Methods, communications devices and infrastructure equipment

Abstract

Method, communications devices, infrastructure equipment, and circuitry are provided for determining the location of passive objects not having a direct radio connection to a wireless communications network. A communications device transmits an RF signal for reflection from the passive object and / or receives a reflection of an RF signal from the passive object. The communications device additionally transmits or receives a reference beam. The communications device reports to the network the angle at which the RF signal is transmitted and / or the reflected RF signal is received relative to the angle at which the reference beam is transmitted or received by the communications device.

Description

[0001] METHODS, COMMUNICATIONS DEVICES AND INFRASTRUCTURE EQUIPMENT

[0002] The present application claims the Paris Convention priority of European patent application EP23192234.5, filed 18 August 2023, the contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference.

[0003] BACKGROUND

[0004] Field of Disclosure

[0005] The present disclosure relates to communications devices, infrastructure equipment, and methods of operating communications devices and infrastructure equipment in a wireless communications network.

[0006] Description of Related Art

[0007] The “background” description provided herein is for the purpose of generally presenting the context of the disclosure. Work of the presently named inventors, to the extent it is described in this background section, as well as aspects of the description which may not otherwise qualify as prior art at the time of filing, are neither expressly or impliedly admitted as prior art against the present invention.

[0008] Previous generation mobile telecommunication systems, such as those based on the 3GPP defined UMTS and Long Term Evolution (LTE) architecture, are able to support a wider range of services than simple voice and messaging services offered by previous generations of mobile telecommunication systems. For example, with the improved radio interface and enhanced data rates provided by LTE systems, a user is able to enjoy high data rate applications such as mobile video streaming and mobile video conferencing that would previously only have been available via a fixed line data connection. The demand to deploy such networks is therefore strong and the coverage area of these networks, i.e. geographic locations where access to the networks is possible, is expected to continue to increase rapidly.

[0009] Current and future wireless communications networks are expected to routinely and efficiently support communications with an ever-increasing range of devices associated with a wider range of data traffic profiles and types than existing systems are optimised to support. For example, it is expected future wireless communications networks will be expected to efficiently support communications with devices including reduced complexity devices, machine type communication (MTC) devices, high resolution video displays, virtual reality headsets, extended Reality (XR) and so on. Some of these different types of devices may be deployed in very large numbers, for example low complexity devices for supporting the “The Internet of Things”, and may typically be associated with the transmissions of relatively small amounts of data with relatively high latency tolerance. Other types of device, for example supporting high- definition video streaming, may be associated with transmissions of relatively large amounts of data with relatively low latency tolerance. Other types of device, for example used for autonomous vehicle communications and for other critical applications, may be characterised by data that should be transmitted through the network with low latency and high reliability. A single device type might also be associated with different traffic profiles I characteristics depending on the application(s) it is running. For example, different consideration may apply for efficiently supporting data exchange with a smartphone when it is running a video streaming application (high downlink data) as compared to when it is running an Internet browsing application (sporadic uplink and downlink data) or being used for voice communications by an emergency responder in an emergency scenario (data subject to stringent reliability and latency requirements). In view of this there is expected to be a desire for current wireless communications networks, for example those which may be referred to as 5G or new radio (NR) systems I new radio access technology (RAT) systems, or indeed future 6G wireless communications, as well as future iterations I releases of existing systems, to efficiently support connectivity for a wide range of devices associated with different applications and different characteristic data traffic profiles and requirements.

[0010] One example of a new service is referred to as Ultra Reliable Low Latency Communications (URLLC) services which, as its name suggests, requires that a data unit or packet be communicated with a high reliability and with a low communications delay. Another example of a new service is enhanced Mobile Broadband (eMBB) services, which are characterised by a high capacity with a requirement to support up to 20 Gb / s. URLLC and eMBB type services therefore represent challenging examples for both LTE type communications systems and 5G / NR communications systems.

[0011] 5G NR has continuously evolved and the current work plan includes 5G-NR-advanced in which some further enhancements are expected, especially to support new use- cases / scenarios with higher requirements. The desire to support these new use-cases and scenarios gives rise to new challenges for efficiently handling communications in wireless communications systems that need to be addressed.

[0012] SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE

[0013] The present disclosure can help address or mitigate at least some of the issues discussed above.

[0014] According to a first aspect of the invention, there is provided a method for a communications device configured to transmit signals to and / or to receive signals from an infrastructure equipment of a wireless communications network via a wireless radio interface provided by the wireless communications network, the method comprising: transmitting or receiving one or more reference beams; transmitting a radio frequency (RF) signal for reflection from a passive object not having a direct radio connection to the wireless communications network, and / or receiving a reflection of a RF signal, wherein the reflected RF signal is reflected from a passive object; and transmitting, to the infrastructure equipment, a measurement report comprising sensing measurements for the passive object, wherein the sensing measurements include an indication of an angle at which the RF signal is transmitted and / or the reflected RF signal is received, wherein the angle is indicated relative to an angle at which the one or more reference beams are transmitted or received by the communications device. As such, the network may determine the location of a passive object detected by the communications device, without needing to know the orientation of the communications device.

[0015] According to a second aspect of the invention, there is provided a method for an infrastructure equipment of a wireless communications network, the infrastructure equipment configured to transmit signals to and / or to receive signals from a communications device via a wireless radio interface provided by the wireless communications network, the method comprising: transmitting or receiving one or more reference beams to / from a communications device; and receiving, from the communications device, a measurement report comprising sensing measurements for a passive object not having a direct radio connection to the wireless communications network, wherein the sensing measurements include an indication of an angle at which a radio frequency (RF) signal is transmitted or a reflected RF signal is received by the communications device, wherein the angle is indicated relative to an angle at which the one or more reference beams are transmitted or received by the communications device. As such, the network may determine the location of a passive object detected by the communications device, without needing to know the orientation of the communications device.

[0016] According to a third aspect of the invention, there is provided a method of operating a communications device configured to transmit signals to and / or to receive signals from an infrastructure equipment of a wireless communications network via a wireless radio interface provided by the wireless communications network, and to transmit signals to and / or to receive signals from a peer communications devices, the method comprising: transmitting or receiving, to / from the peer communications device, one or more reference beams for reporting a relative angle at which a radio frequency (RF) signal is transmitted to or a reflected RF signal is received by the peer communications device to / from a passive object not having a direct radio connection to the wireless communications network. As such, the network may determine the location of a passive object detected by the communications device, without needing to know the orientation of the communications device, and in cases where the communications device is unable to exchange a reference signal with an infrastructure equipment of the network.

[0017] Respective aspects and features of the present disclosure are defined in the appended claims.

[0018] It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary, but are not restrictive, of the present technology. The described embodiments, together with further advantages, will be best understood by reference to the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

[0019] BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0020] A more complete appreciation of the disclosure and many of the attendant advantages thereof will be readily obtained as the same becomes better understood by reference to the following detailed description when considered in connection with the accompanying drawings wherein like reference numerals designate identical or corresponding parts throughout the several views, and wherein:

[0021] Figure 1 schematically represents some aspects of an LTE-type wireless telecommunication system which may be configured to operate in accordance with certain embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0022] Figure 2 schematically represents some aspects of a new radio access technology (RAT) wireless telecommunications system which may be configured to operate in accordance with certain embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0023] Figure 3 is a schematic block diagram of an example infrastructure equipment and communications device which may be configured to operate in accordance with certain embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0024] Figures 4A-D illustrate examples of monostatic and bistatic radar arrangements;

[0025] Figures 5A-B illustrate examples of monostatic and bistatic sensing arrangements for detecting passive objects in wireless communications networks;

[0026] Figures 6A-B illustrate examples of monostatic and bistatic sensing arrangements for determining the location of passive objects in wireless communications networks;

[0027] Figure 7 illustrates an example approach for determining the position of a passive object in monostatic and bistatic sensing arrangements; Figure 8 illustrates an example approach for determining the location of passive objects in wireless communications networks using a reference communications device;

[0028] Figures 9A and 9B illustrate implementations of downlink reference beams for determining the location of passive objects in wireless communications networks;

[0029] Figures 10A and 10B illustrate implementations of uplink reference beams for determining the location of passive objects in wireless communications networks;

[0030] Figure 11 illustrates a flow diagram of a method of operating a communications device according to an example teaching of the disclosure.

[0031] Figure 12 illustrates a flow diagram of a method of operating a network infrastructure equipment according to an example teaching of the disclosure.

[0032] Figure 13 illustrates a flow diagram of a method of operating a communications device according to an example teaching of the disclosure.

[0033] DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

[0034] Long Term Evolution Advanced Radio Access Technology (4G)

[0035] Figure 1 provides a schematic diagram illustrating some basic functionality of a mobile telecommunications network / system 6 operating generally in accordance with LTE principles, but which may also support other radio access technologies, and which may be adapted to implement embodiments of the disclosure as described herein. Various elements of Figure 1 and certain aspects of their respective modes of operation are well-known and defined in the relevant standards administered by the 3GPP (RTM) body, and also described in many books on the subject, for example, Holma H. and Toskala A [1], It will be appreciated that operational aspects of the telecommunications networks discussed herein which are not specifically described (for example in relation to specific communication protocols and physical channels for communicating between different elements) may be implemented in accordance with any known techniques, for example according to the relevant standards and known proposed modifications and additions to the relevant standards.

[0036] The network 6 includes a plurality of base stations 1 connected to a core network 2. Each base station provides a coverage area 3 (i.e. a cell) within which data can be communicated to and from communications devices 4. Although each base station 1 is shown in Figure 1 as a single entity, the skilled person will appreciate that some of the functions of the base station may be carried out by disparate, inter-connected elements, such as antennas (or antennae), remote radio heads, amplifiers, etc. Collectively, one or more base stations may form a radio access network.

[0037] Data is transmitted from base stations 1 to communications devices 4 within their respective coverage areas 3 via a radio downlink. Data is transmitted from communications devices 4 to the base stations 1 via a radio uplink. The core network 2 routes data to and from the communications devices 4 via the respective base stations 1 and provides functions such as authentication, mobility management, charging and so on. Terminal devices may also be referred to as mobile stations, user equipment (UE), user terminal, mobile radio, communications device, and so forth. Services provided by the core network 2 may include connectivity to the internet or to external telephony services. The core network 2 may further track the location of the communications devices 4 so that it can efficiently contact (i.e. page) the communications devices 4 for transmitting downlink data towards the communications devices 4. Base stations, which are an example of network infrastructure equipment, may also be referred to as transceiver stations, nodeBs, e-nodeBs, eNB, g-nodeBs, gNB and so forth. In this regard different terminology is often associated with different generations of wireless telecommunications systems for elements providing broadly comparable functionality. However, certain embodiments of the disclosure may be equally implemented in different generations of wireless telecommunications systems, and for simplicity certain terminology may be used regardless of the underlying network architecture. That is to say, the use of a specific term in relation to certain example embodiments is not intended to indicate these embodiments are limited to a certain generation of network that may be most associated with that particular terminology.

[0038] New Radio Access Technology (5G)

[0039] Systems incorporating NR technology are expected to support different services (or types of services), which may be characterised by different requirements for latency, data rate and / or reliability. For example, Enhanced Mobile Broadband (eMBB) services are characterised by high capacity with a requirement to support up to 20 Gb / s. The requirements for Ultra Reliable and Low Latency Communications (URLLC) services are for one transmission of a 32 byte packet to be transmitted from the radio protocol layer 2 / 3 SDU ingress point to the radio protocol layer 2 / 3 SDU egress point of the radio interface within 1 ms with a reliability of 1 - 10’5(99.999 %) or higher (99.9999%) [2],

[0040] Massive Machine Type Communications (mMTC) is another example of a service which may be supported by NR-based communications networks. In addition, systems may be expected to support further enhancements related to Industrial Internet of Things (lloT) in order to support services with new requirements of high availability, high reliability, low latency, and in some cases, high-accuracy positioning.

[0041] An example configuration of a wireless communications network which uses some of the terminology proposed for and used in NR and 5G is shown in Figure 2. In Figure 2 a plurality of transmission and reception points (TRPs) 10 are connected to distributed control units (DUs) 41 , 42 by a connection interface represented as a line 16. Each of the TRPs 10 is arranged to transmit and receive signals via a wireless access interface within a radio frequency bandwidth available to the wireless communications network. Thus, within a range for performing radio communications via the wireless access interface, each of the TRPs 10, forms a cell of the wireless communications network as represented by a circle 12. As such, wireless communications devices 14 which are within a radio communications range provided by the cells 12 can transmit and receive signals to and from the TRPs 10 via the wireless access interface. Each of the distributed units 41 , 42 are connected to a central unit (CU) 40 (which may be referred to as a controlling node) via an interface 46. The central unit 40 is then connected to the core network 20 which may contain all other functions required to transmit data for communicating to and from the wireless communications devices and the core network 20 may be connected to other networks 60.

[0042] The elements of the wireless access network shown in Figure 2 may operate in a similar way to corresponding elements of an LTE network as described with regard to the example of Figure 1. It will be appreciated that operational aspects of the telecommunications network represented in Figure 2, and of other networks discussed herein in accordance with embodiments of the disclosure, which are not specifically described (for example in relation to specific communication protocols and physical channels for communicating between different elements) may be implemented in accordance with any known techniques, for example according to currently used approaches for implementing such operational aspects of wireless telecommunications systems, e.g. in accordance with the relevant standards. The TRPs 10 of Figure 2 may in part have a corresponding functionality to a base station or eNodeB of an LTE network. Similarly, the communications devices 14 may have a functionality corresponding to the UE devices 4 known for operation with an LTE network. It will be appreciated therefore that operational aspects of a new RAT network (for example in relation to specific communication protocols and physical channels for communicating between different elements) may be different to those known from LTE or other known mobile telecommunications standards. However, it will also be appreciated that each of the core network component, base stations and communications devices of a new RAT network will be functionally similar to, respectively, the core network component, base stations and communications devices of an LTE wireless communications network.

[0043] In terms of broad top-level functionality, the core network 20 connected to the new RAT telecommunications system represented in Figure 2 may be broadly considered to correspond with the core network 2 represented in Figure 1 , and the respective central units 40 and their associated distributed units I TRPs 10 may be broadly considered to provide functionality corresponding to the base stations 1 of Figure 1. The term network infrastructure equipment I access node may be used to encompass these elements and more conventional base station type elements of wireless telecommunications systems. Depending on the application at hand the responsibility for scheduling transmissions which are scheduled on the radio interface between the respective distributed units and the communications devices may lie with the controlling node I central unit and I or the distributed units I TRPs. A communications device 14 is represented in Figure 2 within the coverage area of the first communication cell 12. This communications device 14 may thus exchange signalling with the first central unit 40 in the first communication cell 12 via one of the distributed units I TRPs 10 associated with the first communication cell 12.

[0044] It will further be appreciated that Figure 2 represents merely one example of a proposed architecture for a new RAT based telecommunications system in which approaches in accordance with the principles described herein may be adopted, and the functionality disclosed herein may also be applied in respect of wireless telecommunications systems having different architectures.

[0045] Thus, certain embodiments of the disclosure as discussed herein may be implemented in wireless telecommunication systems I networks according to various different architectures, such as the example architectures shown in Figures 1 and 2. It will thus be appreciated the specific wireless telecommunications architecture in any given embodiment is not of primary significance to the principles described herein. In this regard, certain embodiments of the disclosure may be described generally in the context of communications between network infrastructure equipment I access nodes and a communications device, wherein the specific nature of the network infrastructure equipment I access node and the communications device will depend on the network infrastructure for the embodiment at hand. For example, in some scenarios the network infrastructure equipment I access node may comprise a base station, such as an LTE-type base station 1 as shown in Figure 1 which is adapted to provide functionality in accordance with the principles described herein, and in other examples the network infrastructure equipment may comprise a control unit I controlling node 40 and / or a TRP 10 of the kind shown in Figure 2 which is adapted to provide functionality in accordance with the principles described herein.

[0046] A more detailed diagram of some of the components of the network shown in Figure 2 is provided by Figure 3. In Figure 3, a TRP 10 as shown in Figure 2 comprises, as a simplified representation, a wireless transmitter 30, a wireless receiver 32 and a controller or controlling processor 34 which may operate to control the transmitter 30 and the wireless receiver 32 to transmit and receive radio signals to one or more UEs 14 within a cell 12 formed by the TRP 10. As shown in Figure 3, an example UE 14 is shown to include a corresponding transmitter 49, a receiver 48 and a controller 44 which is configured to control the transmitter 49 and the receiver 48 to transmit signals representing uplink data to the wireless communications network via the wireless access interface formed by the TRP 10 and to receive downlink data as signals transmitted by the transmitter 30 and received by the receiver 48 in accordance with the conventional operation.

[0047] The transmitters 30, 49 and the receivers 32, 48 (as well as other transmitters, receivers and transceivers described in relation to examples and embodiments of the present disclosure) may include radio frequency filters and amplifiers as well as signal processing components and devices in order to transmit and receive radio signals in accordance for example with the 5G / NR standard. The controllers 34, 44 (as well as other controllers described in relation to examples and embodiments of the present disclosure) may be, for example, a microprocessor, a CPU, or a dedicated chipset, etc., configured to carry out instructions which are stored on a computer readable medium, such as a non-volatile memory. The processing steps described herein may be carried out by, for example, a microprocessor in conjunction with a random access memory, operating according to instructions stored on a computer readable medium. The transmitters, the receivers and the controllers are schematically shown in Figure 3 as separate elements for ease of representation. However, it will be appreciated that the functionality of these elements can be provided in various different ways, for example using one or more suitably programmed programmable computer(s), or one or more suitably configured application-specific integrated circuit(s) I circuitry I chip(s) I chipset(s). As will be appreciated the infrastructure equipment I TRP I base station as well as the UE I communications device will in general comprise various other elements associated with its operating functionality.

[0048] As shown in Figure 3, the TRP 10 also includes a network interface 50 which connects to the DU 42 via a physical interface 16. The network interface 50 therefore provides a communication link for data and signalling traffic from the TRP 10 via the DU 42 and the CU 40 to the core network 20.

[0049] The interface 46 between the DU 42 and the CU 40 is known as the F1 interface which can be a physical or a logical interface. The F1 interface 46 between CU and DU may operate in accordance with specifications 3GPP TS 38.470 and 3GPP TS 38.473, and may be formed from a fibre optic or other wired or wireless high bandwidth connection. In one example the connection 16 from the TRP 10 to the DU 42 is via fibre optic. The connection between a TRP 10 and the core network 20 can be generally referred to as a backhaul, which comprises the interface 16 from the network interface 50 of the TRP 10 to the DU 42 and the F1 interface 46 from the DU 42 to the CU 40.

[0050] Integrated Sensing and Communication (ISAC)

[0051] As 5G NR evolves towards 5G-Advanced (5G-NR-Advanced), there is the possibility of new features being included in future releases. One possible new feature for 5G-Advanced and beyond is Integrated Sensing and Communication (ISAC). ISAC uses radio wave transmissions from a 5G wireless network to acquire information from the environment. Although positioning features in 5G, utilizing techniques including Observed Time Difference of Arrival (OTDOA) and Uplink Time Difference of Arrival (UTDOA), are already available, these features are only able to determine the location of UE devices. That is, the 5G network requires information from the device that it is trying to locate, i.e. , an active object (an object having a direct radio connection to the wireless communications (e.g. 5G) network), and therefore the existing positioning features cannot locate passive objects that do not have direct communications with the 5G network. In contrast, ISAC employs echolocation using radio frequency (RF) waves, similar to that used by radar and LIDAR, to detect passive objects, which does not require a direct communication between the object of interest and the 5G network. Since a cellular network, such as a 5G wireless network, may have wide coverage, covering urban, highway, rural and even indoor environments, ISAC can provide sensing services for many different applications.

[0052] Example applications include: intruder detection inside or in the vicinity of a building / house; rainfall monitoring that detects the intensity of rain in a wide area such as a farm (utilising the characteristics of particular frequency radio waves that experience higher attenuation due to water absorption); and pedestrian or animal detection in a motorway or railway [3], ISAC may also utilise existing sensing technology such as radar or LIDAR that may be installed in a device or area. For example, ISAC may use the sensing information from LIDAR and radar units that are installed in numerous automobiles and, together with the 5G wireless sensing, provide an accurate picture of the motorway or the traffic situation in a city.

[0053] As mentioned above, ISAC employs echolocation using radio frequency (RF) waves, similar to mechanisms that are used by radar and LIDAR, to detect passive objects. These radar techniques include at least one transmitter sending a sensing (i.e. initial) RF wave and at least one receiver receiving the reflected RF wave, where the locations and orientations of the transmitter and receiver are known. Arrangements where the transmitter and receiver are colocated (i.e. are included in the same device) are known as monostatic radar, and arrangements where the transmitter and receiver are separated in distance (i.e. not colocated) are known as bistatic radar.

[0054] Figure 4A shows an example of a monostatic radar. Here, a transceiver 420 (comprising a transmitter and receiver) emits a sensing RF wave 452 (which may simply be referred to as an RF wave or RF signal) at time to which is reflected by an object 410. The reflected RF wave (or reflected RF signal) 454 is then received at the transceiver 420 at time ti. The distance Do from the transceiver 420 to the object 410 may be determined based on the Round-Trip Time (RTT) of the wave when it is transmitted at time to and when the reflected wave is received at time fi , i.e., Do= where c is the speed of light. That is, the detected object is located on a circle (or, in three dimensions, a sphere) with radius Do from the radar transceiver 420, and the location of the object can be further determined by the angle at which the reflected RF wave 454 is received at the transceiver 420, and / or the angle of departure of the transmitted wave 452 (if the radar uses a narrow beam focused at a known angle).

[0055] Figure 4B shows an example of a bistatic radar. Here, a transmitter 422 emits an RF wave 456 at time to which is reflected by an object 410 at an angle of / 3. The reflected RF wave 458 is then received at a receiver 424 at time ti. The sum of the distances DTX (the distance from the transmitter 422 to the object 410) and DRX(the distance from the object 410 to the receiver 424) can be calculated using the RTT, i.e., DTX + DRX= c (ti - to). The distance between the transmitter and receiver DTX-RX can be known a-priori. The bistatic range is defined as DTX + DRX- DTX-RX- The detected object can therefore be determined to be located on an ellipse with the foci at the locations of the transmitter 422 and receiver 424, and with a constant bistatic range. The location of the object 410 on the ellipse can be further determined by the angle of arrival of the reflected wave 458 at the receiver 424, or the angle of departure of the transmitted RF wave 456 at the transmitter 422 (if the wave is transmitted in a beam focused at a known angle).

[0056] The bistatic angle, labelled as ? in Figure 4B, is the angle subtended between the transmitter 422, the object 410 and the receiver 424. If the bistatic angle is close to zero, the sensor resembles a monostatic radar, which may be referred to as a pseudo-monostatic radar. A pseudo-monostatic radar, where f3 « 0° is shown in Figure 4C, where the numbered components correspond to those shown in Figure 4B. Conversely, if the bistatic angle is close to 180°, then the radar may behave as a forward scatter radar. A forward scatter radar with 180° is shown in Figure 4D, where the numbered components correspond to those shown in Figures 4B and 4C. Here, the object 410 can be detected at the receiver 424 by detecting a diffracted wave 459 using Babinet’s principle, where the silhouette 415 of the object is projected at the receiver 424 by the diffracted wave 459. Certain objects, such as an airplane with stealth capability, may absorb RF waves emitted by a radar instead of reflecting them, thereby avoiding detection using conventional radar. However, forward scatter radar is advantageous in detecting objects with such stealth capabilities, as forward scatter radar techniques rely on the target object blocking the emitted wave, thereby forming a silhouette 415 at the receiver. The drawback of forward scatter radar arrangements is that it is difficult to detect the speed of an object via the Doppler effect if the object is moving along the path between the transmitter 422 and receiver 424 of the radar.

[0057] As discussed above, ISAC may be used in future 5G-Advanced, and 6G (and beyond) wireless networks, where communications devices, such as a UE, or other components of the wireless communications network such as an infrastructure equipment (e.g. a gNB), may use similar techniques to monostatic radar and / or bistatic radar to detect passive objects using echolocation, hereinafter referred to as monostatic sensing and bistatic sensing. A passive object is an object not having a direct radio connection to the wireless communications network.

[0058] Taking the example where UEs operate as transmitters and / or receivers in ISAC arrangements, UEs may employ monostatic sensing and bistatic sensing techniques using RF waves in the 5G frequency bands. These frequency bands may include the FR1 band (sub- 6 GHz) and FR2 band (24.25 GHz to 71.0 GHz), as defined in [4], however it should be appreciated that UEs may implement ISAC using other frequency RF waves. ISAC may therefore have a wider range of frequencies that can be used for passive object detection, where smaller waves such as millimeter waves in FR2 can be used to detect small objects like laptops, parcels, or other small objects, while larger waves such as those in FR1 can be used to detect larger objects like cars, humans, or other large objects.

[0059] In order to locate the position of an object using monostatic or bistatic sensors (rather than just the distance to the object), the position and orientation of the transmitter and receiver are required, in order to estimate the angle of departure and arrival of the transmitter and receiver respectively. In radar setups, such as those shown in Figure 4A-D, the position and orientation of the transmitter and receiver are known. However, in a typical wireless communications network, such as a 5G network, while the network (i.e. infrastructure equipment) may determine the position of a UE (acting as an ISAC transmitter and / or receiver) with high accuracy, the orientation of the UE is typically unknown to the network. As such, as the angle of arrival or departure of an ISAC RF wave at the UE is relative to the orientation of the UE, where the UE orientation is unknown to the network, the network may be unable to determine the direction in which the passive object is located, and therefore may be unable to determine the exact location of a detected passive object.

[0060] As example is shown in Figure 5A, which shows an ISAC monostatic sensing arrangement. A transceiver UE 520 detects a passive object 510 at a distance Do from the transceiver UE 520, indicated by the dashed line surrounding the transceiver UE 520, using monostatic radar techniques, as discussed above in relation to Figure 4A, where the position of the transceiver UE 520 may be known to the network. Here, having transmitted a sending RF wave for reflection by the passive object 510, the reflected RF wave 550 is received at the transceiver UE 520 at an angle of 6RX, relative to the UE’s orientation (illustrated by the vertical dashed line above transceiver UE 520) at the time of receipt. However, as the UE’s orientation may be unknown to the network, the exact location of the detected object may be unknown. Figure 5A shows two possible locations 510a, 510b of the detected passive object 510, for two possible orientations of the transceiver UE 520. That is, each possible orientation of the transceiver UE 520 has a corresponding possible beam 550a, 550b, received at a particular angle, based on whether the UE is in one of the two orientations. However, as in reality the UE has more than two possible orientations, there may in fact be an infinite number of possible locations of the detected passive object 510 located on a circle or sphere of radius Do away from the transceiver UE 520.

[0061] Another example is shown in Figure 5B, which shows an ISAC bistatic sensing arrangement. A transmitter UE 522 transmits an RF wave 551 for reflection from a passive object 510, where the reflected RF wave 552 is received at a receiver UE 524. The locations of the transmitter UE 522 and receiver UE 524 may be known to the network. As the orientations at which the RF wave 551 is transmitted by the transmitter UE 522 &rxand the reflected RF wave 552 is received by the receiver UE 524 6RXare only known relative to the orientations of the transmitter UE 522 (illustrated by the vertical dashed line above transmitter UE 522) and receiver UE 524 (illustrated by the vertical dashed line above receiver UE 524) respectively, where the orientations of the transmitter UE 522 and receiver UE 524 are unknown to the network, the location of the passive object 510 may be unknown. Figure 5B shows two possible locations 510a, 510b of the detected passive object 510, for two possible orientations of the transmitter UE 522 and receiver UE 524. That is, each possible orientation of the transmitter UE 522 and receiver UE 524 has a corresponding possible sensing RF wave 551a, 551 b and reflected RF wave 552a, 552b, each received at a particular angle, based on the orientations of the transmitter UE 522 and receiver UE 524. However, as the transmitter UE 522 and receiver UE 524 may each have more than two possible orientations, there may in fact be an infinite number of possible locations of the detected passive object 510.

[0062] According to the present disclosure, there is provided an approach for determining the location of a passive object detected using monostatic or bistatic sensing, where the orientation of one or more sensing UEs is unknown.

[0063] In some examples, a receiver UE exchanges one or more reference beams (with a gNB or another UE), receives a reflection of an RF signal, wherein the reflected RF signal is reflected from a passive object not having a direct radio connection to the wireless communications network, and transmits, to a gNB, a measurement report comprising sensing measurements for the passive object, wherein the sensing measurements include an indication of an angle at which the reflected RF signal is received, wherein the angle is indicated relative to an angle at which the one or more reference beams are transmitted or received by the UE. The network gNB may determine the angle of arrival / transmission of the reference beam. Therefore, as the UE reports the angle at which the reflected RF signal is received relative to the reference beam, the gNB may determine the angle at which the reflected RF signal was received by the UE, and therefore determine the location of the passive object.

[0064] In addition, it should be understood that generally a beam is a transmission that has been beamformed to a specific direction. The beamformed transmission can be any tyoe of transmission, such as Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH), Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH), Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH), Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH), Synchronisation Signal Block (SSB), and / or Reference Signals (e.g., Channel State Information Reference Signal (CSI-RS), Sounding Reference Signal (SRS), and / or Demodulation Reference Signal (DMRS)), as discussed herein. Accordingly, the reference beam is a beamformed transmission where the direction of the beamforming between a UE and the gNB or between two UEs, is known and is used as a reference in determining the location of passive objects as described herein. An example implementation of such a reference beam is shown in Figure 6A, showing a monostatic sensing arrangement. Like numerals indicate corresponding elements to those shown in Figure 5A and discussed above. As discussed above in relation to Figure 5A, the network may determine a different possible location 510a, 510b of a passive object for each possible orientation of the transceiver UE 520, according to the possible reflected RF signal beams 550a, and 550b. However, in the example of Figure 6A, a reference beam 540 is exchanged between the transceiver UE 520 and a gNB 530 of the wireless communications network. The reference beam 540 may be transmitted from the gNB 530 to the transceiver UE 520, or from the transceiver UE 520 to the gNB 530. The transceiver UE 520 may then report to the gNB 530 the angle 0Re_Rx at which the reflected RF signal 550 is received relative to the angle the reference beam 540 is transmitted or received by the transceiver UE 520. Accordingly, the gNB 530 may determine the reflected RF beam 550 to be a particular beam 550a, of the possible reflected RF signal beams 550a, 550b. The gNB 530 may therefore be able to determine the position of the passive object 510, despite not knowing the orientation of the transceiver UE 520.

[0065] Figure 6B illustrates an example of bistatic sensing according to an example of the present disclosure. Like numerals indicate corresponding elements to those shown in Figure 5B and discussed above. As discussed above in relation to Figure 5B, the network may determine a different possible location 510a, 510b of a passive object for each possible orientation of the transmitter UE 522 and receiver UE 524, according to the possible RF beams 551a, 551b and reflected RF signal beams 552a, 552b. However, in the example of Figure 6B, a first reference beam 542 is exchanged between the transmitter UE 522 and gNB 530 of the wireless communications network, and a second reference beam 544 is exchanged between the receiver UE 524 and the gNB 530. The first reference beam 542 may be transmitted from the gNB 530 to the transmitter UE 522, orfrom the transmitter UE 522 to the gNB 530. The second reference beam 544 may be transmitted from the gNB 530 to the receiver UE 524, or from the receiver UE 524 to the gNB 530.

[0066] The transmitter UE 522 may then report to the gNB 530 the angle 0Re_Tx at which the RF signal 551 is transmitted relative to the angle the first reference beam 542 is transmitted or received by the transmitter UE 522. Furthermore, the receiver UE 524 may report to the gNB 530 the angle 0Re_Rx at which the reflected RF signal 552 is received relative to the angle the second reference beam 544 is transmitted or received by the receiver UE 524. Accordingly, the gNB 530 may determine the RF beam 551 and reflected RF beam 552 to be particular beams 551a, 552a of the possible RF signal beams 551a, 551b and possible reflected RF signal beams 552a, 552b respectively. The gNB 530 may therefore be able to determine the position of the passive object 510, despite not knowing the orientation of the transmitter UE 522 and / or receiver UE 524. While Figure 6B illustrates the transmitter UE 522 and receiver UE 524 exchanging the first and second reference beams 542, 544 with the same gNB 530, it should be appreciated that the transmitter UE 522 and receiver UE 524 may exchange the first and second reference beams 542, 544 with different gNBs (i.e. with different infrastructure equipment of the wireless communications network).

[0067] Figure 7 illustrates an example approach by which a gNB 530 may determine the position of a passive object 510, based on a reference beam 540 exchanged between the gNB 530 and a transceiver UE 520. The gNB 530 is assumed to be located at coordinates (0, 0), and the gNB 530 is aware that the transceiver UE’s 520 location is (xi, yi). The gNB 530 may therefore be aware of the distance DUE-CJNB between the gNB 530 and the transceiver UE 520. The gNB 530 exchanges a reference beam 540 with the transceiver UE 520 which is transmitted or received by the transceiver UE 520 at an angle auE (relative to the x-axis in Figure 7). The transceiver UE 520 receives a reflected RF signal 550 from the passive object 510.

[0068] The transceiver UE 520 may report information to the gNB 530 which allows the gNB 530 to determine the distance Do from the transceiver UE 520 to the passive object 510. For example, the transceiver UE 520 may report the RTT for the RF signal, or the time at which the reflected RF signal 550 was received, or both the time at which the initial RF signal was transmitted and the time at which the reflected RF signal 550 was received, or the transceiver UE 520 may calculate Do and report this to the gNB 530. As such, the gNB 530 may be aware of the distance Do from the transceiver UE 520 to the passive object 510. The transceiver UE 520 may also report the angle 6ker_Rx at which the reflected RF signal 550 is received relative to the angle auE at which the reference beam 540 is transmitted or received by the transceiver UE 520. Based on this information, the gNB 530 is able to determine both the distance DO_9NB from the gNB 530 to the passive object 510, and the angle auE - 0O-UE at which the passive object 510 is located using trigonometry (or other mathematical techniques), such as using the equations shown in Figure 7. Accordingly, the gNB 530 may determine the location (X2, ) of the passive object 510. While Figure 7 illustrates the use of certain trigonometric equations in order to determine the location of the passive object 510, it should be appreciated that other mathematical techniques may be used to determine the location of the passive object 510 and that the invention is not limited to any one mathematical technique. Furthermore, while Figure 7 shows a two-dimensional example, it should be appreciated that this is for ease of illustration only and that the same techniques apply analogously in three-dimensional implementations. In addition, while Figure 7 shows how the position of the passive object 510 is calculated for monostatic sensing, it should be appreciated that analogous mathematical techniques may be applied to determine the location of the passive object in bistatic sensing arrangements, using the techniques described above in relation to Figure 6B.

[0069] While the examples of Figures 6A, 6B and 7 above show a UE exchanging a reference beam with a gNB, it should be appreciated that in some examples a UE may exchange a reference beam with another UE. Such an example is shown in Figure 8, which illustrates a bistatic sensing arrangement, where like reference numerals indicate corresponding elements to those shown in Figure 6B. The transmitter UE 522 may attempt to exchange one or more first reference beams 542 with the gNB 530, and / or the gNB 530 may attempt to exchange one or more first reference beams 542 with the transmitter UE 522. However, the gNB 530 and / or the transmitter UE 522 may determine that the gNB 530 and transmitter UE 522 do not have a direct line of sight with one another (i.e. the transmitter UE 522 does not have a direct line of sight to the gNB 530, and / or the gNB 530 does not have a direct line of sight to the transmitter UE 522), for example due to the presence of a first obstruction 560a. The first obstruction 560a may, for example, be a building or other obstruction. Alternatively, the gNB 530 and transmitter UE 522 may not have a direct line of sight with one another due to the transmitter UE 522 being out of the range of the cell provided by the gNB 530. Due to not having a direct line of sight, the gNB 530 and transmitter UE 522 cannot exchange the first reference beam 542, as the transmitter UE 522 would be unable to report the angle at which the RF signal 551 is transmitted relative to the first reference beam 542, as in Figure 6B. In some cases, the transmitter UE 522 and the gNB 530 may determine that there is no direct line of sight and therefore determine not to attempt to exchange the first reference beam 542, or in some cases the gNB 530 and / or transmitter UE 522 may only determine that no direct line of sight exists based on failing to exchange the first reference beam 542.

[0070] Additionally or alternatively, the receiver UE 524 may attempt to exchange one or more second reference beams 544 with the gNB 530, and / or the gNB 530 may attempt to exchange one or more second reference beams 544 with the receiver UE 524. However, the gNB 530 and / or the receiver UE 524 may determine that the gNB 530 and receiver UE 524 do not have a direct line of sight with one another (i.e. the receiver UE 524 does not have a direct line of sight to the gNB 530, and / or the gNB 530 does not have a direct line of sight to the receiver UE 524), for example due to the presence of a second obstruction 560b. The second obstruction 560b may, for example, be a building or other obstruction. Alternatively, the gNB 530 and receiver UE 524 may not have a direct line of sight with one another due to the receiver UE 524 being out of the range of the cell provided by the gNB 530. Due to not having a direct line of sight, the gNB 530 and receiver UE 524 cannot exchange the second reference beam 544, as the receiver UE 524 would be unable to report the angle at which the reflected RF signal 552 is received relative to the second reference beam 544, as in Figure 6B. In some cases, the receiver UE 524 and the gNB 530 may determine that there is no direct line of sight and therefore determine not to attempt to exchange the second reference beam 544, or in some cases the gNB 530 and / or receiver UE 524 may only determine that no direct line of sight exists based on failing to exchange the second reference beam 544.

[0071] Therefore, according to an example of the present disclosure, one of more of the transmitter UE 522 and the receiver UE 524 may exchange a reference beam with a reference UE 526, with which the transmitter UE 522 and / or the receiver UE 524 have a direct line of sight. The reference UE 526 has a direct line of sight to the gNB 530, and as such the reference UE 526 may have a direct radio connection 570 to the gNB 530. The transmitter UE 522 may exchange a third reference beam 546 with the reference UE 526, for example via a sidelink (e.g. PC5) connection. The transmitter UE 522 may therefore report the angle 6>Rer-Txat which the sensing RF signal 551 is transmitted relative to the angle at which the third reference beam 546 is transmitted or received by the transmitter UE 522. The transmitter UE 522 may transmit the measurement report including the angle 0Ref-Tx directly to the gNB 530 (or another gNB of the network), or the transmitter UE 522 may transmit the measurement report including the angle ^Rer-Txto the reference UE 526 or another UE of the wireless communications network, which may transmit the measurement report to the gNB 530 (or another gNB of the network). Additionally or alternatively, the receiver UE 524 may exchange a fourth reference beam 548 with the reference UE 526, for example via a sidelink (e.g. PC5) connection. The receiver UE 524 may therefore report the angle 6ke / -Rx at which the reflected RF signal 552 is received relative to the angle at which the fourth reference beam 548 is received by the receiver UE 524. The receiver UE 524 may transmit the measurement report including the angle 6ke / -Rx directly to the gNB 530 (or another gNB of the network), or the receiver UE 524 may transmit the measurement report including the angle ^Rer-Rx to the reference UE 526 or another UE of the wireless communications network, which may transmit the measurement report to the gNB 530 (or another gNB of the network). The gNB 530 may in some cases configure the reference UE 526 to transmit the reference beams to the transmitter UE 522 and / or receiver UE 524, or the gNB may configure the UE 526 to transmit the reference beams to the reference UE 526 (e.g. directly or via the reference UE 526). However, in other cases the reference UE 526 and transmitter UE 522 and / or receiver UE 524 may exchange reference signals without configuration from the network.

[0072] While in Figure 8 the transmitter UE 522 and receiver UE 524 are shown as both exchanging reference beams 546, 548 with the reference UE 526, it should be appreciated that in some examples only one of the transmitter UE 522 or the receiver UE 524 may exchange a reference beam with the reference UE 526, while the other UE may exchange a reference beam directly with a gNB (such as gNB 530) of the network. In such cases, the reference UE 526 may have line of sight (e.g. a direct radio connection) to a first gNB of the network, while the UE exchanging a reference beam directly with the network may exchange the reference beam with a different gNB of the network. Furthermore, while the transmitter UE 522 and receiver UE 524 are shown as both exchanging reference beams 546, 548 with the same reference UE 526, it should be appreciated that the transmitter UE 522 and receiver UE 524 may exchange reference beams with different reference UEs which may have direct lines of sight (i.e. direct radio connections) to the same gNB 530 or different gNBs of the network.

[0073] Furthermore, while Figure 8 shows the reference UE 526 as being separate to the transmitter UE 522 and receiver UE 524, it should be appreciated that the reference UE 526 may be the same UE as either the transmitter UE 522 or the receiver UE 524. For example, the transmitter UE 522 may have a direct line of sight (i.e. direct radio connection) to the gNB 530 and as such the gNB 530 and the transmitter UE 522 exchange the first reference beam 542, relative to which the transmitter UE 522 reports the angle of the RF signal transmission 551. However, the receiver UE 524 may not have a direct line of sight (i.e. direct radio connection) to the gNB 530. Therefore, the receiver UE 524 may exchange a fourth reference beam 548 directly with the transmitter UE 522, where the receiver UE 524 reports the angle of the receipt of the reflected RF signal 552 relative to the fourth reference beam 548. The receiver UE 524 may report the angle of the receipt of the reflected RF signal 552 to the gNB 530 via the transmitter UE 522, directly to the gNB 530, or to a different gNB of the network. While this example is described in terms of only the transmitter UE 522 having a direct line of sight to the gNB 530, the converse may be true where the receiver UE 524 exchanges the second reference beam 544 with the gNB 530, and the transmitter UE 522 exchanges the third reference beam 546 with the receiver UE 524. In addition, in some cases, neither the transmitter UE 522 nor the receiver UE 524 may have a direct line of sight to a gNB of the network, and as such may exchange one or more reference beams with each other, where both the transmitter UE 522 and the receiver UE 524 report the angles of the RF signal transmission / reception relative to the transmission / reception of that reference beam.

[0074] While Figure 8 illustrates the use of a reference UE 526 for bistatic sensing, it should be appreciated that a reference UE may be used for monostatic sensing approaches. For example, a transceiver UE may not have direct line of sight to a gNB of the network and so may exchange a reference beam with a reference UE having a direct line of sight to the gNB. The transceiver UE may therefore report the angle at which the reflected RF signal is received relative to the angle at which the reference beam to / from the reference UE is transmitted or received.

[0075] A number of different implementations utilising reference beams have been described above, and the reference beams may take a number of different forms. For instance, the reference beam may be a downlink reference beam transmitted from a gNB to a UE. In one example shown in Figure 9A, the downlink reference beam is selected from one or more candidate reference beams. For example, the candidate reference beams may be Synchronisation Signal Block (SSB) beams 940(1)-(8). A gNB 930 may transmit the SSB beams 940 periodically, and the UE 920 measures the signal / beam strength, e.g., RSRP or SNIR, of each SSB beam 940(1)-(8) and report them to the gNB 930. The gNB 930 then determines one or more of the SSB beams 940(1 )-(8) to be the reference beam(s). For example, in Figure 9A the gNB selects SSB beams 940(5) and 940(6) to be reference beams, where the UE 920 reports angles of RF signal transmission / reception relative to multiple or all reference beams 940(5)-(6), or only one of the reference beams 940(5)-(6) (for example the reference beam with the strongest signal strength). The gNB 930 may select any number of reference beams from the SSB beams 940. The UE 920 may in some cases report the strength of only the strongest X (where X is an integer greater than or equal to 1 ) candidate beams (instead of all the candidate beams). The gNB 930 may select the candidate beams as reference beams based on the strongest reported RSRPs. In another implementation, the UE 920 may select the candidate beam(s) to be the reference beam(s) and report its selection to the gNB 930.

[0076] Additionally or alternatively to using SSB beams as candidate beams and reference beams, the gNB 930 may configure the UE 920 with one or more dedicated beams 950(1 )-(4) which may be used as reference beams, as shown in Figure 9B. Dedicated beams 950 can be finer than SSB beams and provide better resolution and accuracy in determining the location of a detected passive object. That is, if the relative orientation of the UE is better known, measurement reports for the detected passive object can yield a more accurate location for the detected passive object. The gNB 930 may transmit one or more candidate beams 950(1)- (4) in the DL and instruct the UE 920 to report the RSRP of each candidate beam 950(1 )-(4) or only the strongest X beams. The gNB 920 can then select one of more of these candidate DL beams and configure the UE to use them as reference beams. In another implementation, the UE 920 may select the candidate beam(s) to be the reference beam(s) and report its selection to the gNB 930. In Figure 9B, beams 950(2) and 950(3) are selected as reference beams. The UE 920 may report angles of RF signal transmission / reception relative to multiple or all reference beams 950(2)-(3), or only one of the reference beams 950(2)-(3) (for example the reference beam with the strongest signal strength).

[0077] In some cases, the UE 920 may receive a Channel State Information Reference Signal (CSI- RS) from the gNB 930, and report to the gNB 930 a preferred DL precoder for the gNB to apply. Alternatively the UE may report the gain for one or more precoders, or report the gain for X precoders having the highest gain. The precoder determines the direction of the DL beam to the UE 920 and the gNB 930 (or UE 920) can select one or more of these precoders to use as a DL reference beam. In some implementations a combination of different DL reference beams may be used. For example, multiple ones of: an SSB, dedicated beam, or precoder may be used as reference beams, and the UE 920 may report transmission / receiving angle relative to one or more of these different types of DL reference beam

[0078] While in some examples downlink reference beams may be used, as discussed above, in some examples uplink reference beams may additionally or alternatively be used. For example, the one or more reference beams may include one or more SSB UL corresponding beams, as shown in Figure 10A. That is, according to Random Access Channel procedures of 5G systems, the UE 920 may select an SSB beam 940(4) of a plurality of SSB beams 940(1 )-(8) received from the gNB 930 and transmit a RACH Preamble (PRACH) to the gNB using an UL beam 945 corresponding to the selected SSB beam 940(4). The UE may select the one or more SSB beams 940(4) based on its signal strength relative to the other SSB beams 940 and report the selection to the gNB 930. Alternatively, the UE 920 may report the SSB beam 940 signal strength values to the gNB 930, the gNB 930 may select one or more SSB beams 940, and the gNB 930 then configures the UE 920 to use the UL corresponding beam 945 of the one or more selected SSB beams 940 as UL reference beams in the UL.

[0079] Additionally or alternatively to using SSB UL beams as reference beams, the UE may use one or more dedicated UL beams as reference beams, as shown in Figure 10B. For example, the gNB 930 may instruct the UE 930 to transmit one or more candidate beams 950, where the gNB 930 selects one or more of the candidate beams 950(1 )-(18) to be a reference beam 950(16)-(18). The gNB 930 may select the candidate beam(s) to be reference beam(s) based e.g. on the received signal strength of the candidate beams 950(1)-(18) at the gNB. In some examples, the UE 920 may transmit a Sounding Reference Signal (SRS) with a different sequence for each candidate beam 950(1)-(18). In Figure 10B, the UE 920 is shown as transmitting beams in a 360° beam sweep, however the UE 920 can transmit any number of candidate beams 950, for example only in a particular direction or range of directions. The number and direction of the candidate beams 950 may be configured by the gNB 930 or determined by the UE 920.

[0080] In some cases, a dedicated UL reference beam is configured at the UE 920 by the gNB 930 using a set of precoders. Here, the UE 920 may be instructed to transmit a reference beam, such as an SRS. The gNB 930 applies two or more candidate precoders to this reference beam as part of the decoding process and determines a particular one (or more) of the precoders to use as a reference beam. For example, the gNB 930 can select the precoder(s) that result in the highest gain. The gNB 930 can then use this precoder(s) and determine the set of UL reference beams for the UE 920. Additionally or alternatively, the gNB 930 may send the selected precoders to the UE 920 and the UE 920 may apply these precoders to its reference beam to convert them into UL reference beams. In some implementations a combination of different UL reference beams may be used. For example, multiple ones of: a UL beam corresponding to an SSB, a dedicated beam, or beam with applied precoder may be used as reference beams, and the UE 920 may report transmission / receiving angle relative to one or more of these different types of UL reference beam. Furthermore, the UE 920 and gNB 930 may exchange a combination of DL and UL reference beams, and the UE 920 may report transmission / reception angles of RF signals relative to both UL and DL reference beams, or only DL or UL reference beams.

[0081] Additionally or alternatively to using DL beams and / or UL beams as reference beams, the UE may use sidelink beams between UEs as reference beams. For example, a sensing UE (i.e. a transceiver UE, transmitter UE or receiver UE) and a reference UE establish a sidelink reference beam by the sensing UE sending a set of candidate sidelink beams to the reference UE (or vice versa). The reference UE then selects one or more of these candidate sidelink beams as a reference beam. The reference UE may report its selections to a gNB of the network and / or inform the sensing UE of its selection. Alternatively, the sensing UE may select one or more of these candidate sidelink beams as a reference beam and inform the reference UE of its selections (where the reference UE may then inform the gNB of the selection), and / or inform the gNB itself of its selections. In some cases, the reference UE or sensing UE may apply a set of precoders to the reference beam and select the precoder(s) that would produce the most suitable reference beams, e.g., the precoder that generates the largest gain. The reference UE or sensing UE may report the selected precoder to the gNB and / or inform the sensing UE / reference UE of the selected precoder. The precoders can therefore be used to generate the reference beams. In some implementations a combination of different sidelink reference beams may be used. For example, a sensing UE may report the angle of a transmitted or received RF signal relative to the angle of a sidelink reference beam received from a reference beam as well as the angle of a sidelink reference beam transmitted by the sensing UE to the reference UE. Moreover, the sidelink reference beams may use a combination of beams with an applied precoder. Furthermore, a combination of DL, UL and sidelink reference beams may be used, such that angles of transmitted or received RF signals may be reported relative to any combination of DL, UL and sidelink reference beams.

[0082] As discussed above, a sensing UE (i.e. a transceiver UE, transmitter UE or receiver UE) transmits a measurement report for receipt by a gNB of the network. The measurement report includes sensing measurements for a transmitted RF signal and / or a received reflected RF signal, where the angle of the transmitted RF signal and / or a received reflected RF signal is indicated relative to one or more reference beams. The UE may be configured to provide the measurement report semi-statically and / or via RRC signaling. Alternatively, the UE may be configured to provide the measurement report semi-persistently (i.e. periodically) and may do so in response to receiving downlink control information (DCI) instructing the UE to provide the measurement report to the network. A DCI may alternatively instruct the UE to provide the measurement report aperiodically. In some examples, the UE may be additionally or alternatively configured to transmit the measurement report in response to a particular event trigger. For example, the event trigger may be that the UE detects a passive object (via receiving a reflected RF signal) with a signal strength or power above a predetermined threshold, where the predetermined threshold may be RRC configured, dynamically indicated in a DCI, or indicated in an activation DCI. However, it should be appreciated that other event triggers may be used.

[0083] A measurement report may include sensing measurements for a single passive object or multiple passive objects. Moreover, an event trigger or dynamic indication may cause the UE to transmit a measurement report for only a single passive object, multiple passive objects, or all detected passive objects. The UE may consider a passive object to be a detected passive object it the reflected RF signal is received with a signal strength or power above a predetermined threshold (where the predetermined threshold may be RRC configured, dynamically indicated in a DCI, or indicated in an activation DCI). In some cases, the UE may be configured to report up to a threshold number Ko passive objects (where Ko is an integer), where if there are more than Ko detected passive objects, the UE may select Ko passive objects to report. For example, the UE may select the Ko passive objects with the highest detected signal strength or power (of the reflected RF signal). Conversely, if there are less than Ko detected passive objects, the UE may only report the detected passive objects (i.e. the UE will report less than Ko passive objects).

[0084] In addition to the angle at which the RF signal is transmitted and / or the angle at which the reflected RF signal is received (both relative to one or more reference beams), the measurement report may include additional information. For example, the sensing measurements included in the measurement report may include the distance between the passive object and the UE (i.e. the transceiver UE I transmitter UE I receiver UE). That is, for monostatic sensing, the UE may report the distance Do between the transceiver UE and the passive object, while in bistatic sensing the UE may report the distance DTX + DRXwhere DTX is the distance from the transmitter UE to the passive object, and DRXis the distance from the receiver UE to the passive object.

[0085] Additionally or alternatively, the measurement report may indicate the angles 6^ at which the one or more reference beams are transmitted and / or received by the UE. The measurement report may indicate 0Re / Tor all reference beams, or only a subset of the reference beams. For example, in order to reduce overheads, 6^ may only be indicated for reference beams with a signal strength above a predetermined threshold, or only for N reference beams, having the highest signal strengths, where N is an integer.

[0086] Additionally or alternatively, the measurement report may indicate the time to at which the initial sensing RF wave is transmitted by the transmitter UE or transceiver UE. This may be useful, particularly in bistatic sensing in order to determine the bistatic range, if the network is also aware of the time ti the reflected wave arrives at the receiver. Additionally or alternatively, the measurement report may indicate the time h at which the reflected RF wave is received by the receiver UE or transceiver UE. By using the transmit time to of the sensing wave and the receive time ti of the reflected sensing wave, the network can determine the bistatic range in a bistatic sensor. In a monostatic sensor, the network can use to and ti to determine the distance Do, between the UE and the detected passive object.

[0087] In some examples, the measurement report may indicate the signal strength (e.g. the RSRP and / or SNIR) of one or more DL reference beams. As such, the gNB may use this information to determine whether one or more of the DL reference beams are still suitable for the sensing. Furthermore, the quality of each DL reference beam will also help the gNB determine which DL reference beam to use in determining the location of the detected passive object(s). For example, when using multiple reference beams to determine the location of a passive object, the gNB may assign a higher weighting to measurements relative to DL reference beams with higher quality when estimating the location of the detected passive object compared with a DL reference beam with lower quality.

[0088] In some cases, the measurement report may indicate the SSB beams used as DL reference beams. As described above, the UE may select the SSB beams instead of the gNB, thus enabling the UE to update the DL reference beam quickly in order to adapt to changes in the UE’s position. For such an implementation, the UE reports the SSB beams that are used as the one or more DL reference beams. Additionally or alternatively, the measurement report may indicate the SSB UL corresponding beams used as UL reference beams. As described above, the UE may select the SSB beams instead of the gNB and use the SSB UL corresponding beams as UL reference beams. This enables the UE to update the UL reference beam quickly to adapt to changes in the UE’s position. For such an implementation, the UE reports the SSB UL corresponding beams that are used as the one or more UL reference beams. It should moreover be noted that the measurement report may include any combination of the features set out above.

[0089] As UEs are often mobile devices, a sending UE may change its position or orientation over time. As such, a particular reference beam which has previously been exchanged by the sensing UE may over time become unsuitable or less suitable for determining the location of a passive object. Accordingly, the one or more reference beams used by the UE may need to be managed over time.

[0090] In some examples, the gNB may transmit one or more DL reference beams to the UE prior to and / or after the UE performs sensing for detecting for passive objects. This enables the UE to e.g., measure the quality of the DL reference beams, which can then be reported to the gNB in the measurement report. The transmission of the DL reference beams also enables the UE to determine the reference angle 0Ref using the latest direction of the DL reference beams. It should also be noted that for dedicated DL reference beams, the gNB may change the beam direction without informing the UE, i.e., the gNB may track the UE movements and change the DL reference beam accordingly. It is therefore beneficial for the UE to use the latest DL reference beam in determining the reference angle 0Ref. Furthermore, in some cases the UE measures the one or more DL reference beams prior to and / or after performing sensing for passive objects. For DL reference beams using SSB, the UE may measure the selected SSB beams for sensing in order to provide an up-to-date reference angle 6^ to the gNB.

[0091] In some examples, the UE periodically transmits one or more UL reference beams to the gNB. This allows the gNB to evaluate the quality of the UL reference beams and to change the UL reference beams if it determines the one or more UL reference beams are no longer suitable for sensing (e.g. for example due to a reduction in the received RSRP or SNIR at the gNB). In some examples, the UE transmits the one or more UL reference beams prior to and / or after performing sensing. Furthermore, in some examples the UE transmits the one or more UL reference beams prior to and / or after transmitting the sensing report to the gNB. This provides the gNB with an update of the quality of the UL reference beams.

[0092] The measurement report may be transmitted to the gNB in a number of different ways. For example, the UE may use one or more UL reference beams to transmit the measurement report. The selected one or more UL reference beams to be used to carry the measurement report may be a preferred UL reference beam, e.g., configured by the gNB (e.g. based on signal strength). The gNB may also indicate which UL reference beam is to be used to carry the measurement report. Alternatively or additionally, the UE may cycle among different UL reference beams to carry the measurement report. For example, the UE may be configured to send a measurement report periodically and therefore may use a different UL reference beam for each period, and the UE may also either indicate the UL reference beam used to carry the measurement report or the gNB may determine which UL reference beam carries the measurement report, e.g., based on the period in which the measurement report is sent.

[0093] In some examples, if the quality of a particular reference beams falls below a threshold, the particular reference beam may be removed, such that it will no longer be used as a reference beam. The gNB may decide whether to remove a reference beam based on, for example, a measurement report that reports the signal strength or power of the DL reference beams. For UL reference beams, the gNB may decide based on the gNB’s measurement of the quality of the received UL reference beams. For implementations where the UE selects the reference beams, e.g., such as SSB beams or SSB UL corresponding beams, the UE may remove one or more reference beams that have poor quality, such as poor SSB RSRP, and transmit an update to the gNB indicating an update to the list of UL reference beams.

[0094] Conversely, additional reference beams may be added to the one or more reference beams that are already configured for the UE. That is, the number of reference beams used by a UE may increase over time. For example, the gNB or UE may determine that another candidate beam has good beam quality, such as strong RSRP / SNIR, and the gNB / UE may decide to add the candidate beam as a reference beam. If the gNB determines that the new reference beam should be added, the gNB may inform the UE, and vice versa. Additionally or alternatively, a first reference beam may be replaced by a different second reference beam. For example, the gNB or UE may determine that a candidate beam has better quality than an existing reference beam and therefore may replace the existing poorer quality reference beam with the new candidate beam.

[0095] Figure 11 illustrates a flow diagram of a method of operating a communications device according to an example teaching of the disclosure. At step S10, the communications device transmits or receives one or more reference beams. At step S20, the communications device transmits a radio frequency (RF) signal for reflection from a passive object not having a direct radio connection to the wireless communications network, and / or receives a reflection of a RF signal, wherein the reflected RF signal is reflected from a passive object. At step S30, the communications device transmits, to the infrastructure equipment, a measurement report comprising sensing measurements for the passive object, wherein the sensing measurements include an indication of an angle at which the RF signal is transmitted and / or the reflected RF signal is received, wherein the angle is indicated relative to an angle at which the one or more reference beams are transmitted or received by the communications device.

[0096] Figure 12 illustrates a flow diagram of a method of operating a network infrastructure equipment according to an example teaching of the disclosure. At step S110, the infrastructure equipment transmits or receives one or more reference beams to / from a communications device. At step S120, the infrastructure equipment receives, from the communications device, a measurement report comprising sensing measurements for a passive object not having a direct radio connection to the wireless communications network, wherein the sensing measurements include an indication of an angle at which a radio frequency (RF) signal is transmitted or a reflected RF signal is received by the communications device, wherein the angle is indicated relative to an angle at which the one or more reference beams are transmitted or received by the communications device.

[0097] Figure 13 illustrates a flow diagram of a method of operating a communications device according to an example teaching of the disclosure. At step S210, the communications device transmits or receives, to / from a peer communications device, one or more reference beams for reporting a relative angle at which a radio frequency (RF) signal is transmitted to or a reflected RF signal is received by the peer communications device to / from a passive object not having a direct radio connection to the wireless communications network. Step 220 is an optional step, where the communications device receives, from the peer communications device, a measurement report comprising sensing measurements for the passive object, wherein the sensing measurements include an indication of the angle at which the RF signal is transmitted or the reflected RF signal is received by the peer communications device, wherein the angle is indicated relative to an angle at which the one or more reference beams are transmitted or received by the peer communications device. Step 230 is also an optional step where the communications device transmits, to the infrastructure equipment, the measurement report.

[0098] As such, from one perspective, there has been described method, communications devices, infrastructure equipment, and circuitry are provided for determining the location of passive objects not having a direct radio connection to a wireless communications network. A communications device transmits an RF signal for reflection from the passive object and / or receives a reflection of an RF signal from the passive object. The communications device additionally transmits or receives a reference beam. The communications device reports to the network the angle at which the RF signal is transmitted and / or the reflected RF signal is received relative to the angle at which the reference beam is transmitted or received by the communications device.

[0099] Further examples of feature combinations taught by the present disclosure are set out in the following numbered clauses:

[0100] 1 . A method for a communications device configured to transmit signals to and / or to receive signals from an infrastructure equipment of a wireless communications network via a wireless radio interface provided by the wireless communications network, the method comprising: transmitting or receiving one or more reference beams; transmitting a radio frequency (RF) signal for reflection from a passive object not having a direct radio connection to the wireless communications network, and / or receiving a reflection of a RF signal, wherein the reflected RF signal is reflected from a passive object; and transmitting, to the infrastructure equipment, a measurement report comprising sensing measurements for the passive object, wherein the sensing measurements include an indication of an angle at which the RF signal is transmitted and / or the reflected RF signal is received, wherein the angle is indicated relative to an angle at which the one or more reference beams are transmitted or received by the communications device.

[0101] 2. The method according to clause 1 , wherein transmitting or receiving the one or more reference beams comprises transmitting or receiving the one or more reference beams from the infrastructure equipment.

[0102] 3. The method according to clause 1 or clause 2, wherein transmitting or receiving the one or more reference beams to / from the infrastructure equipment comprises receiving one or more downlink reference beam from the infrastructure equipment.

[0103] 4. The method according to clause 3, wherein the one or more downlink reference beams include one or more synchronisation signals.

[0104] 5. The method according to clause 4, wherein the sensing measurements include an indication of the one or more synchronisation signals included in the one or more downlink reference beams. 6. The method according to any of clauses 3-5, wherein the one or more downlink reference beams include one or more dedicated downlink reference beams.

[0105] 7. The method according to any of clauses 3-6, further comprising: receiving, from the infrastructure equipment, a plurality of candidate reference beams; measuring a signal strength of each of the plurality of candidate reference beams; reporting, to the infrastructure equipment, the signal strength of the plurality of candidate reference beams; receiving, from the infrastructure equipment, an instruction to use one or more of the plurality of candidate reference beams for the one or more downlink reference beams.

[0106] 8. The method according to clause 7, wherein reporting the signal strength of the plurality of candidate reference beams comprises reporting the signal strength for only a subset of the plurality of candidate reference beams, wherein the subset of the plurality of candidate reference beams are a set number of candidate reference beams of the plurality of candidate reference beams having the highest signal strengths.

[0107] 9. The method according to any of clauses 3-8, further comprising: determining a preferred precoder to be applied to the one or more downlink reference beams; reporting, to the infrastructure equipment, an indication of the preferred precoder.

[0108] 10. The method according to any of clauses 3-9, wherein the sensing measurements include a received signal strength of the one or more downlink reference beams at the communications device.

[0109] 11. The method according to any preceding clause, wherein transmitting or receiving the one or more reference beams to / from the infrastructure equipment comprises transmitting one or more uplink reference beams to the infrastructure equipment.

[0110] 12. The method according to clause 11 , wherein the one or more uplink reference beams include one or more uplink beams transmitted in response to one or more received synchronisation signal received from the infrastructure equipment.

[0111] 13. The method according to clause 12, wherein the sensing measurements include an indication of the one or more received synchronisation signals in response to which the one or more uplink reference beams are transmitted.

[0112] 14. The method according to any of clauses 11-13, wherein the measurement report is included in the one or more uplink reference beams.

[0113] 15. The method according to any of clauses 11-14, wherein the one or more uplink reference beams include one or more dedicated uplink reference beams.

[0114] 16. The method according to clause 15, further comprising: transmitting a plurality of candidate reference beams; receiving, from the infrastructure equipment, an instruction to use one or more of the plurality of candidate reference beams for the one or more uplink reference beams.

[0115] 17. The method according to clause 16, wherein each of the plurality of candidate reference beams includes a sounding reference signal.

[0116] 18. The method according to any of clauses 11-17, further comprising: receiving, from the infrastructure equipment, an indication of one or more precoders; and applying, to one or more uplink beams, the one or more precoders to the one or more uplink reference beams. 19. The method according to any preceding clause, wherein transmitting or receiving the one or more reference beams comprises transmitting or receiving the one or more reference beams from another communications device via a sidelink connection.

[0117] 20. The method according to clause 19, wherein the communications device determines to transmit or receive the one or more reference beams from the other communications device based on determining that the communications device does not have a line of sight to the infrastructure equipment.

[0118] 21. The method according to clause 19 or clause 20, wherein the communications device determines to transmit or receive the one or more reference beams from the other communications device based on determining that the communications device is not within the coverage of the infrastructure equipment.

[0119] 22. The method according to any of clauses 19-21 , wherein transmitting measurement report to the infrastructure equipment comprises transmitting the measurement report to the infrastructure equipment via the other communications device.

[0120] 23. The method according to any of clauses 19-22, further comprising: transmitting a plurality of candidate reference beams; receiving, from the other communications device, an instruction to use one or more of the plurality of candidate reference beams for the one or more reference beams.

[0121] 24. The method according to any of clauses 19-23, further comprising: receiving, from the other communications device, an indication of one or more precoders; and applying, to the one or more reference beams the one or more precoders.

[0122] 25. The method according to any of clauses 19-24, further comprising: receiving, from the other communications device, a plurality of candidate reference beams; measuring a signal strength of each of the plurality of candidate reference beams; reporting, to the other communications device, the signal strength of the plurality of candidate reference beams; receiving, from the other communications device, an instruction to use one or more of the plurality of candidate reference beams for the one or more reference beams.

[0123] 26. The method according to any of clauses 19-25, further comprising: determining one or more precoders to apply to the one or more reference beams; reporting, to the other communications device, a gain for each of the one or more precoders; and receiving, from the other communications device, an instruction to use a particular one of the one or more precoders for the one or more reference beams.

[0124] 27 The method according to any preceding clause, comprising transmitting the RF signal for reflection from the passive object and receiving the reflected RF signal from the passive object.

[0125] 28. The method according to any of clauses 1-26, comprising receiving the reflected RF signal from the passive object, wherein the RF signal is transmitted toward the passive object for reflection by another communications device.

[0126] 29. The method according to any of clauses 1-26, comprising transmitting the RF signal for reflection from the passive object, wherein the reflected RF signal is received by another communications device.

[0127] 30. The method according to any preceding clause, wherein the communications device transmits or receives a plurality of reference beams, and wherein the measurement report indicates the angle at which the reflected RF signal is received relative to each of the angles at which the respective reference signals are transmitted or received by the communications device.

[0128] 31. The method according to clause 30, further comprising: receiving, from the infrastructure equipment, an instruction to stop using a particular one of the plurality of reference beams as a reference beam.

[0129] 32. The method according to clause 30 or 31 , further comprising: receiving, from the infrastructure equipment, an instruction to add an additional reference beam to the plurality of reference beams.

[0130] 33. The method according to any preceding clause, further comprising: receiving, from the infrastructure equipment, an instruction to provide the measurement report to the infrastructure equipment.

[0131] 34. The method according to any preceding clause, further comprising: determining, based on a detected event, to transmit the measurement report to the infrastructure equipment.

[0132] 35. The method according to clause 34, wherein the event comprises the communications device determining that the received reflected RF signal has a signal strength above a predetermined threshold.

[0133] 36. The method according to any preceding clause, wherein the measurement report includes an indication of sensing measurements for a plurality of passive objects.

[0134] 37. The method according to clause 36, wherein the measurement report includes sensing measurements for a plurality of passive objects for which a reflected RF signal is received with a signal strength above a predetermined threshold.

[0135] 38. The method according to clause 36, wherein the measurement report includes sensing measurements for a subset of plurality of detected passive objects, wherein the subset of the plurality of detected passive objects are a set number of passive objects of the plurality of detected passive objects having corresponding received reflected RF signals with greatest signal strength of the plurality of detected passive objects.

[0136] 39. The method according to any preceding clause, wherein the sensing measurements include a distance from the communications device to the passive object.

[0137] 40. The method according to any preceding clause, wherein the sensing measurements include the angle at which the one or more reference beams are transmitted or received by the communications device.

[0138] 41. The method according to any preceding clause, wherein the sensing measurements include a time at which the RF signal is initially transmitted.

[0139] 42. The method according to any preceding clause, wherein the sensing measurements include a time at which the RF signal is received at the communications device.

[0140] 43. The method according to any preceding clause, wherein the communications device transmits or receives the one or more reference beams prior to receiving the reflected RF signal.

[0141] 44. The method according to any preceding clause, wherein the communications device transmits or receives the one or more reference beams after receiving the reflected RF signal. 45. The method according to any preceding clause, wherein the communications device transmits or receives the one or more reference beams prior to transmitting the measurement report.

[0142] 46. The method according to any preceding clause, wherein the communications device transmits or receives the one or more reference beams after transmitting the measurement report.

[0143] 47. The method according to any preceding clause, wherein the communications device transmits the one or more reference beams, and wherein the measurement report is transmitted using the one or more reference beams.

[0144] 48. A communications device, the communications device comprising: a transceiver configured to transmit signals to and / or to receive signals from an infrastructure equipment of a wireless communications network, and a controller configured in combination with the transceiver to: transmit or receiving one or more reference beams; transmit a radio frequency (RF) signal for reflection from a passive object not having a direct radio connection to the wireless communications network, and / or receiving a reflection of a RF signal, wherein the reflected RF signal is reflected from a passive object; and transmit, to the infrastructure equipment, a measurement report comprising sensing measurements for the passive object, wherein the sensing measurements include an indication of an angle at which the RF signal is transmitted and / or the reflected RF signal is received, wherein the angle is indicated relative to an angle at which the one or more reference beams are transmitted or received by the communications device.

[0145] 49. Circuitry for a communications device comprising: transceiver circuitry configured to transmit signals to and / or to receive signals from an infrastructure equipment of a wireless communications network, and controller circuitry configured in combination with the transceiver to: transmit or receiving one or more reference beams; transmit a radio frequency (RF) signal for reflection from a passive object not having a direct radio connection to the wireless communications network, and / or receiving a reflection of a RF signal, wherein the reflected RF signal is reflected from a passive object; and transmit, to the infrastructure equipment, a measurement report comprising sensing measurements for the passive object, wherein the sensing measurements include an indication of an angle at which the RF signal is transmitted and / or the reflected RF signal is received, wherein the angle is indicated relative to an angle at which the one or more reference beams are transmitted or received by the communications device.

[0146] 50. A method for an infrastructure equipment of a wireless communications network, the infrastructure equipment configured to transmit signals to and / or to receive signals from a communications device via a wireless radio interface provided by the wireless communications network, the method comprising: transmitting or receiving one or more reference beams to / from a communications device; and receiving, from the communications device, a measurement report comprising sensing measurements for a passive object not having a direct radio connection to the wireless communications network, wherein the sensing measurements include an indication of an angle at which a radio frequency (RF) signal is transmitted or a reflected RF signal is received by the communications device, wherein the angle is indicated relative to an angle at which the one or more reference beams are transmitted or received by the communications device.

[0147] 51. The method according to clause 47, further comprising: based on the sensing measurements for the passive object, determining a location of the passive object. 52. The method according to clause 50 or clause 51 , wherein transmitting or receiving the one or more reference beams to / from the infrastructure equipment comprises transmitting one or more downlink reference beam to the communications device.

[0148] 53. The method according to clause 52, wherein the one or more downlink reference beams include one or more synchronisation signals.

[0149] 54. The method according to clause 53, wherein the sensing measurements include an indication of the one or more synchronisation signals included in the one or more downlink reference beams.

[0150] 55. The method according to any of clauses 52-54, wherein the one or more downlink reference beams include one or more dedicated downlink reference beams.

[0151] 56. The method according to any of clauses 52-55, further comprising: transmitting, to the communications device, a plurality of candidate reference beams; receiving, from the communications device, an indication of a signal strength of the plurality of candidate reference beams received by the communications device; transmitting, to the communications device, an instruction to use one or more of the plurality of candidate reference beams for the one or more downlink reference beams.

[0152] 57. The method according to clause 56, wherein receiving the indication of a signal strength of the plurality of candidate reference beams comprises receiving an indication of the signal strength for only a subset of the plurality of candidate reference beams, wherein the subset of the plurality of candidate reference beams are a set number of candidate reference beams of the plurality of candidate reference beams having the highest signal strengths received at the communications device.

[0153] 58. The method according to any of clauses 52-57, further comprising: receiving, from the communications device, an indication of a preferred precoder to be applied to the one or more downlink reference beams.

[0154] 59. The method according to any of clauses 52-58, wherein the sensing measurements include a received signal strength of the one or more downlink reference beams at the communications device.

[0155] 60. The method according to any of clauses 50-59, wherein transmitting or receiving the one or more reference beams to / from the communications device comprises receiving one or more uplink reference beams from the communications device.

[0156] 61. The method according to clause 60, further comprising: transmitting, to the communications device, one or more synchronisation signals, and wherein the one or more uplink reference beams include one or more uplink beams including a response to the one or more synchronisation signals.

[0157] 62. The method according to clause 61 , wherein the sensing measurements include an indication of the one or more synchronisation signals in response to which the one or more uplink reference beams are transmitted by the communications device.

[0158] 63. The method according to any of clauses 60-62, wherein the measurement report is included in the one or more uplink reference beams.

[0159] 64. The method according to any of clauses 60-63, wherein the one or more uplink reference beams include one or more dedicated uplink reference beams. 65. The method according to clause 64, further comprising: receiving a plurality of candidate reference beams; transmitting, to the communications device, an instruction to use one or more of the plurality of candidate reference beams for the one or more uplink reference beams.

[0160] 66. The method according to clause 65, wherein each of the plurality of candidate reference beams includes a sounding reference signal.

[0161] 67. The method according to any of clauses 60-66, further comprising: transmitting, to the communications device, an indication of one or more precoders to be applied to the one or more uplink reference beams.

[0162] 68. The method according to any of clauses 50-67, wherein receiving the measurement report from the communications device comprises receiving the measurement report via another communications device having a sidelink connection to the communications device.

[0163] 69. The method according to any of clauses 50-68, wherein the infrastructure equipment transmits or receives a plurality of reference beams, and wherein the measurement report indicates the angle at which the reflected RF signal is received by the communications device relative to each of the angles at which the respective reference signals are transmitted or received by the communications device.

[0164] 70. The method according to clause 69, further comprising: transmitting, to the communications device, an instruction to stop using a particular one of the plurality of reference beams as a reference beam.

[0165] 71. The method according to clause 69 or 70, further comprising: transmitting, to the communications device, an instruction to add an additional reference beam to the plurality of reference beams.

[0166] 72. The method according to any of clauses 50-71 , further comprising: transmitting, to the communications device, an instruction to provide the measurement report to the infrastructure equipment.

[0167] 73. The method according to any of clauses 50-72, wherein the measurement report includes an indication of sensing measurements for a plurality of passive objects.

[0168] 74. The method according to clause 73, wherein the measurement report includes sensing measurements for a plurality of passive objects for which a reflected RF signal is received at the communications device with a signal strength above a predetermined threshold.

[0169] 75. The method according to clause 73, wherein the measurement report includes sensing measurements for a subset of plurality of detected passive objects, wherein the subset of the plurality of detected passive objects are a set number of passive objects of the plurality of detected passive objects having corresponding reflected RF signals received at the communications device with greatest signal strength of the plurality of detected passive objects.

[0170] 76. The method according to any of clauses 50-75, wherein the sensing measurements include a distance from the communications device to the passive object.

[0171] 77. The method according to any of clauses 50-76, wherein the sensing measurements include the angle at which the one or more reference beams are transmitted or received by the communications device. 78. The method according to any of clauses 50-77, wherein the sensing measurements include a time at which the RF signal is initially transmitted.

[0172] 79. The method according to any of clauses 50-78, wherein the sensing measurements include a time at which the RF signal is received at the communications device.

[0173] 80. The method according to any of clauses 50-79, wherein the infrastructure equipment transmits or receives the one or more reference beams prior to the communications device receiving the reflected RF signal.

[0174] 81. The method according to any of clauses 50-80, wherein the infrastructure equipment transmits or receives the one or more reference beams after the communications device receives the reflected RF signal.

[0175] 82. The method according to any of clauses 50-81 , wherein the infrastructure equipment transmits or receives the one or more reference beams prior to communications device transmitting the measurement report.

[0176] 83. The method according to any of clauses 50-82, wherein the infrastructure equipment transmits or receives the one or more reference beams after the communications device transmits the measurement report.

[0177] 84. The method according to any of clauses 50-83, wherein the infrastructure equipment received the one or more reference beams from the communications device, and wherein the measurement report is received on the one or more reference beams.

[0178] 85. An infrastructure equipment comprising: a transceiver configured to transmit signals to and / or receive signals from a communications device, and a controller configured in combination with the transceiver to: transmit or receiving one or more reference beams to / from a communications device; and receive, from the communications device, a measurement report comprising sensing measurements for a passive object not having a direct radio connection to the wireless communications network, wherein the sensing measurements include an indication of an angle at which a radio frequency (RF) signal is transmitted or a reflected RF signal is received by the communications device, wherein the angle is indicated relative to an angle at which the one or more reference beams are transmitted or received by the communications device.

[0179] 86. Circuitry for an infrastructure equipment comprising: transceiver circuitry configured to transmit signals to and / or receive signals from a communications device, and controller circuitry configured in combination with the transceiver to: transmit or receiving one or more reference beams to / from a communications device; and receive, from the communications device, a measurement report comprising sensing measurements for a passive object not having a direct radio connection to the wireless communications network, wherein the sensing measurements include an indication of an angle at which a radio frequency (RF) signal is transmitted or a reflected RF signal is received by the communications device, wherein the angle is indicated relative to an angle at which the one or more reference beams are transmitted or received by the communications device.

[0180] 87. A method of operating a communications device configured to transmit signals to and / or to receive signals from an infrastructure equipment of a wireless communications network via a wireless radio interface provided by the wireless communications network, and to transmit signals to and / or to receive signals from a peer communications devices, the method comprising: transmitting or receiving, to / from the peer communications device, one or more reference beams for reporting a relative angle at which a radio frequency (RF) signal is transmitted to or a reflected RF signal is received by the peer communications device to / from a passive object not having a direct radio connection to the wireless communications network.

[0181] 88. The method according to clause 87, further comprising: receiving, from the peer communications device, a measurement report comprising sensing measurements for the passive object, wherein the sensing measurements include an indication of the angle at which the RF signal is transmitted or the reflected RF signal is received by the peer communications device, wherein the angle is indicated relative to an angle at which the one or more reference beams are transmitted or received by the peer communications device; and transmitting, to the infrastructure equipment, the measurement report.

[0182] 89. A communications device, the communications device comprising: a transceiver configured to transmit signals to and / or to receive signals from an infrastructure equipment of a wireless communications network and to transmit signals to and / or to receive signals from one or more peer communications devices, and a controller configured in combination with the transceiver to: transmit or receive, to / from a peer communications device, one or more reference beams for the communications device to report a relative angle at which a radio frequency (RF) signal is transmitted to or a reflected RF signal is received by the peer communications device to / from a passive object not having a direct radio connection to the wireless communications network.

[0183] 90. Circuitry for a communications device comprising: transceiver circuitry configured to transmit signals to and / or to receive signals from an infrastructure equipment of a wireless communications network, and controller circuitry configured in combination with the transceiver to: transmit or receive, to / from a peer communications device, one or more reference beams for the peer communications device to report a relative angle at which a radio frequency (RF) signal is transmitted to or a reflected RF signal is received by the peer communications device to / from a passive object not having a direct radio connection to the wireless communications network.

[0184] REFERENCES

[0185] [1] Holma H. and Toskala A, “LTE for UMTS OFDMA and SC-FDMA based radio access”, John Wiley and Sons, 2009.

[0186] [2] TR 38.913, “Study on Scenarios and Requirements for Next Generation Access Technologies (Release 14)”, 3rd Generation Partnership Project, v14.3.0, August 2017.

[0187] [3] TR 22.837, “Feasibility Study on Integrated Sensing and Communication (Release 19)” V19.0.0

[0188] [4] 3GPP TS 38.101

Claims

CLAIMS1. A method for a communications device configured to transmit signals to and / or to receive signals from an infrastructure equipment of a wireless communications network via a wireless radio interface provided by the wireless communications network, the method comprising: transmitting or receiving one or more reference beams; transmitting a radio frequency (RF) signal for reflection from a passive object not having a direct radio connection to the wireless communications network, and / or receiving a reflection of a RF signal, wherein the reflected RF signal is reflected from a passive object; and transmitting, to the infrastructure equipment, a measurement report comprising sensing measurements for the passive object, wherein the sensing measurements include an indication of an angle at which the RF signal is transmitted and / or the reflected RF signal is received, wherein the angle is indicated relative to an angle at which the one or more reference beams are transmitted or received by the communications device.

2. The method according to claim 1 , wherein transmitting or receiving the one or more reference beams comprises transmitting or receiving the one or more reference beams from the infrastructure equipment.

3. The method according to claim 1 , wherein transmitting or receiving the one or more reference beams to / from the infrastructure equipment comprises receiving one or more downlink reference beam from the infrastructure equipment.

4. The method according to claim 3, wherein the one or more downlink reference beams include one or more synchronisation signals.

5. The method according to claim 4, wherein the sensing measurements include an indication of the one or more synchronisation signals included in the one or more downlink reference beams.

6. The method according to claim 3, wherein the one or more downlink reference beams include one or more dedicated downlink reference beams.

7. The method according to claim 3, further comprising: receiving, from the infrastructure equipment, a plurality of candidate reference beams; measuring a signal strength of each of the plurality of candidate reference beams;reporting, to the infrastructure equipment, the signal strength of the plurality of candidate reference beams; receiving, from the infrastructure equipment, an instruction to use one or more of the plurality of candidate reference beams for the one or more downlink reference beams.

8. The method according to claim 7, wherein reporting the signal strength of the plurality of candidate reference beams comprises reporting the signal strength for only a subset of the plurality of candidate reference beams, wherein the subset of the plurality of candidate reference beams are a set number of candidate reference beams of the plurality of candidate reference beams having the highest signal strengths.

9. The method according to claim 3, further comprising: determining a preferred precoder to be applied to the one or more downlink reference beams; reporting, to the infrastructure equipment, an indication of the preferred precoder.

10. The method according to claim 3, wherein the sensing measurements include a received signal strength of the one or more downlink reference beams at the communications device.

11. The method according to claim 1 , wherein transmitting or receiving the one or more reference beams to / from the infrastructure equipment comprises transmitting one or more uplink reference beams to the infrastructure equipment.

12. The method according to claim 11 , wherein the one or more uplink reference beams include one or more uplink beams transmitted in response to one or more received synchronisation signal received from the infrastructure equipment.

13. The method according to claim 12, wherein the sensing measurements include an indication of the one or more received synchronisation signals in response to which the one or more uplink reference beams are transmitted.

14. The method according to claim 11 , wherein the measurement report is included in the one or more uplink reference beams.

15. The method according to claim 11 , wherein the one or more uplink reference beams include one or more dedicated uplink reference beams.

16. The method according to claim 15, further comprising: transmitting a plurality of candidate reference beams; receiving, from the infrastructure equipment, an instruction to use one or more of the plurality of candidate reference beams for the one or more uplink reference beams.

17. The method according to claim 16, wherein each of the plurality of candidate reference beams includes a sounding reference signal.

18. The method according to claim 11 , further comprising: receiving, from the infrastructure equipment, an indication of one or more precoders; and applying, to one or more uplink beams, the one or more precoders to the one or more uplink reference beams.

19. The method according to claim 1, wherein transmitting or receiving the one or more reference beams comprises transmitting or receiving the one or more reference beams from another communications device via a sidelink connection.

20. The method according to claim 19, wherein the communications device determines to transmit or receive the one or more reference beams from the other communications device based on determining that the communications device does not have a line of sight to the infrastructure equipment.

21. The method according to claim 19, wherein the communications device determines to transmit or receive the one or more reference beams from the other communications device based on determining that the communications device is not within the coverage of the infrastructure equipment.

22. The method according to claim 19, wherein transmitting measurement report to the infrastructure equipment comprises transmitting the measurement report to the infrastructure equipment via the other communications device.

23. The method according to claim 19, further comprising: transmitting a plurality of candidate reference beams; receiving, from the other communications device, an instruction to use one or more of the plurality of candidate reference beams for the one or more reference beams.

24. The method according to claim 19, further comprising:receiving, from the other communications device, an indication of one or more precoders; and applying, to the one or more reference beams the one or more precoders.

25. The method according to claim 19, further comprising: receiving, from the other communications device, a plurality of candidate reference beams; measuring a signal strength of each of the plurality of candidate reference beams; reporting, to the other communications device, the signal strength of the plurality of candidate reference beams; receiving, from the other communications device, an instruction to use one or more of the plurality of candidate reference beams for the one or more reference beams.

26. The method according to claim 19, further comprising: determining one or more precoders to apply to the one or more reference beams; reporting, to the other communications device, a gain for each of the one or more precoders; and receiving, from the other communications device, an instruction to use a particular one of the one or more precoders for the one or more reference beams.27 The method according to claim 1 , comprising transmitting the RF signal for reflection from the passive object and receiving the reflected RF signal from the passive object.

28. The method according to claim 1 , comprising receiving the reflected RF signal from the passive object, wherein the RF signal is transmitted toward the passive object for reflection by another communications device.

29. The method according to claim 1 , comprising transmitting the RF signal for reflection from the passive object, wherein the reflected RF signal is received by another communications device.

30. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the communications device transmits or receives a plurality of reference beams, and wherein the measurement report indicates the angle at which the reflected RF signal is received relative to each of the angles at which the respective reference signals are transmitted or received by the communications device.31 . The method according to claim 30, further comprising:receiving, from the infrastructure equipment, an instruction to stop using a particular one of the plurality of reference beams as a reference beam.

32. The method according to claim 30, further comprising: receiving, from the infrastructure equipment, an instruction to add an additional reference beam to the plurality of reference beams.

33. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising: receiving, from the infrastructure equipment, an instruction to provide the measurement report to the infrastructure equipment.

34. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising: determining, based on a detected event, to transmit the measurement report to the infrastructure equipment.

35. The method according to claim 34, wherein the event comprises the communications device determining that the received reflected RF signal has a signal strength above a predetermined threshold.

36. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the measurement report includes an indication of sensing measurements for a plurality of passive objects.

37. The method according to claim 36, wherein the measurement report includes sensing measurements for a plurality of passive objects for which a reflected RF signal is received with a signal strength above a predetermined threshold.

38. The method according to claim 36, wherein the measurement report includes sensing measurements for a subset of plurality of detected passive objects, wherein the subset of the plurality of detected passive objects are a set number of passive objects of the plurality of detected passive objects having corresponding received reflected RF signals with greatest signal strength of the plurality of detected passive objects.

39. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the sensing measurements include a distance from the communications device to the passive object.

40. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the sensing measurements include the angle at which the one or more reference beams are transmitted or received by the communications device.

41. The method according to claim 1, wherein the sensing measurements include a time at which the RF signal is initially transmitted.

42. The method according to claim 1, wherein the sensing measurements include a time at which the RF signal is received at the communications device.

43. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the communications device transmits or receives the one or more reference beams prior to receiving the reflected RF signal.

44. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the communications device transmits or receives the one or more reference beams after receiving the reflected RF signal.

45. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the communications device transmits or receives the one or more reference beams prior to transmitting the measurement report.

46. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the communications device transmits or receives the one or more reference beams after transmitting the measurement report.

47. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the communications device transmits the one or more reference beams, and wherein the measurement report is transmitted using the one or more reference beams.

48. A communications device, the communications device comprising: a transceiver configured to transmit signals to and / or to receive signals from an infrastructure equipment of a wireless communications network, and a controller configured in combination with the transceiver to: transmit or receiving one or more reference beams; transmit a radio frequency (RF) signal for reflection from a passive object not having a direct radio connection to the wireless communications network, and / or receiving a reflection of a RF signal, wherein the reflected RF signal is reflected from a passive object; and transmit, to the infrastructure equipment, a measurement report comprising sensing measurements for the passive object, wherein the sensing measurements include an indication of an angle at which the RF signal is transmitted and / or the reflected RF signal is received, wherein the angle is indicated relative to an angle at which the one or more reference beams are transmitted or received by the communications device.

49. Circuitry for a communications device comprising: transceiver circuitry configured to transmit signals to and / or to receive signals from an infrastructure equipment of a wireless communications network, and controller circuitry configured in combination with the transceiver to: transmit or receiving one or more reference beams; transmit a radio frequency (RF) signal for reflection from a passive object not having a direct radio connection to the wireless communications network, and / or receiving a reflection of a RF signal, wherein the reflected RF signal is reflected from a passive object; and transmit, to the infrastructure equipment, a measurement report comprising sensing measurements for the passive object, wherein the sensing measurements include an indication of an angle at which the RF signal is transmitted and / or the reflected RF signal is received, wherein the angle is indicated relative to an angle at which the one or more reference beams are transmitted or received by the communications device.

50. A method for an infrastructure equipment of a wireless communications network, the infrastructure equipment configured to transmit signals to and / or to receive signals from a communications device via a wireless radio interface provided by the wireless communications network, the method comprising: transmitting or receiving one or more reference beams to / from a communications device; and receiving, from the communications device, a measurement report comprising sensing measurements for a passive object not having a direct radio connection to the wireless communications network, wherein the sensing measurements include an indication of an angle at which a radio frequency (RF) signal is transmitted or a reflected RF signal is received by the communications device, wherein the angle is indicated relative to an angle at which the one or more reference beams are transmitted or received by the communications device.51 . The method according to claim 47, further comprising: based on the sensing measurements for the passive object, determining a location of the passive object.

52. The method according to claim 50, wherein transmitting or receiving the one or more reference beams to / from the infrastructure equipment comprises transmitting one or more downlink reference beam to the communications device.

53. The method according to claim 52, wherein the one or more downlink reference beams include one or more synchronisation signals.

54. The method according to claim 53, wherein the sensing measurements include an indication of the one or more synchronisation signals included in the one or more downlink reference beams.

55. The method according to claim 52, wherein the one or more downlink reference beams include one or more dedicated downlink reference beams.

56. The method according to claim 52, further comprising: transmitting, to the communications device, a plurality of candidate reference beams; receiving, from the communications device, an indication of a signal strength of the plurality of candidate reference beams received by the communications device; transmitting, to the communications device, an instruction to use one or more of the plurality of candidate reference beams for the one or more downlink reference beams.

57. The method according to claim 56, wherein receiving the indication of a signal strength of the plurality of candidate reference beams comprises receiving an indication of the signal strength for only a subset of the plurality of candidate reference beams, wherein the subset of the plurality of candidate reference beams are a set number of candidate reference beams of the plurality of candidate reference beams having the highest signal strengths received at the communications device.

58. The method according to claim 52, further comprising: receiving, from the communications device, an indication of a preferred precoder to be applied to the one or more downlink reference beams.

59. The method according to claim 52, wherein the sensing measurements include a received signal strength of the one or more downlink reference beams at the communications device.

60. The method according to claim 50, wherein transmitting or receiving the one or more reference beams to / from the communications device comprises receiving one or more uplink reference beams from the communications device.61 . The method according to claim 60, further comprising: transmitting, to the communications device, one or more synchronisation signals, and wherein the one or more uplink reference beams include one or more uplink beams including a response to the one or more synchronisation signals.

62. The method according to claim 61 , wherein the sensing measurements include an indication of the one or more synchronisation signals in response to which the one or more uplink reference beams are transmitted by the communications device.

63. The method according to claim 60, wherein the measurement report is included in the one or more uplink reference beams.

64. The method according to claim 60, wherein the one or more uplink reference beams include one or more dedicated uplink reference beams.

65. The method according to claim 64, further comprising: receiving a plurality of candidate reference beams; transmitting, to the communications device, an instruction to use one or more of the plurality of candidate reference beams for the one or more uplink reference beams.

66. The method according to claim 65, wherein each of the plurality of candidate reference beams includes a sounding reference signal.

67. The method according to claim 60, further comprising: transmitting, to the communications device, an indication of one or more precoders to be applied to the one or more uplink reference beams.

68. The method according to claim 50, wherein receiving the measurement report from the communications device comprises receiving the measurement report via another communications device having a sidelink connection to the communications device.

69. The method according to claim 50, wherein the infrastructure equipment transmits or receives a plurality of reference beams, and wherein the measurement report indicates the angle at which the reflected RF signal is received by the communications device relative to each of the angles at which the respective reference signals are transmitted or received by the communications device.

70. The method according to claim 69, further comprising: transmitting, to the communications device, an instruction to stop using a particular one of the plurality of reference beams as a reference beam.71 . The method according to claim 69, further comprising: transmitting, to the communications device, an instruction to add an additional reference beam to the plurality of reference beams.

72. The method according to claim 50, further comprising: transmitting, to the communications device, an instruction to provide the measurement report to the infrastructure equipment.

73. The method according to claim 50, wherein the measurement report includes an indication of sensing measurements for a plurality of passive objects.

74. The method according to claim 73, wherein the measurement report includes sensing measurements for a plurality of passive objects for which a reflected RF signal is received at the communications device with a signal strength above a predetermined threshold.

75. The method according to claim 73, wherein the measurement report includes sensing measurements for a subset of plurality of detected passive objects, wherein the subset of the plurality of detected passive objects are a set number of passive objects of the plurality of detected passive objects having corresponding reflected RF signals received at the communications device with greatest signal strength of the plurality of detected passive objects.

76. The method according to claim 50, wherein the sensing measurements include a distance from the communications device to the passive object.

77. The method according to claim 50, wherein the sensing measurements include the angle at which the one or more reference beams are transmitted or received by the communications device.

78. The method according to claim 50, wherein the sensing measurements include a time at which the RF signal is initially transmitted.

79. The method according to claim 50, wherein the sensing measurements include a time at which the RF signal is received at the communications device.

80. The method according to claim 50, wherein the infrastructure equipment transmits or receives the one or more reference beams prior to the communications device receiving the reflected RF signal.

81. The method according to claim 50, wherein the infrastructure equipment transmits or receives the one or more reference beams after the communications device receives the reflected RF signal.

82. The method according to claim 50, wherein the infrastructure equipment transmits or receives the one or more reference beams prior to communications device transmitting the measurement report.

83. The method according to claim 50, wherein the infrastructure equipment transmits or receives the one or more reference beams after the communications device transmits the measurement report.

84. The method according to claim 50, wherein the infrastructure equipment received the one or more reference beams from the communications device, and wherein the measurement report is received on the one or more reference beams.

85. An infrastructure equipment comprising: a transceiver configured to transmit signals to and / or receive signals from a communications device, and a controller configured in combination with the transceiver to: transmit or receiving one or more reference beams to / from a communications device; and receive, from the communications device, a measurement report comprising sensing measurements for a passive object not having a direct radio connection to the wireless communications network, wherein the sensing measurements include an indication of an angle at which a radio frequency (RF) signal is transmitted or a reflected RF signal is received by the communications device, wherein the angle is indicated relative to an angle at which the one or more reference beams are transmitted or received by the communications device.

86. Circuitry for an infrastructure equipment comprising: transceiver circuitry configured to transmit signals to and / or receive signals from a communications device, and controller circuitry configured in combination with the transceiver to: transmit or receiving one or more reference beams to / from a communications device; and receive, from the communications device, a measurement report comprising sensing measurements for a passive object not having a direct radio connection to the wireless communications network, wherein the sensing measurements include anindication of an angle at which a radio frequency (RF) signal is transmitted or a reflected RF signal is received by the communications device, wherein the angle is indicated relative to an angle at which the one or more reference beams are transmitted or received by the communications device.

87. A method of operating a communications device configured to transmit signals to and / or to receive signals from an infrastructure equipment of a wireless communications network via a wireless radio interface provided by the wireless communications network, and to transmit signals to and / or to receive signals from a peer communications devices, the method comprising: transmitting or receiving, to / from the peer communications device, one or more reference beams for reporting a relative angle at which a radio frequency (RF) signal is transmitted to or a reflected RF signal is received by the peer communications device to / from a passive object not having a direct radio connection to the wireless communications network.

88. The method according to claim 87, further comprising: receiving, from the peer communications device, a measurement report comprising sensing measurements for the passive object, wherein the sensing measurements include an indication of the angle at which the RF signal is transmitted or the reflected RF signal is received by the peer communications device, wherein the angle is indicated relative to an angle at which the one or more reference beams are transmitted or received by the peer communications device; and transmitting, to the infrastructure equipment, the measurement report.

89. A communications device, the communications device comprising: a transceiver configured to transmit signals to and / or to receive signals from an infrastructure equipment of a wireless communications network and to transmit signals to and / or to receive signals from one or more peer communications devices, and a controller configured in combination with the transceiver to: transmit or receive, to / from a peer communications device, one or more reference beams for the communications device to report a relative angle at which a radio frequency (RF) signal is transmitted to or a reflected RF signal is received by the peer communications device to / from a passive object not having a direct radio connection to the wireless communications network.

90. Circuitry for a communications device comprising: transceiver circuitry configured to transmit signals to and / or to receive signals from an infrastructure equipment of a wireless communications network, and controller circuitry configured in combination with the transceiver to: transmit or receive, to / from a peer communications device, one or more reference beams for the peer communications device to report a relative angle at whicha radio frequency (RF) signal is transmitted to or a reflected RF signal is received by the peer communications device to / from a passive object not having a direct radio connection to the wireless communications network.

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