Enhanced radio frequency (RF) sensing measurement reporting in cellular systems

Abstract

Systems, apparatus, processes, and computer-readable media for wireless communication are disclosed. For example, a network device may receive one or more radio frequency (RF) sensing resources. The network device may determine RF sensing measurements based on the one or more RF sensing resources. For example, RF sensing measurements may be based on at least one use case for RF sensing. The network device may send a measurement report to a network entity, the measurement report including RF sensing measurements for at least one use case for RF sensing.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present disclosure generally relates to scheduling and / or processing sensing and communication signals for joint communication and sensing.For example, aspects of the present disclosure relate to providing enhancements to radio frequency (RF) sensing measurement reporting in wireless communication systems (eg, cellular systems). Background Art

[0002] Wireless communication systems are widely deployed to provide various types of communication content, such as voice, video, packet data, messaging, and broadcast. These systems may be capable of supporting communication with multiple users by sharing available system resources (e.g., time, frequency, and power). Examples of such multiple-access systems include fourth-generation (4G) systems (such as Long Term Evolution (LTE), LTE-Advanced (LTE-A), or LTE-A Pro) systems) and fifth-generation (5G) systems (which may be referred to as New Radio (NR) systems). These systems may employ technologies such as code division multiple access (CDMA), time division multiple access (TDMA), frequency division multiple access (FDMA), orthogonal FDMA (OFDMA), or discrete Fourier transform-spread orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (DFT-S-OFDM). A wireless multiple-access communication system may include one or more base stations or one or more network access nodes, each of which simultaneously supports communication for multiple communication devices, which may also be referred to as user equipment (UE). Some wireless communication systems may support communication between UEs, which may involve direct transmission between two or more UEs.

[0003] As larger bandwidths are allocated to wireless cellular communication systems (e.g., including 5G and beyond 5G) and more use cases are introduced into cellular communication systems, multiplexing sensing and communication signals for joint communication and sensing may be an essential feature of existing or future wireless communication systems, such as to enhance the overall spectrum efficiency of the wireless communication network. Summary of the Invention

[0004] 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.

[0005] Systems and techniques for wireless communications are described. According to at least one example, a network device for wireless communications is provided. The network device includes at least one memory and at least one processor, the at least one processor coupled to the at least one memory and configured to: receive one or more radio frequency (RF) sensing resources; determine RF sensing measurements based on the one or more RF sensing resources, wherein the RF sensing measurements are based on at least one use case for RF sensing; and send a measurement report to a network entity, the measurement report including the RF sensing measurements for the at least one use case for RF sensing.

[0006] In another illustrative example, a method for wireless communication at a network device is provided. The method includes: receiving, by the network device, one or more radio frequency (RF) sensing resources; determining, by the network device, RF sensing measurements based on the one or more RF sensing resources, wherein the RF sensing measurements are based on at least one use case for RF sensing; and sending, by the network device, a measurement report to a network entity, the measurement report including the RF sensing measurements for the at least one use case for RF sensing.

[0007] In another illustrative example, a non-transitory computer-readable medium of a network device is provided having instructions stored thereon, which instructions, when executed by at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to: receive one or more radio frequency (RF) sensing resources; determine RF sensing measurements based on the one or more RF sensing resources, wherein the RF sensing measurements are based on at least one use case for RF sensing; and send a measurement report to a network entity, the measurement report including the RF sensing measurements for the at least one use case for the RF sensing.

[0008] In another illustrative example, an apparatus for wireless communication is provided, comprising: a component for receiving one or more radio frequency (RF) sensing resources; a component for determining RF sensing measurements based on the one or more RF sensing resources, wherein the RF sensing measurements are based on at least one use case for RF sensing; and a component for sending a measurement report to a network entity, the measurement report including the RF sensing measurements for the at least one use case for the RF sensing.

[0009] In some aspects, one or more of the network devices, apparatuses, or other devices described herein is, is part of, and / or includes a user equipment (UE), a base station (e.g., a gNodeB (gNB), an eNodeB (eNB), etc.), or a portion of a base station (e.g., one or more of a central unit (CU), a distributed unit (DU), a radio unit (RU), a near real-time (near-RT) RAN intelligent controller (RIC), or a non-real-time (non-RT) RIC of the base station). The UE can be a wearable device, an extended reality (XR) device (e.g., a virtual reality (VR) device, an augmented reality (AR) device, or a mixed reality (MR) device), a head-mounted display (HMD) device, a wireless communication device, a mobile device (e.g., a mobile phone and / or a mobile handset and / or a so-called "smartphone" or other mobile device), a camera, a personal computer, a laptop computer, a server computer, a vehicle, or a computing device or a component of a vehicle, another device, or a combination thereof. In some aspects, the one or more of the network devices, apparatuses, or other devices can include one or more cameras for capturing one or more images. In some examples, the one or more of the network devices, apparatuses, or other devices may also include a display for displaying one or more images, notifications, and / or other displayable data. In some cases, the one or more of the network devices, apparatuses, or other devices may include one or more receivers, transmitters, or transceivers for receiving and / or sending wireless communications.

[0010] This summary is not intended to identify key or essential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended to be used in isolation to determine the scope of the claimed subject matter. This subject matter should be understood by reference to appropriate portions of the entire specification of this patent, any or all of the drawings, and each claim.

[0011] The foregoing and other features and aspects will become more apparent upon reference to the following description, claims and accompanying drawings. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0012] 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.

[0013] Figure 1 is a diagram illustrating an example wireless communication system that may be employed by the disclosed systems and techniques for enhancements to radio frequency (RF) sensing measurement reporting in cellular systems, in accordance with some aspects of the present disclosure.

[0014] Figure 2is a diagram illustrating an example of a decomposed base station architecture that may be employed by the disclosed systems and techniques for enhanced RF sensing measurement reporting in a cellular system, in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure.

[0015] Figure 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of a frame structure that may be employed by the disclosed systems and techniques for enhancements to RF sensing measurement reporting in cellular systems, in accordance with some aspects of the present disclosure.

[0016] Figure 4 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a computing system of an electronic device that may be employed by the disclosed systems and techniques for enhanced RF sensing measurement reporting in cellular systems, in accordance with some aspects of the present disclosure.

[0017] Figure 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of a wireless device utilizing radio frequency (RF) monostatic sensing techniques, according to some aspects of the present disclosure, that may be used by the disclosed systems and techniques described herein to determine one or more characteristics of a target object.

[0018] Figure 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of a receiver utilizing RF bistatic sensing techniques with one transmitter, according to some aspects of the present disclosure, which may be used by the disclosed systems and techniques described herein to determine one or more characteristics of a target object.

[0019] Figure 7 is a diagram illustrating an example of a receiver utilizing RF bistatic sensing techniques with multiple transmitters, according to some aspects of the present disclosure, which may be used by the disclosed systems and techniques described herein to determine one or more characteristics of a target object.

[0020] Figure 8 is a diagram illustrating example geometries for bistatic (or monostatic) sensing according to some aspects of the present disclosure.

[0021] Figure 9 is a diagram illustrating bistatic distances for bistatic sensing according to some aspects of the present disclosure.

[0022] Figure 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of devices involved in wireless communications (eg, sidelink communications) according to some aspects of the present disclosure.

[0023] Figure 11 is a diagram illustrating an example of a conventional comb structure for a reference signal.

[0024] Figure 12is a diagram illustrating an example of a system for enhancement of RF sensing measurement reporting in a cellular system, wherein the system is performing bistatic sensing of a target, in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure.

[0025] Figure 13 is a diagram illustrating an example of a use case for wide-area RF sensing in accordance with some aspects of the present disclosure.

[0026] Figure 14 is a table showing examples of different measurements for different use cases for wide area RF sensing, according to some aspects of the present disclosure.

[0027] Figure 15 is a table showing examples of different measurements for different use cases for short-range sensing, according to some aspects of the present disclosure.

[0028] Figure 16 is a diagram illustrating an example of reporting downsampled frequency-domain channel measurements according to some aspects of the present disclosure.

[0029] Figure 17 is a diagram illustrating an example of reporting frequency-domain channel measurements for antennas according to some aspects of the present disclosure.

[0030] Figure 18 is a flow chart illustrating an example of a process for wireless communications utilizing an enhanced method for RF sensing measurement reporting in a cellular system, according to some aspects of the present disclosure.

[0031] Figure 19 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a computing system that may be employed by the disclosed system and used for enhancements to RF sensing measurement reporting in a cellular system, in accordance with some aspects of the present disclosure. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0032] For illustrative purposes, certain aspects of the present disclosure are provided below. Without departing from the scope of the present disclosure, alternative aspects can be designed. Additionally, well-known elements of the present disclosure will not be described in detail or will be omitted to avoid making the relevant details of the present disclosure difficult to understand. Some aspects described herein can be applied independently, and some of them can be applied in combination, which will be apparent to those skilled in the art. In the following description, specific details are set forth for explanation purposes to provide a thorough understanding of various aspects of the application. However, it will be apparent that various aspects can be implemented without these specific details. Each drawing and description is not intended to be restrictive.

[0033] The following description provides only exemplary aspects and is not intended to limit the scope, applicability, or configuration of the present disclosure. Instead, the following description of the exemplary aspects will provide those skilled in the art with a description that can be used to implement the exemplary aspects. It should be understood that various changes may be made to the function and arrangement of the elements without departing from the scope of the present application as set forth in the appended claims.

[0034] Radar sensing systems use radio frequency (RF) waveforms to perform RF sensing to determine or estimate one or more characteristics of a target object, such as its range, angle, and / or velocity. Target objects may include vehicles, obstacles, users, buildings, or other objects. A typical radar system includes at least one transmitter, at least one receiver, and at least one processor. A radar sensing system can perform monostatic sensing when using a single receiver co-located with the transmitter. It can perform bistatic sensing when using a single receiver located on a first device remotely from a transmitter on a second device. Similarly, it can perform multistatic sensing when using multiple receivers on multiple devices, all remotely located from at least one transmitter on at least one device.

[0035] During operation of a radar sensing system, a transmitter transmits an electromagnetic (EM) signal in the RF domain toward a target object. The signal reflects from the target object to produce one or more reflected signals that provide information or properties about the target, such as the target object's position and velocity. At least one receiver receives the one or more reflected signals, and at least one processor, which may be associated with the at least one receiver, utilizes the information from the one or more reflected signals to determine information or properties about the target object. The target object may also be referred to herein as a target.

[0036] Generally speaking, RF sensing involves monitoring moving targets with varying motions (e.g., moving cars or pedestrians, human body motions such as breathing, and / or other micro-motions associated with the target). Doppler, which measures phase changes in the signal and indicates motion, is an important characteristic for sensing targets.

[0037] In some cases, radar sensing signals, which may be referred to as radar reference signals (RS), such as sensing reference signals (S-RS), may be designed and used for sensing purposes. Radar RSs do not contain any communication information. In contrast, communication RSs, such as demodulation reference signals (DMRS), are typically designed and used only for communication purposes, such as estimating communication channel parameters.

[0038] Cellular communication systems are designed to transmit communication signals in designated communication frequency bands (e.g., 23 gigahertz (GHz), 3.5 GHz, etc. for 5G / NR, 2.2 GHz, etc. for LTE). RF sensing systems are designed to transmit RF sensing signals in designated radar RF frequency bands (e.g., 77 GHz for autonomous driving). In future cellular communication systems, the spectrum used for communication and sensing is likely to be shared; in this case, communication and sensing should be considered jointly.

[0039] In some cases, as wireless communication systems (e.g., including cellular communication systems such as 4G / LTE, 5G / NR, and beyond) are allocated greater bandwidth and more use cases are introduced, joint communication and sensing (JCS) may become an essential feature of existing or future wireless communication systems. For example, in the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) Release 18, several companies have proposed research on "integrated RF sensing and communication." In 3GPP Release 19, more companies are expected to propose research on JCS or RF sensing in NR. Simultaneously performing wireless communication and radar sensing can provide cost-effective deployment of both radar and communication systems.

[0040] In dual-station sensing, multi-station sensing, and single-station sensing, a sensing node (e.g., a network device, which may be in the form of a UE such as a smartphone, or a base station such as a gNB) may need to report sensing measurements to the network (e.g., to a network entity, which may be in the form of a network server such as a radar server or a location server). This reporting of sensing measurements by the sensing node may be similar to the NR process of reporting measurements for UE positioning.

[0041] However, RF sensing measurements are typically different from measurements used for UE positioning. For example, in contrast to RF sensing measurements, UE positioning measurement reports typically only involve line-of-sight (LOS) paths or multiple hypotheses of LOS paths (e.g., including multiple time-of-arrival (TOA) measurements and / or other multiple time-correlated measurements).

[0042] Furthermore, the number of different types of sensing measurements used for RF sensing can be greater than the number of types of positioning measurements used for UE positioning, particularly given the many different use cases for RF sensing. For example, a UE positioning measurement may include an angle estimate. However, an RF sensing measurement may include an angle estimate as well as a velocity estimate and a distance estimate.

[0043] In some cases, for RF sensing, machine learning and / or artificial intelligence (AI) techniques can be used to extract information from raw channel estimates (e.g., from raw measurements). For RF sensing, raw measurements can provide additional sensing information, such as angle, distance, and velocity, beyond that obtained from signal measurements. For RF sensing, raw measurements, including raw channel estimates, can potentially be used to extract rich sensing information about the sensed environment. Therefore, enhancements to RF sensing measurement reporting for wireless communication systems (e.g., cellular systems) can be beneficial.

[0044] In some aspects of the present disclosure, systems, apparatus, methods (also referred to as processes), and computer-readable media (collectively referred to herein as "systems and techniques") are described herein that provide solutions for enhancing RF sensing measurement reporting in cellular systems. The systems and techniques provide various measurement reports for RF sensing, including but not limited to per-use case measurement reporting, frequency domain measurement reporting, and multi-step sensing measurement reporting.

[0045] The systems and techniques described herein offer various advantages over existing systems, including reduced signaling overhead, improved RF sensing performance, prioritization of sensing measurements for different use cases (enabling efficient communication), and other benefits.

[0046] Additional aspects of the disclosure are described in more detail below.

[0047] As used herein, the terms "user equipment" (UE) and "network entity" are not intended to be specific to or otherwise limited to any particular radio access technology (RAT), unless otherwise specified. Generally speaking, a UE can be any wireless communication device (e.g., a mobile phone, router, tablet, laptop, and / or tracking device), wearable device (e.g., smartwatch, smart glasses, wearable ring, and / or extended reality (XR) device (such as a virtual reality (VR) headset, augmented reality (AR) headset or glasses, or mixed reality (MR) headset)), vehicle (e.g., car, motorcycle, bicycle, etc.), and / or Internet of Things (IoT) device, etc.) used by a user to communicate over a wireless communication network. A UE can be mobile or can be stationary (e.g., at certain times) and can communicate with a radio access network (RAN). As used herein, the term "UE" may 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 may communicate with a core network via a RAN, and through the core network, the UE may connect to external networks such as the Internet and to other UEs. Of course, other mechanisms for connecting to the core network and / or the Internet are also possible for the UE, such as through a wired access network, a wireless local area network (WLAN) network (e.g., based on the IEEE 802.11 communication standard, etc.), and the like.

[0048] A network entity may be implemented in a converged or monolithic base station architecture, or alternatively, in a disaggregated base station architecture, and may include one or more of a central unit (CU), a distributed unit (DU), a radio unit (RU), a near-real-time (near-RT) RAN intelligent controller (RIC), or a non-real-time (non-RT) RIC. A base station (e.g., one having a converged / monolithic or disaggregated base station architecture) may operate according to one of several RATs for communicating with UEs (depending on the network in which it is deployed) and may be alternatively referred to as an access point (AP), a network node, a NodeB (NB), an evolved NodeB (eNB), a next-generation eNB (ng-eNB), a new radio (NR) NodeB (also referred to as a gNB or gNodeB), etc. A base station may primarily support radio access for UEs, including supporting data, voice, and / or signaling connections for the supported UEs. In some systems, a base station may provide edge node signaling functionality, while in other systems, a base station may provide additional control and / or network management functionality. 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, or a forward traffic channel, etc.). As used herein, the term traffic channel (TCH) can refer to an uplink, a reverse or downlink, and / or a forward traffic channel.

[0049] The term "network entity" or "base station" (e.g., having a converged / monolithic base station architecture or a disaggregated base station architecture) may refer to a single physical transmit-receive point (TRP) or multiple physical transmit-receive points (TRPs), which may or may not be co-located. For example, where the term "network entity" or "base station" refers to a single physical TRP, the physical TRP may be a base station antenna corresponding to a cell (or several cell sectors) of the base station. Where the term "network entity" or "base station" refers to multiple co-located physical TRPs, the physical TRPs 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 TRPs 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 the serving base station receiving the measurement report from the UE and the neighbor base station whose reference radio frequency (RF) signal (or simply "reference 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 the specific TRP of a base station.

[0050] In some implementations supporting UE positioning, a network entity or 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).

[0051] RF signals consist of electromagnetic waves of a given frequency that transmit 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 the transmitter and 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.

[0052] According to various aspects, Figure 1An exemplary wireless communication system 100 is illustrated, which may be employed by the disclosed systems and techniques for enhancing RF sensing measurement reporting in cellular systems as described herein. The wireless communication system 100, which may also be referred to as a wireless wide area network (WWAN), may include various base stations 102 and various UEs 104. In some aspects, the base stations 102 may also be referred to as "network entities" or "network nodes." One or more of the base stations 102 may be implemented in a converged or monolithic base station architecture. Additionally or alternatively, one or more of the base stations 102 may be implemented in a disaggregated base station architecture and may include one or more of a central unit (CU), a distributed unit (DU), a radio unit (RU), a near-real-time (near-RT) RAN intelligent controller (RIC), or a non-real-time (non-RT) RIC. 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 macro cell base station may include an eNB and / or ng-eNB (where the wireless communication system 100 corresponds to a long term evolution (LTE) network), or a gNB (where the wireless communication system 100 corresponds to an NR network), or a combination of both, and the small cell base station may include a femto cell, a pico cell, a micro cell, etc.

[0053] 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, and may interface with one or more location servers 172 (which may be part of or external to the core network 170) via the core network 170. The base stations 102 may perform functions related to, among other things, 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., via the EPC or 5GC) via backhaul links 134 (which may be wired and / or wireless).

[0054] 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, base stations 102 in each coverage area 110 can support one or more cells. A "cell" is a logical communication entity used for communicating with a base station (e.g., on a certain frequency resource, referred to as a carrier frequency, component carrier, carrier, frequency band, etc.) and can be associated with an identifier (e.g., a physical cell identifier (PCI), a virtual cell identifier (VCI), or a cell global identifier (CGI)) to distinguish between cells operating on the same or different carrier frequencies. In some cases, different cells can be configured based on 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, because a Transmitter Point (TRP) is generally the physical transmission point of a cell, the terms "cell" and "TRP" can be used interchangeably. In some cases, the term "cell" may also refer to a geographic coverage area (eg, a sector) of a base station, so long as a carrier frequency can be detected and used for communications within some portion of the geographic coverage area 110.

[0055] 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' may have a coverage area 110' that substantially overlaps with the 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).

[0056] The communication link 120 between the base station 102 and the UE 104 may include uplink (also referred to as a reverse link) transmissions from the UE 104 to the base station 102 and / or downlink (also referred to as a 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).

[0057] The wireless communication system 100 may further include a WLAN AP 150 in communication with a WLAN station (STA) 152 via a communication link 154 in an unlicensed spectrum (e.g., 5 gigahertz (GHz)). When communicating in the unlicensed spectrum, the WLAN STA 152 and / or the WLAN AP 150 may perform a clear channel assessment (CCA) or listen-before-talk (LBT) procedure prior to communication to determine whether the channel is available. In some examples, the wireless communication system 100 may include devices (e.g., UEs, etc.) that utilize an ultra-wideband (UWB) spectrum to communicate with one or more UEs 104, base stations 102, AP 150, etc. The UWB spectrum may range from 3.1 GHz to 10.5 GHz.

[0058] The small cell base station 102' can operate in licensed and / or unlicensed spectrum. When operating in the unlicensed spectrum, the small cell base station 102' can employ LTE or NR technology and use the same 5 GHz unlicensed spectrum used by the WLAN AP 150. Small cell base stations 102' employing LTE and / or 5G in the unlicensed spectrum can improve coverage and / or increase capacity of the access network. NR in the unlicensed spectrum may be referred to as NR-U. LTE in the unlicensed spectrum may be referred to as LTE-U, License Assisted Access (LAA), or MulteFire.

[0059] 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. The mmW base station 180 may be implemented in a converged or monolithic base station architecture, or alternatively, in a disaggregated base station architecture (e.g., including one or more of a CU, DU, RU, near-RT RIC, or non-RTRIC). Extremely high frequency (EHF) is a portion of the RF spectrum in the electromagnetic spectrum. EHF has a range of 30 GHz to 300 GHz, with wavelengths between 1 mm and 10 mm. Radio waves in this frequency band may be referred to as millimeter waves. Near-mmW frequencies extend down to frequencies of 3 GHz, with wavelengths of 100 mm. Super high frequency (SHF) frequency bands extend between 3 GHz and 30 GHz and are also referred to as centimeter waves. Communications using mmW and / or 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 can also use mmW or near-mmW and beamforming for transmission. Therefore, it should be understood that the foregoing illustrations are merely examples and should not be construed as limiting the various aspects disclosed herein.

[0060] Transmit beamforming is a technique used to focus an RF signal in a specific direction. Traditionally, when a network node or entity (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 can control the phase and relative amplitude of the RF signal at each of the one or more transmitters broadcasting the RF signal. For example, the network node may use an array of antennas (referred to as a "phased array" or "antenna array"), which form RF beams that can be "steered" to point in different directions without actually moving the antennas. Specifically, the RF currents from the transmitters are fed to the individual antennas in the correct phase relationship so that the radio waves from the individual antennas add together in the desired direction to increase radiation, while canceling out in undesired directions to suppress radiation.

[0061] Transmit beams can be quasi-co-located, meaning they appear to a receiver (e.g., a UE) with the same parameters, regardless of whether the network node's transmit antennas are 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 based on information about the source reference RF signal on the source beam. Thus, if the source reference RF signal is QCL type A, the receiver can use the source reference RF signal to estimate the Doppler shift, Doppler spread, average delay, and delay spread of 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.

[0062] In receive beamforming, a receiver uses receive beams to amplify RF signals detected on a given channel. For example, the receiver may increase the gain setting of the antenna array in a particular direction and / or adjust the phase setting of the antenna array in a particular direction to amplify (e.g., increase the gain level of) the RF signal received from that direction. Thus, when a receiver is said to be beamforming in a certain direction, it means that the beam gain in that direction is high relative to the beam gain in other directions, or that the beam gain in that direction is the highest compared to the beam gains of other 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.

[0063] The receive beams may be spatially correlated. The spatial relationship means that the parameters for the transmit beam for the second reference signal may be derived based on information about the receive beam for the first reference signal. For example, a UE may receive one or more reference downlink reference signals (e.g., positioning reference signal (PRS), tracking reference signal (TRS), phase tracking reference signal (PTRS), cell-specific reference signal (CRS), channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS), primary synchronization signal (PSS), secondary synchronization signal (SSS), synchronization signal block (SSB), etc.) from a network node or entity (e.g., a base station) using a specific receive beam. The UE may then form a transmit beam based on the parameters of the receive beam for transmitting one or more uplink reference signals (e.g., uplink positioning reference signal (UL-PRS), sounding reference signal (SRS), demodulation reference signal (DMRS), PTRS, etc.) to the network node or entity (e.g., a base station).

[0064] 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 a network node or entity (e.g., a base station) is forming a downlink beam to transmit a reference signal to a UE, the downlink beam is a transmit beam. However, if a 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 a network node or entity (e.g., a base station) is forming an uplink beam, the uplink beam is an uplink receive beam, while if a UE is forming an uplink beam, the uplink beam is an uplink transmit beam.

[0065] In 5G, the spectrum in which wireless network nodes or entities (e.g., base stations 102 / 180, UEs 104 / 182) operate is divided into multiple frequency ranges: FR1 (from 450 megahertz (MHz) to 6000 MHz), FR2 (from 24250 MHz to 52600 MHz), FR3 (above 52600 MHz), and FR4 (between FR1 and FR2). 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 the carrier operating on the primary frequency (e.g., FR1) utilized by the UE 104 / 182 and the cell in which the UE 104 / 182 performs an initial radio resource control (RRC) connection establishment procedure or initiates an RRC connection re-establishment procedure. The primary carrier carries all common and UE-specific control channels and can be a carrier in a licensed frequency (however, this is not always the case). A secondary carrier is a carrier operating on a second frequency (e.g., FR2) that can be configured and used to provide additional radio resources once an RRC connection is established between the UE 104 and the anchor carrier. In some cases, the secondary carrier can be a carrier in an unlicensed frequency. The secondary carrier may contain only necessary signaling information and signals. For example, since the primary uplink and downlink carriers 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 is true for the uplink primary carrier. The network can change the primary carrier for any UE 104 / 182 at any time. This can be done, for example, to balance load across different carriers. Since a "serving cell" (whether a PCell or SCell) corresponds to the carrier frequency and / or component carrier that some base station is using for communication, the terms "cell," "serving cell," "component carrier," "carrier frequency," etc. may be used interchangeably.

[0066] For example, still referring to Figure 1One of the frequencies used by macrocell base station 102 may be an anchor carrier (or "PCell"), and the other frequencies used by macrocell base station 102 and / or mmW base station 180 may be secondary carriers ("SCells"). In carrier aggregation, base station 102 and / or UE 104 may use up to Y MHz (e.g., 5 MHz, 10 MHz, 15 MHz, 20 MHz, 100 MHz) of spectrum bandwidth per carrier, with up to a total of Yx MHz (x component carriers) in each direction for transmission. Component carriers may or may not be spectrally adjacent to each other. The allocation of carriers may be asymmetric with respect to downlink and uplink (e.g., more or fewer carriers may be allocated to the downlink compared to the uplink). Simultaneous transmission and / or reception of multiple carriers enables UE 104 / 182 to significantly increase its data transmission and / or reception rate. For example, two 20 MHz aggregated carriers in a multi-carrier system would theoretically result in a doubled data rate (i.e., 40 MHz) compared to the data rate achieved with a single 20 MHz carrier.

[0067] To operate on multiple carrier frequencies, base station 102 and / or UE 104 are equipped with multiple receivers and / or transmitters. For example, UE 104 may have two receivers, "Receiver 1" and "Receiver 2," where "Receiver 1" is a multi-band receiver that can be tuned to either frequency band (i.e., carrier frequency) "X" or frequency band "Y," while "Receiver 2" is a single-band receiver that can be tuned to only frequency band "Z." In this example, if UE 104 is being served in frequency band "X," frequency band "X" will be referred to as the PCell, or active carrier frequency, and "Receiver 1" will need to tune from frequency band "X" to frequency band "Y" (SCell) to measure frequency band "Y" (and vice versa). In contrast, regardless of whether UE 104 is being served in frequency band "X" or frequency band "Y," due to the separate "Receiver 2," UE 104 can measure frequency band "Z" without interrupting service on frequency band "X" or frequency band "Y."

[0068] The wireless communication system 100 may further include a UE 164 that may communicate with the macrocell base station 102 over a communication link 120 and / or with the mmW base station 180 over 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] 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 through the D2D P2P link), and has a D2D P2P link 194 with WLAN STA 152 connected to WLAN AP 150 (UE 190 can indirectly obtain WLAN-based Internet connectivity through the D2D P2P link). In one example, D2D P2P links 192 and 194 can use any well-known D2D RAT (such as LTE Direct (LTE-D), Wi-Fi Direct (Wi-Fi-D), Bluetooth ® As mentioned above, UE 104 and UE 190 can be configured to communicate using sidelink communications. In some cases, the sidelink transmission may include a request for feedback from the receiving UE (e.g., hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ)).

[0070] Figure 2 This figure illustrates an example of a disaggregated base station architecture that may be employed by the disclosed systems and techniques for enhancing RF sensing measurement reporting in cellular systems. Deployment of a communication system, such as a 5G NR system, may be arranged in a variety of ways using various components or parts. In a 5G NR system or network, a network node, network entity, mobility element of a network, radio access network (RAN) node, core network node, network element, or network equipment (such as a base station (BS)), or one or more units (or one or more components) performing base station functionality may be implemented in a converged or disaggregated architecture. For example, a base station (such as a Node B (NB), an evolved NB (eNB), a NR base station, a 5G NB, an access point, a transmit reception point (TRP), or a cell) may be implemented as a converged base station (also known as a standalone BS or a monolithic BS) or a disaggregated base station.

[0071] A converged base station can be configured to utilize a radio protocol stack that is physically or logically integrated within a single RAN node. A decomposed base station can 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 can be implemented within a RAN node, and one or more DUs can be co-located with the CU, or alternatively, can be geographically or virtually distributed across one or more other RAN nodes. A DU can be implemented to communicate with one or more RUs. Each of the CU, DU, and RU can also be implemented as a virtual unit, namely a virtual central unit (VCU), a virtual distributed unit (VDU), or a virtual radio unit (VRU).

[0072] Base station type operation or network design can take into account the aggregated nature of base station functionality. For example, a disaggregated base station can be utilized in an integrated access backhaul (IAB) network, an open radio access network (O-RAN (such as 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 can 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 can enable flexibility in network design. The various units of a disaggregated base station or disaggregated RAN architecture can be configured for wired or wireless communication with at least one other unit.

[0073] As mentioned earlier, Figure 2 A diagram illustrating an example disaggregated base station 201 architecture is shown. The disaggregated base station 201 architecture may include one or more central units (CUs) 211, which may communicate directly with a core network 223 via a backhaul link, or indirectly with the core network 223 through one or more disaggregated base station units, such as a near real-time (near-RT) RAN intelligent controller (RIC) 227 via an E2 link, or a non-real-time (non-RT) RIC 217 associated with a service management and orchestration (SMO) framework 207, or both. CUs 211 may communicate with one or more distributed units (DUs) 231 via corresponding midhaul links, such as an F1 interface. DUs 231 may communicate with one or more radio units (RUs) 241 via corresponding fronthaul links. RUs 241 may communicate with corresponding UEs 221 via one or more RF access links. In some implementations, a UE 221 may be served simultaneously by multiple RUs 241.

[0074] Each of these units (i.e., CU 211, DU 231, RU 241, as well as near-RT RIC 227, non-RT RIC 217, and SMO framework 207) 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 an RF transceiver) configured to receive signals or transmit signals to one or more of the other units via the wireless transmission medium, or both.

[0075] In some aspects, the CU 211 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 211. The CU 211 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 211 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 211 may be implemented to communicate with the DU 231 for network control and signaling.

[0076] The DU 231 may correspond to a logical unit that includes one or more base station functions for controlling the operation of one or more RUs 241. In some aspects, the DU 231 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.) based at least in part on a functional split, such as that defined by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP). In some aspects, the DU 231 may further 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 231 or with control functions hosted by the CU 211.

[0077] Lower layer functionality may be implemented by one or more RUs 241. In some deployments, a RU 241 controlled by a DU 231 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, a RU 241 may be implemented to handle over-the-air (OTA) communications with one or more UEs 221. In some implementations, both real-time and non-real-time aspects of control and user plane communications with the RU 241 may be controlled by the corresponding DU 231. In some scenarios, this configuration may enable the implementation of the DU 231 and CU 211 in a cloud-based RAN architecture, such as a vRAN architecture.

[0078] The SMO framework 207 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 207 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 207 can be configured to interact with a cloud computing platform (such as Open Cloud (O-Cloud) 291) 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 211, DU 231, RU 241, and near-RT RIC 227. In some implementations, the SMO framework 207 can communicate with hardware aspects of the 4G RAN (such as the Open eNB (O-eNB) 213) via the O1 interface. Additionally, in some implementations, the SMO framework 207 can communicate directly with one or more RUs 241 via the O1 interface. The SMO framework 207 may also include a non-RT RIC 217 configured to support the functionality of the SMO framework 207 .

[0079] The non-RT RIC 217 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 updates, or policy-based guidance of applications / features in the near-RTRIC 227. The non-RT RIC 217 can be coupled to or in communication with the near-RTRIC 227 (e.g., via an A1 interface). The near-RT RIC 227 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 211, one or more DUs 231, or both, and the O-eNB 213 to the near-RTRIC 227.

[0080] In some implementations, the non-RT RIC 217 can receive parameters or external enrichment information from an external server to generate AI / ML models to be deployed in the near-RT RIC 227. Such information can be utilized by the near-RT RIC 227 and can be received from non-network data sources or from network functions at the SMO framework 207 or the non-RT RIC 217. In some examples, the non-RT RIC 217 or the near-RT RIC 227 can be configured to tune RAN behavior or performance. For example, the non-RT RIC 217 can monitor long-term trends and patterns in performance and employ AI / ML models to execute corrective actions through the SMO framework 207 (such as via reconfiguration of O1) or by creating RAN management policies (such as A1 policies).

[0081] Various radio frame structures may be used to support downlink transmissions, uplink transmissions, and sidelink transmissions between network nodes (eg, a base station and a UE). Figure 3 is a diagram 300 illustrating an example of a frame structure that may be employed by the disclosed systems and techniques for enhancements to RF sensing measurement reporting in cellular systems.Other wireless communication technologies may have different frame structures and / or different channels.

[0082] NR (and LTE) utilizes 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 using OFDM and in the time domain using 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 kHz, and the minimum resource allocation (resource block) can be 12 subcarriers (or 180 kHz). Therefore, for system bandwidths of 1.25 megahertz (MHz), 2.5 MHz, 5 MHz, 10 MHz, or 20 MHz, the nominal fast Fourier transform (FFT) size can be 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 for system bandwidths of 1.25 MHz, 2.5 MHz, 5 MHz, 10 MHz, or 20 MHz, there may be 1, 2, 4, 8, or 16 subbands, respectively.

[0083] LTE supports a single parameter set (subcarrier spacing, symbol length, etc.). In contrast, NR can support multiple parameter sets (µ). For example, 15kHz, 30kHz, 60kHz, 120kHz, and subcarrier spacing (SCS) of 240kHz or greater may be available. Table 1 below lists some of the different parameters for different NR parameter sets.

[0084]

[0085] Table 1

[0086] In one example, a 15 kHz parameter set is used. Thus, in the time domain, a 10 millisecond (ms) frame is divided into 10 equally sized subframes, each 1 ms, and each subframe includes one time slot. Figure 3 , time is represented in the horizontal direction (eg, on the X-axis), where time increases from left to right, and frequency is represented in the vertical direction (eg, on the Y-axis), where frequency increases (or decreases) from bottom to top.

[0087] A resource grid may be used to represent time slots, each of which includes one or more time-concurrent resource blocks (RBs) (also referred to as physical RBs (PRBs)) in the frequency domain. Figure 3 An example of a resource block (RB) 302 is illustrated. Data or information used for joint communication and sensing may be included in one or more RBs 302. RBs 302 are arranged by placing the time domain on the horizontal (or x-) axis and the frequency domain on the vertical (or y-) axis. As shown, RBs 302 may be 180 kilohertz (kHz) wide in frequency and one slot long in time (where a slot is 1 millisecond (ms) in time). In some cases, a slot may include fourteen symbols (e.g., in slot configuration 0). RBs 302 include twelve subcarriers (along the y-axis) and fourteen symbols (along the x-axis).

[0088] The intersection of a symbol and a subcarrier may be referred to as a resource element (RE) 304 or a tone. Figure 3 RB 302 includes multiple REs, each of which includes resource elements (REs) 304. For example, RE 304 is one subcarrier x one symbol (e.g., OFDM symbol) and is the smallest discrete portion of a subframe. RE 304 includes a single complex value representing data from a physical channel or signal. The number of bits carried by each RE 304 depends on the modulation scheme.

[0089] In some aspects, some REs 304 may be used to transmit downlink reference (pilot) signals (DL-RS). DL-RS may include positioning reference signals (PRS), tracking reference signals (TRS), phase tracking reference signals (PTRS), channel state information reference signals (CSI-RS), demodulation reference signals (DMRS), primary synchronization signals (PSS), secondary synchronization signals (SSS), etc. Figure 3 The resource grid of illustrates exemplary locations of REs 304 (labeled “R”) for transmitting DL-RS.

[0090] Figure 4 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a computing system 470 of an electronic device 407 that may be employed by the disclosed systems and techniques for enhancing RF sensing measurement reporting in cellular systems. The electronic device 407 is an example of a device that may include hardware and software for connecting to and exchanging data with other devices and systems using a communication network (e.g., a third-generation partner network such as a fifth-generation (5G) / new radio (NR) network, a fourth-generation (4G) / long-term evolution (LTE) network, a WiFi network, or other communication network). For example, the electronic device 407 may include or be a portion of a mobile device (e.g., a mobile phone), a wearable device (e.g., a web-connected or smartwatch), an extended reality device (e.g., a virtual reality (VR) device, an augmented reality (AR) device, or a mixed reality (MR) device), a personal computer, a laptop computer, a tablet computer, an Internet of Things (IoT) device, a wireless access point, a router, a vehicle or a component of a vehicle, a server computer, a robotic device, and / or other device used by a user to communicate over a wireless communication network. In some cases, such as when referring to a device configured to communicate using 5G / NR, 4G / LTE, or other telecommunication standards, the device 407 may be referred to as a user equipment (UE). In some cases, such as when referring to a device configured to communicate using the Wi-Fi standard, the device may be referred to as a station (STA).

[0091] The computing system 470 includes software and hardware components that may be electrically or communicatively coupled via a bus 489 (or may be in communication in other ways, as appropriate). For example, the computing system 470 includes one or more processors 484. The one or more processors 484 may include one or more CPUs, ASICs, FPGAs, APs, GPUs, VPUs, NSPs, microcontrollers, dedicated hardware, any combination thereof, and / or other processing devices and / or systems. The bus 489 may be used by the one or more processors 484 to communicate between cores and / or with one or more memory devices 486.

[0092] The computing system 470 may also include one or more memory devices 486, one or more digital signal processors (DSPs) 482, one or more subscriber identity modules (SIMs) 474, one or more modems 476, one or more wireless transceivers 478, one or more antennas 487, one or more input devices 472 (e.g., a camera, a mouse, a keyboard, a touch-sensitive screen, a touchpad, a keypad, a microphone and / or a microphone array, etc.), and one or more output devices 480 (e.g., a display, a speaker, and / or a printer, etc.).

[0093] One or more wireless transceivers 478 can receive wireless signals (e.g., signal 488) via antenna 487 from one or more other devices, such as other user devices, network devices (e.g., base stations such as evolved Node B (eNB) and / or gNodeB (gNB)), WiFi access points (APs) such as routers, range extenders, etc.), cloud networks, etc. In some examples, computing system 470 may include multiple antennas or antenna arrays that can facilitate simultaneous transmit and receive functionality. Antenna 487 can be an omnidirectional antenna so that RF signals can be received from all directions and RF signals can be transmitted in all directions. Wireless signal 488 can be sent via a wireless network. The wireless network can be any wireless network, such as a cellular or telecommunications network (e.g., 3G, 4G, 5G, etc.), a wireless local area network (e.g., a WiFi network), a Bluetooth ™ network and / or other networks. In some examples, one or more wireless transceivers 478 may include an RF front end that includes one or more components such as amplifiers, mixers for downconverting signals (also known as signal multipliers), frequency synthesizers (also known as oscillators) that provide signals to the mixers, baseband filters, analog-to-digital converters (ADCs), one or more power amplifiers, and other components. The RF front end generally handles the selection of wireless signals 488 and the conversion of the wireless signals to baseband or an intermediate frequency, and may convert the RF signals to the digital domain.

[0094] In some cases, computing system 470 may include a coding-decoding device (or CODEC) configured to encode and / or decode data transmitted and / or received using one or more wireless transceivers 478. In some cases, computing system 470 may include an encryption-decryption device or component configured to encrypt and / or decrypt data transmitted and / or received by one or more wireless transceivers 478 (e.g., in accordance with the Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) and / or Data Encryption Standard (DES) standards).

[0095] One or more SIM cards 474 can each securely store an International Mobile Subscriber Identity (IMSI) number and associated keys assigned to a user of electronic device 407. The IMSI and keys can be used to identify and authenticate the subscriber when accessing a network provided by a network service provider or operator associated with one or more SIM cards 474. One or more modems 476 can modulate one or more signals to encode information for transmission using one or more wireless transceivers 478. One or more modems 476 can also demodulate signals received by one or more wireless transceivers 478 to decode the transmitted information. In some examples, one or more modems 476 can include a WiFi modem, a 4G (or LTE) modem, a 5G (or NR) modem, and / or other types of modems. One or more modems 476 and one or more wireless transceivers 478 can be used to communicate data from one or more SIM cards 474.

[0096] The computing system 470 may also include (and / or be in communication with) one or more non-transitory machine-readable storage media or storage devices (e.g., one or more memory devices 486), which may include, but are not limited to, local and / or network-accessible storage devices, disk drives, drive arrays, optical storage devices, solid-state storage devices (such as RAM and / or ROM), which may be programmable, flash-updatable, and / or the like. Such storage devices may be configured to implement any suitable data storage, including, but not limited to, various file systems and / or database structures, etc.

[0097] In various aspects, the functionality may be stored as one or more computer program products (e.g., instructions or code) in the memory device 486 and executed by the one or more processors 484 and / or the one or more DSPs 482. The computing system 470 may also include software elements (e.g., located within the one or more memory devices 486) including, for example, an operating system, device drivers, executable libraries, and / or other code, such as one or more application programs, which may include computer programs that implement the functionality provided by the various aspects and / or may be designed to implement methods and / or configure systems, as described herein.

[0098] In some aspects, the electronic device 407 may include means for performing the operations described herein. The means may include one or more components of the computing system 470. For example, the means for performing the operations described herein may include one or more of an input device 472, a SIM 474, a modem 476, a wireless transceiver 478, an output device 480, a DSP 482, a processor 484, a memory device 486, and / or an antenna 487.

[0099] In some aspects, the electronic device 407 may include components for providing joint communication and sensing and components for enhancing RF sensing measurement reporting in a cellular system, for example, when multiplexing sensing signals and communication signals for joint communication and sensing (JCS). In some examples, any or all of these components may include one or more wireless transceivers 478, one or more modems 476, one or more processors 484, one or more DSPs 482, one or more memory devices 486, any combination thereof, or other components of the electronic device 407.

[0100] Figure 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of a wireless device 500 utilizing RF monostatic sensing techniques for determining one or more characteristics (eg, position, speed or velocity, heading, etc.) of a target 502 object. Specifically, Figure 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of a wireless device 500 (e.g., a transmit / receive sensing node) that utilizes RF sensing technology (e.g., single-station sensing) to perform one or more functions, such as detecting the presence and location of a target 502 (e.g., an object, user, or vehicle), which is illustrated in the figure as a vehicle.

[0101] In some examples, wireless device 500 may be a mobile phone, tablet computer, wearable device, vehicle, extended reality (XR) device, a component of a computing device or vehicle, or other device that includes at least one RF interface (e.g., Figure 4 In some examples, the wireless device 500 may be a user device (e.g., Figure 4 An electronic device 407) provides connectivity, such as a base station (e.g., gNB, eNB, etc.), a wireless access point (AP), or other device including at least one RF interface.

[0102] In some aspects, the wireless device 500 may include one or more components for transmitting RF signals. The wireless device 500 may include at least one processor 522 for generating a digital signal or waveform. The wireless device 500 may also include a digital-to-analog converter (DAC) 504 capable of receiving a digital signal or waveform from the processor 522 (e.g., a microprocessor) and converting the digital signal or waveform into an analog waveform. The analog signal as an output of the DAC 504 may be provided to an RF transmitter 506 for transmission. The RF transmitter 506 may be a Wi-Fi transmitter, a 5G / NR transmitter, a Bluetooth transmitter, or a similar transmitter. ™ transmitter or any other transmitter capable of transmitting RF signals.

[0103] RF transmitter 506 can be coupled to one or more transmit antennas, such as Tx antenna 512. In some examples, transmit (Tx) antenna 512 can be an omnidirectional antenna capable of transmitting RF signals in all directions. For example, Tx antenna 512 can be an omnidirectional Wi-Fi antenna capable of radiating Wi-Fi signals (e.g., 2.4 GHz, 5 GHz, 6 GHz, etc.) in a 360-degree radiation pattern. In another example, Tx antenna 512 can be a directional antenna that transmits RF signals in a specific direction.

[0104] In some examples, wireless device 500 may also include one or more components for receiving RF signals. For example, the receiver array in wireless device 500 may include one or more receive antennas, such as receive (Rx) antenna 514. In some examples, Rx antenna 514 may be an omnidirectional antenna capable of receiving RF signals from multiple directions. In other examples, Rx antenna 514 may be a directional antenna configured to receive signals from a specific direction. In other examples, Tx antenna 512 and / or Rx antenna 514 may include multiple antennas (e.g., elements) configured as an antenna array (e.g., a phased antenna array).

[0105] The wireless device 500 may also include an RF receiver 510 coupled to an Rx antenna 514. The RF receiver 510 may include a signal source for receiving RF waveforms such as Wi-Fi signals, Bluetooth signals, ™ The RF receiver 510 may be configured to receive a 5G / NR signal, a 5G / NR signal, or any other RF signal. The output of the RF receiver 510 may be coupled to an analog-to-digital converter (ADC) 508. The ADC 508 may be configured to convert the received analog RF waveform into a digital waveform. The digital waveform as an output of the ADC 508 may be provided to a processor 522 for processing. The processor 522 (e.g., a digital signal processor (DSP)) may be configured to process the digital waveform.

[0106] In one example, the wireless device 500 can implement an RF sensing technique, such as a single-station sensing technique, by transmitting a Tx waveform 516 from the Tx antenna 512. Although the Tx waveform 516 is illustrated as a single line, in some cases, the Tx waveform 516 can be transmitted in all directions by the omnidirectional Tx antenna 512. In one example, the Tx waveform 516 can be a Wi-Fi waveform transmitted by a Wi-Fi transmitter in the wireless device 500. In some cases, the Tx waveform 516 can correspond to a Wi-Fi waveform transmitted simultaneously or nearly simultaneously with a Wi-Fi data communication signal or a Wi-Fi control function signal (e.g., a beacon transmission). In some examples, the Tx waveform 516 can be transmitted using the same or similar frequency resources as the Wi-Fi data communication signal or the Wi-Fi control function signal (e.g., a beacon transmission). In some aspects, the Tx waveform 516 can correspond to a Wi-Fi waveform transmitted separately from the Wi-Fi data communication signal and / or the Wi-Fi control signal (e.g., the Tx waveform 516 can be transmitted at a different time and / or using different frequency resources).

[0107] In some examples, Tx waveform 516 can correspond to a 5G NR waveform that is transmitted simultaneously or nearly simultaneously with a 5G NR data communication signal or a 5G NR control function signal. In some examples, Tx waveform 516 can be transmitted using the same or similar frequency resources as the 5G NR data communication signal or the 5G NR control function signal. In some aspects, Tx waveform 516 can correspond to a 5G NR waveform that is transmitted separately from the 5G NR data communication signal and / or the 5G NR control signal (e.g., Tx waveform 516 can be transmitted at a different time and / or using different frequency resources).

[0108] In some aspects, one or more parameters associated with the Tx waveform 516 can be modified, which can be used to increase or decrease RF sensing resolution. These parameters may include frequency, bandwidth, number of spatial streams, number of antennas configured to transmit the Tx waveform 516, number of antennas configured to receive reflected RF signals corresponding to the Tx waveform 516 (e.g., Rx waveform 518), number of spatial links (e.g., number of spatial streams multiplied by number of antennas configured to receive RF signals), sampling rate, or any combination thereof. The transmitted waveform (e.g., Tx waveform 516) and the received waveform (e.g., Rx waveform 518) can include one or more RF sensing signals, also referred to as radar reference signals (RS).

[0109] In another example, the Tx waveform 516 can be implemented as a sequence with perfect or nearly perfect autocorrelation properties. For example, the Tx waveform 516 can include a single-carrier Zadoff sequence or can include symbols similar to orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) long training field (LTF) symbols. In some cases, the Tx waveform 516 can include a chirp signal, such as used in frequency modulated continuous wave (FM-CW) radar systems. In some configurations, the chirp signal can include a signal in which the signal frequency periodically increases and / or decreases in a linear and / or exponential manner.

[0110] In some aspects, the wireless device 500 can implement RF sensing technology by performing alternating transmit and receive functions (e.g., performing half-duplex operation). For example, the wireless device 500 can alternately enable its RF transmitter 506 to transmit a Tx waveform 516 when the RF receiver 510 is not enabled to receive (i.e., not receiving), and enable its RF receiver 510 to receive an Rx waveform 518 when the RF transmitter 506 is not enabled to transmit (i.e., not transmitting). When the wireless device 500 performs half-duplex operation, the wireless device 500 can transmit a Tx waveform 516, which can be a radar RS (e.g., a sensing signal).

[0111] In other aspects, the wireless device 500 can implement RF sensing techniques by performing concurrent transmit and receive functions (e.g., performing sub-band or full-band full-duplex operation). For example, the wireless device 500 can enable its RF receiver 510 to receive at or near the same time as it enables its RF transmitter 506 to transmit a Tx waveform 516. When the wireless device 500 performs full-duplex operation (e.g., sub-band full-duplex or full-band full-duplex), the wireless device 500 can transmit a Tx waveform 516, which can be a radar RS (e.g., a sensing signal).

[0112] In some examples, the transmission of a sequence or pattern included in the Tx waveform 516 can be repeated continuously, such that the sequence is transmitted a specific number of times or for a specific duration. In some examples, if the RF receiver 510 is enabled after the RF transmitter 506, the repetition of the pattern in the transmission of the Tx waveform 516 can be used to avoid missing the reception of any reflected signals. In one example implementation, the Tx waveform 516 can include a sequence having a sequence length L that is transmitted two or more times, which can allow the RF receiver 510 to be enabled for a time less than or equal to L to receive reflections corresponding to the entire sequence without losing any information.

[0113] By implementing alternating or simultaneous transmit and receive functionality (e.g., half-duplex or full-duplex operation), the wireless device 500 can receive signals corresponding to the Tx waveform 516. For example, the wireless device 500 can receive signals reflected from objects or people within the range of the Tx waveform 516, such as the Rx waveform 518 reflected from the target 502. The wireless device 500 can also receive leakage signals (e.g., Tx leakage signal 520) that are coupled directly from the Tx antenna 512 to the Rx antenna 514 without reflecting from any objects. For example, the leakage signal may include a signal that passes from a transmitter antenna (e.g., Tx antenna 512) on the wireless device to a receive antenna (e.g., Rx antenna 514) on the wireless device without reflecting from any objects. In some cases, the Rx waveform 518 may include multiple sequences corresponding to multiple copies of the sequence included in the Tx waveform 516. In some examples, the wireless device 500 may combine the multiple sequences received by the RF receiver 510 to improve the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR).

[0114] The wireless device 500 may also implement RF sensing techniques by obtaining RF sensing data associated with each of the received signals corresponding to the Tx waveform 516. In some examples, the RF sensing data may include channel state information (CSI) data related to a direct path (e.g., leakage signal 520) of the Tx waveform 516 and data related to a reflected path (e.g., Rx waveform 518) corresponding to the Tx waveform 516.

[0115] In some aspects, RF sensing data (e.g., CSI data) may include information that can be used to determine how an RF signal (e.g., Tx waveform 516) propagates from the RF transmitter 506 to the RF receiver 510. The RF sensing data may include data corresponding to the effects on the transmitted RF signal due to scattering, fading, and / or power attenuation with distance, or any combination thereof. In some examples, the RF sensing data may include imaginary data and real data (e.g., I / Q components) corresponding to each tone in the frequency domain over a particular bandwidth.

[0116] In some examples, the RF sensing data can be used by processor 522 to calculate the distance and angle of arrival corresponding to a reflected waveform, such as Rx waveform 518. In other examples, the RF sensing data can also be used to detect motion, determine position, detect changes in position or motion patterns, or any combination thereof. In some cases, the distance and angle of arrival of the reflected signal can be used to identify the size, location, movement, and / or orientation of an object (e.g., object 502) in the surrounding environment to detect the presence / proximity of the object.

[0117] The processor 522 of the wireless device 500 can calculate the distance and arrival angle corresponding to the reflected waveform (e.g., the distance and arrival angle corresponding to the Rx waveform 518) by utilizing signal processing, machine learning algorithms, any other suitable technology, or any combination thereof. In other examples, the wireless device 500 can send or transmit the RF sensing data to at least one processor of another computing device, such as a server or a base station, and the other computing device can perform calculations to obtain the distance and arrival angle corresponding to the Rx waveform 518 or other reflected waveforms.

[0118] In one example, the distance of the Rx waveform 518 can be calculated by measuring the time difference between receiving the leakage signal and receiving the reflected signal. For example, the wireless device 500 can determine a baseline distance of zero based on the difference (e.g., propagation delay) between the time the wireless device 500 transmits the Tx waveform 516 and the time it receives the leakage signal 520. The processor 522 of the wireless device 500 can then determine the distance associated with the Rx waveform 518 based on the difference (e.g., time of flight, also known as round-trip time (RTT)) between the time the wireless device 500 transmits the Tx waveform 516 and the time it receives the Rx waveform 518. This distance can then be adjusted based on the propagation delay associated with the leakage signal 520. By doing so, the processor 522 of the wireless device 500 can determine the distance traveled by the Rx waveform 518, which can be used to determine the presence and movement of the object (e.g., object 502) that caused the reflection.

[0119] In another example, the angle of arrival of the Rx waveform 518 can be calculated by the processor 522 by measuring the time difference of arrival of the Rx waveform 518 between various elements of the receive antenna array, such as the antenna 514. In some examples, the time difference of arrival can be calculated by measuring the difference in the received phase at each element in the receive antenna array.

[0120] In some cases, the distance and angle of arrival of the Rx waveform 518 can be used by the processor 522 to determine the distance between the wireless device 500 and the target 502, as well as the location of the target 502 relative to the wireless device 500. The distance and angle of arrival of the Rx waveform 518 can also be used to determine the presence, movement, proximity, identity, or any combination thereof of the target 502. For example, the processor 522 of the wireless device 500 can use the calculated distance and angle of arrival corresponding to the Rx waveform 518 to determine that the target 502 is moving toward the wireless device 500.

[0121] As mentioned above, wireless device 500 may include a mobile device (e.g., an IoT device, smartphone, laptop, tablet, etc.) or other type of device. In some examples, wireless device 500 may be configured to obtain device location data and device orientation data in addition to RF sensing data. In some cases, the device location data and device orientation data may be used to determine or adjust the range and angle of arrival of reflected signals, such as Rx waveform 518. For example, when target 502 (e.g., a vehicle) moves toward wireless device 500 during an RF sensing process, the wireless device may be positioned on the ground facing the sky. In this case, wireless device 500 may use its location and orientation data, along with the RF sensing data, to determine the direction in which target 502 is moving.

[0122] In some examples, the wireless device 500 can collect device positioning data using techniques including RTT measurements, time of arrival (TOA) measurements, time difference of arrival (TDOA) measurements, passive positioning measurements, angle of arrival (AOA) measurements, angle of departure (AoD) measurements, received signal strength indicator (RSSI) measurements, CSI data, using any other suitable techniques, or any combination thereof. In another example, device orientation data can be obtained from electronic sensors on the wireless device 500, such as a gyroscope, accelerometer, compass, magnetometer, barometer, any other suitable sensor, or any combination thereof.

[0123] Figure 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of a receiver 604 utilizing RF bistatic sensing technology with one transmitter 600 for determining one or more characteristics (e.g., position, speed or velocity, heading, etc.) of a target 602 object. For example, the receiver 604 may use RF bistatic sensing to detect the presence and location of a target 602 (e.g., an object, a user, or a vehicle) that is located at a certain location. Figure 6 In one example, the receiver 604 may be in the form of a base station such as a gNB.

[0124] Figure 6 The bistatic radar system includes a transmitter 600 (e.g., a transmitting sensing node), which is depicted in the figure as being in the form of a base station (e.g., a gNB), and a receiver 604 (e.g., a receiving sensing node), which are separated by a distance comparable to the expected target distance. Figure 5 Compared with the single-station system, Figure 6 The transmitter 600 and receiver 604 of a bistatic radar system are located remotely from each other. In contrast, a monostatic radar is one that includes transmitters (e.g., Figure 5 The RF transmitter 506 of the wireless device 500) and the receiver (e.g., Figure 5The RF receiver 510 of the wireless device 500) is a radar system (e.g., Figure 5 system).

[0125] An advantage of bistatic radar (or more generally, multistatic radar with more than one receiver) over monostatic radar is the ability to collect radar echoes reflected from a scene at angles different from the angle at which the pulse was transmitted. This can be of interest in some applications (e.g., vehicular applications, scenes with multiple objects, military applications, etc.), where targets can reflect transmitted energy in many directions (e.g., where the targets are specifically designed to reflect in many directions), thus minimizing the amount of energy reflected back to the transmitter. It should be noted that in one or more examples, a monostatic system can coexist with a multistatic radar system, such as when the transmitter also has a co-located receiver.

[0126] In some examples, Figure 6 The transmitter 600 and / or the receiver 604 may be a mobile phone, a tablet computer, a wearable device, a vehicle, or other device including at least one RF interface (e.g., Figure 4 In some examples, the transmitter 600 and / or the receiver 604 may be a user device (e.g., Figure 4 IoT device 407) provides connectivity to the device, such as a base station (e.g., gNB, eNB, etc.), a wireless access point (AP), or other device including at least one RF interface.

[0127] In some aspects, the transmitter 600 may include one or more components for transmitting RF signals. The transmitter 600 may include at least one processor (e.g., Figure 5 The transmitter 600 may further include an RF transmitter (eg, a RF transmitter) for transmitting a Tx signal including a Tx waveform 616. Figure 5 The RF transmitter 506 may be a transmitter configured to transmit a cellular signal or a telecommunication signal (e.g., a transmitter configured to transmit a 5G / NR signal, a 4G / LTE signal, or other cellular signal / telecommunication signal, etc.), a Wi-Fi transmitter, a Bluetooth transmitter, or a wireless transmitter. ™ transmitter, any combination thereof, or any other transmitter capable of transmitting RF signals.

[0128] The RF transmitter may be coupled to one or more transmit antennas, such as Tx antennas (e.g., Figure 5TX antenna 512). In some examples, the Tx antenna may be an omnidirectional antenna capable of transmitting RF signals in all directions, or a directional antenna capable of transmitting RF signals in a specific direction. In some examples, the Tx antenna may include multiple antennas (e.g., elements) configured as an antenna array.

[0129] The receiver 604 may also include one or more components for receiving RF signals. For example, the receiver 604 may include one or more receive antennas, such as Rx antennas (e.g., Figure 5 RX antenna 514). In some examples, the RX antenna may be an omnidirectional antenna capable of receiving RF signals from multiple directions, or a directional antenna configured to receive signals from a specific direction. In another example, the RX antenna may include multiple antennas (e.g., elements) configured as an antenna array.

[0130] The receiver 604 may also include an RF receiver (eg, Figure 5 The RF receiver may include a RF receiver 510 for receiving RF waveforms (such as Wi-Fi signals, Bluetooth ™ signals, 5G / NR signals, or any other RF signals). The output of the RF receiver may be coupled to at least one processor (e.g., Figure 5 The processor may be configured to process the received waveform (eg, Rx waveform 618).

[0131] In one or more examples, the transmitter 600 can implement an RF sensing technique, such as a bistatic sensing technique, by transmitting a Tx waveform 616 from the Tx antenna. It should be noted that although the Tx waveform 616 is illustrated as a single line, in some cases, the Tx waveform 616 can be transmitted in all directions by an omnidirectional Tx antenna.

[0132] In one or more aspects, one or more parameters associated with the Tx waveform 616 can be used to increase or decrease RF sensing resolution. These parameters may include frequency, bandwidth, number of spatial streams, number of antennas configured to transmit the Tx waveform 616, number of antennas configured to receive reflected RF signals corresponding to the Tx waveform 616 (e.g., Rx waveform 618), number of spatial links (e.g., number of spatial streams multiplied by number of antennas configured to receive RF signals), sampling rate, or any combination thereof. The transmitted waveform (e.g., Tx waveform 616) and the received waveform (e.g., Rx waveform 618) can include one or more radar RF sensing signals (also referred to as RF sensing RSs).

[0133] During operation, receiver 604 (e.g., operating as a receiving sensing node) can receive a signal corresponding to Tx waveform 616, which is transmitted by transmitter 600 (e.g., operating as a transmitting sensing node). For example, receiver 604 can receive a signal reflected from an object or person within the range of Tx waveform 616, such as Rx waveform 618 reflected from target 602. In some cases, Rx waveform 618 may include multiple sequences corresponding to multiple copies of the sequence included in Tx waveform 616. In some examples, receiver 604 may combine the received multiple sequences to improve the SNR.

[0134] In some examples, at least one processor within receiver 604 can use the RF sensing data to calculate a distance, angle of arrival, or other characteristics corresponding to a reflected waveform (such as Rx waveform 618). In other examples, the RF sensing data can also be used to detect motion, determine location, detect changes in location or motion patterns, or any combination thereof. In some cases, the distance and angle of arrival of the reflected signal can be used to identify the size, location, movement, and / or orientation of an object (e.g., object 602) in the surrounding environment to detect object presence / proximity.

[0135] The processor of the receiver 604 may calculate the distance and angle of arrival corresponding to the reflected waveform (e.g., the distance and angle of arrival corresponding to the Rx waveform 618) by using signal processing, machine learning algorithms, any other suitable technology, or any combination thereof. In other examples, the receiver 604 may send or transmit the RF sensing data to at least one processor of another computing device, such as a server, which may perform calculations to obtain the distance and angle of arrival corresponding to the Rx waveform 618 or other reflected waveforms.

[0136] In one or more examples, the angle of arrival of the Rx waveform 618 can be calculated by the processor of the receiver 604 by measuring the time difference of arrival of the Rx waveform 618 between various elements of the receive antenna array of the receiver 604. In some examples, the time difference of arrival can be calculated by measuring the difference in the received phase at each element in the receive antenna array.

[0137] In some cases, the distance and angle of arrival of the Rx waveform 618 can be used by the processor of the receiver 604 to determine the distance between the receiver 604 and the target 602, as well as the location of the target 602 relative to the receiver 604. The distance and angle of arrival of the Rx waveform 618 can also be used to determine the presence, movement, proximity, identity, or any combination thereof of the target 602. For example, the processor of the receiver 604 can use the calculated distance and angle of arrival corresponding to the Rx waveform 618 to determine that the target 602 is moving toward the receiver 604.

[0138] Figure 7 700a, 700b, and 700c, which can be used to determine one or more characteristics (e.g., position, velocity or speed, heading, etc.) of a target 702 object. For example, receiver 704 can use RF bistatic sensing to detect the presence and location of target 702 (e.g., an object, user, or vehicle). Target 702 is located at Figure 7 The ,device less objects are depicted in the form of objects that do not have communication capabilities (which may be referred to as device-less objects), such as people, vehicles (e.g., vehicles that do not have the ability to send and receive messages such ,using C-V2X or DSRC protocols), or other device-less objects. Figure 7 The bistatic radar system is similar to Figure 6 The difference between the dual-station radar system and the Figure 7 The bistatic radar system has multiple transmitters 700a, 700b, 700c, and Figure 6 The bistatic radar system has only one transmitter 600 .

[0139] Figure 7 The bistatic radar system of FIG. 7 includes a plurality of transmitters 700 a , 700 b , 700 c (eg, transmitting sensing nodes), which are illustrated in the form of base stations. Figure 7 The bistatic radar system of also includes a receiver 704 (eg, a receiving sensing node) depicted in the form of a smartphone. Each of the transmitters 700a, 700b, 700c can be separated from the receiver 704 by a distance comparable to the expected distance from the target 702. Similar to Figure 6 The dual-station system Figure 7 The transmitters 700a, 700b, 700c and the receiver 704 of the bistatic radar system are located remotely from each other.

[0140] In one or more examples, transmitters 700a, 700b, 700c, and / or receiver 704 can each be a mobile phone, a tablet computer, a wearable device, a vehicle (e.g., a vehicle configured to transmit and receive communications according to C-V2X, DSRC, or other communication protocols), or other devices including at least one RF interface (e.g., Figure 4 In some examples, transmitters 700a, 700b, 700c and / or receiver 704 may each be a user device (e.g., Figure 4 IoT device 407) provides connectivity to the device, such as a base station (e.g., gNB, eNB, etc.), a wireless access point (AP), or other device including at least one RF interface.

[0141] The transmitters 700a, 700b, 700c may include one or more components for transmitting RF signals. Each of the transmitters 700a, 700b, 700c may include at least one processor (e.g., a processor) capable of determining a signal to be transmitted (e.g., determining a waveform of the signal). Figure 5 Each of the transmitters 700a, 700b, 700c may also include an RF transmitter (e.g., a RF transmitter) for transmitting Tx signals including Tx waveforms 716a, 716b, 716c, 720a, 720b, 720c. Figure 5 RF transmitter 506). In one or more examples, Tx waveforms 716a, 716b, 716c are RF sensing signals, and Tx waveforms 720a, 720b, 720c are communication signals. In one or more examples, Tx waveforms 720a, 720b, 720c are communication signals that can be used to schedule a transmitter (e.g., transmitters 700a, 700b, 700c) and a receiver (e.g., receiver 704) to perform RF sensing of a target (e.g., target 702) to obtain location information about the target. The RF transmitter can be a transmitter configured to transmit a cellular signal or a telecommunication signal (e.g., a transmitter configured to transmit a 5G / NR signal, a 4G / LTE signal, or other cellular signal / telecommunication signal, etc.), a Wi-Fi transmitter, a Bluetooth transmitter, or a similar transmitter. ™ transmitter, any combination thereof, or any other transmitter capable of transmitting an RF signal.

[0142] The RF transmitter may be coupled to one or more transmit antennas, such as Tx antennas (e.g., Figure 5 TX antenna 512). In one or more examples, the Tx antenna can be an omnidirectional antenna capable of transmitting RF signals in all directions, or a directional antenna capable of transmitting RF signals in a specific direction. The Tx antenna can include multiple antennas (e.g., elements) configured as an antenna array.

[0143] Figure 7 The receiver 704 may include one or more components for receiving RF signals. For example, the receiver 704 may include one or more receiving antennas, such as Rx antennas (e.g., Figure 5 RX antenna 514). In one or more examples, the RX antenna can be an omnidirectional antenna capable of receiving RF signals from multiple directions, or a directional antenna configured to receive signals from a specific direction. In some examples, the RX antenna can include multiple antennas (e.g., elements) configured as an antenna array (e.g., a phased antenna array).

[0144] The receiver 704 may also include an RF receiver (eg, Figure 5The RF receiver may include a RF receiver 510 for receiving RF waveforms (such as Wi-Fi signals, Bluetooth ™ signals, 5G / NR signals, or any other RF signals). The output of the RF receiver may be coupled to at least one processor (e.g., Figure 5 The processor may be configured to process the received waveform (eg, Rx waveform 718, which is the reflected (echo) RF sensing signal).

[0145] In some examples, transmitters 700a, 700b, 700c can implement RF sensing techniques (e.g., bistatic sensing techniques) by transmitting Tx waveforms 716a, 716b, 716c (e.g., radar sensing signals) from Tx antennas associated with each of the transmitters 700a, 700b, 700c. Although the Tx waveforms 716a, 716b, 716c are illustrated as a single line, in some cases, the Tx waveforms 716a, 716b, 716c can be transmitted in all directions (e.g., via omnidirectional Tx antennas associated with each of the transmitters 700a, 700b, 700c).

[0146] In one or more aspects, one or more parameters associated with the Tx waveforms 716a, 716b, 716c can be used to increase or decrease RF sensing resolution. These parameters may include, but are not limited to, frequency, bandwidth, number of spatial streams, number of antennas configured to transmit the Tx waveforms 716a, 716b, 716c, number of antennas configured to receive reflected (echo) RF signals corresponding to each of the Tx waveforms 716a, 716b, 716c (e.g., Rx waveform 718), number of spatial links (e.g., number of spatial streams multiplied by number of antennas configured to receive RF signals), sampling rate, or any combination thereof. The transmitted waveforms (e.g., Tx waveforms 716a, 716b, 716c) and the received waveforms (e.g., Rx waveform 718) may include one or more radar RF sensing signals (also referred to as RF sensing RS). It should be noted that while Figure 7 Only one reflected sensing signal (eg, Rx waveform 718 ) is shown in , but it should be understood that a separate reflected (echo) sensing signal will be generated by each sensing signal reflected from the target 702 (eg, Tx waveforms 716 a , 716 b , 716 c ).

[0147] exist Figure 7During operation of the system, receiver 704 (e.g., operating as a receiving sensing node) can receive signals corresponding to Tx waveforms 716a, 716b, 716c transmitted by transmitters 700a, 700b, 700c (e.g., each operating as a transmitting sensing node). Receiver 704 can receive signals reflected from objects or people within the range of Tx waveforms 716a, 716b, 716c, such as Rx waveform 718 reflected from target 702. In one or more examples, Rx waveform 718 can include multiple sequences corresponding to multiple copies of the sequence included in its corresponding Tx waveform 716a, 716b, 716c. In some examples, receiver 704 can combine the received multiple sequences to improve the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR).

[0148] In some examples, the RF sensing data can be used by at least one processor within receiver 704 to calculate distance, angle of arrival (AOA), TDOA, angle of departure (AoD), or other characteristics corresponding to a reflected waveform (e.g., Rx waveform 718). In other examples, the RF sensing data can also be used to detect motion, determine position, detect changes in position or motion patterns, or any combination thereof. In one or more examples, the distance and angle of arrival of the reflected signal can be used to identify the size, location, movement, and / or orientation of a target (e.g., target 702) in order to detect target presence / proximity.

[0149] The processor of the receiver 704 can calculate the distance and arrival angle corresponding to the reflected waveform (e.g., the distance and arrival angle corresponding to the Rx waveform 718) by using signal processing, machine learning algorithms, any other suitable technology, or any combination thereof. In one or more examples, the receiver 704 can send or transmit the RF sensing data to at least one processor of another computing device, such as a server, which can perform calculations to obtain the distance and arrival angle corresponding to the Rx waveform 718 or other reflected waveforms (not shown).

[0150] In one or more examples, the processor of the receiver 704 can calculate the angle of arrival (AOA) of the Rx waveform 718 by measuring the TDOA of the Rx waveform 718 between various elements of the receive antenna array of the receiver 704. In some examples, the TDOA can be calculated by measuring the difference in receive phase at each element in the receive antenna array. In one illustrative example, to determine the TDOA, the processor can determine the time difference of arrival of the Rx waveform 718 to the receive antenna array element using one of the receive antenna array elements as a reference. The time difference is proportional to the distance difference.

[0151] In some cases, the processor of receiver 704 may use the range, AOA, TDOA, other measurement information (e.g., AoD, etc.), or any combination thereof, of Rx waveform 718 to determine the range between receiver 704 and target 702 and the position of target 702 relative to receiver 704. In one example, the processor may use the range, AOA, and / or TDOA information as input to apply multilateration or other location-based algorithms to determine the position (e.g., 3D position) of target 702. In other examples, the processor may use the range, AOA, and / or TDOA of Rx waveform 718 to determine the presence, movement (e.g., velocity, heading, direction, movement, etc.), proximity, identity, any combination thereof, or other characteristics of target 702. For example, the processor of receiver 704 may use the range, AOA, and / or TDOA corresponding to Rx waveform 718 to determine that the target is moving toward receiver 704.

[0152] Figure 8 is a diagram illustrating the geometry for bistatic (or monostatic) sensing. Figure 8 The bistatic radar north reference coordinate system in two dimensions is shown. Specifically, Figure 8 The coordinate system and parameters for bistatic radar operation are shown, defined in a plane containing transmitter 800, receiver 804, and target 802 (referred to as the bistatic plane). The bistatic triangle lies in the bistatic plane. Transmitter 800, target 802, and receiver 804 are shown relative to each other. Transmitter 800 and receiver 804 are separated by a baseline distance L. An extended baseline is defined as extending baseline distance L beyond either transmitter 800 or receiver 804. Target 802 and transmitter 800 are separated by a distance R. T , and the target 802 and the receiver 804 are separated by a distance R R .

[0153] Angle θ T and θ R are the transmitter 800 observation angle and the receiver 804 observation angle, respectively, which are considered positive when measured clockwise from North (N). Angle θ T and θ R Also known as the angle of arrival (AOA) or line of sight (LOS). The bistatic angle (β) is the angle between the transmitter 800, the target 802, and the receiver 804 in the radar. Specifically, the bistatic angle is the angle between the transmitter 800 and the receiver 804, with the apex at the target 802. The bistatic angle is equal to the observation angle of the transmitter 800 minus the observation angle θ of the receiver 804. R (For example, β=θ T -θ R ).

[0154] When the bistatic angle is exactly zero (0°), the radar is considered monostatic; when the bistatic angle is close to zero, the radar is considered pseudo-monostatic; and when the bistatic angle is close to 180 degrees, the radar is considered a forward-scatter radar. Otherwise, the radar is simply considered and referred to as a bistatic radar. The bistatic angle (β) can be used to determine the radar cross section of a target.

[0155] Figure 9 is a diagram illustrating an example of a bistatic distance 910 for bistatic sensing. In the diagram, a radar transmitter (Tx) 900, a target 902, and a receiver (Rx) 904 are shown relative to each other. Transmitter 900 is separated from receiver 904 by a baseline distance L, target 902 is separated from transmitter 900 by a distance Rtx, and target 902 is separated from receiver 904 by a distance Rrx.

[0156] Bistatic range 910 (illustrated as an ellipse) refers to the range measurement made by a radar having a separate transmitter 900 and receiver 904 (e.g., transmitter 900 and receiver 904 are positioned far apart from each other). Receiver 904 measures the time of arrival from when transmitter 900 transmits a signal to when receiver 904 receives the signal from transmitter 900 via target 902. Bistatic range 910 defines an ellipse of constant bistatic distance, called an equidistant contour, on which target 902 is located, with the focal points centered on transmitter 900 and receiver 904. If target 902 is at distance Rrx from receiver 904 and at distance Rtx from transmitter 900, and receiver 904 and transmitter 900 are at distance L from each other, then the bistatic range equals Rrx + Rtx - L. It should be noted that the motion of target 902 causes the rate of change of the bistatic range, which results in a bistatic Doppler shift.

[0157] Typically, a constant bistatic distance point draws an ellipsoid with transmitter 900 and receiver 904 positioned as the foci. The bistatic equidistant contour is where the ground cuts through the ellipsoid. When the ground is flat, this intercept forms an ellipse (e.g., bistatic distance 910). Note that these ellipses are not centered on the mirror point unless the two platforms have equal heights.

[0158] Figure 10 An example 1000 of wireless communication between devices based on sidelink communication is illustrated. The communication may be based on a time slot structure (e.g., Figure 31008). For example, transmitting UE 1002 may transmit a transmission 1014 that may be received by receiving UEs 1004, 1006, 1008, the transmission including, for example, a control channel and / or a corresponding data channel. At least one UE may be in the form of an autonomous vehicle or unmanned aerial vehicle. The control channel may include information for decoding the data channel and may also be used by the receiving device to avoid interference by avoiding transmitting on resources occupied during data transmission. The transmit time interval (TTI) and the number of RBs that the data transmission will occupy may be indicated in a control message from the transmitting device. In addition to operating as a receiving device, each of UEs 1002, 1004, 1006, 1008 may also be capable of operating as a transmitting device. Thus, UEs 1006, 1008 are illustrated as transmitting transmissions 1016, 1020. Transmissions 1014, 1016, 1020 (and 1018 by network device 1007, such as a roadside unit) may be broadcast or multicast to nearby devices. For example, UE 1014 may transmit communications intended for receipt by other UEs within range 1001 of UE 1014. Additionally or alternatively, network device 1007 may receive communications 1018 from and / or transmit communications to UEs 1002, 1004, 1006, 1008. UEs 1002, 1004, 1006, 1008, or network device 1007 may include a detection component. UEs 1002, 1004, 1006, 1008, or network device 1007 may also include a vehicle-based safety messaging or mitigation component.

[0159] Figure 11 1 shows an example of a comb structure for reference signals (e.g., PRS, SRS, etc.). For example, comb structure 1110 is a comb-2 structure having two symbols (denoted as a comb-2 / 2-symbol structure). According to the comb-2 / 2-symbol structure of comb structure 1110, each alternating symbol is assigned to a reference signal resource. Figure 11 The comb pattern in FIG1 is used for a transmit-receive point (TRP). An overview of the comb structures 1110, 1112, 1114, 1116, 1118, 1120, 1122, and 1124 is provided in Table 2 below:

[0160]

[0161] Table 2

[0162] As previously noted, described herein are systems and techniques for applying solutions associated with enhancements to RF sensing measurement reporting in cellular systems. Figure 12is a diagram illustrating an example of a system 1200 for applying an enhanced solution (eg, method or rule) to RF sensing measurement reporting in a cellular system. Figure 12 In FIG. 1 , system 1200 is shown as including a network device 1210 in the form of a UE. Network device 1210 (e.g., a UE) can operate as a radar receiver for sensing purposes. Also shown is a network device 1220 in the form of a base station (e.g., a gNB or a portion of a gNB such as a CU, DU, RU, near-RT RIC, non-RT RIC, etc.). Network device 1220 (e.g., a gNB) can operate as a radar transmitter for sensing purposes. System 1200 also includes multiple network entities 1240 and 1250, where network entity 1240 is in the form of a radar server and network entity 1250 is in the form of a location server.

[0163] System 1200 may include, for example Figure 12 More or fewer network devices and / or more or fewer network entities as shown. Figure 12 Different types of network devices (e.g., vehicles) and / or different types of network entities (e.g., network servers) are shown. In addition, the UE can be used as a radar Tx instead of as Figure 12 12. A base station (e.g., gNB) is shown. Furthermore, in one or more examples, network device 1210 (e.g., UE) can be equipped with heterogeneous capabilities, which can include, but are not limited to, 4G / 5G cellular connectivity, GPS capabilities, camera capabilities, radar capabilities, and / or LIDAR capabilities. Network devices 1210, 1220 and network entities 1240, 1250 can be capable of performing wireless communications with one another via communication signals (e.g., signals 1270a, 1270b, 1270c, 1270d).

[0164] In one or more examples, network devices 1210, 1220 may be capable of sending and receiving some type of sensing signal (e.g., a camera, an RF sensing signal, an optical sensing signal, etc.). In some cases, network devices 1210, 1220 may send and receive sensing signals (e.g., RF sensing signals 1260a, 1260b) for detecting nearby targets (e.g., target 1230 in the form of a vehicle) using one or more sensors. In some cases, network devices 1210, 1220 may detect nearby targets based on one or more images or frames captured using one or more cameras.

[0165] Network device 1220, capable of operating as a radar Tx, may perform RF sensing (e.g., bistatic sensing or monostatic sensing) of at least one target (e.g., target 1230) to obtain RF sensing measurements (e.g., Doppler measurements, RTT measurements, TOA measurements, and / or TDOA measurements) of the target (e.g., target 1230). The RF sensing measurements of the target (e.g., target 1230) may be used (e.g., by at least one processor of at least one of network devices 1210 and 1220 and / or at least one of network entities 1240 and 1250) to determine one or more characteristics of the target (e.g., target 1230) (e.g., speed, such as radial velocity, position, range, movement, heading, size, and / or other characteristics). Radial velocity (also referred to as radial velocity) refers to the speed (or velocity) of a target object along a line of sight (e.g., along a radial vector to the target object) from an observing device (e.g., network devices 1210, 1220, network entities 1240, 1250, or other device) to the target object.

[0166] As previously mentioned, sensing typically involves monitoring a moving target (e.g., target 1230) with varying motions (e.g., a moving car or pedestrian, human body motion (such as breathing), and / or other micro-motions associated with the target). Doppler, which measures phase changes in a signal and indicates motion, is an important characteristic for sensing a target (e.g., target 1230). Therefore, to obtain an accurate estimate of the target's motion, the signal's phase should be continuous (e.g., the signal should maintain phase continuity).

[0167] During operation of system 1200, for example, when performing bistatic sensing of a target (e.g., target 1230), network device 1220 (e.g., a base station) operating as a radar Tx may transmit an RF sensing signal 1260a toward the target (e.g., target 1230). RF sensing signal 1260a may be included in a communication signal and a sensing signal that are multiplexed together (e.g., via time division multiplexing and / or frequency division multiplexing) for joint communication and sensing purposes. Sensing signal 1260a may reflect from the target (e.g., target 1230) to generate an RF reflected sensing signal 1260b, which may be reflected toward network device 1210 (e.g., a UE). Network device 1210 (e.g., a UE) operating as a radar Rx may receive reflected sensing signal 1260b. After the network device (e.g., UE) receives the reflection sensing signal 1260b, the network device (e.g., UE) may obtain a measurement (e.g., Doppler measurement, RTT measurement, TOA measurement, and / or TDOA measurement) of the reflection sensing signal 1260b. At least one processor (e.g., Figure 19 The processor 1910) can then determine or calculate characteristics (e.g., speed, position, distance, movement, heading, size, etc.) of a target (e.g., target 1230) by using sensing measurements (e.g., Doppler measurements, RTT measurements, TOA measurements, and / or TDOA measurements) from the received reflected sensing signal 1260b.

[0168] In some examples, network device 1210 (e.g., UE) can send measurements (e.g., Doppler measurements, RTT measurements, TOA measurements, and / or TDOA measurements) and / or determined characteristics (e.g., speed, position, distance, movement, heading, size, etc.) of a target (e.g., target 1230) to network device 1220 (e.g., base station) and / or network entity 1240 (e.g., radar server) via communication signals 1270a, 1270b. The network device 1220 (e.g., a base station) and / or the network entity 1240 (e.g., a radar server) may then send measurements (e.g., Doppler measurements, RTT measurements, TOA measurements, and / or TDOA measurements) and / or determined characteristics (e.g., speed, position, distance, movement, heading, size, etc.) of the target (e.g., target 1230) to the network entity 1240 (e.g., a radar server) and / or the network entity 1250 (e.g., a location server, such as a location management function (LMF)) via communication signals 1270c, 1270d.

[0169] As mentioned previously, in bi-station sensing, multi-station sensing and single-station sensing, the sensing node (eg, a network device, which may be in the form of a UE such as Figure 12 1210), or in the form of a base station (such as network device 1220) may need to report sensing measurements to the network (e.g., to a network entity, which may be in the form of a network server, such as network entity 1240 and network entity 1250). Figure 12 The description of describes an example of reporting RF sensing measurements. Such reporting of sensing measurements by a sensing node may be similar to the NR procedure of reporting measurements for UE positioning.

[0170] However, RF sensing measurements are typically different from measurements used for UE positioning. For example, in contrast to RF sensing measurements, UE positioning measurement reports typically only relate to the LOS path or multiple hypotheses of the LOS path (e.g., including multiple TOA measurements and / or other multiple time-correlated measurements).

[0171] The number of different types of sensing measurements used for RF sensing can be greater than the number of types of positioning measurements used for UE positioning, especially considering the many different use cases for RF sensing. For example, a UE positioning measurement may include an angle estimate. However, an RF sensing measurement may include an angle estimate as well as a velocity estimate and a distance estimate.

[0172] Figure 13 Examples of various use cases for wide area RF sensing are shown. In particular, Figure 13 is a diagram 1300 illustrating an example of a use case for wide area RF sensing utilizing a communication-only mobile network 1305. Figure 13 , use cases for wide-area RF sensing are shown to include a smart city use case 1310; a traffic light control use case 1315; an emissions detection / pollution monitoring use case 1320; a drone tracking and detection use case 1325; a crowd monitoring use case 1330; a weather prediction use case 1335; a positioning, tracking, and identification use case 1340; a street surveillance use case 1345; a street light control use case 1350; a traffic management use case 1355; an event management use case 1360; and a smart home use case 1365. Figure 13 There may be more or fewer use cases for wide area RF sensing than shown; and Figure 13 There may be additional and different use cases for wide area RF sensing than shown.

[0173] Currently, cognitive cellular networks are evolving to enable wide-area RF sensing. Wide-area RF sensing offers several advantages over visual and / or LIDAR sensing, including, but not limited to, providing wide coverage, allowing for low costs (e.g., by repurposing cellular networks and network equipment for RF sensing), operating in all weather conditions (e.g., day and night), providing power efficiency, and allowing for privacy considerations. The merging of the physical, digital, and virtual worlds could pave the way for the metaverse.

[0174] Figure 14 is a table 1400 showing examples of different measurements for some of the different use cases for wide area RF sensing. Figure 14 , table 1400 is shown as including a column containing a list of example use cases 1410. The example use cases 1410 in table 1400 include traffic monitoring (e.g., Figure 13 Traffic management 1355), marking of parking spaces or parking spaces (e.g. Figure 13 Street surveillance 1345), road safety (e.g. Figure 13 Traffic management 1355), dynamic three-dimensional (3D) maps, drone monitoring and management (e.g., Figure 13 1325) and environmental monitoring (e.g., Figure 13 emission detection / pollution monitoring 1320 and / or weather forecasting 1335).

[0175] Table 1400 also includes columns containing examples of measurement requirements for different example use cases 1410. The columns of table 1400 containing example measurement requirements include example measurement requirements for maximum range 1420 in meters (m), maximum rate 1430 in meters per second (m / s), range resolution 1440, rate resolution 1450, and angular resolution 1460. Table 1400 illustrates that for different example use cases 1410, the resolution requirements (e.g., range resolution 1440, rate resolution 1450, and angular resolution 1460) vary significantly.

[0176] In addition to or as an alternative to wide-area RF sensing, short-range RF sensing may be utilized. RF sensing (including wide-area RF sensing and short-range RF sensing) has several advantages over visual and / or LIDAR sensing, including but not limited to allowing for low costs (e.g., by repurposing cellular networks and network equipment for RF sensing), being able to operate in all weather conditions (e.g., during the day and at night), providing power efficiency, and allowing for privacy considerations.

[0177] Figure 15 is a table 1500 showing examples of different measurements for different use cases for short range sensing. Figure 15, table 1500 is shown to include a column that includes a list of example use cases 1510. The example use cases 1510 in table 1500 include human / animal detection, fall detection, respiration / heart rate estimation, position awareness control, driver attention monitoring, gesture recognition, keystroke recognition, head movement recognition, and arm recognition.

[0178] Figure 15 Table 1500 includes columns containing examples of measurement requirements for different example use cases 1510. The columns containing example measurement requirements of table 1500 include example measurement requirements for maximum range in meters 1520, maximum velocity in meters per second 1530, range resolution 1540, Doppler resolution 1550, and angular resolution 1560. Table 1500 shows that for different example use cases 1410, the resolution requirements (e.g., range resolution 1540, Doppler resolution 1550, and angular resolution 1560) vary significantly (e.g., ranging from low resolution to medium resolution to high resolution).

[0179] exist Figure 15 Table 1500 also shows that some example use cases in example use cases 1510 for short-range sensing do not have any requirements for certain measurements. For example, the recognition use cases (e.g., gesture recognition, keystroke recognition, head activity recognition, and arm activity recognition) in example use case 1510 do not have any requirements for angular resolution. For another example, the driving attention monitoring use case in example use case 1510 does not have any requirements for maximum rate or Doppler resolution.

[0180] As mentioned previously, for RF sensing (eg, bistatic sensing, multistatic sensing, and monostatic sensing), a sensing node (eg, a network device, which may be in the form of a UE such as Figure 12 1210 ), or in the form of a base station (such as network device 1220 ) may need to report sensing measurements to the network (eg, to a network entity, which may be in the form of a network server, such as network entity 1240 and network entity 1250 ).

[0181] For RF sensing, machine learning and / or artificial intelligence (AI) techniques are employed to extract information from raw channel estimates (e.g., from raw measurements). Raw measurements can provide additional sensing information beyond that obtained from signal measurements, such as angle, distance, and velocity. For RF sensing, raw measurements (e.g., including raw channel estimates) can potentially be used to extract rich sensing information about the sensed environment. For example, raw channel estimates may be based on in-phase / quadrature (I / Q) samples (e.g., RF sensing samples) without any further processing. In one or more examples, a sensing node (e.g., a network device such as a UE or gNB) may send the raw measurements to a network entity (e.g., a network server) for low-level processing. The network entity may collect these raw measurements from the sensing nodes and perform machine learning on the collected raw measurements to infer the activity occurring (e.g., identify the type of gesture). Therefore, enhancements to RF sensing measurement reporting (e.g., including raw channel estimates) in cellular systems may be useful.

[0182] The systems and techniques provide enhancements to RF sensing measurement reporting in cellular systems. The systems and techniques provide measurement reporting for RF sensing, including but not limited to measurement reporting based on each use case, frequency domain measurement reporting, and multi-step sensing measurement reporting. For example, network devices (e.g., Figure 12 The network device 1210, such as a gNB or other network device, may provide a network entity (e.g., Figure 12 A network entity 1240, such as a server, sends a measurement report including sensing measurements for one or more use cases for RF sensing. In some cases, as described herein, the network device may determine RF sensing measurements based on one or more received RF sensing resources.

[0183] In one or more aspects, per-use-case measurement reporting can be used for cellular-based RF sensing. For per-use-case measurement reporting, the type of measurement required for a particular use case can be known (e.g., by the sensing node). In one or more examples, a standard (e.g., one or more technical specifications (TSs) of a 3GPP standard) can define the measurements required for different types of use cases. The standard can also include the periodicity for obtaining measurements and the channels used to obtain the measurements.

[0184] In one or more examples, for per-use-case measurement reporting, physical (PHY) layer measurements may differ across various RF sensing use cases. For example, for a "dynamic 3D map" use case, distance, speed, and angle measurements may all be required. However, for a "parking spot (or parking space) identification" use case, only distance and angle measurements may be required.

[0185] In NR, positioning measurements are performed per "positioning method" because no single type of measurement is defined for all positioning methods. For example, for NR per positioning method, the location server will provide some coordination between the gNB and the UE. The UE will be directed to generate measurement reports based on the positioning method performed by the UE (e.g., dual-station sensing, multi-station sensing, and single-station sensing). Based on the positioning method performed by the UE, the UE knows what type of measurement it needs to report. For NR per positioning method, the required measurements vary for different positioning methods. Therefore, in NR, no single type of measurement is defined for all different positioning methods.

[0186] In one or more examples, for per-use-case measurement reporting for RF sensing, if (e.g., in the future) 3GPP supports only a limited number of use cases, then the RF sensing measurements to be reported can be defined per use case. In some examples, for per-use-case measurement reporting for RF sensing, if (e.g., in the future) 3GPP does not restrict the use cases (e.g., there are no restrictions on use cases), then there may be a mechanism to allow the network to dynamically request specific types of measurements to be reported.

[0187] In one or more aspects, measurements can be combined across use cases. To reduce signaling overhead, a sensing node can indicate that a measurement report for a first use case (e.g., use case A) can be associated with a measurement report for a second use case (e.g., use case B) based on the same set of sensing resources (e.g., sensing reference signals). This eliminates the need for the sensing node to repeat common measurement reports across the two use cases. Because the same sensing reference signals can be used for both the first and second use cases, a common set of measurements can be reported for both of these use cases (e.g., reported to a network entity in uplink resources). The combination of measurements across use cases can be driven by the observation that a sensing node can reuse measurements for multiple use cases (e.g., use cases that share commonality). For example, for a "dynamic 3D map" use case and a "parking spot (or parking space) identification" use case, these two use cases may share some commonality by sharing the same measurements of distance and angle. Therefore, the sensing node can reuse measurements from both types of use cases and avoid the need to repeatedly send common measurement reports for the two different use cases.

[0188] In one or more aspects, there may be an indication of a priority for sensing measurement reports. The indication of a priority for sensing measurement reports may be related to limitations in uplink resources. Because uplink resources may be limited (e.g., within a certain time window), and because some measurements may be larger than other measurements, not all measurements may fit within the transmission resources (e.g., uplink resources), and therefore, there may be several options for prioritizing sensing measurements across different use cases (e.g., for transmission within uplink resources). For example, if there are multiple use cases with limited uplink resources, there should be some priority for which use case to be reported as the higher priority measurement. In one or more examples, the network (e.g., a network entity) may indicate a priority for sensing measurement reports across multiple use cases. For example, a use case for "smart transportation" (e.g., Figure 13 Traffic management 1355) may be indicated by the network (eg, by a network entity) as having a higher priority than other use cases.

[0189] In one or more aspects, frequency domain (FD) channel measurement reports for RF sensing may be used for cellular-based RF sensing. FD channel measurement reports are associated with raw measurements (e.g., raw channel estimates). Raw measurements may be obtained by performing a fast Fourier transform (FFT) on an I / Q sample capture. The result of the FFT provides the raw channel in the frequency domain (e.g., referred to as a frequency domain channel). The frequency domain channel may provide a series of tones, where each tone has a tone index, an amplitude, and a phase. Figure 16 Graph 1600 shows an example of eight tones. These tones are raw channel measurements that provide rich information about the sensed environment. Advanced algorithms (e.g., machine learning algorithms) can be used to leverage the raw measurements to infer actions (e.g., gestures). With the advancement of machine learning (e.g., deep learning in particular), it is expected that raw channel measurements will enhance sensing performance.

[0190] In one or more examples, early fusion of RF measurements (e.g., radar-derived sensing measurements) and non-RF sensing measurements (e.g., sensing measurements obtained from devices other than radar, such as LIDAR or cameras) may require sensing nodes to report raw measurements. Early fusion has been investigated for many automotive use cases. Early fusion can involve fusing raw RF sensing measurements with raw non-RF sensing measurements.

[0191] As previously mentioned, FD channel measurement reporting for RF sensing can be used for cellular-based RF sensing. FD channel measurements are complex numbers, as they have amplitude and phase. In one or more examples, to reduce network overhead, the real and / or imaginary parts of the FD channel measurements can be quantized and then reported to the network. The quantization level used and the scaling factor used after quantization can be indicated to the network (e.g., a network entity) (e.g., by the sensing node). The network (e.g., the network entity) can use the quantization level and scaling factor to recover the FD channel measurements from the quantized FD channel measurements.

[0192] In one or more examples, to reduce signaling overhead, a subset of tones (rather than the full set) may be reported to the network (e.g., a network entity) (e.g., by a sensing node). A trade-off may exist between performance and signaling overhead to determine whether to report only a subset of tones. In some cases, some of these tones may include only noise rather than target-related information. The sensing node may make decisions regarding which tones are likely noise and which include sensing signals reflected from the target.

[0193] In one or more examples, to reduce signaling overhead, threshold-based tone selection may be implemented. For example, the threshold may be based on a noise floor estimate. In one or more examples, a sensing node (e.g., a network device such as a UE or gNB) may perform signal processing to estimate noise. Based on the determined noise power, the sensing node may determine which tones are noise tones or which tones include signal reflections and some noise. Thus, threshold-based selection may be implemented to select which set of tones to report by the sensing node to the network (e.g., a network entity).

[0194] In one or more examples, to reduce signaling overhead, downsampled FD channel measurements can be reported. For example, a sensing node can report every 8 samples. For example, if the FD channel measurement is downsampled at rate 4, then for every 4 samples, one of the 4 samples can be reported by the sensing node (e.g., a network device such as a UE or gNB) to the network (e.g., a network entity such as a network server).

[0195] Figure 16Graph 1600 illustrates an example of reporting downsampled frequency-domain channel measurements. In graph 1600, the x-axis represents tone index, and the y-axis represents FD channel measurements. Graph 1600 shows eight tones 1610a (tone index 1), 1610b (tone index 2), 1610c (tone index 3), 1610d (tone index 4), 1620a (tone index 5), 1620b (tone index 6), 1620c (tone index 7), and 1620d (tone index 8), each with a corresponding tone index. For this example, the FD channel measurements are downsampled at a rate of four. Therefore, one sample from each set of four samples can be reported to the network by the sensing node. For example, for a first set of four tones 1610a, 1610b, 1610c, and 1610d, the fourth tone 1610d can be reported. For the second set of four tones 1620a, 1620b, 1620c, 1620d, a fourth tone 1620d may be reported.

[0196] In one or more examples, for reporting of tones, the frequency response index may need to be included in the report. For example, the frequency response index of the fourth tone 1610d in the first set of tones and the frequency response index of the fourth tone 1620d in the second set of tones may be reported.

[0197] In one or more examples, for a sensing node (e.g., a network device such as a UE or gNB) with a limited number of antennas, the sensing node may report FD channel measurements per antenna (e.g., to the network). In some examples, the sensing node may need to indicate (e.g., to the network) the associated antenna port identification (ID). For example, the sensing node may need to indicate whether the FD channel measurement is from antenna 1 or antenna 2 so that the network knows the mapping between channels and antennas.

[0198] In one or more examples, a sensing node (e.g., a network device such as a UE or gNB) may report (e.g., to a network) combined FD channel measurements across a group of antennas. In some examples, the sensing node may need to indicate (e.g., to a network) a set of associated antenna port identities. For example, if the sensing node has a total of sixteen (16) antennas, the antennas may be combined into two groups such that the first group includes antennas 1 to 8 and the second group includes antennas 9 to 16. The sensing node may combine the FD channel measurements from the first group of antennas and may report the combination of FD channel measurements from the first group of antennas to the network for processing. The sensing node may also combine the FD channel measurements from the second group of antennas and may report the combination of FD channel measurements from the second group of antennas to the network for processing.

[0199] Figure 1717 is a graph 1700 illustrating an example of reporting frequency domain channel measurements for antennas. In graph 1700, the x-axis represents antenna number and the y-axis represents FD channel measurements. In graph 1700, FD channel measurements obtained from sixteen (16) antennas of a sensing node are shown, where each FD channel measurement is from a corresponding antenna of the sensing node. For this example, the 16 antennas of the sensing node may be combined into two groups, such that the first group includes antennas 1 to 8 and the second group includes antennas 9 to 16. The sensing node may combine FD channel measurements 1710 from the first group of antennas (e.g., antennas 1 to 8) and may combine FD channel measurements 1720 from the second group of antennas (e.g., antennas 9 to 12). The sensing node may report the combination of FD channel measurements 1710 from the first group of antennas to the network and may report the combination of FD channel measurements 1720 from the second group of antennas to the network.

[0200] In one or more aspects, a sensing node (e.g., a network device such as a UE or gNB) may report (e.g., to the network) a multi-step sensing measurement report. In one or more examples, for sensing measurement reports on uplink (UL) or sidelink (SL) data channels (such as the physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) or physical sidelink shared channel (PSSCH)), the sensing measurement payload size may vary significantly depending on different use cases, UE implementation, and / or sensing measurement report configuration. For example, the size of channel state information (CSI) may be too large to fit within the uplink resources, and therefore, some of the reported CSI information may need to be omitted from the report for transmission. For example, the sensing measurement report may be split into two or more parts, such that a subset of the parts has a constant size and the remaining part has a variable size. The size of the remaining part may vary because, for example, the UE may be reporting sensing measurements across different use cases. Since different use cases may have different quantities (and / or sizes) of required measurements that need to be reported by the sensing node to the network, the sensing node may not have fixed allocations of uplink resources.

[0201] In one or more examples, because the gNB may not know information (e.g., such as sensing use cases and / or the number of gNBs selected for measurement on the UE side) before scheduling an aperiodic sensing measurement report (e.g., on the PUSCH), the gNB may allocate uplink resources (e.g., PUSCH resources), such as in the frequency and time domains, by using a prediction of the required payload size. In one or more examples, the prediction may be based on payload sizes from historical sensing measurement reports.

[0202] In one or more examples, the gNB may allocate uplink resources (e.g., PUSCH resources) assuming that a sensing node (e.g., a UE, etc.) will report the same number of sensing measurements as in the previous sensing measurement report. However, in some cases, the payload size of the previous report may not be large enough for the current PUSCH report. In such cases, the sensing measurement report payload will not fit within an uplink resource container, such as a PUSCH container (e.g., the code rate will be too high or the uncoded systematic bits will not fit). CSI reporting (e.g., MIMO CSI reporting) may introduce a partial CSI omission scheme, where a portion of the CSI may still be reported (e.g., this may provide some utility to the gNB and at least provide information regarding rank indication (RI) selection so that the gNB can allocate appropriate PUSCH resources for the next aperiodic CSI request). Thus, at least some CSI information will be provided, but other CSI information may be omitted. This operates as an omission mechanism in CSI reporting. However, when reusing the concept of partial CSI omission, a portion of the sensing measurements is omitted from the report, which may result in significant performance loss.

[0203] In one or more aspects, if the uplink resources are not large enough (e.g., the size of the uplink resource container is not large enough), a multi-step sensing measurement report may be employed. In one or more examples, a sensing node (e.g., a network device such as a UE) may indicate the completeness or incompleteness of the RF sensing measurement report. For example, the UE may indicate whether the RF sensing measurement report is complete or incomplete by using a bit (e.g., a bit flag, such as 0 or 1) in the allocated PUSCH payload. For example, if the bit is set to zero (0), this may indicate that the sensing measurement report is incomplete. However, if the bit is set to one (1), this may indicate that the sensing measurement report is complete.

[0204] In one or more examples, a sensing node (e.g., a network device such as a UE) can indicate whether an RF sensing measurement report is complete or incomplete. For example, the UE can use more payload bits (e.g., two or more payload bits) to further indicate which sensing measurement report is omitted from the current report.

[0205] In one or more examples, a sensing node (e.g., a network device such as a UE) may be requested to report sensing measurements for multiple use cases. However, when resources available for measurement are limited, the sensing node may omit sensing measurements for one or more use cases from the current report because some use cases may have a higher priority. In some examples, a sensing node (e.g., a network device such as a UE) may need to report FD channel measurements across multiple antennas. However, due to uplink resource limitations, the sensing node may omit sensing measurement reports for one or more antennas from the current report. In one or more examples, due to a high-priority request from the network, the sensing node (e.g., a network device such as a UE) may report only a subset of the measurement types in the current report.

[0206] In one or more aspects, a sensing node (e.g., a network device such as a UE or gNB) may report (e.g., to the network) a deferrable reporting of sensing measurement reports. In one or more examples, there may be many sensing measurements to report; however, there may be situations where the sensing node (e.g., a network device such as a UE) may need to defer measurements in the current report. For example, if some sensing measurements are omitted from the current report, the sensing node should assume that these measurements are deferred, meaning that the sensing node should not remove this information from memory. The sensing node should retain this memory and prepare for the next uplink transmission (e.g., the sensing node should wait for a new grant from the base station to transmit the remaining reports). Therefore, the sensing node should assume that the measurements were not deleted, should retain the measurements, and should prepare for the next transmission opportunity. In one or more examples, the behavior of the sensing node when uplink resources are limited may be defined in the standard.

[0207] In one or more examples, sufficient bits should be reserved (e.g., by the sensing node) to indicate which sensing measurements are not to be reported in the current report. These bits should be given a higher priority and should be reserved for indication purposes if sensing measurements are incomplete. In some examples, this indication can indicate to the base station which sensing measurements to omit and can help the base station determine the PUSCH payload size for deferred reporting. In some examples, the sensing node (e.g., a network device such as a UE) can indicate the minimum PUSCH payload size required for deferred reporting.

[0208] Figure 18is a flow chart illustrating an example of a process 1800 for wirelessly communicating using an enhanced method for reporting RF sensing measurements in a cellular system. The process 1800 may be performed by a network device, such as a UE, a base station (e.g., a gNB), a portion of a base station (e.g., one or more of a CU, DU, RU, and / or other portions of a base station having a disaggregated architecture), or a component or system (e.g., a chipset) of a UE or a base station. The UE may be a mobile device (e.g., a mobile phone), a vehicle, a wearable device (e.g., a watch or other wearable device connected to a network), an extended reality (XR) device (e.g., a virtual reality (VR) or augmented reality (AR) headset or glasses), or other type of UE. The operations of the process 1800 may be implemented as a processor on one or more processors (e.g., Figure 19 In addition, the sending and receiving of signals by the wireless communication device in process 1800 may be implemented, for example, through one or more antennas and / or one or more transceivers (eg, wireless transceivers).

[0209] At block 1810, a network device (or a component thereof) may receive one or more radio frequency (RF) sensing resources. In some cases, the one or more RF sensing resources include one or more RF sensing reference signals (e.g., sensing signals such as Figure 12 RF sensing signals 1260a, 1260b).

[0210] At block 1820, the network device (or a component thereof) may determine an RF sensing measurement based on the one or more RF sensing resources. In some cases, the network device (or a component thereof) may receive at least one request for the RF sensing measurement from a network entity. The RF sensing measurement is based on at least one use case for RF sensing (e.g., for bistatic sensing, multistatic sensing, and / or monostatic sensing). In some examples, the at least one use case may include traffic monitoring, parking space identification, road safety, dynamic three-dimensional (3D) mapping, drone monitoring, drone management, environmental monitoring, human detection, animal detection, fall detection, respiration estimation, heart rate estimation, location-aware control, driver attention monitoring, gesture recognition, keystroke recognition, head movement recognition, arm recognition, any combination thereof, and / or other use cases.

[0211] In some cases, the RF sensing measurements include angle estimates, velocity estimates, Doppler estimates, distance estimates, any combination thereof, and / or other types of RF sensing measurements. In one illustrative example, the velocity estimate is a radial velocity estimate.

[0212] At block 1830, the network device (or a component thereof) may provide a network entity (e.g., Figure 12A network entity 1240 (e.g., a network entity 1240) sends a measurement report, the measurement report including the RF sensing measurements for the at least one use case for the RF sensing. The network entity can be a server (e.g., a radar server), a base station (e.g., a gNB), or a portion of the base station (e.g., a CU, DU, RU, etc., of a gNB with a disaggregated architecture). In some aspects, at least one use case includes multiple use cases (e.g., two or more of traffic monitoring, parking space identification, etc.). In such aspects, the measurement report can include a corresponding RF sensing measurement for each of the multiple use cases (e.g., a first RF sensing measurement for a first use case, a second RF sensing measurement for a second use case, and so on). In some cases, the at least one use case includes at least a first use case and a second use case having commonalities with the first use case. In such cases, the measurement report includes an indication that the measurement report is associated with the first use case and the second use case.

[0213] In some examples, the network device (or a component thereof) may receive, from the network entity, an indication of a priority of the measurement report across multiple use cases (including the at least one use case). In some cases, the measurement report includes an indication of whether the measurement report is complete or incomplete. In some examples, the indication of whether the measurement report is complete or incomplete includes bits in an uplink payload of the measurement report. In one illustrative example, when the measurement report is incomplete, the indication of whether the measurement report is complete or incomplete uses a plurality of bits in the uplink payload of the measurement report to indicate which measurements to omit from the measurement report.

[0214] In some aspects, the measurement report includes a frequency domain (FD) channel measurement. For example, in some cases, the FD channel measurement is a quantized FD channel measurement. In such cases, the measurement report includes an indication of a quantization level and / or scaling factor used for the quantized FD channel measurement. In some examples, the FD channel measurement is associated with one or more antennas of the plurality of antennas of the network device. In such examples, the measurement report includes an indication of each of the one or more antennas associated with the FD channel measurement. In some cases, the FD channel measurement includes one or more combined FD channel measurements. In some examples, each combined FD channel measurement of the one or more combined FD channel measurements is associated with a corresponding group of antennas from the plurality of antennas of the network device.

[0215] Figure 19 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a computing system 1900 that may be employed by the disclosed systems and techniques for enhancing RF sensing measurement reporting in cellular systems. In particular, Figure 19An example of a computing system 1900 is illustrated, which can be any computing device, for example, constituting an internal computing system, a remote computing system, a camera, or any component thereof, wherein the components of the system communicate with each other using a connection 1905. Connection 1905 can be a physical connection using a bus, or a direct connection to processor 1910, such as in a chipset architecture. Connection 1905 can also be a virtual connection, a networked connection, or a logical connection.

[0216] In some aspects, computing system 1900 is a distributed system, wherein the functionality described in this disclosure may be distributed within a data center, multiple data centers, a peer-to-peer network, etc. In some aspects, one or more of the described system components represent a plurality of such components, each of which performs some or all of the functionality of the described component. In some aspects, each component may be a physical or virtual device.

[0217] Example system 1900 includes at least one processing unit (CPU or processor) 1910 and connections 1905 that communicatively couple various system components including system memory 1915, such as read-only memory (ROM) 1920 and random access memory (RAM) 1925, to processor 1910. Computing system 1900 may include a cache 1912 of high-speed memory directly connected to, in close proximity to, or integrated as part of processor 1910.

[0218] Processor 1910 may include any general-purpose processor and hardware or software services, such as services 1932, 1934, and 1936 stored in storage device 1930, configured to control processor 1910 as well as a dedicated processor where software instructions are incorporated into the actual processor design. Processor 1910 may essentially be a completely independent computing system containing multiple cores or processors, buses, memory controllers, caches, etc. Multi-core processors may be symmetric or asymmetric.

[0219] To enable user interaction, the computing system 1900 includes an input device 1945 that can represent any number of input mechanisms, such as a microphone for voice, a touch-sensitive screen for gesture or graphical input, a keyboard, a mouse, motion input, voice, etc. The computing system 1900 can also include an output device 1935 that can be one or more of a plurality of output mechanisms. In some examples, a multimodal system can enable a user to provide multiple types of input / output to communicate with the computing system 1900.

[0220] The computing system 1900 may include a communication interface 1940, which generally governs and manages user input and system output. The communication interface may perform or facilitate receiving and / or sending wired or wireless communications using wired and / or wireless transceivers, including using audio jacks / plugs, microphone jacks / plugs, Universal Serial Bus (USB) ports / plugs, Apple ™ Lightning ™ Ports / plugs, Ethernet ports / plugs, fiber optic ports / plugs, dedicated wired ports / plugs, 3G, 4G, 5G and / or other cellular data network wireless signal transmission, Bluetooth ™ Wireless signal transmission, Bluetooth ™ Low energy (BLE) wireless signal transmission, IBEACON ™ Wireless signaling, radio frequency identification (RFID) wireless signaling, near field communication (NFC) wireless signaling, dedicated short range communication (DSRC) wireless signaling, 802.11 Wi-Fi wireless signaling, wireless local area network (WLAN) signaling, visible light communication (VLC), Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX), infrared (IR) communication wireless signaling, public switched telephone network (PSTN) signaling, integrated services digital network (ISDN) signaling, ad hoc network signaling, radio wave signaling, microwave signaling, infrared signaling, visible light signaling, ultraviolet light signaling, wireless signaling along the electromagnetic spectrum, or some combination thereof.

[0221] Communication interface 1940 may also include one or more ranging sensors (e.g., LIDAR sensors, laser rangefinders, RF radars, ultrasonic sensors, and infrared (IR) sensors) configured to collect data and provide measurements to processor 1910. Processor 1910 may thus be configured to perform the determinations and calculations required to obtain various measurements from the one or more ranging sensors. In some examples, the measurements may include time of flight, wavelength, azimuth, elevation, distance, linear velocity, and / or angular velocity, or any combination thereof. Communication interface 1940 may also include one or more Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) receivers or transceivers for determining the location of computing system 1900 based on one or more signals received from one or more satellites associated with one or more GNSS systems. GNSS systems include, but are not limited to, the United States' GPS, Russia's Global Navigation Satellite System (GLONASS), China's BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS), and Europe's Galileo GNSS. There is no restriction to operating on any particular hardware arrangement, and thus the underlying features herein may be readily substituted for improved hardware or firmware arrangements as they are developed.

[0222] The storage device 1930 may be a non-volatile and / or non-transitory and / or computer-readable memory device and may be a hard disk or other type of computer-readable medium that can store data that can be accessed by a computer, such as a magnetic cassette, a flash memory card, a solid-state memory device, a digital versatile disk, a cassette, a floppy disk, a floppy disk, a hard disk, a magnetic tape, a magnetic stripe / magnetic stripe, any other magnetic storage medium, flash memory, a memristor memory, any other solid-state memory, a compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM) disc, a rewritable compact disc (CD) disc, a digital video disc (DVD) disc, a Blu-ray disc (BDD) disc, a holographic disc, another optical medium, a secure digital (SD) card, a micro secure digital (microSD) card, a memory stick ®card, a smart card chip, an EMV chip, a subscriber identity module (SIM) card, a mini / micro / nano / pico SIM card, another integrated circuit (IC) chip / card, a random access memory (RAM), a static RAM (SRAM), a dynamic RAM (DRAM), a read-only memory (ROM), a programmable read-only memory (PROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), an electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), a flash EPROM (FLASHEPROM), a cache memory (e.g., a level 1 (L1) cache, a level 2 (L2) cache, a level 3 (L3) cache, a level 4 (L4) cache, a level 5 (L5) cache, or other (L#) cache), a resistive random access memory (RRAM / ReRAM), a phase change memory (PCM), a spin transfer torque RAM (STT-RAM), another memory chip or cartridge, and / or a combination thereof.

[0223] Storage devices 1930 may include software services, servers, services, and the like. When the code defining such software is executed by processor 1910, the code enables the system to perform functions. In some aspects, hardware services that perform specific functions may include software components for performing functions stored on computer-readable media connected to the necessary hardware components (such as processor 1910, connection 1905, output device 1935, etc.). The term "computer-readable medium" includes, but is not limited to, portable or non-portable storage devices, optical storage devices, and various other media capable of storing, containing, or carrying instructions and / or data. Computer-readable media may include non-transitory media in which data may be stored and does not include carrier waves and / or transient electronic signals propagating wirelessly or over a wired connection. Examples of non-transitory media may include, but are not limited to, magnetic disks or tapes, optical storage media (such as compact discs (CDs) or digital versatile discs (DVDs)), flash memory, memory, or storage devices. Computer readable media can store thereon code and / or machine executable instructions, which can represent any combination of a process, function, subroutine, program, routine, subroutine, module, software package, category, or instruction, data structure, or program statement. A code segment can be coupled to another code segment or a hardware circuit by transmitting and / or receiving information, data, independent variables, parameters, or memory contents. Information, independent variables, parameters, data, etc. can be transmitted, forwarded, or sent via any suitable means, including memory sharing, message passing, token passing, network transmission, etc.

[0224] Specific details are provided in the description above to provide a thorough understanding of the various aspects and examples provided herein, but those skilled in the art will recognize that the present application is not limited thereto. Thus, although the exemplary aspects of the present application have been described in detail herein, it is to be understood that each inventive concept can be implemented and adopted in various other ways, and the appended claims are not intended to be interpreted as including these variations unless limited by the prior art. The various features and aspects of the above-mentioned applications can be used individually or in combination. In addition, without departing from the broader scope of this specification, each aspect can be used in any number of environments and applications beyond the environment and application described herein. Therefore, the description and the accompanying drawings should be considered as illustrative rather than restrictive. For illustrative purposes, each method is described in a specific order. It should be understood that, in alternative aspects, each method can be performed in a different order than described.

[0225] For clarity of explanation, in some instances, the present technology can be presented as including separate functional blocks, which include devices, device components, steps or routines in the method embodied in software or a combination of hardware and software. Additional components other than those components shown in the drawings and / or described herein can be used. For example, circuits, systems, networks, processes and other components can be shown as components in block diagram form to avoid confusing these aspects in unnecessary details. In other cases, well-known circuits, processes, algorithms, structures and techniques can be shown without unnecessary details to avoid confusing various aspects.

[0226] In addition, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the various exemplary 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 thereof. In order to clearly illustrate this interchangeability of hardware and software, various exemplary 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 proposed for the entire system. Those skilled in the art can implement the described functions in different ways for each specific application, but such specific implementation decisions should not be interpreted as causing departure from the scope of this disclosure.

[0227] Various aspects may be described above as processes or methods, which may be depicted as flow charts, flowcharts, data flow diagrams, structure diagrams, or block diagrams. Although a flow chart may describe operations as a sequential process, many of the operations may be performed in parallel or concurrently. Furthermore, the order of the operations may be rearranged. A process is terminated when its operations are completed, but a process may have additional steps not included in the accompanying figures. A process may correspond to a method, function, procedure, subroutine, subprogram, etc. When a process corresponds to a function, termination of the process may correspond to the function returning to the calling function or the main function.

[0228] The processes and methods according to the examples described above can be implemented using stored computer-executable instructions or computer-executable instructions otherwise obtained from a computer-readable medium. Such instructions may include, for example, instructions and data that cause or otherwise configure a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, or a processing device to perform a certain function or group of functions. Portions of the computer resources used may be accessible over a network. The computer-executable instructions may be, for example, binary, intermediate format instructions such as assembly language, firmware, source code. Examples of computer-readable media that can be used to store instructions, information used, and / or information created during the methods according to the described examples include magnetic or optical disks, flash memory, USB devices with non-volatile memory, networked storage devices, and the like.

[0229] In some aspects, computer readable storage devices, media, and memories may include cables or wireless signals containing bit streams, etc. However, when referred to, non-transitory computer readable storage media expressly excludes media such as energy, carrier signals, electromagnetic waves, and signals themselves.

[0230] 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 mentioned throughout the above description may, in some cases, be represented by voltages, currents, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or particles, optical fields or 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.

[0231] The various illustrative logic blocks, modules, and circuits described in conjunction with the various aspects disclosed herein may be implemented or executed using hardware, software, firmware, middleware, microcode, hardware description languages, or any combination thereof, and may be implemented in any of a variety of form factors. When implemented in software, firmware, middleware, or microcode, program code or code segments (e.g., a computer program product) for performing the necessary tasks may be stored in a computer-readable or machine-readable medium. A processor may perform the necessary tasks. Examples of form factors include: a laptop computer, a smartphone, a mobile phone, a tablet device, or other small form factor personal computer, a personal digital assistant, a rack-mounted device, a standalone device, etc. The functionality described herein may also be embodied in a peripheral device or an add-in card. By way of further example, such functionality may also be implemented on circuit boards in different chips or different processes executed on a single device.

[0232] Instructions, media for conveying such instructions, computing resources for executing them, and other structures for supporting such computing resources are example means for providing the functionality described in this disclosure.

[0233] The techniques described herein may also be implemented in electronic hardware, computer software, firmware, or any combination thereof. Such techniques may be implemented in any of a variety of devices, such as general-purpose computers, wireless communication devices, or integrated circuit devices with multiple uses, including applications in wireless communication devices and other devices. Any features described as modules or components may be implemented together in an integrated logic device or separately as discrete but interoperable logic devices. If implemented in software, the techniques may be implemented at least in part by a computer-readable data storage medium containing program code, which includes instructions that, when executed, perform one or more of the methods, algorithms, and / or operations described above. The computer-readable data storage medium may form part of a computer program product, which may include packaging materials. The computer-readable medium may include memory or data storage media, such as random access memory (RAM) (such as synchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM)), read-only memory (ROM), non-volatile random access memory (NVRAM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), flash memory, magnetic or optical data storage media, and the like. Additionally or alternatively, the technology may be implemented at least in part by a computer-readable communication medium that carries or communicates program code in the form of instructions or data structures and that can be accessed, read, and / or executed by a computer, such as a propagated signal or wave.

[0234] The program code may be executed by a processor, which may include one or more processors, such as one or more digital signal processors (DSPs), general-purpose microprocessors, application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), field-programmable logic arrays (FPGAs), or other equivalent integrated or discrete logic circuitry. Such a processor may be configured to perform any of the techniques described in this disclosure. A general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor; however, 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, multiple microprocessors, one or more microprocessors in conjunction with a DSP core, or any other such configuration. Thus, as used herein, the term "processor" may refer to any of the foregoing structures, any combination of the foregoing structures, or any other structure or device suitable for implementing the techniques described herein.

[0235] It should be understood by those skilled in the art that the less than ("<") and greater than (">") symbols or terms used herein may be replaced by less than or equal to (" ") and greater than or equal to (" ) symbol instead.

[0236] Where a component is described as being “configured to” perform certain operations, such configuration may be achieved, for example, by designing electronic circuits or other hardware to perform the operations, by programming programmable electronic circuits (e.g., a microprocessor or other suitable electronic circuits) to perform the operations, or any combination thereof.

[0237] The phrases “coupled to” or “communicatively coupled to” refer to any component being physically connected directly or indirectly to another component, and / or any component being in communication, directly or indirectly, with another component (e.g., connected to the other component via a wired or wireless connection and / or other suitable communication interface).

[0238] Claim language or other language reciting "at least one of" a set and / or "one or more of" a set indicates that one member of the set or multiple members of the set (in any combination) satisfies the claim. For example, claim language reciting "at least one of A and B" or "at least one of A or B" means A, B, or A and B. In another example, claim language reciting "at least one of A, B, and C" or "at least one of A, B, or C" means A, B, C, or A and B, or A and C, or B and C, or A, B, and C. The language "at least one of" a set and / or "one or more of" a set does not limit the set to the items listed in the set. For example, claim language reciting "at least one of A and B" or "at least one of A or B" may mean A, B, or A and B, and may additionally include items not listed in the set of A and B.

[0239] Illustrative aspects of the present disclosure include:

[0240] Aspect 1. A network device for wireless communication, the network device comprising: at least one memory; and at least one processor, the at least one processor being coupled to the at least one memory and configured to: receive one or more radio frequency (RF) sensing resources; determine RF sensing measurements based on the one or more RF sensing resources, wherein the RF sensing measurements are based on at least one use case for RF sensing; and send a measurement report to a network entity, the measurement report including the RF sensing measurements for the at least one use case for the RF sensing.

[0241] Aspect 2. The network device according to aspect 1, wherein the network device is one of a user equipment (UE) or a base station.

[0242] Aspect 3. The network device according to any one of aspects 1 or 2, wherein the network entity is a network server.

[0243] Aspect 4. A network device according to any one of Aspects 1 to 3, wherein the at least one use case is at least one of the following: traffic monitoring, parking space identification, road safety, dynamic three-dimensional (3D) mapping, drone monitoring, drone management, environmental monitoring, human detection, animal detection, fall detection, breathing estimation, heart rate estimation, location-aware control, driver attention monitoring, gesture recognition, keystroke recognition, head movement recognition, or arm recognition.

[0244] Aspect 5. The network device according to any one of aspects 1 to 4, wherein the RF sensing is one of bistatic sensing, multistatic sensing, or monostatic sensing.

[0245] Aspect 6. The network device of any one of aspects 1 to 5, wherein the RF sensing measurements include at least one of an angle estimate, a velocity estimate, a Doppler estimate, or a distance estimate.

[0246] Aspect 7. The network device of aspect 6, wherein the velocity estimate is a radial velocity estimate.

[0247] Aspect 8. A network device according to any one of aspects 1 to 7, wherein the at least one use case comprises a plurality of use cases, and wherein the measurement report comprises a respective RF sensing measurement for each of the plurality of use cases.

[0248] Aspect 9. The network device according to any one of aspects 1 to 8, wherein the at least one processor is configured to receive at least one request for the RF sensing measurement from the network entity.

[0249] Aspect 10. A network device according to any one of Aspects 1 to 9, wherein the at least one use case includes at least a first use case and a second use case having commonality with the first use case, and wherein the measurement report includes an indication that the measurement report is associated with the first use case and the second use case.

[0250] Aspect 11. The network device of any one of aspects 1 to 10, wherein the at least one processor is configured to: receive, from the network entity, an indication of a priority of the measurement report across a plurality of use cases including the at least one use case.

[0251] Aspect 12. The network device according to any one of aspects 1 to 11, wherein the measurement report comprises a frequency domain (FD) channel measurement.

[0252] Aspect 13. The network device of aspect 12, wherein the FD channel measurement is a quantized FD channel measurement.

[0253] Aspect 14. The network device of aspect 13, wherein the measurement report includes an indication of at least one of a quantization level or a scaling factor used for the quantized FD channel measurement.

[0254] Aspect 15. The network device of any one of aspects 12 to 14, wherein the FD channel measurement is associated with one or more antennas of a plurality of antennas of the network device.

[0255] Aspect 16. The network device of aspect 15, wherein the measurement report includes an indication of each of the one or more antennas associated with the FD channel measurement.

[0256] Aspect 17. A network device according to any one of Aspects 12 to 16, wherein the FD channel measurement includes one or more combined FD channel measurements, wherein each combined FD channel measurement of the one or more combined FD channel measurements is associated with a corresponding group of antennas from a plurality of antennas of the network device.

[0257] Aspect 18. The network device according to any one of aspects 1 to 17, wherein the measurement report includes an indication of whether the measurement report is complete or incomplete.

[0258] Aspect 19. The network device of aspect 18, wherein the indication of whether the measurement report is complete or incomplete comprises a bit in an uplink payload of the measurement report.

[0259] Aspect 20. A network device according to any one of aspects 18 or 19, wherein, when the measurement report is incomplete, the indication of whether the measurement report is complete or incomplete uses multiple bits in the uplink payload of the measurement report to indicate which measurements are omitted from the measurement report.

[0260] Aspect 21. The network device according to any one of aspects 1 to 20, wherein the one or more RF sensing resources include one or more RF sensing reference signals.

[0261] Aspect 22. A method for wireless communication at a network device, the method comprising: receiving, by the network device, one or more radio frequency (RF) sensing resources; determining, by the network device, RF sensing measurements based on the one or more RF sensing resources, wherein the RF sensing measurements are based on at least one use case for RF sensing; and sending, by the network device, a measurement report to a network entity, the measurement report including the RF sensing measurements for the at least one use case for the RF sensing.

[0262] Aspect 23. The method of aspect 22, wherein the network device is one of a user equipment (UE) or a base station.

[0263] Aspect 24. The method according to any one of aspects 22 or 23, wherein the network entity is a network server.

[0264] Aspect 25. A method according to any one of Aspects 22 to 24, wherein the at least one use case is at least one of the following: traffic monitoring, parking space identification, road safety, dynamic three-dimensional (3D) mapping, drone monitoring, drone management, environmental monitoring, human detection, animal detection, fall detection, breathing estimation, heart rate estimation, location-aware control, driver attention monitoring, gesture recognition, keystroke recognition, head movement recognition, or arm recognition.

[0265] Aspect 26. The method according to any one of aspects 22 to 25, wherein the RF sensing is one of bistatic sensing, multistatic sensing, or monostatic sensing.

[0266] Aspect 27. The method according to any one of aspects 22 to 26, wherein the RF sensing measurement comprises at least one of an angle estimate, a velocity estimate, a Doppler estimate, or a distance estimate.

[0267] Aspect 28. The method of aspect 27, wherein the velocity estimate is a radial velocity estimate.

[0268] Aspect 29. The method of any one of aspects 22 to 28, wherein the at least one use case comprises a plurality of use cases, and wherein the measurement report comprises a respective RF sensing measurement for each of the plurality of use cases.

[0269] Aspect 30. The method according to any one of aspects 22 to 29, further comprising: receiving at least one request for the RF sensing measurement from the network entity.

[0270] Aspect 31. A method according to any one of Aspects 22 to 30, wherein the at least one use case includes at least a first use case and a second use case having commonality with the first use case, and wherein the measurement report includes an indication that the measurement report is associated with the first use case and the second use case.

[0271] Aspect 32. The method according to any one of aspects 22 to 31, further comprising: receiving, by the network device from the network entity, an indication of a priority of the measurement report across a plurality of use cases including the at least one use case.

[0272] Aspect 33. The method according to any one of aspects 22 to 32, wherein the measurement report comprises a frequency domain (FD) channel measurement.

[0273] Aspect 34. The method of aspect 33, wherein the FD channel measurement is a quantized FD channel measurement.

[0274] Aspect 35. The method of aspect 34, wherein the measurement report includes an indication of at least one of a quantization level or a scaling factor used for the quantized FD channel measurement.

[0275] Aspect 36. The method according to any one of aspects 33 to 35, wherein the FD channel measurement is associated with one or more antennas of a plurality of antennas of the network device.

[0276] Aspect 37. The method of aspect 36, wherein the measurement report includes an indication of each of the one or more antennas associated with the FD channel measurement.

[0277] Aspect 38. A method according to any one of Aspects 33 to 37, wherein the FD channel measurement includes one or more combined FD channel measurements, wherein each combined FD channel measurement of the one or more combined FD channel measurements is associated with a corresponding group of antennas from a plurality of antennas of the network device.

[0278] Aspect 39. The method according to any one of aspects 22 to 38, wherein the measurement report includes an indication of whether the measurement report is complete or incomplete.

[0279] Aspect 40. The method of aspect 39, wherein the indication of whether the measurement report is complete or incomplete comprises a bit in an uplink payload of the measurement report.

[0280] Aspect 41. A method according to any one of Aspects 39 or 40, wherein, when the measurement report is incomplete, the indication of whether the measurement report is complete or incomplete uses multiple bits in the uplink payload of the measurement report to indicate which measurements are omitted from the measurement report.

[0281] Aspect 42. The method according to any one of aspects 22 to 41, wherein the one or more RF sensing resources include one or more RF sensing reference signals.

[0282] Aspect 43. A non-transitory computer-readable medium having instructions stored thereon, the instructions, when executed by at least one processor, causing the at least one processor to perform the operations of any one of aspects 22 to 42.

[0283] Aspect 44. An apparatus for wireless communication, the apparatus comprising one or more means for performing the operations of any one of aspects 22 to 42.

[0284] The foregoing description is provided to enable any person skilled in the art to practice the various aspects described herein. Various modifications to these aspects will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and the general principles defined herein may be applied to other aspects. Therefore, the claims are not intended to be limited to the aspects shown herein, but are to be accorded the full scope consistent with the language of the claims, wherein reference to an element in the singular is not intended to mean "one and only one" unless specifically stated otherwise, but rather "one or more."

Claims

1. A network device for wireless communication, the network device comprising: at least one memory; and at least one processor coupled to the at least one memory and configured to: receiving one or more radio frequency (RF) sensing resources; determining RF sensing measurements based on the one or more RF sensing resources, wherein the RF sensing measurements are based on at least one use case for RF sensing; as well as A measurement report is sent to a network entity, the measurement report including the RF sensing measurements for the at least one use case for the RF sensing. 2 . The network device of claim 1 , wherein the network device is one of a user equipment (UE) or a base station. The network device according to claim 1 , wherein the network entity is a network server.

4. The network device of claim 1 , wherein the at least one use case is at least one of: traffic monitoring, parking space identification, road safety, dynamic three-dimensional (3D) mapping, drone monitoring, drone management, environmental monitoring, human detection, animal detection, fall detection, respiration estimation, heart rate estimation, location-aware control, driver attention monitoring, gesture recognition, keystroke recognition, head movement recognition, or arm recognition.

5. The network device of claim 1, wherein the RF sensing is one of bistatic sensing, multistatic sensing, or monostatic sensing. 6 . The network device of claim 1 , wherein the RF sensing measurements include at least one of an angle estimate, a velocity estimate, a Doppler estimate, or a distance estimate. The network device of claim 6 , wherein the velocity estimate is a radial velocity estimate.

8. The network device of claim 1, wherein the at least one use case comprises a plurality of use cases, and wherein the measurement report comprises a respective RF sensing measurement for each of the plurality of use cases.

9. The network device of claim 1, wherein the at least one processor is configured to receive at least one request for the RF sensing measurement from the network entity.

10. The network device of claim 1, wherein the at least one use case comprises at least a first use case and a second use case having commonality with the first use case, and wherein the measurement report comprises an indication that the measurement report is associated with the first use case and the second use case.

11. The network device of claim 1 , wherein the at least one processor is configured to receive, from the network entity, an indication of a priority of the measurement report across a plurality of use cases including the at least one use case.

12. The network device of claim 1, wherein the measurement report comprises frequency domain (FD) channel measurements.

13. The network device of claim 12, wherein the FD channel measurement is a quantized FD channel measurement.

14. The network device of claim 13, wherein the measurement report includes an indication of at least one of a quantization level or a scaling factor used for the quantized FD channel measurement.

15. The network device of claim 12, wherein the FD channel measurement is associated with one or more antennas of a plurality of antennas of the network device.

16. The network device of claim 15, wherein the measurement report includes an indication of each of the one or more antennas associated with the FD channel measurement.

17. The network device of claim 12, wherein the FD channel measurement comprises one or more combined FD channel measurements, wherein each combined FD channel measurement of the one or more combined FD channel measurements is associated with a respective group of antennas from a plurality of antennas of the network device.

18. The network device of claim 1, wherein the measurement report includes an indication of whether the measurement report is complete or incomplete.

19. The network device of claim 18, wherein the indication of whether the measurement report is complete or incomplete comprises a bit in an uplink payload of the measurement report.

20. The network device according to claim 18, wherein When the measurement report is incomplete, the indication of whether the measurement report is complete or incomplete uses a plurality of bits in an uplink payload of the measurement report to indicate which measurements are omitted from the measurement report.

21. The network device of claim 1, wherein the one or more RF sensing resources include one or more RF sensing reference signals.

22. A method for wireless communication at a network device, the method comprising: receiving, by the network device, one or more radio frequency (RF) sensing resources; determining, by the network device, RF sensing measurements based on the one or more RF sensing resources, wherein the RF sensing measurements are based on at least one use case for RF sensing; as well as A measurement report is sent, by the network device, to a network entity, the measurement report including the RF sensing measurements for the at least one use case for the RF sensing.

23. The method of claim 22, wherein the network device is one of a user equipment (UE) or a base station, and wherein the network entity is a network server.

24. The method of claim 22, wherein the at least one use case is at least one of: traffic monitoring, parking space identification, road safety, dynamic three-dimensional (3D) mapping, drone monitoring, drone management, environmental monitoring, human detection, animal detection, fall detection, respiration estimation, heart rate estimation, location-aware control, driver attention monitoring, gesture recognition, keystroke recognition, head movement recognition, or arm recognition.

25. The method of claim 22, wherein the RF sensing measurements include at least one of an angle estimate, a velocity estimate, a Doppler estimate, or a range estimate.

26. The method of claim 22, wherein the at least one use case comprises a plurality of use cases, and wherein the measurement report comprises a respective RF sensing measurement for each of the plurality of use cases.

27. The method of claim 22, wherein the at least one use case comprises at least a first use case and a second use case having commonality with the first use case, and wherein the measurement report comprises an indication that the measurement report is associated with the first use case and the second use case.

28. The method of claim 22, further comprising: An indication of a priority of the measurement report across a plurality of use cases including the at least one use case is received, by the network device, from the network entity.

29. The method of claim 22, wherein the measurement report comprises a frequency domain (FD) channel measurement, wherein the FD channel measurement is at least one of quantized FD channel measurements associated with one or more antennas from a plurality of antennas of the network device, or comprises one or more combined FD channel measurements, wherein each of the one or more combined FD channel measurements is associated with a respective group of antennas from the plurality of antennas of the network device.

30. The method of claim 22, wherein the measurement report includes an indication of whether the measurement report is complete or incomplete, and wherein: When the measurement report is incomplete, the indication of whether the measurement report is complete or incomplete uses a plurality of bits in an uplink payload of the measurement report to indicate which measurements are omitted from the measurement report.

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