Communication link between user equipment for joint communication and sensing

Abstract

A network node (100, 610, 800), a corresponding method, a computer program and a computer program product are provided. The method includes performing (302) a resource allocation for a communication link between a first user equipment, UE, (104a, 612, 700) and at least one second UE (104b, 612, 700) for a joint communication and sensing operation. The joint communication and sensing operation comprises at least one characteristic. Methods performed by the first UE and the second UE, and related methods and apparatus are also disclosed.

Description

COMMUNICATION LINK BETWEEN USER EQUIPMENT FOR JOINT COMMUNICATION AND SENSINGTECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The present disclosure relates generally to a method performed by a network node that includes performing a resource allocation for a communication link between a first user equipment, UE, and at least one second UE for a joint communication and sensing (JCAS) operation, and related methods and apparatuses.BACKGROUND

[0002] The system architectures (SAI) group of the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3 GPP) has defined study items to identify use cases and architectural enhancements that can enable JCAS in cellular networks. 3GPP S2-2106022 New SID: 5G Architecture Enhancements for Harmonized Communications and Sensing Services (August 2021).

[0003] Sensing using cellular networks may be performed in a monostatic setting when transmitter and receiver sensing antennas are located in the same node, and in a multi-static setting when the transmitter and receiver sensing antennas are located in different nodes.SUMMARY

[0004] There currently exist certain challenges. Approaches may be lacking to provide User Equipment (UE)-to-UE (UE-2-UE) communication link functionality related to resource allocation that enables a JCAS operation. For example, 3 GPP lacks such functionality that allows JCAS operation.

[0005] Certain aspects of the disclosure and their embodiments may provide solutions to these or other challenges. An object of the present disclosure is to enhance a UE-2-UE communication link for enabling a joint communication and sensing (JCAS) operation.

[0006] In some embodiments, a method performed by a network node is provided. The method includes performing a resource allocation for a communication link between a first UE and at least one second UE for a joint communication and sensing operation. The joint communication and sensing operation comprises at least one characteristic as follows: a non-data transmission from the first UE; omission of a hybrid automatic repeat request, HARQ, process number allocation and other higher layer parameters and / or protocols for data transmission; a transmission type where the at least one second UE receives a non-data transmission from the firstUE; identification of at least one property of a non-data transmission of the first UE by the at least one second UE that receives the non-data transmission; identification of information about at least one property of a non-data transmission for the at least one second UE to provide to the network node; and identification of information about the at least one property of a non-data transmission for the at least one second UE to provide to the first UE.

[0007] In other embodiments, a method performed by a first UE is provided. The method comprises receiving a resource allocation for a communication link between the first UE and at least one second UE for a joint communication and sensing operation. The joint communication and sensing operation comprises at least one characteristic as follows: a non-data transmission from the first UE; omission of a HARQ process number allocation and other higher layer parameters and / or protocols for data transmission; a transmission type where the at least one second UE receives a non-data transmission from the first UE; identification of at least one property of a non-data transmission of the first UE by the at least one second UE that receives the non-data transmission; identification of information about at least one property of a non-data transmission for the at least one second UE to provide to the network node; and identification of information about the at least one property of a non-data transmission for the at least one second UE to provide to the first UE.

[0008] In yet other embodiments, a method performed by a second UE is provided. The method comprises receiving a resource allocation for a communication link between a first UE and the second UE for a joint communication and sensing operation. The joint communication and sensing operation comprises at least one characteristic as follows: a non-data transmission from the first UE; omission of a HARQ process number allocation and other higher layer parameters and / or protocols for data transmission; a transmission type where the second UE receives a non- data transmission from the first UE; identification of at least one property of a non-data transmission of the first UE by the second UE that receives the non-data transmission; identification of information about at least one property of a non-data transmission for the second UE to provide to the network node; and identification of information about the at least one property of a non-data transmission for the second UE to provide to the first UE.

[0009] In some embodiments, a network node is provided. The network node includes at least one processor and at least one memory connected to the at least one processor and storing program code that is executed by the at least one processor to perform operations. The operations comprise to perform a resource allocation for a communication link between a first UE and at least one second UE for a joint communication and sensing operation. The joint communication and sensing operation comprises at least one characteristic as follows: a non-data transmission from the firstUE; omission of a HARQ process number allocation and other higher layer parameters and / or protocols for data transmission; a transmission type where the at least one second UE receives a non-data transmission from the first UE; identification of at least one property of a non-data transmission of the first UE by the at least one second UE that receives the non-data transmission; identification of information about at least one property of a non-data transmission for the at least one second UE to provide to the network node; and identification of information about the at least one property of a non-data transmission for the at least one second UE to provide to the first UE.

[0010] In other embodiments, a computer program comprising program code to be executed by at least one processor of a network node is provided. Execution of the program code causes the network node to perform operations comprising to perform a resource allocation for a communication link between a first UE and at least one second UE for a joint communication and sensing operation. The joint communication and sensing operation comprises at least one characteristic as follows: a non-data transmission from the first UE; omission of a HARQ process number allocation and other higher layer parameters and / or protocols for data transmission; a transmission type where the at least one second UE receives a non-data transmission from the first UE ; identification of at least one property of a non-data transmission of the first UE by the at least one second UE that receives the non-data transmission; identification of information about at least one property of a non-data transmission for the at least one second UE to provide to the network node; and identification of information about the at least one property of a non-data transmission for the at least one second UE to provide to the first UE.

[0011] In yet other embodiments, a computer program product comprising a non-transitory storage medium including program code to be executed by at least one processor of a network node is provided. Execution of the program code causes the network node to perform operations comprising to perform a resource allocation for a communication link between a first UE and at least one second UE for a joint communication and sensing operation. The joint communication and sensing operation comprises at least one characteristic as follows: a non-data transmission from the first UE; omission of a HARQ process number allocation and other higher layer parameters and / or protocols for data transmission; a transmission type where the at least one second UE receives a non-data transmission from the first UE; identification of at least one property of a non-data transmission of the first UE by the at least one second UE that receives the non-data transmission; identification of information about at least one property of a non-data transmission for the at least one second UE to provide to the network node; and identification of information about the at least one property of a non-data transmission for the at least one second UE to provide to the first UE.

[0012] In some embodiments, a first UE is provided. The first UE comprises at least one processor; and at least one memory connected to the at least one processor and storing program code that is executed by the at least one processor to perform operations. The operations comprise to receive a resource allocation for a communication link between the first UE and at least one second UE for a joint communication and sensing operation. The joint communication and sensing operation comprises at least one characteristic as follows: a non-data transmission from the first UE; omission of a HARQ process number allocation and other higher layer parameters and / or protocols for data transmission; a transmission type where the at least one second UE receives a non-data transmission from the first UE; identification of at least one property of a non-data transmission of the first UE by the at least one second UE that receives the non-data transmission; identification of information about at least one property of a non-data transmission for the at least one second UE to provide to the network node; and identification of information about the at least one property of a non-data transmission for the at least one second UE to provide to the first UE.

[0013] In other embodiments, a computer program comprising program code to be executed by at least one processor of a first UE is provided. Execution of the program code causes the first UE to perform operations. The operations comprise to receive a resource allocation for a communication link between the first UE and at least one second UE for a joint communication and sensing operation. The joint communication and sensing operation comprises at least one characteristic as follows: a non-data transmission from the first UE; omission of a HARQ process number allocation and other higher layer parameters and / or protocols for data transmission; a transmission type where the at least one second UE receives a non-data transmission from the first UE; identification of at least one property of a non-data transmission of the first UE by the at least one second UE that receives the non-data transmission; identification of information about at least one property of a non-data transmission for the at least one second UE to provide to the network node; and identification of information about the at least one property of a non-data transmission for the at least one second UE to provide to the first UE.

[0014] In yet other embodiments, a computer program product comprising a non-transitory storage medium including program code to be executed by at least one processor of a first UE is provided. Execution of the program code causes the first UE to perform operations. The operations comprise to receive a resource allocation for a communication link between the first UE and at least one second UE for a joint communication and sensing operation. The joint communication and sensing operation comprises at least one characteristic as follows: a non-data transmission from the first UE; omission of a HARQ process number allocation and other higher layer parameters and / or protocols for data transmission; a transmission type where the at least onesecond UE receives a non-data transmission from the first UE; identification of at least one property of a non-data transmission of the first UE by the at least one second UE that receives the non-data transmission; identification of information about at least one property of a non-data transmission for the at least one second UE to provide to the network node; and identification of information about the at least one property of a non-data transmission for the at least one second UE to provide to the first UE.

[0015] In some embodiments, a second UE is provided. The second UE comprises at least one processor; and at least one memory connected to the at least one processor and storing program code that is executed by the at least one processor to perform operations. The operations comprise to receive a resource allocation for a communication link between a first UE and the second UE for a joint communication and sensing operation. The joint communication and sensing operation comprises at least one characteristic as follows: a non-data transmission from the first UE; omission of a HARQ process number allocation and other higher layer parameters and / or protocols for data transmission; a transmission type where the second UE receives a non-data transmission from the first UE ; identification of at least one property of a non-data transmission of the first UE by the second UE that receives the non-data transmission; identification of information about at least one property of a non-data transmission for the second UE to provide to the network node; and identification of information about the at least one property of a non-data transmission for the second UE to provide to the first UE.

[0016] In other embodiments, a computer program comprising program code to be executed by at least one processor of a second UE is provided. Execution of the program code causes the second UE to perform operations. The operations comprise to receive a resource allocation for a communication link between a first UE and the second UE for a joint communication and sensing operation. The joint communication and sensing operation comprises at least one characteristic as follows: a non-data transmission from the first UE; omission of a HARQ process number allocation and other higher layer parameters and / or protocols for data transmission; a transmission type where the second UE receives a non-data transmission from the first UE; identification of at least one property of a non-data transmission of the first UE by the second UE that receives the non-data transmission; identification of information about at least one property of a non-data transmission for the second UE to provide to the network node; and identification of information about the at least one property of a non-data transmission for the second UE to provide to the first UE.

[0017] In yet other embodiments, a computer program product comprising a non-transitory storage medium including program code to be executed by at least one processor of a second UEis provided. Execution of the program code causes the second UE to perform operations. The operations comprise to receive a resource allocation for a communication link between a first UE and the second UE for a joint communication and sensing operation. The joint communication and sensing operation comprises at least one characteristic as follows: a non-data transmission from the first UE; omission of a HARQ process number allocation and other higher layer parameters and / or protocols for data transmission; a transmission type where the second UE receives a nondata transmission from the first UE; identification of at least one property of a non-data transmission of the first UE by the second UE that receives the non-data transmission; identification of information about at least one property of a non-data transmission for the second UE to provide to the network node; and identification of information about the at least one property of a non-data transmission for the second UE to provide to the first UE.BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0018] The accompanying drawings, which are included to provide a further understanding of the disclosure and are incorporated in and constitute a part of this application, illustrate certain non-limiting embodiments of present concepts. In the drawings:

[0019] Figure 1A is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of a monostatic radar sensing;

[0020] Figure IB is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of a bi-static radar sensing;

[0021] Figure 1C is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of a multi-static radar sensing;

[0022] Figure 2 is a schematic diagram of an example of bi-static sensing according to some embodiments;

[0023] Figure 3 is a flow chart illustrating operations of a network node according to some embodiments;

[0024] Figure 4 is a flow chart illustrating operations of a first UE according to some embodiments;

[0025] Figure 5 is a flow chart illustrating operations of a second UE according to some embodiments;

[0026] Figure 6 is a block diagram of a communication system in accordance with some embodiments;

[0027] Figure 7 is a block diagram of a UE according to some embodiments;

[0028] Figure 8 is a block diagram of a network node in accordance with some embodiments;

[0029] Figure 9 is a block diagram of a host computer communicating with a UE in accordance with some embodiments;

[0030] Figure 10 is a block diagram of a virtualization environment in accordance with some embodiments; and

[0031] Figure 11 is a block diagram of a host computer communicating via a BS with a UE over a partially wireless connection in accordance with some embodiments in accordance with some embodiments.DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0032] Concepts will now be described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which examples of embodiments of the present disclosure are shown. Concepts may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein. Rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the scope of the present disclosure to those skilled in the art. It should also be noted that these embodiments are not mutually exclusive. Components from one embodiment may be tacitly assumed to be present / used in another embodiment.

[0033] The following description presents some embodiments of the disclosed subject matter. These embodiments are presented as teaching examples and are not to be construed as limiting the scope of the disclosed subject matter. For example, certain details of the described embodiments may be modified, omitted, or expanded upon without departing from the scope of the described subject matter. An object of the present disclosure is to provide a UE-2-UE communication link functionality related to resource allocation that enables a JCAS operation.

[0034] Figures 1 A-1C are schematic drawings depicting different radar settings that may be deployed using cellular base stations. An objective is to detect and localize a target object 102, which generally is an object that is not connected to a network (such as a pedestrian, an animal, etc.). Figure 1A shows an example of a monostatic setting, which refers to a setting in which a transmit sensing antenna array, denoted by TX-s, is co-located at the same network node 100 (e.g., the same base station) as a receiver sensing antenna array, denoted by RX-s. In Figure IB, an example of a bi-static setting corresponds to a setting where the transmit sensing array antennas TX-s is located at a different network node 100a as the network node 100b for the receiver sensing antennas RX-s. Figure 1C shows an example of a multi-static case in which several TX-s (Tx-s 1 - Tx-s nt in Figure 1C) and several RX-s (Rx-s 1 - Rx-s nr in Figure 1C) are present and located at different network nodes 100a, 100c, lOOnt, and lOOnr.

[0035] New radio (NR) sidelink includes two resource allocation modes, network-based resource allocation and autonomous resource allocation.

[0036] In network-based resource allocation, a network selects the resources and other transmit parameters used by sidelink UEs. In some cases, the network may control every single transmission parameter. In other cases, the network may select the resources used for transmission, but may give the transmitter the freedom to select some of the transmission parameters, including optionally with some restrictions. In the context of NR, 3GPP refers to this resource allocation mode as Mode 1.

[0037] In autonomous resource allocation, UEs autonomously select the resources and other transmit parameters. In this mode, there may be no intervention by the network (e.g., out of coverage, unlicensed carriers without a network deployment) or very minimal intervention by the network (e.g., configuration of pools of resources, etc.). In the context of NR, 3GPP refers to this resource allocation mode as Mode 2.

[0038] Sensing using a cellular network may be used, without limitation, in a traffic monitoring scenario to detect and localize a target object such as a vehicle and / or measure a speed of the target object; or in a manufacturing scenario to detect and localize a position of a target object (such as a person) in relation to robot UEs.

[0039] Figure 2 is a schematic diagram of an example of bi-static sensing with transmitter array TX at a first UE 104a and receiver array RX at a second UE 104b with sidelink communications 106 between UE 104a and UE 104b; and / or communication link 108 between UE 104a and UE 104b, as discussed further herein with regard examples and embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0040] To perform JCAS, the TX and RX network nodes need to appropriately allocate resources (e.g., time, frequency, spatial beams) to perform sensing transmission and sensing reception. Examples of network nodes include, without limitation, a gNodeB (gNB(s)), and / or UE(s). Considering a realistic example, a gNB may not be present everywhere, and therefore, in many cases, UEs act as sensing transmitters (TX-s) and sensing receivers (TX-s). UEs often are mobile and, generally, can be spread in a cell region and also can be located in an out-of-coverage cell region of a network. Thus, it may be that UEs are closer to a target object than a base station, such as a gNB. Examples of the present disclosure include where a first UE is equipped with TX- s and a second UE is equipped with RX-s. Such a communication link 108 between the first and second UEs may be considered to be similar to a sidelink (SL) communication link 106 in the sense that there is a reception and transmission of radio signals between two UEs, as shown in the example in Figure 2.

[0041] The communication link 108, however, has at least two differences from a SL communication 106: (1) In SL, capability or functionality presently is lacking to perform JCAS, as JCAS transmissions may not be regarded as data transmissions. Thus, existing SL resource allocation mechanism may not hold for JCAS; and an objective of a receiver UE’s in a JCAS operation is to sense transmission, not decode as is done for a typical SL data transmission. Thus, for communication link 108, a receiver UE is not transporting data / transport block (TB) to upper layers. A communication link of this type (e.g., communication link 108 in Figure 2) is referred to as a UE-2-UE link / communication link / interface (as opposed to a SL).

[0042] Examples of the present disclosure include addressing issues for resource allocation for such an interface between two UEs, e.g., a UE-2-UE link for the purpose of sensing transmission and receptions instead of communication (such as SL transmissions).

[0043] As previously referenced, approaches for resource allocation to enable JCAS operation may be lacking.

[0044] Certain aspects of the disclosure and their embodiments may provide solutions to this or other challenges. The present disclosure relates to functionality related to resource allocation for UEs having a UE-2-UE communication to perform JCAS operation.

[0045] Operations of a network node can be performed by the network node 800 of Figure 8 (discussed further herein). In some embodiments, a method performed by a network node is provided. The method includes performing (operation 302 in the flow chart of Figure 3) a resource allocation for a communication link between a first UE and at least one second UE for a JCAS operation. The JCAS operation includes comprises at least one characteristic as follows: a nondata transmission from the first UE; omission of a HARQ process number allocation and other higher layer parameters and / or protocols for data transmission; a transmission type where the at least one second UE receives a non-data transmission from the first UE; identification of at least one property of a non-data transmission of the first UE by the at least one second UE that receives the non-data transmission; identification of information about at least one property of a non-data transmission for the at least one second UE to provide to the network node; and identification of information about the at least one property of a non-data transmission for the at least one second UE to provide to the first UE.

[0046] In a first example, for in-coverage UEs 104a, 104b, a network node 100 allocates a UE-2-UE link resource for a transmitter-receiver UE pair 104a, 104b for the purpose of JCAS, where the JCAS operation is identified with one or more of the following non-limiting characteristics:(a) Labeling a “no data” transmission, meaning that sensing transmissions are not considered data transmission, or do not have a TB(s).(b) No HARQ process number allocation as the transmission(s) does not have data.(c) A new transmission type where the receiving UE 104b is not required to transport data to an RX-s UE’s upper layers.(d) A Rx-s UE 104b captures certain properties of the transmission, such as power, fade or losses, multi-path components, angles of arrival (AoA), angles of departure (AoD), polarization, doppler shift, other changes in sensing wave characteristics, etc. As referred to herein, a receiver UE 104b (also referred to herein as a Rx-s UE 104b) refers to a UE that receives a non-data transmission from another UE (e.g., from a transmitter UE 104a (also referred to herein as a Tx-s UE 104a)), as shown in Figure 2 for example.(e) A receiver UE 104b may feedback to the network node 100 (e.g., a gNB) reports containing information described (d) above. In another option, a receiver UE 104b may feedback to a transmitter UE 104a reports containing information described (d) above.

[0047] Technical advantages provided by certain embodiments of the present disclosure may include the provision of UE-2-UE communication link functionality related to resource allocation to enable JCAS operation.

[0048] In some embodiments, the method further includes providing (operation 304 in Figure 3) the resource allocation to the first UE and the at least one second UE in a control signal. The control signal can include a Downlink Control Information (DCI) and the resource allocation can be provided in at least one of: a bitfield in the DCI; a DCI format that uses a sidelink format; and a DCI format specified for the resource allocation.

[0049] For example, the network node 100 utilizes DCI to allocate resource allocation for a transmitter-receiver UE pair 104a, 104b that contains characteristics described in the first example. Utilizing DCI can include at least one of the following options:(a) Using an existing DCI format 3 0 and 3 1 from 3GPP, for example, to allocate resource allocation for JCAS. For example, existing bitfields can be changed or new fields can be added to accommodate changes for JCAS based resource allocation.(b) Introducing a new DCI format (e.g., 3_x) for JCAS resource allocation at a sensing transmitter and sensing receiver under SL formats.(c) Using new DCI formats for UE-2-UE resource allocation for JCAS that are not classified as a SL format because fundamentally, the JCAS operation is not fully SL as a receiving UE senses a transmission(s) as opposed to decoding data.

[0050] The control signal can include further information including, without limitation, a periodicity for resource allocation.

[0051] In some embodiments, the resource allocation is allocated in a dynamic configuration grant or in a semi-persistent configuration grant (CG) to the first UE and the at least one second UE.

[0052] For example, the JCAS based resource allocation can be allocated in a dynamic or semi-persistent / CG manner at a transmitter-receiver UE pair 104a, 104b.

[0053] In some embodiments, the DCI further includes a radio network temporary identifier (RNTI) scrambled with the DCI containing the resource allocation.

[0054] For example, the network node 100 can create a new RNTI scrambled with the DCI containing JCAS resource allocation, e.g.: (a) Based on SL variants, JCAS SL RNTI or JCAS SL CS RNTI, for example, in order to allocate dynamic or CG based allocation; or (b) Based on new variants, JCAS RNTI or JCAS CS RNTI, for example, in order to allocate dynamic or CG based allocation.

[0055] In some embodiments, the control signal includes (i) a first unicast control signal to the first UE allocating a time and / or frequency resource for a non-data transmission from the first UE, and (ii) a second unicast control signal to the at least one second UE allocating a time and / or frequency resource for a reception by the at least one second UE of a non-data transmission from the first UE.

[0056] The network node 100 can send, for example: (a) A unicast control signaling, e.g., DCI, to a transmitter UE 104a allocating a time-frequency resource for a sensing transmission for the purpose of JCAS; or (b) A unicast control signaling, e.g., DCI, to a receiver UE 104b allocating a time-frequency resource for a sensing reception for the purpose of JCAS. It is noted that this is different than SL, as a SL receiver is not assigned resourced by the network node 100 for reception. Rather a SL transmitter sends first stage sidelink control information (SCI) to a SL receiver for resource allocation.

[0057] In some embodiments, the control signal includes a multicast control signal that includes at least one of (i) an operation mode type that identifies the joint communication and sensing operation, and (ii) a time, frequency, and / or spatial resource allocation.

[0058] Both of the transmitter and receiver UE pair’s 104a, 104b resource allocation, for example, can be allocated using single multicast control signaling that contains (a) an operation mode type for JCAS, and (b) time, frequency and spatial resource allocation at the transmitter UE 104a and the receiver UE 104b.

[0059] In some embodiments, at least one second UE includes a plurality of second UEs configured to receive reflective components of a non-data transmission from the first UE, and the control signal includes a control signal to the plurality of second UEs for reception of the reflective components of the non-data transmission.

[0060] Instead of one receiver UE 104b, for example, there can be a group of UEs 104b, or multiple receiver UEs 104b, configured to receive reflective components from a TX-s UE 104a. For the group of UE receivers 104b, the network node 100 can send unicast DCIs or a group- common / multicast DCI for allocation of resources for sensing reception.

[0061] In some embodiments, at least one second UE includes a plurality of second UEs, and the control signal includes a multicast or common control signal comprising the resource allocation to the first UE and the plurality of second UEs.

[0062] The resources for the transmitter UE 104a and group of receiver UEs 104b can be allocated altogether using single multicast / group-common signaling, for example.

[0063] In another embodiments, at least one second UE is configured to receive transmissions in the JCAS operation, the network node omits the resource allocation to the at least one second UE, and the first UE allocates and signals the resource allocation to the at least one second UE.

[0064] For example, the UE receiver 104b is not allocated resources by the network node 100 for receptions, rather a UE transmitter 104a allocates resources to the UE receiver 104b, e.g., using UE-2-UE interface-based control signaling, or SL interface based signaling, such as first stage SCI, etc. Extending this example, there can be a type of control-cum-sensing transmission (e.g., a sensing transmission) from the UE transmitter 104a to the UE receiver 104b that (a) does allocate any resources to the receiver UE 104b, and / or (b) asks the RX-s UE 104b to report to the network node 100 or a transmitter UE 104a about the characteristics of control-cum-sensing reception (e.g., characteristics listed herein with regard to the section (d) of the first example).

[0065] In a further embodiment, the method further includes identifying (operation 300 in Figure 3) the first UE and the at least one second UE; and signaling (operation 306 in Figure 3) a multicast signal including at least one of (i) an identifier to map an identity of the first UE to the at least one second UE, (ii) a control signal that indicates the resource allocation and a parameter to be identified in a non-data transmission received by the at least one second UE, and (iii) information for the first UE and the at least one second UE that indicates a type of non-data transmission by the first UE and a type of reception of the non-data transmission by the at least one second UE.

[0066] For example, the network node 100 can define Tx-Rx UE pairs or a group (with more than one RX-s UE) 104a, 104b, where the network node 100 sends a multicast control signalingthat has the following objective: (a) The signaling can indicate a group ID which can map to a TX- s UE ID and RX-s UEs’ IDs (e.g., which can be found in the UE’s radio resource control (RRC)); (b) The control signaling can indicate resource allocation and transmission parameters for sensing transmission parameters; and / or (c) Both the TX-s UE 104a and RX-s UEs 104b read the information in the control signaling and then engage in transmission and reception of indicated transmission.

[0067] In yet a further embodiment, the control signal further includes at least one of the following characteristics: an identifier of the first UE; an identifier of the at least one second UE; a time, a frequency, and / or a spatial resource for the resource allocation; an angle of departure of a transmission from the first UE; a modulation and coding scheme (MCS); a redundancy version (RV); an indication for sending a report from the at least one second UE; an identifier for a transmission from the first UE; a frequency hopping; a transmission power control; a number of antenna ports of the first UE and / or the at least one second UE; and information about a demodulation reference signal (DMRS).

[0068] The sensing transmissions can have, for example, one or more of the following nonlimiting information parameters indicated in the control signaling: (a) A TXs-UE ID; (b) RX-s UE IDs; (c) Time, frequency, spatial resources; (d) An AoD from the TX-s UE antennas of sensing transmission; (e) MCS; (f) A RV; (g) A feedback / report resource indication for sending reports by a RX-s UE; (h) A sensing transmission ID, which may be useful as a RX-s UE can indicate such an ID in its report / feedback, e.g., feedback corresponding to a given sensing transmission ID; (i) Frequency hopping; (j) Transmission power control; (k) Antenna ports; and / or (1) DMRS information.

[0069] In another embodiment, the non-data transmission from the first UE has no data multiplexed with the non-data transmission, and the control signal includes an indication to control of one or more of: (i) a HARQ identifier, (ii) new data indicator, NDI, and (iii) supplementary carrier information.

[0070] If a sensing transmission, for example, had no data multiplexed, then the following parameters can be disabled or inserted with validation bits in the corresponding bitfields in control signaling: HARQ ID; NDI; and / or supplementary carrier information.

[0071] In some embodiments, the control signal further includes a configuration of the at least one second UE to provide a first report to the network node or to the first UE according to at least one of the following: a negative acknowledgement, NACK, responsive to the at least one second UE not receiving the non-data transmission; omit providing the first report responsive to the at least one second UE not receiving the non-data transmission; an acknowledgement, ACK, andoptionally a characteristic of the non-data transmission responsive to the at least one second UE receiving the non-data transmission; and a characteristic of the non-data transmission to the network node over a medium access control, MAC, control element, CE, responsive to the at least one second UE receiving the non-data transmission.

[0072] Feedback can be reported, for example, in at least one the following manners: (a) If no sensing transmission is detected, send NACK (e.g., over uplink control information (UCI) / SCI / physical sidelink feedback channel (PSFCH); (b) If no sensing transmission is detected, do not send any feedback; (c) If a sensing transmission is detected, send ACK and, optionally, transmission reception characteristics (e.g., over UCI / SCI / PSFCH); or (d) If a sensing transmission is detected, send transmission reception characteristics over a medium access control (MAC) control element (CE) in physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) / physical sidelink shared channel (PSSCH).

[0073] In a further embodiment, the control signal further includes a configuration for the at least one second UE to provide a second report about a change in a characteristic from the first report.

[0074] For example, the RX-s UE 104b report may only change in feedback from a last sent report. This can be useful if the TX-s UE 104a sends a periodic sensing transmission. Then, a RX- s UE 104b is not required to report all the parameters, and reports only changes in parameters (e.g., a change AoA, change in reception power, etc.).

[0075] In yet another embodiment, the control signal further includes a multicast control signal configuring a resource for feedback that respective second UEs in a plurality of second UEs respectively have (i) an explicit absolute resource information, or (ii) at least one of the respective second UEs has an explicit absolute resource information and at least one remaining respective second UE has an offset for resource derivation by the at least one remaining respective second UE.

[0076] A feedback report can be sent, for example, to a TX-s UE 104a, a gNB 100, or another network node 100 (e.g., a cloud or edge server).

[0077] In some embodiments, the control signal further includes a policy that the at least one second UE receive the non-data transmission in order to decode data on a physical, PHY, layer of the at least one second UE.

[0078] If multiple RX-s UEs 104b sense the same transmission, for example, then their feedback resource can be orthogonalized (either in time or frequency or spatial resource). Otherwise, their feedback reports can collide with each other. In order to do this, in examples herein, if a single multicast control signal allocates a feedback resource to multiple RX-s UEs104b, the multicast control signal can indicate separate feedback resources either in (a) an absolute manner (e.g., every RX-s UE 104b is indicated with explicit absolute resource information); or (b) an offset value of resources with respect to a chosen RX-s UE’s 104b absolute resource (e.g., one RX-s UE 104b is provided with absolute resource information, and other UEs have UE-specific offsets for their resource derivation).

[0079] In a further embodiments, the control signal further includes a policy that the at least one second UE detect a characteristic of the non-data transmission without decoding the non-data transmission.

[0080] For example, the network node can define a policy where sensing transmission is needed for a RX-s UE 104b to decode (e.g., physical (PHY) layer decoding). A PHY format can be same (e.g., the format has cyclic redundancy check (CRC), DMRS etc.) or different than existing PHY formats (e.g., in 3GPP).

[0081] In another embodiment, the control signal further includes a threshold value of an energy or a power of the non-data transmission to be satisfied or exceed before the at least one second UE provides a characteristic of the non-data transmission to the network node or the first UE.

[0082] The network node 100, for example, can define a policy where a sensing transmission is not needed for decoding by a RX-s UE 104b, rather the RX-s UE 104b senses energy or parameters without decoding (e.g., detects a high power signal).

[0083] In some embodiments, at least one property of a non-data transmission includes at least one of a power metric, a fade metric, an identification of multi-path components of the non-data transmission, angles of arrival, angles of departure, identification of a polarization, a doppler shift, and a change in a characteristic of a wave of the non-data transmission.

[0084] Operations of the network node (implemented using the structure of Figure 8) have been discussed with reference to the flow chart of Figure 3 according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. For example, modules may be stored in memory 804 (also referred to herein as at least one memory) of Figure 8, and these modules may provide instructions so that when the instructions of a module are executed by respective network node processing circuitry 802 (also referred to herein as at least one processor), network node 800 performs respective operations of the flow chart of Figure 3.

[0085] In some embodiments of network nodes and related methods, operations from the flow chart of Figure 3 may be optional. For example, the operations of blocks 300, 304, and / or 306 may be optional.

[0086] Operations of a first UE can be performed by the UE 700 of Figure 7 (discussed further herein). Operations of a first UE are discussed with reference to the flow chart of Figure 4 according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. As illustrated in Figure 4, a method is performed by a first UE. The method includes receiving (400) a resource allocation for a communication link between the first UE and at least one second UE for a JCAS operation. The JCAS operation includes at least one characteristic as follows: a non-data transmission from the first UE; omission of a HARQ process number allocation and other higher layer parameters and / or protocols for data transmission; a transmission type where the at least one second UE receives a non-data transmission from the first UE; identification of at least one property of a non-data transmission of the first UE by the at least one second UE that receives the non-data transmission; identification of information about at least one property of a non-data transmission for the at least one second UE to provide to the network node; and identification of information about the at least one property of a non-data transmission for the at least one second UE to provide to the first UE.

[0087] The resource allocation can be received in a control signal from a network node.

[0088] The control signal can include a DCI and the resource allocation is provided in at least one of: (i) a bitfield in the DCI, (ii) a DCI format that uses a sidelink format, and (iii) a DCI format specified for the resource allocation.

[0089] The resource allocation can be allocated in a dynamic CG or in a semi-persistent CG to the first UE.

[0090] The DCI can further include a RNTI scrambled with the DCI containing the resource allocation.

[0091] The control signal can include a unicast control signal to the first UE allocating a time and / or frequency resource for a non-data transmission from the first UE.

[0092] The control signal can include a multicast control signal that includes at least one of (i) an operation mode type that identifies the JCAS operation, and (ii) a time, frequency, and / or spatial resource allocation.

[0093] At least one second UE can be configured to receive transmissions in the JCAS operation, the network node omits the resource allocation to the at least one second UE, and the first UE allocates and signals the resource allocation to the at least one second UE.

[0094] At least one second UE can include a plurality of second UEs configured to receive reflective components of a non-data transmission from the first UE, and the control signal further includes a control signal to the plurality of second UEs for reception of the reflective components of the non-data transmission.

[0095] At least one second UE can include a plurality of second UEs, and the control signal can include a multicast or common control signal including the resource allocation to the first UE and the plurality of second UEs.

[0096] The control signal can further include at least one of the following characteristics: an identifier of the first UE; an identifier of the at least one second UE; a time, a frequency, and / or a spatial resource for the resource allocation; an angle of departure of a transmission from the first UE; a MCS; a RV; an indication for sending a report from the at least one second UE; an identifier for a transmission from the first UE; a frequency hopping; a transmission power control; a number of antenna ports of the first UE and / or the at least one second UE; and information about a DMRS.

[0097] The non-data transmission from the first UE can have no data multiplexed with the non-data transmission, and the control signal can include an indication to control of one or more of: (i) a HARQ identifier, (ii) NDI, and (iii) supplementary carrier information.

[0098] The control signal can further include a configuration of the at least one second UE to provide a first report to the network node or to the first UE according to at least one characteristic as follows: a NACK responsive to the at least one second UE not receiving the non-data transmission; omit providing the first report responsive to the at least one second UE not receiving the non-data transmission; an ACK, and optionally a characteristic of the non-data transmission responsive to the at least one second UE receiving the non-data transmission; and a characteristic of the non-data transmission to the network node over a MAC CE responsive to the at least one second UE receiving the non-data transmission.

[0099] The control signal can further include a threshold value of an energy or a power of the non-data transmission to be satisfied or exceed before the at least one second UE provides a characteristic of the non-data transmission to the network node or the first UE.

[0100] At least one property of a non-data transmission can include at least one of a power metric, a fade metric, an identification of multi-path components of the non-data transmission, angles of arrival, angles of departure, identification of a polarization, a doppler shift, and a change in a characteristic of a wave of the non-data transmission.

[0101] Operations of a second UE can be performed by the UE 700 of Figure 7 (discussed further herein). Operations of a second UE are discussed with reference to the flow chart of Figure 5 according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. As illustrated in Figure 5, a method is performed by a second UE. The method includes receiving (500) a resource allocation for a communication link between a first UE and the second UE for a JCAS operation. The JCAS operation includes at least one characteristic as follows: a non-data transmission from the first UE; omission of a HARQ process number allocation and other higher layer parametersand / or protocols for data transmission; a transmission type where the second UE receives a nondata transmission from the first UE; identification of at least one property of a non-data transmission of the first UE by the second UE that receives the non-data transmission; identification of information about at least one property of a non-data transmission for the second UE to provide to the network node; and identification of information about the at least one property of a non-data transmission for the second UE to provide to the first UE.

[0102] The resource allocation can be received in a control signal from a network node.

[0103] The control signal can include a DCI and the resource allocation is provided in at least one of: (i) a bitfield in the DCI, (ii) a DCI format that uses a sidelink format, and (iii) a DCI format specified for the resource allocation.

[0104] The resource allocation can be allocated in a dynamic CG or in a semi-persistent CG to the first UE.

[0105] The DCI can further include a RNTI scrambled with the DCI containing the resource allocation.

[0106] The control signal can include a unicast control signal to the first UE allocating a time and / or frequency resource for a non-data transmission from the first UE.

[0107] The control signal can include a multicast control signal that includes at least one of (i) an operation mode type that identifies the JCAS operation, and (ii) a time, frequency, and / or spatial resource allocation.

[0108] The second UE can be configured to receive transmissions in the JCAS operation, and the resource allocation is received from the first UE.

[0109] The second UE can be configured to receive reflective components of a non-data transmission from the first UE, and the control signal can include a control signal to the second UE for reception of the reflective components of the non-data transmission.

[0110] The control signal can include a multicast or common control signal including the resource allocation to the first UE and the second UE.

[0111] The control signal can further include at least one of: an identifier of the first UE; an identifier of the second UE; a time, a frequency, and / or a spatial resource for the resource allocation; an angle of departure of a transmission from the first UE; a MCS; a RV; an indication for sending a report from the second UE; an identifier for a transmission from the first UE; a frequency hopping; a transmission power control; a number of antenna ports of the first UE and / or the second UE; and information about a DMRS.

[0112] The control signal can further include a configuration of the second UE to provide a first report to the network node or to the first UE according to at least one characteristic as follows:a NACK responsive to the second UE not receiving the non-data transmission; omit providing the first report responsive to the second UE not receiving the non-data transmission; an ACK, and optionally a characteristic of the non-data transmission responsive to the second UE receiving the non-data transmission; and a characteristic of the non-data transmission to the network node over a MAC CE responsive to the second UE receiving the non-data transmission.

[0113] The control signal can further include a configuration for the second UE to provide a second report about a change in the characteristic from the first report.

[0114] The control signal can further include a multicast control signal configuring a resource for feedback that respective the second UE has (i) an explicit absolute resource information, or (ii) an explicit absolute resource information and an offset for resource derivation by the second UE.

[0115] The control signal can further include a policy that the second UE receive the non-data transmission in order to decode data on a physical, PHY, layer of the second UE.

[0116] The control signal can further include a policy that the second UE detect a characteristic of the non-data transmission without decoding the non-data transmission.

[0117] The control signal can further include a threshold value of an energy or a power of the non-data transmission to be satisfied or exceed before the second UE provides a characteristic of the non-data transmission to the network node or the first UE.

[0118] At least one property of a non-data transmission can include at least one of a power metric, a fade metric, an identification of multi-path components of the non-data transmission, angles of arrival, angles of departure, identification of a polarization, a doppler shift, and a change in a characteristic of a wave of the non-data transmission.

[0119] Transmissions of UEs may be secure transmission (e.g., encrypted and / or protected in another way).

[0120] Figure 6 shows an example of a communication system 600 in accordance with some embodiments.

[0121] In the example, the communication system 600 includes a telecommunication network 602 that includes an access network 604, such as a radio access network (RAN), and a core network 606, which includes one or more core network nodes 608. The access network 604 includes one or more access network nodes, such as network nodes 610a and 610b (one or more of which may be generally referred to as network nodes 610), or any other similar 3 GPP access node or non- 3 GPP access point. The network nodes 610 facilitate direct or indirect connection of UE, such as by connecting UEs 612a, 612b, 612c, and 612d (one or more of which may be generally referred to as UEs 612) to the core network 606 over one or more wireless connections.

[0122] Example wireless communications over a wireless connection include transmitting and / or receiving wireless signals using electromagnetic waves, radio waves, infrared waves, and / or other types of signals suitable for conveying information without the use of wires, cables, or other material conductors. Moreover, in different embodiments, the communication system 600 may include any number of wired or wireless networks, network nodes, UEs, and / or any other components or systems that may facilitate or participate in the communication of data and / or signals whether via wired or wireless connections. The communication system 600 may include and / or interface with any type of communication, telecommunication, data, cellular, radio network, and / or other similar type of system.

[0123] The UEs 612 may be any of a wide variety of communication devices, including wireless devices arranged, configured, and / or operable to communicate wirelessly with the network nodes 610 and other communication devices. Similarly, the network nodes 610 are arranged, capable, configured, and / or operable to communicate directly or indirectly with the UEs 612 and / or with other network nodes or equipment in the telecommunication network 602 to enable and / or provide network access, such as wireless network access, and / or to perform other functions, such as administration in the telecommunication network 602.

[0124] In the depicted example, the core network 606 connects the network nodes 610 to one or more hosts, such as host 616. These connections may be direct or indirect via one or more intermediary networks or devices. In other examples, network nodes may be directly coupled to hosts. The core network 606 includes one more core network nodes (e.g., core network node 608) that are structured with hardware and software components. Features of these components may be substantially similar to those described with respect to the UEs, network nodes, and / or hosts, such that the descriptions thereof are generally applicable to the corresponding components of the core network node 608. Example core network nodes include functions of one or more of a Mobile Switching Center (MSC), Mobility Management Entity (MME), Home Subscriber Server (HSS), Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF), Session Management Function (SMF), Authentication Server Function (AUSF), Subscription Identifier De-concealing function (SIDF), Unified Data Management (UDM), Security Edge Protection Proxy (SEPP), Network Exposure Function (NEF), and / or a User Plane Function (UPF).

[0125] The host 616 may be under the ownership or control of a service provider other than an operator or provider of the access network 604 and / or the telecommunication network 602, and may be operated by the service provider or on behalf of the service provider. The host 616 may host a variety of applications to provide one or more service. Examples of such applications include live and pre-recorded audio / video content, data collection services such as retrieving andcompiling data on various ambient conditions detected by a plurality of UEs, analytics functionality, social media, functions for controlling or otherwise interacting with remote devices, functions for an alarm and surveillance center, or any other such function performed by a server.

[0126] As a whole, the communication system 600 of Figure 6 enables connectivity between the UEs, network nodes, and hosts. In that sense, the communication system may be configured to operate according to predefined rules or procedures, such as specific standards that include, but are not limited to: Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM); Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS); Long Term Evolution (LTE), and / or other suitable 2G, 3G, 4G, 5G standards, or any applicable future generation standard (e.g., 6G); wireless local area network (WLAN) standards, such as the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 standards (WiFi); and / or any other appropriate wireless communication standard, such as the Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMax), Bluetooth, Z-Wave, Near Field Communication (NFC) ZigBee, LiFi, and / or any low-power wide-area network (LPWAN) standards such as LoRa and Sigfox.

[0127] In some examples, the telecommunication network 602 is a cellular network that implements 3GPP standardized features. Accordingly, the telecommunications network 602 may support network slicing to provide different logical networks to different devices that are connected to the telecommunication network 602. For example, the telecommunications network 602 may provide Ultra Reliable Low Latency Communication (URLLC) services to some UEs, while providing Enhanced Mobile Broadband (eMBB) services to other UEs, and / or Massive Machine Type Communication (mMTC) / Massive loT services to yet further UEs.

[0128] In some examples, the UEs 612 are configured to transmit and / or receive information without direct human interaction. For instance, a UE may be designed to transmit information to the access network 604 on a predetermined schedule, when triggered by an internal or external event, or in response to requests from the access network 604. Additionally, a UE may be configured for operating in single- or multi -RAT or multi-standard mode. For example, a UE may operate with any one or combination of Wi-Fi, NR (New Radio) and LTE, i.e. being configured for multi-radio dual connectivity (MR-DC), such as E-UTRAN (Evolved-UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access Network) New Radio - Dual Connectivity (EN-DC).

[0129] In the example, the hub 614 communicates with the access network 604 to facilitate indirect communication between one or more UEs (e.g., UE 612c and / or 612d) and network nodes (e.g., network node 610b). In some examples, the hub 614 may be a controller, router, content source and analytics, or any of the other communication devices described herein regarding UEs. For example, the hub 614 may be a broadband router enabling access to the core network 606 forthe UEs. As another example, the hub 614 may be a controller that sends commands or instructions to one or more actuators in the UEs. Commands or instructions may be received from the UEs, network nodes 610, or by executable code, script, process, or other instructions in the hub 614. As another example, the hub 614 may be a data collector that acts as temporary storage for UE data and, in some embodiments, may perform analysis or other processing of the data. As another example, the hub 614 may be a content source. For example, for a UE that is a VR headset, display, loudspeaker or other media delivery device, the hub 614 may retrieve VR assets, video, audio, or other media or data related to sensory information via a network node, which the hub 614 then provides to the UE either directly, after performing local processing, and / or after adding additional local content. In still another example, the hub 614 acts as a proxy server or orchestrator for the UEs, in particular if one or more of the UEs are low energy loT devices.

[0130] The hub 614 may have a constant / persistent or intermittent connection to the network node 610b. The hub 614 may also allow for a different communication scheme and / or schedule between the hub 614 and UEs (e.g., UE 612c and / or 612d), and between the hub 614 and the core network 606. In other examples, the hub 614 is connected to the core network 606 and / or one or more UEs via a wired connection. Moreover, the hub 614 may be configured to connect to an M2M service provider over the access network 604 and / or to another UE over a direct connection. In some scenarios, UEs may establish a wireless connection with the network nodes 610 while still connected via the hub 614 via a wired or wireless connection. In some embodiments, the hub 614 may be a dedicated hub - that is, a hub whose primary function is to route communications to / from the UEs from / to the network node 610b. In other embodiments, the hub 614 may be a nondedicated hub - that is, a device which is capable of operating to route communications between the UEs and network node 610b, but which is additionally capable of operating as a communication start and / or end point for certain data channels.

[0131] Figure 7 shows a UE 700 in accordance with some embodiments. As used herein, a UE refers to a device capable, configured, arranged and / or operable to communicate wirelessly with network nodes and / or other UEs. Examples of a UE include, but are not limited to, a smart phone, mobile phone, cell phone, voice over IP (VoIP) phone, wireless local loop phone, desktop computer, personal digital assistant (PDA), wireless cameras, gaming console or device, music storage device, playback appliance, wearable terminal device, wireless endpoint, mobile station, tablet, laptop, laptop-embedded equipment (LEE), laptop-mounted equipment (LME), smart device, wireless customer-premise equipment (CPE), vehicle, vehicle-mounted or vehicle embedded / integrated wireless device, etc. Other examples include any UE identified by 3 GPP,including a narrow band internet of things (NB-IoT) UE, a machine type communication (MTC) UE, and / or an enhanced MTC (eMTC) UE.

[0132] A UE may support device-to-device (D2D) communication, for example by implementing a communication link described herein, a 3 GPP standard for sidelink communication, Dedicated Short-Range Communication (DSRC), vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V), vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I), or vehicle-to-everything (V2X). In other examples, a UE may not necessarily have a user in the sense of a human user who owns and / or operates the relevant device. Instead, a UE may represent a device that is intended for sale to, or operation by, a human user but which may not, or which may not initially, be associated with a specific human user (e.g., a smart sprinkler controller). Alternatively, a UE may represent a device that is not intended for sale to, or operation by, an end user but which may be associated with or operated for the benefit of a user (e.g., a smart power meter).

[0133] The UE 700 includes processing circuitry 702 (also referred to herein as at least one processor) that is operatively coupled via a bus 704 to an input / output interface 706, a power source 708, a memory 710, a communication interface 712, and / or any other component, or any combination thereof. Certain UEs may utilize all or a subset of the components shown in Figure 7. The level of integration between the components may vary from one UE to another UE. Further, certain UEs may contain multiple instances of a component, such as multiple processors, memories, transceivers, transmitters, receivers, etc.

[0134] The processing circuitry 702 is configured to process instructions and data and may be configured to implement any sequential state machine operative to execute instructions stored as machine-readable computer programs in the memory 710. The processing circuitry 702 may be implemented as one or more hardware-implemented state machines (e.g., in discrete logic, field- programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), etc.); programmable logic together with appropriate firmware; one or more stored computer programs, general-purpose processors, such as a microprocessor or digital signal processor (DSP), together with appropriate software; or any combination of the above. For example, the processing circuitry 702 may include multiple central processing units (CPUs).

[0135] In the example, the input / output interface 706 may be configured to provide an interface or interfaces to an input device, output device, or one or more input and / or output devices. Examples of an output device include a speaker, a sound card, a video card, a display, a monitor, a printer, an actuator, an emitter, a smartcard, another output device, or any combination thereof. An input device may allow a user to capture information into the UE 700. Examples of an input device include a touch-sensitive or presence-sensitive display, a camera (e.g., a digital camera, adigital video camera, a web camera, etc.), a microphone, a sensor, a mouse, a trackball, a directional pad, a trackpad, a scroll wheel, a smartcard, and the like. The presence-sensitive display may include a capacitive or resistive touch sensor to sense input from a user. A sensor may be, for instance, an accelerometer, a gyroscope, a tilt sensor, a force sensor, a magnetometer, an optical sensor, a proximity sensor, a biometric sensor, etc., or any combination thereof. An output device may use the same type of interface port as an input device. For example, a Universal Serial Bus (USB) port may be used to provide an input device and an output device.

[0136] In some embodiments, the power source 708 is structured as a battery or battery pack. Other types of power sources, such as an external power source (e.g., an electricity outlet), photovoltaic device, or power cell, may be used. The power source 708 may further include power circuitry for delivering power from the power source 708 itself, and / or an external power source, to the various parts of the UE 700 via input circuitry or an interface such as an electrical power cable. Delivering power may be, for example, for charging the power source 708. Power circuitry may perform any formatting, converting, or other modification to the power from the power source 708 to make the power suitable for the respective components of the UE 700 to which power is supplied.

[0137] The memory 710 may be or be configured to include memory such as random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), programmable read-only memory (PROM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), magnetic disks, optical disks, hard disks, removable cartridges, flash drives, and so forth. In one example, the memory 710 includes one or more application programs 714, such as an operating system, web browser application, a widget, gadget engine, or other application, and corresponding data 716. The memory 710 may store, for use by the UE 700, any of a variety of various operating systems or combinations of operating systems.

[0138] The memory 710 may be configured to include a number of physical drive units, such as redundant array of independent disks (RAID), flash memory, USB flash drive, external hard disk drive, thumb drive, pen drive, key drive, high-density digital versatile disc (HD-DVD) optical disc drive, internal hard disk drive, Blu-Ray optical disc drive, holographic digital data storage (HDDS) optical disc drive, external mini-dual in-line memory module (DIMM), synchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM), external micro-DIMM SDRAM, smartcard memory such as tamper resistant module in the form of a universal integrated circuit card (UICC) including one or more subscriber identity modules (SIMs), such as a USIM and / or ISIM, other memory, or any combination thereof. The UICC may for example be an embedded UICC (eUICC), integrated UICC (iUICC) or a removable UICC commonly known as ‘SIM card.’ The memory 710 mayallow the UE 700 to access instructions, application programs and the like, stored on transitory or non-transitory memory media, to off-load data, or to upload data. An article of manufacture, such as one utilizing a communication system may be tangibly embodied as or in the memory 710, which may be or comprise a device-readable storage medium.

[0139] The processing circuitry 702 may be configured to communicate with an access network or other network using the communication interface 712. The communication interface 712 may comprise one or more communication subsystems and may include or be communicatively coupled to an antenna 722. The communication interface 712 may include one or more transceivers used to communicate, such as by communicating with one or more remote transceivers of another device capable of wireless communication (e.g., another UE or a network node in an access network). Each transceiver may include a transmitter 718 and / or a receiver 720 appropriate to provide network communications (e.g., optical, electrical, frequency allocations, and so forth). Moreover, the transmitter 718 and receiver 720 may be coupled to one or more antennas (e.g., antenna 722) and may share circuit components, software or firmware, or alternatively be implemented separately.

[0140] In the illustrated embodiment, communication functions of the communication interface 712 may include cellular communication, Wi-Fi communication, LPWAN communication, data communication, voice communication, multimedia communication, short- range communications such as Bluetooth, near-field communication, location-based communication such as the use of the global positioning system (GPS) to determine a location, another like communication function, or any combination thereof. Communications may be implemented in according to one or more communication protocols and / or standards, such as IEEE 802.11, Code Division Multiplexing Access (CDMA), Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA), GSM, LTE, New Radio (NR), UMTS, WiMax, Ethernet, transmission control protocol / internet protocol (TCP / IP), synchronous optical networking (SONET), Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM), QUIC, Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP), and so forth.

[0141] Regardless of the type of sensor, a UE may provide an output of data captured by its sensors, through its communication interface 712, via a wireless connection to a network node. Data captured by sensors of a UE can be communicated through a wireless connection to a network node via another UE. The output may be periodic (e.g., once every 15 minutes if it reports the sensed temperature), random (e.g., to even out the load from reporting from several sensors), in response to a triggering event (e.g., when moisture is detected an alert is sent), in response to a request (e.g., a user initiated request), or a continuous stream (e.g., a live video feed of a patient).

[0142] As another example, a UE comprises an actuator, a motor, or a switch, related to a communication interface configured to receive wireless input from a network node via a wireless connection. In response to the received wireless input the states of the actuator, the motor, or the switch may change. For example, the UE may comprise a motor that adjusts the control surfaces or rotors of a drone in flight according to the received input or to a robotic arm performing a medical procedure according to the received input.

[0143] A UE, when in the form of an Internet of Things (loT) device, may be a device for use in one or more application domains, these domains comprising, but not limited to, city wearable technology, extended industrial application and healthcare. Non-limiting examples of such an loT device are a device which is or which is embedded in: a connected refrigerator or freezer, a TV, a connected lighting device, an electricity meter, a robot vacuum cleaner, a voice controlled smart speaker, a home security camera, a motion detector, a thermostat, a smoke detector, a door / window sensor, a flood / moisture sensor, an electrical door lock, a connected doorbell, an air conditioning system like a heat pump, an autonomous vehicle, a surveillance system, a weather monitoring device, a vehicle parking monitoring device, an electric vehicle charging station, a smart watch, a fitness tracker, a head-mounted display for Augmented Reality (AR) or Virtual Reality (VR), a wearable for tactile augmentation or sensory enhancement, a water sprinkler, an animal- or itemtracking device, a sensor for monitoring a plant or animal, an industrial robot, an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV), and any kind of medical device, like a heart rate monitor or a remote controlled surgical robot. A UE in the form of an loT device comprises circuitry and / or software in dependence of the intended application of the loT device in addition to other components as described in relation to the UE 700 shown in Figure 7.

[0144] As yet another specific example, in an loT scenario, a UE may represent a machine or other device that performs monitoring and / or measurements, and transmits the results of such monitoring and / or measurements to another UE and / or a network node. The UE may in this case be an M2M device, which may in a 3GPP context be referred to as an MTC device. As one particular example, the UE may implement the 3 GPP NB-IoT standard. In other scenarios, a UE may represent a vehicle, such as a car, a bus, a truck, a ship and an airplane, or other equipment that is capable of monitoring and / or reporting on its operational status or other functions associated with its operation.

[0145] In practice, any number of UEs may be used together with respect to a single use case. For example, a first UE might be or be integrated in a drone and provide the drone’s speed information (obtained through a speed sensor) to a second UE that is a remote controller operating the drone. When the user makes changes from the remote controller, the first UE may adjust thethrottle on the drone (e.g. by controlling an actuator) to increase or decrease the drone’s speed. The first and / or the second UE can also include more than one of the functionalities described above. For example, a UE might comprise the sensor and the actuator, and handle communication of data for both the speed sensor and the actuators.

[0146] Figure 8 shows a network node 800 in accordance with some embodiments. As used herein, network node refers to equipment capable, configured, arranged and / or operable to communicate directly or indirectly with a UE and / or with other network nodes or equipment, in a telecommunication network. Examples of network nodes include, but are not limited to, access points (APs) (e.g., radio access points), BSs (e.g., radio base stations, Node Bs, evolved Node Bs (eNBs), NR NodeBs (gNBs)), and UEs.

[0147] BSs may be categorized based on the amount of coverage they provide (or, stated differently, their transmit power level) and so, depending on the provided amount of coverage, may be referred to as femto base stations, pico base stations, micro base stations, or macro base stations. A BS may be a relay node or a relay donor node controlling a relay. A network node may also include one or more (or all) parts of a distributed radio base station such as centralized digital units and / or remote radio units (RRUs), sometimes referred to as Remote Radio Heads (RRHs). Such remote radio units may or may not be integrated with an antenna as an antenna integrated radio. Parts of a distributed radio base station may also be referred to as nodes in a distributed antenna system (DAS).

[0148] Other examples of network nodes include multiple transmission point (multi-TRP) 5G access nodes, multi-standard radio (MSR) equipment such as MSR BSs, network controllers such as radio network controllers (RNCs) or base station controllers (BSCs), base transceiver stations (BTSs), transmission points, transmission nodes, multi-cell / multicast coordination entities (MCEs), Operation and Maintenance (O&M) nodes, Operations Support System (OSS) nodes, Self-Organizing Network (SON) nodes, positioning nodes (e.g., Evolved Serving Mobile Location Centers (E-SMLCs)), and / or Minimization of Drive Tests (MDTs).

[0149] The network node 800 includes a processing circuitry 802, a memory 804 (also referred to herein as at least one memory), a communication interface 806, and a power source 808. The network node 800 may be composed of multiple physically separate components (e.g., a NodeB component and a RNC component, or a BTS component and a BSC component, etc.), which may each have their own respective components. In certain scenarios in which the network node 800 comprises multiple separate components (e.g., BTS and BSC components), one or more of the separate components may be shared among several network nodes. For example, a single RNC may control multiple NodeBs. In such a scenario, each unique NodeB and RNC pair, may insome instances be considered a single separate network node. In some embodiments, the network node 800 may be configured to support multiple RATs. In such embodiments, some components may be duplicated (e.g., separate memory 804 for different RATs) and some components may be reused (e.g., a same antenna 810 may be shared by different RATs). The network node 800 may also include multiple sets of the various illustrated components for different wireless technologies integrated into network node 800, for example GSM, WCDMA, LTE, NR, WiFi, Zigbee, Z-wave, LoRaWAN, Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) or Bluetooth wireless technologies. These wireless technologies may be integrated into the same or different chip or set of chips and other components within network node 800.

[0150] The processing circuitry 802 may comprise a combination of one or more of a microprocessor, controller, microcontroller, central processing unit, digital signal processor, application-specific integrated circuit, field programmable gate array, or any other suitable computing device, resource, or combination of hardware, software and / or encoded logic operable to provide, either alone or in conjunction with other network node 800 components, such as the memory 804, to provide network node 800 functionality.

[0151] In some embodiments, the processing circuitry 802 includes a system on a chip. In some embodiments, the processing circuitry 802 includes one or more of radio frequency (RF) transceiver circuitry 812 and baseband processing circuitry 814. In some embodiments, the radio frequency (RF) transceiver circuitry 812 and the baseband processing circuitry 814 may be on separate chips (or sets of chips), boards, or units, such as radio units and digital units. In alternative embodiments, part or all of RF transceiver circuitry 812 and baseband processing circuitry 814 may be on the same chip or set of chips, boards, or units.

[0152] The memory 804 may comprise any form of volatile or non-volatile computer-readable memory including, without limitation, persistent storage, solid-state memory, remotely mounted memory, magnetic media, optical media, random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), mass storage media (for example, a hard disk), removable storage media (for example, a flash drive, a Compact Disk (CD) or a Digital Video Disk (DVD)), and / or any other volatile or non-volatile, non-transitory device-readable and / or computer-executable memory devices that store information, data, and / or instructions that may be used by the processing circuitry 802. The memory 804 may store any suitable instructions, data, or information, including a computer program, software, an application including one or more of logic, rules, code, tables, and / or other instructions capable of being executed by the processing circuitry 802 and utilized by the network node 800. The memory 804 may be used to store any calculations made by the processing circuitry802 and / or any data received via the communication interface 806. In some embodiments, the processing circuitry 802 and memory 804 is integrated.

[0153] The communication interface 806 is used in wired or wireless communication of signaling and / or data between a network node, access network, and / or UE. As illustrated, the communication interface 806 comprises port(s) / terminal(s) 816 to send and receive data, for example to and from a network over a wired connection. The communication interface 806 also includes radio front-end circuitry 818 that may be coupled to, or in certain embodiments a part of, the antenna 810. Radio front-end circuitry 818 comprises filters 820 and amplifiers 822. The radio front-end circuitry 818 may be connected to an antenna 810 and processing circuitry 802. The radio front-end circuitry may be configured to condition signals communicated between antenna 810 and processing circuitry 802. The radio front-end circuitry 818 may receive digital data that is to be sent out to other network nodes or UEs via a wireless connection. The radio front-end circuitry 818 may convert the digital data into a radio signal having the appropriate channel and bandwidth parameters using a combination of filters 820 and / or amplifiers 822. The radio signal may then be transmitted via the antenna 810. Similarly, when receiving data, the antenna 810 may collect radio signals which are then converted into digital data by the radio front-end circuitry 818. The digital data may be passed to the processing circuitry 802. In other embodiments, the communication interface may comprise different components and / or different combinations of components.

[0154] In certain alternative embodiments, the network node 800 does not include separate radio front-end circuitry 818, instead, the processing circuitry 802 includes radio front-end circuitry and is connected to the antenna 810. Similarly, in some embodiments, all or some of the RF transceiver circuitry 812 is part of the communication interface 806. In still other embodiments, the communication interface 806 includes one or more ports or terminals 816, the radio front-end circuitry 818, and the RF transceiver circuitry 812, as part of a radio unit (not shown), and the communication interface 806 communicates with the baseband processing circuitry 814, which is part of a digital unit (not shown).

[0155] The antenna 810 may include one or more antennas, or antenna arrays, configured to send and / or receive wireless signals. The antenna 810 may be coupled to the radio front-end circuitry 818 and may be any type of antenna capable of transmitting and receiving data and / or signals wirelessly. In certain embodiments, the antenna 810 is separate from the network node 800 and connectable to the network node 800 through an interface or port.

[0156] The antenna 810, communication interface 806, and / or the processing circuitry 802 may be configured to perform any receiving operations and / or certain obtaining operationsdescribed herein as being performed by the network node. Any information, data and / or signals may be received from a UE, another network node and / or any other network equipment. Similarly, the antenna 810, the communication interface 806, and / or the processing circuitry 802 may be configured to perform any transmitting operations described herein as being performed by the network node. Any information, data and / or signals may be transmitted to a UE, another network node and / or any other network equipment.

[0157] The power source 808 provides power to the various components of network node 800 in a form suitable for the respective components (e.g., at a voltage and current level needed for each respective component). The power source 808 may further comprise, or be coupled to, power management circuitry to supply the components of the network node 800 with power for performing the functionality described herein. For example, the network node 800 may be connectable to an external power source (e.g., the power grid, an electricity outlet) via an input circuitry or interface such as an electrical cable, whereby the external power source supplies power to power circuitry of the power source 808. As a further example, the power source 808 may comprise a source of power in the form of a battery or battery pack which is connected to, or integrated in, power circuitry. The battery may provide backup power should the external power source fail.

[0158] Embodiments of the network node 800 may include additional components beyond those shown in Figure 8 for providing certain aspects of the network node’s functionality, including any of the functionality described herein and / or any functionality necessary to support the subject matter described herein. For example, the network node 800 may include user interface equipment to allow input of information into the network node 800 and to allow output of information from the network node 800. This may allow a user to perform diagnostic, maintenance, repair, and other administrative functions for the network node 800.

[0159] Figure 9 is a block diagram of a host 900, which may be an embodiment of the host 616 of Figure 6, in accordance with various aspects described herein. As used herein, the host 900 may be or comprise various combinations hardware and / or software, including a standalone server, a blade server, a cloud-implemented server, a distributed server, a virtual machine, container, or processing resources in a server farm. The host 900 may provide one or more services to one or more UEs.

[0160] The host 900 includes processing circuitry 902 that is operatively coupled via a bus 904 to an input / output interface 906, a network interface 908, a power source 910, and a memory 912. Other components may be included in other embodiments. Features of these components may be substantially similar to those described with respect to the devices of previous figures, such asFigure 8, such that the descriptions thereof are generally applicable to the corresponding components of host 900.

[0161] The memory 912 may include one or more computer programs including one or more host application programs 914 and data 916, which may include user data, e.g., data generated by a UE for the host 900 or data generated by the host 900 for a UE. Embodiments of the host 900 may utilize only a subset or all of the components shown. The host application programs 914 may be implemented in a container-based architecture and may provide support for video codecs (e.g., Versatile Video Coding (VVC), High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC), Advanced Video Coding (AVC), MPEG, VP9) and audio codecs (e.g., FLAC, Advanced Audio Coding (AAC), MPEG, G.711), including transcoding for multiple different classes, types, or implementations of UEs (e.g., handsets, desktop computers, wearable display systems, heads-up display systems). The host application programs 914 may also provide for user authentication and licensing checks and may periodically report health, routes, and content availability to a central node, such as a device in or on the edge of a core network. Accordingly, the host 900 may select and / or indicate a different host for over-the-top services for a UE. The host application programs 914 may support various protocols, such as the HTTP Live Streaming (HLS) protocol, Real-Time Messaging Protocol (RTMP), Real-Time Streaming Protocol (RTSP), Dynamic Adaptive Streaming over HTTP (MPEG-DASH), etc.

[0162] Figure 10 is a block diagram illustrating a virtualization environment 1000 in which functions implemented by some embodiments may be virtualized. In the present context, virtualizing means creating virtual versions of apparatuses or devices which may include virtualizing hardware platforms, storage devices and networking resources. As used herein, virtualization can be applied to any device described herein, or components thereof, and relates to an implementation in which at least a portion of the functionality is implemented as one or more virtual components. Some or all of the functions described herein may be implemented as virtual components executed by one or more virtual machines (VMs) implemented in one or more virtual environments 1000 hosted by one or more of hardware nodes, such as a hardware computing device that operates as a network node, UE, core network node, or host. Further, in embodiments in which the virtual node does not require radio connectivity (e.g., a core network node or host), then the node may be entirely virtualized.

[0163] Applications 1002 (which may alternatively be called software instances, virtual appliances, network functions, virtual nodes, virtual network functions, etc.) are run in the virtualization environment 1000 to implement some of the features, functions, and / or benefits of some of the embodiments disclosed herein.

[0164] Hardware 1004 includes processing circuitry, memory that stores software and / or instructions executable by hardware processing circuitry, and / or other hardware devices as described herein, such as a network interface, input / output interface, and so forth. Software may be executed by the processing circuitry to instantiate one or more virtualization layers 1006 (also referred to as hypervisors or virtual machine monitors (VMMs)), provide VMs 1008a and 1008b (one or more of which may be generally referred to as VMs 1008), and / or perform any of the functions, features and / or benefits described in relation with some embodiments described herein. The virtualization layer 1006 may present a virtual operating platform that appears like networking hardware to the VMs 1008.

[0165] The VMs 1008 comprise virtual processing, virtual memory, virtual networking or interface and virtual storage, and may be run by a corresponding virtualization layer 1006. Different embodiments of the instance of a virtual appliance 1002 may be implemented on one or more of VMs 1008, and the implementations may be made in different ways. Virtualization of the hardware is in some contexts referred to as network function virtualization (NFV). NFV may be used to consolidate many network equipment types onto industry standard high volume server hardware, physical switches, and physical storage, which can be located in data centers, and customer premise equipment.

[0166] In the context of NFV, a VM 1008 may be a software implementation of a physical machine that runs programs as if they were executing on a physical, non-virtualized machine. Each of the VMs 1008, and that part of hardware 1004 that executes that VM, be it hardware dedicated to that VM and / or hardware shared by that VM with others of the VMs, forms separate virtual network elements. Still in the context of NFV, a virtual network function is responsible for handling specific network functions that run in one or more VMs 1008 on top of the hardware 1004 and corresponds to the application 1002.

[0167] Hardware 1004 may be implemented in a standalone network node with generic or specific components. Hardware 1004 may implement some functions via virtualization. Alternatively, hardware 1004 may be part of a larger cluster of hardware (e.g. such as in a data center or CPE) where many hardware nodes work together and are managed via management and orchestration 1010, which, among others, oversees lifecycle management of applications 1002. In some embodiments, hardware 1004 is coupled to one or more radio units that each include one or more transmitters and one or more receivers that may be coupled to one or more antennas. Radio units may communicate directly with other hardware nodes via one or more appropriate network interfaces and may be used in combination with the virtual components to provide a virtual node with radio capabilities, such as a radio access node or a base station. In some embodiments, somesignaling can be provided with the use of a control system 1012 which may alternatively be used for communication between hardware nodes and radio units.

[0168] Figure 11 shows a communication diagram of a host 1100 communicating via a network node 1104 with a UE 1106 over a partially wireless connection in accordance with some embodiments. Example implementations, in accordance with various embodiments, of the UE (such as a UE 612a of Figure 6), network node (such as network node 610a of Figure 6 and / or network node 800 of Figure 8), and host (such as host 616 of Figure 6 and / or host 900 of Figure 9) discussed in the preceding paragraphs will now be described with reference to Figure 11.

[0169] Like host 900, embodiments of host 1100 include hardware, such as a communication interface, processing circuitry, and memory. The host 1100 also includes software, which is stored in or accessible by the host 1100 and executable by the processing circuitry. The software includes a host application that may be operable to provide a service to a remote user, such as the UE 1106 connecting via an over-the-top (OTT) connection 1150 extending between the UE 1106 and host 1100. In providing the service to the remote user, a host application may provide user data which is transmitted using the OTT connection 1150.

[0170] The network node 1104 includes hardware enabling it to communicate with the host 1100 and UE 1106. The connection 1160 may be direct or pass through a core network (like core network 606 of Figure 6) and / or one or more other intermediate networks, such as one or more public, private, or hosted networks. For example, an intermediate network may be a backbone network or the Internet.

[0171] The UE 1106 includes hardware and software, which is stored in or accessible by UE 1106 and executable by the UE’s processing circuitry. The software includes a client application, such as a web browser or operator-specific “app” that may be operable to provide a service to a human or non-human user via UE 1106 with the support of the host 1100. In the host 1100, an executing host application may communicate with the executing client application via the OTT connection 1150 terminating at the UE 1106 and host 1100. In providing the service to the user, the UE's client application may receive request data from the host's host application and provide user data in response to the request data. The OTT connection 1150 may transfer both the request data and the user data. The UE's client application may interact with the user to generate the user data that it provides to the host application through the OTT connection 1150.

[0172] The OTT connection 1150 may extend via a connection 1160 between the host 1100 and the network node 1104 and via a wireless connection 1170 between the network node 1104 and the UE 1106 to provide the connection between the host 1100 and the UE 1106. The connection 1160 and wireless connection 1170, over which the OTT connection 1150 may beprovided, have been drawn abstractly to illustrate the communication between the host 1100 and the UE 1106 via the network node 1104, without explicit reference to any intermediary devices and the precise routing of messages via these devices.

[0173] As an example of transmitting data via the OTT connection 1150, in step 1108, the host 1100 provides user data, which may be performed by executing a host application. In some embodiments, the user data is associated with a particular human user interacting with the UE 1106. In other embodiments, the user data is associated with a UE 1106 that shares data with the host 1100 without explicit human interaction. In step 1110, the host 1100 initiates a transmission carrying the user data towards the UE 1106. The host 1100 may initiate the transmission responsive to a request transmitted by the UE 1106. The request may be caused by human interaction with the UE 1106 or by operation of the client application executing on the UE 1106. The transmission may pass via the network node 1104, in accordance with the teachings of the embodiments described throughout this disclosure. Accordingly, in step 1112, the network node 1104 transmits to the UE 1106 the user data that was carried in the transmission that the host 1100 initiated, in accordance with the teachings of the embodiments described throughout this disclosure. In step 1114, the UE 1106 receives the user data carried in the transmission, which may be performed by a client application executed on the UE 1106 associated with the host application executed by the host 1100.

[0174] In some examples, the UE 1106 executes a client application which provides user data to the host 1100. The user data may be provided in reaction or response to the data received from the host 1100. Accordingly, in step 1116, the UE 1106 may provide user data, which may be performed by executing the client application. In providing the user data, the client application may further consider user input received from the user via an input / output interface of the UE 1106. Regardless of the specific manner in which the user data was provided, the UE 1106 initiates, in step 1118, transmission of the user data towards the host 1100 via the network node 1104. In step 1120, in accordance with the teachings of the embodiments described throughout this disclosure, the network node 1104 receives user data from the UE 1106 and initiates transmission of the received user data towards the host 1100. In step 1122, the host 1100 receives the user data carried in the transmission initiated by the UE 1106.

[0175] One or more of the various embodiments improve the performance of OTT services provided to the UE 1106 using the OTT connection 1150, in which the wireless connection 1170 forms the last segment. More precisely, the teachings of these embodiments may improve the latency or throughput and thereby provide benefits such as extended battery lifetime.

[0176] In an example scenario, factory status information may be collected and analyzed by the host 1100. As another example, the host 1100 may process audio and video data which may have been retrieved from a UE for use in creating maps. As another example, the host 1100 may collect and analyze real-time data to assist in controlling vehicle congestion (e.g., controlling traffic lights). As another example, the host 1100 may store surveillance video uploaded by a UE. As another example, the host 1100 may store or control access to media content such as video, audio, VR or AR which it can broadcast, multicast or unicast to UEs. As other examples, the host 1100 may be used for energy pricing, remote control of non-time critical electrical load to balance power generation needs, location services, presentation services (such as compiling diagrams etc. from data collected from remote devices), or any other function of collecting, retrieving, storing, analyzing and / or transmitting data.

[0177] In some examples, a measurement procedure may be provided for the purpose of monitoring data rate, latency and other factors on which the one or more embodiments improve. There may further be an optional network functionality for reconfiguring the OTT connection 1150 between the host 1100 and UE 1106, in response to variations in the measurement results. The measurement procedure and / or the network functionality for reconfiguring the OTT connection may be implemented in software and hardware of the host 1100 and / or UE 1106. In some embodiments, sensors (not shown) may be deployed in or in association with other devices through which the OTT connection 1150 passes; the sensors may participate in the measurement procedure by supplying values of the monitored quantities exemplified above, or supplying values of other physical quantities from which software may compute or estimate the monitored quantities. The reconfiguring of the OTT connection 1150 may include message format, retransmission settings, preferred routing etc.; the reconfiguring need not directly alter the operation of the network node 1104. Such procedures and functionalities may be known and practiced in the art. In certain embodiments, measurements may involve proprietary UE signaling that facilitates measurements of throughput, propagation times, latency and the like, by the host 1100. The measurements may be implemented in that software causes messages to be transmitted, in particular empty or ‘dummy’ messages, using the OTT connection 1150 while monitoring propagation times, errors, etc.

[0178] Although the network nodes and UEs described herein may include the illustrated combination of hardware components, other embodiments may comprise network nodes and UEs with different combinations of components. It is to be understood that these network nodes and UEs may comprise any suitable combination of hardware and / or software needed to perform the tasks, features, functions and methods disclosed herein. Determining, calculating, obtaining orsimilar operations described herein may be performed by processing circuitry, which may process information by, for example, converting the obtained information into other information, comparing the obtained information or converted information to information stored in the network node and / or UE(s), and / or performing one or more operations based on the obtained information or converted information, and as a result of said processing making a determination. Moreover, while components are depicted as single boxes located within a larger box, or nested within multiple boxes, in practice, network nodes and UEs may comprise multiple different physical components that make up a single illustrated component, and functionality may be partitioned between separate components. For example, a communication interface may be configured to include any of the components described herein, and / or the functionality of the components may be partitioned between the processing circuitry and the communication interface. In another example, non-computationally intensive functions of any of such components may be implemented in software or firmware and computationally intensive functions may be implemented in hardware.

[0179] In certain embodiments, some or all of the functionality described herein may be provided by processing circuitry executing instructions stored on in memory, which in certain embodiments may be a computer program product in the form of a non-transitory computer- readable storage medium. In alternative embodiments, some or all of the functionality may be provided by the processing circuitry without executing instructions stored on a separate or discrete device-readable storage medium, such as in a hard-wired manner. In any of those particular embodiments, whether executing instructions stored on a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium or not, the processing circuitry can be configured to perform the described functionality. The benefits provided by such functionality are not limited to the processing circuitry alone or to other components of the network nodes and UEs, but are enjoyed by the network nodes and UEs as a whole, and / or by end users and a wireless network generally.

[0180] Further definitions and embodiments are discussed below.

[0181] In the above-description of various embodiments of the present disclosure, it is to be understood that the terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of present concepts. Unless otherwise defined, all terms (including technical and scientific terms) used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which present concepts belong. It will be further understood that terms, such as those defined in commonly used dictionaries, should be interpreted as having a meaning that is consistent with their meaning in the context of thisspecification and the relevant art and will not be interpreted in an idealized or overly formal sense unless expressly so defined herein.

[0182] When an element is referred to as being "connected", "coupled", "responsive", or variants thereof to another element, it can be directly connected, coupled, or responsive to the other element or intervening elements may be present. In contrast, when an element is referred to as being "directly connected", "directly coupled", "directly responsive", or variants thereof to another element, there are no intervening elements present. Like numbers refer to like elements throughout. Furthermore, "coupled", "connected", "responsive", or variants thereof as used herein may include wirelessly coupled, connected, or responsive. As used herein, the singular forms "a", "an" and "the" are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. Well-known functions or constructions may not be described in detail for brevity and / or clarity. The term "and / or" (abbreviated “ / ”) includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed items.

[0183] It will be understood that although the terms first, second, third, etc. may be used herein to describe various elements / operations, these elements / operations should not be limited by these terms. These terms are only used to distinguish one element / operation from another element / operation. Thus a first element / operation in some embodiments could be termed a second element / operation in other embodiments without departing from the teachings of present concepts. The same reference numerals or the same reference designators denote the same or similar elements throughout the specification.

[0184] As used herein, the terms "comprise", "comprising", "comprises", "include", "including", "includes", "have", "has", "having", or variants thereof are open-ended, and include one or more stated features, integers, elements, steps, components or functions but does not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, elements, steps, components, functions or groups thereof. Furthermore, as used herein, the common abbreviation "e.g.", which derives from the Latin phrase "exempli gratia," may be used to introduce or specify a general example or examples of a previously mentioned item, and is not intended to be limiting of such item. The common abbreviation "i.e.", which derives from the Latin phrase "id est," may be used to specify a particular item from a more general recitation.

[0185] Example embodiments are described herein with reference to block diagrams and / or flowchart illustrations of methods, apparatus (systems and / or devices) and / or computer program products. It is understood that a block of the block diagrams and / or flowchart illustrations, and combinations of blocks in the block diagrams and / or flowchart illustrations, can be implemented by computer program instructions that are performed by one or more computer circuits. Thesecomputer program instructions may be provided to a processor circuit of a general purpose computer circuit, special purpose computer circuit, and / or other programmable data processing circuit to produce a machine, such that the instructions, which execute via the processor of the computer and / or other programmable data processing apparatus, transform and control transistors, values stored in memory locations, and other hardware components within such circuitry to implement the functions / acts specified in the block diagrams and / or flowchart block or blocks, and thereby create means (functionality) and / or structure for implementing the functions / acts specified in the block diagrams and / or flowchart block(s).

[0186] These computer program instructions may also be stored in a tangible computer- readable medium that can direct a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to function in a particular manner, such that the instructions stored in the computer-readable medium produce an article of manufacture including instructions which implement the functions / acts specified in the block diagrams and / or flowchart block or blocks. Accordingly, embodiments of present concepts may be embodied in hardware and / or in software (including firmware, resident software, micro-code, etc.) that runs on a processor such as a digital signal processor, which may collectively be referred to as "circuitry," "a module" or variants thereof.

[0187] It should also be noted that in some alternate implementations, the functions / acts noted in the blocks may occur out of the order noted in the flowcharts. For example, two blocks shown in succession may in fact be executed substantially concurrently or the blocks may sometimes be executed in the reverse order, depending upon the functionality / acts involved. Moreover, the functionality of a given block of the flowcharts and / or block diagrams may be separated into multiple blocks and / or the functionality of two or more blocks of the flowcharts and / or block diagrams may be at least partially integrated. Finally, other blocks may be added / inserted between the blocks that are illustrated, and / or blocks / operations may be omitted without departing from the scope of present concepts. Moreover, although some of the diagrams include arrows on communication paths to show a primary direction of communication, it is to be understood that communication may occur in the opposite direction to the depicted arrows.

[0188] Many variations and modifications can be made to the embodiments without substantially departing from the principles of the present concepts. All such variations and modifications are intended to be included herein within the scope of present concepts. Accordingly, the above disclosed subject matter is to be considered illustrative, and not restrictive, and the examples of embodiments are intended to cover all such modifications, enhancements, and other embodiments, which fall within the spirit and scope of present concepts. Thus, to the maximum extent allowed by law, the scope of present concepts are to be determined by thebroadest permissible interpretation of the present disclosure including the examples of embodiments and their equivalents, and shall not be restricted or limited by the foregoing detailed description.

Claims

CLAIMS1. A method performed by a network node (100, 610, 800), the method comprising: performing (302) a resource allocation for a communication link between a first user equipment, UE, (104a, 612, 700) and at least one second UE (104b, 612, 700) for a joint communication and sensing operation, wherein the joint communication and sensing operation comprises at least one characteristic as follows: a non-data transmission from the first UE (104a, 612, 700), omission of a hybrid automatic repeat request, HARQ, process number allocation and other higher layer parameters and / or protocols for data transmission, a transmission type where the at least one second UE (104b, 612, 700) receives a nondata transmission from the first UE (104a, 612, 700), identification of at least one property of a non-data transmission of the first UE (104a, 612, 700) by the at least one second UE (104b, 612, 700) that receives the non-data transmission, identification of information about at least one property of a non-data transmission for the at least one second UE (104b, 612, 700) to provide to the network node (100, 610, 800), and identification of information about the at least one property of a non-data transmission for the at least one second UE (104b, 612, 700) to provide to the first UE (104a, 612, 700).

2. The method of Claim 1, further comprising: providing (304) the resource allocation to the first UE (104a, 612, 700) and the at least one second UE (104b, 612, 700) in a control signal.

3. The method of Claim 2, wherein the control signal comprises a downlink control information, DCI and the resource allocation is provided in at least one of: (i) a bitfield in the DCI, (ii) a DCI format that uses a sidelink format, and (iii) a DCI format specified for the resource allocation.

4. The method of any one of Claims 1 to 3, wherein the resource allocation is allocated in a dynamic configuration grant or in a semi-persistent configuration grant to the first UE (104a, 612, 700) and the at least one second UE (104b, 612, 700).

5. The method of any one of Claims 3 to 4, wherein the DCI further comprises a radio network temporary identifier, RNTI, scrambled with the DCI containing the resource allocation.

6. The method of any one of Claims 2 to 5, wherein the control signal comprises (i) a first unicast control signal to the first UE (104a, 612, 700) allocating a time and / or frequency resource for a non-data transmission from the first UE (104a, 612, 700), and (ii) a second unicast control signal to the at least one second UE (104b, 612, 700) allocating a time and / or frequency resource for a reception by the at least one second UE (104b, 612, 700) of a non-data transmission from the first UE (104a, 612, 700).

7. The method of any one of Claims 2 to 6, wherein the control signal comprises a multicast control signal that includes at least one of (i) an operation mode type that identifies the joint communication and sensing operation, and (ii) a time, frequency, and / or spatial resource allocation.

8. The method of any one of Claims 2 to 7, wherein the at least one second UE (104b, 612, 700) comprises a plurality of second UEs (104b, 612, 700) configured to receive reflective components of a non-data transmission from the first UE (104a, 612, 700), and the control signal comprises a control signal to the plurality of second UEs (104b, 612, 700) for reception of the reflective components of the non-data transmission.

9. The method of any one of Claims 1 to 8, wherein the at least one second UE (104b, 612, 700) comprises a plurality of second UEs (104b, 612, 700), and the control signal comprises a multicast or common control signal comprising the resource allocation to the first UE (104a, 612, 700) and the plurality of second UEs (104b, 612, 700).

10. The method of any one of Claims 1 to 9, wherein the at least one second UE (104b, 612, 700) is configured to receive transmissions in the joint communication and sensing operation, the network node (100, 610, 800) omits the resource allocation to the at least one second UE (104b, 612, 700), and the first UE (104a, 612, 700) allocates and signals the resource allocation to the at least one second UE (104b, 612, 700).

11. The method of any one of Claims 1 to 10, further comprising: identifying (300) the first UE (104a, 612, 700) and the at least one second UE (104b, 612, 700); and signaling (306) a multicast signal comprising at least one of: an identifier to map anidentity of the first UE (104a, 612, 700) to the at least one second UE (104b, 612, 700); a control signal that indicates the resource allocation and a parameter to be identified in a non-data transmission received by the at least one second UE (104b, 612, 700); and information for the first UE (104a, 612, 700) and the at least one second UE (104b, 612, 700) that indicates a type of non-data transmission by the first UE (104a, 612, 700) and a type of reception of the non-data transmission by the at least one second UE (104b, 612, 700).

12. The method of any one of Claims 2 to 11, wherein the control signal further comprises at least one of the following characteristics: an identifier of the first UE (104a, 612, 700), an identifier of the at least one second UE (104b, 612, 700), a time, a frequency, and / or a spatial resource for the resource allocation, an angle of departure of a transmission from the first UE (104a, 612, 700), a modulation and coding scheme, MCS, a redundancy version, RV, an indication for sending a report from the at least one second UE (104b, 612, 700), an identifier for a transmission from the first UE (104a, 612, 700), a frequency hopping, a transmission power control, a number of antenna ports of the first UE (104a, 612, 700) and / or the at least one second UE (104b, 612, 700), and information about a demodulation reference signal, DMRS.

13. The method of any one of Claims 2 to 12, wherein the non-data transmission from the first UE (104a, 612, 700) has no data multiplexed with the non-data transmission, and the control signal comprises an indication to control of one or more of: a HARQ identifier; a new data indicator, NDI; and a supplementary carrier information.

14. The method of any one of Claims 2 to 13, wherein the control signal further comprises a configuration of the at least one second UE (104b, 612, 700) to provide a first report to the network node (100, 610, 800) or to the first UE (104a, 612, 700) according to at least one of the following: a negative acknowledgement, NACK, responsive to the at least one second UE (104b, 612, 700) not receiving the non-data transmission,omit providing the first report responsive to the at least one second UE (104b, 612, 700) not receiving the non-data transmission, an acknowledgement, ACK, and optionally a characteristic of the non-data transmission responsive to the at least one second UE (104b, 612, 700) receiving the non-data transmission, and a characteristic of the non-data transmission to the network node over a medium access control, MAC, control element, CE, responsive to the at least one second UE (104b, 612, 700) receiving the non-data transmission.

15. The method of Claim 14, wherein the control signal further comprises a configuration for the at least one second UE (104b, 612, 700) to provide a second report about a change in a characteristic from the first report.

16. The method of any one of Claims 2 to 15, wherein the control signal further comprises a multicast control signal configuring a resource for feedback that respective second UEs (104b, 612, 700) in a plurality of second UEs (104b, 612, 700) respectively have an explicit absolute resource information, or at least one of the respective second UEs (104b, 612, 700) has an explicit absolute resource information and at least one remaining respective second UE (104b, 612, 700) has an offset for resource derivation by the at least one remaining respective second UE (104b, 612, 700).

17. The method of any one of Claims 2 to 16, wherein the control signal further comprises a policy that the at least one second UE (104b, 612, 700) receive the non-data transmission in order to decode data on a physical, PHY, layer of the at least one second UE (104b, 612, 700).

18. The method of any one of Claims 2 to 17, wherein the control signal further comprises a policy that the at least one second UE (104b, 612, 700) detect a characteristic of the non-data transmission without decoding the non-data transmission.

19. The method of any one of Claims 2 to 18, wherein the control signal further comprises a threshold value of an energy or a power of the non-data transmission to be satisfied or exceed before the at least one second UE (104b, 612, 700) provides a characteristic of the non-data transmission to the network node or the first UE (104a, 612, 700).

20. The method of any of Claims 1 to 19, wherein the at least one property of a non-data transmission comprises at least one of a power metric, a fade metric, an identification of multipath components of the non-data transmission, angles of arrival, angles of departure, identification of a polarization, a doppler shift, and a change in a characteristic of a wave of the non-data transmission.

21. A method performed by a first user equipment, UE, (104a, 612, 700), the method comprising: receiving (400) a resource allocation for a communication link between the first UE (104a, 612, 700) and at least one second UE (104b, 612, 700) for a joint communication and sensing operation, wherein the joint communication and sensing operation comprises at least one characteristic as follows: a non-data transmission from the first UE (104a, 612, 700), omission of a hybrid automatic repeat request, HARQ, process number allocation and other higher layer parameters and / or protocols for data transmission, a transmission type where the at least one second UE (104b, 612, 700) receives a non- data transmission from the first UE (104a, 612, 700), identification of at least one property of a non-data transmission of the first UE (104a, 612, 700) by the at least one second UE (104b, 612, 700) that receives the non-data transmission, identification of information about at least one property of a non-data transmission for the at least one second UE (104b, 612, 700) to provide to the network node (100, 610, 800), and identification of information about the at least one property of a non-data transmission for the at least one second UE (104b, 612, 700) to provide to the first UE (104a, 612, 700).

22. The method of Claim 21, wherein the resource allocation is received in a control signal from a network node (100, 610, 800).

23. The method of Claim 22, wherein the control signal comprises a downlink control information, DCI and the resource allocation is provided in at least one of: a bitfield in the DCI; a DCI format that uses a sidelink format; and a DCI format specified for the resource allocation.

24. The method of any one of Claims 21 to 23, wherein the resource allocation is allocated in a dynamic configuration grant or in a semi-persistent configuration grant to the firstUE (104a, 612, 700).

25. The method of any one of Claims 23 to 24, wherein the DCI further comprises a radio network temporary identifier, RNTI, scrambled with the DCI containing the resource allocation.

26. The method of any one of Claims 22 to 25, wherein the control signal comprises a unicast control signal to the first UE (104a, 612, 700) allocating a time and / or frequency resource for a non-data transmission from the first UE (104a, 612, 700).

27. The method of any one of Claims 22 to 26, wherein the control signal comprises a multicast control signal that includes at least one of: an operation mode type that identifies the joint communication and sensing operation; and a time, frequency, and / or spatial resource allocation.

28. The method of any one of Claims 22 to 27, wherein the at least one second UE (104b, 612, 700) is configured to receive transmissions in the joint communication and sensing operation, the network node (100, 610, 800) omits the resource allocation to the at least one second UE (104b, 612, 700), and the first UE (104a, 612, 700) allocates and signals the resource allocation to the at least one second UE (104b, 612, 700).

29. The method of any one of Claims 22 to 28, wherein the at least one second UE (104b, 612, 700) comprises a plurality of second UEs (104b, 612, 700) configured to receive reflective components of a non-data transmission from the first UE (104a, 612, 700), and the control signal further comprises a control signal to the plurality of second UEs (104b, 612, 700) for reception of the reflective components of the non-data transmission.

30. The method of any one of Claims 22 to 29, wherein the at least one second UE (104b, 612, 700) comprises a plurality of second UEs (104b, 612, 700), and the control signal comprises a multicast or common control signal comprising the resource allocation to the first UE (104a, 612, 700) and the plurality of second UEs (104b, 612, 700).

31. The method of any one of Claims 22 to 30, wherein the control signal further comprises at least one of the following characteristics:an identifier of the first UE (104a, 612, 700), an identifier of the at least one second UE (104b, 612, 700), a time, a frequency, and / or a spatial resource for the resource allocation, an angle of departure of a transmission from the first UE (104a, 612, 700), a modulation and coding scheme, MCS, a redundancy version, RV, an indication for sending a report from the at least one second UE (104b, 612, 700), an identifier for a transmission from the first UE (104a, 612, 700), a frequency hopping, a transmission power control, a number of antenna ports of the first UE (104a, 612, 700) and / or the at least one second UE (104b, 612, 700), and information about a demodulation reference signal, DMRS.

32. The method of any one of Claims 22 to 31, wherein the non-data transmission from the first UE (104a, 612, 700) has no data multiplexed with the non-data transmission, and the control signal comprises an indication to control of one or more of a HARQ identifier; a new data indicator, NDI; and a supplementary carrier information.

33. The method of any one of Claims 22 to 32, wherein the control signal further comprises a configuration of the at least one second UE (104b, 612, 700) to provide a first report to the network node (100, 610, 800) or to the first UE (104a, 612, 700) according to at least one characteristic as follows: a negative acknowledgement, NACK, responsive to the at least one second UE (104b, 612, 700) not receiving the non-data transmission, omit providing the first report responsive to the at least one second UE (104b, 612, 700) not receiving the non-data transmission, an acknowledgement, ACK, and optionally a characteristic of the non-data transmission responsive to the at least one second UE (104b, 612, 700) receiving the non-data transmission, and a characteristic of the non-data transmission to the network node over a medium access control, MAC, control element, CE, responsive to the at least one second UE (104b, 612, 700) receiving the non-data transmission.

34. The method of any one of Claims 22 to 33, wherein the control signal further comprises a threshold value of an energy or a power of the non-data transmission to be satisfied or exceed before the at least one second UE (104b, 612, 700) provides a characteristic of the non-data transmission to the network node (100, 610, 800) or the first UE (104a, 612, 700).

35. The method of any of Claims 21 to 34, wherein the at least one property of a non- data transmission comprises at least one of a power metric, a fade metric, an identification of multi-path components of the non-data transmission, angles of arrival, angles of departure, identification of a polarization, a doppler shift, and a change in a characteristic of a wave of the non-data transmission.

36. A method performed by a second user equipment, UE, (104b, 612, 700) the method comprising: receiving (500) a resource allocation for a communication link between a first UE (104a, 612, 700) and the second UE (104b, 612, 700) for a joint communication and sensing operation, wherein the joint communication and sensing operation comprises at least one characteristic as follows: a non-data transmission from the first UE (104a, 612, 700), omission of a hybrid automatic repeat request, HARQ, process number allocation and other higher layer parameters and / or protocols for data transmission, a transmission type where the second UE (104b, 612, 700) receives a non-data transmission from the first UE (104a, 612, 700), identification of at least one property of a non-data transmission of the first UE (104a, 612, 700) by the second UE (104b, 612, 700) that receives the non-data transmission, identification of information about at least one property of a non-data transmission for the second UE (104b, 612, 700) to provide to the network node (100, 610, 800), and identification of information about the at least one property of a non-data transmission for the second UE (104b, 612, 700) to provide to the first UE (104a, 612, 700).

37. The method of Claim 36, wherein the resource allocation is received in a control signal from a network node (100, 610, 800).

38. The method of Claim 37, wherein the control signal comprises a downlink control information, DCI and the resource allocation is provided in at least one of: a bitfield in the DCI;a DCI format that uses a sidelink format; and a DCI format specified for the resource allocation.

39. The method of any one of Claims 36 to 38, wherein the resource allocation is allocated in a dynamic configuration grant or in a semi-persistent configuration grant to the second UE (104b, 612, 700).

40. The method of any one of Claims 38 to 39, wherein the DCI further comprises a radio network temporary identifier, RNTI, scrambled with the DCI containing the resource allocation.

41. The method of any one of Claims 37 to 40, wherein the control signal comprises a unicast control signal to the second UE (104b, 612, 700) allocating a time and / or frequency resource for a reception by the second UE (104b, 612, 700) of a non-data transmission from the first UE (104a, 612, 700).

42. The method of any one of Claims 37 to 41, wherein the control signal comprises a multicast control signal that includes at least one of: an operation mode type that identifies the joint communication and sensing operation; and a time, frequency, and / or spatial resource allocation.

43. The method of any one of Claims 36 to 42, wherein the second UE (104b, 612, 700) is configured to receive transmissions in the joint communication and sensing operation, and the resource allocation is received from the first UE (104a, 612, 700).

44. The method of any one of Claims 36 to 43, wherein the second UE (104b, 612, 700) is configured to receive reflective components of a non-data transmission from the first UE (104a, 612, 700), and the control signal comprises a control signal to the second UE (104b, 612, 700) for reception of the reflective components of the non-data transmission.

45. The method of any one of Claims 37 to 44, wherein the control signal comprises a multicast or common control signal comprising the resource allocation to the first UE (104a, 612, 700) and the second UE (104b, 612, 700).

46. The method of any one of Claims 37 to 45, wherein the control signal furthercomprises at least one of: an identifier of the first UE (104a, 612, 700), an identifier of the second UE (104b, 612, 700), a time, a frequency, and / or a spatial resource for the resource allocation, an angle of departure of a transmission from the first UE (104a, 612, 700), a modulation and coding scheme, MCS, a redundancy version, RV, an indication for sending a report from the second UE (104b, 612, 700), an identifier for a transmission from the first UE (104a, 612, 700), a frequency hopping, a transmission power control, a number of antenna ports of the first UE (104a, 612, 700) and / or the second UE (104b, 612, 700), and information about a demodulation reference signal, DMRS.

47. The method of any one of Claims 37 to 46, wherein the control signal further comprises a configuration of the second UE (104b, 612, 700) to provide a first report to the network node (100, 610, 800) or to the first UE (104a, 612, 700) according to at least one characteristic as follows: a negative acknowledgement, NACK, responsive to the second UE (104b, 612, 700) not receiving the non-data transmission, omit providing the first report responsive to the second UE (104b, 612, 700) not receiving the non-data transmission, an acknowledgement, ACK, and optionally a characteristic of the non-data transmission responsive to the second UE receiving the non-data transmission, and a characteristic of the non-data transmission to the network node (100, 610, 800) over a medium access control, MAC, control element, CE, responsive to the second UE (104b, 612, 700) receiving the non-data transmission.

48. The method of Claim 47, wherein the control signal further comprises a configuration for the second UE (104b, 612, 700) to provide a second report about a change in the characteristic from the first report.

49. The method of any one of Claims 37 to 48, wherein the control signal furthercomprises a multicast control signal configuring a resource for feedback that respective the second UE (104b, 612, 700) has an explicit absolute resource information; or an explicit absolute resource information and an offset for resource derivation by the second UE (104b, 612, 700).

50. The method of any one of Claims 37 to 49, wherein the control signal further comprises a policy that the second UE (104b, 612, 700) receive the non-data transmission in order to decode data on a physical, PHY, layer of the second UE (104b, 612, 700).

51. The method of any one of Claims 37 to 50, wherein the control signal further comprises a policy that the second UE (104b, 612, 700) detect a characteristic of the non-data transmission without decoding the non-data transmission.

52. The method of any one of Claims 37 to 51, wherein the control signal further comprises a threshold value of an energy or a power of the non-data transmission to be satisfied or exceed before the second UE (104b, 612, 700) provides a characteristic of the non-data transmission to the network node (100, 610, 800) or the first UE (104a, 612, 700).

53. The method of any of Claims 36 to 52, wherein the at least one property of a non- data transmission comprises at least one of a power metric, a fade metric, an identification of multi-path components of the non-data transmission, angles of arrival, angles of departure, identification of a polarization, a doppler shift, and a change in a characteristic of a wave of the non-data transmission.

54. A network node (100, 610, 800) comprising: at least one processor (802); at least one memory (804) connected to the at least one processor (802) and storing program code that is executed by the at least one processor to perform operations comprising: perform a resource allocation for a communication link between a first user equipment, UE, (104a, 612, 700) and at least one second UE (104b, 612, 700) for a joint communication and sensing operation, wherein the joint communication and sensing operation comprises at least one characteristic as follows: a non-data transmission from the first UE (104a, 612, 700), omission of a hybrid automatic repeat request, HARQ, process number allocation and other higher layer parameters and / or protocols for data transmission,a transmission type where the at least one second UE (104b, 612, 700) receives a nondata transmission from the first UE (104a, 612, 700), identification of at least one property of a non-data transmission of the first UE (104a, 612, 700) by the at least one second UE (104b, 612, 700) that receives the non-data transmission, identification of information about at least one property of a non-data transmission for the at least one second UE (104b, 612, 700) to provide to the network node (100, 610, 800), and identification of information about the at least one property of a non-data transmission for the at least one second UE (104b, 612, 700) to provide to the first UE (104a, 612, 700).

55. The network node of Claim 54, wherein the at least one memory (804) is connected to the at least one processor (802) and stores program code that is executed by the at least one processor to perform operations according to any one of Claims 2 to 20.

56. A computer program comprising program code to be executed by at least one processor (802) of a network node (100, 610, 800), whereby execution of the program code causes the network node (100, 610, 800) to perform operations comprising: perform a resource allocation for a communication link between a first user equipment, UE, (104a, 612, 700) and at least one second UE (104b, 612, 700) for a joint communication and sensing operation, wherein the joint communication and sensing operation comprises at least one characteristic as follows: a non-data transmission from the first UE (104a, 612, 700), omission of a hybrid automatic repeat request, HARQ, process number allocation and other higher layer parameters and / or protocols for data transmission, a transmission type where the at least one second UE (104b, 612, 700) receives a non- data transmission from the first UE (104a, 612, 700), identification of at least one property of a non-data transmission of the first UE (104a, 612, 700) by the at least one second UE (104b, 612, 700) that receives the non-data transmission, identification of information about at least one property of a non-data transmission for the at least one second UE (104b, 612, 700) to provide to the network node (100, 610, 800), and identification of information about the at least one property of a non-data transmission for the at least one second UE (104b, 612, 700) to provide to the first UE (104a, 612, 700).

57. The computer program of Claim 56, whereby execution of the program code cause the network node (100, 610, 800) to perform operations according to any of Claims 2 to 20.

58. A computer program product comprising a non-transitory storage medium (804) including program code to be executed by at least one processor (802) of a network node (100, 610, 800), whereby execution of the program code causes the network node (100, 610, 800) to perform operations comprising: perform a resource allocation for a communication link between a first user equipment, UE, (104a, 612, 700) and at least one second UE (104b, 612, 700) for a joint communication and sensing operation, wherein the joint communication and sensing operation comprises at least one characteristic as follows: a non-data transmission from the first UE (104a, 612, 700), omission of a hybrid automatic repeat request, HARQ, process number allocation and other higher layer parameters and / or protocols for data transmission, a transmission type where the at least one second UE (104b, 612, 700) receives a nondata transmission from the first UE (104a, 612, 700), identification of at least one property of a non-data transmission of the first UE (104a, 612, 700) by the at least one second UE (104b, 612, 700) that receives the non-data transmission, identification of information about at least one property of a non-data transmission for the at least one second UE (104b, 612, 700) to provide to the network node (100, 610, 800), and identification of information about the at least one property of a non-data transmission for the at least one second UE (104b, 612, 700) to provide to the first UE (104a, 612, 700).

59. The computer program product of Claim 58, whereby execution of the program code causes the network node (100, 610, 800) to perform operations according to any of Claims 2 to 20.

60. A first user equipment, UE, (104a, 612, 700) comprising: at least one processor (702); at least one memory (710) connected to the at least one processor (702) and storing program code that is executed by the at least one processor to perform operations comprising: receive a resource allocation for a communication link between the first UE (104a, 612, 700) and at least one second UE (104b, 612, 700) for a joint communication and sensing operation, wherein the joint communication and sensing operation comprises at least one characteristic as follows: a non-data transmission from the first UE (104a, 612, 700),omission of a hybrid automatic repeat request, HARQ, process number allocation and other higher layer parameters and / or protocols for data transmission, a transmission type where the at least one second UE (104b, 612, 700) receives a nondata transmission from the first UE (104a, 612, 700), identification of at least one property of a non-data transmission of the first UE (104a, 612, 700) by the at least one second UE (104b, 612, 700) that receives the non-data transmission, identification of information about the at least one property of a non-data transmission for the at least one second UE (104b, 612, 700) to provide to the network node (100, 610, 800), and identification of information about at least one property of a non-data transmission for the at least one second UE (104b, 612, 700) to provide to the first UE (104a, 612, 700).

61. The first UE of Claim 60, wherein the at least one memory (710) is connected to the at least one processor (702) and stores program code that is executed by the at least one processor to perform operations according to any one of Claims 22 to 35.

62. A computer program comprising program code to be executed by at least one processor (702) of a first user equipment, UE, (104a, 612, 700), whereby execution of the program code causes the first UE (104a, 612, 700) to perform operations comprising: receive a resource allocation for a communication link between the first and at least one second UE (104b, 612, 700) for a joint communication and sensing operation, wherein the joint communication and sensing operation comprises at least one characteristic as follows: a non-data transmission from the first UE (104a, 612, 700), omission of a hybrid automatic repeat request, HARQ, process number allocation and other higher layer parameters and / or protocols for data transmission, a transmission type where the at least one second UE (104b, 612, 700) receives a non-data transmission from the first UE (104a, 612, 700), identification of at least one property of a non-data transmission of the first UE (104a, 612, 700) by the at least one second UE (104b, 612, 700) that receives the non-data transmission, identification of information about at least one property of a non-data transmission for the at least one second UE (104b, 612, 700) to provide to the network node (100, 610, 800), and identification of information about the at least one property of a non-data transmission for the at least one second UE (104b, 612, 700) to provide to the first UE (104a, 612, 700).

63. The computer program of Claim 62, whereby execution of the program code causethe first UE (104a, 612, 700) to perform operations according to any of Claims 22 to 35.

64. A computer program product comprising a non-transitory storage medium (710) including program code to be executed by at least one processor (702) of a first user equipment, UE, (104a, 612, 700), whereby execution of the program code causes the first UE (104a, 612, 700) to perform operations comprising: receive a resource allocation for a communication link between the first UE (104a, 612, 700) and at least one second UE (104b, 612, 700) for a joint communication and sensing operation, wherein the joint communication and sensing operation comprises at least one characteristic as follows: a non-data transmission from the first UE (104a, 612, 700), omission of a hybrid automatic repeat request, HARQ, process number allocation and other higher layer parameters and / or protocols for data transmission, a transmission type where the at least one second UE (104b, 612, 700) receives a nondata transmission from the first UE (104a, 612, 700), identification of at least one property of a non-data transmission of the first UE (104a, 612, 700) by the at least one second UE (104b, 612, 700) that receives the non-data transmission, identification of information about at least one property of a non-data transmission for the at least one second UE (104b, 612, 700) to provide to the network node (100, 610, 800), and identification of information about the at least one property of a non-data transmission for the at least one second UE (104b, 612, 700) to provide to the first UE (104a, 612, 700).

65. The computer program product of Claim 64, whereby execution of the program code causes the first UE (104a, 612, 700) to perform operations according to any of Claims 22 to 35.

66. A second user equipment, UE, (104b, 612, 700) comprising: at least one processor (702); at least one memory (710) connected to the at least one processor and storing program code that is executed by the at least one processor to perform operations comprising: receive a resource allocation for a communication link between a first UE (104a, 612, 700) and the second UE (104b, 612, 700) for a joint communication and sensing operation, wherein the joint communication and sensing operation comprises at least one characteristic as follows: a non-data transmission from the first UE (104a, 612, 700),omission of a hybrid automatic repeat request, HARQ, process number allocation and other higher layer parameters and / or protocols for data transmission, a transmission type where the at least one second UE (104b, 612, 700) receives a nondata transmission from the first UE (104a, 612, 700), identification of at least one property of a non-data transmission of the first UE (104a, 612, 700) by the second UE (104b, 612, 700) that receives the non-data transmission, identification of information about at least one property of a non-data transmission for the second UE (104b, 612, 700) to provide to the network node (100, 610, 800), and identification of information about the at least one property of a non-data transmission for the second UE (104b, 612, 700) to provide to the first UE (104a, 612, 700).

67. The second UE of Claim 66, wherein the at least one memory (710) is connected to the at least one processor (702) and stores program code that is executed by the at least one processor to perform operations according to any one of Claims 37 to 53.

68. A computer program comprising program code to be executed by at least one processor (702) of a second user equipment, UE, (104b, 612, 700), whereby execution of the program code causes the second UE (104b, 612, 700) to perform operations comprising: receive a resource allocation for a communication link between a first UE (104a, 612, 700) and the second UE (104b, 612, 700) for a joint communication and sensing operation, wherein the joint communication and sensing operation comprises at least one characteristic as follows: a non-data transmission from the first UE (104a, 612, 700), omission of a hybrid automatic repeat request, HARQ, process number allocation and other higher layer parameters and / or protocols for data transmission, a transmission type where the at least one second UE (104b, 612, 700) receives a non- data transmission from the first UE (104a, 612, 700), identification of at least one property of a non-data transmission of the first UE (104a, 612, 700) by the second UE (104b, 612, 700) that receives the non-data transmission, identification of information about at least one property of a non-data transmission for the second UE (104b, 612, 700) to provide to the network node (100, 610, 800), and identification of information about the at least one property of a non-data transmission for the second UE (104b, 612, 700) to provide to the first UE (104a, 612, 700).

69. The computer program of Claim 68, whereby execution of the program code cause the second UE (104b, 612, 700) to perform operations according to any of Claims 37 to 53.

70. A computer program product comprising a non-transitory storage medium (710) including program code to be executed by at least one processor (702) of a second user equipment, UE, (104b, 612, 700) whereby execution of the program code causes the second UE (104b, 612, 700) to perform operations comprising: receive a resource allocation for a communication link between a first UE (104a, 612, 700) and the second UE (104b, 612, 700) for a joint communication and sensing operation, wherein the joint communication and sensing operation comprises at least one characteristic as follows: a non-data transmission from the first UE (104a, 612, 700), omission of a hybrid automatic repeat request, HARQ, process number allocation and other higher layer parameters and / or protocols for data transmission, a transmission type where the at least one second UE (104b, 612, 700) receives a nondata transmission from the first UE (104a, 612, 700), identification of at least one property of a non-data transmission of the first UE (104a, 612, 700) by the second UE (104b, 612, 700) that receives the non-data transmission, identification of information about at least one property of a non-data transmission for the second UE (104b, 612, 700) to provide to the network node (100, 610, 800), and identification of information about the at least one property of a non-data transmission for the second UE (104b, 612, 700) to provide to the first UE (104a, 612, 700).

71. The computer program product of Claim 64, whereby execution of the program code causes the second UE (104b, 612, 700) to perform operations according to any of Claims 37 to 53.

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