Method for coordination and management of sensing service requests

Abstract

Example embodiments of this disclosure relate to methods, apparatus, devices, and computer-readable storage media for coordinating and managing sensing service requests. In one method, the apparatus receives a request associated with a sensing operation from a first network entity. The apparatus determines whether to update the sensing operation based on the request associated with the sensing operation. The apparatus transmits a response to the request associated with the sensing operation to the first network entity.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] Various exemplary embodiments of this disclosure generally relate to the field of telecommunications, and more specifically, to methods, apparatus, devices, and computer-readable storage media for coordinating and managing sensing service requests. Background Technology

[0002] A communication network can be used as a facility to enable communication between two or more communication devices or to provide communication devices with access to a data network. A mobile or wireless communication network is an example of a communication network. Communication devices may be serviced by an application server.

[0003] With the development of communication networks, communication between different devices used to connect and exchange data needs to be optimized. Specifically, the need for efficient sensing services and operations has become more prominent, especially as more devices become interconnected and rely on real-time data. Therefore, improving the efficiency of service request processing and resource management is crucial for optimizing network performance and meeting the ever-growing demands of communication networks. Summary of the Invention

[0004] Some exemplary embodiments of this disclosure will be described with respect to certain aspects. These aspects are not intended to indicate key or essential features of the various exemplary embodiments of this disclosure. Nor are they intended to limit its scope. In view of this disclosure, other relevant features, aspects, and elements will be apparent to those skilled in the art. For example, it should be understood that additional aspects may be provided by combination of any two or more aspects of the various aspects described below.

[0005] In a first aspect of this disclosure, an apparatus is provided. The apparatus includes at least one processor; and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to: receive a request associated with a sensing operation from a first network entity; determine whether to update the sensing operation based on the request associated with the sensing operation; and transmit a response to the request associated with the sensing operation to the first network entity.

[0006] In a second aspect of this disclosure, a first network entity is provided. The first network entity includes at least one processor; and at least one memory, the at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the first network entity to: receive a request for a sensing service from a device; determine whether a sensing operation from a set of candidate sensing operations is suitable for reuse to support the request for the sensing service; transmit a request to the device, the request being associated with a sensing operation related to the sensing operation; and receive a response from the device to the request associated with the sensing operation.

[0007] In a third aspect of this disclosure, a third network entity is provided. The third network entity includes at least one processor; and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the third network entity to: receive from a first network entity a request for an identification sensing operation, the request including sensing session attributes; determine information about the sensing operation related to the sensing session attributes; and transmit to the first network entity a response to the request for the identification sensing operation, the response including the information about the sensing operation related to the sensing session attributes.

[0008] In a fourth aspect of this disclosure, a fourth network entity is provided. The fourth network entity includes: at least one processor; and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the fourth network entity to: receive a request for sensing output from a first network entity, the request including at least identifiers of a set of candidate sensing operations; acquire information of sensing processing, the information including at least identifiers of sensing processes corresponding to the identifiers of the set of candidate sensing operations; and transmit a response to the request for sensing output to the first network entity, the response including the information of the sensing processing.

[0009] In a fifth aspect of this disclosure, an apparatus is provided. The apparatus includes at least one processor; and at least one memory, the at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to: receive from a network entity a request for combining a plurality of sensing service requests or sensing subscriptions, the request including at least information about the plurality of sensing service requests or sensing subscriptions; and, based on the information, determine that the plurality of sensing service requests or sensing subscriptions are combined.

[0010] In a sixth aspect of this disclosure, a network entity is provided. The network entity includes at least one processor; and at least one memory, the at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the network entity to: receive a plurality of sensing service requests or sensing subscriptions from a plurality of devices; determine information about the plurality of sensing service requests or sensing subscriptions; and transmit to a device a request for combining the plurality of sensing service requests or sensing subscriptions, the request including at least the information about the plurality of sensing service requests or sensing subscriptions.

[0011] In a seventh aspect of this disclosure, a method is provided. The method includes: receiving a request associated with a sensing operation from a first network entity; determining whether to update the sensing operation based on the request associated with the sensing operation; and transmitting a response to the request associated with the sensing operation to the first network entity.

[0012] In an eighth aspect of this disclosure, a method is provided. The method includes: receiving a request for a sensing service from a device; determining whether a sensing operation from a set of candidate sensing operations is suitable for reuse to support the request for the sensing service; transmitting a request to the device, the request being associated with a sensing operation related to the sensing operation; and receiving a response from the device to the request associated with the sensing operation.

[0013] In a ninth aspect of this disclosure, a method is provided. The method includes: receiving from a first network entity a request for identifying a sensing operation, the request including sensing session attributes; determining information about a sensing operation related to the sensing session attributes; and transmitting to the first network entity a response to the request for identifying a sensing operation, the response including the information about the sensing operation related to the sensing session attributes.

[0014] In a tenth aspect of this disclosure, a method is provided. The method includes: receiving from a first network entity a request for sensing output, the request including at least identifiers of a set of candidate sensing operations; acquiring information of sensing processing, the information including at least identifiers of sensing processes corresponding to the identifiers of the set of candidate sensing operations; and transmitting to the first network entity a response to the request for sensing output, the response including the information of the sensing processing.

[0015] In the eleventh aspect of this disclosure, a method is provided. The method includes: receiving from a network entity a request for combining multiple sensing service requests or sensing subscriptions, the request including at least information about the multiple sensing service requests or sensing subscriptions; and determining, based on the information, that the multiple sensing service requests or sensing subscriptions are combined.

[0016] In a twelfth aspect of this disclosure, a method is provided. The method includes: receiving a plurality of sensing service requests or sensing subscriptions from a plurality of devices; determining information about the plurality of sensing service requests or sensing subscriptions; and transmitting to a device a request for combining the plurality of sensing service requests or sensing subscriptions, the request including at least the information about the plurality of sensing service requests or sensing subscriptions.

[0017] In a thirteenth aspect of this disclosure, an apparatus is provided. The apparatus includes: means for receiving a request associated with a sensing operation from a first network entity; means for determining whether to update the sensing operation based on the request associated with the sensing operation; and means for transmitting a response to the request associated with the sensing operation to the first network entity.

[0018] In a fourteenth aspect of this disclosure, a first network entity is provided. The first network entity includes: means for receiving a request for a sensing service from a device; means for determining whether a sensing operation from a set of candidate sensing operations is suitable for reuse to support the request for the sensing service; means for transmitting a request to the device, the request being associated with a sensing operation related to the sensing operation; and means for receiving a response from the device to the request associated with the sensing operation.

[0019] In a fifteenth aspect of this disclosure, a third network entity is provided. The third network entity includes: means for receiving from a first network entity a request for identifying a sensing operation, the request including sensing session attributes; means for determining information about a sensing operation related to the sensing session attributes; and means for transmitting to the first network entity a response to the request for identifying a sensing operation, the response including information about the sensing operation related to the sensing session attributes.

[0020] In a sixteenth aspect of this disclosure, a fourth network entity is provided. The fourth network entity includes: means for receiving a request for sensing output from a first network entity, the request including at least the identifiers of a set of candidate sensing operations; means for acquiring information of sensing processing, the information including at least the identifiers of sensing processes corresponding to the identifiers of the set of candidate sensing operations; and means for transmitting a response to the request for sensing output to the first network entity, the response including the information of sensing processing.

[0021] In a seventeenth aspect of this disclosure, an apparatus is provided. The apparatus includes: components for receiving from a network entity a request for combining a plurality of sensing service requests or sensing subscriptions, the request including at least information about the plurality of sensing service requests or sensing subscriptions; and components for determining, based on the information, that the plurality of sensing service requests or sensing subscriptions are combined.

[0022] In an eighteenth aspect of this disclosure, a network entity is provided. The network entity includes: components for receiving multiple sensing service requests or sensing subscriptions from multiple devices; components for determining information about the multiple sensing service requests or sensing subscriptions; and components for transmitting to a device a request for combining the multiple sensing service requests or sensing subscriptions, the request including at least the information about the multiple sensing service requests or sensing subscriptions.

[0023] In a nineteenth aspect of this disclosure, a computer-readable medium is provided. The computer-readable medium includes instructions stored thereon for causing a device to at least execute the method according to the seventh aspect.

[0024] In a twentieth aspect of this disclosure, a computer-readable medium is provided. The computer-readable medium includes instructions stored thereon for causing a device to at least execute the method according to the eighth aspect.

[0025] In a twenty-first aspect of this disclosure, a computer-readable medium is provided. The computer-readable medium includes instructions stored thereon for causing a device to at least execute the method according to the ninth aspect.

[0026] In a twenty-second aspect of this disclosure, a computer-readable medium is provided. The computer-readable medium includes instructions stored thereon for causing a device to at least execute the method according to the tenth aspect.

[0027] In a twenty-third aspect of this disclosure, a computer-readable medium is provided. The computer-readable medium includes instructions stored thereon for causing a device to at least execute the method according to the eleventh aspect.

[0028] In the twenty-fourth aspect of this disclosure, a computer-readable medium is provided. The computer-readable medium includes instructions stored thereon for causing a device to at least perform the method according to the twelfth aspect.

[0029] In some or all of the examples of the first to the twenty-fourth aspects, the request associated with the sensing operation may include at least one of the following: an identifier of the device, an identifier of the sensing session, and an identifier of the sensing operation associated with the identifier of the sensing session.

[0030] In some or all of the examples of the first to the twenty-fourth aspects, the request associated with the sensing operation may also include at least one of the following: an updated resource configuration or an updated sensing configuration.

[0031] In some or all of the examples of the first to the twenty-fourth aspects, the apparatus may be configured to: update the sensing operation according to the determined update sensing operation; and transmit a response to a first network entity, the response including acceptance of the update sensing operation.

[0032] In some or all of the examples of the first to the twenty-fourth aspects, the apparatus may be made to: transmit a response to a first network entity based on determining that the sensing operation will not be updated, the response including a rejection of the sensing operation update.

[0033] In some or all of the examples of the first to the twenty-fourth aspects, the request associated with the sensing operation may also include at least one of the following: sensing area or sensing request information.

[0034] In some or all of the examples of the first to the twenty-fourth aspects, the apparatus may be configured to: determine, based on a request associated with the sensing operation, that the sensing operation is suitable for reuse; and transmit a response to a first network entity, the response including a configuration for reusing the sensing operation.

[0035] In some or all of the examples of the first to the twenty-fourth aspects, the apparatus may be configured to: determine, based on a request associated with the sensing operation, that the sensing operation needs to be updated; and transmit a response to a first network entity, the response including an update to the configuration of the sensing operation.

[0036] In some or all of the examples of the first to the twenty-fourth aspects, the apparatus may be made to: determine, based on a request associated with a sensing operation, to create another sensing operation; and to transmit a response to a first network entity, the response including a configuration for creating the other sensing operation.

[0037] In some or all of the examples of the first to the twenty-fourth aspects, the apparatus may be made to: receive another response from a first network entity, the other response instructing a sensing configuration modification to be performed, wherein the other response is determined by the first network entity based on a response to a request associated with the sensing operation; and update the sensing operation based on the other response.

[0038] In some or all of the examples of the first to the twenty-fourth aspects, the apparatus may be made to: transmit to the second network entity an instruction for setting or updating sensing session information.

[0039] In some or all of the examples of aspects one through twenty-four, the first network entity may be a sensing management function SeMF or a sensing function SF, and the second network entity may be a sensing operation repository function.

[0040] In some or all of the examples from the first to the twenty-fourth aspects, the first network entity may be made to: create another sensing operation based on the determination that the sensing operation is not suitable for reuse in a request for a sensing service.

[0041] In some or all of the examples of the first aspect to the twenty-fourth aspect, the first network entity may be made to: determine a modification to the sensing operation based on a request that determines the sensing operation is suitable for reuse for a sensing service; and determine at least one of an updated resource configuration or an updated sensing configuration, wherein the updated resource configuration or the updated sensing configuration is included in the request associated with the sensing operation.

[0042] In some or all of the examples of the first to the twenty-fourth aspects, the first network entity may be made to: receive from the device a response to a request associated with a sensing operation, the response including acceptance of updating the sensing operation or rejection of updating the sensing operation.

[0043] In some or all of the examples of the first aspect to the twenty-fourth aspect, the first network entity may be made to: determine whether the sensing processing corresponding to the sensing operation is suitable for reuse based on the determination that the response includes acceptance of the updated sensing operation; or perform at least one of the following based on the determination that the response includes rejection of the updated sensing operation: create another sensing operation for the sensing service from the device, or reject the request for the sensing service from the device.

[0044] In some or all of the examples of the first aspect to the twenty-fourth aspect, the first network entity may be made to: select a sensing operation from a set of candidate sensing operations; and determine at least one of sensing area or sensing demand information based on the selected sensing operation, wherein at least one of the sensing area or sensing demand information is included in a request associated with the sensing operation.

[0045] In some or all of the examples of the first aspect to the twenty-fourth aspect, the first network entity may be made to: receive from the device a response to a request associated with a sensing operation, the response including one of the following: reusing the configuration of the sensing operation, updating the configuration of the sensing operation, or creating the configuration of another sensing operation.

[0046] In some or all of the examples of the first to the twenty-fourth aspects, the first network entity may be configured to: determine another response based on a received response to a request associated with a sensing operation, the other response indicating that a sensing configuration modification shall be performed; and transmit the other response indicating that a sensing configuration modification shall be performed to the device.

[0047] In some or all of the examples of the first to the twenty-fourth aspects, the first network entity may be made to: determine whether the sensing process corresponding to the sensing operation is suitable for reuse in a request for a sensing service.

[0048] In some or all of the examples of the first to the twenty-fourth aspects, the first network entity may be made to: determine, based on a request that the sensing processing is not suitable for reuse for sensing services, to create another sensing processing; transmit to the second network entity a request for the addition of the sensing processing; and receive from the second network entity a response to the request for the addition of the sensing processing, the response indicating information about the other sensing processing, wherein the other sensing processing was created by the second network entity.

[0049] In some or all of the examples of the first to the twenty-fourth aspects, the first network entity may be configured to: determine whether the sensing processing needs to be updated based on a request that determines the sensing processing is suitable for reuse for a sensing service; and transmit a request for modification of the sensing processing to a second network entity based on the determination that the sensing processing needs to be updated; and receive from the second network entity a response to the request for modification of the sensing processing, the response indicating information of the updated sensing processing, wherein the updated sensing processing is updated by the second network entity.

[0050] In some or all of the examples of the first to the twenty-fourth aspects, the second network entity may include a core network device, wherein the core network device includes a sensing processing function SePF.

[0051] In some or all of the examples of the first to twenty-fourth aspects, the first network entity may be caused to: transmit to a third network entity a request for identifying at least one sensing operation, the request including sensing session attributes; receive from the third network entity a response to the request for identifying at least one sensing operation, the response including information about one or more sensing operations related to the sensing session attributes, wherein the one or more sensing operations related to the sensing session attributes are determined by the third network entity; and determine a set of candidate sensing operations based on the response to the request for identifying at least one sensing operation.

[0052] In some or all of the examples of the first to twenty-fourth aspects, the first network entity may be caused to: transmit a request for a sensing output to a fourth network entity, the request including at least the identifiers of a set of candidate sensing operations; and receive a response from the fourth network entity to the request for the sensing output, the response including information of sensing processing, wherein the information of sensing processing is determined by the fourth network entity, the information including at least the identifier of the sensing processing corresponding to the identifiers of the set of candidate sensing operations.

[0053] In some or all of the examples of the first to the twenty-fourth aspects, the fourth network entity may include a core network device, wherein the core network device includes a sense output storage function.

[0054] In some or all of the examples of the first to the twenty-fourth aspects, the third network entity may include a core network device, wherein the core network device includes a sensing operation storage function.

[0055] In some or all of the examples of the first to the twenty-fourth aspects, the first network entity may be made to: transmit instructions to a third or fourth network entity for setting or updating sensing session information.

[0056] In some or all of the examples of aspects one through twenty-four, a request for sensing services may include at least one of the following: an identifier of the sensing request, a sensing area, or sensing requirement information.

[0057] In some or all of the examples of the first to the twenty-fourth aspects, the first network entity may be made to: determine that a target sensing session included in another first network entity is suitable for reuse.

[0058] In some or all of the examples of the first aspect to the twenty-fourth aspect, the first network entity may be caused to: transmit to the device a request for a redirected sensing service, the request including at least one of information of another first network entity or information of a target sensing session, wherein the request for the redirected sensing service is forwarded by the device to the other first network entity.

[0059] In some or all of the examples of the first to the twenty-fourth aspects, the first network entity may be caused to: transmit another request for a sensing service to another first network entity, the other request including at least one of the following: an identifier of a sensing request, a sensing area, sensing request information, an indication of redirection, or information about a target sensing session.

[0060] In some or all of the examples of the first to the twenty-fourth aspects, the apparatus may include at least one of a terminal device or a network device, the first network entity includes a core network device, wherein the core network device includes a Sensing Management Function (SeMF) or a Sensing Function (SF), and the apparatus includes at least one of a terminal device or another core network device, wherein the other core network device includes at least one of an Application Function or a Network Open Function (NEF).

[0061] In some or all of the examples of the first to the twenty-fourth aspects, the third network entity may be made to: receive from the first network entity an instruction for setting or updating information sensing session information.

[0062] In some or all of the examples from the first to the twenty-fourth aspects, the third network entity may be made to: receive from the device an instruction for setting or updating sensing session information.

[0063] In some or all of the examples of aspects one through twenty-four, the device may include at least one of the following: a terminal device, a network device, or an application function.

[0064] In some or all of the examples of the first to the twenty-fourth aspects, the third network entity may be made to: at least determine information about one or more sensing operations related to the sensing session attribute, and / or at least update information about one or more sensing operations related to the sensing session attribute and associated sensing operations.

[0065] In some or all of the examples from the first to the twenty-fourth aspects, the fourth network entity may be made to: receive from the device an instruction for setting or updating sensing session information.

[0066] In some or all of the examples of the first to the twenty-fourth aspects, the device may include at least one of the following: a sensing processing function SePF, a terminal device, a network device, or an application function.

[0067] In some or all of the examples from the first to the twenty-fourth aspects, the fourth network entity may be made to: at least determine the information of the sensing process, and / or at least update the information of the sensing process.

[0068] In some or all of the examples of the first to the twenty-fourth aspects, the apparatus may be made to determine whether a plurality of sensing service requests or sensing subscriptions are combined based on at least one of the following: acceptable latency in a sensing measurement response, best-effort latency in a sensing measurement response, quality of service (QoS) of a sensing service, type of sensing service request, information of a client associated with a sensing session, auxiliary information provided for a sensing session, or radio resources required to support a sensing session.

[0069] In some or all of the examples of the first to the twenty-fourth aspects, the apparatus may be made to convert a first type of sensing measurement request into a second type of sensing measurement request.

[0070] In some or all of the examples of the first to the twenty-fourth aspects, the apparatus may be made to: transmit to a network entity a response to a request for combining multiple sensing service requests or sensing subscriptions, the response indicating the determination of combining multiple sensing service requests or sensing subscriptions.

[0071] In some or all of the examples of the first to the twenty-fourth aspects, the apparatus may be configured to: receive from another network entity a request for combining multiple sensing service requests or sensing subscriptions; and transmit to another network entity a response to the request for combining multiple sensing service requests or sensing subscriptions, the response indicating the determination of combining multiple sensing service requests or sensing subscriptions.

[0072] In some or all of the examples from the first to the twenty-fourth aspects, another network entity may include an Access Mobility Function (AMF).

[0073] In some or all of the examples of the first to the twenty-fourth aspects, a network entity may be made to: select at least one device including the device from a set of devices based on a plurality of sensing service requests or sensing subscriptions, wherein at least one of the plurality of sensing service requests or sensing subscriptions is associated with the device.

[0074] In some or all of the examples of the first to the twenty-fourth aspects, the network entity may be made to: receive from the device a response to a request for combining multiple sensing service requests or sensing subscriptions, the response indicating the determination of combining multiple sensing service requests or sensing subscriptions.

[0075] In some or all of the examples of the first to the twenty-fourth aspects, a network entity may be caused to: transmit to another network entity a request for combining multiple sensing service requests or sensing subscriptions; and receive from another network entity a response to the request for combining multiple sensing service requests or sensing subscriptions, the response indicating the determination of combining multiple sensing service requests or sensing subscriptions.

[0076] In some or all of the examples of the first to the twenty-fourth aspects, the device includes a terminal device or a core network device, the apparatus includes a sensing device, and the network entity includes a core network device, wherein the core network device includes a sensing management function SeMF or a sensing function SF.

[0077] 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

[0078] Some exemplary embodiments will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 An example communication environment in which example embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented is shown; Figure 2 An example diagram of an architecture related to sensing communication is shown; Figure 3 Example diagrams illustrating the relationships between sensing service requests, sensing sessions, sensing operations, and sensing processes according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure; Figure 4 Example signaling flows for reusing sensing sessions according to some example embodiments of this disclosure are shown; Figure 5 Example signaling flows for combining multiple sensing service requests or sensing subscriptions, according to some example embodiments of this disclosure, are shown; Figure 6 Example signaling flows for determining whether and how to reuse and / or adapt existing sensing sessions, according to some example embodiments of this disclosure, are shown; Figure 7 Example flowcharts are shown for decisions on reusing, modifying, and / or establishing sensing operations and / or sensing processes, according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure; Figure 8Example signaling flows are shown according to some example embodiments of this disclosure for determining whether and how to reuse and / or adapt existing sensing sessions based on base stations; Figure 9 Example signaling flows are shown for determining, based on a user equipment, whether and how an existing sensing session is reused and / or adapted, according to some example embodiments of this disclosure; Figure 10 Example signaling flows for setting and updating sensing operation information are shown according to some example embodiments of this disclosure; Figure 11 Example signaling flows for setting and updating sensing processing information are shown according to some example embodiments of this disclosure; Figure 12 Example signaling flows for redirecting sensing operations according to some example embodiments of this disclosure are shown; Figure 13 Example signaling flows for combined sensing operations according to some example embodiments of this disclosure are shown; Figure 14 A flowchart is shown illustrating a method implemented at an apparatus according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure; Figure 15 A flowchart is shown illustrating a method implemented at a first network entity according to some example embodiments of this disclosure; Figure 16 A flowchart is shown illustrating a method implemented at a third network entity according to some example embodiments of this disclosure; Figure 17 A flowchart is shown illustrating a method implemented at a fourth network entity according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure; Figure 18 A flowchart is shown illustrating a method implemented at an apparatus according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure; Figure 19 A flowchart is shown illustrating a method implemented at a network entity according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure; Figure 20 A simplified block diagram of a device suitable for implementing example embodiments of the present disclosure is shown; and Figure 21 A block diagram of an example computer-readable medium according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure is shown.

[0079] Throughout the accompanying figures, the same or similar reference numerals denote the same or similar elements. Detailed Implementation

[0080] 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 assist those skilled in the art in understanding and implementing this disclosure, and do not imply any limitation on the scope of this disclosure. The embodiments described herein can be implemented in various ways other than those described below.

[0081] 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.

[0082] The core network functions described herein can be implemented as core network entities comprising a combination of hardware processing circuitry and software and / or firmware including machine-readable instructions, or software including machine-readable instructions executable by at least one processor of the hardware processing circuitry. The hardware processing circuitry includes at least one processor and at least one memory storing machine-readable instructions executable by at least one processor of the hardware processing circuitry. The processor includes any or a combination of accelerators, microprocessors, cores of multi-core microprocessors, microcontrollers, programmable integrated circuits, programmable gate arrays, digital signal processors, central processing units, graphics processing units, and tensor processing units. The memory includes any or a combination of volatile or non-volatile memory (e.g., flash memory, cache, random access memory (RAM), and / or read-only memory (ROM). The memory stores machine-readable instructions for the software and / or firmware to be executed by at least one processor of the hardware processing circuitry. The machine-readable instructions can be executed by at least one processor of the hardware processing circuitry, causing the hardware processing circuitry to perform actions or operations of the methods described herein. For example, the session management function described herein can be implemented as a session management entity, and the session management policy control function described herein can be implemented as a session management policy control entity, respectively.

[0083] References to "an embodiment," "embodiment," "example embodiment," etc., in this disclosure indicate that the described embodiments may include specific features, structures, or characteristics, but it is not necessary for every embodiment to include that specific feature, structure, or characteristic. Furthermore, these phrases do not necessarily refer to the same embodiment. Further, when a specific feature, structure, or characteristic is described in connection with an embodiment, it is to be noted that those skilled in the art will recognize, whether explicitly described or not, that such features, structures, or characteristics apply in conjunction with other embodiments.

[0084] It should be understood that although terms such as "first," "second," etc., preceding nouns in this document may be used to describe various elements, these elements should not be limited to these terms. These terms are only used to distinguish one element from another and they do not restrict the order of nouns. For example, a first element may be referred to as a second element, and similarly, a second element may be referred to as a first element, without departing from the scope of the exemplary embodiments. As used herein, the term "and / or" includes any or all combinations of one or more of the listed terms.

[0085] As used herein, “at least one of the following: ” and “at least one of ” and similar expressions, wherein 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.

[0086] As used herein, unless explicitly stated otherwise, the “responding to A” action does not indicate that the action is performed immediately after “A” occurs, and may include one or more intermediate steps.

[0087] 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. It should also be understood that the terms “comprising,” “including,” “having,” “possessing,” “containing,” and / or “covering,” 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.

[0088] As used in this application, the term "circuit" may refer to one or more or all of the following: (a) Hardware circuit implementation only (e.g., implemented with only analog and / or digital circuits) and (b) A combination of hardware circuitry and software, such as (if applicable): (i) A combination of (multiple) analog hardware circuits and / or digital hardware circuits with software / firmware, and (ii) Any part of a hardware processor having software (including (multiple) digital signal processors, software, and (multiple) memories, which work together to enable a device (such as a mobile phone or server) to perform various functions) and (c) The operation requires software (e.g., firmware) for the operation of (multiple) hardware circuits and / or (multiple) processors, such as (multiple) microprocessors or parts thereof, but the software may be absent when the operation does not require the software.

[0089] This definition of "circuit" applies to all uses of the term in this application, including in any claim. As a further example, as used in this application, the term "circuit" also covers only hardware circuitry or processors (or processors), or portions of hardware circuitry or processors and their accompanying software and / or firmware implementations. For example, if applicable to a particular claim element, the term "circuit" 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 networking devices.

[0090] As used herein, the term "communication network" refers to a network that conforms to any suitable communication standard, such as New Radio (NR), LTE (Long Term Evolution), 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 of 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, fifth-generation (5G), 5.5G, sixth-generation (6G) communication protocols, and / or any other 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 future types of communication technologies and systems that can implement this disclosure. The scope of this disclosure should not be considered limited to the systems described above.

[0091] As used herein, the term "network device" refers to a node in a communication network through which a terminal device accesses the network and receives services. Depending on the terminology and technology applied, a network device can refer to a base station (BS) or access point (AP), such as a Node B (NodeB or NB), an evolved Node B (eNodeB or eNB), an NR NB (also known as a gNB), a Remote Radio Unit (RRU), a Radio Head (RH), a Remote Radio Head (RRH), a relay, an Integrated Access and Backhaul (IAB) node, a low-power node (such as a femto or pico), a non-terrestrial network (NTN) or non-terrestrial network device (such as satellite network devices, low Earth orbit (LEO) satellites, and geostationary Earth orbit (GEO) satellites), an aircraft network device, etc. In some example embodiments, the Radio Access Network (RAN) split architecture includes a central unit (CU) and a distributed unit (DU) at the IAB donor node. An IAB node includes a mobile terminal (IAB-MT) portion similar to the UE facing the parent node, and the DU portion of the IAB node is similar to the base station facing the next-hop IAB node.

[0092] The term "terminal device" refers to any end device with wireless communication capabilities. As an example and not a limitation, a terminal device can refer to communication equipment, 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, VoIP phones, wireless local loop phones, tablets, wearable terminal devices, personal digital assistants (PDAs), portable computers, desktop computers, image acquisition 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 (LEE), laptop mounted devices (LME), USB dongles, smart devices, wireless client devices (CPE), 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 the context of industrial and / or automated processing chains), consumer electronic devices, devices operating on commercial and / or industrial wireless networks, etc. The terminal device may also correspond to the mobile terminal MT portion of an IAB node (e.g., a relay node). In the following description, the terms "terminal device," "communication device," "terminal," "user equipment," and "UE" are used interchangeably.

[0093] As used herein, the terms “resource,” “transmission resource,” “resource block,” “physical resource block” (PRB), “uplink resource,” or “downlink resource” can refer to any resource used to perform communication, such as communication between a terminal device and a network device, including resources in the time domain, frequency domain, spatial domain, code domain, or any other combination of time-domain, frequency-domain, spatial-domain, and / or code-domain resources that enable communication. In the following, unless explicitly stated otherwise, resources in the frequency and time domains will be used as examples of transmission resources used to describe some exemplary embodiments of this disclosure. Note that the exemplary embodiments of this disclosure are equally applicable to other resources in other domains.

[0094] In the following text, "sensing processing process" may refer to "sensing processing function", "sensing processing engine", "sensing processing operation", "sensing processing procedure", "sensing data processing function", etc.

[0095] Figure 1 An example communication environment 100 in which example embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented is shown. Figure 1 In a specific example, the communication environment 100 includes multiple communication network devices, including device 110, first network entity 120, second network entity 130, third network entity 140, or fourth network entity 150. For example... Figure 1 As shown, device 110, first network entity 120, second network entity 130, third network entity 140 or fourth network entity 150 can communicate with each other.

[0096] In the following description, for illustrative purposes, some exemplary embodiments are described using terminal devices (such as UEs) and / or network devices (such as base stations) as examples of apparatus 110, sensing management function SeMF or sensing function SF as examples of first network entity 120, sensing processing function SePF as an example of second network entity 130, sensing operation storage function as an example of third network entity 140, and sensing output storage function as an example of fourth network entity 150.

[0097] It should be understood that Figure 1 The number of network devices and their connections shown are for illustrative purposes only and do not impose any limitations. In other example embodiments, the communication environment 100 may include any suitable number of devices configured to implement the example embodiments of this disclosure.

[0098] Communication in communication environment 100 can be implemented according to any and more suitable communication protocols, including but not limited to cellular communication protocols, wireless local area network communication protocols (such as IEEE 802.11), and / or any other currently known or future-developed protocols. 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 (DFT-s-OFDM), and / or any other currently known or future-developed technologies.

[0099] Currently, the goal of sensing services is to acquire perception of the scene surrounding the sensing device, including, for example, the ability to detect, locate, and track objects, the ability to form images, and / or the ability to extract features for identification or classification purposes. However, the recently proposed integrated sensing and communication (ISAC) can potentially enable both high data rate communication and high-resolution obstacle detection using the same hardware and spectrum resources. This can help increase sensing capabilities to improve sensing accuracy in scenes or situations where conventional sensing technologies may not perform well (e.g., non-line-of-sight (NLOS) conditions, requirements for high-speed resolution, etc.), improve spectral efficiency by sharing communication and sensing spectrum, and ultimately reduce hardware and installation costs by combining sensing and communication equipment or hardware.

[0100] Different types of services and target vertical applications can benefit from integrated sensing and communication services. In some solutions, various use cases and corresponding technical requirements for leveraging 5G-based sensing services have been described, such as intrusion detection (e.g., intruder detection in smart homes, pedestrian / animal intrusion detection on highways), supporting autonomous driving (e.g., sensor-assisted vehicle handling and navigation, sensor-based parking space determination), supporting unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) flight (e.g., UAV flight trajectory tracking, network-assisted sensing to avoid UAV collisions), supporting automated guided vehicles (AGVs) and autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) in factories (e.g., AGV detection and tracking in factories, AMR collision avoidance in smart factories), environmental or weather monitoring (e.g., rain, pollution, floods), health monitoring (e.g., fall detection, contactless sleep monitoring services, home health monitoring), extended reality, etc.

[0101] In the following text, the Sensing Management Function (SeMF) can be responsible for receiving different types of sensing requests from sensing clients. In some examples, the sensing client can be a UE, an Application Function (AF), or a Network Open Function (NEF). Furthermore, SeMF can configure and coordinate sensing functions and collect sensing measurements (sensing data), and provide sensing data and / or sensing outputs directly or via the NEF to the sensing client (e.g., if the requesting client is a third-party external application or AF). SeMF receives requests that include information about the type of sensing area and the sensing QoS (optionally, the UEs that can be sensed).

[0102] Different sensing methods or types exist that can be used in integrated sensing and communication systems. RAN nodes (such as BS and / or UE) can participate in sensing procedures for single static sensing or dual static sensing, including single static RAN-based sensing, dual static RAN-based sensing, dual static RAN and UE sensing, and UE-based sensing. For single static RAN-based sensing, the BS acts as a transmitter or sounder for transmitting sensing signals, and the same BS acts as a receiver or sensor for receiving sensing signals. In this case, the transmit and receive arrays are placed together in the system. For dual static RAN-based sensing, the BS acts as a transmitter or sounder for transmitting sensing signals, and one or more other BSs act as receivers or sensors for receiving sensing signals. For dual static RAN and UE sensing, in one example, the RAN (such as the BS) can transmit sensing signals, and the UE can receive the sensing signals to obtain sensing data; in another example, the UE can transmit sensing signals, and the RAN (e.g., the BS) can receive the sensing signals to obtain sensing data.

[0103] In the following text, sensing data may refer to sensing measurements or sensing measurement information, which may include data derived for sensing purposes from radio signals affected by the object of interest or the environment (e.g., reflection, refraction, diffraction), and optionally processed (e.g., within a 5G / 6G system, external server, application server, edge server, etc.). In this case, sensing output includes processed sensing data such as that requested by a service consumer (or sensing client).

[0104] An ISAC system can provide various types of sensing services, and many sensing clients (e.g., AF, UE) may request the same or similar sensing services within the same time period. Each sensing service request may overlap at least in part depending on the sensing area, sensing QoS, and the type of object to be tracked. An ISAC system receiving each sensing service request must implement appropriate sensing operations to collect suitable sensing measurements that can be processed in order to derive the sensing output requested by the sensing service. Figure 2An example diagram of an architecture related to sensor communication is shown. For example... Figure 2 As shown, for communication between terminal device 210 and network device 220, each sensing session can consume a significant percentage of radio and processing resources. At network entity 230 (such as core network equipment), a large amount of sensing data, such as periodic maps, can be processed on both the RAN / UE side and the core network side. Furthermore, there are approximately 40 use cases for various AF / SF clients within the Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN) and external integration, and these cases can reach thousands of req / s.

[0105] However, each sensing operation is a demanding task in terms of the radio and computing resources required to process sensing data (especially for continuous sensing operations), the sensing resources required to achieve the target sensing QoS, the communication resources required for data exchange, and the energy requirements. Therefore, the ISAC system needs to identify how to coordinate multiple sensing operations for sensing requests to conserve or optimize sensing and communication resources, energy, and computing resources. ISAC can consume a significant percentage of both radio and processing resources, and this consumption may not be scalable if the number of requests increases. In this context, several issues need to be addressed, including: how the ISAC system identifies new sensing service requests that may overlap (or be similar to) ongoing or existing sensing services; how to determine whether existing sensing operations are adapted and which existing sensing operations are adapted to support the new sensing service; how to adapt one or more sensing operations at the UE and / or BS supporting ongoing and new sensing service requests; and how to determine whether and how to adapt the processing at the SePF to support the new sensing service.

[0106] According to some example embodiments of this disclosure, a solution for coordinating and managing sensing service requests is provided. In operation, the device receives a request associated with a sensing operation from a network entity, and the device determines whether to update the sensing operation based on the request associated with the sensing operation. Furthermore, the device transmits a response to the request associated with the sensing operation to the network entity. In another solution, the device receives a request from a network entity for combining multiple sensing service requests or sensing subscriptions, and the device determines that the multiple sensing service requests or sensing subscriptions are combined based on information about the multiple sensing service requests or sensing subscriptions. Using the above solutions, resource utilization can be improved. Specifically, for sensing clients requesting the same or similar sensing services within the same time period, it is possible to determine whether and how to reuse and / or adapt sensing sessions, and multiple sensing operations can be combined.

[0107] In some example embodiments, a sensing operations storehouse function may be introduced to track: active sensing operations at each sensing device (UE, BS) and their latest state and configuration; and also to track active sensing processes, their configuration, and the sensing QoS implemented. In some example embodiments, SeMF may be enhanced to identify sensing service requests, whether there are sensing operations (from single static, multi-static) and / or sensing processes that can be reused based on the attributes of the sensing service request and the state and status information of the current sensing operations and sensing processes retrieved by the sensing operations storehouse function. In some example embodiments, if overlap (similarity) has been detected, SeMF can determine which ongoing sensing operations are occurring at the UE and BS, and the necessary modifications required in the sensing processes occurring at SePF to support sensing sessions and sensing service requests.

[0108] In some example embodiments, the SeMF may transmit requests associated with sensing operations to the BS or UE. For example, a request associated with a sensing operation may be a sensing operation modification request, which indicates changes to be applied to the ongoing sensing operation at the relevant BS or UE regarding sensing resource configuration, sensing topology, and sensing measurements. In some other example embodiments, the SeMF may transmit modifications required for the ongoing sensing process to the SePF and indicate to the SePF updates required for sensing data processing.

[0109] In some example embodiments, for BS-based sensing, the RAN node (e.g., the BS) can determine and notify the SeMF whether the sensing operation can be reused and how it can be modified based on the requirements of the sensing service request, and then transmit the modification information to the SeMF. Alternatively, for UE-based sensing, the UE can determine and notify the SeMF whether the sensing operation can be reused and how it can be modified, and then transmit the modification information to the SeMF.

[0110] In some example embodiments, the SeMF can determine that a sensing service request may already be served by a sensing service request session of another SeMF, and then redirect the sensing client (e.g., AF / NF) that has already sent a service request to the target SeMF. Alternatively, the source SeMF can identify the target SeMF and forward the request to the target SeMF. In some example embodiments, the SeMF can identify sensing operations that are not needed in all relevant sessions and can trigger the removal of the sensing operations.

[0111] Example embodiments of the present disclosure will now be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. Note that the following drawings may be implemented individually or in any suitable combination, which is not limited to this disclosure.

[0112] Figure 3Example diagrams illustrating the relationships between sensing service requests, sensing sessions, sensing operations, and sensing processes according to some example embodiments of this disclosure are shown. For example... Figure 3 As shown, the Sensing Service Request ID is created by the SeMF for a received Sensing Service Request from a Sensing Client. Furthermore, for processing or management by the SeMF, the SeMF creates a Sensing Session ID, and the Sensing Service Request ID corresponds to the Sensing Session ID. The Sensing Session ID includes one or more Sensing Operation IDs for one or more sensing operations associated with the BS and / or UE. For example, for a single static sensing operation at the BS, a Sensing Operation ID can be assigned. For each sensing operation (single or multiple static, at the UE or at the BS), a Sensing Operation ID is created and transmitted to the corresponding UE and / or BS involved in the sensing operation. Additionally, the Sensing Session ID includes a Sensing Process ID based on the sensing data received from one or more sensing operations (Sensing Operation IDs), which refers to the Sensing Process at the SePF.

[0113] Figure 4 Example signaling flow 400 for reusing communications of a sensing session according to some example embodiments of this disclosure is shown. Reference will be made to this document for discussion purposes. Figure 1 The signaling flow 400 is described, for example, through the use of device 110, first network entity 120, second network entity 130, third network entity 140, and fourth network entity 150 to describe some example embodiments. In some example embodiments, device 110 may be a terminal device such as a UE and / or a network device such as a base station. In some example embodiments, first network entity 120 may be a Sensing Management Function (SeMF) or a Sensing Function (SF). In some example embodiments, second network entity 130 may be a Sensing Processing Function (SePF). In some example embodiments, third network entity 140 may be a Sensing Operations Store Function. In some example embodiments, fourth network entity 150 may be a Sensing Output Store Function. In some example embodiments, device 460 may include at least one of a terminal device or another core network device, and the other core network device includes at least one of an Application Function or a Network Open Function (NEF).

[0114] The first network entity 120 receives (4005) a request for sensing services from device 460. For example, the request for sensing services may include at least one of the following: an identifier of the sensing request, a sensing area, or sensing requirement information.

[0115] Furthermore, the first network entity 120 transmits (4010) a request to the third network entity 140 to identify at least one sensing operation, the request including sensing session attributes. In some example embodiments, sensing session attributes may include sensing area, sensing service type, sensing method / method, sensing duration, sensing QoS requirements, etc. After receiving the request to identify at least one sensing operation, the third network entity 140 determines (4015) information about one or more sensing operations associated with the sensing session attributes. The third network entity 140 transmits (4020) a response to the request to identify at least one sensing operation to the first network entity 120, the response including information about one or more sensing operations associated with the sensing session attributes. In some example embodiments, the first network entity 110 may determine a set of candidate sensing operations based on the response to the request to identify at least one sensing operation. In some other example embodiments, the third network entity 140 may at least determine information about one or more sensing operations associated with the sensing session attributes, and / or update information about one or more sensing operations associated with the sensing session attributes and the associated sensing operations.

[0116] Furthermore, the first network entity 120 transmits (4025) a request for sensing output to the fourth network entity 150, the request including at least the identifiers of a set of candidate sensing operations. Upon receiving the request for sensing output, the fourth network entity 150 acquires (4030) information about the sensing process. In this case, the information includes at least the identifier of the sensing process corresponding to the identifiers of the set of candidate sensing operations. Furthermore, the fourth network entity 150 transmits (4035) a response to the request for sensing output to the first network entity 120, the response including information about the sensing process. In some example embodiments, the information may include at least the identifier of the sensing process corresponding to the identifiers of the set of candidate sensing operations. In some example embodiments, the fourth network entity 150 may at least determine the information about the sensing process, and / or at least update the information about the sensing process.

[0117] The first network entity 120 determines (4040) whether a sensing operation from a set of candidate sensing operations is suitable for reuse to support a request for a sensing service. In some example embodiments, if a sensing operation is not suitable for reuse to support a request for a sensing service, the first network entity 120 may create another sensing operation.

[0118] In some example embodiments, if a sensing operation is suitable for reuse in a request for a sensing service, the first network entity 120 may determine modifications to the sensing operation. Furthermore, the first network entity 120 may determine at least one of an updated resource configuration or an updated sensing configuration. At least one of the updated resource configuration or the updated sensing configuration may be included in the request associated with the sensing operation. In some other example embodiments, the first network entity 120 may select a sensing operation from a set of candidate sensing operations. Furthermore, the first network entity 120 may determine at least one of a sensing area or sensing request information based on the selected sensing operation, and at least one of the sensing area or sensing request information may be included in the request associated with the sensing operation.

[0119] First network entity 120 transmits (4045) a request to device 110, the request being associated with a sensing operation related to the sensing operation. In some example embodiments, the request associated with the sensing operation may be a sensing configuration modification request related to the sensing operation. In some example embodiments, the request associated with the sensing operation may include at least one of the following: an identifier of device 110, an identifier of a sensing session, and an identifier of a sensing operation associated with the identifier of the sensing session. After receiving the request associated with the sensing operation, device 110 determines (4050) whether to update the sensing operation based on the request associated with the sensing operation, and device 110 transmits (4055) a response to the request associated with the sensing operation to first network entity 120. In other words, first network entity 120 receives (4055) a response to the request associated with the sensing operation from device 110.

[0120] In some example embodiments, the request associated with the sensing operation may further include at least one of an updated resource configuration or an updated sensing configuration. In some example embodiments, upon determining (4050) to update the sensing operation, device 110 may update the sensing operation, and device 110 may transmit (4055) a response to the first network entity 120 including acceptance of the updated sensing operation. In some other example embodiments, upon determining (4050) not to update the sensing operation, device 110 may transmit (4055) a response to the first network entity 120 including rejection of the updated sensing operation. In other words, the first network entity 120 may receive (4055) from device 110 a response to the request associated with the sensing operation, which includes acceptance of or rejection of the updated sensing operation. In some example embodiments, if the response includes acceptance of the updated sensing operation, the first network entity 120 may determine whether the sensing processing corresponding to the sensing operation is suitable for reuse. In some other example embodiments, if the response includes a rejection of the update sensing operation, the first network entity 120 may perform at least one of the following: create another sensing operation for the sensing service from device 460, or reject the request for the sensing service from device 460. In this way, resource utilization can be improved.

[0121] In some other example embodiments, the request associated with the sensing operation may further include at least one of sensing area or sensing requirement information. In some example embodiments, device 110 may determine, based on the request associated with the sensing operation, that the sensing operation is suitable for reuse. Additionally, device 110 may transmit a (4055) response to first network entity 120, the response including a configuration for reusing the sensing operation. In some other example embodiments, device 110 may determine, based on the request associated with the sensing operation, that the sensing operation needs to be updated, and device 110 may transmit a (4055) response to first network entity 120, the response including a configuration for updating the sensing operation. Alternatively, device 110 may determine, based on the request associated with the sensing operation, that another sensing operation needs to be created, and device 110 may transmit a (4055) response to first network entity 120, the response including a configuration for creating another sensing operation. In other words, first network entity 120 may receive from device 110 a response to the request associated with the sensing operation, the response including one of the following: a configuration for reusing the sensing operation, a configuration for updating the sensing operation, or a configuration for creating another sensing operation. In this way, resource utilization can be improved.

[0122] In some example embodiments, the first network entity 120 may determine another response instructing the execution of a sensing configuration modification based on a received response to a request associated with the sensing operation, and the first network entity 120 may transmit (4060) another response to the device 110 instructing the execution of the sensing configuration modification. In other words, the device 110 may receive (4055) another response instructing the execution of the sensing configuration modification from the first network entity 120, and the device 110 may update the sensing operation based on this other response.

[0123] In some example embodiments, the first network entity 120 may determine whether a sensing process corresponding to a sensing operation is suitable for reuse in a request for a sensing service. In some example embodiments, if the sensing process is not suitable for reuse in a request for a sensing service, the first network entity 120 may determine to create another sensing process, and the first network entity 120 may transmit (4065) a request to add a sensing process to the second network entity 130. In other words, the second network entity 130 may receive (4065) a request to add a sensing process from the first network entity 120, and the second network entity 130 may create (4070) another sensing process. Additionally, the second network entity 130 may transmit (4075) a response to the request to add a sensing process to the first network entity 120, the response indicating information about the other sensing process. In other example embodiments, if the sensing process is suitable for reuse in a request for a sensing service, the first network entity 120 may determine whether the sensing process needs to be updated. In some example embodiments, if the sensing processing needs to be updated, the first network entity 120 may transmit (4080) a request for modification of the sensing processing to the second network entity 130. In other words, the second network entity 130 may receive (4080) the request for modification of the sensing processing from the first network entity 120, and the second network entity 130 may update (4085) the sensing processing. Additionally, the second network entity 130 may transmit (4090) a response to the request for modification of the sensing processing to the first network entity 120, indicating information about the updated sensing processing.

[0124] In some example embodiments, device 110 may transmit an instruction to third network entity 140 for setting or updating sensing session information. For example, the sensing session information may include sensing operation information. In some other example embodiments, first network entity 120 may transmit an instruction to third network entity 140 or fourth network entity 150 for setting or updating sensing session information. Alternatively, device 460 may transmit an instruction to third network entity 140 or fourth network entity 150 for setting or updating sensing session information. For example, device 460 may include at least one of the following: a terminal device, a network device, or an application function.

[0125] In some other example embodiments, the second network entity 130 may transmit an instruction to the fourth network entity 150 for setting or updating sensing session information. Alternatively, the device 460 may transmit an instruction to the fourth network entity 150 for setting or updating sensing session information. For example, the sensing session information may include sensing process information.

[0126] In some example embodiments, the first network entity 120 may determine that a target sensing session included in another first network entity is suitable for reuse. In some example embodiments, the first network entity 120 may transmit a request to device 460 for redirected sensing services, the request including at least one of information about the other first network entity or information about the target sensing session. In this case, the request for redirected sensing services is forwarded by device 460 to the other first network entity. In some other example embodiments, the first network entity 120 may transmit another request to another first network entity for sensing services, the other request including at least one of: an identifier of a sensing request, a sensing area, sensing request information, a redirection indication, or information about the target sensing session.

[0127] Figure 5 Example signaling flow 500 for communication combining multiple sensing service requests or sensing subscriptions, according to some example embodiments of this disclosure, is shown. Reference will be made to this document for discussion purposes. Figure 1 The signaling flow 500 is described, for example, through the use of device 110 and first network entity 120 to describe some example embodiments. In some example embodiments, device 110 may be a sensing device including terminal devices (such as UEs) and / or network devices (such as base stations, RAN nodes, or gNBs). In this case, the sensing network device includes sensing capabilities and sensing resources or sensing hardware. In some example embodiments, network entity 510 may be the first network entity 120, which may include a Sensing Management Function (SeMF) or a Sensing Function (SF). In some example embodiments, another network entity 520 may include an Access Mobility Function (AMF). In some example embodiments, a third network entity 140 may be a Sensing Operations Storehouse Function. In some example embodiments, multiple devices 530 may include terminal devices or core network devices.

[0128] Network entity 510 receives (5010) multiple sensing service requests or sensing subscriptions from multiple devices 530. In some example embodiments, network entity 510 may select (5020) at least one device including device 110 from a set of devices based on the multiple sensing service requests or sensing subscriptions. In this case, at least one of the multiple sensing service requests or sensing subscriptions is associated with device 110. Furthermore, network entity 510 determines (5030) information about the multiple sensing service requests or sensing subscriptions, and network entity 510 transmits (5040) a request to device 110 for combining the multiple sensing service requests or sensing subscriptions, the request including at least the information about the multiple sensing service requests or sensing subscriptions.

[0129] In some example embodiments, network entity 510 may transmit (5050) a request for combining multiple sensing service requests or sensing subscriptions to another network entity 520. Additionally, another network entity 520 may transmit (5050') a request for combining multiple sensing service requests or sensing subscriptions to device 110.

[0130] Upon receiving a request to combine multiple sensing service requests or sensing subscriptions, device 110 determines (5060) that the multiple sensing service requests or sensing subscriptions are combined based on information included in the request. In some example embodiments, device 110 may determine whether multiple sensing service requests or sensing subscriptions are combined based on at least one of the following: acceptable latency in the sensing measurement response, best-effort latency in the sensing measurement response, sensing service quality (QoS), sensing service request type, information about the client associated with the sensing session, auxiliary information provided for the sensing session, or radio resources required to support the sensing session. For example, QoS may be controlled by device 110 (such as BS, RAN mode, or gNB) as a criterion for combining requests. In some other example embodiments, device 110 may convert (5070) a first type of sensing measurement request into a second type of sensing measurement request. In this way, multiple sensing operations can be combined.

[0131] In some example embodiments, device 110 may transmit (5080) a response to a request combining multiple sensing service requests or sensing subscriptions to network entity 510. In this case, the response indicates the determination of combining multiple sensing service requests or sensing subscriptions. In some other example embodiments, device 110 may transmit (5090) a response to a request combining multiple sensing service requests or sensing subscriptions to another network entity 520. Furthermore, another network entity 520 may transmit (5090') a response to a request combining multiple sensing service requests or sensing subscriptions to network entity 510. In this way, resource utilization can be improved.

[0132] In some example embodiments, the plurality of devices 530 may include terminal devices or core network devices, and the apparatus 110 may include sensing devices, which include at least one of the terminal devices or network devices. Another network entity 520 may include an Access Mobility Function (AMF), and network entity 510 may include a Sensing Management Function (SeMF) or a Sensing Function (SF).

[0133] Figure 6 Example signaling flow 600, according to some example embodiments of this disclosure, is illustrated for determining whether and how to reuse and / or adapt an existing sensing session. Example signaling flow 600 is... Figure 4 The example signaling flow 400 implementation. Specifically, regarding... Figure 6 In the example embodiments discussed, UE 610 and / or BS 620 are Figure 4 The example of the device 110 shown, SeMF 630 is Figure 4 The example of the first network entity 120 shown includes the sensing operation storage function 640. Figure 4 The example of the third network entity 140 shown is SePF 650. Figure 4 The example of the second network entity 130 shown includes the sensing output storage function 660. Figure 4 The example shown is the fourth network entity 150, and AF 670 is... Figure 4 The example shown is device 460.

[0134] A sensing client, such as AF 670 or UE, transmits a sensing service request (6005) to SeMF 630. This request includes information related to the sensing service type, sensing area, sensing configuration or filter information, sensing QoS requirements, etc. SeMF 630 can use the input from the sensing client to determine the sensing operation request message and target sensing session attributes, and SeMF 630 transmits the sensing operation request (6010) to the sensing operation store function 640. The sensing operation store function 640 identifies (6015) the relevant sensing operation and transmits a sensing operation response (6020) to SeMF 630. The sensing operation response may include a sensing session ID, a relevant sensing operation ID, a sensing area, and sensing configuration information for the sensing operation. Based on the received sensing operation response, SeMF 630 identifies (6025) candidate sensing operations and transmits a sensing output request (6030) including the sensing session ID and a sensing output descriptor to the sensing output store function 660. In addition, the sensing output storage function 660 exports (6035) sensing processing and output information and transmits (6040) sensing output response to SeMF 630, which includes sensing processing ID, sensing session ID, type of sensing output (e.g., type of detected object, tracked object, point cloud information), and implemented sensing QoS (e.g., in terms of accuracy, resolution, and latency of exporting sensing output).

[0135] Furthermore, SeMF 630 can determine (6045) whether one or more existing sensing operations can be reused in a sensing service request. Additionally, if adaptation of existing sensing operations is required, SeMF 630 can determine which existing sensing operations to adapt. In some example embodiments, the type of adaptation applied can take into account missing features of the ongoing sensing operation. For example, determined modifications may include one or more of the following: adding more sensing resources, such as increasing sensing range resolution; increasing the duration of sensing pulses, such as increasing sensing motion resolution; modifying transmitter power, such as adjusting sensing range; adding a transmitter and / or receiver device in a multi-static sensing operation to increase sensing coverage; or modifying the processing of measurements on the UE or BS receiver side, such as changing the power threshold used to filter (target) points to construct a point cloud. In this way, resource utilization can be improved.

[0136] Based on the determined configuration, SeMF 630 transmits a sensing configuration modification request (6050) to the relevant UE 610 and / or BS 620. The sensing configuration modification request may include the target UE ID or BS ID, sensing session ID, relevant sensing operation ID, and updated resource configuration and / or updated sensing configuration based on the determined configuration. Based on the received sensing configuration modification request, BS 620 may update (6055') the sensing operation or may not update the sensing operation. Alternatively, UE 610 may update (6055) the sensing operation or may not update the sensing operation. Furthermore, UE 610 and / or BS 620 transmit a sensing configuration modification response (6060) to SeMF 630, indicating acceptance or rejection.

[0137] Furthermore, SeMF 630 can determine (6065) whether existing sensing processing can be reused and whether adaptation is required. If adaptation or modification is required, SeMF 630 can transmit (6070) a sensing processing modification request to SePF 650, including the sensing processing ID, the associated sensing session ID, and the updated processing configuration. For example, the processing configuration may include at least one of the following: changing the processing of an existing sensing session ID and adding measurements from a new or modified sensing operation; combining data from different sensing session IDs; or changing the target object if another object signature can be used in filtering. Alternatively, SeMF 630 can transmit (6070) a sensing processing add request to SePF 650. SePF 650 can update or create (6075) a new sensing processing procedure based on the determination of SeMF 630. Furthermore, SePF 650 can transmit (6080) a sensing processing modification response or a sensing processing add response to SeMF 630. In addition, the SeMF 630 transmits (6085) a sensing service response to the AF 670 (or any other sensing client), indicating whether the requested sensing service is accepted or not. Thereafter, the sensing service is performed, and the network provides the requested sensing input to the sensing client. Note that... Figure 6 The two storage libraries shown can be placed side by side.

[0138] Figure 7 Example flowcharts are shown for decisions regarding the reuse, modification, and / or establishment of sensing operations and / or sensing processes, according to some exemplary embodiments of this disclosure. Reference will be made to these flowcharts for purposes of discussion. Figure 6 describe Figure 7 ,For example, Figure 7 Some of the steps shown will be performed by a similar Figure 6 SeMF execution in SeMF 630.

[0139] As shown in box 710, SeMF collects information for ongoing sensing operations and processing procedures. Additionally, at box 720, SeMF determines whether an existing sensing operation can be reused. If the sensing operation cannot be reused, proceed to box 730, identify and establish a new sensing operation procedure, and then create a new sensing processing procedure at box 740. If the sensing operation can be reused, proceed to box 750, where SeMF determines whether and how to adapt the existing sensing operation and performs an adaptation. Furthermore, at box 760, determine whether a new sensing operation is needed. If a new sensing operation is needed, proceed to box 730, identify and establish a new sensing operation procedure, and then create a new sensing processing procedure at box 740. If a new sensing operation is not needed, proceed to box 770 to determine whether an existing sensing processing procedure can be reused. If the existing sensing processing procedure does not need to be reused, proceed to box 740 to create a new sensing processing procedure, then create a session ID and associate it with the sensing request ID. If the existing sensing process can be reused, proceed to box 780 to determine whether or how to adapt the existing sensing process and perform the adaptation, then create a session ID and associate it with the sensing request ID.

[0140] SeMF can identify sensing operations that are unnecessary across all relevant sessions and can trigger their removal. If an AF / NF service operation removal request only results in overlapping removals, no messages need to be exchanged with the sensing device; however, a successful response regarding the deletion of the service operation can be sent to the AF / NF. This improves resource utilization.

[0141] Figure 8 Example signaling flow 800 is shown, according to some example embodiments of this disclosure, for determining, based on a base station, whether and how to reuse and / or adapt an existing sensing session. Example signaling flow 800 is... Figure 4 The example signaling flow 400 implementation. Specifically, regarding... Figure 8 In the example embodiments discussed, UE 610 and / or BS 620 are Figure 4 The example of the device 110 shown, SeMF 630 is Figure 4 The example of the first network entity 120 shown includes the sensing operation storage function 640. Figure 4 The example of the third network entity 140 shown is SePF 650. Figure 4 The example of the second network entity 130 shown includes the sensing output storage function 660. Figure 4 The example shown is the fourth network entity 150, and AF 670 is... Figure 4 The example shown is of device 460. (As shown...) Figure 8As shown, the RAN (such as BS 620) is an entity that controls the configuration and resources of sensing operations. For example, for BS-based sensing (single static or multiple static), the BS is the entity responsible for determining whether a sensing operation can be reused or modified.

[0142] A sensing client, such as AF 670 or UE, transmits a sensing service request (8005) to SeMF 630. This request includes information related to the sensing service type, sensing area, sensing configuration or filter information, sensing QoS requirements, etc. SeMF 630 can use the input from the sensing client to determine the sensing operation request message and target sensing session attributes, and SeMF 630 transmits the sensing operation request (8010) to the sensing operation store function 640. The sensing operation store function 640 identifies (8015) the relevant sensing operation and transmits a sensing operation response (8020) to SeMF 630. The sensing operation response may include a sensing session ID, a relevant sensing operation ID, a sensing area, and sensing configuration information for the sensing operation. Based on the received sensing operation response, SeMF 630 identifies (8025) candidate sensing operations and transmits a sensing output request (8030) including the sensing session ID and a sensing output descriptor to the sensing output store function 660. In addition, the sensing output storage function 660 exports (8035) sensing processing and output information and transmits (8040) sensing output responses to the SeMF 630. In this case, the sensing output response may include a sensing processing ID, a sensing session ID, the type of sensing output (e.g., the type of detected object, the tracked object, point cloud information), and the implemented sensing QoS (e.g., in terms of accuracy, resolution, and latency of exporting the sensing output).

[0143] Furthermore, SeMF 630 selects (8045) a target sensing operation, and SeMF 630 transmits (8050) a sensing configuration request to BS 620, including the target sensing operation ID and a sensing service request. Therefore, BS 620 determines (8055) whether and how to adapt an existing sensing operation, and transmits (8060) a sensing configuration modification response to SeMF 630, indicating one of the following: the sensing operation ID can be used as currently configured; the sensing operation ID needs to be updated in terms of resource configuration or sensing measurements; or a new sensing operation needs to be created. Based on notifications or responses received by BS 620 and possibly by other UEs or BSs, SeMF 630 can decide (8065) ​​whether to use the indication at the sensing configuration modification response for the sensing operation. Furthermore, SeMF 630 can transmit (8070) a sensing configuration modification execution response to BS 620 indicating acceptance or rejection. BS 620 can update (8075) the sensing operation based on the sensing configuration modification execution response.

[0144] Furthermore, SeMF 630 can determine (8080) whether existing sensing processing can be reused and whether adaptation is required. If adaptation or modification is required, SeMF 630 can transmit (8085) a sensing processing modification request to SePF 650, which includes a sensing processing ID, a related sensing session ID, and an updated processing configuration. For example, the processing configuration may include at least one of the following: changing the processing of an existing sensing session ID and adding measurements from a new or modified sensing operation; combining data from different sensing session IDs; or changing the target object if another object signature can be used in filtering. Alternatively, SeMF 630 can transmit (8085) a sensing processing add request to SePF 650. SePF 650 can update or create (8090) a new sensing processing procedure based on the determination of SeMF 630. Furthermore, SePF 650 can transmit (8095) a sensing processing modification response or a sensing processing add response to SeMF 630. In addition, the SeMF 630 transmits (8095) a response to the AF 670 (or any other sensing client) indicating whether the requested sensing service is accepted or not. Thereafter, the sensing service is performed, and the network provides the requested sensing input to the sensing client. In this way, resource utilization can be improved.

[0145] Figure 9 Example signaling flow 900 is illustrated according to some example embodiments of this disclosure for determining, based on a user equipment, whether and how to reuse and / or adapt an existing sensing session. Example signaling flow 900 is... Figure 4 The example signaling flow 400 implementation. Specifically, regarding... Figure 9 In the example embodiments discussed, UE 610 and / or BS 620 are Figure 4 The example of the device 110 shown, SeMF 630 is Figure 4 The example of the first network entity 120 shown includes the sensing operation storage function 640. Figure 4 The example of the third network entity 140 shown is SePF 650. Figure 4 The example of the second network entity 130 shown includes the sensing output storage function 660. Figure 4 The example shown is the fourth network entity 150, and AF 670 is... Figure 4 The example shown is of device 460. (As shown...) Figure 9 As shown, UE 610 is an entity that controls the configuration and resources of sensing operations. For example, for UE-based sensing (single static or multiple static), the UE is the entity responsible for determining whether a sensing operation can be reused or modified.

[0146] A sensing client, such as AF 670 or UE, transmits a sensing service request (9005) to SeMF 630. This request includes information related to the sensing service type, sensing area, sensing configuration or filter information, sensing QoS requirements, etc. SeMF 630 can use the input from the sensing client to determine the sensing operation request message and target sensing session attributes, and SeMF 630 transmits the sensing operation request (9010) to the sensing operation store function 640. The sensing operation store function 640 identifies (9015) the relevant sensing operation and transmits a sensing operation response (9020) to SeMF 630. The sensing operation response may include a sensing session ID, a relevant sensing operation ID, a sensing area, and sensing configuration information for the sensing operation. Based on the received sensing operation response, SeMF 630 identifies (9025) a candidate sensing operation and transmits a sensing output request (9030) including the sensing session ID and a sensing output descriptor to the sensing output store function 660. In addition, the sensing output storage function 660 exports (9035) sensing processing and output information and transmits (9040) sensing output responses to the SeMF 630. The sensing output responses may include a sensing processing ID, a sensing session ID, the type of sensing output (e.g., the type of detected object, the tracked object, point cloud information), and the implemented sensing QoS (e.g., in terms of accuracy, resolution, and latency in exporting the sensing output).

[0147] Furthermore, SeMF 630 selects (9045) a target sensing operation, and SeMF 630 transmits (9050) a sensing configuration request to UE 610, including the target sensing operation ID and a sensing service request. Therefore, UE 610 determines (9055) whether and how to adapt an existing sensing operation, and transmits (9060) a sensing configuration modification response to SeMF 630, indicating one of the following: the sensing operation ID can be used as currently configured; the sensing operation ID needs to be updated in terms of resource configuration or sensing measurements; or a new sensing operation needs to be created. Based on notifications or responses received by UE 610 and possibly by other UEs or BSs, SeMF 630 can decide (9065) whether the sensing operation uses or does not use the indication at the sensing configuration modification response. Additionally, SeMF 630 can transmit (9070) a sensing configuration modification execution response indicating acceptance or rejection to UE 610, and UE 610 can update (9075) the sensing operation based on the sensing configuration modification execution response.

[0148] Furthermore, SeMF 630 can determine (9080) whether existing sensing processing can be reused and whether adaptation is required. If adaptation or modification is required, SeMF 630 can transmit (9085) a sensing processing modification request to SePF 650, which includes a sensing processing ID, a related sensing session ID, and an updated processing configuration. For example, the processing configuration may include at least one of the following: changing the processing of an existing sensing session ID and adding measurements from a new or modified sensing operation; combining data from different sensing session IDs; or changing the target object if another object signature can be used in filtering. Alternatively, SeMF 630 can transmit (9085) a sensing processing add request to SePF 650. SePF 650 can update or create (9090) a new sensing processing procedure based on the determination of SeMF 630. Furthermore, SePF 650 can transmit (9095) a sensing processing modification response or a sensing processing add response to SeMF 630. In addition, the SeMF 630 transmits a (9095) response to the AF 670 (or any other sensing client) indicating whether to accept or reject the requested sensing service. Thereafter, the sensing service is performed, and the network provides the requested sensing input to the sensing client. In this way, resource utilization can be improved.

[0149] Figure 10 Example signaling stream 1000 for setting and updating sensing operation information is shown according to some example embodiments of this disclosure. Example signaling stream 1000 is... Figure 4 The example signaling flow 400 implementation. Specifically, regarding... Figure 10 In the example embodiments discussed, UE 610', UE 610, and / or BS 620 are Figure 4 The example of the device 110 shown, SeMF 630 is Figure 4 The example of the first network entity 120 shown includes the sensing operation storage function 640. Figure 4 The example of the third network entity 140 shown is SePF 650. Figure 4 The example shown is the second network entity 130, and AF 670 is... Figure 4 The example shown is device 460.

[0150] Entities responsible for coordinating and managing sensing sessions and sensing operations (such as SeMF 630 or UE 610 and AF 670) can set or update information for establishing sensing sessions to the sensing operation storehouse function 640. This information includes information about the sensing session and each associated sensing operation, such as the sensing service type (e.g., tracking, weather sensing, drone detection, etc.), the sensing area (e.g., described in geographical terms, cell ID, etc.), target sensing QoS information (e.g., accuracy, range, resolution, etc.), sensing configuration information describing the sensing method (e.g., single static), resource configuration (e.g., frequency and / or time), and sensing measurements (e.g., point cloud). In some example embodiments, the establishment of BS-based (single static, multi static) and UE-assisted sensing operations can be performed (10010) on UE 610, BS 620, and / or SeMF 630. Additionally, BS 620 and / or SeMF 630 can transmit (10020) instructions for setting or updating sensing operations to the sensing operation storehouse function 640. In some other example embodiments, the establishment of a non-3GPP-based sensing operation can be performed (10030) on AF 670 and / or non-3GPP sensing. Additionally, AF 670 can transmit (10040) instructions for setting or updating sensing operations to the sensing operation store function 640. Alternatively, the establishment of a UE-based sensing operation can be performed (10050) on UE 610 and / or UE 610'. Additionally, UE 610 can transmit (10060) instructions for setting or updating sensing operations to the sensing operation store function 640.

[0151] Figure 11 Example signaling stream 1100 for setting and updating sensing processing information is shown according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure. Example signaling stream 1100 is... Figure 4 The example signaling flow 400 implementation. Specifically, regarding... Figure 11 In the example embodiments discussed, UE 610', UE 610, and / or BS 620 are Figure 4 The example of the device 110 shown, SeMF 630 is Figure 4 The example of the first network entity 120 shown is SePF 650. Figure 4 The example of the second network entity 130 shown includes the sensing output storage function 660. Figure 4 The example shown is the fourth network entity 150, and AF 670 is... Figure 4 The example shown is device 460.

[0152] Entities responsible for processing sensed data (such as SePF 650 in the network or SePF and AF670 in UE 610) can set or update information for sensed processing to sense output storage function 650. This information includes information on sensed measurements provided as input for processing and the structure of outputs provided to sensed clients. In some example embodiments, the establishment of BS-based (single static, multi static) and UE-assisted sensed operations can be performed (11010) on UE 610, BS 620, SeMF 630 and / or SePF 660. Additionally, SePF 660 can transmit (11020) instructions for setting or updating sensed processing information to sense output storage function 660. Alternatively, the establishment of UE-based sensed operations can be performed (11030) on UE 610 and / or UE 610'. Additionally, UE 610 can transmit (11040) instructions for setting or updating sensed processing information to sense output storage function 660. In some other example embodiments, the establishment of non-3GPP-based sensing operations can be performed (11050) on AF 670 and / or non-3GPP sensing. Additionally, AF 670 can transmit (11060) instructions for setting or updating sensing process information to the sensing output store function 660.

[0153] Figure 12 An example signaling flow 1200 for redirecting sensing operations is shown according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure. Example signaling flow 1200 is... Figure 4 The example signaling flow 400 implementation. Specifically, regarding... Figure 12 In the example embodiments discussed, UE 610 and / or BS 620 are Figure 4 The example of the device 110 shown, SeMF 630 is Figure 4 The example of the first network entity 120 shown, source SeMF 1210 is Figure 4 The example shown is the third network entity 140, and AF 670 is... Figure 4 The example shown is device 460.

[0154] AF 670 transmits a sensing service request (12010) to the source SeMF 1210, and after checking with the sensing operations repository, the source SeMF 1210 can determine (12020) that the sensing service request received from the sensing client can be served by an existing sensing session at another SeMF (target SeMF 1220), and can then switch the request to the target SeMF 1220. In this way, resource utilization can be improved.

[0155] In some example embodiments, the source SeMF 1210 may transmit (12030) a sensing service redirection request to the AF 670. In this case, the sensing service redirection request may include target SeMF information and target sensing session information. Furthermore, the AF 670 may transmit (12040) another sensing service request to the target SeMF 1220. In some examples, the sensing service request may include the parameters from the sensing service request in step 12010, as well as other parameters including indications of redirection and target sensing session information. Note that the aforementioned AF 670 may be another requesting entity, such as a UE or NF.

[0156] In some other example embodiments, the source SeMF 1210 may transmit a sensing service request (12050) to the target SeMF 1220. In some examples, the sensing service request may include the parameters from the sensing service request in step 12010, as well as additional parameters including a redirection indication and target sensing session information. After receiving the redirected sensing service request, the target SeMF 1220 may then adapt (12060) the sensing session if needed, such as... Figure 6 , Figure 8 and Figure 9 As described in the previous example embodiments, and will not be described in detail here.

[0157] Figure 13 Example signaling streams for combined sensing operations are shown according to some example embodiments of this disclosure. Example signaling stream 1300 is... Figure 5 The example signaling flow 500 implementation. Specifically, regarding... Figure 12 In the example embodiments discussed, the sensing device UE 1310 and / or the sensing device NG RAN 1320 are Figure 5 The example of the device 110 shown, AMF 1330 is Figure 5 Another example of network entity 520 is shown, and SeMF 1340 is... Figure 5 Example of network entity 510 shown.

[0158] Due to the ongoing session and considering the limited radio and processing resources in the BS (and UE), the sensing device may decide to combine or merge two or more sensing requests and provide the SeMF 1340 with notification of its decision to reuse existing / ongoing sensing operations. The sensing device can make such a decision using local information about the ongoing sensing operation and sensing service request or subscription request information sent to the sensing device by the SeMF 1340. The sensing device's decision may be based on one or more of the following: information related to the ongoing sensing session and / or received from the sensing request from the SeMF 1340: acceptable and / or best-effort latency in the sensing measurement response; sensing QoS including accuracy, resolution, granularity, and confidence level; sensing request type; client information for the sensing session (for priority, etc.); ancillary information provided for the sensing session, including non-3GPP sensing methods that can be used, and sensing equipment (e.g., new / additional sensing equipment involved in the sensing session); and radio resources that can be provided or requested to support the sensing session (and its QoS requirements). In this way, radio and processing resources can be reused as much as possible.

[0159] In step 13010, an ISAC session is triggered by a field device (UE), RAN node, or AMF 1330 via a mobility event, or by a SeMF 1340 internal state (e.g., a timer), a request induced by another NF (such as an emergency event), an internal client, an external client (via NEF), or a roaming client. In step 13020, the sensing service request is processed by SeMF 1340. In some example embodiments, SeMF 1340 transmits (13030) a subscription to AMF 1330. In some other example embodiments, SeMF 1340 transmits (13040) a subscription to sensing device NG-RAN 1320. The sensing device (sensing device UE 1310 or sensing device NG-RAN 1320) acquires (13050) a merged ISAC session. In some example embodiments, AMF 1330 transmits (13060) Namf_ISAC_EventNotify to SeMF 1340. In some other example embodiments, the sensing device NG-RAN 1320 transmits (13070) Namf_ISAC_EventNotify to SeMF 1340. In step 13080, the ISAC session is responded to by the field device (UE), RAN node, or AMF 1330 via a movement event, or by a SeMF 1340 internal state (e.g., a timer), a request induced by other NFs (such as an emergency event), an internal client, an external client (via NEF), or a roaming client mapped to step 13010. In this way, resource utilization can be improved. Specifically, multiple sensing operations can be combined.

[0160] Different types of sensing requests can be sent by multiple clients, and the SeMF 1340 handles the configuration of the sensing session. The sensing device decides to merge or combine sensing requests or sensing subscription requests, and thus the device reuses as many radio processing resources as possible based on all (merged) sensing service requests. In some example embodiments, the sensing device may send a notification to the SeMF 1340 regarding the decision to combine two or more sensing requests or subscriptions. In some other example embodiments, the sensing device may convert synchronous sensing measurement requests into asynchronous subscriptions and send responses via next-generation RAN policy provisioning and management NRPPa or service-based interface SBI events.

[0161] The sensing device (e.g., gNB or UE) merges the ISAC session to follow and implement the same as... Figure 3 The logic is similar to that of a Universally Unique Identifier (UUID) for a sensing session. Interactions between the SeMF 1340 and the sensing device (sensing device UE 1310 or sensing device NG RAN 1320) can be transmitted directly or via the AMF 1330.

[0162] If the SeMF 1340 selects a single sensing device (RAN node), interactions are transmitted directly between the SeMF 1340 and the sensing device. If the sensing device is a RAN node, the protocol can be NRPPa (or a variant thereof for sensing). Alternatively, if the sensing device is a UE, the protocol can be the LTE Positioning Protocol LPP (or a variant thereof). When a sensing session involves multiple UEs and their respective serving RAN nodes (e.g., BSs), interactions are transmitted via the AMF, which routes LPP via NAS and NRPPa to the respective serving RAN node (BS) of the UE via NGAP. This protocol can be based on NRPPa, a dedicated sensing protocol, or using the SBI interface. Subscriptions on NRPPa are equivalent to events or responses on NGAP, as are subscriptions using SBI.

[0163] For configuration from the SeMF 1340 to the RAN node, NRPPa signaling or another NG-AP protocol such as the sensing protocol can be used. For configuration messages from the SeMF 1340 to the UE, the LPP protocol can be used, or, for example, via NAS messages that are transparent to or not transparent to the AMF 1330, or via the sensing protocol via RRC messages from the BS. For sending data reports from the UE and / or BS to the SePF, data / user plane signaling or control plane signaling can be used. For example, large volumes can be sent via a data / user plane path or a combination of protocols depending on the receiver type (UE of the BS) and the report type. It should be noted that the SePF can reside in the core network, or alternatively in the MEC inside or outside the communications network. In some deployments, the SePF and sensing output repository functions can be co-located. In the case of an untrusted AF, a NEF service can be introduced between the AF and the SeMF 1340 for secure open API processing. A NEF or a new open NF can be introduced between the AF and the SePF for secure sensing data openness.

[0164] If there are no associated sensing service requests for a given area (AF / NF), the SeMF 1340 must support the deletion of sensing operations. Additionally, the SeMF 1340 must remove the corresponding sensing process deletion from the SePF. Furthermore, the SeMF 1340 must update the sensing operation repository functionality regarding sensing service request deletion. If the sensing service request only removes overlapping sensing, there may be no impact on sensing operations and actions to the SePF.

[0165] Figure 14 A flowchart of an example method 1400 implemented at a device according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure is shown. For the purposes of discussion, [the following will be discussed]. Figure 1 Method 1400 is described by the angle of the device 110 in the middle.

[0166] At box 1410, the device receives a request associated with a sensing operation from a first network entity.

[0167] At box 1420, the device determines whether to update the sensing operation based on a request associated with the sensing operation.

[0168] At box 1430, the device transmits a response to a request associated with the sensing operation to the first network entity. In this way, resource utilization can be improved.

[0169] In some example embodiments, the request associated with the sensing operation includes at least one of the following: an identifier of the device, an identifier of the sensing session, and an identifier of the sensing operation associated with the identifier of the sensing session.

[0170] In some example embodiments, the request associated with the sensing operation also includes at least one of the following: an updated resource configuration or an updated sensing configuration.

[0171] In some example embodiments, method 1400 further includes: updating the sensing operation based on determining the update sensing operation; and transmitting a response to a first network entity, the response including acceptance of the update sensing operation.

[0172] In some example embodiments, method 1400 further includes: transmitting a response to a first network entity based on determining that the sensing operation will not be updated, the response including a rejection of the sensing operation update.

[0173] In some example embodiments, the request associated with the sensing operation also includes at least one of the following: sensing area or sensing request information.

[0174] In some example embodiments, method 1400 further includes: determining whether a sensing operation is suitable for reuse based on a request associated with the sensing operation; and transmitting a response to a first network entity, the response including a configuration for reusing the sensing operation. In this way, resource utilization can be improved.

[0175] In some example embodiments, method 1400 further includes: determining that the sensing operation needs to be updated based on a request associated with the sensing operation; and transmitting a response to a first network entity, the response including updating the configuration of the sensing operation.

[0176] In some example embodiments, method 1400 further includes: determining to create another sensing operation based on a request associated with the sensing operation; and transmitting a response to a first network entity, the response including configuration for creating the other sensing operation.

[0177] In some example embodiments, method 1400 further includes: receiving another response from a first network entity, the other response indicating that a sensing configuration modification is performed, wherein the other response is determined by the first network entity based on a response to a request associated with the sensing operation; and updating the sensing operation based on the other response.

[0178] In some example embodiments, method 1400 further includes transmitting an instruction to a second network entity for setting or updating sensing session information.

[0179] In some example embodiments, the apparatus includes at least one of a terminal device or a network device, the first network entity includes a core network device, and the second network entity includes another core network device.

[0180] In some example embodiments, the first network entity is the Sensing Management Function (SeMF) or the Sensing Function (SF), and the second network entity is the Sensing Operations Repository Function.

[0181] Figure 15 A flowchart of an example method 1500 implemented at a first network entity according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure is shown. For discussion purposes, [the following will be discussed]. Figure 1 Method 1500 is described from the perspective of the first network entity 120 in the network.

[0182] At box 1510, the first network entity receives a request for sensing services from the device.

[0183] In box 1520, the first network entity determines whether a sensing operation from a set of candidate sensing operations is suitable for reuse to support requests for sensing services. In this way, resource utilization can be improved.

[0184] At box 1530, the first network entity transmits a request to the device, which is associated with a sensing operation related to the sensing operation.

[0185] At box 1540, the first network entity receives a response from the device to a request associated with a sensing operation.

[0186] In some example embodiments, the request associated with the sensing operation includes at least one of the following: an identifier of the device, an identifier of the sensing session, and an identifier of the sensing operation associated with the identifier of the sensing session.

[0187] In some example embodiments, method 1500 further includes: creating another sensing operation based on determining that the sensing operation is not suitable for reuse in a request for a sensing service.

[0188] In some example embodiments, method 1500 further includes: determining modifications to the sensing operation based on a request that determines the sensing operation is suitable for reuse for a sensing service; and determining at least one of an updated resource configuration or an updated sensing configuration, wherein the updated resource configuration or the updated sensing configuration is included in the request associated with the sensing operation.

[0189] In some example embodiments, method 1500 further includes receiving from the device a response to a request associated with a sensing operation, the response including acceptance of updating the sensing operation or rejection of updating the sensing operation.

[0190] In some example embodiments, method 1500 further includes: determining whether the sensing processing corresponding to the sensing operation is suitable for reuse based on the determination that the response includes acceptance of an updated sensing operation; or performing at least one of the following based on the determination that the response includes rejection of an updated sensing operation: creating another sensing operation for the sensing service from the device, or rejecting a request for the sensing service from the device.

[0191] In some example embodiments, method 1500 further includes: selecting a sensing operation from a set of candidate sensing operations; and determining at least one of a sensing region or sensing demand information based on the selected sensing operation, wherein the at least one of the sensing region or sensing demand information is included in a request associated with the sensing operation.

[0192] In some example embodiments, method 1500 further includes receiving from the device a response to a request associated with a sensing operation, the response including one of the following: reusing the configuration of the sensing operation, updating the configuration of the sensing operation, or creating the configuration of another sensing operation.

[0193] In some example embodiments, method 1500 further includes: determining another response based on a received response to a request associated with a sensing operation, the other response indicating that a sensing configuration modification should be performed; and transmitting the other response indicating that a sensing configuration modification should be performed to the device.

[0194] In some example embodiments, method 1500 further includes: determining whether the sensing process corresponding to the sensing operation is suitable for reuse in a request for a sensing service.

[0195] In some example embodiments, method 1500 further includes: determining to create another sensing process based on a request that determines the sensing process is not suitable for reuse for a sensing service; transmitting a request for adding the sensing process to a second network entity; and receiving a response from the second network entity to the request for adding the sensing process, the response indicating information about the other sensing process, wherein the other sensing process was created by the second network entity.

[0196] In some exemplary embodiments, method 1500 further includes: determining whether the sensing processing needs to be updated based on a request that determines the sensing processing is suitable for reuse for a sensing service; and transmitting a request for modification of the sensing processing to a second network entity based on the determination that the sensing processing needs to be updated; and receiving a response from the second network entity to the request for modification of the sensing processing, the response indicating information of the updated sensing processing, wherein the updated sensing processing is updated by the second network entity.

[0197] In some example embodiments, the second network entity includes a core network device, wherein the core network device includes a Sensing Processing Function (SePF).

[0198] In some example embodiments, method 1500 further includes: transmitting to a third network entity a request for identifying at least one sensing operation, the request including sensing session attributes; receiving from the third network entity a response to the request for identifying at least one sensing operation, the response including information about one or more sensing operations related to the sensing session attributes, wherein the one or more sensing operations related to the sensing session attributes are determined by the third network entity; and determining a set of candidate sensing operations based on the response to the request for identifying at least one sensing operation.

[0199] In some example embodiments, method 1500 further includes: transmitting a request for a sensing output to a fourth network entity, the request including at least a set of identifiers of candidate sensing operations; and receiving a response to the request for the sensing output from the fourth network entity, the response including information of sensing processing, wherein the information of sensing processing is determined by the fourth network entity, the information including at least an identifier of a sensing process corresponding to the identifiers of the set of identifiers of candidate sensing operations.

[0200] In some example embodiments, the fourth network entity includes a core network device, wherein the core network device includes a sense output storage function.

[0201] In some example embodiments, the third network entity includes a core network device, wherein the core network device includes a sensing operation storage function.

[0202] In some example embodiments, method 1500 further includes transmitting an instruction to a third or fourth network entity for setting or updating sensing session information.

[0203] In some example embodiments, a request for a sensing service includes at least one of the following: an identifier of the sensing request, a sensing area, or sensing requirement information.

[0204] In some example embodiments, method 1500 further includes: determining that a target sensing session included in another first network entity is suitable for reuse.

[0205] In some example embodiments, method 1500 further includes transmitting to a device a request for a redirected sensing service, the request including at least one of information about another first network entity or information about a target sensing session, wherein the request for the redirected sensing service is forwarded by the device to the other first network entity.

[0206] In some example embodiments, method 1500 further includes transmitting another request for the sensing service to another first network entity, the other request including at least one of the following: an identifier of the sensing request, a sensing area, sensing request information, a redirection instruction, or information about the target sensing session.

[0207] In some example embodiments, the apparatus includes at least one of a terminal device or a network device, the first network entity includes a core network device, wherein the core network device includes a Sensing Management Function (SeMF) or a Sensing Function (SF), and the apparatus includes at least one of a terminal device or another core network device, wherein the other core network device includes at least one of an Application Function or a Network Open Function (NEF).

[0208] Figure 16 A flowchart of an example method 1600 implemented at a third network entity according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure is shown. For discussion purposes, [the following will be discussed]. Figure 1 Method 1600 is described from the perspective of the third network entity 140 in the network.

[0209] In box 1610, the third network entity receives a request from the first network entity for an identification sensing operation, the request including sensing session attributes.

[0210] At box 1620, the third network entity determines information about sensing operations related to sensing session attributes.

[0211] At box 1630, the third network entity transmits a response to the first network entity for a request to identify a sensing operation, the response including information about the sensing operation related to sensing session attributes.

[0212] In some example embodiments, method 1600 further includes receiving an instruction from a first network entity for setting or updating information sensing session information.

[0213] In some example embodiments, method 1600 further includes receiving an instruction from the device for setting or updating sensing session information.

[0214] In some example embodiments, the device includes at least one of the following: a terminal device, a network device, or an application function.

[0215] In some example embodiments, method 1600 further includes: determining at least information about one or more sensing operations related to the sensing session attribute, and / or at least updating information about one or more sensing operations related to the sensing session attribute and associated sensing operations.

[0216] In some example embodiments, the first network entity includes a core network device, wherein the core network device includes a Sensing Management Function (SeMF) or a Sensing Function (SF), and / or wherein the third network entity includes another core network device, wherein the other core network device includes a Sensing Operations Repository Function.

[0217] Figure 17 A flowchart of an example method 1700 implemented at a fourth network entity according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure is shown. For the purposes of discussion, [the following will be discussed]. Figure 1 Method 1700 is described from the perspective of the fourth network entity 150.

[0218] At box 1710, the fourth network entity receives a request for the sensing output from the first network entity, the request including at least a set of identifiers for candidate sensing operations.

[0219] At box 1720, the fourth network entity acquires information about the sensing process, which includes at least the identifier of the sensing process corresponding to the identifier of a set of candidate sensing operations.

[0220] At box 1730, the fourth network entity transmits a response to the first network entity for a request for sensing output, the response including information about sensing processing.

[0221] In some example embodiments, method 1700 further includes receiving an instruction from the device for setting or updating sensing session information.

[0222] In some example embodiments, the device includes at least one of the following: a sensing processing function SePF, a terminal device, a network device, or an application function.

[0223] In some example embodiments, method 1700 further includes: at least determining information of the sensing process, and / or at least updating the information of the sensing process. In this way, resource utilization can be improved.

[0224] In some example embodiments, the first network entity includes a core network device, wherein the core network device includes a Sensing Management Function (SeMF) or a Sensing Function (SF), and / or wherein the fourth network entity includes another core network device, wherein the other core network device includes a Sensing Output Repository Function.

[0225] Figure 18A flowchart of an example method 1800 implemented at a device according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure is shown. For the purposes of discussion, [the following will be discussed]. Figure 1 Method 1800 is described by the angle of the device 110 in the middle.

[0226] In box 1810, the device receives from a network entity a request for combining multiple sensing service requests or sensing subscriptions, the request including at least information about the multiple sensing service requests or sensing subscriptions.

[0227] In box 1820, based on the information, the device determines that multiple sensing service requests or sensing subscriptions are combined.

[0228] In some example embodiments, method 1800 further includes determining whether multiple sensing service requests or sensing subscriptions are combined based on at least one of the following: acceptable latency in the sensing measurement response, best-effort latency in the sensing measurement response, sensing service quality (QoS), sensing service request type, information about the client associated with the sensing session, auxiliary information provided for the sensing session, or radio resources required to support the sensing session. In this way, multiple sensing operations can be combined.

[0229] In some example embodiments, method 1800 further includes: converting a first type of sensing measurement request into a second type of sensing measurement request.

[0230] In some example embodiments, method 1800 further includes transmitting to a network entity a response to a request to combine multiple sensing service requests or sensing subscriptions, the response indicating the determination of combining multiple sensing service requests or sensing subscriptions.

[0231] In some example embodiments, method 1800 further includes: receiving from another network entity a request for combining multiple sensing service requests or sensing subscriptions; and transmitting to another network entity a response to the request for combining multiple sensing service requests or sensing subscriptions, the response indicating the determination of combining multiple sensing service requests or sensing subscriptions.

[0232] In some example embodiments, another network entity includes the Access Mobility Function (AMF).

[0233] In some example embodiments, the apparatus includes sensing devices, and the network entity includes core network devices, wherein the sensing devices include at least one of terminal devices or network devices, and the core network devices include a sensing management function SeMF or a sensing function SF.

[0234] Figure 19 A flowchart of an example method 1900 implemented at a network entity according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure is shown. For the purposes of discussion, method 1900 will be described from the perspective of a network entity, for example... Figure 1The first network entity in the network is 120.

[0235] At box 1910, the network entity receives multiple sensing service requests or sensing subscriptions from multiple devices.

[0236] At box 1920, the network entity identifies information on multiple sensing service requests or sensing subscriptions.

[0237] At box 1930, the network entity transmits a request to the device for combining multiple sensing service requests or sensing subscriptions, the request including at least information about the multiple sensing service requests or sensing subscriptions. In this way, as many radio and processing resources as possible can be reused.

[0238] In some example embodiments, method 1900 further includes: selecting at least one device comprising the device from a set of devices based on a plurality of sensing service requests or sensing subscriptions, wherein at least one of the plurality of sensing service requests or sensing subscriptions is associated with the device.

[0239] In some example embodiments, method 1900 further includes receiving from the device a response to a request to combine multiple sensing service requests or sensing subscriptions, the response indicating the determination of combining multiple sensing service requests or sensing subscriptions.

[0240] In some example embodiments, method 1900 further includes: transmitting to another network entity a request for combining multiple sensing service requests or sensing subscriptions; and receiving from the other network entity a response to the request for combining multiple sensing service requests or sensing subscriptions, the response indicating the determination of combining multiple sensing service requests or sensing subscriptions.

[0241] In some example embodiments, another network entity includes the Access Mobility Function (AMF).

[0242] In some example embodiments, the device includes a terminal device or a core network device, the apparatus includes a sensing device, and the network entity includes a core network device, wherein the core network device includes a sensing management function (SeMF) or a sensing function (SF).

[0243] In some example embodiments, the apparatus capable of performing any method 1400 (e.g., Figure 1 The device 110 may include components for performing the corresponding operations of method 1400. These components may be implemented in any suitable form. For example, the components may be implemented in a circuit or software module. The device may be implemented as or included in... Figure 1 In device 110.

[0244] In some example embodiments, the apparatus includes: components for receiving a request associated with a sensing operation from a first network entity; components for determining whether to update the sensing operation based on the request associated with the sensing operation; and components for transmitting a response to the request associated with the sensing operation to the first network entity.

[0245] In some example embodiments, the request associated with the sensing operation includes at least one of the following: an identifier of the device, an identifier of the sensing session, and an identifier of the sensing operation associated with the identifier of the sensing session.

[0246] In some example embodiments, the request associated with the sensing operation also includes at least one of the following: an updated resource configuration or an updated sensing configuration.

[0247] In some example embodiments, the apparatus further includes: means for updating a sensing operation based on a determined update sensing operation; and means for transmitting a response to a first network entity, the response including acceptance of the update sensing operation.

[0248] In some example embodiments, the apparatus further includes a component for transmitting a response to a first network entity based on determining that the sensing operation will not be updated, the response including a rejection of the sensing operation update.

[0249] In some exemplary embodiments, the request associated with the sensing operation also includes at least one of the following: sensing area or sensing request information.

[0250] In some example embodiments, the apparatus further includes: means for determining whether a sensing operation is suitable for reuse based on a request associated with the sensing operation; and means for transmitting a response to a first network entity, the response including a configuration for reusing the sensing operation.

[0251] In some example embodiments, the apparatus further includes: components for determining, based on a request associated with the sensing operation, that the sensing operation needs to be updated; and components for transmitting a response to a first network entity, the response including an updated configuration for the sensing operation.

[0252] In some example embodiments, the apparatus further includes: means for determining, based on a request associated with a sensing operation, to create another sensing operation; and means for transmitting a response to a first network entity, the response including configuration for creating another sensing operation.

[0253] In some example embodiments, the apparatus further includes: components for receiving another response from a first network entity, the other response indicating that a sensing configuration modification is performed, wherein the other response is determined by the first network entity based on a response to a request associated with the sensing operation; and components for updating the sensing operation based on the other response.

[0254] In some example embodiments, the apparatus further includes a component for transmitting instructions to a second network entity for setting or updating sensing session information.

[0255] In some example embodiments, the device includes at least one of a terminal device or a network device, the first network entity includes a core network device, and the second network entity includes another core network device.

[0256] In some example embodiments, the first network entity is the Sensing Management Function (SeMF) or the Sensing Function (SF), and the second network entity is the Sensing Operations Repository Function.

[0257] In some example embodiments, the first network entity in any method 1500 (e.g., Figure 1 The first network entity 120 may include components for performing corresponding operations of method 1500. These components may be implemented in any suitable form. For example, the components may be implemented in a circuit or software module. The first network entity may be implemented as or included in... Figure 1 The first network entity 120 in the network.

[0258] In some example embodiments, the first network entity includes: components for receiving a request for a sensing service from a device; components for determining whether a sensing operation from a set of candidate sensing operations is suitable for reuse to support the request for the sensing service; components for transmitting a request to the device, the request being associated with a sensing operation related to the sensing operation; and components for receiving a response from the device to the request associated with the sensing operation.

[0259] In some example embodiments, the request associated with the sensing operation includes at least one of the following: an identifier of the device, an identifier of the sensing session, and an identifier of the sensing operation associated with the identifier of the sensing session.

[0260] In some example embodiments, the first network entity further includes a component for creating another sensing operation based on a request that determines the sensing operation is not suitable for reuse for a sensing service.

[0261] In some example embodiments, the first network entity further includes: a component for determining modifications to the sensing operation based on a request that determines the sensing operation is suitable for reuse for a sensing service; and a component for determining at least one of an updated resource configuration or an updated sensing configuration, wherein the updated resource configuration or the updated sensing configuration is included in the request associated with the sensing operation.

[0262] In some example embodiments, the first network entity further includes a component for receiving a response from the device to a request associated with a sensing operation, the response including acceptance of an updated sensing operation or rejection of an updated sensing operation.

[0263] In some example embodiments, the first network entity further includes: a component for determining whether sensing processing corresponding to a sensing operation is suitable for reuse based on a determination that the response includes acceptance of an updated sensing operation; or a component for performing at least one of the following based on a determination that the response includes rejection of an updated sensing operation: creating another sensing operation for a sensing service from the device, or rejecting a request for a sensing service from the device.

[0264] In some example embodiments, the first network entity further includes: a component for selecting a sensing operation from a set of candidate sensing operations; and a component for determining at least one of sensing area or sensing demand information based on the selected sensing operation, wherein at least one of the sensing area or sensing demand information is included in a request associated with the sensing operation.

[0265] In some example embodiments, the first network entity further includes a component for receiving a response from the device to a request associated with a sensing operation, the response including one of the following: reusing the configuration of the sensing operation, updating the configuration of the sensing operation, or creating the configuration of another sensing operation.

[0266] In some example embodiments, the first network entity further includes: a component for determining another response based on a received response to a request associated with a sensing operation, the other response indicating that a sensing configuration modification should be performed; and a component for transmitting to the device the other response indicating that a sensing configuration modification should be performed.

[0267] In some example embodiments, the first network entity further includes a component for determining whether the sensing process corresponding to the sensing operation is suitable for reuse in a request for a sensing service.

[0268] In some example embodiments, the first network entity further includes: means for determining to create another sensing process based on a request that determines that the sensing process is not suitable for reuse for a sensing service; means for transmitting a request for adding the sensing process to a second network entity; and means for receiving a response from the second network entity to the request for adding the sensing process, the response indicating information indicating another sensing process, wherein the other sensing process was created by the second network entity.

[0269] In some example embodiments, the first network entity further includes: means for determining whether the sensing processing needs to be updated based on a request that determines the sensing processing is suitable for reuse for a sensing service; means for transmitting a request for modification of the sensing processing to a second network entity based on the determination that the sensing processing needs to be updated; and means for receiving a response from the second network entity to the request for modification of the sensing processing, the response indicating information indicating updated sensing processing, wherein the updated sensing processing is updated by the second network entity.

[0270] In some example embodiments, the second network entity includes a core network device, wherein the core network device includes a Sensing Processing Function (SePF).

[0271] In some example embodiments, the first network entity further includes: means for transmitting to a third network entity a request for identifying at least one sensing operation, the request including sensing session attributes; means for receiving from the third network entity a response to the request for identifying at least one sensing operation, the response including information about one or more sensing operations related to the sensing session attributes, wherein the one or more sensing operations related to the sensing session attributes are determined by the third network entity; and means for determining a set of candidate sensing operations based on the response to the request for identifying at least one sensing operation.

[0272] In some example embodiments, the first network entity further includes: means for transmitting a request for a sensing output to a fourth network entity, the request including at least a set of identifiers of candidate sensing operations; and means for receiving a response to the request for the sensing output from the fourth network entity, the response including information of sensing processing, wherein the information of sensing processing is determined by the fourth network entity, and the information includes at least an identifier of a sensing process corresponding to the identifiers of the set of identifiers of candidate sensing operations.

[0273] In some example embodiments, the fourth network entity includes a core network device, wherein the core network device includes a sense output storage function.

[0274] In some example embodiments, the third network entity includes a core network device, wherein the core network device includes a sensing operation storage function.

[0275] In some example embodiments, the first network entity further includes a component for transmitting instructions to a third or fourth network entity for setting or updating sensing session information.

[0276] In some exemplary embodiments, a request for a sensing service includes at least one of the following: an identifier of the sensing request, a sensing area, or sensing requirement information.

[0277] In some example embodiments, the first network entity further includes: a component for determining that a target sensing session included in another first network entity is suitable for reuse.

[0278] In some example embodiments, the first network entity further includes: a component for transmitting a request for a redirected sensing service to the device, the request including at least one of information about another first network entity or information about a target sensing session, wherein the request for the redirected sensing service is forwarded by the device to the other first network entity.

[0279] In some example embodiments, the first network entity further includes: a component for transmitting another request for a sensing service to another first network entity, the other request including at least one of the following: an identifier of a sensing request, a sensing area, sensing request information, a redirection instruction, or information about a target sensing session.

[0280] In some example embodiments, the apparatus includes at least one of a terminal device or a network device, the first network entity includes a core network device, wherein the core network device includes a Sensing Management Function (SeMF) or a Sensing Function (SF), and the apparatus includes at least one of a terminal device or another core network device, wherein the other core network device includes at least one of an Application Function or a Network Open Function (NEF).

[0281] In some example embodiments, a third network entity capable of performing any method 1600 (e.g., Figure 1 The third network entity 140 may include a component for performing the corresponding operation of method 1600. This component may be implemented in any suitable form. For example, the component may be implemented in a circuit or software module. The third network entity may be implemented as or included in Figure 1 In the third network entity 140.

[0282] In some example embodiments, the third network entity includes: means for receiving from a first network entity a request for identifying a sensing operation, the request including sensing session attributes; means for determining information about the sensing operation related to the sensing session attributes; and means for transmitting to the first network entity a response to the request for identifying the sensing operation, the response including information about the sensing operation related to the sensing session attributes.

[0283] In some example embodiments, the third network entity further includes a component for receiving an instruction from the first network entity for setting or updating information sensing session information.

[0284] In some example embodiments, the third network entity further includes a component for receiving instructions from the device for setting or updating sensing session information.

[0285] In some example embodiments, the device includes at least one of the following: a terminal device, a network device, or an application function.

[0286] In some example embodiments, the third network entity further includes: a component for at least determining information about one or more sensing operations related to the sensing session attribute, and / or a component for at least updating information about one or more sensing operations related to the sensing session attribute and associated sensing operations.

[0287] In some example embodiments, the first network entity includes a core network device, wherein the core network device includes a Sensing Management Function (SeMF) or a Sensing Function (SF), and / or wherein the third network entity includes another core network device, wherein the other core network device includes a Sensing Operations Repository Function.

[0288] In some example embodiments, a fourth network entity capable of performing any method 1700 (e.g., Figure 1 The fourth network entity 150 may include components for performing the corresponding operations of method 1700. These components may be implemented in any suitable form. For example, the components may be implemented in a circuit or software module. The fourth network entity may be implemented as or included in... Figure 1 In the fourth network entity 150.

[0289] In some example embodiments, the fourth network entity includes: a component for receiving a request for sensing output from a first network entity, the request including at least a set of identifiers of candidate sensing operations; a component for acquiring information of sensing processing, the information including at least an identifier of sensing processing corresponding to the identifiers of the set of identifiers of candidate sensing operations; and a component for transmitting a response to the request for sensing output to the first network entity, the response including the information of sensing processing.

[0290] In some example embodiments, the fourth network entity further includes a component for receiving instructions from the device for setting or updating sensing session information.

[0291] In some example embodiments, the device includes at least one of the following: a sensing processing function SePF, a terminal device, a network device, or an application function.

[0292] In some example embodiments, the fourth network entity further includes: a component for at least determining information of the sensing process, and / or a component for at least updating information of the sensing process.

[0293] In some example embodiments, the first network entity includes a core network device, wherein the core network device includes a Sensing Management Function (SeMF) or a Sensing Function (SF), and / or wherein the fourth network entity includes another core network device, wherein the other core network device includes a Sensing Output Repository Function.

[0294] In some example embodiments, the apparatus capable of performing any method 1800 (e.g., Figure 1 The device 110 may include components for performing the corresponding operations of method 1800. These components may be implemented in any suitable form. For example, the components may be implemented in a circuit or software module. The device may be implemented as or included in... Figure 1 In device 110.

[0295] In some example embodiments, the apparatus includes: components for receiving from a network entity a request for combining multiple sensing service requests or sensing subscriptions, the request including at least information about the multiple sensing service requests or sensing subscriptions; and components for determining, based on the information, that the multiple sensing service requests or sensing subscriptions are combined.

[0296] In some example embodiments, the apparatus further includes a component for determining whether multiple sensing service requests or sensing subscriptions are combined based on at least one of the following: acceptable latency in the sensing measurement response, best-effort latency in the sensing measurement response, quality of service (QoS) of the sensing service, sensing service request type, information of the client associated with the sensing session, auxiliary information provided for the sensing session, or radio resources required to support the sensing session.

[0297] In some example embodiments, the apparatus further includes a component for converting a first type of sensing measurement request into a second type of sensing measurement request.

[0298] In some example embodiments, the apparatus further includes a component for transmitting to a network entity a response to a request combining multiple sensing service requests or sensing subscriptions, the response indicating the determination of combining multiple sensing service requests or sensing subscriptions.

[0299] In some example embodiments, the apparatus further includes: means for receiving from another network entity a request for combining multiple sensing service requests or sensing subscriptions; and means for transmitting to another network entity a response to the request for combining multiple sensing service requests or sensing subscriptions, the response indicating the determination of combining multiple sensing service requests or sensing subscriptions.

[0300] In some example embodiments, another network entity includes the Access Mobility Function (AMF).

[0301] In some example embodiments, the apparatus includes sensing devices, and the network entity includes core network devices, wherein the sensing devices include at least one of terminal devices or network devices, and the core network devices include a sensing management function SeMF or a sensing function SF.

[0302] In some example embodiments, network entities capable of performing any method 1900 (e.g., Figure 1 The first network entity 120 in the network may include a component for performing the corresponding operation of method 1900. This component may be implemented in any suitable form. For example, the component may be implemented in a circuit or software module. The network entity may be implemented as or included in... Figure 1 The first network entity 120 in the network.

[0303] In some example embodiments, the network entity includes: components for receiving multiple sensing service requests or sensing subscriptions from multiple devices; components for determining information about the multiple sensing service requests or sensing subscriptions; and components for transmitting to a device a request for combining the multiple sensing service requests or sensing subscriptions, the request including at least the information about the multiple sensing service requests or sensing subscriptions.

[0304] In some example embodiments, the network entity further includes a component for selecting at least one device comprising the device from a set of devices based on a plurality of sensing service requests or sensing subscriptions, wherein at least one of the plurality of sensing service requests or sensing subscriptions is associated with the device.

[0305] In some example embodiments, the network entity further includes a component for receiving from the device a response to a request to combine multiple sensing service requests or sensing subscriptions, the response indicating the determination of combining multiple sensing service requests or sensing subscriptions.

[0306] In some example embodiments, the network entity further includes: means for transmitting to another network entity a request for combining multiple sensing service requests or sensing subscriptions; and means for receiving from another network entity a response to the request for combining multiple sensing service requests or sensing subscriptions, the response indicating the determination of combining multiple sensing service requests or sensing subscriptions.

[0307] In some example embodiments, another network entity includes the Access Mobility Function (AMF).

[0308] In some example embodiments, the device includes a terminal device or a core network device, the apparatus includes a sensing device, and the network entity includes a core network device, wherein the core network device includes a sensing management function (SeMF) or a sensing function (SF).

[0309] Figure 20 This is a simplified block diagram of a device 2000 suitable for implementing exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. The device 2000 can be provided to implement a communication device, for example, Figure 1The device 110, first network entity 120, second network entity 130, third network entity 140, or fourth network entity 150 are shown. As shown, device 2000 includes one or more processors 2010, one or more memories 2020 coupled to processor 2010, and one or more communication modules 2040 coupled to processor 2010.

[0310] Communication module 2040 is used for bidirectional communication. Communication module 2040 has one or more communication interfaces to facilitate communication with one or more other modules or devices. The communication interface can represent any interface necessary for communication with other network elements. In some example embodiments, communication module 2040 may include at least one antenna.

[0311] Processor 2010 can be any type suitable for a local technology network and may include one or more of the following as non-limiting examples: general-purpose computer, special-purpose computer, microprocessor, digital signal processor (DSP), and processor based on a multi-core processor architecture. Device 2000 may have multiple processors, such as application integrated circuit chips, which are time-dependent on a clock synchronized with the main processor.

[0312] Memory 2020 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 2024, electrically programmable read-only memory EPROM, flash memory, hard disk, optical disc CD, digital video disc DVD, optical disc, laser disc, and other magnetic and / or optical memories. Examples of volatile memories include, but are not limited to, random access memory RAM 2022 and other volatile memories that will not be maintained during power outages.

[0313] Computer program 2030 includes computer-executable instructions that are executed by an associated processor 2010. The instructions of program 2030 may include instructions for performing operations / actions of some example embodiments of this disclosure. Program 2030 may be stored in memory, such as ROM 2024. Processor 2010 can perform any suitable actions and processes by loading program 2030 into RAM 2022.

[0314] Example embodiments of this disclosure can be implemented using the method of program 2030, such that device 2000 can perform as described in the reference. Figures 4 to 19 Any process discussed in this disclosure. Exemplary embodiments of this disclosure may also be implemented by hardware or a combination of software and hardware.

[0315] In some example embodiments, program 2030 may be tangibly contained in a computer-readable medium, which may be included in device 2000 (such as in memory 2020) or in other storage devices accessible by device 2000. Device 2000 may load program 2030 from the computer-readable medium into RAM 2022 for execution. In some example embodiments, the computer-readable medium may include any type of non-transitory storage medium, such as ROM, EPROM, flash memory, hard disk, CD, DVD, etc. As used herein, the term "non-transitory" is a limitation of the medium itself (i.e., tangible, not tactile), and not a limitation of data storage persistence (e.g., RAM vs. ROM).

[0316] Figure 21 An example of a computer-readable medium 2100 is shown, which may be in the form of a CD, DVD, or other optical storage disk. The computer-readable medium 2100 has a program 2030 stored thereon.

[0317] In general, the various embodiments of this disclosure can be implemented in hardware or dedicated circuitry, software, logic, or any combination thereof. Some aspects can be implemented in hardware, and others can be implemented in firmware or software 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 the blocks, apparatuses, systems, techniques, or methods described herein can be implemented in hardware, software, firmware, dedicated circuitry or logic, general-purpose hardware or controllers or other computing devices, or some combination thereof, as examples of non-limiting examples.

[0318] Some exemplary embodiments of this disclosure also provide at least one computer program product tangibly stored on a computer-readable medium (such as a non-transitory computer-readable medium). The computer program product includes computer-executable instructions, such as those included in a program module, which are executed in a device targeting a physical or virtual processor to implement any of the methods described above. Typically, a program module includes routines, programs, libraries, objects, classes, components, data structures, etc., that perform a particular task or implement a particular abstract data type. The functionality of the program module can be combined or split as needed among program modules in various embodiments. The machine-executable instructions for the program module can be executed within a local or distributed device. In a distributed device, the program module can reside on both local and remote storage media.

[0319] The program code used to implement the methods of this disclosure may be written in any combination of one or more programming languages. The program code may be provided to a processor or controller of a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, or other programmable data processing apparatus, such that, when executed by the processor or controller, the program code enables the functions / operations specified in the flowcharts and / or block diagrams to be implemented. The program code may be executed entirely on the machine, partially on the machine, as a stand-alone software package, partially on the machine and partially on a remote machine, or entirely on a remote machine or server.

[0320] In the context of this disclosure, computer program code or related data may be carried on 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.

[0321] 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 thereof. More specific examples of computer-readable storage media will include electrical connections having one or more wires, portable computer disks, hard disks, random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or flash memory), optical fibers, portable optical disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), optical storage devices, magnetic storage devices, or any suitable combination thereof.

[0322] Furthermore, although operations are described in a specific order, this should not be construed as requiring such operations to be performed in the specific order shown or in sequential order, or to perform all shown operations to achieve the desired result. In some cases, multitasking and parallel processing may be advantageous. Similarly, although several specific implementation details are included in the discussion above, 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. Unless explicitly stated otherwise, certain features described in the context of a single embodiment may also be implemented in combination in a single embodiment. Conversely, unless explicitly stated otherwise, various features described in the context of a single embodiment may also be implemented individually or in any suitable sub-combination in multiple embodiments.

[0323] 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 and actions described above are disclosed as exemplary forms for implementing the claims.

[0324] Furthermore, the various implementations of this disclosure can be described with reference to the following terms, and their features can be combined in any reasonable manner.

[0325] Clause 1. An apparatus comprising: at least one processor; and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to: receive a request associated with a sensing operation from a first network entity; determine whether to update the sensing operation based on the request associated with the sensing operation; and transmit a response to the request associated with the sensing operation to the first network entity.

[0326] Clause 2. The device pursuant to Clause 1, wherein the request associated with the sensing operation includes at least one of the following: an identifier of the device, an identifier of the sensing session, and an identifier of the sensing operation associated with the identifier of the sensing session.

[0327] Clause 3. The apparatus pursuant to Clause 1, wherein the request associated with sensing operation further includes at least one of the following: an updated resource configuration or an updated sensing configuration.

[0328] Clause 4. The apparatus according to Clause 3, wherein the apparatus is configured to: update the sensing operation according to the determined update sensing operation; and transmit a response to a first network entity, the response including acceptance of the update sensing operation.

[0329] Clause 5. The apparatus according to Clause 3, wherein the apparatus is configured to: transmit a response to a first network entity based on determining not to update the sensing operation, the response including a rejection of the update sensing operation.

[0330] Clause 6. The device pursuant to Clause 1, wherein the request associated with sensing operation further includes at least one of the following: sensing area or sensing request information.

[0331] Clause 7. The apparatus of Clause 6, wherein the apparatus is configured to: determine, based on a request associated with the sensing operation, that the sensing operation is suitable for reuse; and transmit a response to a first network entity, the response including a configuration for reusing the sensing operation.

[0332] Clause 8. The apparatus of Clause 6, wherein the apparatus is configured to: determine, based on a request associated with the sensing operation, that the sensing operation needs to be updated; and transmit a response to a first network entity, the response including an update to the configuration of the sensing operation.

[0333] Clause 9. The apparatus pursuant to Clause 6, wherein the apparatus is configured to: determine, based on a request associated with a sensing operation, to create another sensing operation; and to transmit a response to a first network entity, the response including a configuration for creating the other sensing operation.

[0334] Clause 10. An apparatus according to any one of Clauses 6 to 9, wherein the apparatus is configured to: receive from a first network entity another response instructing a sensing configuration modification to be performed, wherein the other response is determined by the first network entity based on a response to a request associated with the sensing operation; and update the sensing operation based on the other response.

[0335] Clause 11. An apparatus according to any one of Clauses 1 to 10, wherein the apparatus is configured to: transmit to a second network entity an instruction for setting or updating sensing session information.

[0336] Clause 12. An apparatus pursuant to any one of Clauses 1 to 11, wherein the apparatus comprises at least one of terminal equipment or network equipment, the first network entity comprises core network equipment, and the second network entity comprises another core network equipment.

[0337] Clause 13. The apparatus pursuant to Clause 12, wherein the first network entity is a sensing management function SeMF or a sensing function SF, and the second network entity is a sensing operation repository function.

[0338] Clause 14. A first network entity comprising: at least one processor; and at least one memory, the at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the first network entity to: receive a request for a sensing service from a device; determine whether a sensing operation from a set of candidate sensing operations is suitable for reuse to support the request for the sensing service; transmit a request to the device, the request being associated with a sensing operation related to the sensing operation; and receive a response from the device to the request associated with the sensing operation.

[0339] Clause 15. The first network entity pursuant to Clause 14, wherein the request associated with the sensing operation includes at least one of the following: an identifier of the device, an identifier of the sensing session, and an identifier of the sensing operation associated with the identifier of the sensing session.

[0340] Clause 16. The first network entity pursuant to Clause 14, wherein the first network entity is caused to: create another sensing operation based on a determination that the sensing operation is not suitable for reuse in a request for a sensing service.

[0341] Clause 17. The first network entity pursuant to Clause 14, wherein the first network entity is configured to: determine a modification to the sensing operation based on a request to determine that the sensing operation is suitable for reuse for the sensing service; and determine at least one of an updated resource configuration or an updated sensing configuration, and the updated resource configuration or the updated sensing configuration is included in the request associated with the sensing operation.

[0342] Clause 18. The first network entity pursuant to Clause 17, wherein the first network entity is configured to: receive from the device a response to a request associated with a sensing operation, the response including acceptance of an update sensing operation or rejection of an update sensing operation.

[0343] Clause 19. The first network entity pursuant to Clause 18, wherein the first network entity is caused to: determine whether the sensing processing corresponding to the sensing operation is suitable for reuse based on a determination that the response includes acceptance of an updated sensing operation; or perform at least one of the following based on a determination that the response includes rejection of an updated sensing operation: create another sensing operation for the sensing service from the device, or reject a request for the sensing service from the device.

[0344] Clause 20. A first network entity pursuant to Clause 14, wherein the first network entity is configured to: select a sensing operation from a set of candidate sensing operations; and determine at least one of sensing area or sensing demand information based on the selected sensing operation, and at least one of the sensing area or sensing demand information is included in a request associated with the sensing operation.

[0345] Clause 21. A first network entity pursuant to Clause 20, wherein the first network entity is configured to: receive from the device a response to a request associated with a sensing operation, the response including one of: reusing the configuration of the sensing operation, updating the configuration of the sensing operation, or creating the configuration of another sensing operation.

[0346] Clause 22. The first network entity pursuant to Clause 21, wherein the first network entity is configured to: determine another response based on a received response to a request associated with sensing operation, the other response instructing sensing configuration modification to be performed; and transmit the other response instructing the sensing configuration modification to be performed to the device.

[0347] Clause 23. A first network entity pursuant to any one of Clauses 14 to 22, wherein the first network entity is configured to: determine whether a sensing process corresponding to a sensing operation is suitable for reuse in a request for a sensing service.

[0348] Clause 24. The first network entity pursuant to Clause 23, wherein the first network entity is caused to: determine, based on a request that the sensing processing is unsuitable for reuse for the sensing service, to create another sensing processing; transmit to a second network entity a request for the addition of the sensing processing; and receive from the second network entity a response to the request for the addition of the sensing processing, the response indicating information about the other sensing processing, wherein the other sensing processing was created by the second network entity.

[0349] Clause 25. The first network entity pursuant to Clause 23, wherein the first network entity is configured to: determine whether a sensing process needs to be updated based on a request to determine that the sensing process is suitable for reuse for a sensing service; and transmit a request for modification of the sensing process to a second network entity based on the determination that the sensing process needs to be updated; and receive from the second network entity a response to the request for modification of the sensing process, the response indicating information on the updated sensing process, wherein the updated sensing process is updated by the second network entity.

[0350] Clause 26. A first network entity pursuant to Clause 24 or 25, wherein the second network entity includes core network equipment, wherein the core network equipment includes a sensing processing function (SePF).

[0351] Clause 27. The first network entity pursuant to Clause 14, wherein the first network entity is configured to: transmit to a third network entity a request for identifying at least one sensing operation, the request including sensing session attributes; receive from the third network entity a response to the request for identifying at least one sensing operation, the response including information about one or more sensing operations related to the sensing session attributes, wherein the one or more sensing operations related to the sensing session attributes are determined by the third network entity; and determine a set of candidate sensing operations based on the response to the request for identifying at least one sensing operation.

[0352] Clause 28. The first network entity pursuant to Clause 27, wherein the first network entity is configured to: transmit a request for a sensing output to a fourth network entity, the request including at least an identifier of a set of candidate sensing operations; and receive a response from the fourth network entity to the request for the sensing output, the response including information of sensing processing, wherein the information of sensing processing is determined by the fourth network entity, the information including at least an identifier of a sensing process corresponding to the identifier of the set of candidate sensing operations.

[0353] Clause 29. The first network entity pursuant to Clause 28, wherein the fourth network entity includes core network equipment, wherein the core network equipment includes a sense output storage function.

[0354] Clause 30. A first network entity pursuant to Clause 27, wherein the third network entity includes core network equipment, wherein the core network equipment includes sensing operation storage functionality.

[0355] Clause 31. The first network entity pursuant to Clause 14, wherein the first network entity is configured to: transmit instructions to a third or fourth network entity for setting or updating sensing session information.

[0356] Clause 32. The first network entity pursuant to Clause 14, wherein a request for sensing services includes at least one of the following: an identifier of the sensing request, a sensing area, or sensing request information.

[0357] Clause 33. A first network entity pursuant to Clause 32, wherein the first network entity is configured to: determine that a target sensing session included in another first network entity is suitable for reuse.

[0358] Clause 34. The first network entity pursuant to Clause 33, wherein the first network entity is configured to: transmit to the device a request for a redirected sensing service, the request including at least one of information from another first network entity or information from a target sensing session, wherein the request for the redirected sensing service is forwarded by the device to the other first network entity.

[0359] Clause 35. A first network entity pursuant to Clause 33, wherein the first network entity is caused to: transmit to another first network entity a further request for a sensing service, the further request including at least one of the following: an identifier of a sensing request, a sensing area, sensing request information, an indication of redirection, or information about a target sensing session.

[0360] Clause 36. A first network entity pursuant to any one of Clauses 14 to 35, wherein the apparatus includes at least one of a terminal device or a network device, the first network entity includes a core network device, wherein the core network device includes a Sensing Management Function (SeMF) or a Sensing Function (SF), and the apparatus includes at least one of a terminal device or another core network device, wherein the other core network device includes at least one of an Application Function or a Network Open Function (NEF).

[0361] Clause 37. A third network entity, comprising: at least one processor; and at least one memory, the at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the third network entity to: receive from a first network entity a request for an identification sensing operation, the request including sensing session attributes; determine information about the sensing operation related to the sensing session attributes; and transmit to the first network entity a response to the request for the identification sensing operation, the response including information about the sensing operation related to the sensing session attributes.

[0362] Clause 38. A third network entity pursuant to Clause 37, wherein the third network entity is configured to: receive from the first network entity an instruction for setting or updating information sensing session information.

[0363] Clause 39. A third network entity pursuant to Clause 37, wherein the third network entity is configured to: receive from the device an instruction for setting or updating sensing session information.

[0364] Clause 40. A third network entity pursuant to Clause 39, wherein the device includes at least one of the following: terminal device, network device, or application function.

[0365] Clause 41. A third network entity pursuant to Clause 37, wherein the third network entity is configured to: at least determine information about one or more sensing operations related to the sensing session attribute, and / or at least update information about one or more sensing operations related to the sensing session attribute and associated sensing operations.

[0366] Clause 42. A third network entity under any one of Clauses 38 to 41, wherein the first network entity includes a core network device, wherein the core network device includes a Sensing Management Function (SeMF) or a Sensing Function (SF), and / or wherein the third network entity includes another core network device, wherein the other core network device includes a Sensing Operations Repository Function.

[0367] Clause 43. A fourth network entity, comprising: at least one processor; and at least one memory, the at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the fourth network entity to: receive a request for sensing output from a first network entity, the request including at least identifiers of a set of candidate sensing operations; acquire information of sensing processing, the information including at least identifiers of sensing processes corresponding to the identifiers of the set of candidate sensing operations; and transmit a response to the request for sensing output to the first network entity, the response including the information of sensing processing.

[0368] Clause 44. The fourth network entity pursuant to Clause 43, wherein the fourth network entity is configured to: receive from the device an instruction for setting or updating sensing session information.

[0369] Clause 45. The fourth network entity under Clause 44, wherein the device includes at least one of the following: a sensing processing function SePF, a terminal device, a network device, or an application function.

[0370] Clause 46. The fourth network entity pursuant to Clause 43, wherein the fourth network entity is configured to: at least determine the information of the sensing process, and / or at least update the information of the sensing process.

[0371] Clause 47. A fourth network entity under any one of Clauses 43 to 46, wherein the first network entity includes a core network device, wherein the core network device includes a Sensing Management Function (SeMF) or a Sensing Function (SF), and / or wherein the fourth network entity includes another core network device, wherein the other core network device includes a Sensing Output Repository Function.

[0372] Clause 48. An apparatus comprising: at least one processor; and at least one memory, the at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to: receive from a network entity a request for combining a plurality of sensing service requests or sensing subscriptions, the request including at least information about the plurality of sensing service requests or sensing subscriptions; and, based on the information, determine that the plurality of sensing service requests or sensing subscriptions are combined.

[0373] Clause 49. The apparatus pursuant to Clause 48, wherein the apparatus is configured to determine whether a plurality of sensing service requests or sensing subscriptions are combined based on at least one of: acceptable latency in a sensing measurement response, best-effort latency in a sensing measurement response, quality of service (QoS) of a sensing service, type of sensing service request, information of a client associated with a sensing session, auxiliary information provided for a sensing session, or radio resources required to support a sensing session.

[0374] Clause 50. The apparatus pursuant to Clause 48, wherein the apparatus is configured to: convert a first type of sensing measurement request into a second type of sensing measurement request.

[0375] Clause 51. The apparatus pursuant to Clause 48, wherein the apparatus is configured to: transmit to a network entity a response to a request for combining multiple sensing service requests or sensing subscriptions, the response indicating the determination of combining multiple sensing service requests or sensing subscriptions.

[0376] Clause 52. The apparatus pursuant to Clause 48, wherein the apparatus is configured to: receive from another network entity a request for combining multiple sensing service requests or sensing subscriptions; and transmit to another network entity a response to the request for combining multiple sensing service requests or sensing subscriptions, the response indicating the determination of combining multiple sensing service requests or sensing subscriptions.

[0377] Clause 53. An apparatus pursuant to Clause 52, wherein another network entity includes an Access Mobility Function (AMF).

[0378] Clause 54. An apparatus according to any one of Clauses 48 to 53, wherein the apparatus includes sensing devices and the network entity includes core network equipment, wherein the sensing devices include at least one of terminal equipment or network equipment, and the core network equipment includes a sensing management function SeMF or a sensing function SF.

[0379] Clause 55. A network entity comprising: at least one processor; and at least one memory, the at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the network entity to: receive a plurality of sensing service requests or sensing subscriptions from a plurality of devices; determine information about the plurality of sensing service requests or sensing subscriptions; and transmit to a device a request for combining the plurality of sensing service requests or sensing subscriptions, the request including at least the information about the plurality of sensing service requests or sensing subscriptions.

[0380] Clause 56. A network entity pursuant to Clause 55, wherein the network entity is configured to: select at least one device comprising a device from a set of devices based on a plurality of sensing service requests or sensing subscriptions, wherein at least one of the plurality of sensing service requests or sensing subscriptions is associated with a device.

[0381] Clause 57. A network entity pursuant to Clause 55, wherein the network entity is configured to: receive from the device a response to a request to combine multiple sensing service requests or sensing subscriptions, the response indicating the determination of combining multiple sensing service requests or sensing subscriptions.

[0382] Clause 58. A network entity pursuant to Clause 55, wherein the network entity is caused to: transmit to another network entity a request for combining multiple sensing service requests or sensing subscriptions; and receive from another network entity a response to the request for combining multiple sensing service requests or sensing subscriptions, the response indicating the determination of combining multiple sensing service requests or sensing subscriptions.

[0383] Clause 59. A network entity pursuant to Clause 58, wherein another network entity includes the Access Mobility Function (AMF).

[0384] Clause 60. A network entity pursuant to any one of Clauses 55 to 59, wherein the device includes terminal equipment or core network equipment, the apparatus includes sensing equipment, and the network entity includes core network equipment, wherein the core network equipment includes a sensing management function SeMF or a sensing function SF.

[0385] Clause 61. A method comprising: receiving, at a device, a request associated with a sensing operation from a first network entity; determining, based on the request associated with the sensing operation, whether to update the sensing operation; and transmitting, to the first network entity, a response to the request associated with the sensing operation.

[0386] Clause 62. A method comprising: receiving, at a first network entity, a request for a sensing service from a device; determining whether a sensing operation from a set of candidate sensing operations is suitable for reuse to support the request for the sensing service; transmitting a request to a device, the request being associated with a sensing operation related to the sensing operation; and receiving from the device a response to the request associated with the sensing operation.

[0387] Clause 63. A method comprising: receiving, at a third network entity, a request from a first network entity for identifying a sensing operation, the request including sensing session attributes; determining information about the sensing operation related to the sensing session attributes; and transmitting to the first network entity a response to the request for identifying the sensing operation, the response including the information about the sensing operation related to the sensing session attributes.

[0388] Clause 64. A method comprising: receiving, at a fourth network entity, a request for sensing output from a first network entity, the request including at least identifiers of a set of candidate sensing operations; acquiring information of sensing processing, the information including at least identifiers of sensing processes corresponding to the identifiers of the set of candidate sensing operations; and transmitting to the first network entity a response to the request for sensing output, the response including the information of sensing processing.

[0389] Clause 65. A method comprising: receiving at a device a request from a network entity for combining a plurality of sensing service requests or sensing subscriptions, the request including at least information about the plurality of sensing service requests or sensing subscriptions; and determining, based on the information, that the plurality of sensing service requests or sensing subscriptions are combined.

[0390] Clause 66. A method comprising: receiving, at a network entity, a plurality of sensing service requests or sensing subscriptions from a plurality of devices; determining information about the plurality of sensing service requests or sensing subscriptions; and transmitting to a device a request for combining the plurality of sensing service requests or sensing subscriptions, the request including at least the information about the plurality of sensing service requests or sensing subscriptions.

[0391] Clause 67. An apparatus comprising: means for receiving a request associated with a sensing operation from a first network entity; means for determining whether to update the sensing operation based on the request associated with the sensing operation; and means for transmitting a response to the request associated with the sensing operation to the first network entity.

[0392] Clause 68. A first network entity comprising: means for receiving from a device a request for a sensing service; means for determining whether a sensing operation from a set of candidate sensing operations is suitable for reuse to support the request for the sensing service; means for transmitting to the device a request associated with a sensing operation related to the sensing operation; and means for receiving from the device a response to the request associated with the sensing operation.

[0393] Clause 69. A third network entity comprising: means for receiving from a first network entity a request for identifying a sensing operation, the request including sensing session attributes; means for determining information about a sensing operation related to the sensing session attributes; and means for transmitting to the first network entity a response to the request for identifying a sensing operation, the response including information about the sensing operation related to the sensing session attributes.

[0394] Clause 70. A fourth network entity, comprising: means for receiving a request for sensing output from a first network entity, the request including at least identifiers of a set of candidate sensing operations; means for acquiring information of sensing processing, the information including at least identifiers of sensing processes corresponding to the identifiers of the set of candidate sensing operations; and means for transmitting a response to the request for sensing output to the first network entity, the response including the information of sensing processing.

[0395] Clause 71. An apparatus comprising: means for receiving from a network entity a request for combining a plurality of sensing service requests or sensing subscriptions, the request including at least information on the plurality of sensing service requests or sensing subscriptions; and means for determining, based on the information, that the plurality of sensing service requests or sensing subscriptions are combined.

[0396] Clause 72. A network entity comprising: components for receiving multiple sensing service requests or sensing subscriptions from multiple devices; components for determining information about the multiple sensing service requests or sensing subscriptions; and components for transmitting to a device a request for combining the multiple sensing service requests or sensing subscriptions, the request including at least the information about the multiple sensing service requests or sensing subscriptions.

[0397] Clause 73. A computer-readable medium comprising instructions stored thereon for causing a device to perform at least the method pursuant to any one of Clauses 61 to 66.

Claims

1. A device for communication, comprising: At least one processor; as well as At least one memory, the at least one memory storing instructions, the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, causing the device to: Receive a request associated with the sensing operation from the first network entity; Whether to update the sensing operation is determined based on the request associated with the sensing operation; as well as The first network entity transmits a response to the request associated with the sensing operation.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the request associated with the sensing operation includes at least one of the following: an identifier of the apparatus, an identifier of a sensing session, and an identifier of a sensing operation associated with the identifier of the sensing session.

3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the request associated with the sensing operation further includes at least one of the following: an updated resource configuration or an updated sensing configuration.

4. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein the apparatus is configured to: Update the sensing operation according to the determination; and The response is transmitted to the first network entity, the response including an update of acceptance of the sensing operation.

5. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein the apparatus is configured to: Based on the determination not to update the sensing operation, the response is transmitted to the first network entity, the response including a rejection of updating the sensing operation.

6. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the request associated with the sensing operation further includes at least one of the following: sensing area or sensing request information.

7. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein the apparatus is configured to: Based on the request associated with the sensing operation, it is determined whether the sensing operation is suitable for reuse; and The response is transmitted to the first network entity, the response including a configuration for reusing the sensing operation.

8. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein the apparatus is configured to: Based on the request associated with the sensing operation, it is determined that the sensing operation needs to be updated; and The response is transmitted to the first network entity, the response including an update to the configuration of the sensing operation.

9. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein the apparatus is configured to: Determine to create another sensing operation based on the request associated with the sensing operation; and The response is transmitted to the first network entity, the response including a configuration for creating the other sensing operation.

10. The apparatus according to any one of claims 6 to 9, wherein the apparatus is configured to: Receive another response from the first network entity, the other response indicating that a sensing configuration modification should be performed, wherein the other response is determined by the first network entity based on the response to the request associated with the sensing operation; and The sensing operation is updated based on the other response.

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