[0103] UE 302, base station 304, and network entity 306 also include other components that may 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. Processors 332, 384, and 394 may thus 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 may 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 circuitry, or various combinations thereof.

[0104] UE 302, base station 304, and network entity 306, respectively, include memory circuitry implementing memory 340, 386, and 396 (e.g., each including a memory device) for maintaining information (e.g., information indicating reserved resources, thresholds, parameters, etc.). Thus, 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 JCS resource components 342, 388, and 398, respectively. JCS resource components 342, 388, and 398 may be hardware circuits that are part of or coupled to processors 332, 384, and 394, respectively, that, when executed, cause UE 302, base station 304, and network entity 306 to perform the functionality described herein. In other aspects, the JCS resource components 342, 388, and 398 may be external to the processors 332, 384, and 394 (e.g., as part of a modem processing system, integrated with another processing system, etc.). Alternatively, the JCS resource components 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 of a JCS resource component 342 are illustrated, which may be, for example, part of one or more WWAN transceivers 310, memory 340, one or more processors 332, or any combination thereof, or may be a standalone component. Figure 3B Possible locations of a JCS resource component 388 are illustrated, which may be, for example, part of one or more WWAN transceivers 350, memory 386, one or more processors 384, or any combination thereof, or may be a standalone component. Figure 3C Possible locations of a JCS resource component 398 are illustrated, which may be, for example, part of one or more network transceivers 390, memory 396, one or more processors 394, or any combination thereof, or may be a standalone component.

[0105] The UE 302 may include one or more sensors 344 coupled to the one or more processors 332 to provide 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.

[0106] 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.

[0107] Referring in more detail to the one or more processors 384, in a downlink, IP packets from the network entity 306 may be provided to the processor 384. The one or more processors 384 may implement functionality for 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.

[0108] Transmitter 354 and receiver 352 implement Layer 1 (L1) functionality associated with various signal processing functions. Layer 1, including the physical (PHY) layer, may include error detection on the transport channel, forward error correction (FEC) coding / decoding of the transport channel, interleaving, rate matching, mapping to the physical channel, modulation / demodulation of the physical channel, and MIMO antenna processing. Transmitter 354 handles the mapping to the signal constellation based on various modulation schemes (e.g., binary phase-shift keying (BPSK), quadrature phase-shift keying (QPSK), M-phase-shift keying (M-PSK), and M-quadrature amplitude modulation (M-QAM)). The coded and modulated symbols are then separated into parallel streams. Each stream is then 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 based on 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.

[0109] 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 this 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, along with 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.

[0110] 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.

[0111] Similar to the functionality described in conjunction with downlink transmissions 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 (ciphering, deciphering, 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.

[0112] 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.

[0113] 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.

[0114] 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.

[0115] 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 cases, specific implementations 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.

[0116] Various components of the UE 302, base station 304, and network entity 306 may be communicatively coupled to one another via data bus 334, data bus 382, ​​and data bus 392, respectively. In one aspect, 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, data buses 334, 382, ​​and 392 may provide for communication between different logical entities where the different logical entities are embodied in the same device (e.g., gNB and location server functionality incorporated into the same base station 304).

[0117] 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). Each circuit may utilize and / or incorporate at least one memory component to store information or executable code used by the circuit to provide the functionality. For example, some or all of the functionality represented by blocks 310 through 346 may be implemented by the processor and memory components of UE 302 (e.g., by executing appropriate code and / or by appropriately configuring the processor components). Similarly, some or all of the functionality represented by blocks 350 through 388 may be implemented by the processor and memory components of base station 304 (e.g., by executing appropriate code and / or by appropriately configuring the processor components). Furthermore, some or all of the functionality represented by blocks 390 through 398 may be implemented by the processor and memory components of network entity 306 (e.g., by executing appropriate code and / or by appropriately configuring the processor components). For simplicity, various operations, actions, and / or functions may be described herein as being performed "by a UE," "by a base station," "by a network entity," and the like. However, as will be appreciated, such operations, actions and / or functions may actually be performed by a specific component or combination 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, JCS resource components 342, 388 and 398, etc.).

[0118] 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).

[0119] Various frame structures may be used to support downlink and uplink transmissions between network nodes (eg, base stations and UEs). Figure 4 FIG4 is a diagram illustrating an example frame structure according to aspects of the present disclosure. The frame structure may be a downlink or uplink frame structure. Other wireless communication technologies may have different frame structures and / or different channels.

[0120] LTE (and in some cases NR) utilizes orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) on the downlink and single-carrier frequency division multiplexing (SC-FDM) on the uplink. However, unlike LTE, NR also has the option of using OFDM on the uplink. OFDM and SC-FDM divide the system bandwidth into multiple (K) orthogonal subcarriers, often referred to as tones, bins, etc. Each subcarrier can be modulated with data. Generally speaking, modulation symbols are transmitted in the frequency domain with OFDM and in the time domain with SC-FDM. The spacing between adjacent subcarriers can be fixed, and the total number of subcarriers (K) can depend on the system bandwidth. For example, the subcarrier spacing can be 15 kilohertz (kHz), while the minimum resource allocation (resource block) can be 12 subcarriers (or 180 kHz). Therefore, for a system bandwidth of 1.25 megahertz (MHz), 2.5 MHz, 5 MHz, 10 MHz, or 20 MHz, the nominal fast Fourier transform (FFT) size may be equal to 128, 256, 512, 1024, or 2048, respectively. The system bandwidth may also be divided into subbands. For example, a subband may cover 1.08 MHz (i.e., 6 resource blocks), and there may be 1, 2, 4, 8, or 16 subbands for a system bandwidth of 1.25 MHz, 2.5 MHz, 5 MHz, 10 MHz, or 20 MHz, respectively.

[0121] LTE supports a single parameter set (subcarrier spacing (SCS), symbol length, etc.). In contrast, NR supports multiple parameter sets (µ). For example, subcarrier spacings of 15 kHz (µ=0), 30 kHz (µ=1), 60 kHz (µ=2), 120 kHz (µ=3), and 240 kHz (µ=4) or larger may be available. In each subcarrier spacing, there are 14 symbols per slot. For a 15 kHz SCS (µ=0), there is one slot per subframe, 10 slots per frame, a slot duration of 1 millisecond (ms), a symbol duration of 66.7 microseconds (µs), and a maximum nominal system bandwidth (in MHz) of 50 with a 4K FFT size. For a 30 kHz SCS (µ=1), there are two slots per subframe, 20 slots per frame, a slot duration of 0.5 ms, a symbol duration of 33.3 µs, and a maximum nominal system bandwidth (in MHz) of 100 with a 4K FFT size. For 60kHz SCS (µ=2), there are four slots per subframe, 40 slots per frame, the slot duration is 0.25ms, the symbol duration is 16.7µs, and the maximum nominal system bandwidth (in MHz) with a 4K FFT size is 200. For 120kHz SCS (µ=3), there are eight slots per subframe, 80 slots per frame, the slot duration is 0.125ms, the symbol duration is 8.33µs, and the maximum nominal system bandwidth (in MHz) with a 4K FFT size is 400. For 240kHz SCS (µ=4), there are 16 slots per subframe, 160 slots per frame, the slot duration is 0.0625ms, the symbol duration is 4.17µs, and the maximum nominal system bandwidth (in MHz) with a 4K FFT size is 800.

[0122] exist Figure 4 In the example, a 15 kHz parameter set is used. Therefore, in the time domain, a 10 ms frame is divided into 10 equally sized subframes, each 1 ms, and each subframe includes one time slot. Figure 4 , time is represented horizontally (on the X-axis), where time increases from left to right, while frequency is represented vertically (on the Y-axis), where frequency increases (or decreases) from bottom to top.

[0123] A resource grid can be used to represent a time slot, each of which includes one or more time-concurrent resource blocks (RBs) (also called physical RBs (PRBs)) in the frequency domain. The resource grid is further divided into multiple resource elements (REs). An RE may correspond to one symbol length in the time domain and one subcarrier in the frequency domain. Figure 4In the parameter set for cyclic prefixes, for a normal cyclic prefix, an RB may contain 12 consecutive subcarriers in the frequency domain and seven consecutive symbols in the time domain, for a total of 84 REs. For an extended cyclic prefix, an RB may contain 12 consecutive subcarriers in the frequency domain and six consecutive symbols in the time domain, for a total of 72 REs. The number of bits carried by each RE depends on the modulation scheme.

[0124] Some REs may carry reference (pilot) signals (RS). These reference signals may include positioning reference signals (PRS), tracking reference signals (TRS), phase tracking reference signals (PTRS), cell-specific reference signals (CRS), channel state information reference signals (CSI-RS), demodulation reference signals (DMRS), primary synchronization signals (PSS), secondary synchronization signals (SSS), synchronization signal blocks (SSBs), and sounding reference signals (SRS), depending on whether the illustrated frame structure is used for uplink or downlink communication. Figure 4 Example locations of REs carrying reference signals (labeled “R”) are illustrated.

[0125] Figure 5 FIGURE 5 is a diagram 500 illustrating various downlink channels within an example downlink time slot. Figure 5 In , time is represented horizontally (on the X-axis), where time increases from left to right, while frequency is represented vertically (on the Y-axis), where frequency increases (or decreases) from bottom to top. Figure 5 In the example of , a 15 kHz parameter set is used. Therefore, in the time domain, the illustrated time slot length is one millisecond (ms), divided into 14 symbols.

[0126] In NR, the channel bandwidth, or system bandwidth, is divided into multiple bandwidth parts (BWPs). A BWP is a set of contiguous RBs selected from a contiguous subset of common RBs for a given parameter set on a given carrier. Generally, a maximum of four BWPs can be specified in the downlink and uplink. That is, a UE can be configured with up to four BWPs on the downlink and up to four BWPs on the uplink. Only one BWP (uplink or downlink) can be active at a given time, meaning the UE can only receive or transmit on one BWP at a time. On the downlink, the bandwidth of each BWP should be equal to or greater than the bandwidth of an SSB, but may or may not contain an SSB.

[0127] refer to Figure 5, the Primary Synchronization Signal (PSS) is used by the UE to determine the subframe / symbol timing and the physical layer identity. The Secondary Synchronization Signal (SSS) is used by the UE to determine the physical layer cell identity group number and the radio frame timing. Based on the physical layer identity and the physical layer cell identity group number, the UE can determine the PCI. Based on the PCI, the UE can determine the position of the aforementioned DL-RS. The Physical Broadcast Channel (PBCH) carrying the Master Information Block (MIB) can be logically grouped with the PSS and SSS to form an SSB (also referred to as SS / PBCH). The MIB provides the number of RBs in the downlink system bandwidth and the System Frame Number (SFN). The Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) carries user data, broadcast system information not sent through the PBCH (such as the System Information Block (SIB)), and paging messages.

[0128] The physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) carries downlink control information (DCI) within one or more control channel elements (CCEs). Each CCE consists of one or more resource element group (REG) bundles (which can span multiple symbols in the time domain). Each REG bundle consists of one or more REGs, each corresponding to 12 resource elements (a resource block) in the frequency domain and one OFDM symbol in the time domain. The set of physical resources used to carry the PDCCH / DCI is called a control resource set (CORESET) in NR. In NR, the PDCCH is confined to a single CORESET and transmitted with its own DMRS. This enables UE-specific beamforming for the PDCCH.

[0129] exist Figure 5 In the example shown in Figure 2, there is one CORESET per BWP, and the CORESET spans three symbols in the time domain (although it could be just one symbol or two symbols). Unlike LTE control channels that occupy the entire system bandwidth, in NR, PDCCH channels are localized to a specific region (i.e., CORESET) in the frequency domain. Therefore, Figure 5 The frequency components of the PDCCH shown in FIG are illustrated as less than a single BWP in the frequency domain. Note that although the illustrated CORESETs are contiguous in the frequency domain, they do not need to be contiguous. Furthermore, a CORESET may span less than three symbols in the time domain.

[0130] The DCI within the PDCCH carries information about uplink resource allocations (persistent and non-persistent) and a description of the downlink data sent to the UE (referred to as an uplink grant and a downlink grant, respectively). More specifically, the DCI indicates the resources scheduled for downlink data channels (e.g., the PDSCH) and uplink data channels (e.g., the Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH)). Multiple (e.g., up to eight) DCIs can be configured in the PDCCH, and these DCIs can have one of a variety of formats. For example, there are different DCI formats for uplink scheduling, downlink scheduling, uplink transmit power control (TPC), etc. The PDCCH can be transmitted using one, two, four, eight, or 16 CCEs to accommodate different DCI payload sizes or coding rates.

[0131] Figure 6 FIGURE 6 is a diagram illustrating various uplink channels within an example uplink time slot. Figure 6 In , time is represented horizontally (on the X-axis), where time increases from left to right, while frequency is represented vertically (on the Y-axis), where frequency increases (or decreases) from bottom to top. Figure 6 In the example of , a 15 kHz parameter set is used. Therefore, in the time domain, the illustrated time slot length is one millisecond (ms), divided into 14 symbols.

[0132] The Random Access Channel (RACH), also known as the Physical Random Access Channel (PRACH), may be used within one or more slots within a frame based on the PRACH configuration. The PRACH may include six consecutive RB pairs within a slot. The PRACH allows a UE to perform initial system access and achieve uplink synchronization. The Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH) may be located at the edge of the uplink system bandwidth. The PUCCH carries uplink control information (UCI), such as scheduling requests, CSI reports, channel quality indicators (CQI), precoding matrix indicators (PMI), rank indicators (RI), and HARQ ACK / NACK feedback. The Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) carries data and may additionally be used to carry buffer status reports (BSRs), power headroom reports (PHRs), and / or UCI.

[0133] Wireless communication signals (e.g., radio frequency (RF) signals configured to carry orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbols according to wireless communication standards such as LTE, NR, etc.) transmitted between a UE and a base station can be used for environmental sensing (also referred to as "RF sensing" or "radar"). The use of wireless communication signals for environmental sensing can be considered a consumer-grade radar with advanced detection capabilities, enabling contactless / device-free interaction with devices / systems, etc. The wireless communication signals can be cellular communication signals such as LTE or NR signals, WLAN signals (such as Wi-Fi signals), etc. As a specific example, the wireless communication signals can be OFDM waveforms as utilized in LTE and NR. High-frequency communication signals, such as millimeter wave (mmW) RF signals, are particularly beneficial for use as radar signals because the higher frequencies provide, at least, more accurate ranging (distance) detection.

[0134] Possible use cases for RF sensing include health monitoring use cases such as heartbeat detection and respiratory rate monitoring, gesture recognition use cases such as human activity recognition, keystroke detection, and sign language recognition, contextual information acquisition use cases such as location detection / tracking, direction finding, and range estimation, and automotive radar use cases such as smart cruise control and collision avoidance.

[0135] There are different types of sensing, including monostatic sensing (also known as "active sensing") and bistatic sensing (also known as "passive sensing"). Figure 7A and Figure 7B These different types of sensing are illustrated. Specifically, Figure 7A is a diagram 700 illustrating a single-station sensing scenario, and Figure 7B is a diagram 730 illustrating a bistatic sensing scenario. Figure 7A In the embodiment of the present invention, a transmitter (Tx) and a receiver (Rx) are co-located in the same sensing device 704 (e.g., a UE). The sensing device 704 transmits one or more RF sensing signals 734 (e.g., an uplink or sidelink positioning reference signal (PRS) if the sensing device 704 is a UE), and some of the RF sensing signals 734 are reflected from a target object 706. The sensing device 704 can measure various properties of the reflections 736 of the RF sensing signals 734 (e.g., time of arrival (ToA), angle of arrival (AoA), phase shift, etc.) to determine characteristics of the target object 706 (e.g., size, shape, speed, motion state, etc.).

[0136] exist Figure 7B In , the transmitter (Tx) and receiver (Rx) are not co-located, i.e., they are separate devices (e.g., UE and base station). Note that although Figure 7BThe use of a downlink RF signal as the RF sensing signal 732 is illustrated, but an uplink RF signal or a sidelink RF signal may also be used as the RF sensing signal 732. In the downlink scenario, as shown in the figure, the transmitter is a base station and the receiver is a UE, while in the uplink scenario, the transmitter is a UE and the receiver is a base station.

[0137] For more details, refer to Figure 7B , the transmitter device 702 transmits RF sensing signals 732 and 734 (e.g., positioning reference signals (PRS)) to the sensing device 704, but some of the RF sensing signals 734 are reflected from the target object 706. The sensing device 704 (also referred to as a “sensing device”) may measure the time of arrival (ToA) of the RF sensing signal 732 received directly from the transmitter device and the ToA of a reflection 736 of the RF sensing signal 734 reflected from the target object 706.

[0138] More specifically, as described above, a transmitter device (e.g., a base station) may transmit a single RF signal or multiple RF signals to a sensing device (e.g., a UE). 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. 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 Time of Attainment (ToA) of the RF signal on a line-of-sight (LOS) path (i.e., the shortest path between the transmitter and receiver). Later clusters of channel taps are considered to have been reflected by objects between the transmitter and receiver and, therefore, to have followed a non-LOS (NLOS) path between the transmitter and receiver.

[0139] Therefore, returning to the reference Figure 7B , RF sensing signal 732 follows a LOS path between transmitter device 702 and sensing device 704, and RF sensing signal 734 follows a NLOS path between transmitter device 702 and sensing device 704 due to reflection from target object 706. Transmitter device 702 may have transmitted multiple RF sensing signals 732, 734, some of which follow LOS paths and others of which follow NLOS paths. Alternatively, transmitter device 702 may have transmitted a single RF sensing signal in a sufficiently wide beam, with a portion of the RF sensing signal following a LOS path (RF sensing signal 732) and a portion of the RF sensing signal following a NLOS path (RF sensing signal 734).

[0140] Based on the ToA of the LOS path, the ToA of the NLOS path, and the speed of light, the sensing device 704 can determine the distance to the target object. For example, the sensing device 704 can calculate the distance to the target object as the difference between the ToA of the LOS path and the ToA of the NLOS path multiplied by the speed of light. Furthermore, if the sensing device 704 is capable of receive beamforming, the sensing device 704 can determine the approximate direction to the target object as the direction (angle) of the receive beam at which the RF sensing signal following the NLOS path was received. In other words, the sensing device 704 can determine the direction to the target object as the angle of arrival (AoA) of the RF sensing signal, which is the angle of the receive beam used to receive the RF sensing signal. The sensing device 704 can then optionally report this information to the transmitter device 702, its serving base station, an application server associated with the core network, an external client, a third-party application, or some other sensing entity. Alternatively, the sensing device 704 may report the ToA measurement to the transmitter device 702 or other sensing entity (e.g., if the sensing device 704 itself does not have the processing capability to perform the calculation), and the transmitter device 702 may determine the distance to the target object 706 and optionally the direction to the target object.

[0141] Note that if the RF sensing signal is an uplink RF signal sent by the UE to the base station, the base station will perform object detection based on the uplink RF signal, just like the UE does based on the downlink RF signal.

[0142] Like conventional radar, radar signals based on wireless communication can be used to estimate the range (distance), velocity (Doppler), and angle of approach (AoA) of a target object. However, the performance (e.g., the resolution and maximum value of range, velocity, and angle) may depend on the design of the reference signal.

[0143] Figure 8 An example call flow 800 is illustrated for an NR-based sensing process (eg, a dual-station sensing process) in which the network configures sensing parameters in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. Figure 8 A network coordinated sensing process is illustrated, but the sensing process may be coordinated through a sidelink channel.

[0144] At stage 805, a sensing server 870 (e.g., within or outside the core network) transmits a request for network (NW) information to a gNB 822 (e.g., the serving gNB for UE 804). This request may be for a list of UE 804's serving cell and any neighboring cells. At stage 810, gNB 822 transmits the requested information to the sensing server 870. At stage 815, the sensing server 870 transmits a request for sensing capabilities to UE 804. At stage 820, UE 804 provides its sensing capabilities to the sensing server 870. At stage 825, the sensing server 870 transmits a configuration to UE 804 indicating the reference signals (RS) to be transmitted for sensing. The reference signals used for sensing may be transmitted by the serving cell and / or neighboring cells identified at stage 810. At stage 830, the sensing server 870 transmits a request for sensing information to UE 804. The UE 804 then measures the transmitted reference signal and, at stage 835 , transmits the measurements, or any sensing results determined from the measurements, to the sensing server 870 .

[0145] In one aspect, communication between the UE 804 and the sensing server 870 may be via the LTE Positioning Protocol (LPP). Communication between the sensing server 870 and the gNB may be via the NR Positioning Protocol Type A (NRPPa).

[0146] In some designs, a radar system may transmit a probe signal to a non-cooperative target and infer useful information contained in the target's return. In some designs, a communication system exchanges information between two or more cooperating transceivers.

[0147] Joint Communications and Sensing (JCS) refers to an integrated approach that implements both wireless communications and long-range radar sensing, providing cost-effective deployment of both radar and communications systems. In some designs, time / frequency / space radio resources are allocated to support both purposes (communication and sensing) within the JCS system. One approach to designing a JCS system is through the multiplexing of two different waveforms (e.g., TDM). For example, one waveform is designated to support communications (e.g., OFDM) while the other waveform is designated to support radar sensing (e.g., frequency modulated continuous wave (FMCW)).

[0148] Figure 9 The NR parameter set framework 900 according to various aspects of the present disclosure is illustrated. In the NR parameter set, ,in and , The first CP (CP0) of every 0.5ms has a longer length than the other CPs, and each of the other CPs has the same CP length (CP1), for example:

[0149]

[0150] Table 1: NR parameter set

[0151] In some designs, the FMCW parameters are as follows, for example:

[0152]

[0153] Table 2: Example FMCW parameters

[0154]

[0155] Table 3: Example FMCW symbol lengths

[0156] In some designs, the OFDM symbol length may be denoted as T OFDM , and the FMCW symbol length can be expressed as T FMCW In some designs, T OFDM = {71.35us, 35.68us, 17.40us, 8.92us, 4.46us}. In some designs, T OFDM The range is from ~1 / 10 × T FMCW to ~60 × T FMCW For the JCS system, different use cases can be envisioned, such as ,or .

[0157] Various aspects of the present disclosure relate to JCS resource configurations that include both communication (e.g., OFDM) time slots and radar sensing (e.g., FMCW) time slots. In some designs, a common resource structure can be defined for the JCS based on the alignment between communication (e.g., OFDM) symbols and / or time slot boundaries and radar sensing (e.g., FMCW) symbols and / or time slot boundaries. Such aspects can provide various technical advantages, such as flexible scheduling of resources for both radar sensing and communication via a common integrated system.

[0158] Figure 10 An exemplary process 1000 of communicating according to an aspect of the present disclosure is illustrated. Figure 10 The process 1000 is performed by a wireless node such as the UE 302, a network device such as the BS 304, or an O-RAN component (eg, RU, DU, CU, DU, etc.).

[0159] refer to Figure 10At 1010, a wireless node (e.g., receiver 312 or 322 or 352 or 362, data bus 334 or 382, ​​etc.) receives a joint communication and sensing (JCS) resource configuration, which includes a set of communication time slots and a set of radar sensing time slots. In some designs, each communication symbol of each communication time slot in the set of communication time slots is configured for communication. In some designs, at least one symbol of each radar sensing time slot in the set of radar sensing time slots is configured for radar sensing. In some designs, the wireless node may determine (or generate) the JCS resource configuration on its own. In this case, the reception of 1010 will correspond to information transfer between different logical components of the wireless node via a data bus, etc. In some designs, the components for performing the reception may include Figure 3A or Figure 3B receiver 312 or 322 or 352 or 362, data bus 334 or 382, ​​etc.

[0160] refer to Figure 10 At 1020, the wireless node (e.g., receiver 312 or 322 or 352 or 362, transmitter 314 or 324 or 354 or 364, JCS resource component 342 or 388, processor 332 or 384, etc.) performs communication operations and sensing operations according to the JCS resource configuration. For example, the communication operations and sensing operations may include transmission (Tx) operations, reception (Rx) operations, measurement operations, or a combination thereof. In some designs, the components for performing the communication operations and sensing operations of 1020 may include Figure 3A or Figure 3B receiver 312 or 322 or 352 or 362, transmitter 314 or 324 or 354 or 364, JCS resource component 342 or 388, processor 332 or 384, etc.

[0161] Figure 11 An exemplary process 1100 for communications according to an aspect of the present disclosure is illustrated. Figure 11 The process 1100 is performed by a network component such as UE 302 (e.g., an anchor UE for sidelink communication), a wireless network device such as BS 304 or an O-RAN component (e.g., RU, DU, CU, etc.), or a network entity such as network entity 306.

[0162] refer to Figure 11At 1110, the network component (e.g., JCS resource component 342 or 388 or 398, processor 332 or 384 or 394, etc.) determines a joint communication and sensing (JCS) resource configuration, the JCS resource configuration comprising a set of communication time slots and a set of radar sensing time slots. In some designs, each communication symbol of each communication time slot in the set of communication time slots is configured for communication. In some designs, at least one symbol of each radar sensing time slot in the set of radar sensing time slots is configured for radar sensing. In some designs, the means for performing the determination of 1110 may include Figure 3A or Figure 3B or Figure 3C JCS resource components 342 or 388 or 398, processors 332 or 384 or 394, etc.

[0163] refer to Figure 11 At 1120, the network component (e.g., transmitter 314 or 324 or 354 or 364, network transceiver 380 or 390, data bus 334 or 382, ​​etc.) sends an indication of the JCS resource configuration to the wireless node. In some designs, the wireless node may correspond to the network component itself. In this case, the transmission at 1120 will correspond to information transfer between different logical components of the wireless node via a data bus, etc. In some designs, the components for performing the transmission may include Figure 3A or Figure 3B or Figure 3C transmitter 314 or 324 or 354 or 364, network transceiver 380 or 390, data bus 334 or 382, ​​etc.

[0164] refer to Figures 10 and 11 In some designs, the set of radar sensing time slots includes a set of consecutive radar sensing time slots (e.g., Figure 12 In other designs, the set of radar sensing time slots includes a group of radar sensing time slots arranged in a pattern that includes one or more intervening communication time slots (e.g., as Figure 13 In some designs, the set of radar sensing time slots is scheduled periodically, aperiodically, or semi-persistently.

[0165] In a specific example, it is assumed that a TMD-based JCS resource configuration includes both OFDM time slots and FMCW time slots, which are represented by "symbols Time Slot Subframe The common structure of the "radio frame" is similar to NR. It is further assumed that the basic scheduling unit will be a time slot, and the default time slot structure is assumed to have a fixed number of OFDM symbols (e.g., 14 symbols). The following describes the Figures 12 to 13 .

[0166] Figure 12 The various aspects of the present disclosure are respectively illustrated Figures 10 and 11 An example implementation of the processes 1000 to 1100 is 1200. Specifically, Figure 12 An example is depicted whereby a set of radar sensing time slots comprises a group of consecutive radar sensing time slots. Figure 12 In the periodic sensing time slot, the following parameters are configured: offset, period and duration according to the number of time slots and the sensing time slot structure (note that the following Figure 14 Examples of sensing slot structures are described in more detail).

[0167] Figure 13 The various aspects of the present disclosure are respectively illustrated Figures 10 and 11 An example implementation of the processes 1000 to 1100 is 1300. Specifically, Figure 13 An example is depicted whereby the set of radar sensing time slots comprises a group of radar sensing time slots arranged in a pattern that includes one or more intervening communication time slots. Figure 13 In the periodic sensing time slot, the following parameters are configured: offset, period, duration, number of repetitions, gap between repetitions and repetition offset according to the number of time slots and sensing time slot structure (note that the following Figure 14 Examples of sensing slot structures are described in more detail).

[0168] refer to Figures 10 and 11 As noted above, in some designs, this set of radar sensing time slots may be scheduled aperiodically. In some designs, aperiodic sensing time slots may be dynamically indicated by PDCCH (DCI) as having sensing (FMCW) symbols. In some designs, this aperiodic indication may include switching information or time domain resource information (when the sensing time slots will be available). In some designs, some aperiodic parameters (such as the time slot structure) may be configurable by higher layer signaling (e.g., RRC or L3) before being triggered at lower layers (e.g., DCI / L1 or MAC / L2).

[0169] refer to Figures 10 and 11 In some designs, as noted above, this set of radar sensing time slots may be semi-persistently scheduled. In some designs, the same as described above may be utilized. Figures 12 to 13 Such semi-persistent sensing slots may be activated / deactivated with similar parameters as the depicted periodic sensing slots.

[0170] refer to Figures 10 and 11 In some designs, DL, UL and / or SL sensing time slots may be configured or indicated separately.

[0171] refer to Figures 10 and 11 In some designs, at least one radar sensing time slot in the set of radar sensing time slots includes at least one radar sensing symbol group. In some designs, the radar sensing symbol group may further include at least one guard period. In some designs, the duration of the at least one guard period is based on a sensed-to-communication symbol switching time, a communication-to-sensing symbol switching time, or both. In some designs, the radar sensing symbol group includes one or more radar sensing symbols, and the radar sensing symbol group includes a radar sensing symbol group length that is aligned with a communication symbol length.

[0172] In a specific example, in a sensing time slot, some of the OFDM symbols in the time slot may be replaced by an FMCW symbol group. In some designs, an FMCW symbol group includes an integer number of FMCW symbols (and possible guard periods) concatenated in time. In some designs, the duration of an FMCW symbol group is the same as the duration of one OFDM symbol (CP+OFDM). In some designs, to allow for switching time between OFDM Tx / Rx and FMCW Tx / Rx, a guard period (GP) may be inserted between the OFDM symbol and the FMCW symbol, for example:

[0173] • Used for switching OFDM FMCW GP1, used to switch FMCW OFDM GP2

[0174] • Without loss of generality, we can assume that GP1 = GP2 = GP, where GP = max(GP1, GP2)

[0175] • UE capability report may include required values ​​for GP1 and GP2 (or GP = max(GP1, GP2))

[0176] Figure 14An example radar sensing slot structure 1400 according to aspects of the present disclosure is illustrated. Radar sensing slot structure 1400 includes: a first radar sensing slot 1310 including only radar sensing symbol groups and no communication symbols; or a second radar sensing slot 1320 including a first set of communication symbols followed by the radar sensing symbol group; or a third radar sensing slot 1330 including the radar sensing symbol group followed by a second set of communication symbols; or a fourth radar sensing slot 1340 including the first set of communication symbols followed by the radar sensing symbol group followed by the second set of communication symbols; or any combination thereof.

[0177] Furthermore, in some designs, in addition to the sensing slot configuration, a sensing slot structure may be configured (or determined) with the following information, for example:

[0178] • Which case is used for the sensing slot (e.g., the system may only support a subset of the example slot structures 1310 to 1340, e.g., 1310 to 1320 but not 1330 to 1340, etc.),

[0179] • The number of FMCW symbol groups (and possibly including guard symbols) and starting positions (note that in some designs the FMCW symbol group size is set to the same length as the OFDM symbol, in which case the number of FMCW symbol groups indicates how many OFDM symbols may have been scheduled on those same resources), and / or

[0180] • The number of OFDM symbols before and after the FMCW symbol is included in the sensing slot.

[0181] Figure 15 An example radar sensing symbol group structure 1500 is illustrated in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. Figure 15 In the embodiment, each radar sensing symbol group includes one or more radar sensing symbols, whereby the radar sensing symbol group includes a length T corresponding to the communication symbol length. OFDM1 (Alternatively denoted as T_OFDM1; also note that if there is no T OFDM2 , then T OFDM1 Corresponding to T OFDM To illustrate this alignment, an OFDM symbol including a CP1 portion and an OFDM portion is depicted at 1510. Note that in the example radar sensing symbol group structure 1500, an integer number of radar sensing symbols is shown per group. The radar sensing symbol group structure 1500 may include: a first radar sensing symbol group 1520 including: radar sensing symbols but not including GP; or a second radar sensing symbol group 1530, which includes a first protection period followed by y1 radar sensing symbols; or a third radar sensing symbol group 1540, which includes y2 radar sensing symbols followed by a second protection period; or a fourth radar sensing symbol 1550, which includes the first protection period followed by y3 radar sensing symbols and then the second protection period; or any combination thereof.

[0182] In some designs, the radar sensing symbol group structure 1500 is suitable for situations where In other words, the total guard period length of each radar sensing symbol group is less than the communication symbol length, and the radar sensing symbol length of each radar sensing symbol group is less than or equal to the total guard period length. In some designs, when the required GP length is short enough, the symbol alignment scheme may include: if the two GP lengths ( ) and OFDM symbol length ( ) is a multiple of the FMCW symbol length, various combinations of FMCW symbol group structures 1520 to 1550 can be used to achieve symbol alignment to meet the following criteria:

[0183] • Standard 1 : has an integer of (GP is a multiple of the FMCW symbol length)

[0184] • Standard 2 : has an integer of (OFDM symbol length (CP+OFDM) is a multiple of FMCW symbol length)

[0185] For example, criteria 1 to 2 may be expressed as a communication symbol length being a first multiple of a radar sensing symbol length, and a total guard period length being a second multiple of the radar sensing symbol length.

[0186] In some designs, based on the sensing slot configuration discussed above (e.g., see Figure 14 ), the above FMCW symbol groups are concatenated to construct a sensing slot that can operate according to the following rules, for example:

[0187] • Used to switch FMCW FMCW Type 1 of FMCW (see, for example, Figure 15 Type 1 example at 1520)

[0188] • Used for switching OFDM FMCW Type 2 of FMCW (see, for example, Figure 15 Type 2 example at 1530)

[0189] • Used to switch FMCW FMCW Type 3 of OFDM (see, for example, Figure 15 Type 3 example at 1540)

[0190] • Used for switching OFDM FMCW OFDM type 4 (see, for example, Figure 15 Type 4 example at 1550)

[0191] Note that in this case, A B The switch of C means that the previous symbol is A, the current symbol is B, and the next symbol is C.

[0192] refer to Figures 10 and 11 In some designs, the communication symbol length is based on a first cyclic prefix type (e.g., CP0), and one or more radar sensing symbol groups include an additional guard period portion or additional radar sensing symbols, or both, that are not included in the radar sensing symbol length (e.g., as shown below). Figure 16 or the communication symbol length is based on a second cyclic prefix type (eg, CP1), and one or more radar sensing symbols do not include the additional guard period portion and do not include the additional radar sensing symbol (eg, as above Figure 15 depicted).

[0193] In a specific example, in the NR frame structure, there are two types of OFDM symbols: CP0+OFDM ( ) and CP1+OFDM( In some designs, for conventional FMCW symbol transmission, the FMCW symbol group can be designed to be the same as In some designs, in order to align Align (to fill gaps ),if , then add additional GP, and if , additional GP and FMCW symbols are added.

[0194] Figure 16 An example radar sensing symbol group structure 1600 is illustrated in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. Specifically, Figure 16 This relates to a scenario where CPO is used for OFDM as noted above, whereby one or more radar sensing symbols each include an additional guard period portion or an additional radar sensing symbol, or both, that is not included in the radar sensing symbol length.

[0195] exist Figure 16 In the embodiment, each radar sensing symbol group includes one or more radar sensing symbols, whereby the radar sensing symbol group includes a length T corresponding to the communication symbol length. OFDM0 (alternatively denoted as T_OFDM0) aligned radar sensing symbol group length. To illustrate this alignment, an OFDM symbol including a CP0 portion and an OFDM portion is depicted at 1610. Note that in the example radar sensing symbol group structure 1600, a single radar sensing symbol is shown per group. To illustrate this alignment, an OFDM symbol including a CP0 portion and an OFDM portion is depicted at 1610. Align (to fill gaps ),if , then add additional GP, and if , additional GP and FMCW symbols are added. Radar sensing symbol group structure 1600 may thus include: a first radar sensing symbol 1620, the first radar sensing symbol including only the radar sensing symbol portion (plus the additional GP and / or FMCW symbols); or a second radar sensing symbol 1630, the second radar sensing symbol including a first guard period (GP1) followed by the radar sensing symbol portion (plus the additional GP and / or FMCW symbols); or a third radar sensing symbol 1640, the third radar sensing symbol including the radar sensing symbol portion followed by a second guard period (GP2) (plus the additional GP and / or FMCW symbols); or a fourth radar sensing symbol 1650, the fourth radar sensing symbol including the first guard period (GP1) followed by the radar sensing symbol portion followed by a second guard period (GP2) (plus the additional GP and / or FMCW symbols); or any combination thereof. In some designs, each radar sensing symbol in the radar sensing symbol group includes the first guard period, the second guard period, or both; or each radar sensing symbol in the radar sensing symbol group includes only the radar sensing symbol portion but not the first guard period or the second guard period (plus additional GP and / or FMCW symbols).

[0196] refer to Figures 10 and 11 In some designs, the radar sensing symbol group includes a first radar sensing symbol that includes at least a first radar sensing symbol 1610 exhibiting a sawtooth frequency pattern (e.g., see Figure 17 ); or the radar sensing symbol group includes a second radar sensing symbol, the second radar sensing symbol including at least a second radar sensing symbol exhibiting a triangular frequency pattern (for example, see Figure 18 In some designs, the first radar sensing symbol further includes a supplemental protection period based on a sensed sensing symbol switching time.

[0197] Figure 17Illustrated is a radar sensing symbol 1700 in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. Each radar sensing symbol 1710, 1720 includes a guard period (GP3) followed by a radar sensing signal 1715, 1725 having a sawtooth frequency pattern.

[0198] Figure 18 Illustrated is a radar sensing symbol 1800 in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. Each radar sensing symbol 1810, 1820 includes a radar sensing signal 1815, 1825 having a triangular frequency pattern (without GP3).

[0199] refer to Figures 17 and 18 In some designs, the associated JCS system may support different FMCW symbol structures (e.g., sawtooth and triangle). In some designs, different structures may have different advantages and disadvantages. In some designs, the UE capability and gNB configuration for the FMCW symbol structure may be factored into the FMCW symbol structure selection. In some designs, in the case of a sawtooth structure, another gap period (GP3) between consecutive FMCW symbols may be required for frequency adaptation. In some designs, GP3 may be different from OFDM. FMCW switching gaps. In some designs, UE capability reporting may be performed on gaps between FMCW symbols.

[0200] refer to Figures 17 and 18 In some designs, the total guard period length per radar sensing symbol is less than or equal to the radar sensing symbol length per radar sensing symbol, and the radar sensing symbol length per radar sensing symbol is less than the communication symbol length. In other words, ,like Figure 19 Depicted.

[0201] Figure 19 A radar sensing symbol structure 1900 is illustrated in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. Figure 19 middle, The communication symbol length (or OFDM symbol length) is equal to T_FMCW 1910 (ie, T FMCW The radar sensing symbol structure 1900 includes a sawtooth frequency pattern with a leading gap (1920), a sawtooth frequency pattern with a leading gap and a trailing gap (1930), a triangular frequency pattern with a leading gap (1940), a triangular frequency pattern with a leading gap and a trailing gap (1950), a sawtooth frequency pattern without a gap (1960), and a triangular frequency pattern without a gap (1970).

[0202] refer to Figure 19In some designs, each FMCW symbol may include a GP, as shown at 1920 to 1950. In this case, the UE capability of requiring a GP may be reported and included in the symbol structure, the gNB may configure the GP length, and the GP may be included at the beginning of each FMCW symbol or / and at the end of the FMCW symbol. In other designs, the FMCW symbol does not include a GP, as shown at 1960 to 1970, and switching is handled by the specific implementation.

[0203] refer to Figures 10 and 11 In some designs, the guard period length for switching between communication symbols and radar sensing symbols is greater than the radar sensing symbol length per radar sensing symbol, and the communication symbol length is greater than the radar sensing symbol length per radar sensing symbol. In other words, the required GP length is comparable to the length of several OFDM symbols ( In some designs, multiple OFDM symbols in a time slot may be replaced by GPs with a switching period. In some designs, other OFDM symbols may be replaced by FMCW symbol groups to satisfy the requirement of having an integer of (OFDM symbol length (CP+OFDM) is a multiple of FMCW symbol length). In other words, OFDM symbol length (CP+OFDM) is In this case, the radar sensing time slot can be configured based on the previous / current / next time slot, such as Figure 20 Depicted.

[0204] Figure 20 A radar sensing slot configuration 2000 according to various aspects of the present disclosure is illustrated. Specifically, the radar sensing slot configuration may be applicable to the following scenarios: the length of the guard period for switching between communication symbols and radar sensing symbols is greater than the radar sensing symbol length per radar sensing symbol, and the communication symbol length is greater than the radar sensing symbol length per radar sensing symbol (e.g., ). The radar sensing time slot configuration 2000 may thus include, for example:

[0205] • a first radar sensing time slot (2010), the first radar sensing time slot including only the radar sensing symbol group and not including any communication symbols outside the radar sensing symbol group or any guard period; or

[0206] • a second radar sensing time slot (2020), the second radar sensing time slot comprising a first guard period followed by the radar sensing symbol group; or

[0207] • a third radar sensing time slot (2030), the third radar sensing time slot comprising the first guard period followed by the radar sensing symbol group followed by a second guard period; or

[0208] • a fourth radar sensing time slot (2040), the fourth radar sensing time slot comprising the first set of communication symbols, followed by the first guard period, followed by the group of radar sensing symbols; or

[0209] • a fifth radar sensing time slot (2050), the fifth radar sensing time slot comprising the first set of communication symbols followed by the first guard period followed by the radar sensing symbol group followed by the second guard period; or

[0210] • a sixth radar sensing time slot (2060), the sixth radar sensing time slot comprising the radar sensing symbol group, followed by the second guard period, followed by a second set of communication symbols; or

[0211] • a seventh radar sensing slot (2070), the seventh radar sensing slot comprising the first guard period followed by the radar sensing symbol group followed by the second guard period followed by the second set of communication symbols; or

[0212] • an eighth radar sensing slot (2080), the eighth radar sensing slot comprising the first set of communication symbols, followed by the first guard period, followed by the radar sensing symbol group, followed by the second guard period, followed by the second set of communication symbols; or

[0213] • Any combination of these

[0214] In the detailed description above, it can be seen that different features are grouped together in each example. This disclosure should not be interpreted as an intention that the example clauses have more features than those explicitly mentioned in each clause. On the contrary, various aspects of the present disclosure may include fewer than all the features of the individual example clauses disclosed. Therefore, the following clauses should be considered to be incorporated into the description accordingly, with each clause itself serving as a separate example. Although each dependent clause may refer to a specific combination with one of the other clauses in the clause, the aspects of the dependent clause are not limited to specific combinations. It should be understood that other example clauses may also include combinations of aspects of the dependent clause with the subject matter of any other dependent clause or independent clause, or combinations of any features with other dependent clauses and independent clauses. The various aspects disclosed herein explicitly include these combinations unless it is explicitly expressed or can be easily inferred that a specific combination is not intended (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 aspects of a clause may be included in any other independent clause, even if the clause is not directly dependent on the independent clause.

[0215] Specific implementation examples are described in the following numbered clauses:

[0216] Clause 1. A method of operating a wireless node, the method comprising: receiving a joint communication and sensing (JCS) resource configuration, the joint communication and sensing (JCS) resource configuration comprising a set of communication time slots and a set of radar sensing time slots, wherein each communication symbol of each communication time slot in the set of communication time slots is configured for communication, and wherein at least one symbol of each radar sensing time slot in the set of radar sensing time slots is configured for radar sensing; and performing communication operations and sensing operations according to the JCS resource configuration.

[0217] Clause 2. The method of clause 1, wherein the set of radar sensing time slots comprises a group of consecutive radar sensing time slots.

[0218] Clause 3. The method of any one of clauses 1 to 2, wherein the set of radar sensing time slots comprises a group of radar sensing time slots arranged in a pattern that includes one or more intervening communication time slots.

[0219] Clause 4. The method of any of clauses 1 to 3, the set of radar sensing time slots being scheduled periodically, aperiodically, or semi-persistently.

[0220] Clause 5. The method of any one of clauses 1 to 4, wherein at least one radar sensing slot in the set of radar sensing slots comprises at least one radar sensing symbol group.

[0221] Clause 6. The method of clause 5, wherein the radar sensing symbol group further comprises at least one guard period.

[0222] Clause 7. The method of clause 6, wherein the duration of the at least one guard period is based on a sensed to communication symbol switch time or a communication to sensing symbol switch time or both.

[0223] Clause 8. The method of any one of clauses 5 to 7, wherein the radar sensing symbol group comprises one or more radar sensing symbols, and wherein the radar sensing symbol group comprises a radar sensing symbol group length that is aligned with a communication symbol length.

[0224] Clause 9. A method according to clause 8, wherein the radar sensing symbol group includes: a first radar sensing symbol, the first radar sensing symbol including only a radar sensing symbol portion; or a second radar sensing symbol, the second radar sensing symbol including a first protection period followed by the radar sensing symbol portion; or a third radar sensing symbol, the third radar sensing symbol including the radar sensing symbol portion followed by a second protection period; or a fourth radar sensing symbol, the fourth radar sensing symbol including the first protection period followed by the radar sensing symbol portion followed by a second protection period; or any combination thereof.

[0225] Clause 10. The method of clause 9, wherein a total guard period length per radar sensing symbol group is less than the communication symbol length, and wherein a radar sensing symbol length per radar sensing symbol group is less than or equal to the total guard period length.

[0226] Clause 11. The method of clause 10, wherein the communication symbol length is a first multiple of the radar sensing symbol length, and wherein the total guard period length is a second multiple of the radar sensing symbol length.

[0227] Clause 12. A method according to clause 11, wherein the communication symbol length is based on a first cyclic prefix type, and the one or more radar sensing symbols each include an additional guard period portion or an additional radar sensing symbol, or both, that are not included in the radar sensing symbol length; or wherein the communication symbol length is based on a second cyclic prefix type, and the one or more radar sensing symbols do not include the additional guard period portion and do not include the additional radar sensing symbol.

[0228] Clause 13. A method according to any one of clauses 9 to 12, wherein each radar sensing symbol in the radar sensing symbol group includes the first guard period, the second guard period, or both; or wherein each radar sensing symbol in the radar sensing symbol group includes only the radar sensing symbol portion and does not include the first guard period or the second guard period.

[0229] Clause 14. A method according to any one of clauses 9 to 13, wherein a guard period length for switching between communication symbols and radar sensing symbols is greater than a radar sensing symbol length per radar sensing symbol, and wherein the communication symbol length is greater than the radar sensing symbol length per radar sensing symbol.

[0230] Clause 15. The method of clause 14, wherein the at least one radar sensing time slot comprises: a first radar sensing time slot, the first radar sensing time slot comprising only the radar sensing symbol group and not any communication symbols or any guard period outside the radar sensing symbol group; or a second radar sensing time slot, the second radar sensing time slot comprising a first guard period followed by the radar sensing symbol group; or a third radar sensing time slot, the third radar sensing time slot comprising the first guard period followed by the radar sensing symbol group and followed by a second guard period; or a fourth radar sensing time slot, the fourth radar sensing time slot comprising a first set of communication symbols followed by the first guard period followed by the radar sensing symbol group; or a fifth radar sensing time slot comprising or a sixth radar sensing slot comprising the radar sensing symbol group followed by the second guard period and then the second set of communication symbols; or a seventh radar sensing slot comprising the first guard period and then the radar sensing symbol group followed by the second guard period and then the second set of communication symbols; or an eighth radar sensing slot comprising the first set of communication symbols followed by the first guard period and then the radar sensing symbol group followed by the second guard period and then the second set of communication symbols; or any combination thereof.

[0231] Clause 16. A method according to any one of clauses 5 to 15, wherein the at least one radar sensing slot comprises: a first radar sensing slot, the first radar sensing slot comprising only the radar sensing symbol group and not any communication symbols; or a second radar sensing slot, the second radar sensing slot comprising a first set of communication symbols followed by the radar sensing symbol group; or a third radar sensing slot, the third radar sensing slot comprising the radar sensing symbol group followed by a second set of communication symbols; or a fourth radar sensing slot, the fourth radar sensing slot comprising the first set of communication symbols followed by the radar sensing symbol group followed by the second set of communication symbols; or any combination thereof.

[0232] Clause 17. A method according to any one of clauses 5 to 16, wherein the radar sensing symbol group includes a first radar sensing symbol, the first radar sensing symbol includes at least a first radar sensing symbol exhibiting a triangular frequency pattern; or wherein the radar sensing symbol group includes a second radar sensing symbol, the second radar sensing symbol includes at least a second radar sensing symbol exhibiting a sawtooth frequency pattern; or a combination thereof.

[0233] Clause 18. The method of clause 17, wherein the second radar sensing symbol further comprises a supplemental guard period based on a sensed sensing symbol switching time.

[0234] Clause 19. The method of clause 18, wherein a total guard period length per radar sensing symbol is less than or equal to a radar sensing symbol length per radar sensing symbol, and wherein the radar sensing symbol length per radar sensing symbol is less than a communication symbol length.

[0235] Clause 20. The method of any one of clauses 1 to 19, wherein the wireless node is a user equipment (UE) or a network device.

[0236] Clause 21. A method of operating a network component, the method comprising: determining a joint communication and sensing (JCS) resource configuration, the joint communication and sensing (JCS) resource configuration comprising a set of communication time slots and a set of radar sensing time slots, wherein each communication symbol of each communication time slot in the set of communication time slots is configured for communication, and wherein at least one symbol of each radar sensing time slot in the set of radar sensing time slots is configured for radar sensing; and sending an indication of the JCS resource configuration to a wireless node.

[0237] Clause 22. The method of clause 21, wherein the set of radar sensing time slots comprises a group of consecutive radar sensing time slots.

[0238] Clause 23. The method of any one of clauses 21 to 22, wherein the set of radar sensing time slots comprises a group of radar sensing time slots arranged in a pattern that includes one or more intervening communication time slots.

[0239] Clause 24. The method of any of clauses 21 to 23, the set of radar sensing time slots being scheduled periodically, aperiodically, or semi-persistently.

[0240] Clause 25. The method of any one of clauses 21 to 24, wherein at least one radar sensing slot in the set of radar sensing slots comprises at least one radar sensing symbol group.

[0241] Clause 26. The method of clause 25, wherein the radar sensing symbol group further comprises at least one guard period.

[0242] Clause 27. The method of clause 26, wherein the duration of the at least one guard period is based on a sensed to communication symbol switch time or a communication to sensing symbol switch time or both.

[0243] Clause 28. The method of any one of clauses 25 to 27, wherein the radar sensing symbol group comprises one or more radar sensing symbols, and wherein the radar sensing symbol group comprises a radar sensing symbol group length that is aligned with a communication symbol length.

[0244] Clause 29. A method according to clause 28, wherein the radar sensing symbol group includes: a first radar sensing symbol, the first radar sensing symbol including only a radar sensing symbol portion; or a second radar sensing symbol, the second radar sensing symbol including a first protection period followed by the radar sensing symbol portion; or a third radar sensing symbol, the third radar sensing symbol including the radar sensing symbol portion followed by a second protection period; or a fourth radar sensing symbol, the fourth radar sensing symbol including the first protection period followed by the radar sensing symbol portion followed by a second protection period; or any combination thereof.

[0245] Clause 30. The method of clause 29, wherein a total guard period length per radar sensing symbol group is less than the communication symbol length, and wherein a radar sensing symbol length per radar sensing symbol group is less than or equal to the total guard period length.

[0246] Clause 31. The method of clause 30, wherein the communication symbol length is a first multiple of the radar sensing symbol length, and wherein the total guard period length is a second multiple of the radar sensing symbol length.

[0247] Clause 32. A method according to clause 31, wherein the communication symbol length is based on a first cyclic prefix type, and the one or more radar sensing symbols each include an additional guard period portion or an additional radar sensing symbol or both that are not included in the radar sensing symbol length; or wherein the communication symbol length is based on a second cyclic prefix type, and the one or more radar sensing symbols do not include the additional guard period portion and do not include the additional radar sensing symbol.

[0248] Clause 33. A method according to any one of clauses 29 to 32, wherein each radar sensing symbol in the radar sensing symbol group includes the first guard period, the second guard period, or both; or wherein each radar sensing symbol in the radar sensing symbol group includes only the radar sensing symbol portion, but does not include the first guard period or the second guard period.

[0249] Clause 34. A method according to any one of clauses 29 to 33, wherein the length of a protection period for switching between communication symbols and radar sensing symbols is greater than the radar sensing symbol length per radar sensing symbol, and wherein the communication symbol length is greater than the radar sensing symbol length per radar sensing symbol.

[0250] Clause 35. A method according to clause 34, wherein the at least one radar sensing time slot comprises: a first radar sensing time slot, the first radar sensing time slot comprising only the radar sensing symbol group and not any communication symbols or any guard period outside the radar sensing symbol group; or a second radar sensing time slot, the second radar sensing time slot comprising a first guard period followed by the radar sensing symbol group; or a third radar sensing time slot, the third radar sensing time slot comprising the first guard period followed by the radar sensing symbol group and followed by a second guard period; or a fourth radar sensing time slot, the fourth radar sensing time slot comprising a first set of communication symbols followed by the first guard period followed by the radar sensing symbol group; or a fifth radar sensing time slot comprising or a sixth radar sensing slot comprising the radar sensing symbol group followed by the second guard period and then the second set of communication symbols; or a seventh radar sensing slot comprising the first guard period and then the radar sensing symbol group followed by the second guard period and then the second set of communication symbols; or an eighth radar sensing slot comprising the first set of communication symbols followed by the first guard period and then the radar sensing symbol group followed by the second guard period and then the second set of communication symbols; or any combination thereof.

[0251] Clause 36. A method according to any one of clauses 25 to 35, wherein the at least one radar sensing slot comprises: a first radar sensing slot, the first radar sensing slot comprising only the radar sensing symbol group and not any communication symbols; or a second radar sensing slot, the second radar sensing slot comprising a first set of communication symbols followed by the radar sensing symbol group; or a third radar sensing slot, the third radar sensing slot comprising the radar sensing symbol group followed by a second set of communication symbols; or a fourth radar sensing slot, the fourth radar sensing slot comprising the first set of communication symbols followed by the radar sensing symbol group followed by the second set of communication symbols; or any combination thereof.

[0252] Clause 37. A method according to any one of clauses 25 to 36, wherein the radar sensing symbol group includes a first radar sensing symbol exhibiting a triangular frequency pattern; or wherein the radar sensing symbol group includes a second radar sensing symbol exhibiting a sawtooth frequency pattern; or a combination thereof.

[0253] Clause 38. The method of clause 37, wherein the second radar sensing symbol further comprises a supplemental guard period based on a sensed sensing symbol switching time.

[0254] Clause 39. The method of clause 38, wherein a total guard period length per radar sensing symbol is less than or equal to a radar sensing symbol length per radar sensing symbol, and wherein the radar sensing symbol length per radar sensing symbol is less than a communication symbol length.

[0255] Clause 40. The method of any of clauses 21 to 39, wherein the wireless node is a user equipment (UE) or the network component.

[0256] Clause 41. A wireless node, comprising: one or more memories; one or more transceivers; and one or more processors, the one or more processors being communicatively coupled to the one or more memories and the one or more transceivers, the one or more processors being configured, individually or in combination, to: receive a joint communication and sensing (JCS) resource configuration via the one or more transceivers, the joint communication and sensing (JCS) resource configuration comprising a set of communication time slots and a set of radar sensing time slots, wherein each communication symbol of each communication time slot in the set of communication time slots is configured for communication, and wherein at least one symbol of each radar sensing time slot in the set of radar sensing time slots is configured for radar sensing; and perform communication operations and sensing operations according to the JCS resource configuration.

[0257] Clause 42. The wireless node of clause 41, wherein the set of radar sensing time slots comprises a group of consecutive radar sensing time slots.

[0258] Clause 43. A wireless node as described in any of clauses 41 to 42, wherein the set of radar sensing timeslots comprises a group of radar sensing timeslots arranged in a pattern including one or more intervening communication timeslots.

[0259] Clause 44. The wireless node of any of clauses 41 to 43, the set of radar sensing time slots being scheduled periodically, aperiodically, or semi-persistently.

[0260] Clause 45. The wireless node of any of clauses 41 to 44, wherein at least one radar sensing slot in the set of radar sensing slots comprises at least one radar sensing symbol group.

[0261] Clause 46. The wireless node of clause 45, wherein the radar sensing symbol group further comprises at least one guard period.

[0262] Clause 47. The wireless node of clause 46, wherein the duration of the at least one guard period is based on a sensed to communication symbol switch time or a communication to sensing symbol switch time or both.

[0263] Clause 48. A wireless node as described in any of clauses 45 to 47, wherein the radar sensing symbol group includes one or more radar sensing symbols, and wherein the radar sensing symbol group includes a radar sensing symbol group length that is aligned with a communication symbol length.

[0264] Clause 49. A wireless node according to clause 48, wherein the radar sensing symbol group includes: a first radar sensing symbol, the first radar sensing symbol including only a radar sensing symbol portion; or a second radar sensing symbol, the second radar sensing symbol including a first protection period followed by the radar sensing symbol portion; or a third radar sensing symbol, the third radar sensing symbol including the radar sensing symbol portion followed by a second protection period; or a fourth radar sensing symbol, the fourth radar sensing symbol including the first protection period followed by the radar sensing symbol portion followed by a second protection period; or any combination thereof.

[0265] Clause 50. The wireless node of clause 49, wherein a total guard period length per radar sensing symbol group is less than the communication symbol length, and wherein a radar sensing symbol length per radar sensing symbol group is less than or equal to the total guard period length.

[0266] Clause 51. The wireless node of clause 50, wherein the communication symbol length is a first multiple of the radar sensing symbol length, and wherein the total guard period length is a second multiple of the radar sensing symbol length.

[0267] Clause 52. A wireless node according to clause 51, wherein the communication symbol length is based on a first cyclic prefix type, and the one or more radar sensing symbols each include an additional guard period portion or an additional radar sensing symbol, or both, that is not included in the radar sensing symbol length; or wherein the communication symbol length is based on a second cyclic prefix type, and the one or more radar sensing symbols do not include the additional guard period portion and do not include the additional radar sensing symbol.

[0268] Clause 53. A wireless node according to any one of clauses 49 to 52, wherein each radar sensing symbol in the radar sensing symbol group includes the first guard period, the second guard period, or both; or wherein each radar sensing symbol in the radar sensing symbol group includes only the radar sensing symbol portion and does not include the first guard period or the second guard period.

[0269] Clause 54. A wireless node according to any one of clauses 49 to 53, wherein a guard period length for switching between communication symbols and radar sensing symbols is greater than a radar sensing symbol length per radar sensing symbol, and wherein the communication symbol length is greater than the radar sensing symbol length per radar sensing symbol.

[0270] Clause 55. A wireless node according to clause 54, wherein the at least one radar sensing time slot comprises: a first radar sensing time slot, the first radar sensing time slot comprising only the radar sensing symbol group and not any communication symbols or any guard period outside the radar sensing symbol group; or a second radar sensing time slot, the second radar sensing time slot comprising a first guard period followed by the radar sensing symbol group; or a third radar sensing time slot, the third radar sensing time slot comprising the first guard period followed by the radar sensing symbol group and followed by a second guard period; or a fourth radar sensing time slot, the fourth radar sensing time slot comprising a first set of communication symbols followed by the first guard period followed by the radar sensing symbol group; or a fifth radar sensing time slot comprising or a sixth radar sensing slot comprising the first set of communication symbols, followed by the first guard period, followed by the radar sensing symbol group, followed by the second guard period; or a sixth radar sensing slot comprising the radar sensing symbol group, followed by the second guard period, followed by the second set of communication symbols; or a seventh radar sensing slot comprising the first guard period, followed by the radar sensing symbol group, followed by the second guard period, followed by the second set of communication symbols; or an eighth radar sensing slot comprising the first set of communication symbols, followed by the first guard period, followed by the radar sensing symbol group, followed by the second guard period, followed by the second set of communication symbols; or any combination thereof.

[0271] Clause 56. A wireless node according to any one of clauses 45 to 55, wherein the at least one radar sensing slot comprises: a first radar sensing slot, the first radar sensing slot comprising only the radar sensing symbol group and not any communication symbols; or a second radar sensing slot, the second radar sensing slot comprising a first set of communication symbols followed by the radar sensing symbol group; or a third radar sensing slot, the third radar sensing slot comprising the radar sensing symbol group followed by a second set of communication symbols; or a fourth radar sensing slot, the fourth radar sensing slot comprising the first set of communication symbols followed by the radar sensing symbol group followed by the second set of communication symbols; or any combination thereof.

[0272] Clause 57. A wireless node according to any one of clauses 45 to 56, wherein the radar sensing symbol group includes a first radar sensing symbol, the first radar sensing symbol includes at least a first radar sensing symbol exhibiting a triangular frequency pattern; or wherein the radar sensing symbol group includes a second radar sensing symbol, the second radar sensing symbol includes at least a second radar sensing symbol exhibiting a sawtooth frequency pattern; or a combination thereof.

[0273] Clause 58. The wireless node of clause 57, wherein the second radar sensing symbol further comprises a supplemental guard period based on a sensed sensing symbol switching time.

[0274] Clause 59. The wireless node of clause 58, wherein a total guard period length per radar sensing symbol is less than or equal to a radar sensing symbol length per radar sensing symbol, and wherein the radar sensing symbol length per radar sensing symbol is less than a communication symbol length.

[0275] Clause 60. A wireless node as recited in any one of clauses 41 to 59, wherein the wireless node is a user equipment (UE) or a network device.

[0276] Clause 61. A network component comprising: one or more memories; one or more transceivers; and one or more processors, the one or more processors being communicatively coupled to the one or more memories and the one or more transceivers, the one or more processors being configured, individually or in combination, to: determine a joint communication and sensing (JCS) resource configuration, the joint communication and sensing (JCS) resource configuration comprising a set of communication time slots and a set of radar sensing time slots, wherein each communication symbol of each communication time slot in the set of communication time slots is configured for communication, and wherein at least one symbol of each radar sensing time slot in the set of radar sensing time slots is configured for radar sensing; and send an indication of the JCS resource configuration to a wireless node via the one or more transceivers.

[0277] Clause 62. The network component of clause 61, wherein the set of radar sensing time slots comprises a group of consecutive radar sensing time slots.

[0278] Clause 63. A network component according to any one of clauses 61 to 62, wherein the set of radar sensing time slots comprises a group of radar sensing time slots arranged in a pattern including one or more intervening communication time slots.

[0279] Clause 64. The network component of any of clauses 61 to 63, the set of radar sensing time slots being scheduled periodically, aperiodically, or semi-persistently.

[0280] Clause 65. The network component of any of clauses 61 to 64, wherein at least one radar sensing timeslot in the set of radar sensing timeslots comprises at least one radar sensing symbol group.

[0281] Clause 66. The network component of clause 65, wherein the radar sensing symbol group further comprises at least one guard period.

[0282] Clause 67. The network component of Clause 66, wherein the duration of the at least one guard period is based on a sensed to communication symbol switch time or a communication to sensing symbol switch time or both.

[0283] Clause 68. A network component according to any one of clauses 65 to 67, wherein the radar sensing symbol group includes one or more radar sensing symbols, and wherein the radar sensing symbol group includes a radar sensing symbol group length that is aligned with a communication symbol length.

[0284] Clause 69. A network component according to clause 68, wherein the radar sensing symbol group includes: a first radar sensing symbol, the first radar sensing symbol including only a radar sensing symbol portion; or a second radar sensing symbol, the second radar sensing symbol including a first protection period followed by the radar sensing symbol portion; or a third radar sensing symbol, the third radar sensing symbol including the radar sensing symbol portion followed by a second protection period; or a fourth radar sensing symbol, the fourth radar sensing symbol including the first protection period followed by the radar sensing symbol portion followed by a second protection period; or any combination thereof.

[0285] Clause 70. The network component of clause 69, wherein a total guard period length per radar sensing symbol group is less than the communication symbol length, and wherein a radar sensing symbol length per radar sensing symbol group is less than or equal to the total guard period length.

[0286] Clause 71. The network component of clause 70, wherein the communication symbol length is a first multiple of the radar sensing symbol length, and wherein the total guard period length is a second multiple of the radar sensing symbol length.

[0287] Clause 72. A network component according to clause 71, wherein the communication symbol length is based on a first cyclic prefix type and the one or more radar sensing symbols each include an additional guard period portion or an additional radar sensing symbol or both that are not included in the radar sensing symbol length; or wherein the communication symbol length is based on a second cyclic prefix type and the one or more radar sensing symbols do not include the additional guard period portion and do not include the additional radar sensing symbol.

[0288] Clause 73. A network component according to any one of clauses 69 to 72, wherein each radar sensing symbol in the radar sensing symbol group includes the first guard period, the second guard period, or both; or wherein each radar sensing symbol in the radar sensing symbol group includes only the radar sensing symbol portion and does not include the first guard period or the second guard period.

[0289] Clause 74. A network component according to any one of clauses 69 to 73, wherein a guard period length for switching between communication symbols and radar sensing symbols is greater than a radar sensing symbol length per radar sensing symbol, and wherein the communication symbol length is greater than the radar sensing symbol length per radar sensing symbol.

[0290] Clause 75. A network component according to clause 74, wherein the at least one radar sensing time slot comprises: a first radar sensing time slot, the first radar sensing time slot comprising only the radar sensing symbol group and not any communication symbols or any guard period outside the radar sensing symbol group; or a second radar sensing time slot, the second radar sensing time slot comprising a first guard period followed by the radar sensing symbol group; or a third radar sensing time slot, the third radar sensing time slot comprising the first guard period followed by the radar sensing symbol group and followed by a second guard period; or a fourth radar sensing time slot, the fourth radar sensing time slot comprising a first set of communication symbols followed by the first guard period followed by the radar sensing symbol group; or a fifth radar sensing time slot comprising or a sixth radar sensing slot comprising the first set of communication symbols, followed by the first guard period, followed by the radar sensing symbol group, followed by the second guard period; or a sixth radar sensing slot comprising the radar sensing symbol group, followed by the second guard period, followed by the second set of communication symbols; or a seventh radar sensing slot comprising the first guard period, followed by the radar sensing symbol group, followed by the second guard period, followed by the second set of communication symbols; or an eighth radar sensing slot comprising the first set of communication symbols, followed by the first guard period, followed by the radar sensing symbol group, followed by the second guard period, followed by the second set of communication symbols; or any combination thereof.

[0291] Clause 76. A network component according to any one of clauses 65 to 75, wherein the at least one radar sensing slot comprises: a first radar sensing slot, the first radar sensing slot comprising only the radar sensing symbol group and not any communication symbols; or a second radar sensing slot, the second radar sensing slot comprising a first set of communication symbols followed by the radar sensing symbol group; or a third radar sensing slot, the third radar sensing slot comprising the radar sensing symbol group followed by a second set of communication symbols; or a fourth radar sensing slot, the fourth radar sensing slot comprising the first set of communication symbols followed by the radar sensing symbol group followed by the second set of communication symbols; or any combination thereof.

[0292] Clause 77. A network component according to any one of clauses 65 to 76, wherein the radar sensing symbol group includes a first radar sensing symbol exhibiting a triangular frequency pattern; or wherein the radar sensing symbol group includes a second radar sensing symbol exhibiting a sawtooth frequency pattern; or a combination thereof.

[0293] Clause 78. The network component of clause 77, wherein the second radar sensing symbol further comprises a supplemental guard period based on a sensed sensing symbol switching time.

[0294] Clause 79. A network component according to clause 78, wherein the total guard period length per radar sensing symbol is less than or equal to the radar sensing symbol length per radar sensing symbol, and wherein the radar sensing symbol length per radar sensing symbol is less than the communication symbol length.

[0295] Clause 80. The network component of any of clauses 61 to 79, wherein the wireless node is a user equipment (UE) or the network component.

[0296] Clause 81. A wireless node comprising: means for receiving a joint communication and sensing (JCS) resource configuration, the joint communication and sensing (JCS) resource configuration comprising a set of communication time slots and a set of radar sensing time slots, wherein each communication symbol of each communication time slot in the set of communication time slots is configured for communication, and wherein at least one symbol of each radar sensing time slot in the set of radar sensing time slots is configured for radar sensing; and means for performing communication operations and sensing operations according to the JCS resource configuration.

[0297] Clause 82. The wireless node of clause 81, wherein the set of radar sensing time slots comprises a group of consecutive radar sensing time slots.

[0298] Clause 83. A wireless node as described in any of clauses 81 to 82, wherein the set of radar sensing timeslots comprises a group of radar sensing timeslots arranged in a pattern including one or more intervening communication timeslots.

[0299] Clause 84. The wireless node of any of clauses 81 to 83, the set of radar sensing time slots being scheduled periodically, aperiodically, or semi-persistently.

[0300] Clause 85. A wireless node as defined in any one of clauses 81 to 84, wherein at least one radar sensing slot in the set of radar sensing slots comprises at least one radar sensing symbol group.

[0301] Clause 86. The wireless node of clause 85, wherein the radar sensing symbol group further comprises at least one guard period.

[0302] Clause 87. The wireless node of clause 86, wherein the duration of the at least one guard period is based on a sensed to communication symbol switch time or a communication to sensing symbol switch time or both.

[0303] Clause 88. A wireless node as described in any of clauses 85 to 87, wherein the radar sensing symbol group includes one or more radar sensing symbols, and wherein the radar sensing symbol group includes a radar sensing symbol group length that is aligned with a communication symbol length.

[0304] Clause 89. A wireless node according to clause 88, wherein the radar sensing symbol group includes: a first radar sensing symbol, the first radar sensing symbol including only a radar sensing symbol portion; or a second radar sensing symbol, the second radar sensing symbol including a first protection period followed by the radar sensing symbol portion; or a third radar sensing symbol, the third radar sensing symbol including the radar sensing symbol portion followed by a second protection period; or a fourth radar sensing symbol, the fourth radar sensing symbol including the first protection period followed by the radar sensing symbol portion followed by a second protection period; or any combination thereof.

[0305] Clause 90. The wireless node of clause 89, wherein a total guard period length per radar sensing symbol group is less than the communication symbol length, and wherein a radar sensing symbol length per radar sensing symbol group is less than or equal to the total guard period length.

[0306] Clause 91. The wireless node of clause 90, wherein the communication symbol length is a first multiple of the radar sensing symbol length, and wherein the total guard period length is a second multiple of the radar sensing symbol length.

[0307] Clause 92. A wireless node according to clause 91, wherein the communication symbol length is based on a first cyclic prefix type, and the one or more radar sensing symbols each include an additional guard period portion or an additional radar sensing symbol, or both, that is not included in the radar sensing symbol length; or wherein the communication symbol length is based on a second cyclic prefix type, and the one or more radar sensing symbols do not include the additional guard period portion and do not include the additional radar sensing symbol.

[0308] Clause 93. A wireless node according to any one of clauses 89 to 92, wherein each radar sensing symbol in the radar sensing symbol group includes the first guard period, the second guard period, or both; or wherein each radar sensing symbol in the radar sensing symbol group includes only the radar sensing symbol portion and does not include the first guard period or the second guard period.

[0309] Clause 94. A wireless node according to any one of clauses 89 to 93, wherein a guard period length for switching between communication symbols and radar sensing symbols is greater than a radar sensing symbol length per radar sensing symbol, and wherein the communication symbol length is greater than the radar sensing symbol length per radar sensing symbol.

[0310] Clause 95. A wireless node according to clause 94, wherein the at least one radar sensing time slot comprises: a first radar sensing time slot, the first radar sensing time slot comprising only the radar sensing symbol group and not any communication symbols or any guard period outside the radar sensing symbol group; or a second radar sensing time slot, the second radar sensing time slot comprising a first guard period followed by the radar sensing symbol group; or a third radar sensing time slot, the third radar sensing time slot comprising the first guard period followed by the radar sensing symbol group and followed by a second guard period; or a fourth radar sensing time slot, the fourth radar sensing time slot comprising a first set of communication symbols followed by the first guard period followed by the radar sensing symbol group; or a fifth radar sensing time slot comprising or a sixth radar sensing slot comprising the first set of communication symbols, followed by the first guard period, followed by the radar sensing symbol group, followed by the second guard period; or a sixth radar sensing slot comprising the radar sensing symbol group, followed by the second guard period, followed by the second set of communication symbols; or a seventh radar sensing slot comprising the first guard period, followed by the radar sensing symbol group, followed by the second guard period, followed by the second set of communication symbols; or an eighth radar sensing slot comprising the first set of communication symbols, followed by the first guard period, followed by the radar sensing symbol group, followed by the second guard period, followed by the second set of communication symbols; or any combination thereof.

[0311] Clause 96. A wireless node according to any one of clauses 85 to 95, wherein the at least one radar sensing slot comprises: a first radar sensing slot, the first radar sensing slot comprising only the radar sensing symbol group and not any communication symbols; or a second radar sensing slot, the second radar sensing slot comprising a first set of communication symbols followed by the radar sensing symbol group; or a third radar sensing slot, the third radar sensing slot comprising the radar sensing symbol group followed by a second set of communication symbols; or a fourth radar sensing slot, the fourth radar sensing slot comprising the first set of communication symbols followed by the radar sensing symbol group followed by the second set of communication symbols; or any combination thereof.

[0312] Clause 97. A wireless node according to any one of clauses 85 to 96, wherein the radar sensing symbol group includes a first radar sensing symbol, the first radar sensing symbol includes at least a first radar sensing symbol exhibiting a triangular frequency pattern; or wherein the radar sensing symbol group includes a second radar sensing symbol, the second radar sensing symbol includes at least a second radar sensing symbol exhibiting a sawtooth frequency pattern; or a combination thereof.

[0313] Clause 98. The wireless node of clause 97, wherein the second radar sensing symbol further comprises a supplemental guard period based on a sensed sensing symbol switching time.

[0314] Clause 99. A wireless node according to clause 98, wherein a total guard period length per radar sensing symbol is less than or equal to a radar sensing symbol length per radar sensing symbol, and wherein the radar sensing symbol length per radar sensing symbol is less than a communication symbol length.

[0315] Clause 100. The wireless node of any of clauses 81 to 99, wherein the wireless node is a user equipment (UE) or a network device.

[0316] Clause 101. A network component comprising: means for determining a joint communication and sensing (JCS) resource configuration, the joint communication and sensing (JCS) resource configuration comprising a set of communication time slots and a set of radar sensing time slots, wherein each communication symbol of each communication time slot in the set of communication time slots is configured for communication, and wherein at least one symbol of each radar sensing time slot in the set of radar sensing time slots is configured for radar sensing; and means for sending an indication of the JCS resource configuration to a wireless node.

[0317] Clause 102. The network component of clause 101, wherein the set of radar sensing time slots comprises a group of consecutive radar sensing time slots.

[0318] Clause 103. A network component as described in any of clauses 101 to 102, wherein the set of radar sensing time slots includes a group of radar sensing time slots, the group of radar sensing time slots being arranged in a pattern including one or more intervening communication time slots.

[0319] Clause 104. The network component of any of clauses 101 to 103, the set of radar sensing time slots being scheduled periodically, aperiodically, or semi-persistently.

[0320] Clause 105. The network component of any of clauses 101 to 104, wherein at least one radar sensing timeslot in the set of radar sensing timeslots comprises at least one radar sensing symbol group.

[0321] Clause 106. The network component of clause 105, wherein the radar sensing symbol group further comprises at least one guard period.

[0322] Clause 107. The network component of clause 106, wherein a duration of the at least one guard period is based on a sensed to communication symbol switch time or a communication to sensing symbol switch time or both.

[0323] Clause 108. A network component according to any one of clauses 105 to 107, wherein the radar sensing symbol group includes one or more radar sensing symbols, and wherein the radar sensing symbol group includes a radar sensing symbol group length that is aligned with a communication symbol length.

[0324] Clause 109. A network component according to clause 108, wherein the radar sensing symbol group includes: a first radar sensing symbol, the first radar sensing symbol including only a radar sensing symbol portion; or a second radar sensing symbol, the second radar sensing symbol including a first protection period followed by the radar sensing symbol portion; or a third radar sensing symbol, the third radar sensing symbol including the radar sensing symbol portion followed by a second protection period; or a fourth radar sensing symbol, the fourth radar sensing symbol including the first protection period followed by the radar sensing symbol portion followed by a second protection period; or any combination thereof.

[0325] Clause 110. The network component of clause 109, wherein a total guard period length per radar sensing symbol group is less than the communication symbol length, and wherein a radar sensing symbol length per radar sensing symbol group is less than or equal to the total guard period length.

[0326] Clause 111. The network component of clause 110, wherein the communication symbol length is a first multiple of the radar sensing symbol length, and wherein the total guard period length is a second multiple of the radar sensing symbol length.

[0327] Clause 112. A network component according to clause 111, wherein the communication symbol length is based on a first cyclic prefix type and the one or more radar sensing symbols each include an additional guard period portion or an additional radar sensing symbol or both that are not included in the radar sensing symbol length; or wherein the communication symbol length is based on a second cyclic prefix type and the one or more radar sensing symbols do not include the additional guard period portion and do not include the additional radar sensing symbol.

[0328] Clause 113. A network component according to any one of clauses 109 to 112, wherein each radar sensing symbol in the radar sensing symbol group includes the first guard period, the second guard period, or both; or wherein each radar sensing symbol in the radar sensing symbol group includes only the radar sensing symbol portion and does not include the first guard period or the second guard period.

[0329] Clause 114. A network component according to any one of clauses 109 to 113, wherein a guard period length for switching between communication symbols and radar sensing symbols is greater than a radar sensing symbol length per radar sensing symbol, and wherein the communication symbol length is greater than the radar sensing symbol length per radar sensing symbol.

[0330] Clause 115. A network component according to clause 114, wherein the at least one radar sensing time slot comprises: a first radar sensing time slot, the first radar sensing time slot comprising only the radar sensing symbol group and not any communication symbols or any guard period outside the radar sensing symbol group; or a second radar sensing time slot, the second radar sensing time slot comprising a first guard period followed by the radar sensing symbol group; or a third radar sensing time slot, the third radar sensing time slot comprising the first guard period followed by the radar sensing symbol group and followed by a second guard period; or a fourth radar sensing time slot, the fourth radar sensing time slot comprising a first set of communication symbols followed by the first guard period followed by the radar sensing symbol group; or a fifth radar sensing time slot, the fifth radar sensing time slot or a sixth radar sensing slot comprising the first set of communication symbols, followed by the first guard period, followed by the radar sensing symbol group, followed by the second guard period, or a seventh radar sensing slot comprising the first guard period, followed by the radar sensing symbol group, followed by the second guard period, followed by the second set of communication symbols, or an eighth radar sensing slot comprising the first set of communication symbols, followed by the first guard period, followed by the radar sensing symbol group, followed by the second guard period, followed by the second set of communication symbols, or any combination thereof.

[0331] Clause 116. A network component according to any one of clauses 105 to 115, wherein the at least one radar sensing slot comprises: a first radar sensing slot, the first radar sensing slot comprising only the radar sensing symbol group and not any communication symbols; or a second radar sensing slot, the second radar sensing slot comprising a first set of communication symbols followed by the radar sensing symbol group; or a third radar sensing slot, the third radar sensing slot comprising the radar sensing symbol group followed by a second set of communication symbols; or a fourth radar sensing slot, the fourth radar sensing slot comprising the first set of communication symbols followed by the radar sensing symbol group followed by the second set of communication symbols; or any combination thereof.

[0332] Clause 117. A network component according to any one of clauses 105 to 116, wherein the radar sensing symbol group includes a first radar sensing symbol exhibiting a triangular frequency pattern; or wherein the radar sensing symbol group includes a second radar sensing symbol exhibiting a sawtooth frequency pattern; or a combination thereof.

[0333] Clause 118. The network component of clause 117, wherein the second radar sensing symbol further comprises a supplemental guard period based on a sensed sensing symbol switching time.

[0334] Clause 119. A network component according to clause 118, wherein the total guard period length per radar sensing symbol is less than or equal to the radar sensing symbol length per radar sensing symbol, and wherein the radar sensing symbol length per radar sensing symbol is less than the communication symbol length.

[0335] Clause 120. The network component of any of clauses 101 to 119, wherein the wireless node is a user equipment (UE) or the network component.

[0336] Clause 121. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer-executable instructions that, when executed by a wireless node, cause the wireless node to: receive a joint communication and sensing (JCS) resource configuration, the joint communication and sensing (JCS) resource configuration comprising a set of communication time slots and a set of radar sensing time slots, wherein each communication symbol of each communication time slot in the set of communication time slots is configured for communication, and wherein at least one symbol of each radar sensing time slot in the set of radar sensing time slots is configured for radar sensing; and perform communication operations and sensing operations in accordance with the JCS resource configuration.

[0337] Clause 122. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of clause 121, wherein the set of radar sensing time slots comprises a group of consecutive radar sensing time slots.

[0338] Clause 123. A non-transitory computer-readable medium as described in any one of clauses 121 to 122, wherein the set of radar sensing time slots includes a group of radar sensing time slots, and the group of radar sensing time slots are arranged in a pattern that includes one or more intermediate communication time slots.

[0339] Clause 124. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any one of clauses 121 to 123, the set of radar sensing time slots being scheduled periodically, aperiodically, or semi-persistently.

[0340] Clause 125. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any one of clauses 121 to 124, wherein at least one radar sensing slot in the set of radar sensing slots comprises at least one radar sensing symbol group.

[0341] Clause 126. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of clause 125, wherein the radar sensing symbol group further comprises at least one guard period.

[0342] Clause 127. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of clause 126, wherein a duration of the at least one guard period is based on a sensed to communication symbol switch time or a communication to sensing symbol switch time or both.

[0343] Clause 128. A non-transitory computer-readable medium according to any one of clauses 125 to 127, wherein the radar sensing symbol group includes one or more radar sensing symbols, and wherein the radar sensing symbol group includes a radar sensing symbol group length that is aligned with a communication symbol length.

[0344] Clause 129. A non-transitory computer-readable medium according to clause 128, wherein the radar sensing symbol group includes: a first radar sensing symbol, the first radar sensing symbol including only a radar sensing symbol portion; or a second radar sensing symbol, the second radar sensing symbol including a first protection period followed by the radar sensing symbol portion; or a third radar sensing symbol, the third radar sensing symbol including the radar sensing symbol portion followed by a second protection period; or a fourth radar sensing symbol, the fourth radar sensing symbol including the first protection period followed by the radar sensing symbol portion followed by a second protection period; or any combination thereof.

[0345] Clause 130. A non-transitory computer-readable medium as described in clause 129, wherein a total guard period length per radar sensing symbol group is less than the communication symbol length, and wherein a radar sensing symbol length per radar sensing symbol group is less than or equal to the total guard period length.

[0346] Clause 131. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of clause 130, wherein the communication symbol length is a first multiple of the radar sensing symbol length, and wherein the total guard period length is a second multiple of the radar sensing symbol length.

[0347] Clause 132. A non-transitory computer-readable medium according to clause 131, wherein the communication symbol length is based on a first cyclic prefix type and the one or more radar sensing symbols each include an additional guard period portion or an additional radar sensing symbol or both that are not included in the radar sensing symbol length; or wherein the communication symbol length is based on a second cyclic prefix type and the one or more radar sensing symbols do not include the additional guard period portion and do not include the additional radar sensing symbol.

[0348] Clause 133. A non-transitory computer-readable medium according to any one of clauses 129 to 132, wherein each radar sensing symbol in the radar sensing symbol group includes the first protection period, the second protection period, or both; or wherein each radar sensing symbol in the radar sensing symbol group includes only the radar sensing symbol portion and does not include the first protection period or the second protection period.

[0349] Clause 134. A non-transitory computer-readable medium according to any one of clauses 129 to 133, wherein a guard period length for switching between communication symbols and radar sensing symbols is greater than a radar sensing symbol length per radar sensing symbol, and wherein the communication symbol length is greater than the radar sensing symbol length per radar sensing symbol.

[0350] Clause 135. A non-transitory computer-readable medium according to clause 134, wherein the at least one radar sensing time slot comprises: a first radar sensing time slot, the first radar sensing time slot comprising only the radar sensing symbol group and not any communication symbols or any guard period outside the radar sensing symbol group; or a second radar sensing time slot, the second radar sensing time slot comprising a first guard period followed by the radar sensing symbol group; or a third radar sensing time slot, the third radar sensing time slot comprising the first guard period followed by the radar sensing symbol group and followed by a second guard period; or a fourth radar sensing time slot, the fourth radar sensing time slot comprising a first set of communication symbols followed by the first guard period followed by the radar sensing symbol group; or a fifth radar sensing time slot, the fifth radar sensing time slot comprising a first set of communication symbols followed by the first guard period followed by the radar sensing symbol group. or a sixth radar sensing slot comprising the first set of communication symbols, followed by the first guard period, followed by the radar sensing symbol group, followed by the second guard period, or a seventh radar sensing slot comprising the first guard period, followed by the radar sensing symbol group, followed by the second guard period, followed by the second set of communication symbols, or an eighth radar sensing slot comprising the first set of communication symbols, followed by the first guard period, followed by the radar sensing symbol group, followed by the second guard period, followed by the second set of communication symbols, or any combination thereof.

[0351] Clause 136. A non-transitory computer-readable medium according to any one of clauses 125 to 135, wherein the at least one radar sensing slot comprises: a first radar sensing slot, the first radar sensing slot including only the radar sensing symbol group and not any communication symbols; or a second radar sensing slot, the second radar sensing slot including a first set of communication symbols followed by the radar sensing symbol group; or a third radar sensing slot, the third radar sensing slot including the radar sensing symbol group followed by a second set of communication symbols; or a fourth radar sensing slot, the fourth radar sensing slot including the first set of communication symbols followed by the radar sensing symbol group followed by the second set of communication symbols; or any combination thereof.

[0352] Clause 137. A non-transitory computer-readable medium according to any one of clauses 125 to 136, wherein the radar sensing symbol group includes a first radar sensing symbol, the first radar sensing symbol including at least a first radar sensing symbol exhibiting a triangular frequency pattern; or wherein the radar sensing symbol group includes a second radar sensing symbol, the second radar sensing symbol including at least a second radar sensing symbol exhibiting a sawtooth frequency pattern; or a combination thereof.

[0353] Clause 138. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of clause 137, wherein the second radar sensing symbol further comprises a supplemental guard period based on a sensed sensing symbol switching time.

[0354] Clause 139. A non-transitory computer-readable medium according to clause 138, wherein the total guard period length per radar sensing symbol is less than or equal to the radar sensing symbol length per radar sensing symbol, and wherein the radar sensing symbol length per radar sensing symbol is less than the communication symbol length.

[0355] Clause 140. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any one of clauses 121 to 139, wherein the wireless node is a user equipment (UE) or a network device.

[0356] Clause 141. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer-executable instructions that, when executed by a network component, cause the network component to: determine a joint communication and sensing (JCS) resource configuration, the joint communication and sensing (JCS) resource configuration comprising a set of communication time slots and a set of radar sensing time slots, wherein each communication symbol of each communication time slot in the set of communication time slots is configured for communication, and wherein at least one symbol of each radar sensing time slot in the set of radar sensing time slots is configured for radar sensing; and send an indication of the JCS resource configuration to a wireless node.

[0357] Clause 142. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of clause 141, wherein the set of radar sensing time slots comprises a group of consecutive radar sensing time slots.

[0358] Clause 143. A non-transitory computer-readable medium as described in any one of clauses 141 to 142, wherein the set of radar sensing time slots includes a group of radar sensing time slots, and the group of radar sensing time slots are arranged in a pattern that includes one or more intermediate communication time slots.

[0359] Clause 144. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any one of clauses 141 to 143, the set of radar sensing time slots being scheduled periodically, aperiodically, or semi-persistently.

[0360] Clause 145. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any one of clauses 141 to 144, wherein at least one radar sensing slot in the set of radar sensing slots comprises at least one radar sensing symbol group.

[0361] Clause 146. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of clause 145, wherein the radar sensing symbol group further comprises at least one guard period.

[0362] Clause 147. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of clause 146, wherein a duration of the at least one guard period is based on a sensed to communication symbol switch time or a communication to sensing symbol switch time or both.

[0363] Clause 148. A non-transitory computer-readable medium according to any one of clauses 145 to 147, wherein the radar sensing symbol group includes one or more radar sensing symbols, and wherein the radar sensing symbol group includes a radar sensing symbol group length that is aligned with a communication symbol length.

[0364] Clause 149. A non-transitory computer-readable medium according to clause 148, wherein the radar sensing symbol group includes: a first radar sensing symbol, the first radar sensing symbol including only a radar sensing symbol portion; or a second radar sensing symbol, the second radar sensing symbol including a first protection period followed by the radar sensing symbol portion; or a third radar sensing symbol, the third radar sensing symbol including the radar sensing symbol portion followed by a second protection period; or a fourth radar sensing symbol, the fourth radar sensing symbol including the first protection period followed by the radar sensing symbol portion followed by a second protection period; or any combination thereof.

[0365] Clause 150. A non-transitory computer-readable medium as described in clause 149, wherein a total guard period length per radar sensing symbol group is less than the communication symbol length, and wherein a radar sensing symbol length per radar sensing symbol group is less than or equal to the total guard period length.

[0366] Clause 151. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of clause 150, wherein the communication symbol length is a first multiple of the radar sensing symbol length, and wherein the total guard period length is a second multiple of the radar sensing symbol length.

[0367] Clause 152. A non-transitory computer-readable medium according to clause 151, wherein the communication symbol length is based on a first cyclic prefix type and the one or more radar sensing symbols each include an additional guard period portion or an additional radar sensing symbol or both that are not included in the radar sensing symbol length; or wherein the communication symbol length is based on a second cyclic prefix type and the one or more radar sensing symbols do not include the additional guard period portion and do not include the additional radar sensing symbol.

[0368] Clause 153. A non-transitory computer-readable medium according to any one of clauses 149 to 152, wherein each radar sensing symbol in the radar sensing symbol group includes the first protection period, the second protection period, or both; or wherein each radar sensing symbol in the radar sensing symbol group includes only the radar sensing symbol portion and does not include the first protection period or the second protection period.

[0369] Clause 154. A non-transitory computer-readable medium according to any one of clauses 149 to 153, wherein a guard period length for switching between communication symbols and radar sensing symbols is greater than a radar sensing symbol length per radar sensing symbol, and wherein the communication symbol length is greater than the radar sensing symbol length per radar sensing symbol.

[0370] Clause 155. A non-transitory computer-readable medium according to clause 154, wherein the at least one radar sensing time slot comprises: a first radar sensing time slot, the first radar sensing time slot comprising only the radar sensing symbol group and not any communication symbols or any guard period outside the radar sensing symbol group; or a second radar sensing time slot, the second radar sensing time slot comprising a first guard period followed by the radar sensing symbol group; or a third radar sensing time slot, the third radar sensing time slot comprising the first guard period followed by the radar sensing symbol group and followed by a second guard period; or a fourth radar sensing time slot, the fourth radar sensing time slot comprising a first set of communication symbols followed by the first guard period followed by the radar sensing symbol group; or a fifth radar sensing time slot, the fifth radar sensing time slot comprising a first set of communication symbols followed by the first guard period followed by the radar sensing symbol group. or a sixth radar sensing slot comprising the first set of communication symbols, followed by the first guard period, followed by the radar sensing symbol group, followed by the second guard period, or a seventh radar sensing slot comprising the first guard period, followed by the radar sensing symbol group, followed by the second guard period, followed by the second set of communication symbols, or an eighth radar sensing slot comprising the first set of communication symbols, followed by the first guard period, followed by the radar sensing symbol group, followed by the second guard period, followed by the second set of communication symbols, or any combination thereof.

[0371] Clause 156. A non-transitory computer-readable medium according to any one of clauses 145 to 155, wherein the at least one radar sensing slot comprises: a first radar sensing slot, the first radar sensing slot including only the radar sensing symbol group and not any communication symbols; or a second radar sensing slot, the second radar sensing slot including a first set of communication symbols followed by the radar sensing symbol group; or a third radar sensing slot, the third radar sensing slot including the radar sensing symbol group followed by a second set of communication symbols; or a fourth radar sensing slot, the fourth radar sensing slot including the first set of communication symbols followed by the radar sensing symbol group followed by the second set of communication symbols; or any combination thereof.

[0372] Clause 157. A non-transitory computer-readable medium according to any one of clauses 145 to 156, wherein the radar sensing symbol group includes a first radar sensing symbol exhibiting a triangular frequency pattern; or wherein the radar sensing symbol group includes a second radar sensing symbol exhibiting a sawtooth frequency pattern; or a combination thereof.

[0373] Clause 158. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of clause 157, wherein the second radar sensing symbol further comprises a supplemental guard period based on a sensed sensing symbol switching time.

[0374] Clause 159. A non-transitory computer-readable medium according to clause 158, wherein the total guard period length per radar sensing symbol is less than or equal to the radar sensing symbol length per radar sensing symbol, and wherein the radar sensing symbol length per radar sensing symbol is less than the communication symbol length.

[0375] Clause 160. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any one of clauses 141 to 159, wherein the wireless node is a user equipment (UE) or the network component.

[0376] 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.

[0377] 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.

[0378] The various illustrative logical blocks, modules, and circuits described in conjunction with the various aspects disclosed herein may be implemented or executed using a general-purpose processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an ASIC, a field programmable gate array (FPGA) or other programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic 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.

[0379] 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 such that the processor can read information from 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., a UE). In an alternative embodiment, the processor and storage medium may reside in the user terminal as discrete components.

[0380] In one or more exemplary aspects, the described functions may be implemented in hardware, software, firmware, or any combination thereof. If implemented in software, the functions may be stored on or transmitted via a computer-readable medium as one or more instructions or code. Computer-readable media includes both computer storage media and communication media, including any medium that facilitates the transfer of a computer program from one location to another. A storage medium 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 the desired program code in the form of instructions or data structures and that can be accessed by a computer. Furthermore, any connection is properly termed a computer-readable medium. For example, if the software is transmitted from a website, server, or other remote source using a coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, digital subscriber line (DSL), or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio, and microwaves, then the coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, DSL, or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio, and microwaves are included within 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.

[0381] Although 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. In addition, the functions, steps, and / or actions of the method claims according to the various aspects of the present disclosure described herein do not need to be performed in any particular order. Furthermore, although elements of the present disclosure may be described or claimed in the singular, plural forms are also contemplated unless explicitly stated to be limited to the singular.

Claims

1. A method of operating a wireless node, the method comprising: receiving a joint communication and sensing (JCS) resource configuration comprising a set of communication time slots and a set of radar sensing time slots, wherein each communication symbol of each communication time slot in said set of communication time slots is configured for communication, and wherein at least one symbol of each radar sensing time slot in said set of radar sensing time slots is configured for radar sensing; as well as Communication operations and sensing operations are performed according to the JCS resource configuration. 2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the set of radar sensing time slots comprises a group of consecutive radar sensing time slots.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the set of radar sensing time slots comprises a group of radar sensing time slots arranged in a pattern that includes one or more intervening communication time slots. 4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the set of radar sensing time slots is scheduled periodically, aperiodically, or semi-persistently. 5 . The method of claim 1 , wherein at least one radar sensing time slot in the set of radar sensing time slots comprises at least one radar sensing symbol group. The method of claim 5 , wherein the radar sensing symbol group further comprises at least one guard period.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the duration of the at least one guard period is based on a sensed to communication symbol switching time or a communication to sensing symbol switching time or both.

8. The method according to claim 5, wherein the radar sensing symbol group includes one or more radar sensing symbols, and The radar sensing symbol group includes a radar sensing symbol group length aligned with a communication symbol length.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the radar sensing symbol group comprises: a first radar sensing symbol, wherein the first radar sensing symbol only includes a radar sensing symbol portion; or a second radar sensing symbol, the second radar sensing symbol comprising a first guard period followed by the radar sensing symbol portion; or a third radar sensing symbol, the third radar sensing symbol comprising the radar sensing symbol portion followed by a second guard period; or a fourth radar sensing symbol, the fourth radar sensing symbol comprising the first guard period, followed by the radar sensing symbol portion, and followed by a second guard period; or Any combination of them.

10. The method according to claim 9, wherein the total protection period length of each radar sensing symbol group is less than the communication symbol length, and The radar sensing symbol length of each radar sensing symbol group is less than or equal to the total protection period length.

11. The method according to claim 10, wherein the communication symbol length is a first multiple of the radar sensing symbol length, and The total guard period length is a second multiple of the radar sensing symbol length.

12. The method according to claim 11, wherein the communication symbol length is based on a first cyclic prefix type, and the one or more radar sensing symbols each include an additional guard period portion or an additional radar sensing symbol, or both, that is not included in the radar sensing symbol length; or The communication symbol length is based on a second cyclic prefix type, and the one or more radar sensing symbols do not include the additional guard period portion and do not include the additional radar sensing symbol.

13. The method according to claim 9, wherein each radar sensing symbol in the radar sensing symbol group includes the first guard period, the second guard period, or both; or Each radar sensing symbol in the radar sensing symbol group includes only the radar sensing symbol portion but does not include the first guard period or the second guard period.

14. The method according to claim 9, wherein a guard period length for switching between communication symbols and radar sensing symbols is greater than a radar sensing symbol length of each radar sensing symbol, and The communication symbol length is greater than the radar sensing symbol length of each radar sensing symbol.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the at least one radar sensing time slot comprises: a first radar sensing time slot, wherein the first radar sensing time slot includes only the radar sensing symbol group and does not include any communication symbols or any guard period outside the radar sensing symbol group; or a second radar sensing time slot comprising a first guard period followed by the radar sensing symbol group; or a third radar sensing time slot, the third radar sensing time slot comprising the first guard period followed by the radar sensing symbol group followed by a second guard period; or a fourth radar sensing timeslot comprising a first set of communication symbols followed by the first guard period followed by the group of radar sensing symbols; or a fifth radar sensing time slot, the fifth radar sensing time slot comprising the first set of communication symbols followed by the first guard period followed by the radar sensing symbol group followed by the second guard period; or a sixth radar sensing time slot, the sixth radar sensing time slot comprising the radar sensing symbol group, followed by the second guard period, and followed by a second set of communication symbols; or a seventh radar sensing time slot, the seventh radar sensing time slot comprising the first guard period followed by the radar sensing symbol group, followed by the second guard period, followed by the second set of communication symbols; or an eighth radar sensing slot comprising the first set of communication symbols, followed by the first guard period, followed by the radar sensing symbol group, followed by the second guard period, followed by the second set of communication symbols; or Any combination of them.

16. The method of claim 5, wherein the at least one radar sensing time slot comprises: a first radar sensing time slot, wherein the first radar sensing time slot includes only the radar sensing symbol group and does not include any communication symbols; or a second radar sensing slot comprising a first set of communication symbols followed by the group of radar sensing symbols; or a third radar sensing slot comprising the group of radar sensing symbols followed by a second set of communication symbols; or a fourth radar sensing slot comprising the first set of communication symbols followed by the group of radar sensing symbols followed by the second set of communication symbols; or Any combination of them.

17. The method according to claim 5, wherein the radar sensing symbol group includes a first radar sensing symbol, and the first radar sensing symbol includes at least a first radar sensing symbol exhibiting a triangular frequency pattern; or wherein the radar sensing symbol group includes a second radar sensing symbol, and the second radar sensing symbol includes at least a second radar sensing symbol exhibiting a sawtooth frequency pattern; or A combination of them. 18 . The method of claim 17 , wherein the second radar sensing symbol further comprises a supplementary guard period based on a sensed sensing symbol switching time.

19. The method according to claim 18, wherein the total guard period length of each radar sensing symbol is less than or equal to the radar sensing symbol length of each radar sensing symbol, and The radar sensing symbol length of each radar sensing symbol is smaller than the communication symbol length.

20. The method of claim 1, wherein the wireless node is a user equipment (UE) or a network device.

21. A method of operating a network component, the method comprising: determining a joint communication and sensing (JCS) resource configuration comprising a set of communication time slots and a set of radar sensing time slots, wherein each communication symbol of each communication time slot in said set of communication time slots is configured for communication, and wherein at least one symbol of each radar sensing time slot in said set of radar sensing time slots is configured for radar sensing; and An indication of the JCS resource configuration is sent to a wireless node.

22. The method of claim 21, wherein the set of radar sensing time slots comprises a group of consecutive radar sensing time slots.

23. The method of claim 21, wherein the set of radar sensing time slots comprises a group of radar sensing time slots arranged in a pattern that includes one or more intervening communication time slots.

24. The method of claim 21, the set of radar sensing time slots being scheduled periodically, aperiodically, or semi-persistently.

25. The method of claim 21, wherein at least one radar sensing slot in the set of radar sensing slots comprises at least one radar sensing symbol group.

26. The method of claim 25, wherein the radar sensing symbol group further comprises at least one guard period.

27. The method of claim 26, wherein the duration of the at least one guard period is based on a sensed to communication symbol switching time or a communication to sensing symbol switching time or both.

28. The method according to claim 25, wherein the radar sensing symbol group includes one or more radar sensing symbols, and The radar sensing symbol group includes a radar sensing symbol group length aligned with a communication symbol length.

29. The method of claim 28, wherein the radar sensing symbol set comprises: a first radar sensing symbol, wherein the first radar sensing symbol only includes a radar sensing symbol portion; or a second radar sensing symbol, the second radar sensing symbol comprising a first guard period followed by the radar sensing symbol portion; or a third radar sensing symbol, the third radar sensing symbol comprising the radar sensing symbol portion followed by a second guard period; or a fourth radar sensing symbol, the fourth radar sensing symbol comprising the first guard period, followed by the radar sensing symbol portion, and followed by a second guard period; or Any combination of them.

30. The method according to claim 29, wherein the total protection period length of each radar sensing symbol group is less than the communication symbol length, and The radar sensing symbol length of each radar sensing symbol group is less than or equal to the total protection period length.

31. The method according to claim 30, wherein the communication symbol length is a first multiple of the radar sensing symbol length, and The total guard period length is a second multiple of the radar sensing symbol length.

32. The method according to claim 31, wherein the communication symbol length is based on a first cyclic prefix type, and the one or more radar sensing symbols each include an additional guard period portion or an additional radar sensing symbol, or both, that is not included in the radar sensing symbol length; or The communication symbol length is based on a second cyclic prefix type, and the one or more radar sensing symbols do not include the additional guard period portion and do not include the additional radar sensing symbol.

33. The method according to claim 29, wherein each radar sensing symbol in the radar sensing symbol group includes the first guard period, the second guard period, or both; or Each radar sensing symbol in the radar sensing symbol group includes only the radar sensing symbol portion but does not include the first guard period or the second guard period.

34. The method according to claim 29, wherein a guard period length for switching between communication symbols and radar sensing symbols is greater than a radar sensing symbol length of each radar sensing symbol, and The communication symbol length is greater than the radar sensing symbol length of each radar sensing symbol.

35. The method of claim 34, wherein the at least one radar sensing time slot comprises: a first radar sensing time slot, wherein the first radar sensing time slot includes only the radar sensing symbol group and does not include any communication symbols or any guard period outside the radar sensing symbol group; or a second radar sensing time slot comprising a first guard period followed by the radar sensing symbol group; or a third radar sensing time slot, the third radar sensing time slot comprising the first guard period followed by the radar sensing symbol group followed by a second guard period; or a fourth radar sensing timeslot comprising a first set of communication symbols followed by the first guard period followed by the group of radar sensing symbols; or a fifth radar sensing time slot, the fifth radar sensing time slot comprising the first set of communication symbols followed by the first guard period followed by the radar sensing symbol group followed by the second guard period; or a sixth radar sensing time slot, the sixth radar sensing time slot comprising the radar sensing symbol group, followed by the second guard period, and followed by a second set of communication symbols; or a seventh radar sensing time slot, the seventh radar sensing time slot comprising the first guard period followed by the radar sensing symbol group, followed by the second guard period, followed by the second set of communication symbols; or an eighth radar sensing slot comprising the first set of communication symbols, followed by the first guard period, followed by the radar sensing symbol group, followed by the second guard period, followed by the second set of communication symbols; or Any combination of them.

36. The method of claim 25, wherein the at least one radar sensing time slot comprises: a first radar sensing time slot, wherein the first radar sensing time slot includes only the radar sensing symbol group and does not include any communication symbols; or a second radar sensing slot comprising a first set of communication symbols followed by the group of radar sensing symbols; or a third radar sensing slot comprising the group of radar sensing symbols followed by a second set of communication symbols; or a fourth radar sensing slot comprising the first set of communication symbols followed by the group of radar sensing symbols followed by the second set of communication symbols; or Any combination of them.

37. The method according to claim 25, wherein the radar sensing symbol group includes a first radar sensing symbol exhibiting a triangular frequency pattern; or wherein the radar sensing symbol group includes a second radar sensing symbol exhibiting a sawtooth frequency pattern; or A combination of them.

38. The method of claim 37, wherein the second radar sensing symbol further includes a supplemental guard period based on a sensed sensing symbol switching time.

39. The method according to claim 38, wherein the total guard period length of each radar sensing symbol is less than or equal to the radar sensing symbol length of each radar sensing symbol, and The radar sensing symbol length of each radar sensing symbol is smaller than the communication symbol length.

40. The method of claim 21, wherein the wireless node is a user equipment (UE) or the network component.

41. A wireless node, 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: receiving, via the at least one transceiver, a joint communication and sensing (JCS) resource configuration comprising a set of communication time slots and a set of radar sensing time slots, wherein each communication symbol of each communication time slot in said set of communication time slots is configured for communication, and wherein at least one symbol of each radar sensing time slot in said set of radar sensing time slots is configured for radar sensing; as well as Communication operations and sensing operations are performed according to the JCS resource configuration.

42. The wireless node of claim 41, wherein the set of radar sensing time slots comprises a group of consecutive radar sensing time slots.

43. The wireless node of claim 41, wherein the set of radar sensing time slots comprises a group of radar sensing time slots arranged in a pattern that includes one or more intervening communication time slots.

44. The wireless node of claim 41, the set of radar sensing time slots is scheduled periodically, aperiodically, or semi-persistently.

45. The wireless node of claim 41, wherein at least one radar sensing slot in the set of radar sensing slots comprises at least one radar sensing symbol group. The wireless node is a user equipment (UE) or a network device.

46. ​​A network component, 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: determining a joint communication and sensing (JCS) resource configuration comprising a set of communication time slots and a set of radar sensing time slots, wherein each communication symbol of each communication time slot in said set of communication time slots is configured for communication, and wherein at least one symbol of each radar sensing time slot in said set of radar sensing time slots is configured for radar sensing; as well as An indication of the JCS resource configuration is sent to a wireless node via the at least one transceiver.

47. The network component of claim 46, wherein the set of radar sensing time slots comprises a group of consecutive radar sensing time slots.

48. The network component of claim 46, wherein the set of radar sensing time slots comprises a group of radar sensing time slots arranged in a pattern that includes one or more intervening communication time slots.

49. The network component of claim 46, the set of radar sensing time slots being scheduled periodically, aperiodically, or semi-persistently.

50. The network component of claim 46, wherein at least one radar sensing slot in the set of radar sensing slots comprises at least one radar sensing symbol group.

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