Beam measurement and reporting for beam scanning

Abstract

Embodiments of the present disclosure relate to beam measurement and reporting for beam scanning. In one aspect, a first device receives configuration information for configuring beam measurements and reporting for beam scanning from a second device. Based on the configuration information, the first device performs at least one of (i) a first one or more beam measurements for a first link from the luminaire device to the first device, or (ii) a second one or more beam measurements for a second link from the third device to the first device. The first device then sends a measurement report to the second device. In this manner, the network may acquire more accurate beam reports from the reader and utilize the beam reports to optimize various beam-related processes at the luminaire, such as positioning, backscatter transmission, and energy transfer. Therefore, the communication performance is improved.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] Various example embodiments relate to the field of communications, and more specifically to devices, methods, apparatuses, and computer-readable storage media for beam measurement and reporting of beam scanning. Background Technology

[0002] In 5G New Radio (NR), beam reporting is a mechanism used by User Equipment (UE) to provide feedback to the base station (gNB) regarding the quality of the received beam and other relevant information. Effective beam reporting in NR enables the gNB to optimize beam management, beamforming, and other beam-related processes. It helps improve signal quality, reduce interference, optimize beam selection, and enhance overall system performance in 5G networks. However, several issues remain to be addressed to improve the performance of beam measurement and reporting used for beam scanning. Summary of the Invention

[0003] Overall, the exemplary embodiments of this disclosure provide a solution for beam measurement and reporting for beam scanning.

[0004] In a first aspect, a first device is provided. The first device includes at least one processor; and at least one memory storing instructions, which, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the first device to at least: receive configuration information from a second device for configuring beam measurements and reporting for beam scanning performed by a illuminator device using an activation signal sequence, wherein at least one third device will perform a transmission of a response signal sequence to the first device based on the reception of the activation signal sequence from the illuminator device; perform at least one of the following based on the configuration information: (i) a first or more beam measurements based on the activation signal sequence for a first link from the illuminator device to the first device, or (ii) a second or more beam measurements based on the response signal sequence for a second link from the at least one third device to the first device; and send a measurement report to the second device for reporting at least one beam measurement result of at least one of the following: the first or more beam measurements, or the second or more beam measurements.

[0005] In a second aspect, a second device is provided. The second device includes at least one processor; and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the second device to at least: determine configuration information for a first device, the configuration information for configuring beam measurement and reporting for a beam scan performed by a illuminator device using an activation signal sequence, wherein at least one third device will perform a transmission of a response signal sequence to the first device based on receiving the activation signal sequence from the illuminator device; send the configuration information to the first device; and receive a measurement report from the first device, the measurement report for reporting at least one beam measurement result of at least one of the following: (i) a first one or more beam measurements performed based on the activation signal sequence for a first link from the illuminator device to the first device, or (ii) a second one or more beam measurements performed based on the response signal sequence for a second link from the third device to the first device.

[0006] In a third aspect, a method is provided at a first device. The method includes: receiving configuration information from a second device for configuring beam measurement and reporting for a beam scan to be performed by a illuminator device using an activation signal sequence, wherein at least one third device will perform a transmission of a response signal sequence to the first device based on the reception of the activation signal sequence from the illuminator device; performing at least one of the following based on the configuration information: (i) a first or more beam measurements based on the activation signal sequence for a first link from the illuminator device to the first device, or (ii) a second or more beam measurements based on the response signal sequence for a second link from the at least one third device to the first device; and sending a measurement report to the second device for reporting at least one beam measurement result of at least one of the following: the first or more beam measurements, or the second or more beam measurements.

[0007] In a fourth aspect, a method is provided at a second device. The method includes: determining configuration information for a first device, the configuration information being used to configure beam measurement and reporting for a beam scan to be performed by a illuminator device using an activation signal sequence, wherein at least one third device will perform a transmission of a response signal sequence to the first device based on receiving the activation signal sequence from the illuminator device; sending the configuration information to the first device; and receiving a measurement report from the first device, the measurement report being used to report at least one beam measurement result of at least one of the following: (i) a first one or more beam measurements performed based on the activation signal sequence for a first link from the illuminator device to the first device, or (ii) a second one or more beam measurements performed based on the response signal sequence for a second link from the third device to the first device.

[0008] In a fifth aspect, an apparatus is provided. The apparatus includes: components for receiving configuration information from a second device, the configuration information being used to configure beam measurement and reporting for beam scanning to be performed by a illuminator device using an activation signal sequence, wherein at least one third device will perform a transmission of a response signal sequence to a first device based on the reception of the activation signal sequence from the illuminator device; components for performing at least one of the following based on the configuration information: (i) a first or more beam measurements based on the activation signal sequence for a first link from the illuminator device to the first device, or (ii) a second or more beam measurements based on the response signal sequence for a second link from at least one of the third devices to the first device; and components for sending a measurement report to the second device, the measurement report being used to report at least one beam measurement result of at least one of the following: the first or more beam measurements or the second or more beam measurements.

[0009] In a sixth aspect, an apparatus is provided. The apparatus includes: components for determining configuration information for a first device, the configuration information being used to configure beam measurement and reporting for a beam scan to be performed by a illuminator device using an activation signal sequence, wherein at least one third device will perform a transmission of a response signal sequence to the first device based on receiving the activation signal sequence from the illuminator device; components for sending the configuration information to the first device; and components for receiving a measurement report from the first device, the measurement report being used to report at least one beam measurement result of at least one of the following: (i) a first one or more beam measurements performed based on the activation signal sequence for a first link from the illuminator device to the first device, or (ii) a second one or more beam measurements performed based on the response signal sequence for a second link from at least one of the third devices to the first device.

[0010] In a seventh aspect, a non-transitory computer-readable medium is provided, comprising program instructions for causing a device to perform at least the method according to any one of the third to fourth aspects described above.

[0011] In an eighth aspect, a computer program including instructions, when executed by a device, causes the device to at least: receive configuration information from a second device for configuring beam measurements and reporting for beam scanning performed by a lighting device using an activation signal sequence, wherein at least one third device will perform a transmission of a response signal sequence to a first device based on the reception of the activation signal sequence from the lighting device; perform at least one of the following based on the configuration information: (i) a first or more beam measurements based on the activation signal sequence for a first link from the lighting device to the first device, or (ii) a second or more beam measurements based on the response signal sequence for a second link from the third device to the first device; and send a measurement report to the second device for reporting at least one beam measurement result of at least one of the following: the first or more beam measurements, or the second or more beam measurements.

[0012] In a ninth aspect, a computer program including instructions, when executed by a device, causes the device to at least: determine configuration information for a first device, the configuration information for configuring beam measurement and reporting for beam scanning performed by a illuminator device using an activation signal sequence, wherein at least one third device will perform a transmission of a response signal sequence to the first device based on receiving the activation signal sequence from the illuminator device; send the configuration information to the first device; and receive a measurement report from the first device for reporting at least one beam measurement result of at least one of the following: (i) a first one or more beam measurements performed based on the activation signal sequence for a first link from the illuminator device to the first device, or (ii) a second one or more beam measurements performed based on the response signal sequence for a second link from the third device to the first device.

[0013] In a tenth aspect, a first device is provided. The first device includes: a receiving circuit system configured to receive configuration information for configuring beam measurement and reporting for a beam scan to be performed by an illuminator device using an activation signal sequence, wherein at least one third device will perform a transmission of a response signal sequence to the first device based on the reception of the activation signal sequence from the illuminator device; an execution circuit system configured to perform at least one of the following based on the configuration information: (i) a first or more beam measurements based on the activation signal sequence for a first link from the illuminator device to the first device, or (ii) a second or more beam measurements based on the response signal sequence for a second link from the at least one third device to the first device; and a transmitting circuit system configured to transmit a measurement report for reporting at least one beam measurement result of at least one of the following: the first or more beam measurements or the second or more beam measurements.

[0014] In an eleventh aspect, a second device is provided. The second device includes: a determining circuit system configured to determine configuration information for a first device, the configuration information being used to configure beam measurement and reporting for a beam scan to be performed by an illuminator device using an activation signal sequence, wherein at least one third device will perform a transmission of a response signal sequence to the first device based on receiving the activation signal sequence from the illuminator device; a transmitting circuit system configured to transmit the configuration information to the first device; and a receiving circuit system configured to receive a measurement report for reporting at least one beam measurement result of at least one of the following: (i) a first one or more beam measurements performed based on the activation signal sequence for a first link from the illuminator device to the first device, or (ii) a second one or more beam measurements performed based on the response signal sequence for a second link from the third device to the first device.

[0015] It should be understood that the summary portion is not intended to identify key or essential features of the embodiments of this disclosure, nor is it intended to limit the scope of this disclosure. Other features of this disclosure will become readily apparent from the following description. Attached Figure Description

[0016] Some exemplary embodiments will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

[0017] Figure 1A The illustration shows an example network environment in which example embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented;

[0018] Figure 1B The illustration shows an example topology of an environmental Internet of Things (AIoT) network in which example embodiments of the present disclosure can be implemented;

[0019] Figure 1C The illustration shows another example topology of an AIoT network in which example embodiments of the present disclosure can be implemented;

[0020] Figure 1D The illustration depicts an example scenario for beam scanning operation for AIoT in which example embodiments of the present disclosure can be implemented;

[0021] Figure 2 The illustration shows example signaling diagrams illustrating example processes according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0022] Figure 3 The illustrations depict example processes according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0023] Figure 4 Another example process according to some embodiments of the present disclosure is illustrated;

[0024] Figure 5 The illustration shows a flowchart of a method implemented at a first device according to some other embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0025] Figure 6 The illustration shows a flowchart of a method implemented at a second device according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0026] Figure 7 A simplified block diagram of an apparatus suitable for implementing embodiments of the present disclosure is illustrated; and

[0027] Figure 8 A block diagram of an example computer-readable medium according to some embodiments of the present disclosure is illustrated.

[0028] Throughout the accompanying drawings, the same or similar reference numerals denote the same or similar elements. Detailed Implementation

[0029] The principles of this disclosure will now be described with reference to some exemplary embodiments. It should be understood that these embodiments are described for illustrative purposes only and to help those skilled in the art to understand and implement this disclosure, and do not constitute any limitation on the scope of this disclosure. The disclosure described herein can be implemented in various other ways besides those described below.

[0030] In the following description and claims, unless otherwise defined, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this disclosure pertains.

[0031] In this disclosure, references to "an embodiment," "embodiment," and "example embodiment," etc., indicate that the described embodiment may include a particular feature, structure, or characteristic, but not every embodiment must include that particular feature, structure, or characteristic. Furthermore, such phrases do not necessarily refer to the same embodiment. Moreover, when a particular feature, structure, or characteristic is described in connection with an embodiment, it should be assumed that combining it with other embodiments to affect such a feature, structure, or characteristic is within the knowledge of those skilled in the art, whether explicitly described or not.

[0032] It should be understood that although the terms “first” and “second”, etc., may be used herein to describe various elements, these elements should not be limited by these terms. These terms are used only to distinguish one element from another. For example, without departing from the scope of the exemplary embodiments, a first element may be referred to as a second element, and similarly, a second element may be referred to as a first element. As used herein, the term “and / or” includes any and all combinations of one or more of the listed terms.

[0033] The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to limit the exemplary embodiments. As used herein, the singular forms “a,” “an,” and “the” are also intended to include the plural forms, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. The terms “comprises,” “comprising,” “has,” “having,” “includes,” and / or “including” as used herein specify the presence of the stated features, elements, and / or components, but do not exclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, elements, components, and / or combinations thereof. As used herein, “at least one of the following: ” and “at least one of ” and similar wording (where the list of two or more elements is connected by “and” or “or”) means at least any one of these elements, or at least any two or more of these elements, or at least all of these elements.

[0034] As used in this application, the term "circuit system" may refer to one or more or all of the following: (a) Hardware circuit implementation only (such as implementation using only analog and / or digital circuit systems), and (b) A combination of hardware circuitry and software, such as (if applicable): (i) A combination of (multiple) analog and / or digital hardware circuits and software / firmware, and (ii) Any portion of a hardware processor (including a digital signal processor), software, and memory (including a plurality of) having software, working together to enable a device (such as a mobile phone or server) to perform various functions, and (c) (Multiple) hardware circuits and / or (multiple) processors, such as (multiple) microprocessors or a portion thereof, which require software (e.g., firmware) to operate, but may not exist when operation is not required.

[0035] The definition of "circuit system" applies to all uses of the term in this application, including in any claim. As another example, as used in this application, the term "circuit system" also covers only hardware circuitry or a processor (or processors) or a portion of hardware circuitry or a processor and its accompanying software and / or firmware. For example, if applicable to a particular claim element, the term "circuit system" also covers baseband integrated circuits or processor integrated circuits for mobile devices, or similar integrated circuits in servers, cellular network devices, or other computing or network devices.

[0036] As used herein, the term "communication network" refers to a network that conforms to any suitable communication standard, such as Long Term Evolution (LTE), LTE-A Advanced (LTE-A), Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA), High-Speed ​​Packet Access (HSPA), Narrowband Internet of Things (NB-IoT), etc. Furthermore, communication between terminal devices and network devices in a communication network can be performed according to any suitable generation communication protocol, including but not limited to first-generation (1G), second-generation (2G), 2.5G, 2.75G, third-generation (3G), fourth-generation (4G), 4.5G, future fifth-generation (5G) communication protocols, and / or any other protocols currently known or to be developed in the future. Embodiments of this disclosure can be applied to various communication systems. Given the rapid development of communications, there will naturally be communication technologies and systems that can be used to embody future types of communication technologies and systems. This should not be construed as limiting the scope of this disclosure to the systems described above.

[0037] As used herein, the term "network device" refers to a node in a communication network through which terminal devices access the network and receive services. Network devices can refer to base stations (BS) or access points (APs), such as Node B (NodeB or NB), evolved Node B (eNodeB or eNB), NR NB (also known as gNB), Remote Radio Unit (RRU), Radio Head (RH), Remote Radio Head (RRH), relays, low-power nodes (such as femtoseconds, picoseconds), etc., depending on the terminology and technology used.

[0038] The term "terminal device" refers to any terminal device capable of wireless communication. As an example and not a limitation, a terminal device may also be referred to as a communication device, user equipment (UE), subscriber station (SS), portable subscriber station, mobile station (MS), or access terminal (AT). Terminal devices can include, but are not limited to, mobile phones, cellular phones, smartphones, Voice over IP (VoIP) phones, wireless local loop phones, tablets, wearable terminal devices, personal digital assistants (PDAs), portable computers, desktop computers, image capture terminal devices (such as digital cameras), gaming terminal devices, music storage and playback devices, in-vehicle wireless terminal devices, wireless endpoints, mobile stations, laptop embedded devices (LEEs), laptop-mounted devices (LMEs), USB dongles, smart devices, wireless client devices (CPEs), Internet of Things (IoT) devices, watches or other wearable devices, head-mounted displays (HMDs), vehicles, drones, medical devices and applications (e.g., remote surgery), industrial devices and applications (e.g., robots and / or other wireless devices operating in industrial and / or automated processing chain environments), consumer electronics devices, devices operating on commercial and / or industrial wireless networks, etc. In the following description, the terms "terminal equipment", "communication equipment", "terminal", "user equipment" and "UE" are used interchangeably.

[0039] The term "Ambient IoT device" refers to 3GPP IoT devices that are smaller and cheaper compared to previous generations of IoT devices such as NB-IoT / LTE-M / RedCap. "Ambient IoT device" may also be referred to as AIoT backscatter device below. Ambient Internet of Things (AIoT) devices do not require a power source or have very low power storage capacity, and AIoT devices can harvest energy from the environment (e.g., radio waves). AIoT devices can achieve small data signal transmission through backscattering and low-power radio frequency transmission (RF signal amplification only or independent signal generation) techniques.

[0040] Figure 1A The illustration depicts an example network environment 100A in which exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented. Environment 100A, which may be part of a communication network, includes terminal devices and network devices. Figure 1AAs shown, the communication network 100A may include a first device 110 (hereinafter also referred to as reader 110), a second device 120, and a third device 130 (hereinafter also referred to as AIoT device 130). The first device 110 and the second device 120 can communicate with each other. In some embodiments of this disclosure, the second device 120 may be a gNB or a illuminator, and the second device 120 may send activation signals to the first device 110 and the third device 130, respectively. After receiving the activation signal, the third device 130 may send a response signal to the first device 110, and the activation signal may be a backscattered signal of the activation signal. In some embodiments of this disclosure, the second device 120 may be a location management function (LMF). The second device 120 may send configuration information for configuring beam measurement and reporting to the first device 110, and the illuminator may send activation signals to the first device 110 and the third device 130.

[0041] It should be understood that the number of devices is for illustrative purposes only and does not imply any limitation. System 100A may include any suitable number of devices appropriate for implementing embodiments of this disclosure.

[0042] Communication in the communication system 100A can be implemented according to any suitable communication protocol(s), including but not limited to cellular communication protocols such as first-generation (1G), second-generation (2G), third-generation (3G), fourth-generation (4G), and fifth-generation (5G), wireless local area network communication protocols such as IEEE 802.11, and / or any other protocols currently known or to be developed in the future. Furthermore, communication can utilize any suitable wireless communication technology, including but not limited to: Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA), Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA), Frequency Division Duplex (FDD), Time Division Duplex (TDD), Multiple-Input Multiple-Output (MIMO), Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM), Discrete Fourier Transform Spread Spectrum OFDM (DFT-s-OFDM), and / or any other technologies currently known or to be developed in the future.

[0043] The RAN-led research project Rel-18 for Ambient IoT has been approved in RAN#97e. The motivation behind the Ambient IoT research is to support ultra-low-cost and ultra-low-power devices for IoT applications. SA1 has completed a research project on ambient-powered enabled IoT, which focuses on use cases and service requirements, and also includes defining performance requirements and KPI targets.

[0044] Currently, a RAN research project on environmental IoT (Internet of Things) is underway. This project focuses on 3GPP IoT technology, suitable for deployment in 3GPP systems. This technology relies on ultra-low power consumption and ultra-low complexity devices for very low-end IoT applications. Regarding device classification, the following agreement has been reached:

[0045] Furthermore, Topology 3 has been approved for deployment in environmental IoT networks. In Topology 3, environmental IoT devices send and receive data or signals with the Base Station (BS) and auxiliary nodes. Figure 1B In the downlink auxiliary example shown, environmental IoT device 131 sends data and signaling to BS121 and receives data and signaling from auxiliary node 111. Figure 1C In the downlink auxiliary example shown, environmental IoT device 131 receives data and signaling from BS 121 and sends data and signaling to auxiliary node 111. In topology 3, auxiliary node 111 can be any of a relay, IAB, UE, or repeater.

[0046] In 5G NR, beam reporting is a mechanism used by the UE to provide feedback to the base station regarding the quality of the received beam and other relevant information. Effective beam reporting in NR enables the gNB to optimize beam management, beamforming, and other beam-related processes. This helps improve signal quality, reduce interference, optimize beam selection, and enhance overall system performance in the 5G network. The NR standard supports beam reporting, allowing the UE to report beam information, including measurements for multiple downlink (DL) Tx beams and information indicating these beams, i.e., (multiple) DL Reference Signal (RS) IDs. Measurements can be in the form of Reference Signal Received Power (RSRP). For example, downlink channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) / synchronization signal block (SSB) resource pools are sent by the BS, corresponding to different beams. Beam selection is performed on the UE side after measurement. The UE reports the beam identifier (ID) to notify the BS of the beam selection. The beam ID refers to the index of the selected CSI-RS / SSB resource virtualized by the selected beam. Along with the beam ID, a beam quality measurement metric corresponding to the selected beam, such as RSRP, is calculated and fed back to the BS.

[0047] The relevant process for reporting beam measurement information is as follows:

[0048] In Section 6.3.2 of TS 38.331, the IE is defined for reporting beam measurement information, as follows:

[0049] Figure 1D The illustration depicts an example scenario of beam scanning operation for AIoT in which exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure can be implemented. Figure 1D As shown, illuminator 122 performs a beam scan toward one or more AIoT devices. AIoT devices #1 132 and #2 133 can be device A or device B with backscattering capabilities. Illuminator 122 can send activation signals to AIoT devices #1 132 and #2 133, and reader 112 will receive backscattered signal transmissions from AIoT devices #1 132 and #2 133. The purpose of this beam scan is to optimize various beam-related processes, such as localization, backscattering transmission, and energy transfer. To determine one or more optimal beams between the illuminator and (multiple) AIoT devices, it is necessary to perform beam measurement and reporting for the beam scan operation. However, beam measurement and reporting for a given scenario can present challenges.

[0050] Because AIoT devices are typically limited by energy and hardware, it is challenging for AIoT devices (e.g., device A / B) to measure and report beam information based on activation signals. Therefore, A / B type devices are not suitable for reporting beam measurement information for a given topology.

[0051] Given the constraints of AIoT devices, it makes sense if the network can determine the optimal beam(s) between the illuminator and the AIoT device based on the reporting of beam measurement information from the reader when the illuminator performs beam scanning. However, if the RS resource pool used for beam scanning at the illuminator is configured for the reader to perform beam measurement and reporting, the reader can only report beam measurement information for the direct link from the illuminator to the reader based on the solution in NR, which includes the index of the selected resource and the measurement results of the corresponding beam. If this is the case, it is difficult to determine the optimal beam(s) between the illuminator and the AIoT based on the beam measurement information reporting solution defined in NR.

[0052] For example, based on the beam measurement and reporting solution for beam scanning at illuminator 122 in the NR, reader 112 will report the index of the selected resource (e.g., gNB / LMF) associated with beam #3 to the network. The optimal beam between illuminator 122 and AIoT #1 132 is beam #2, and the optimal beam between illuminator 122 and AIoT #2 133 is beam #5. The optimal beam between illuminator 122 and the AIoT device cannot be determined based on the beam reporting from reader 112.

[0053] According to some embodiments of this disclosure, a solution for beam measurement and reporting for beam scanning is provided. In one aspect of this solution, a first device receives configuration information from a second device for configuring beam measurement and reporting for beam scanning to be performed by an illuminator device using an activation signal sequence. A third device performs a transmission of a response signal sequence to the first device based on the activation signal sequence received from the illuminator device. Based on the configuration information, the first device performs at least one of the following: (i) a first or more beam measurements based on the activation signal sequence for a first link from the illuminator device to the first device, or (ii) a second or more beam measurements based on the response signal sequence for a second link from the third device to the first device.

[0054] Then, the first device sends a measurement report to the second device. The measurement report reports at least one beam measurement result from at least one of the following: a first or more beam measurements, or a second or more beam measurements. In this way, the network can obtain more accurate beam reports from the reader and utilize these reports to optimize various beam-related processes at the illuminator, such as localization, backscatter propagation, and energy transfer. Therefore, communication performance is improved. The following will refer to... Figures 2-8 The principles and implementation of the embodiments of this disclosure are described in detail.

[0055] Figure 2 A signaling diagram of an example process 200 according to some embodiments of the present disclosure is illustrated. For discussion purposes, reference will be made to... Figure 1A Process 200 is described. Process 200 may involve a first device 110 and a second device 120. It should be understood that, although in Figure 1A The process 200 is described in the communication environment 100A, but the same process can be applied to other communication scenarios with similar problems.

[0056] In process 200, for the first device 110, the second device 120 determines 205 configuration information for configuring beam measurement and reporting for beam scanning to be performed by the illuminator device using an activation signal sequence. After receiving the activation signal sequence from the illuminator device, at least one third device performs the transmission of a response signal sequence to the first device 110.

[0057] Alternatively, the activation signal can be configured with a sequence of reference signals (e.g., Positioning Reference Signal (PRS) / Detection Reference Signal (SRS) / CSI-RS / SSB) for beam scanning operation. Furthermore, the activation signal can be configured with a pair of reference signal sequences (e.g., PRS / SRS / CSI-RS / SSB) for beam scanning operation, and the tag (third device) modulates only the second portion of the reference signals, while the first portion of the reference signals is used for beam identification. Alternatively or additionally, the activation signal can be configured with a reference signal sequence (e.g., PRS / SRS / CSI-RS / SSB) and a constant-mode activation signal for beam scanning operation, and the tag (third device) modulates only the constant-mode activation signal.

[0058] In some embodiments, the activation signal in the activation signal sequence may be modulated by at least the identification information of a third device in at least one third device to obtain the response signal in the response signal sequence. The response signal may be a backscattered signal. In one example, the backscattered signal is a reflection of the activation signal via an AIoT backscattering device after it has been modulated using the AIoT backscattering device ID (i.e., the AIoT backscattering device modifies the activation signal using its device ID).

[0059] In some embodiments, the first device 110 may be a reader device associated with at least one Ambient Internet of Things (AIoT) device, and the reader device may be a network device or a terminal device. At least one third device may be at least one AIoT device, and the illuminator device may be a network device or a terminal device associated with at least one AIoT device, and the second device 120 may be a base station. The second device 120 may act as a illuminator device and transmit activation signals via multiple beams for beam scanning.

[0060] Alternatively, the second device 120 may be an LMF (Light Filter Function), and the LMF may cooperate with the illuminator to determine an active signal resource sequence for beam scanning operations. The illuminator may be one or more gNBs or UEs. In one example, the second device 120 may send a request for active signal configuration to the illuminator. Upon receiving the request for active signal configuration, the illuminator determines and configures the active signal sequence resources for the LMF for beam scanning operations. Furthermore, the active signal resource sequence may be a DL PRS / CSI-RS / SSB resource sequence or an uplink (UL) SRS / PRS resource sequence.

[0061] In some embodiments, the configuration information may include resources for an activation signal sequence used for beam scanning, identification information for at least one third device, a first indication for disabling one or more first beam measurements, a second indication for enabling one or more second beam measurements, a maximum number of beam measurement results in a measurement report, a maximum number of beam measurement results in a measurement report for one of the first or second links, at least one metric for beam selection, at least one beam measurement quality for reporting, a reporting period, a reporting method, or any combination of two or more of the above items. The identification information for at least one third device may be a list of device IDs associated with the AIoT backscatter device. The first indication may be disableDirectLinkMeasurements, which can be used to disable direct link beam measurements (also known as Type 1 measurements) and reporting based on the transmission of activation signals from the illuminator to the reader, and the second indication may be enableBackscatterLinkMeasurements, which can be used to enable backscatter link beam measurements (also known as Type 2 measurements) based on the transmission of backscatter signals from the AIoT backscatter device to the reader, and to report via the backscatter links associated with all AIoT devices. Methods for reporting can include using differential measurement reports to report measurement results.

[0062] In addition, beam measurement quality may include reference signal received power (RSRP) for the beam, reference signal received quality (RSRQ) for the beam, reference signal received path power (RSRPP) for the beam, or any combination of two or more of the above items.

[0063] Furthermore, at least one metric for beam selection may include at least one beam measurement quality higher than a pre-configured threshold. Alternatively or additionally, at least one metric for beam selection may include: sorting all beam measurement results based on beam measurement quality, or sorting beam measurement results for one of the first or second links, and selecting the top N beam measurement results from the sorted beam measurement results for reporting, where N is the number of selected beam measurement results.

[0064] Continue to refer to Figure 2 The second device 120 sends configuration information 215 to the first device 110. On the other side of the communication, the first device 110 receives configuration information 215 from the second device 120.

[0065] According to the configuration information, the first device 110 performs at least one of the following: a first or more beam measurements for a first link from the illuminator device to the first device based on an activation signal sequence; or a second or more beam measurements for a second link from at least one third device to the first device based on a response signal sequence. The first or more beam measurements may refer to direct link beam measurements (i.e., type 1 measurements), and the second or more beam measurements may refer to backscatter link beam measurements (i.e., type 2 measurements). The first link is a direct link, and the second link is a backscatter link. The backscatter link may be determined by the AIoT device indicated in the configuration information, i.e., there is a backscatter link between each AIoT backscatter device and the reader.

[0066] In some embodiments, if the configuration information does not include a first indication, the first device 110 may perform a first or more beam measurements. For example, Type 1 measurement and reporting can be configured by default unless an indication for de-enabling Type 1 measurement and reporting is signaled in the configuration information (e.g., disableDirectLinkMeasurements In some embodiments, if the configuration information includes at least one of the following: a list of one or more third devices or a second indication, the first device 110 may perform a second or more beam measurements. For example, if at least one AIoT backscatter device is indicated in the configuration information, the reader may be configured to perform type 2 measurements and reporting. The list of AIoT backscatter devices may be signaled in the measurement configuration to enable type 2 measurements and reporting via a backscatter link associated with the list of AIoT backscatter devices. Furthermore, an indication may be signaled in the measurement configuration to enable type 2 measurements and reporting for all AIoT devices (i.e., via a backscatter link associated with all AIoT devices). enableBackscatterLinkMeasurements ).

[0067] In some embodiments, based on a first or more beam measurements, the first device 110 may determine the RSRP of an active signal in an active signal sequence, the RSRQ of an active signal in an active signal sequence, the RSRRP of an active signal in an active signal sequence, the resource index of an active signal in an active signal sequence, the identifier of the illuminator device that sent the active signal in the active signal sequence, or any combination of two or more of the above items.

[0068] In some embodiments, based on a second or more beam measurements, the first device 110 may determine the RSRP of a response signal in the response signal sequence, the RSRQ of the response signal, the RSRRP of the response signal, the resource index of an activation signal associated with the response signal in the response signal sequence, the identifier of a third device among at least one third device that transmitted the response signal in the response signal sequence, or any combination of two or more of the above items. For example, the reader may detect or measure the backscattered signal and then acquire the backscattered signal quality (e.g., RSRP / RSRQ), the resource ID of the activation signal, and the AIoT device ID.

[0069] In some embodiments, based on at least one metric for beam selection and at least one of a first or second beam measurement, the first device 110 may also select multiple beams for at least one of a first or second link. The first device 110 may then generate a measurement report for the selected multiple beams. The multiple beams may be for each link, or they may be for both the first and second links. If the first device 110 performs a Type 1 measurement, the multiple beams are for the first link. If the first device 110 performs a Type 2 measurement, the multiple beams are for the second link. If the first device 110 performs both Type 1 and Type 2 measurements, the multiple beams are for both the first and second links.

[0070] Alternatively, in order to select multiple beams for at least one of the first link or the second link, the first device 110 may determine the number of selected beams based on the following: the maximum number of beam measurement results in the measurement report, or the maximum number of beam measurement results in the measurement report for one of the first link or the second link.

[0071] For example, based on beam measurement, the reader can select up to N optimal beams for each configured link and report the corresponding beam measurement information for the selected beams to the network (e.g., gNB / LMF). N represents the maximum number of RS indexes to be included in the measurement report for each link (i.e., maxNrofRS-IndexesToReport ).

[0072] Alternatively or additionally, the measurement report may include the beam measurement quality of the selected beam out of a plurality of selected beams, a resource index of the activation signal associated with the selected beam, an identifier of a illuminator device that uses the selected beam to transmit an activation signal in a sequence of activation signals, or an identifier of at least a third device that uses the selected beam to transmit a response signal in a sequence of response signals, the response signal sequence being associated with the activation signal in the sequence of activation signals. For example, a measurement report for a selected beam for a configured link may include: beam measurement results (e.g., RSRP / RSRPP / RSRQ), a resource ID of the activation signal, and a resource ID of the activation or backscatter signal (i.e., illuminator ID or AIoT device ID), which can be used to identify the beam measurement based on a direct link or a backscatter link.

[0073] In one example, the following reporting information can indicate Figure 1D The beam measurement results are as follows: [RSRP / RSRQ, DLCSI-RS resource #3, illuminator]: The optimal beam in the direct link between the illuminator and the reader is beam #3; [RSRP / RSRQ, DLCSI-RS resource #2, AIoT device #1]: The optimal beam in the backscatter link between AIoT #1 and the reader is beam #2; or [RSRP / RSRQ, DLCSI-RS resource #5, AIoT device #2]: The optimal beam in the backscatter link between AIoT #2 and the reader is beam #5.

[0074] Continue to refer to Figure 2 The first device 110 sends a measurement report 235 230 to the second device 120 for reporting at least one beam measurement result. The at least one beam measurement result pertains to a first or more beam measurements, a second or more beam measurements, or a combination of the above. On the other side of the communication, the second device 120 receives the measurement report 235 240 from the first device 110.

[0075] In some embodiments, the configuration information may further include a request for differential measurement reporting, which is used to report at least one beam measurement quality of: a first or more beam measurements, or a second or more beam measurements. Based on determining that the configuration information includes this request, the first device 110 may determine the beam measurement quality of a selected beam as a reference measurement quality for at least one beam measurement quality, which is relative to a pre-configured number of selected beams. The reference measurement quality may be a baseline for differential measurement reporting. The first device 110 may then determine at least one offset between the reference measurement quality and at least one beam measurement quality of the pre-configured number of selected beams. The first device 110 may then send a measurement report to the second device 120, including at least one offset and the reference measurement quality.

[0076] In some embodiments, after receiving a measurement report including at least one offset and a reference measurement quality, the second device 120 can determine at least one offset and a reference measurement quality for at least one beam measurement quality based on the measurement report. Based on the at least one offset and a reference measurement quality, the second device 120 can determine at least one beam measurement quality.

[0077] For example, a differential method can be applied to report beam measurement results (e.g., RSRP, RSRPP, RSRQ) for a selected beam to reduce reporting signal overhead. Typically, RSRP values ​​differ significantly between direct links and backscatter links. Therefore, many bits are needed to report RSRP measurements for all selected beams using the same reporting format. In one example, the reader can be signaled in the reporting configuration to perform differential reporting of beam measurement results (e.g., RSRP / RSRPP / RSRQ) for the selected beam. Upon receiving the configuration information for differential reporting, the reader can determine the measurement results for the selected beam (e.g., the maximum / minimum / median RSRP / RSRPP / RSRQ from the backscatter link) as the baseline for the measurement results for all selected beams. The reader can then calculate the offset by comparing the baseline value with the measurement results for the other selected beams. Finally, the reader will indicate the baseline and offset values ​​for the selected beam in the beam measurement information report. Upon receiving the differential report, the network (e.g., gNB / LMF) adds offset and baseline values ​​to obtain the true RSRP / RSRP value (i.e., beam measurement) for each selected beam. This will result in some overhead reduction when the UE reports more than two beams.

[0078] Based on the reporting of beam measurement information from the first device 110, the second device 120 (e.g., gNB or / and LMF) can identify at least one optimal beam between the illuminator and the reader, and thereby optimize various beam-related processes at the illuminator, such as positioning, backscatter transmission and energy transfer.

[0079] Figure 3 Example processes according to some embodiments of this disclosure are illustrated. Process 300 may involve gNB 301, AIoT device 302, and reader 303. It should be understood that process 300 can be considered as Figure 2 A more specific example of process 200. Therefore, Figure 3 gNB 301 in the text can be Figure 1A or Figure 2 Example of the second device 120, and Figure 3 The reader 303 in the middle can be Figure 1A or Figure 2 An example of the first device 110. Furthermore... Figure 3 The AIoT device 302 in the text can be Figure 1A An example of the third device 130. Although not shown, Figure 3 There can be one or more AIoT devices.

[0080] like Figure 3 As shown, gNB 301 initiates beam scanning. gNB 301 is configured as an illuminator to activate the transmission of signals to AIoT device 302. Reader 303 is configured to receive backscattered signals from AIoT device 303.

[0081] In process 300, at 311, gNB 301 determines a beam measurement and reporting configuration for beam scanning operations at the illuminator toward AIoT backscattering devices (e.g., AIoT device 302). Furthermore, gNB 301 sends the beam measurement and reporting configuration to reader 303. The beam measurement and reporting configuration may include: a sequence of activation signal resources for beam scanning operations at gNB 301 (illuminator), and the activation signals may be reference signals for beam scanning (e.g., CSI-RS / SSB); a list of AIoT backscattering devices, which may be a list of device IDs associated with the AIoT backscattering devices; an indication to disable direct link measurements (i.e., disableDirectLinkMeasurements) for disabling type 1 beam measurement and reporting; an indication to enable backscatter link measurements (i.e., enableBackscatterLinkMeasurements) for enabling type 2 beam measurement and reporting on backscatter links associated with all AIoT devices; or any combination of two or more of the above items. Alternatively, beam measurement and reporting configuration can be signaled to reader 303 via radio resource control (RRC) signals.

[0082] At 313, gNB 301 transmits an activation signal on the configured resources corresponding to the different beams. Accordingly, AIoT device 302 and reader 303 receive the activation signal. At 315, reader 303 performs Type 1 beam measurements (e.g., RSRP measurements on a direct link) by default based on the activation signal. Alternatively, if reader 303 is configured with an indication to disable DirectLinkMeasurements, it will not use the activation signal to perform Type 1 beam measurements.

[0083] At 317, AIoT device 302 reflects the activation signal after modulation; that is, AIoT device 303 sends a backscatter signal to reader 303. The backscatter link can be determined based on the AIoT devices configured for type 2 beam measurement. At 319, if at least one AIoT device is configured in the list, enableBackscatterLinkMeasurements is configured, or both of the above conditions are met, reader 303 performs type 2 beam measurement based on the backscatter signal.

[0084] At 321, based on beam measurements of all beams, reader 303 selects up to N optimal beams for each configured link based on reporting criteria. In one example, the measurement results for a configured link may include up to maxNrofRS-IndexesToReport synchronization signal and physical broadcast channel (SS / PBCH) block indices or CSI-RS indices in descending order of the sorting number defined in NR.

[0085] In another example, reader 304 can report up to 24 RSRP measurements for each Transmitter Receiver Point (TRP) based on the downlink positioning reference signal (DL-PRS) for downlink angle of departure (DL-AoD) measurement. Reader 304 can also report a maximum number of Reference Signal Received Path Power (RSRPP) for DL-AoD purposes.

[0086] At 323, reader 304 reports to gNB 301 the corresponding beam measurement information for the selected beam associated with the configured link. Alternatively, the measurement report includes the following information for the selected beam: beam measurement results (e.g., RSRP / RSRPP / RSRQ), resource ID of the active signal, link ID of the beam measurement (which may be identified based on the source ID of the active / backscattered signal, such as illuminator ID or AIoT backscattering device ID), or any combination of two or more of the above items.

[0087] Figure 4 Another example process according to some embodiments of this disclosure is illustrated. Process 400 may involve LMF 401, illuminator 402, AIoT device 403, and reader 404. It should be understood that process 400 can be considered as Figure 2 A more specific example of process 200 in the text. Therefore, Figure 3 The reader 403 in the middle can be Figure 1A or Figure 2 The first device 110 in the example, and LMF 404 can be Figure 1A or Figure 2 An example of the second device 120. Furthermore... Figure 4 The AIoT device 402 in the context can be Figure 1A An example of the third device 130. Although not shown, Figure 4 There can be one or more AIoT devices.

[0088] like Figure 4As shown, LMF 401 initiates a beam scanning process for DL ​​Positioning Reference Signal (PRS) transmission. LMF 401 is responsible for position management and PRS configuration. To enable beamforming PRS transmission toward the AIoT backscattering device at illuminator 402, LMF 401 initiates a beam scanning process so that illuminator 402 sends DL reference signals in multiple beam directions for beam selection.

[0089] At 411, LMF 401 cooperates with illuminator 402 to determine an activation signal resource sequence for beam scanning operation. As an example, to determine the activation signal resource sequence, LMF 401 may request activation signal configuration for beam scanning operation from illuminator 402. Illuminator 402 can then determine the activation signal resource sequence and configure it to LMF 401 for beam scanning operation.

[0090] At 413, instead of illuminator 402, LMF 401 determines the beam measurement and reports the configuration for beam scanning operation at the illuminator to the environmental IoT device (e.g., AIoT device 302). Furthermore, LMF 401 sends the beam measurement and reported configuration to reader 404. At 415, illuminator 402 sends activation signals corresponding to different beams to AIoT device 403 and reader 404. Accordingly, AIoT device 403 and reader 404 receive the activation signals.

[0091] At 417, reader 404 performs Type 1 beam measurement via a direct link according to the measurement configuration. Alternatively, if reader 404 is configured with an indication to disable DirectLinkMeasurements, it will not perform Type 1 beam measurement using an activation signal. At 419, AIoT device 403 reflects the backscattered signal after modulation; that is, AIoT device 403 sends a backscattered signal to reader 404. The backscattered link can be determined based on the AIoT device configured for Type 2 beam measurement.

[0092] At 421, if at least one AIoT device is configured in the list, the enableBackscatterLinkMeasurements instruction is configured, or both of the above conditions are met, then reader 404 performs type 2 beam measurements on one or more backscatter links according to the measurement configuration. At 423, based on the beam measurements of all beams, reader 404 selects up to N optimal beams for each configured link. At 425, reader 404 reports the corresponding beam measurement information of the selected beams associated with the configured links to LMF 401.

[0093] Figure 5 A flowchart of an example method 500 implemented at a first device according to some embodiments of the present disclosure is shown. Reference will be made to this flowchart for discussion purposes. Figure 1A Method 500 is described from the perspective of the first device 110.

[0094] At block 510, first device 110 receives configuration information from second device for configuring beam measurement and reporting for a beam scan to be performed by a illuminator device using an activation signal sequence, wherein at least one third device will perform a transmission of a response signal sequence to first device based on the activation signal sequence received from the illuminator device. At block 520, based on the configuration information, first device 110 performs at least one of the following: (i) a first or more beam measurements based on the activation signal sequence for a first link from the illuminator device to first device, or (ii) a second or more beam measurements based on the response signal sequence for a second link from at least one of the third devices to first device. At block 530, first device 110 sends a measurement report to second device for reporting at least one beam measurement result of at least one of the following: a first or more beam measurements or a second or more beam measurements.

[0095] In some embodiments, the configuration information may include: resources for an activation signal sequence for beam scanning, identification information of at least one third device, a first indication for disabling a first or more beam measurements, a second indication for enabling a second or more beam measurements, a maximum number of beam measurement results in a measurement report, a maximum number of beam measurement results for one of the first or second links in a measurement report, at least one metric for beam selection, at least one beam measurement quality for reporting, a reporting period, a reporting method, or any combination of two or more of the above items.

[0096] In some embodiments, beam measurement quality may include: reference signal received power (RSRP) for the beam, reference signal received quality (RSRQ) for the beam, reference signal received path power (RSRPP) for the beam, or any combination of two or more of the above items.

[0097] In some embodiments, at least one metric for beam selection may include: at least one beam measurement quality being higher than a pre-configured threshold; sorting all beam measurement results based on beam measurement quality, or sorting beam measurement results for one of the first or second links; and selecting the top N beam measurement results from the sorted beam measurement results for reporting, where N is the number of selected beam measurement results, or a combination of the above two items.

[0098] In some embodiments, in order to perform at least one of a first or one beam measurement or a second or one beam measurement, the first device 110 may: perform the first or one beam measurement based on determining that the configuration information does not include a first indication, or perform the second or one beam measurement based on determining that the configuration information includes one of the following: a second indication or identification information of at least one third device.

[0099] In some embodiments, the activation signal in the activation signal sequence may be modulated by at least the identification information of the third device in at least one third device to obtain the response signal in the response signal sequence.

[0100] In some embodiments, based on a second or more beam measurements, the first device 110 may further determine: the reference signal received power (RSRP) of the response signal in the response signal sequence, the reference signal received quality (RSRQ) of the response signal in the response signal sequence, the resource index of the activation signal associated with the response signal in the response signal sequence, the identifier of the third device that transmitted the response signal in the response signal sequence, or any combination of two or more of the above items.

[0101] In some embodiments, the first device 110 may also select multiple beams for at least one of the first or second links based on at least one of the first or second beam measurements or at least one of the second or third beam measurements, and generate measurement reports for the multiple selected beams.

[0102] In some embodiments, selecting multiple beams for at least one of the first link or the second link may be determined based on the following: the maximum number of beam measurement results in the measurement report, the maximum number of beam measurement results for one of the first link or the second link in the measurement report, or a combination of the above two items.

[0103] In some embodiments, the measurement report may include: beam measurement quality of the selected beam among a plurality of selected beams, resource index of activation signals associated with the selected beam, identifier of an illuminator device that uses the selected beam to transmit activation signals in a sequence of activation signals, identifier of at least a third device that uses the selected beam to transmit response signals in a sequence of response signals associated with activation signals in a sequence of activation signals, or any combination of two or more of the above items.

[0104] In some embodiments, the first device 110 may send a measurement report by: determining, based on a request for a differential measurement report including configuration information for a first or more beam measurements or a second or more beam measurements, a beam measurement result of a selected beam as a reference measurement result for at least one beam measurement quality for a plurality of selected beams, the differential measurement report being used to report at least one beam measurement of at least one of the first or more beam measurements or the second or more beam measurements; determining at least one offset between the reference measurement quality and at least one beam measurement quality for a plurality of selected beams; and sending a measurement report including at least one offset and the reference measurement quality.

[0105] In some embodiments, the first device may be a reader device associated with an environmental Internet of Things (AIoT) device, the second device may be a network device or a location management function (LMF), and the third device may be an AIoT device. The reader device may be a network device or a terminal device, or the lighting device may be a network device or a terminal device.

[0106] Figure 6 A flowchart of an example method 600 implemented at a second device according to some embodiments of the present disclosure is shown. Reference will be made to this flowchart for discussion purposes. Figure 1A Method 600 is described from the perspective of the second device 120.

[0107] At block 610, the second device 120 determines configuration information for the first device, which configures beam measurement and reporting for a beam scan to be performed by a illuminator device using an activation signal sequence, wherein at least one third device will perform a transmission of a response signal sequence to the first device based on the activation signal sequence received from the illuminator device. At block 620, the second device 120 sends the configuration information to the first device. At block 630, the second device 120 receives a measurement report for reporting at least one beam measurement result of at least one of the following: (i) a first one or more beam measurements performed based on the activation signal sequence for a first link from the illuminator device to the first device, or (ii) a second one or more beam measurements performed based on the response signal sequence for a second link from at least one of the third devices to the first device.

[0108] In some embodiments, the configuration information may include: resources for an activation signal sequence for beam scanning, identification information of at least one third device, a first indication for disabling a first or more beam measurements, a second indication for enabling a second or more beam measurements, a maximum number of beam measurement results in a measurement report, a maximum number of beam measurement results in a measurement report for one of the first or second links, at least one metric for beam selection, at least one beam measurement quality for reporting, a reporting period, a reporting method, or any combination of two or more of the above items.

[0109] In some embodiments, beam measurement quality includes: reference signal received power (RSRP) for the beam, reference signal received quality (RSRQ) for the beam, reference signal received path power (RSRPP) for the beam, or any combination of two or more of the above items.

[0110] In some embodiments, at least one metric for beam selection may include: at least one beam measurement quality being higher than a pre-configured threshold; selecting the top N beam measurement results for reporting based on sorting all beam measurement results or beam measurement results for one of the first or second links, where N is the number of selected beam measurement results; or a combination of the above two items.

[0111] In some embodiments, the activation signal in the activation signal sequence may be modulated by at least the identification information of the third device in at least one third device to obtain the response signal in the response signal sequence.

[0112] In some embodiments, the measurement report may include: beam measurement quality of a selected beam among a plurality of selected beams for at least one of a first link or a second link; a resource index of an activation signal associated with the selected beam; an identifier of an illuminator device that uses the selected beam to transmit an activation signal in an activation signal sequence; an identifier of at least a third device that uses the selected beam to transmit a response signal in a response signal sequence associated with an activation signal in an activation signal sequence; or any combination of two or more of the above items.

[0113] In some embodiments, the configuration information may further include a request for a differential measurement report, which is used to report at least one beam measurement quality of at least one of a first or more beam measurements or a second or more beam measurements, and the second device may further: determine at least one offset and reference measurement result of at least one beam measurement quality based on the measurement quality, and determine at least one beam measurement quality based on at least one offset and reference measurement quality.

[0114] In some embodiments, the first device may be a reader device associated with an environmental Internet of Things (AIoT) device, the second device may be a network device or a location management function (LMF), and the third device may be an AIoT device. The reader device may be a network device or a terminal device, or the lighting device may be a network device or a terminal device.

[0115] In some embodiments, an apparatus (e.g., a first device 110) is provided capable of performing any step of method 500. The apparatus may include components for performing the corresponding steps of method 500. These components may be implemented in any suitable form. For example, the components may be implemented in a circuit system or a software module.

[0116] In some embodiments, the apparatus includes: components for receiving configuration information from a second device, the configuration information being used to configure beam measurements and reporting for beam scanning performed by a illuminator device using an activation signal sequence, wherein at least one third device will perform a transmission of a response signal sequence to a first device based on the reception of the activation signal sequence from the illuminator device; components for performing at least one of the following based on the configuration information: (i) a first or more beam measurements based on the activation signal sequence for a first link from the illuminator device to the first device, or (ii) a second or more beam measurements based on the response signal sequence for a second link from at least one of the third devices to the first device; and components for sending a measurement report to the second device, the measurement report being used to report at least one beam measurement result of at least one of the following: the first or more beam measurements or the second or more beam measurements.

[0117] In some embodiments, the configuration information may include at least one of the following: resources for an activation signal sequence for beam scanning, identification information of at least one third device, a first indication for disabling a first or more beam measurements, a second indication for enabling a second or more beam measurements, a maximum number of beam measurement results in a measurement report, a maximum number of beam measurement results for one of the first or second links in a measurement report, at least one metric for beam selection, at least one beam measurement quality for reporting, a reporting period, or a reporting method.

[0118] In some embodiments, beam measurement quality may include at least one of the following: reference signal received power (RSRP) for a beam, reference signal received quality (RSRQ) for a beam, and reference signal received path power (RSRPP) for a beam.

[0119] In some embodiments, at least one metric for beam selection includes at least one of the following: at least one beam measurement quality is higher than a pre-configured threshold; or, based on beam measurement quality, all beam measurement results or beam measurement results for one of the first or second links are sorted, and the top N beam measurement results are selected for reporting from the sorted beam measurement results, where N is the number of selected beam measurement results.

[0120] In some embodiments, the components for performing at least one of a first or one beam measurement or a second or one beam measurement may include: components for performing the first or one beam measurement based on determining that the configuration information does not include a first indication; or components for performing the second or one beam measurement based on determining that the configuration information includes at least one of the following: a second indication or identification information of at least one third device.

[0121] In some embodiments, the activation signal in the activation signal sequence may be modulated by at least the identification information of the third device in at least one third device to obtain the response signal in the response signal sequence.

[0122] In some embodiments, the apparatus may further include components for determining, based on a second or more beam measurements, at least one of the following: the reference signal received power (RSRP) of the response signal in the response signal sequence, the reference signal received quality (RSRQ) of the response signal in the response signal sequence, the resource index of the activation signal associated with the response signal in the response signal sequence, or the identifier of at least one third device that transmits the response signal in the response signal sequence.

[0123] In some embodiments, the apparatus may further include components for selecting multiple beams for at least one of a first link or a second link based on at least one metric for beam selection and at least one of a first or one or two beam measurements; and components for generating measurement reports for the multiple selected beams.

[0124] In some embodiments, selecting multiple beams for at least one of the first link or the second link may include determining the number of selected beams based on at least one of the following: the maximum number of beam measurement results in the measurement report, or the maximum number of beam measurement results for one of the first link or the second link in the measurement report.

[0125] In some embodiments, the measurement report may include at least one of the following: beam measurement quality of the selected beam among a plurality of selected beams, resource index of activation signals associated with the selected beam, identifier of an illuminator device that uses the selected beam to transmit activation signals in a sequence of activation signals, or identifier of at least a third device that uses the selected beam to transmit response signals in a sequence of response signals associated with activation signals in a sequence of activation signals.

[0126] In some embodiments, the components for sending a measurement report may include: components for determining, based on a request for a differential measurement report of a first or more beam measurements or a second or more beam measurements, the beam measurement quality of the selected beam as a reference measurement quality for at least one beam measurement quality of the selected number of beams, the differential measurement report being used to report at least one beam measurement quality of at least one of the first or more beam measurements or the second or more beam measurements; components for determining at least one offset between the reference measurement result and at least one beam measurement result of a pre-configured number of selected beams; and components for sending a measurement report including at least one offset and the reference measurement quality.

[0127] In some embodiments, the first device may be a reader device associated with an environmental Internet of Things (AIoT) device, the second device may be a network device or a location management function (LMF), and the third device may be an AIoT device. The reader device may be a network device or a terminal device, or the lighting device may be a network device or a terminal device.

[0128] In some embodiments, the apparatus further includes components for performing other steps in some embodiments of method 500. In some embodiments, the components include at least one processor and at least one memory including computer program code configured to, together with the at least one processor, cause performance of the apparatus.

[0129] In some embodiments, an apparatus (e.g., a second device 120) is provided capable of performing any step of method 600. The apparatus may include components for performing the corresponding steps of method 600. These components may be implemented in any suitable form. For example, the components may be implemented in a circuit system or a software module.

[0130] In some embodiments, the apparatus includes: components for determining configuration information for a first device, the configuration information being used to configure beam measurement and reporting for a beam scan to be performed by a illuminator device using an activation signal sequence, wherein at least one third device will perform a transmission of a response signal sequence to the first device based on receiving the activation signal sequence from the illuminator device; components for sending the configuration information to the first device; and components for receiving a measurement report from the first device, the measurement report being used to report at least one beam measurement result of at least one of the following: (i) a first one or more beam measurements performed based on the activation signal sequence for a first link from the illuminator device to the first device, or (ii) a second one or more beam measurements performed based on the response signal sequence for a second link from at least one of the third devices to the first device.

[0131] In some embodiments, the configuration information may include at least one of the following: resources for an activation signal sequence for beam scanning, identification information of at least one third device, a first indication for disabling a first or more beam measurements, a second indication for enabling a second or more beam measurements, a maximum number of beam measurement results in a measurement report, a maximum number of beam measurement results for one of the first or second links in a measurement report, at least one metric for beam selection, at least one beam measurement quality for reporting, a reporting period, or a reporting method.

[0132] In some embodiments, beam measurement quality may include at least one of the following: reference signal received power (RSRP) for a beam, reference signal received quality (RSRQ) for a beam, and reference signal received path power (RSRPP) for a beam.

[0133] In some embodiments, at least one metric for beam selection may include: at least one beam measurement quality being higher than a pre-configured threshold; or selecting the top N beam measurement results for reporting from the sorted beam measurement results based on beam measurement quality, or on beam measurement results for one of the first or second links, where N is the number of selected beam measurement results.

[0134] In some embodiments, the activation signal in the activation signal sequence may be modulated by at least the identification information of the third device in at least one third device to obtain the response signal in the response signal sequence.

[0135] In some embodiments, the measurement report may include at least one of the following: beam measurement quality of a selected beam among a plurality of selected beams for at least one of a first link or a second link; a resource index of an activation signal associated with the selected beam; an identifier of an illuminator device that uses the selected beam to transmit an activation signal in a sequence of activation signals; or an identifier of at least a third device that uses the selected beam to transmit a response signal in a sequence of response signals associated with the activation signals in a sequence of activation signals.

[0136] In some embodiments, the configuration information may further include a request for a differential measurement report, which is used to report at least one beam measurement quality of at least one of a first or more beam measurements or a second or more beam measurements, and the apparatus may further include: components for determining at least one offset and reference measurement quality of at least one beam measurement quality based on the measurement report; and components for determining at least one beam measurement result based on at least one offset and reference measurement quality.

[0137] In some embodiments, the first device may be a reader device associated with an environmental Internet of Things (AIoT) device, the second device may be a network device or a location management function (LMF), and the third device may be an AIoT device. The reader device may be a network device or a terminal device, or the lighting device may be a network device or a terminal device.

[0138] In some embodiments, the device further includes components for performing other steps in some embodiments of method 600. In some embodiments, the components include at least one processor and at least one memory including computer program code, the at least one memory and the computer program code being configured to, together with the at least one processor, cause performance of the device.

[0139] Figure 7 This is a simplified block diagram of a device 700 suitable for implementing embodiments of the present disclosure. The device 700 can be provided to implement a communication device, such as... Figure 1A The first device 110, the second device 120, or the third device 130 are shown. As shown, device 700 includes one or more processors 710, one or more memories 720 coupled to processor 710, and one or more communication modules 740 coupled to processor 710.

[0140] The communication module 740 is used for bidirectional communication. The communication module 740 has at least one antenna to facilitate communication. The communication interface can represent any interface required for communication with other network elements.

[0141] Processor 710 can be of any type suitable for a local technology network, and by way of non-limiting example, can include one or more of the following: general-purpose computer, special-purpose computer, microprocessor, digital signal processor (DSP), and processor based on a multi-core processor architecture. Device 700 can have multiple processors, such as application-specific integrated circuit chips that are time-dependent on a clock that synchronizes with the main processor.

[0142] Memory 720 may include one or more non-volatile memories and one or more volatile memories. Examples of non-volatile memories include, but are not limited to, read-only memory (ROM) 724, electrically programmable read-only memory (EPROM), flash memory, hard disk, compact disc (CD), digital video disc (DVD), and other magnetic and / or optical storage devices. Examples of volatile memories include, but are not limited to, random access memory (RAM) 722 and other volatile memories that do not persist during power outages.

[0143] Computer program 730 includes computer-executable instructions that can be executed by the associated processor 710. Program 730 can be stored in ROM 720. Processor 710 can perform any suitable actions and processes by loading program 730 into RAM 720.

[0144] The embodiments of this disclosure can be implemented via program 730, enabling device 700 to execute reference... Figures 2 to 6 Any process discussed in this disclosure. Embodiments of this disclosure may also be implemented by hardware or by a combination of software and hardware.

[0145] In some embodiments, program 730 may be tangibly contained in a computer-readable medium, which may be included in device 700 (such as memory 720) or in other storage devices accessible to device 700. Device 700 may load program 730 from the computer-readable medium into RAM 722 for execution. The computer-readable medium may include any type of tangible non-volatile memory, such as ROM, EPROM, flash memory, hard disk, CD, DVD, etc. Figure 8 An example of a computer-readable medium 800 in the form of a CD or DVD is shown. The computer-readable medium has a program 730 stored thereon.

[0146] Generally, the various embodiments of this disclosure can be implemented using hardware or dedicated circuitry, software, logic, or any combination thereof. Some aspects can be implemented using hardware, while others can be implemented using firmware or software that can be executed by a controller, microprocessor, or other computing device. Although various aspects of the embodiments of this disclosure are illustrated and described as block diagrams, flowcharts, or using some other graphical representation, it should be understood that, as non-limiting examples, the blocks, apparatuses, systems, techniques, or methods described herein can be implemented using hardware, software, firmware, dedicated circuitry or logic, general-purpose hardware or controllers or other computing devices, or some combination thereof.

[0147] This disclosure also provides at least one computer program product tangibly stored on a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium. The computer program product includes computer-executable instructions, such as instructions included in a program module, which execute in a device on a target real or virtual processor to perform the above-mentioned... Figures 5-6 Methods 500 and 600. Typically, a program module includes routines, programs, libraries, objects, classes, components, data structures, etc., that perform specific tasks or implement specific abstract data types. In various embodiments, the functionality of a program module can be combined or split among program modules as needed. The machine-executable instructions for a program module can execute on a local or distributed device. In a distributed device, a program module can reside on both local and remote storage media.

[0148] Program code used to perform the methods of this disclosure may be written in any combination of one or more programming languages. This program code may be provided to a processor or controller of a general-purpose computer, special-purpose computer, or other programmable data processing apparatus, such that when executed by the processor or controller, the program code causes the functions / operations specified in the flowcharts and / or block diagrams to be implemented. The program code may be executed entirely on a machine, partially on a machine (as a standalone software package), partially on a machine and partially on a remote machine, or entirely on a remote machine or server.

[0149] In the context of this disclosure, computer program code or related data may be carried by any suitable carrier to enable a device, apparatus, or processor to perform the various processes and operations described above. Examples of carriers include signals, computer-readable media, etc.

[0150] Computer-readable media can be computer-readable signal media or computer-readable storage media. Computer-readable media can include, but is not limited to, electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor systems, apparatuses, or devices, or any suitable combination of the foregoing. More specific examples of computer-readable storage media will include electrical connections having one or more wires, portable computer floppy disks, hard disks, random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or flash memory), optical fiber, portable optical disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), optical storage devices, magnetic storage devices, or any suitable combination of the foregoing. The term "non-transient" as used herein is a limitation on the medium itself (i.e., tangible, not signaling), not a limitation on the persistence of data storage (e.g., RAM versus ROM).

[0151] Furthermore, although operations are described in a specific order, this should not be construed as requiring the operations to be performed in the specific order shown or sequentially, or to perform all of the shown operations to obtain the desired result. In some cases, multitasking and parallel processing may be advantageous. Similarly, while several specific implementation details are included in the foregoing discussion, these should not be construed as limiting the scope of this disclosure, but rather as descriptions of features that may be specific to particular embodiments. Certain features described in the context of a single embodiment may also be implemented in combination in a single embodiment. Conversely, the various features described in the context of a single embodiment may also be implemented individually or in any suitable sub-combination in multiple embodiments.

[0152] Although this disclosure has been described in language specific to structural features and / or methodological actions, it should be understood that the disclosure as defined in the appended claims is not necessarily limited to the specific features or actions described above. Rather, the specific features or actions described above are disclosed as exemplary forms of implementing the claims.

Claims

1. A first device, comprising: At least one processor; as well as At least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the first device to at least: Configuration information is received from a second device for configuring beam measurement and reporting for beam scanning to be performed by an illuminator device using an activation signal sequence, wherein at least one third device will perform a transmission of a response signal sequence to the first device based on the activation signal sequence received from the illuminator device; Based on the configuration information, perform at least one of the following: (i) a first or more beam measurements for a first link from the illuminator device to the first device based on the activation signal sequence, or (ii) a second or more beam measurements for a second link from a third device among the at least one third device to the first device based on the response signal sequence; as well as A measurement report is sent to the second device, the measurement report being used to report at least one beam measurement result of at least one of the following: the first one or more beam measurements, or the second one or more beam measurements.

2. The first device according to claim 1, wherein the configuration information includes at least one of the following: Resources for activation signal sequences used in beam scanning; The identification information of the at least one third device; A first indication used to enable the first one or more beam measurements; A second indication used to enable the second or more beam measurements; The maximum number of beam measurement results in the measurement report; The maximum number of beam measurement results for one of the first link or the second link in the measurement report; At least one metric for beam selection; At least one beam measurement quality used for reporting; The reporting cycle; or The method used for reporting.

3. The first device according to claim 2, wherein the beam measurement quality includes at least one of the following: Reference signal received power (RSRP) for the beam; Reference signal reception quality (RSRQ) for the beam; or Reference signal receive path power (RSRPP) for the beam.

4. The first device according to claim 2 or 3, wherein the at least one metric for beam selection includes at least one of the following: The measurement quality of at least one beam is higher than a pre-configured threshold; or Based on the beam measurement quality, all beam measurement results are sorted, or the beam measurement results for one of the first link or the second link are sorted, and the top N beam measurement results are selected from the sorted beam measurement results for use above, where N is the number of selected beam measurement results.

5. The first device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the first device is configured to perform at least one of the first or more beam measurements or the second or more beam measurements by: Based on determining that the configuration information does not include the first instruction, perform the first or more beam measurements; or The second or more beam measurements are performed based on determining that the configuration information includes at least one of the following: the second indication, or the identification information of the at least one third device.

6. The first device according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the activation signal in the activation signal sequence is modulated by at least the identification information of the third device in the at least one third device to obtain the response signal in the response signal sequence.

7. The first device according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the first device is further configured to: Based on the second or more beam measurements, determine at least one of the following: Reference signal received power (RSRP) of the response signal in the response signal sequence; The reference signal reception quality (RSRQ) of the response signal in the response signal sequence. Resource index of the activation signal associated with the response signal in the response signal sequence; or The identifier of the third device that sends the response signal in the response signal sequence among the at least one third device.

8. The first device according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the first device is further configured to: Based on the at least one metric used for beam selection, and at least one of the first or one or more beam measurements or the second or one or more beam measurements, select multiple beams for at least one of the first link or the second link; and The measurement report is generated for multiple selected beams.

9. The first device of claim 8, wherein selecting the plurality of beams for at least one of the first link or the second link comprises: The number of selected beams is determined based on at least one of the following: The maximum number of beam measurement results in the measurement report; or The maximum number of beam measurement results for either the first link or the second link in the measurement report.

10. The first device according to any one of claims 1 to 9, wherein the measurement report comprises at least one of the following: Beam measurement quality of the selected beam among the plurality of selected beams; Resource index of the activation signal associated with the selected beam; The identifier of the illuminator device that uses the selected beam to transmit the activation signal in the activation signal sequence; or The identifier of the third device among the at least third devices that uses the selected beam to transmit the response signal in the response signal sequence, the response signal sequence being associated with the activation signal in the activation signal sequence.

11. The first device according to any one of claims 1 to 10, wherein the first device is further configured to send the measurement report via: Based on the determination that the configuration information includes a request for a differential measurement report, the beam measurement quality of the selected beam is determined as a reference measurement result for the at least one beam measurement quality, the differential measurement report being used to report at least one beam measurement quality of at least one of the first or more beam measurements or the second or more beam measurements, the at least one beam measurement quality for the plurality of selected beams; Determine at least one offset between the reference measurement quality and the measurement quality of at least one beam for the plurality of selected beams; as well as Send the measurement report, which includes the at least one offset and the reference measurement quality.

12. The first device according to any one of claims 1 to 11, wherein at least one of the following: The first device is a reader device associated with at least one Ambient Internet of Things (AIoT) device; The second device is a network device or location management function (LMF); The at least one third device is at least one AIoT device; The reader device is a network device or a terminal device; or The lighting device is a network device or terminal device associated with the at least one AIoT device.

13. A second device, comprising: At least one processor; as well as At least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the second device to at least: Configuration information is determined for a first device, the configuration information being used to configure beam measurement and reporting for beam scanning to be performed by an illuminator device using an activation signal sequence, wherein at least one third device will perform a transmission of a response signal sequence to the first device based on the activation signal sequence received from the illuminator device; Send the configuration information to the first device; as well as A measurement report is received from the first device, the measurement report being used to report at least one beam measurement result of at least one of the following: (i) a first one or more beam measurements performed based on the activation signal sequence for a first link from the illuminator device to the first device, or (ii) a second one or more beam measurements performed based on the response signal sequence for a second link from a third device among the at least one third device to the first device.

14. The second device according to claim 13, wherein the configuration information includes at least one of the following: Resources for activation signal sequences used in beam scanning; The identification information of the at least one third device; A first indication used to enable the first one or more beam measurements; A second indication used to enable the second or more beam measurements; The maximum number of beam measurement results in the measurement report; The maximum number of beam measurement results for one of the first link or the second link in the measurement report; At least one metric for beam selection; At least one beam measurement quality used for reporting; The reporting cycle; or The method used for reporting.

15. The second device according to claim 14, wherein the beam measurement quality includes at least one of the following: Reference signal received power (RSRP) for the beam; Reference signal reception quality (RSRQ) for the beam; or Reference signal receive path power (RSRPP) for the beam.

16. The second device according to claim 14 or 15, wherein the at least one metric for beam selection comprises: The measurement quality of at least one beam is higher than a pre-configured threshold; or Based on the beam measurement quality, all beam measurement results are sorted, or the beam measurement results for one of the first link or the second link are sorted, and the top N beam measurement results are selected from the sorted beam measurement results for reporting, where N is the number of selected beam measurement results.

17. The second device according to any one of claims 13 to 16, wherein the activation signal in the activation signal sequence is modulated by at least the identification information of the third device in the at least one third device to obtain the response signal in the response signal sequence.

18. The second device according to any one of claims 13 to 17, wherein the measurement report comprises at least one of the following: Beam measurement quality of a plurality of selected beams for at least one of the first link or the second link; Resource index of the activation signal associated with the selected beam; The identifier of the illuminator device that uses the selected beam to transmit the activation signal in the activation signal sequence; or The identifier of the third device among the at least third devices that uses the selected beam to transmit the response signal in the response signal sequence, the response signal sequence being associated with the activation signal in the activation signal sequence.

19. The second device according to any one of claims 13 to 18, wherein the configuration information further includes a request for a differential measurement report, the differential measurement report being used to report at least one beam measurement quality of at least one of the first or more beam measurements or the second or more beam measurements, and the second device is further configured to: Based on the measurement report, at least one offset and reference measurement quality for the at least one beam measurement quality are determined; and The at least one beam measurement quality is determined based on the at least one offset and the reference measurement quality.

20. The second device according to any one of claims 13 to 19, wherein at least one of the following: The first device is a reader device associated with at least one Ambient Internet of Things (AIoT) device; The second device is a network device or location management function (LMF); The at least one third device is at least one AIoT device; The reader device is a network device or a terminal device; or The lighting device is a network device or terminal device associated with the at least one AIoT device.

21. A method comprising: At the first device, configuration information is received from the second device for configuring beam measurement and reporting for beam scanning to be performed by the illuminator device using an activation signal sequence, wherein at least one third device will perform a transmission of a response signal sequence to the first device based on the activation signal sequence received from the illuminator device; Based on the configuration information, perform at least one of the following: (i) a first or more beam measurements for a first link from the illuminator device to the first device based on the activation signal sequence, or (ii) a second or more beam measurements for a second link from a third device among the at least one third device to the first device based on the response signal sequence; as well as A measurement report is sent to the second device, the measurement report being used to report at least one beam measurement result of at least one of the following: the first or more beam measurements, or the second or more beam measurements.

22. A method comprising: At the second device, configuration information is determined for the first device. The configuration information is used to configure beam measurement and reporting for beam scanning to be performed by the illuminator device using an activation signal sequence, wherein at least one third device will perform a transmission of a response signal sequence to the first device based on the activation signal sequence received from the illuminator device. Send the configuration information to the first device; as well as A measurement report is received from the first device, the measurement report being used to report at least one beam measurement result of at least one of the following: (i) a first one or more beam measurements performed based on the activation signal sequence for a first link from the illuminator device to the first device, or (ii) a second one or more beam measurements performed based on the response signal sequence for a second link from a third device of the at least one third device to the first device.

23. An apparatus comprising: A component for receiving configuration information from a second device at a first device, the configuration information being used to configure beam measurement and reporting for beam scanning to be performed by an illuminator device using an activation signal sequence, wherein at least one third device will perform a transmission of a response signal sequence to the first device based on the activation signal sequence received from the illuminator device; Components for performing at least one of the following based on the configuration information: (i) a first or more beam measurements for a first link from the illuminator device to the first device based on the activation signal sequence, or (ii) a second or more beam measurements for a second link from a third device among the at least one third device to the first device based on the response signal sequence; as well as A component for sending a measurement report to the second device, the measurement report being used to report at least one beam measurement result of at least one of the following: the first or more beam measurements, or the second or more beam measurements.

24. An apparatus comprising: Components for determining configuration information for a first device at a second device, the configuration information being used to configure beam measurement and reporting for beam scanning performed by an illuminator device using an activation signal sequence, wherein at least one third device will perform a transmission of a response signal sequence to the first device based on receiving the activation signal sequence from the illuminator device; A component for sending the configuration information to the first device; as well as A component for receiving a measurement report from the first device, the measurement report being used to report at least one beam measurement result of at least one of the following: (i) a first one or more beam measurements performed based on the activation signal sequence for a first link from the illuminator device to the first device, or (ii) a second one or more beam measurements performed based on the response signal sequence for a second link from a third device among the at least one third device to the first device.

25. A non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising program instructions that, when executed by a device, cause the device to perform at least the method according to claim 21 or 22.

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