REAL-TIME NON-RADIO FREQUENCY OBJECT CHARACTERISTICS REPORTING FOR RADIO FREQUENCY SENSING - Patent application

Abstract

Radio frequency (RF) sensing of target objects by wireless networks is supported by network nodes that derive one or more object features for the target object using non-RF sensor measurements and report the object features to a server for RF sensing. The non-RF sensors may be, for example, one or more of a camera, an ultrasonic sensor, a lidar, a barometer, etc. Object features for the target object, which may relate to the object's size, location, motion, etc., may be reported separately for each non-RF technology or may be reported as a common object feature set. The object feature report may include a timestamp and may associate the object ID of the target object with the reported object features. Some object features may be prioritized higher than other object features, and object features that have not changed may not be reported in subsequent reports.

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] Field The subject matter disclosed herein relates generally to wireless communications, and more specifically, to radio frequency sensing in wireless communications systems.

[0002] information

[0002] Radar is a ranging technique that can be used to determine the distance of an object relative to a given location. Radar systems operate by transmitting and receiving electromagnetic pulses. Part of the pulse reflects off objects or surfaces along the transmission path, producing an "echo." Radar systems can determine the distance of an object or surface based on the round-trip time between transmitting a pulse and receiving an echo of that pulse.

[0003]

[0003] In a monostatic radar system, the antenna used to transmit the pulse (the "transmit antenna") is co-located with the antenna used to receive the echo (the "receive antenna"). For example, the transmit and receive antennas are often located on the same device. This allows for easy synchronization between the two, as the same device (or system) clock can be used to both time the transmitted pulse and the received echo. In a multistatic radar system, the transmit antenna is located a significant distance away from the receive antenna. The spatial diversity offered by a multistatic radar system provides high accuracy of target location and allows different aspects of the target to be seen simultaneously.

[0004]

[0004] Radio frequency (RF) sensing is a technique similar to (and may include) radar that can be used to determine one or more of the presence, location, identity, or combinations thereof of an object. RF sensing may be used, for example, in wireless communication systems such as cellular communication systems (5G and 5G and beyond). For example, due to the large bandwidth allocated to 5G and 5G and beyond, cellular communication system RF sensing may be considered an important feature in future cellular systems. Improvements to RF sensing are desired. Summary of the Invention

[0005]

[0005] Radio frequency (RF) sensing of target objects by wireless networks is supported by network nodes that derive one or more object features for the target object using non-RF sensor measurements and report the object features to a server for RF sensing. The non-RF sensors may be, for example, one or more of a camera, an ultrasonic sensor, a lidar, a barometer, etc. Object features for the target object, which may relate to the object's size, location, motion, etc., may be reported separately for each non-RF technique or may be reported as a common object feature set. The object feature report may include a timestamp and may associate the object ID of the target object with the reported object feature. Some object features may be prioritized higher than other object features, and object features that have not changed may not be reported in subsequent reports.

[0006]

[0006] In one implementation, a method implemented by a network node in a wireless network to support radio frequency (RF) sensing in the wireless network includes obtaining one or more non-RF measurements associated with a target object for RF sensing, determining one or more object features associated with the target object based on the one or more non-RF measurements, generating an object feature report including the one or more object features associated with the target object, and transmitting the object feature report to a server in the wireless network.

[0007]

[0007] In one implementation, a network node in a wireless network configured to support radio frequency (RF) sensing in the wireless network includes at least one transceiver, one or more non-RF sensors, at least one memory, and at least one processor coupled to the at least one transceiver, the one or more non-RF sensors, and the at least one memory, and configured to cause the network node to obtain one or more non-RF measurements associated with a target object of the RF sensing from the one or more non-RF sensors, determine one or more object features associated with the target object based on the one or more non-RF measurements, generate an object feature report including the one or more object features associated with the target object, and transmit the object feature report via the at least one transceiver to a server in the wireless network.

[0008]

[0008] In one implementation, a network node in a wireless network configured to support radio frequency (RF) sensing in the wireless network includes means for obtaining one or more non-RF measurements associated with a target object for RF sensing, means for determining one or more object features associated with the target object based on the one or more non-RF measurements, means for generating an object feature report including the one or more object features associated with the target object, and means for transmitting the object feature report to a server in the wireless network.

[0009]

[0009] In one implementation, a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having program code stored thereon, the program code operable to configure at least one processor in a network node in a wireless network to support radio frequency (RF) sensing in the wireless network, the program code including instructions for obtaining one or more non-RF measurements associated with a target object of the RF sensing, determining one or more object features associated with the target object based on the one or more non-RF measurements, generating an object feature report including the one or more object features associated with the target object, and transmitting the object feature report to a server in the wireless network.

[0010]

[0010] In one implementation, a method performed by a server in a wireless network to support radio frequency (RF) sensing in the wireless network includes sending to a network node an indication of object features of a target object of the RF sensing to be included in an object feature report, and receiving from the network node an object feature report including one or more object features determined by the network node based on one or more non-RF measurement values ​​associated with the target object of the RF sensing.

[0011]

[0011] In one implementation, a server in a wireless network configured to support radio frequency (RF) sensing in the wireless network includes at least one transceiver, at least one memory, and at least one processor coupled to the at least one transceiver and the at least one memory, the at least one processor being configured to cause the network node to send, via the at least one transceiver, an indication of object features of the RF sensing target object to be included in an object feature report to the network node, and to receive, via the at least one transceiver, an object feature report from the network node including one or more object features determined by the network node based on one or more non-RF measurement values ​​associated with the RF sensing target object.

[0012]

[0012] In one implementation, a server in a wireless network configured to support radio frequency (RF) sensing in the wireless network includes means for sending to a network node an indication of object features of a target object of the RF sensing to be included in an object feature report, and means for receiving from the network node an object feature report including one or more object features determined by the network node based on one or more non-RF measurement values ​​associated with the target object of the RF sensing.

[0013]

[0013] In one implementation, a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having program code stored thereon, the program code operable to configure at least one processor in a server in a wireless network to support radio frequency (RF) sensing in the wireless network, the program code including instructions for sending to a network node an indication of object features of a target object of the RF sensing to be included in an object feature report, and receiving from the network node an object feature report including one or more object features determined by the network node based on one or more non-RF measurement values ​​associated with the target object of the RF sensing.

[0014]

[0014] Other objects and advantages associated with the embodiments disclosed herein will become apparent to those skilled in the art based on the accompanying drawings and detailed description of the invention. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0015]

[0015] The accompanying drawings are presented to aid in the description of various aspects of the present disclosure and are provided only to illustrate the aspects and not to limit the aspects. [Figure 1]

[0016] 1 illustrates an example wireless communication system in accordance with various aspects of the present disclosure. [Diagram 2]

[0017] 2 is a block diagram of a design of a base station and a user equipment (UE), which may be one of the base stations and one of the UEs in FIG. 1. [Diagram 3]

[0018] 1 illustrates a UE configured to generate object feature reports based on non-RF measurements to support RF sensing in wireless networks. [Figure 4]

[0019] 1 illustrates a base station configured to generate object feature reports based on non-RF measurements to support RF sensing in wireless networks. [Diagram 5]

[0020] 1 illustrates a server configured to receive object feature reports based on non-RF measurements to support RF sensing in wireless networks. [Figure 6]

[0021] 1 illustrates an example of a bistatic radar system that may be used for RF sensing. [Figure 7]

[0022] 1 shows an example of deriving object features from images captured using a camera. [Figure 8]

[0023] 11 is a message flow illustrating messaging between a network node and a server for generation and transmission of object feature reports based on non-RF measurements to support RF sensing of target objects. [Figure 9]

[0024] 1 shows a flowchart of an example process for supporting radio frequency (RF) sensing in a wireless network using object feature reports derived based on non-RF measurements. [Figure 10]

[0025] 1 shows a flowchart of an example process for supporting radio frequency (RF) sensing in a wireless network using object feature reports derived based on non-RF measurements. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0016]

[0026] Aspects of the present disclosure are provided in the following description and associated drawings, directed to various examples provided for illustrative purposes. Alternative aspects may be devised without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. Additionally, well-known elements of the present disclosure will not be described in detail or will be omitted so as not to obscure the relevant details of the present disclosure.

[0017]

[0027] The words "exemplary" and / or "example" are used herein to mean "serving as an example, instance, or illustration." Any aspect described herein as "exemplary" and / or "example" should not necessarily be construed as preferred or advantageous over other aspects. Likewise, the term "aspects of the disclosure" does not require that all aspects of the disclosure include the discussed feature, advantage or mode of operation.

[0018]

[0028] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the information and signals described below may be represented using any of a variety of different technologies and techniques. For example, data, instructions, commands, information, signals, bits, symbols, and chips that may be referenced throughout the following description may be represented by voltages, currents, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or particles, optical fields or particles, or any combination thereof, depending in part on the particular application, desired design, corresponding technology, etc.

[0019]

[0029] Further, many aspects are described in terms of sequences of actions to be performed, for example, by elements of a computing device. It will be appreciated that various actions described herein can be performed by specific circuitry (e.g., application specific integrated circuits (ASICs)), by program instructions executed by one or more processors, or by a combination of both. In addition, the sequence or sequences of actions described herein can be considered to be fully embodied in any form of non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing a corresponding set of computer instructions that, when executed, cause or instruct an associated processor of a device to perform the functionality described herein. Thus, various aspects of the present disclosure may be embodied in a number of different forms, all of which are contemplated to be within the scope of the claimed subject matter. In addition, for each of the aspects described herein, the corresponding form of any such aspect may be described herein, for example, as "logic configured to" perform the described actions.

[0020]

[0030] As used herein, the terms "User Equipment (UE)" and "base station" are not intended to refer specifically to or be limited to any particular Radio Access Technology (RAT) unless otherwise specified. In general, a UE may be any wireless communication device (e.g., a mobile phone, a router, a tablet computer, a laptop computer, a tracking device, a wearable (e.g., a smart watch, glasses, augmented reality (AR) / virtual reality (VR) headset, etc.), a vehicle (e.g., a car, a motorcycle, a bicycle, etc.), an Internet of Things (IoT) device, etc.) used by a user to communicate over a wireless communication network. A UE may be mobile or stationary (e.g., at a particular time) and may communicate with a Radio Access Network (RAN). As used herein, the term "UE" may be referred to interchangeably as an "access terminal" or "AT", "client device", "wireless device", "subscriber device", "subscriber terminal", "subscriber station", "user terminal" or "UT", "mobile terminal", "mobile station", "mobile device", or variations thereof. In general, a UE may communicate with a core network via a RAN, through which the UE may be connected to external networks, such as the Internet, and to other UEs. Of course, other mechanisms for connecting to the core network and / or the Internet are also possible for a UE, such as via a wired access network, a Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) network (e.g., based on IEEE 802.11, etc.), etc.

[0021]

[0031] A base station may operate according to one of several RATs communicating with a UE depending on the network in which it is deployed, and may alternatively be referred to as an Access Point (AP), network node, NodeB, evolved NodeB (eNB), New Radio (NR) NodeB (also referred to as gNB), etc. Additionally, in some systems, the base station may simply provide edge node signaling functionality, while in other systems, the base station may provide additional control and / or network management functionality. A communication link through which a UE may transmit signals to a base station is referred to as an uplink (UL) channel (e.g., reverse traffic channel, reverse control channel, access channel, etc.). A communication link through which a base station may transmit signals to a UE is referred to as a downlink (DL) channel or forward link channel (e.g., paging channel, control channel, broadcast channel, forward traffic channel, etc.). A communication link through which a UE may signal to another UE is referred to as a sidelink (SL) or sidelink channel. As used herein, the term traffic channel (TCH) can refer to either a UL / reverse traffic channel, a DL / forward traffic channel, or a SL traffic channel.

[0022]

[0032] The term "base station" may refer to a single, physical transmission-reception point (TRP), sometimes also referred to as a transmission / reception point, or multiple physical TRPs, which may or may not be collocated. For example, when the term "base station" refers to a single physical TRP, the physical TRP may be an antenna of the base station corresponding to a cell of the base station. When the term "base station" refers to multiple collocated physical TRPs, the physical TRP may be an array of antennas of the base station (e.g., as in a multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) system or when the base station employs beamforming). When the term "base station" refers to multiple non-collocated physical TRPs, the physical TRP may be a distributed antenna system (DAS) (a network of spatially separated antennas connected to a common source via a transport medium) or a remote radio head (RRH) (a remote base station connected to a serving base station). Alternatively, the non-co-located physical TRPs may be a serving base station that receives measurement reports from the UE and neighboring base stations whose reference radio frequency (RF) signals the UE is measuring.

[0023]

[0033] An RF sensing system may employ an RF sensing server to support determining characteristics of one or more objects, such as relative location, identity, motion state, etc., in a wireless network (e.g., a cellular network). The RF sensing server may be part of or accessible from a serving or home network for the UE, or may simply be accessible via the Internet or via a local intranet. As more and more bandwidth (BW) is allocated to cellular communication systems (5G and beyond) and more use cases are introduced with cellular communication systems, RF sensing may be considered an important feature in future cellular systems.

[0024]

[0034] In conventional RF sensing designs, waveform design and resource allocation for RF sensing only considers the upper limits of performance metrics, such as maximum range and range resolution and / or Doppler resolution, etc. Thus, the framework for conventional RF sensing is not flexible enough to adapt to dynamic environments, e.g., especially wide-area outdoor sensing use cases.

[0025]

[0035] The use of environmentally adaptive RF sensing can result in various improvements in sensing performance, spectral efficiency of the cellular system, and power efficiency of the sensing node (e.g., base station or UE). For example, if the network, e.g., an RF sensing server, knows the direction of a target, it can direct the radar transmission (Tx) to beamform toward the target to improve the signal to noise ratio (SNR). In another example, if the network knows that there are no small objects to be sensed, it can reduce the Tx power and / or waveform repetition to achieve power savings.

[0026]

[0036] In order for a network, e.g., an RF sensing server, to obtain information about the environment and targets to be sensed, the object features may be reported to the network by one or more network nodes, e.g., by one or more UEs and / or one or more base stations. A network node, such as a UE, may report the object features using a RAT-dependent lower layer channel, such as a physical layer (PHY) or medium access control-control element (MAC-CE) channel, including, as examples, a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) or a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH). A network node, such as a base station, may report the object features using other signaling, such as NR Positioning Protocol A (NRPPa). The object features may be any parameters associated with the object, including information about the object itself as well as nearby environmental factors, that may be used by the network, e.g., to enable adaptive RF sensing. Object features reported by one or more network nodes may be derived using measurements obtained through non-RF methods, e.g., via cameras, ultrasonic sensors, light detection and ranging (lidar), barometers, etc. Object features may be derived from non-RF measurements, e.g., on the device in real time. Using non-RF measurements to derive object features is advantageous because it eliminates interference issues and reduces power requirements that arise when RF-based feature extraction is used.

[0027]

[0037] 1 illustrates an exemplary wireless communication system 100. The wireless communication system 100 (sometimes referred to as a wireless wide area network (WWAN)) or wireless network (e.g., a cellular network) may include various base stations 102, sometimes referred to herein as gNBs 102 or other types of NBs, and various UEs 104. The base stations 102 may include macrocell base stations (high-power wireless base stations) and / or small cell base stations (low-power wireless base stations). In an aspect, the macrocell base stations may include eNBs, where the wireless communication system 100 corresponds to an LTE network, or gNBs, where the wireless communication system 100 corresponds to a 5G network, or a combination of both, and the small cell base stations may include femtocells, picocells, microcells, etc.

[0028]

[0038] The base stations 102 may collectively form a RAN and may interface with a core network 170 (e.g., evolved packet core (EPC) or next generation core (NGC)) through backhaul links 122 and may interface to one or more RF sensing servers 172 through the core network 170. In addition to other functions, the base stations 102 may perform functions related to one or more of the following: forwarding user data, radio channel encryption and decryption, integrity protection, header compression, mobility control functions (e.g., handover, dual connectivity), inter-cell interference coordination, connection setup and release, load balancing, non-access stratum (NAS) message delivery, NAS node selection, synchronization, RAN sharing, multimedia broadcast service (MBMS), subscriber and equipment tracing, RAN information management (RIM), paging, positioning, and alert message delivery. The base stations 102 may communicate with one another directly or indirectly (eg, through EPC / NGC) over backhaul links 134, which may be wired or wireless.

[0029]

[0039] The base stations 102 may wirelessly communicate with the UEs 104. Each of the base stations 102 may provide communication coverage to a separate geographic coverage area 110. In an aspect, one or more cells may be supported by the base station 102 in each coverage area 110. A "cell" is a logical communication entity used to communicate with the base station (e.g., over some frequency resources called carrier frequency, component carrier, carrier, band, etc.) and may be associated with an identifier (e.g., physical cell identifier (PCID), virtual cell identifier (VCID)) to distinguish cells operating over the same or different carrier frequencies. In some cases, different cells may be configured according to different protocol types (e.g., machine-type communication (MTC), narrowband IoT (NB-IoT), enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB), or others) that may provide access to different types of UEs. In some cases, the term "cell" may refer to the geographic coverage area (e.g., a sector) of a base station, so long as the carrier frequency can be detected and used for communication within a portion of the geographic coverage area 110.

[0030]

[0040] The geographic coverage areas 110 of neighboring macrocell base stations 102 may overlap partially (e.g., in handover regions) and some of the geographic coverage areas 110 may be significantly overlapped by larger geographic coverage areas 110. For example, a small cell base station 102' may have a coverage area 110' that significantly overlaps with the coverage area 110 of one or more macrocell base stations 102. A network including both small cell base stations and macrocell base stations may be known as a heterogeneous network. A heterogeneous network may also include home eNBs (HeNBs), which may serve closed groups known as closed subscriber groups (CSGs).

[0031]

[0041] The communication link 120 between the base station 102 and the UE 104 may include UL (also called reverse link) transmissions from the UE 104 to the base station 102, and / or downlink (DL) (also called forward link) transmissions from the base station 102 to the UE 104. The communication link 120 may use MIMO antenna techniques, including spatial multiplexing, beamforming, and / or transmit diversity. The communication link 120 may be over one or more carrier frequencies. The allocation of carriers may be asymmetric for DL ​​and UL (e.g., more or fewer carriers may be allocated for DL ​​than for UL).

[0032]

[0042] The small cell base station 102' may operate in a licensed and / or unlicensed frequency spectrum. When operating in an unlicensed frequency spectrum, the small cell base station 102' may employ LTE or 5G technology and use the same 5 GHz unlicensed frequency spectrum used by WLAN APs. A small cell base station 102' employing LTE / 5G in an unlicensed frequency spectrum may extend coverage to and / or increase capacity of an access network. LTE in an unlicensed spectrum may be referred to as LTE-unlicensed (LTE-U), licensed assisted access (LAA), or MulteFire.

[0033]

[0043] The wireless communication system 100 may further include a mmW base station 180 that may operate at millimeter wave (mmW) frequencies and / or sub-mmW in communication with the UE 182. Extremely high frequency (EHF) is a part of RF in the electromagnetic spectrum. EHF has a range of 30 GHz to 300 GHz and a wavelength of 1 millimeter to 10 millimeters. Radio waves in this band may be referred to as millimeter waves. The lower limit of sub-mmW may extend to a frequency of 3 GHz with a wavelength of 100 millimeters. The super high frequency (SHF) band extends from 3 GHz to 30 GHz and is also referred to as centimeter wave. Communications using the mmW / sub-mmW radio frequency bands have high path loss and relatively short range. The mmW base station 180 and the UE 182 may utilize beamforming (transmit and / or receive) over the mmW communication link 184 to compensate for the extremely high path loss and short range. Moreover, it will be appreciated that in alternative configurations, one or more base stations 102 may also transmit using mmW or quasi-mmW and beamforming. Accordingly, it will be appreciated that the above illustrations are merely examples and should not be construed as limiting various aspects disclosed herein.

[0034]

[0044] Transmit beamforming is a technique for concentrating an RF signal in a particular direction. Traditionally, when a network node (e.g., a base station) broadcasts an RF signal, it broadcasts it in all directions (omnidirectional). With transmit beamforming, the network node determines where a given target device (e.g., UE) is located (relative to the transmitting network node) and launches a stronger downlink RF signal in that particular direction, thereby providing a faster and more powerful RF signal (in terms of data rate) to the receiving device(s). To change the directionality of the RF signal when transmitting, the network node can control the phase and relative amplitude of the RF signal at each of the one or more transmitters broadcasting the RF signal. For example, the network node may use an array of antennas (also called a "phased array" or "antenna array") that creates beams of RF waves that can be "steered" to point in different directions without actually moving the antennas. Specifically, RF currents from the transmitters are fed to the individual antennas with the proper phase relationship so that the radio waves from the separate antennas are combined to cancel and suppress radiation in undesired directions while simultaneously enhancing radiation in desired directions.

[0035]

[0045] In receive beamforming, a receiver uses receive beams to amplify RF signals detected on a given channel. For example, the receiver can increase the gain setting and / or adjust the phase setting of an array of antennas in a particular direction to amplify (e.g., increase its gain level) an RF signal received from that direction. Thus, when a receiver is said to beamform in a direction, it means that the beam gain in that direction is higher than the beam gains along other directions, or that the beam gain in that direction is the highest compared to the beam gains in that direction of all other receive beams available to the receiver. This results in a stronger received signal strength (e.g., reference signal received power (RSRP), reference signal received quality (RSRQ), signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR), etc.) of the RF signal received from that direction.

[0036]

[0046] In 5G, the frequency spectrum in which wireless nodes (e.g., base station 102 / 180, UE 104 / 182) operate is divided into multiple frequency ranges: FR1 (from 450 MHz to 6000 MHz), FR2 (from 24250 MHz to 52600 MHz), FR3 (above 52600 MHz), and FR4 (between FR1 and FR2). In a multi-carrier system such as 5G, one of the carrier frequencies is called the "primary carrier" or "anchor carrier" or "primary serving cell" or "PCell", and the remaining carrier frequencies are called the "secondary carrier" or "secondary serving cell" or "SCell". In carrier aggregation, the anchor carrier is the carrier operating on the primary frequency (e.g., FR1) utilized by the UE 104 / 182 and the cell in which the UE 104 / 182 performs an initial radio resource control (RRC) connection establishment procedure or initiates an RRC connection re-establishment procedure. The primary carrier carries all common and UE-specific control channels. The secondary carrier is a carrier operating on a second frequency (e.g., FR2) that may be configured once an RRC connection is established between the UE 104 and the anchor carrier and may be used to provide additional radio resources. Since both the primary uplink carrier and the primary downlink carrier are typically UE-specific, the secondary carrier shall contain only necessary signaling information and signals, e.g., there should be no signaling information and signals in the secondary carrier that are UE-specific. This means that different UEs 104 / 182 in a cell may have different downlink primary carriers. The same applies to the uplink primary carrier. The network may change the primary carrier of any UE 104 / 182 at any time. This is done, for example, to balance the load on different carriers.Since a "serving cell" (whether a PCell or an SCell) corresponds to a carrier frequency / component carrier over which several base stations are communicating, terms such as "cell", "serving cell", "component carrier", "carrier frequency", etc. may be used interchangeably.

[0037]

[0047] For example, still referring to FIG. 1, one of the frequencies utilized by the macrocell base station 102 may be an anchor carrier (or "PCell"), and the other frequencies utilized by the macrocell base station 102 and / or the mmW base station 180 may be secondary carriers ("SCells"). Simultaneous transmission and / or reception of multiple carriers allows the UE 104 / 182 to significantly increase its data transmission and / or reception rates. For example, two 20 MHz carriers aggregated in a multi-carrier system would theoretically provide a two-fold increase in data rate (i.e., 40 MHz) compared to the data rate achieved by a single 20 MHz carrier.

[0038]

[0048] The wireless communication system 100 may further include one or more UEs that indirectly connect to one or more communication networks via one or more device-to-device (D2D) peer-to-peer (P2P) links. In the example of FIG. 1, the UE 164 has a D2D P2P link 192 with one of the UEs 104 connected to one of the base stations 102. The link 192 may be used to indirectly obtain wireless connectivity or for D2D communication between the UEs 104 and 164 without using the base station 102. In some implementations, the link 192 is a sidelink (SL) between the UEs 104 and 164. In one example, the D2D P2P link 192 may be supported with any well-known D2D RAT, such as LTE Direct (LTE-D), WiFi Direct (WiFi-D), Bluetooth, etc.

[0039]

[0049] The wireless communications system 100 may include a UE 164 that may communicate with a macrocell base station 102 via communications link 120 and / or with an mmW base station 180 via an mmW communications link 184. For example, the macrocell base station 102 may support a PCell and one or more SCells for the UE 164, and the mmW base station 180 may support one or more SCells for the UE 164.

[0040]

[0050] The RF sensing server 172 may include one or more RF sensing servers for configuring the wireless network to support environmentally adaptive RF sensing based on object feature reports received from one or more network nodes, which may be the UE 104 or the base station 102. The RF sensing server 172 may configure waveform design and resource allocation for RF sensing based on the object feature reports, as opposed to using only an upper limit of a performance metric, such as, for example, a maximum range, or range resolution and / or Doppler resolution. For example, the RF sensing server 172 may determine a direction of the object based on the object feature reports and direct transmissions to beamform toward the object to improve SNR. In another example, the RF sensing server 172 may obtain a size of the object based on the object feature reports and adjust transmissions based on the size of the object, e.g., by reducing power and / or waveform repetition if the object is large for power savings, or by increasing power and / or waveform repetition for small objects, e.g., for improved resolution. The RF sensing server 172 may further determine environmental conditions near the object based on the object feature reports, which may be used to adjust transmissions.

[0041]

[0051] One or more network nodes (e.g., UE 104 and / or base station 102) may derive one or more object features associated with one or more objects and provide an object feature report to the network, e.g., RF sensing server 172. For simplicity, the network node may be referred to herein simply as UE 104, but it should be understood that base station 102 may act as the network node that derives and reports one or more object features. The object feature report provided by the network node may include object features associated with one or more objects, including information about the object itself, e.g., the object's relative location with respect to the network node, the object's size, object class, motion state, etc., as well as environmental factors near the object, such as atmospheric pressure. The object feature report may be reported by UE 104 to the network, e.g., RF sensing server 172, over a RAT-dependent lower layer channel, such as PHY or MAC-CE, including, e.g., PUSCH or PUCCH. The object feature reports may be reported by the base station 102 to the network, eg, the RF sensing server 172, using other signaling, such as, for example, NRPPa.

[0042]

[0052] The object features included in the object feature report(s) provided by one or more network nodes may be determined using non-RF technology, such as cameras, ultrasonic sensors, lidar, barometers, etc. The use of non-RF technology to derive object features advantageously eliminates interference with RF sensing that occurs when a network node uses RF technology to obtain object features, as well as reducing power requirements. Object features may be extracted from the non-RF measurements by the network nodes in real time and provided to the RF sensing server 172. Object features in the object feature report may have the same format as those used in the RF sensing measurement reports.

[0043]

[0053] In some implementations, object features may be reported differently for each non-RF technology. The object features reported for each non-RF technology may be defined in a standard to assist the network, e.g., RF sensing server 172, to decode the object features. For example, object features derived from a camera may be reported as object class (e.g., human, car, bicycle, dog, cat, etc.), estimated size, object motion status, and orientation (e.g., direction) relative to a network node. Object features derived from lidar and / or ultrasound may be reported as range (e.g., distance from a network node), orientation (e.g., direction) relative to a network node, estimated size, and object class. Object features derived from a barometric pressure sensor may include atmospheric pressure.

[0044]

[0054] In another implementation, a common feature set for different non-RF technologies may be reported to the network, e.g., RF sensing server 172. The common feature set may include, for example, radar cross section (RCS), including, for example, RCS variation, speed, location, trajectory, orientation (e.g., angle relative to the network node), or any combination thereof. The network node may derive the common feature set based on measurements from the non-RF sensors.

[0045]

[0055] Additionally, object feature reports provided by the network node to the network, e.g., RF sensing server 172, may include a timestamp. A single timestamp associated with all of the object features may be provided. In another implementation, each derived feature may be provided with an associated timestamp based on the measurement time from a non-RF sensor.

[0046]

[0056] An object feature report may include object features for multiple objects. Thus, object features associated with different objects may be derived and reported by a network node. A different object identity (ID) may be defined for each object, for example, by a network node or network, for example, RF sensing server 172. An object feature in an object feature report may be associated with the object ID of the object to which the object feature belongs.

[0047]

[0057] A network node may provide object feature reports periodically. The object feature reports may include a reporting period. Since UL channel resources are limited, the network node may follow a priority rule for providing object feature reports. For example, when multiple object feature reports are configured on the same channel, the network node may follow a priority rule that may be dynamically indicated, for example, by the network, e.g., RF sensing server 172, or the network node, based on the use case. In addition, the network node may skip reporting an object feature if the object feature is highly correlated with the object feature provided in a previous report, thereby avoiding redundant feature reporting within a time window. The network, e.g., RF sensing server 172, may infer that there is no update to the object feature if the network node skips reporting the object feature.

[0048]

[0058] 2 shows a block diagram of a design 200 of a base station 102 and a UE 104, which may be one of the base stations and one of the UEs of FIG. 1. Although design 200 illustrates communication between a base station 102 and a UE 104 for the examples provided below in describing aspects of the disclosure, communication may occur between two UEs 104 (such as a UE communicating with a relay UE) over an SL, between two base stations 102, or between other devices in the wireless communication system 100. With reference to design 200, the base station 102 may be equipped with T antennas 234a-t and the UE 104 may be equipped with R antennas 252a-r, where in general, T≧1 and R≧1.

[0049]

[0059] At the base station 102, a transmit processor 220 may receive data for one or more UEs from a data source 212, select one or more modulation and coding schemes (MCS) for each UE based at least in part on channel quality indicators (CQIs) received from the UE, process (e.g., code and modulate) the data for each UE based at least in part on the selected MCS(es) for the UE, and provide data symbols to all UEs. The transmit processor 220 may also process system information (e.g., regarding semi-static resource partitioning information (SRPI), etc.) and control information (e.g., CQI requests, grants, higher layer signaling, etc.) and provide overhead symbols and control symbols. The transmit processor 220 may also generate reference symbols for a reference signal (e.g., a cell-specific reference signal (CRS)) and a synchronization signal (e.g., a primary synchronization signal (PSS) and a secondary synchronization signal (SSS)). A transmit (TX) multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) processor 230 may perform spatial processing (e.g., precoding) on ​​the data symbols, control symbols, overhead symbols, and / or reference symbols, as applicable, and may provide T output symbol streams to T modulators (MODs) 232a through 232t. Each modulator 232 may process a respective output symbol stream (e.g., for OFDM, etc.) to obtain an output sample stream. Each modulator 232 may further process (e.g., convert to analog, amplify, filter, and upconvert) the output sample stream to obtain a downlink signal.T downlink signals from modulators 232a through 232t may be transmitted via T antennas 234a through 234t, respectively. According to various aspects described in more detail below, location coding can be used to generate synchronization signals to convey additional information.

[0050]

[0060] At the UE 104, the antennas 252a through 252r may receive downlink signals from the base station 102 and / or other base stations, respectively, and may provide received signals to demodulators (DEMODs) 254a through 254r. Each demodulator 254 may condition (e.g., filter, amplify, downconvert, and digitize) the received signal to obtain input samples. Each demodulator 254 may further process the input samples (e.g., for OFDM, etc.) to obtain received symbols. A MIMO detector 256 may obtain received symbols from all R demodulators 254a through 254r, perform MIMO detection on the received symbols, if applicable, and provide detected symbols. A receive processor 258 may process (e.g., demodulate and decode) the detected symbols and provide decoded data for the UE 104 to a data sink 260 and provide decoded control and system information to the controller / processor 280. The channel processor may determine a reference signal received power (RSRP), a received signal strength indicator (RSSI), a reference signal received quality (RSRQ), a channel quality indicator (CQI), etc. In some aspects, one or more components of the UE 104 may be included within a housing.

[0051]

[0061] On the uplink, at the UE 104, the transmit processor 264 may receive and process data from the data source 262 and control information (e.g., for reports including RSRP, RSSI, RSRQ, CQI, etc.) from the controller / processor 280. The transmit processor 264 may also generate reference symbols for one or more reference signals. The symbols from the transmit processor 264 may be precoded by a TX MIMO processor 266, further processed by modulators 254a-254r, and transmitted to the base station 102. At the base station 102, uplink signals from the UE 104 and other UEs may be received by the antenna 234, processed by a demodulator 232, detected by a MIMO detector 236, and further processed by a receive processor 238 to obtain decoded data and control information transmitted by the UE 104. The receive processor 238 may provide the decoded data to a data sink 239 and the decoded control information to the controller / processor 240. The base station 102 may include a communication unit 244 via which it may communicate with other devices (eg, core network components).

[0052]

[0062] The controller / processor 240 of the base station 102, the controller / processor 280 of the UE 104, and / or any other component(s) of FIG. 2 may perform one or more techniques associated with RF sensing services, as described in more detail elsewhere herein. For example, the controller / processor 240 of the base station 102, the controller / processor 280 of the UE 104, and / or any other component(s) of FIG. 2 may perform or direct operations of the described processes, for example, illustrated in the figures and / or other processes described herein. The memories 242 and 282 may store data and program codes for the base station 102 and the UE 104, respectively. In some aspects, the memory 242 and / or the memory 282 may comprise a non-transitory computer-readable medium that stores one or more instructions for wireless communication. For example, the one or more instructions, when executed by one or more processors of the base station 102 and / or the UE 104, may perform or direct operations of the processes described herein. The scheduler 246 may schedule the UE for data transmission on the downlink and / or uplink. In some implementations, the scheduler may be used by the UE 104 for data transmission on the sidelink.

[0053]

[0063] As noted above, Figure 2 is provided as an example, and other examples may differ from those described with respect to Figure 2 (such as communications between two UEs or other types of devices in a wireless network).

[0054]

[0064] In the frequency domain for uplink, downlink, or sidelink transmission, the available bandwidth may be divided into equally spaced orthogonal subcarriers (also called "tones" or "bins"). For example, for a normal length cyclic prefix (CP) using, for example, 15 kHz spacing, the subcarriers may be grouped into groups of 12 subcarriers. A resource consisting of one OFDM symbol length in the time domain and one subcarrier in the frequency domain is called a resource element (RE). Each grouping of 12 subcarriers and 14 OFDM symbols is called a resource block (RB), and in the above example, the number of subcarriers in a resource block is

[0055]

number

[0056] For a given channel bandwidth, the number of resource blocks available on each channel, also called the transmission bandwidth configuration, can be written as:

[0057]

number

[0058] For example, for a channel bandwidth of 3 MHz in the above example, the number of available resource blocks on each channel is

[0059]

number

[0060] It should be noted that the frequency components of a resource block (eg, 12 subcarriers) are called a physical resource block (PRB).

[0061]

[0065] A collection of resource elements used for RF sensing may be referred to as a "radar reference signal (RRS)." When the resource elements are from one or more RRS signals, the collection of resource elements may be referred to as an "RRS resource." The collection of resource elements may span multiple PRBs in the frequency domain and one or more symbols within or across a slot in the time domain. A base station or a UE may transmit resources (such as RRS resources) for use in RF sensing services. For example, an indication of one or more RRS resources to be used may be received at the communication unit 244 of the base station 102 from the RF sensing server 172. In some implementations, the base station 102 may configure itself to transmit one or more RRS resources over the downlink. In some implementations, the base station 102 may indicate one or more RRS resources to one or more UEs 104, and the UEs 104 may transmit one or more RRS resources over the sidelink.

[0062]

[0066] 3 illustrates a UE 300, which is an example of a UE 104 configured to generate an object feature report based on non-RF measurements to support RF sensing in a wireless network (such as the wireless communication system 100). The UE 300 may be further configured to transmit and / or receive one or more RRS resources based on an RRS resource configured by the RF sensing server 172 based at least in part on the object feature report. The UE 300 includes a computing platform including at least one processor 310, a memory 311 including software (SW) 312, one or more sensors 313, a transceiver interface 314 for a transceiver 315, a user interface 316, and a camera 318. The processor 310, memory 311, sensor(s) 313, transceiver interface 314, user interface 316, and camera 318 may be communicatively coupled to each other by a bus 320 (which may be configured for optical and / or electrical communication, for example). One or more of the illustrated devices (e.g., one or more of the camera 318 and / or sensor(s) 313) may be omitted from the UE 300, or the UE 300 may include additional devices not shown (e.g., a positioning system receiver (global navigation satellite system (GNSS) or global positioning system (GPS) receiver and processing components, etc.). The processor 310 may include one or more intelligent hardware devices, such as a central processing unit (CPU), a microcontroller, an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), etc. The processor 310 may comprise multiple processors, including an application processor 330, a digital signal processor (DSP) 331, a modem processor 332, a video processor 333, and / or a sensor processor 334.One or more of the processors 330-334 may comprise multiple devices (e.g., multiple processors). For example, the sensor processor 334 may include, for example, a processor for radar, ultrasonic, and / or lidar, etc. The modem processor 332 may support dual SIM / dual connectivity (or more SIMs). For example, one SIM (Subscriber Identity Module or Subscriber Identification Module) may be used by an original equipment manufacturer (OEM) and another SIM may be used for connectivity by an end user of the UE 300. The memory 311 is a non-transitory storage medium that may include random access memory (RAM), flash memory, disk memory, and / or read-only memory (ROM), etc. The memory 311 stores software 312, which may be processor-readable and processor-executable software code that, when executed, is configured to cause the processor 310 to operate as a special-purpose computer programmed to perform various functions described herein. Alternatively, the software 312 may not be directly executable by the processor 310, but may be configured, for example, when compiled and executed, to cause the processor 310 to operate as a special purpose computer to perform various functions described herein. This specification may refer only to the processor 310 performing a function, including other implementations such as the processor 310 executing software and / or firmware. This specification may refer to the processor 310 performing a function as a shorthand for one or more of the processors 330-334 performing the function. This specification may refer to the UE 300 performing a function as a shorthand for one or more suitable components of the UE 300 performing the function. The processor 310 may include a memory having instructions stored thereon in addition to and / or in place of the memory 311.The functionality of processor 310 is discussed in more detail below.

[0063]

[0067] 3 is an example, not a limitation on the present disclosure, including the claims, and other configurations may be used. For example, an exemplary configuration of a UE includes one or more of processors 330-334 of processor 310, memory 311, and wireless transceiver 340. Other exemplary configurations include one or more of processors 330-334 of processor 310, memory 311, wireless transceiver 340, one or more of sensor(s) 313, user interface 316, camera 318, and / or wired transceiver 350.

[0064]

[0068] The UE 300 may include a modem processor 332 that may be capable of performing baseband processing of signals received and downconverted by the transceiver 315. The modem processor 332 may perform baseband processing of signals to be upconverted for transmission by the transceiver 315. Additionally or alternatively, the baseband processing may be performed by the processor 330 and / or the DSP 331. However, other configurations may be used to perform the baseband processing.

[0065]

[0069] The UE 300 may include sensor(s) 313, which may include one or more of various types of sensors, such as, for example, one or more inertial sensors, one or more barometric sensors, one or more magnetometers, one or more environmental sensors, one or more light sensors, one or more weight sensors, and / or one or more radio frequency (RF) sensors. An inertial measurement unit (IMU) may comprise, for example, one or more accelerometers (e.g., collectively responsive to acceleration of the UE 300 in three dimensions) and / or one or more gyroscopes capable of detecting movement, including rotation, of the UE 300. The sensor(s) 313 may include, for example, one or more magnetometers for determining orientation (e.g., relative to magnetic north and / or true north), which may be used for any of a variety of purposes, such as to support one or more compass applications. The environmental sensor(s) may comprise, for example, one or more temperature sensors, one or more barometric pressure sensors, one or more ambient light sensors, one or more camera imagers, and / or one or more microphones, etc. The sensor(s) 313 may generate analog and / or digital signals whose instructions may be stored in memory 311 and processed by DSP 331 and / or processor 330 to support one or more applications, such as, for example, applications directed to positioning and / or navigation operations.

[0066]

[0070] The sensor(s) 313 may be used in relative location measurement, relative location determination, motion determination, etc. Information detected by the sensor(s) 313 may be used for object feature determination, motion detection, relative displacement, dead reckoning, sensor-based location determination, and / or sensor-assisted location determination. The IMU may be configured to provide measurements for the direction of motion and / or speed of motion of the UE 300, which may be used in relative location determination. For example, one or more accelerometers and / or one or more gyroscopes of the IMU may detect the linear acceleration and rotational speed, respectively, of the UE 300. The measurements of the linear acceleration and rotational speed of the UE 300 may be integrated over time to determine the instantaneous direction and displacement of the UE 300 motion. The instantaneous direction and displacement of the motion may be integrated to track the location of the UE 300. For example, a reference location of UE300 may be determined for a certain moment in time, and measurements from the accelerometer(s) and gyroscope(s) obtained after this moment may be used in dead reckoning to determine the current location of UE300 based on the movement (direction and distance) of UE300 relative to the reference location.

[0067]

[0071] The magnetometer(s) may determine magnetic field strength in different directions, which may be used to determine an orientation of the UE 300. For example, the orientation may be used to provide the UE 300 with a digital compass. The magnetometer may be a two-dimensional magnetometer configured to detect and provide an indication of magnetic field strength in two orthogonal dimensions. Alternatively, the magnetometer may be a three-dimensional magnetometer configured to detect and provide an indication of magnetic field strength in three orthogonal dimensions. The magnetometer may provide a means for sensing magnetic fields and providing an indication of the magnetic field, for example, to the processor 310.

[0068]

[0072] The air pressure sensor(s) may determine air pressure near an object, or air pressure that may be used to determine the altitude of the UE 300 or the current floor level in a building. For example, differential air pressure measurements may be used to detect when the floor the UE 300 is on has changed, as well as the changed floor level. The air pressure sensor(s) may provide a means for sensing air pressure and providing an indication of air pressure, for example, to the processor 310.

[0069]

[0073] The transceiver 315 may include a wireless transceiver 340 and a wired transceiver 350 configured to communicate with other devices over wireless and wired connections, respectively. For example, the wireless transceiver 340 may include a transmitter 342 and a receiver 344 coupled to one or more antennas 346 to transmit (e.g., on one or more uplink channels and / or one or more sidelink channels) and / or receive (e.g., on one or more downlink channels and / or one or more sidelink channels) wireless signals 348, convert signals from the wireless signals 348 to wired (e.g., electrical and / or optical) signals, and convert signals from the wired (e.g., electrical and / or optical) signals to the wireless signals 348. Thus, the transmitter 342 may include multiple transmitters, which may be discrete components or combined / integrated components, and / or the receiver 344 may include multiple receivers, which may be discrete components or combined / integrated components. The wireless transceiver 340 may be configured to communicate signals (e.g., with base stations and / or one or more other devices) according to various radio access technologies (RATs), such as 5G New Radio (NR), Global System for Mobiles (GSM), Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS), Advanced Mobile Phone System (AMPS), Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), Wideband CDMA (WCDMA), Long-Term Evolution (LTE), LTE Direct (LTE-D), 6GPP LTE-V2X (PC5), IEEE 802.11 (including IEEE 802.11p), WiFi, WiFi Direct (WiFi-D), Bluetooth, Zigbee, etc.The new radio may use mmWave and / or sub-6 GHz frequencies. The wired transceiver 350 may include, for example, a transmitter 352 and a receiver 354 configured for wired communication. The transmitter 352 may include multiple transmitters, which may be discrete components or combined / integrated components, and / or the receiver 354 may include multiple receivers, which may be discrete components or combined / integrated components. The wired transceiver 350 may be configured, for example, for optical and / or electrical communication. The transceiver 315 may be communicatively coupled to the transceiver interface 314, for example, by an optical and / or electrical connection. The transceiver interface 314 may be at least partially integrated with the transceiver 315. In some embodiments, the transceiver 315 does not include the wired transceiver 350.

[0070]

[0074] The antenna 346 may include an antenna array that may be capable of receive beamforming or transmit beamforming, for example, by increasing the gain setting and / or adjusting the phase setting of the array of antennas in a particular direction to amplify (e.g., increase the gain level) an RF signal received from or transmitted toward that direction. The antenna 346 may further include multiple antenna panels, each of which may be beamforming. The antenna 346 may be adaptive, such as, for example, selecting one or more antennas to control receiving a transmitted beam from a base station or transmitting a beam toward another UE. For example, to reduce power consumption, for example, fewer beams or a single beam may be selected for receiving a wide beam, while a larger number of antennas in the antenna array may be selected when the transmit beam is relatively narrow. Conversely, the antenna 346 may be configured to transmit a wide beam or a relatively narrow beam.

[0071]

[0075] The user interface 316 may comprise one or more of several devices, such as, for example, a speaker, a microphone, a display device, a vibrating device, a keyboard, a touch screen, etc. The user interface 316 may comprise two or more of any of these devices. The user interface 316 may be configured to allow a user to interact with one or more applications hosted by the UE 300. For example, the user interface 316 may store in the memory 311 indications of analog and / or digital signals to be processed by the DSP 331 and / or the processor 330 in response to an action from the user. Similarly, applications hosted on the UE 300 may store in the memory 311 indications of analog and / or digital signals to present output signals to the user. The user interface 316 may include audio input / output (I / O) devices, including, for example, a speaker, a microphone, digital-to-analog circuitry, analog-to-digital circuitry, an amplifier, and / or gain control circuitry (including any two or more of these devices). Other configurations of audio I / O devices may be used. Additionally, or alternatively, the user interface 316 may include one or more touch sensors that respond to contact and / or pressure, for example, on a keyboard and / or touch screen of the user interface 316.

[0072]

[0076] The UE 300 may include a camera 318 for capturing still or video images of, for example, RF sensing objects. The camera 318 may comprise, for example, an imaging sensor (e.g., a charge-coupled device or CMOS imager), a lens, analog-digital circuitry, a frame buffer, etc. Additional processing, conditioning, encoding, and / or compression of signals representing the captured images may be performed by the general-purpose processor 330 and / or the DSP 331. For example, the captured images may be processed to generate a segmentation map, which may be used to generate a category map for classifying one or more objects in the image as, for example, a human, a car, a bicycle, etc. Similarly, or instead, the video processor 333 may perform conditioning, encoding, compression, and / or manipulation of signals representing the captured images. The video processor 333 may decode / decompress stored image data, for example, for display on a display device (not shown) of the user interface 316.

[0073]

[0077] The memory 311 may store software 312 including executable program code or software instructions that, when executed by the processor 310, may cause the processor 310 to operate as a special purpose computer programmed to perform the functions disclosed herein. As shown, the memory 311 may include one or more components or modules that may be implemented by the processor 310 to perform the functions disclosed. Although the components or modules are shown as software 312 in the memory 311 executable by the processor 310, it should be understood that the components or modules may be stored in another computer readable medium or may be dedicated hardware either within the processor 310 or external to the processor. Several software modules and data tables may reside in the memory 311 and be utilized by the processor 310 to manage both the communications and functionality described herein. It should be understood that the organization of the contents of the memory 311 as shown is only an example, and thus the functionality of the modules and / or data structures may be combined, separated, and / or structured in different ways depending on the implementation.

[0074]

[0078] The memory 311 may include an object feature reporting module 372 that, for example, when implemented by the one or more processors 310, configures the one or more processors 310 to participate in deriving object features from non-RF sensor measurements of one or more objects, and to provide the object features in an object feature report to the network, for example, via the transceiver 315. The object feature report may be transmitted over a RAT dependent lower layer channel, such as, for example, a PHY channel or a MAC-CE channel, for example, over a PUSCH or a PUCCH. The object features may be derived from measurements produced by one or more sensors, such as an ultrasonic sensor, a lidar, a barometer, etc. (313, and / or a non-RF sensor, which may include a camera 318, or a combination thereof. For example, object features derived from the camera 318 may include an object class (e.g., human, car, bicycle, dog, cat, etc.), an estimated size, a motion status of the object, and an orientation (e.g., direction) relative to the UE. The estimated size may be determined based on the object class and a cross-section of the object in the image. The motion status of the object may be determined based on, for example, the displacement of the object in multiple images and the time between images. The orientation of the object may be determined based on the orientation of the UE 300 determined from the magnetometer when the image is captured.

[0075]

[0079] Object features derived from LIDAR and / or ultrasound may be reported as range (e.g., distance from the UE), orientation (e.g., direction) relative to the UE 104, estimated size, and object class. For example, range to the UE may be determined based on the time of flight of the LIDAR and / or ultrasound signals. The orientation of the object may be determined based on the orientation of the UE 300 determined from the magnetometer when the image is captured. An estimated location of the object may be determined based on the range and orientation of the object relative to the UE 300 and the known position of the UE 300 determined, for example, from a GNSS sensor or cellular positioning techniques. An estimated size and classification of the object may be determined based on the LIDAR and / or ultrasound, for example, using topographical mapping.

[0076]

[0080] Object features derived from a barometric pressure sensor may include atmospheric pressure.

[0077]

[0081] In some implementations, the one or more processors 310 may be configured to derive a common feature set for different non-RF technologies reported by the object feature reporting module 372 in the memory 311. For example, the common feature set may include a radar cross section (RCS), including, for example, RCS variation, based on an estimated size of the object determined from one or more different non-RF sensor measurements, such as, for example, camera, lidar, ultrasound, or a combination thereof. Object features such as speed, position, trajectory, and orientation (relative to the UE) of the object may be determined from one or more different non-RF sensor measurements, such as, for example, camera, lidar, ultrasound, magnetometer, GNSS sensor, or a combination thereof.

[0078]

[0082] The one or more processors 310 may be configured to provide their capabilities for generating object features using non-RF measurements, for example, to the network or RF sensing serving 172 via the transceiver 315. The one or more processors 310 may be configured to receive from the network or RF sensing serving 172, via the transceiver 315, a configuration of object features to be reported.

[0079]

[0083] The one or more processors 310 may be further configured to include a timestamp associated with the one or more object features in the object feature report. The timestamp may be a single timestamp associated with the object feature or may be separate timestamps for different object features acquired using different non-RF sensors. In addition, the object feature report may include an object ID that identifies the object from which the object feature is derived. The object feature report may further include a reporting period for which the object feature is applicable and may skip reporting an object feature if the object feature is highly correlated with the object feature provided in a previous report, for example, if the change in the object feature is below a predetermined threshold. The one or more processors 310 may be further configured to send or receive a request to prioritize object features to or from the RF sensing server 172 via the transceiver 315 and prioritize the object features accordingly. The object features in the object feature report may have the same format as those used in the RF sensing measurement report.

[0080]

[0084] Although the object feature reporting module 372 is shown as software contained in memory 311, the object feature reporting module 372 may be a hardware module, a software module, or a combination of hardware and software. For example, the module may include one or more application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), executable code, or a combination of both.

[0081]

[0085] 4 illustrates a base station 400, which is an example of a base station 102 configured to generate object feature reports based on non-RF measurements to support RF sensing in a wireless network (such as the wireless communication system 100). The base station 400 may be further configured to transmit and / or receive one or more RRS resources based on RRS resources configured by the RF sensing server 172 based at least in part on the object feature reports. The base station 400 includes a computing platform including at least one processor 410, a memory 413 including software (SW) 414, one or more sensors 412, and a transceiver 415. The processor 410, the memory 413, and the transceiver 415 may be communicatively coupled to each other by a bus 420 (which may be configured for optical and / or electrical communication, for example). One or more of the illustrated devices may be omitted from the base station 400, or the base station 400 may include one or more devices not illustrated. The processor 410 may include one or more intelligent hardware devices, such as a central processing unit (CPU), a microcontroller, an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), etc. The one or more sensors 412 may include, for example, a radar, an ultrasonic, a lidar, and a camera, similar to the one or more sensors 313 (and camera 318) described in FIG. 3. The processor 410 may comprise multiple processors (including, for example, one or more of an application processor, a DSP, a modem processor, a video processor, a processor for radar, ultrasonic, a lidar, and / or a camera, similar to that shown in FIG. 3). The memory 413 is a non-transitory storage medium, which may include random access memory (RAM), flash memory, disk memory, and / or read only memory (ROM), etc. The memory 413 stores software 414, which may be processor-readable and processor-executable software code, including instructions configured, when executed, to cause the processor 410 to operate as a special-purpose computer programmed to perform various functions described herein.Alternatively, the software 414 may not be directly executable by the processor 410, but may be configured, for example, when compiled and executed, to cause the processor 410 to operate as a special purpose computer to perform various functions described herein. The specification may refer only to the processor 410 performing a function, including other implementations, such as the processor 410 executing software and / or firmware. The specification may state that the processor 410 performs a function as a shorthand for one or more of the processors included within the processor 410 performing the function. The specification may refer to the base station 400 performing a function as a shorthand for one or more suitable components of the base station 400 performing the function. The processor 410 may include a memory having instructions stored therein in addition to and / or in place of the memory 413. The functionality of the processor 410 is discussed in more detail below.

[0082]

[0086] The transceiver 415 may include a wireless transceiver 440 and a wired transceiver 450 configured to communicate with other devices over wireless and wired connections, respectively. For example, the wireless transceiver 440 may include a transmitter 442 and a receiver 444 coupled to one or more antennas 446 to transmit and / or receive wireless signals 448 (e.g., on one or more uplink channels and / or one or more downlink channels) and convert signals from the wireless signals 448 to wired (e.g., electrical and / or optical) signals and from the wired (e.g., electrical and / or optical) signals to the wireless signals 448. The antennas 446 are one or more antenna arrays capable of beamforming and transmitting / receiving beams, including beams used to transmit or receive signals (including RRS resources) to support RF sensing of objects. The transmitter 442 may include multiple transmitters, which may be discrete or combined / integrated components, and / or the receiver 444 may include multiple receivers, which may be discrete or combined / integrated components. The wireless transceiver 440 may be configured to communicate signals (e.g., with the UE 300, one or more other UEs, and / or one or more other devices) according to various radio access technologies (RATs), such as 5G New Radio (NR), Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS), Advanced Mobile Phone System (AMPS), Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), Wideband CDMA (WCDMA), Long Term Evolution (LTE), LTE Direct (LTE-D), 6GPP LTE-V2X (PC5), IEEE 802.11 (including IEEE 802.11p), WiFi, WiFi Direct (WiFi-D), Bluetooth, Zigbee, etc. The wired transceiver 450 may include a transmitter 452 and a receiver 454 configured for wired communication, for example, to send communications to and receive communications from the RF sensing server 172.The transmitter 452 may include multiple transmitters, which may be discrete components or combined / integrated components, and / or the receiver 454 may include multiple receivers, which may be discrete components or combined / integrated components. The wired transceiver 450 may be configured for optical and / or electrical communications, for example.

[0083]

[0087] 4 is an example rather than a limitation on the present disclosure, including the claims, and other configurations may be used. For example, while the description herein discusses the base station 400 being configured to or performing certain functions, one or more of these functions may be performed by the RF sensing server 172 and / or the UE 300.

[0084]

[0088] The memory 413 may store software 414 including executable program code or software instructions that, when executed by the processor 410, may cause the processor 410 to operate as a special purpose computer programmed to perform the functions disclosed herein. As shown, the memory 413 may include one or more components or modules that may be implemented by the processor 410 to perform the functions disclosed. Although the components or modules are shown as software 414 in the memory 413 executable by the processor 410, it should be understood that the components or modules may be stored in another computer readable medium or may be dedicated hardware either within the processor 410 or external to the processor. Several software modules and data tables may reside in the memory 413 and be utilized by the processor 410 to manage both the communications and functionality described herein. It should be understood that the organization of the contents of the memory 413 as shown is only an example, and thus the functionality of the modules and / or data structures may be combined, separated, and / or structured in different ways depending on the implementation.

[0085]

[0089] The memory 413 may include an object feature reporting module 472 that, for example, when implemented by the one or more processors 410, configures the one or more processors 410 to participate in deriving object features from non-RF sensor measurements of one or more objects and provide the object features in an object feature report to the network, for example, via the transceiver 415. The object feature report may be transmitted, for example, via a PUSCH or PUCCH, over a RAT-dependent lower layer channel, such as a PHY channel or a MAC-CE channel. The object features may be derived from measurements generated by non-RF sensors, which may include one or more sensors 412, such as an ultrasonic sensor, a lidar, a barometer, and / or a camera, or a combination thereof. For example, object features derived from a camera may include an object class (e.g., human, car, bicycle, dog, cat, etc.), an estimated size, a motion status of the object, and an orientation (e.g., direction) relative to the base station. The estimated size may be determined based on the object class as well as a cross-section of the object in the image. The motion status of the object may be determined, for example, based on the displacement of the object in multiple images and the time between the images. The orientation of the object may be determined based on the known fixed orientation of the base station 400 .

[0086]

[0090] Object features derived from LIDAR and / or ultrasound may be reported as range (e.g., distance from base station 400), orientation (e.g., direction) relative to base station 400, estimated size, and object class. For example, range to base station 400 may be determined based on the time of flight of the LIDAR and / or ultrasound signals. The orientation of the object may be determined based on a known fixed orientation of base station 400. Based on the range and orientation of the object relative to base station 400 and the known position of base station 400, an estimated location of the object may be determined. An estimated size and classification of the object may be determined based on LIDAR and / or ultrasound, for example, using topographic mapping.

[0087]

[0091] Object features derived from a barometric pressure sensor may include atmospheric pressure.

[0088]

[0092] In some implementations, the one or more processors 410 may be configured to derive a common feature set for different non-RF technologies reported by the object feature reporting module 472 in memory 413. For example, the common feature set may include a radar cross section (RCS), including, for example, RCS variation, based on an estimated size of the object determined from one or more different non-RF sensor measurements, such as, for example, camera, lidar, ultrasound, or a combination thereof. Object features such as the object's speed, position, trajectory, and orientation (relative to the base station 400) may be determined from one or more different non-RF sensor measurements, such as, for example, camera, lidar, ultrasound, magnetometer, GNSS sensor, or a combination thereof.

[0089]

[0093] The one or more processors 410 may be configured to provide its capabilities for generating object features using non-RF measurements, for example, to the network or RF sensing serving 172 via the transceiver 415. The one or more processors 410 may be configured to receive from the network or RF sensing serving 172 via the transceiver 415 a configuration of object features to be reported.

[0090]

[0094] The one or more processors 410 may be further configured to include a timestamp associated with the one or more object features in the object feature report. The timestamp may be a single timestamp associated with the object feature or may be separate timestamps for different object features acquired using different non-RF sensors. In addition, the object feature report may include an object ID that identifies the object from which the object feature is derived. The object feature report may further include a reporting period for which the object feature is applicable and may skip reporting an object feature if the object feature is highly correlated with the object feature provided in a previous report, for example, if the change in the object feature is below a predetermined threshold. The one or more processors 410 may be further configured to send or receive a request to prioritize object features to or from the RF sensing server 172 via the transceiver 415 and prioritize the object features accordingly. The object features in the object feature report may have the same format as those used in the RF sensing measurement report.

[0091]

[0095] Although the object feature reporting module 472 is shown as software contained in memory 413, the object feature reporting module 472 may be a hardware module, a software module, or a combination of hardware and software. For example, the module may include one or more application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), executable code, or a combination of both.

[0092]

[0096] 5 illustrates a server 500, which is an example of an RF sensing server 172 configured to receive object feature reports based on non-RF measurements from a network node, such as a UE or a base station, that may be used to support RF sensing in a wireless network (such as the wireless communication system 100). The server 500 includes a computing platform including at least one processor 510, a memory 511 including software (SW) 512, and a transceiver 515. The processor 510, the memory 511, and the transceiver 515 may be communicatively coupled to each other by a bus 520 (which may be configured for optical and / or electrical communication, for example). One or more of the illustrated devices may be omitted from the server 500, or the server 500 may include one or more devices not illustrated. The processor 510 may include one or more intelligent hardware devices, such as a central processing unit (CPU), a microcontroller, an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), etc. The processor 510 may comprise multiple processors. Memory 511 is a non-transitory storage medium that may include random access memory (RAM), flash memory, disk memory, and / or read-only memory (ROM), etc. Memory 511 stores software 512, which may be processor-readable, processor-executable software code that includes instructions configured, when executed, to cause processor 510 to operate as a special-purpose computer programmed to perform various functions described herein. Alternatively, software 512 may not be directly executable by processor 510, but may be configured, for example, when compiled and executed, to cause processor 510 to operate as a special-purpose computer to perform various functions described herein. Although this specification may only refer to processor 510 performing functions, this includes other implementations, such as processor 510 executing software and / or firmware.The specification may state that processor 510 performs a function as a shorthand for one or more of the processors included within processor 510 performing the function. The specification may refer to server 500 performing a function as a shorthand for one or more suitable components of server 500 performing the function. Processor 510 may include memory having instructions stored thereon in addition to and / or in place of memory 511. The functionality of processor 510 is discussed in more detail below.

[0093]

[0097] The transceiver 515 may include a wireless transceiver 540 and a wired transceiver 550 configured to communicate with other devices over wireless and wired connections, respectively. For example, the wireless transceiver 540 may include a transmitter 542 and a receiver 544 coupled to one or more antennas 546 to transmit and / or receive wireless signals 548 (e.g., on one or more uplink channels and / or one or more downlink channels) and convert signals from the wireless signals 548 to wired (e.g., electrical and / or optical) signals and from the wired (e.g., electrical and / or optical) signals to the wireless signals 548. The transmitter 542 may include multiple transmitters, which may be discrete components or combined / integrated components, and / or the receiver 544 may include multiple receivers, which may be discrete components or combined / integrated components. The wireless transceiver 540 may be configured to communicate signals (e.g., with the UE 300, one or more other UEs, and / or one or more other devices) according to various radio access technologies (RATs), such as 5G New Radio (NR), Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS), Advanced Mobile Phone System (AMPS), Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), Wideband CDMA (WCDMA), Long Term Evolution (LTE), LTE Direct (LTE-D), 6GPP LTE-V2X (PC5), IEEE 802.11 (including IEEE 802.11p), WiFi, WiFi Direct (WiFi-D), Bluetooth, Zigbee, etc. The wired transceiver 550 may include a transmitter 552 and a receiver 554 configured for wired communications, e.g., to transmit communications to and receive communications from the base station 102. The transmitter 552 may include multiple transmitters, which may be discrete components or combined / integrated components, and / or the receiver 554 may include multiple receivers, which may be discrete components or combined / integrated components. The wired transceiver 550 may be configured for optical and / or electrical communications, for example.

[0094]

[0098] 5 is an example, not a limitation, of the present disclosure, including the claims, and other configurations may be used. For example, the description herein discusses the server 500 being configured to or performing certain functions, but one or more of these functions may be performed by the base station 400 and / or the UE 300.

[0095]

[0099] The memory 511 may store software 512 including executable program code or software instructions that, when executed by the processor 510, may cause the processor 510 to operate as a special purpose computer programmed to perform the functions disclosed herein. As shown, the memory 511 may include one or more components or modules that may be implemented by the processor 510 to perform the functions disclosed. Although the components or modules are shown as software 512 in the memory 511 executable by the processor 510, it should be understood that the components or modules may be stored in another computer readable medium or may be dedicated hardware either within the processor 510 or external to the processor. Several software modules and data tables may reside in the memory 511 and be utilized by the processor 510 to manage both the communications and functionality described herein. It should be understood that the organization of the contents of the memory 511 as shown is only an example, and thus the functionality of the modules and / or data structures may be combined, separated, and / or structured in different ways depending on the implementation.

[0096]

[0100] The memory 511 may include, for example, an object feature reporting module 572 that, when implemented by the one or more processors 510, configures the one or more processors 510 to receive, via the transceiver 515, an object feature report from the network node for one or more object features determined by the network node based on one or more non-RF measurements associated with an RF sensing object. The object feature report may be received, for example, via a PUSCH or PUCCH, via a RAT dependent lower layer channel, such as a PHY channel or a MAC-CE channel. The object features may be derived from measurements generated by non-RF sensors, which may include ultrasonic sensors, lidar, barometers, cameras, or combinations thereof. The one or more processors 510 may be configured to determine, via the object feature reporting module 572 in the memory 511, the object features to be determined, and to transmit, for example, via the transceiver 515, an indication of the object features of the object to be included in the object feature report to the network node. For example, the one or more processors 510 may be configured to receive, via the transceiver 515, a capability message from a network node, such as a UE, indicating support for reporting different features for each different non-RF technology, and in response may provide an indication of the object features to be reported. The one or more processors 510 may be further configured to send to or receive, via the transceiver 515, a request to prioritize the object features to the network node.

[0097]

[0101] The object features may be different for each non-RF sensor measurement used, including, for example, range (e.g., distance from a network node), orientation (e.g., direction) relative to the network node, estimated size, object class, atmospheric pressure, etc. Instead, the object feature report may include a common set of features for different non-RF technologies, such as, for example, radar cross section (RCS) including RCS variation, speed, position, trajectory, direction (relative to the network node). The object features in the object feature report may have the same format as used in the RF sensing measurement report.

[0098]

[0102] The one or more processors 510 may be configured to generate RF sensing waveforms and resources, including Tx power per antenna, number of Tx antennas for radar reference signal transmission, and radar reference repetition factor, based on the object features reported in the object feature report. The one or more processors 510 may be configured to transmit the configured RF sensing waveforms and resources to one or more network nodes via the transceiver 515 for RF transmission of one or more objects in the environment.

[0099]

[0103] Although the object feature reporting module 572 is shown as software contained in memory 511, the object feature reporting module 572 may be a hardware module, a software module, or a combination of hardware and software. For example, the module may include one or more application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), executable code, or a combination of both.

[0100]

[0104] RF sensing, or radar systems, may include monostatic and multistatic radar systems. A monostatic radar system includes one device that both transmits radar signals and receives reflections of the radar signals. A monostatic radar system may be for identifying a motion state of a transmitting / receiving device or for identifying objects in the environment of the transmitting / receiving device. A multistatic radar system includes a system having a receiving device different from the transmitting device. For example, one or more transmitting devices transmit radar signals and one or more separate receiving devices receive reflections of the radar signals from objects. An exemplary multistatic radar system is a bistatic radar system with one transmitting device transmitting and one receiving device receiving, although there may be any number of transmitting or receiving devices. A multistatic radar system may be for identifying a motion state of an object that reflects a radar signal.

[0101]

[0105] 6 illustrates an example bistatic radar system 600. The bistatic radar system 600 includes a radar transmitter (RTX) 610 and a radar receiver (RRX) 620. The radar transmitter 610 and the radar receiver 620 are spatially separated by a baseline (L). In some implementations, the radar transmitter 610 may be an example of a base station 102 (or a UE 104), and the radar receiver 620 may be an example of one of the different base stations 102 (or UE 104) of FIG.

[0102]

[0106] The radar transmitter 610 is configured to transmit radar pulses 612 in several directions. Each of the pulses 612 may be a beamformed RF signal with a particular width and directionality. Objects or surfaces along the trajectory of any of the pulses 612 may reflect or scatter the pulses 612. The reflected pulses may be referred to as "echoes" of the pulses from which they originate. In the example of FIG. 6, the target object 601 is located along the path of one of the radar pulses 612. The radar pulse 612(i) incident on the target object 601 is reflected as an echo 622. As shown in FIG. 6, the echo 622 is reflected in the direction of the radar receiver 620. The radar receiver 620 may determine ranging information about the target object 601 based at least in part on the timing of the echo 622. Exemplary ranging information may include, but is not limited to, the range, direction, or speed of the target object 601.

[0103]

[0107] In some implementations, the radar receiver 620 determines the baseline distance L (between the radar transmitter 610 and the radar receiver 620) and the angle of arrival (θ R ) and the time of flight (τ) from the transmission of the incident pulse 612(i) by the radar transmitter 610 to the reception of the resulting echo 622 by the radar receiver 620. R Specifically, the distance R R can be calculated according to Equation 1.

[0104]

number

[0105] In the formula, R T +R R R represents the composite distance from the target object 601 to each of the radar transmitter 610 and the radar receiver 620. As shown in FIG. T +R RR defines a range 602 of distances around the radar transmitter 610 and radar receiver 620 (in the shape of an ellipse) where the target object 601 may be located. More specifically, R T +R R is defined as the baseline (L), the time of flight of the reflected pulse (τ), and the propagation speed of the radar pulse (c p ) can be calculated as a function of R T +R R =c p τ+L (2)

[0106]

[0108] Referring to Equation 1 and Equation 2, the baseline L and the propagation speed c p represents a fixed or pre-configured value specific to the radar system 600. R may be determined based on the time difference of arrival (TDOA) of the echo 622 between different receive antennas of the radar receiver 620 in an antenna array, or based on the antenna sector (corresponding to a preset beam of a phased array antenna) used by the radar receiver 620 to receive the echo 622. However, to calculate the time of flight τ, the radar receiver 620 must know the time when the incident pulse 612(i) was transmitted at the receiver's location. More specifically, the time of flight τ is calculated based on the transmission time (T pulse ) and the echo reception time (T echo ) can be calculated as a function of τ=T echo -T pulse (3)

[0107]

[0109] For a stationary radar transmitter 610 and a stationary radar receiver 620, the target bistatic Doppler frequency is given by:

[0108]

number

[0109] where v is the velocity of the target object 601 and β is the exit angle θ T and angle of arrival θ R and δ is the angle between the velocity vector v and the angle β.

[0110]

[0110] Since the radar transmitter 610 and the radar receiver 620 are implemented in (or correspond to) separate wireless communication devices, the radar transmitter 610 can determine the timing T pulse The radar transmitter 610 may need to communicate the timing of each of the pulses 612 to the radar receiver 620, and the radar receiver 620 may need to determine which of the pulses 612 resulted in an echo 622. In some implementations, such timing information (T pulse ) from the radar transmitter 610 to the radar receiver 620 may use a packet format in accordance with the IEEE 802.11 standard.

[0111]

[0111] In some implementations, the radar transmitter 610 may transmit timing information followed by a synchronization sequence (not shown for simplicity) to the radar receiver 620 before transmitting the radar pulse 612. The timing information may be used to synchronize a receiver clock of the radar receiver 620 with a transmit clock of the radar transmitter 610. For example, the timing information may indicate a timing offset or delay between one or more portions of the synchronization sequence and the start of the transmission of the radar pulse 612. Thus, upon detecting the synchronization sequence and at least a portion of the subsequent echo 622, the radar receiver 620 may determine the exact time that the incident pulse 612(i) was transmitted by the radar transmitter 610. The radar receiver 620 may then calculate the distance R of the target object 601 (as described with respect to Equations 1-3). R In order to determine the echo timing T echo The timing of the transmitted pulse T pulse can be compared to.

[0112] In some implementations, the radar transmitter 610 may also determine ranging information regarding the target object 601. For example, the radar transmitter 610 may determine its relative distance R to the target object 601. T For example, in some aspects, the radar receiver 620 may provide feedback to the radar transmitter 610 regarding the echo 622. The feedback may determine the timing of the echo, T echo , the timing of the transmission pulse T pulse , flight time τ, arrival angle θ R , the calculated distance R R , or any combination thereof. The radar transmitter 610 then determines the exit angle θ of the incident pulse 612(i). T Based at least in part on the distance R of the target object 601 T For example, the radar transmitter 610 may calculate the angle of arrival θ in Equation 1. R The output angle θ T By substituting, the distance R TThe radar transmitter 610 may calculate the exit angle θ based on the antenna sector (corresponding to a particular beam of a phased array antenna) used by the radar transmitter 610 to transmit the incident pulse 612(i). T It can be determined.

[0113]

[0113] By providing object features of the target object 601 to the RF sensing server 172 in an object feature report, the radar pulse 612 used to sense the target object 601 may be specifically configured. For example, the waveform and resources including Tx power per antenna, number of Tx antennas for radar reference signal transmission, radar reference repetition factor may be optimized based on the object features reported in the object feature report including range from the radar transmitter 610 and radar receiver 620 to the target object 601, size of the target object 601, and atmospheric conditions. By specifically adjusting the configuration of the radar pulse 612 based on the object feature report, improvements in sensing performance, spectral efficiency of the cellular system, and power efficiency of the sensing node are possible.

[0114] 7 is an example of a process 700 for obtaining object features from an image captured by a camera. It should be understood that process 700 illustrates only one exemplary process for generating a category map from an image that may be used to derive object features.

[0115] As shown, the image 702 may be captured using a camera, e.g., the camera 318 in the UE 300 or the camera in the sensor 412 in the base station 400. A processor, e.g., the processor 334 in the UE 300 or the processor 410 in the base station 400, may scale the image used for segmentation and processing 704. The segmented image and the input image may then undergo pixel processing 706 to generate a processed image 708. In addition, category mapping may be performed using the segmentation from the segmentation and processing process 704 and the processed image 708 to generate a category map 710. The resulting category map 710 may be used to derive an object class in the image 702, e.g., human, car, bicycle, etc. Furthermore, the orientation of the object (relative to the camera) may be determined based on the orientation of the camera when the image was captured, e.g., as determined using a magnetometer and / or a gyroscope. Additionally, an estimated size or radar cross section may be determined for objects in the image based on the spatial extent of the objects in the image, along with the average object size based on the magnification, focal length, etc. of the lens used to capture the image, as well as the object class.

[0116]

[0116] Figure 8 is a message flow 800 illustrating messaging between a network node 804 and a server 806 for generating and transmitting an object feature report based on non-RF measurements to support RF sensing of a target object 801. The network node may be a UE, such as the UE 104 or UE 300 shown in Figures 1 and 3, respectively, or a base station, such as the base station 102 or base station 400 shown in Figures 1 and 4. The message flow 800 illustrates the presence of additional network nodes 802-1 and 802-2, both or either of which may be the base station 802 shown in Figure 1 or the base station 400 shown in Figure 3, or the UE 104 shown in Figure 1 or the UE 300 shown in Figure 3. The server 806 may be, for example, the RF sensing server 172 shown in Figure 1, or another entity included in the wireless network that is coupled to the wireless network. The procedure illustrated in Figure 8 may be used to support RF sensing, such as, for example, monostatic or bistatic radar sensing of a target object 801, as described above with reference to Figure 6. It should be understood that while Figure 8 illustrates messages that may be transmitted in supporting RF sensing, it does not include all messages or actions that may be performed during RF sensing and is provided for completeness, but additionally includes messages or actions that may not be necessary for RF sensing.

[0117] In stage 1, the network node 804 may provide a capabilities message to the server 806, which may provide the capabilities of the network node 804 to generate object features using non-RF measurements. The capabilities may indicate, for example, which non-RF sensors are available to generate measurements of the object and / or the types of object features that the network node 804 may derive. The capabilities message provided in stage 1 may be sent in response to a request for capabilities previously sent by the server 806 to the network node 804.

[0118]

[0118] In stage 2, the server 806 may send a message to the network node providing an indication of the object features to be reported and the prioritization, if any, to be used. For example, the server 806 may indicate the type of object features to be reported, such as object features for each available non-wireless sensor, such as object class, estimated size, motion status, orientation, position, barometric pressure, etc., or the identity of a common object feature set for all non-wireless sensor measurements to be reported, such as RCS, RCS variation, speed, position, trajectory, direction, barometric pressure, etc. The server 806 may request that the network node prioritize the object feature reports and may further indicate priority rules to be used in object feature derivation and reporting for the target object 801, such as object features that may be given higher priority than other object features, or the identity of objects that should be given higher priority than other objects (assuming there are multiple objects). In some implementations, the network node 804 may send a request to the server 806 requesting prioritization of the object feature reports. In some implementations, the server 806 may provide an indication of an object ID to be used for the target object 801 to be associated with the object feature reported by the network node 804. The server 806 may further provide an indication of a reporting period to be used by the network node 804 to report the object feature, and an indication of whether reporting of the object feature may be skipped if there are no updates for the object feature (e.g., the change since the last report is less than a predetermined threshold), as well as the number of reports that may be skipped.

[0119] In stage 3, the network node 804 may obtain non-RF sensor measurements associated with the target object 801. For example, the network node may capture an image of 801 and / or probe the target object 801 using lidar, ultrasonic, or other non-RF sensors. The network node 804 may further obtain atmospheric pressure measurements, for example, using a barometer. The network node 804 may determine its orientation, for example, relative to a geographic coordinate system (GCS) or other coordinate system, using a magnetometer, gyroscope, accelerometer, etc., at or about the time of obtaining the non-RF sensor measurements associated with the target object 801. The network node 804 may further determine its position, for example, relative to a geographic coordinate system (GCS) or other coordinate system, using GNSS, cellular positioning, etc., at or about the time of obtaining the non-RF sensor measurements associated with the target object 801.

[0120] In stage 4, the network node 804 derives object features from the non-RF sensor measurements obtained in stage 3. The derived object features may, for example, follow the object feature instructions provided by the server 806 in stage 2. For example, the object features derived from the camera may be object class (e.g., human, car, bicycle, dog, cat, etc.), estimated size, motion status of the object, and orientation (e.g., direction) relative to the network node 804. The object features derived from the lidar and / or ultrasound may be range (e.g., distance from the network node 804), orientation (e.g., direction) relative to the network node 804, estimated size, and object class. The object features derived from the air pressure sensor may include atmospheric pressure. In another implementation, a common feature set may be determined for the non-RF sensor measurements, such as radar cross section (RCS), including, for example, RCS variation, speed, position, trajectory, angle relative to a direction (e.g., network node 804), or any combination thereof. Additional or different object features may be derived as well, if desired. In some implementations, the object features derived by the network node 804 may be prioritized, i.e., not all possible object features may be derived based on priority rules that may be obtained from the server 806 in stage 2 or may be stored in the network node 804, for example.

[0121]

[0121] In stage 5, the network node 804 transmits an object feature report to the server 806. The object feature report may include the object features derived in stage 4. It should be understood that the server 806 may obtain object feature reports for the target object 801 from multiple network nodes (not shown). In some implementations, the format of the object features in the object feature report may be the same as that used in the report for the RF sensing measurements, transmitted in stage 7, for example. If the network node 804 is a UE 104 (or UE 300), the object feature report may be transmitted wirelessly using a RAT-dependent lower layer channel, such as a PHY channel or a MAC-CE channel, and may be transmitted via a PUSCH or a PUCCH. It should be understood that the object feature report may be transmitted to the server 806 via a serving base station (e.g., network node 802-1). The object feature report may include all of the derived object features, or may report a subset of the object features derived based on priority rules, which may be obtained from the server 806 in stage 2 or may be stored in the network node 804, for example. The object feature report may include one or more timestamps. For example, the object feature report may include a single timestamp associated with all of the reported object features, or timestamps associated with the non-RF sensor measurements used to derive each object feature. The object feature report may include an object ID of the target object 801 associated with the reported object feature. The object ID may be obtained from the server 806, for example, in stage 6, or may be defined by the network node 804 and provided to the server 806 (e.g., in the object feature report in stage 5). The object feature report may further provide an indication of a reporting period, for example identifying a period of time since any previous report (if any).

[0122] In stage 6, RF sensing of the target object 801 may be performed by one or more network nodes, shown in FIG. 8 as network nodes 802-1 and 802-2. In some implementations, the RF sensing of the target object 801 may include network node 804. The RF sensing in stage 6 may be similar to that shown in FIG. 6, for example. In some implementations, the RF sensing of the target object 801 may be performed by network node 802 using waveforms and RRS resources configured by server 806 based on the object feature report obtained in stage 5 and provided to network node 802.

[0123]

[0123] In step 7, the network node 802 (eg, one or both of network nodes 802-1, 802-2) may transmit the RF sensing report to the server 806.

[0124] In stage 8, for example if the network node 804 is to provide multiple or periodic object feature reports, the network node 804 may obtain another set of non-RF sensor measurements associated with the target object 801. The non-RF sensor measurements associated with the target object 801 obtained in stage 8 may be the same or similar to those obtained in stage 3 described above.

[0125] In stage 9, the network node 804 derives object features from the non-RF sensor measurements obtained in stage 8. The object features derived in stage 9 may be the same or similar to the object features derived in stage 4 described above. In some implementations, different non-RF sensor measurements may be obtained and / or different object features may be derived based on a prioritization, e.g., using priority rules obtained from the server 806 in stage 2 or stored in the network node 804. The network node 804 may determine whether the object features derived in stage 9 are significantly different from the object features derived in stage 4 (and reported in stage 5), e.g., whether the change is greater than a predetermined threshold.

[0126]

[0126] In step 10, the network node 804 sends an object feature report to the server 806. The object feature report in step 10 may be the same as or similar to the object feature report in step 5 described above. However, the object feature report in step 10 may include only object features that are significantly different from the previously reported object features determined in step 9. The server 806 may infer that any object features that are not updated in the object feature report in step 10 have not changed.

[0127]

[0127] Figure 9 shows a flowchart of an example process 900 for supporting radio frequency (RF) sensing in a wireless network, which may be implemented in a manner consistent with an implementation form of the disclosure by a network node such as network node 804 shown in Figure 8, which may be, for example, UE 104 or UE 300 shown in Figures 1 and 3, or base station 102 or base station 400 shown in Figure 1 or Figure 4.

[0128]

[0128] In block 902, the network node acquires one or more non-RF measurements associated with the RF sensing target object, for example, as described above with reference to steps 3 and 8 of Figure 8. In one implementation, the one or more non-RF measurements may include measurements performed by one or more of a camera, an ultrasonic sensor, a lidar, and a barometer. The means for acquiring one or more non-RF measurements associated with the RF sensing target object may include, for example, one or more of the sensor(s) 313, the camera 318, and one or more processors 310 having dedicated hardware such as an object feature reporting module 372 or implementing executable code or software instructions in a memory 311 in the UE 300, as shown in Figure 3, or one or more of the sensor(s) 412, the object feature reporting module 472, or implementing executable code or software instructions in a memory 413 in the base station 400, as shown in Figure 4.

[0129] At block 904, the network node determines one or more object features associated with the target object based on the one or more non-RF measurements, for example, as described above with reference to steps 4 and 9 of FIG. 8. In one implementation, the network node may determine the one or more object features by determining a different object feature for each different non-RF sensor used for the one or more non-RF measurements. In one implementation, the network node may determine the one or more object features by determining a common object feature set for the different non-RF technologies used for the one or more non-RF measurements. The common object feature set may include, for example, one or more of radar cross section, radar cross section variation, speed, position, trajectory, orientation, or a combination thereof. Means for determining one or more object features associated with the target object based on one or more non-RF measurements may include, for example, one or more of the sensor(s) 313, camera 318, one or more processors 310 having dedicated hardware such as an object feature reporting module 372 or implementing executable code or software instructions in memory 311 in the UE 300, as shown in FIG. 3, or one or more of the sensor(s) 412, one or more processors 410 having dedicated hardware such as an object feature reporting module 472 or implementing executable code or software instructions in memory 413 in the base station 400, as shown in FIG. 4.

[0130]

[0130] In block 906, the network node generates an object feature report including one or more object features associated with the target object, for example, as described above with reference to steps 5 and 10 of FIG. 8. In one implementation, the object feature report may further include a timestamp associated with one or more non-RF measurements. In one implementation, the object feature report may further include an object identity (ID) associated with each object feature. In one implementation, the object feature report may further include within it an indication of a reporting period. The means for generating an object feature report including one or more object features associated with the target object may include, for example, one or more processors 310 having dedicated hardware such as the object feature report module 372 shown in FIG. 3 or implementing executable code or software instructions in memory 311 in the UE 300, or one or more processors 410 having dedicated hardware such as the object feature report module 472 shown in FIG. 4 or implementing executable code or software instructions in memory 413 in the base station 400.

[0131]

[0131] In block 908, the network node transmits the object feature report to a server in the wireless network, e.g., as described above with reference to steps 5 and 10 of Figure 8. The means for transmitting the object feature report to a server in the wireless network may include, e.g., one or more processors 310 having dedicated hardware such as a transceiver 315, an object feature reporting module 372, or implementing executable code or software instructions in a memory 311 in the UE 300, as shown in Figure 3, or one or more processors 410 having dedicated hardware such as a transceiver 415, an object feature reporting module 472, or implementing executable code or software instructions in a memory 413 in the base station 400, as shown in Figure 4.

[0132] In one implementation, the network node may send a capability message to the server indicating support for object feature reporting, e.g., as described above with reference to stage 1 of Figure 8. Means for sending a capability message to the server indicating support for object feature reporting may include, e.g., one or more processors 310 having dedicated hardware such as transceiver 315, object feature report module 372, or implementing executable code or software instructions in memory 311 in UE 300, as shown in Figure 3, or one or more processors 410 having dedicated hardware such as transceiver 415, object feature report module 472, or implementing executable code or software instructions in memory 413 in base station 400, as shown in Figure 4. In some implementations, the network node may receive an indication of object features to be included in the object feature report, as described above with reference to stage 1 of Figure 8. The means for receiving an indication of object features to be included in the object feature report may include, for example, one or more processors 310 having dedicated hardware such as transceiver 315, object feature reporting module 372 or implementing executable code or software instructions in memory 311 in UE 300 as shown in Figure 3, or one or more processors 410 having dedicated hardware such as transceiver 415, object feature reporting module 472 or implementing executable code or software instructions in memory 413 in base station 400 as shown in Figure 4. In some implementations, the network node may receive the indication of object features to be included in the object feature report, for example as described above with reference to stage 1 of Figure 8.

[0133] In one implementation, the network node may prioritize the object feature report over another object feature report, for example, as described above with reference to steps 4, 5 and 9, 10 of FIG. 8. In one implementation, the prioritization of the object feature report may be requested by the server or requested by the network node, for example, as described above with reference to step 2 of FIG. 8. The means for prioritizing the object feature report over another object feature report may include, for example, the transceiver 315 shown in FIG. 3 and one or more processors 310 having dedicated hardware such as the object feature report module 372 or implementing executable code or software instructions in the memory 311 in the UE 300, or the transceiver 415, one or more processors 410 having dedicated hardware such as the object feature report module 472 or implementing executable code or software instructions in the memory 413 in the base station 400, as shown in FIG. 4.

[0134] In one implementation, the network node may obtain a subsequent set of one or more non-RF measurements associated with the RF sensing target object, for example, as described above with reference to stage 8 of Figure 8. The means for obtaining a subsequent set of one or more non-RF measurements associated with the RF sensing target object may include, for example, one or more of the sensor(s) 313, camera 318, one or more processors 310 having dedicated hardware such as object feature reporting module 472 or implementing executable code or software instructions in memory 311 in UE 300 shown in Figure 3, or one or more of the sensor(s) 412, one or more processors 410 having dedicated hardware such as object feature reporting module 372 or implementing executable code or software instructions in memory 413 in base station 400 shown in Figure 4. The network node may further determine that a change in the one or more object features determined from a subsequent set of one or more non-RF measurements for one or more object features in the object feature report is less than a threshold, e.g., as described above with reference to step 9 of Figure 8. Means for determining that a change in the one or more object features determined from a subsequent set of one or more non-RF measurements for one or more object features in the object feature report is less than a threshold may include, for example, one or more of the one or more processors 310 having dedicated hardware such as the sensor(s) 313, the camera 318, the object feature reporting module 372 or implementing executable code or software instructions in memory 311 in the UE 300 shown in Figure 3, or one or more of the one or more processors 410 having dedicated hardware such as the sensor(s) 412, the object feature reporting module 472 or implementing executable code or software instructions in memory 413 in the base station 400 shown in Figure 4.The network node may not report one or more object features, e.g. as described above in step 10 of Figure 8. The means for not reporting one or more object features may include, e.g., one or more processors 310 having dedicated hardware such as transceiver 315, object feature reporting module 372 or implementing executable code or software instructions in memory 311 in UE 300 as shown in Figure 3, or one or more processors 410 having dedicated hardware such as transceiver 415, object feature reporting module 472 or implementing executable code or software instructions in memory 413 in base station 400 as shown in Figure 4.

[0135]

[0135] In one implementation, the object feature report may have a format of object features used in an RF sensing measurement report for the target object sent to a server, for example, as described above in steps 5 and 10 of FIG. 8.

[0136]

[0136] FIG. 10 shows a flowchart of an example process 1000 for supporting radio frequency (RF) sensing in a wireless network, which may be implemented in a manner consistent with an implementation form of the disclosure by a server such as server 806 shown in FIG. 8, which may be RF sensing server 172 shown in FIG. 1 or server 500 shown in FIG. 5.

[0137]

[0137] In block 1002, the server transmits to the network node an indication of the object features of the RF sensing target object to be included in the object feature report, e.g., as described above with reference to stage 2 of Figure 8. Means for transmitting to the network node an indication of the object features of the RF sensing target object to be included in the object feature report may include, e.g., one or more processors 510 having dedicated hardware such as transceiver 515, object feature report module 572, or implementing executable code or software instructions in memory 511 in server 500, as shown in Figure 5.

[0138]

[0138] In block 1004, the server receives an object feature report from the network node including one or more object features determined by the network node based on one or more non-RF measurements associated with the target object of the RF sensing, for example, as described above with reference to steps 5 and 10 of FIG. 8. In one implementation, the one or more non-RF measurements may include measurements performed by one or more of a camera, an ultrasonic sensor, a lidar, and a barometer. The means for receiving an object feature report from the network node including one or more object features determined by the network node based on one or more non-RF measurements associated with the target object of the RF sensing may include, for example, one or more processors 510 having dedicated hardware such as a transceiver 515, an object feature report module 572, or implementing executable code or software instructions in a memory 511 in the server 500, as shown in FIG. 5.

[0139] In one implementation, the server may receive a capability message from the UE network node indicating support for object feature reporting, e.g., as described above with reference to stage 1 of Figure 8. Means for receiving a capability message from the UE network node indicating support for object feature reporting may include, e.g., one or more processors 510 having dedicated hardware such as transceiver 515, object feature reporting module 572, or implementing executable code or software instructions in memory 511 in server 500, as shown in Figure 5.

[0140] In one implementation, the object feature report may include different features for each different non-RF sensor used to generate the one or more non-RF measurements, e.g., as described above with reference to steps 5 and 10 of FIG. 8. In one implementation, the object feature report may include a common feature set reported for the different non-RF sensors used to generate the one or more non-RF measurements, e.g., as described above with reference to steps 5 and 10 of FIG. 8. For example, the common feature set for the target object may include one or more of radar cross section, radar cross section variation, speed, position, trajectory, orientation, or combinations thereof, e.g., as described above with reference to steps 5 and 10 of FIG.

[0141]

[0141] In one implementation, the object characteristic report may further include a timestamp associated with one or more non-RF measurements, for example as described above with reference to steps 5 and 10 of FIG. 8.

[0142]

[0142] In one implementation, the object feature report may further include an object identity (ID) associated with each feature, for example, as described above with reference to steps 5 and 10 of FIG.

[0143]

[0143] In one implementation, the object feature report may further include an indication of the reporting period, for example as described above with reference to steps 5 and 10 of FIG.

[0144]

[0144] In one implementation, the server may send to or receive from a network node a request to prioritize object features for a target object, e.g., as described above with reference to stage 2 of Figure 8. Means for sending to or receiving from a network node a request to prioritize object features for a target object may include, e.g., one or more processors 510 having dedicated hardware such as transceiver 515, object feature reporting module 572, or implementing executable code or software instructions in memory 511 in server 500, as shown in Figure 5.

[0145]

[0145] In one implementation, for example, as described above with reference to step 10 of FIG. 8, object feature reports are received periodically from network nodes and the server may determine that no updates to one or more object features have been received during the reporting period.

[0146]

[0146] In one implementation, the server may receive a report on RF sensing measurements of a target object, where the object feature report has a format of the object features used in the received RF sensing measurement value report for the target object, for example, as described above in steps 5 and 10 of FIG. 8.

[0147]

[0147] References throughout this specification to "one example," "an example," "particular example," or "exemplary implementation" mean that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with a feature and / or example may be included in at least one feature and / or example of the claimed subject matter. Thus, the appearances of the phrases "in one example," "an example," "particular example," or "in a particular implementation" or other similar phrases in various places throughout this specification do not necessarily all refer to the same features, examples, and / or limitations. Furthermore, particular features, structures, or characteristics may be combined in one or more examples and / or characteristics.

[0148]

[0148] Some portions of the detailed description contained herein are presented in terms of algorithms or symbolic representations of operations on binary digital signals stored in a memory of a specific apparatus or a dedicated computing device or platform. In the context of this particular specification, the term specific apparatus or the like includes a general purpose computer that, when programmed, performs certain operations according to instructions from the program software. Algorithmic descriptions or symbolic representations are examples of techniques used by those skilled in the signal processing or related arts to convey the substance of their work to others skilled in the art. An algorithm as described herein is generally considered to be a self-consistent sequence of operations or similar signal processing that produces a desired result. In this context, operations or processing involve physical manipulations of physical quantities. Usually, though not necessarily, such quantities take the form of electrical or magnetic signals capable of being stored, transferred, combined, compared, or otherwise manipulated. It has proven convenient at times, primarily for reasons of common usage, to refer to such signals as bits, data, values, elements, symbols, characters, terms, numbers, numeric values, or the like. It should be understood, however, that all of these or similar terms are merely convenient labels and must be associated with the appropriate physical quantities. Unless otherwise indicated, and as will be apparent from the discussion herein, it should be understood that throughout this specification, discussions utilizing terms such as "processing," "calculating," "computing," "determining," and the like refer to the actions or processes of a particular apparatus, such as a special purpose computer, a special purpose computing apparatus, or a similar special purpose electronic computing device. Thus, in the context of this specification, a special purpose computer or a similar special purpose electronic computing device is typically capable of manipulating or transforming signals that are represented as physical electronic or magnetic quantities within the memory, registers, or other information storage, transmission, or display devices of the special purpose computer or similar special purpose electronic computing device.

[0149]

[0149] In the above-described detailed description, numerous specific details are described to provide a thorough understanding of the claimed subject matter. However, those skilled in the art will understand that the claimed subject matter can be practiced without these specific details. In other cases, methods and apparatuses that would be known by those skilled in the art have not been described in detail so as not to obscure the claimed subject matter.

[0150]

[0150] As used herein, the terms "and", "or" and "and / or" may include various meanings that are also expected to depend at least in part on the context in which such terms are used. Typically, when "or" is used to link a list such as A, B or C, it is intended to mean A, B and C used in an inclusive sense, and A, B or C used in an exclusive sense. In addition, as used herein, the term "one or more" may be used to describe any feature, structure or characteristic in the singular, or may be used to describe a plurality of features, structures or characteristics or some other combination of features, structures or characteristics. However, it should be noted that this is merely an example and that claimed subject matter is not limited to this example.

[0151]

[0151] While what are presently regarded as exemplary features have been illustrated and described, those skilled in the art will recognize that various other modifications can be made and equivalents substituted without departing from the claimed subject matter. In addition, many modifications may be made to adapt a particular situation to the teachings of the claimed subject matter without departing from the central concept described herein.

[0152]

[0152] In view of the description, embodiments may include various combinations of features. Example implementations are described in the following numbered clauses.

[0153]

[0153] Clause 1. A method implemented by a network node in a wireless network to support radio frequency (RF) sensing in the wireless network, the method comprising: obtaining one or more non-RF measurements associated with a target object of the RF sensing; determining one or more object features associated with the target object based on the one or more non-RF measurements; generating an object feature report including the one or more object features associated with the target object; and transmitting the object feature report to a server in the wireless network.

[0154]

[0154] Clause 2. The method of clause 1, wherein the one or more non-RF measurements include measurements performed by one or more of a camera, an ultrasonic sensor, a lidar, and a barometer.

[0155]

[0155] Clause 3. The method of any one of clauses 1 to 2, further comprising sending a capabilities message to the server indicating support for object feature reporting.

[0156]

[0156] Clause 4. The method of clause 3, further comprising receiving an indication of object features to be included in the object feature report.

[0157]

[0157] Clause 5. A method as described in any of clauses 1 to 4, wherein determining one or more object characteristics includes determining a different object characteristic for each different non-RF sensor used for the one or more non-RF measurements.

[0158]

[0158] Clause 6. A method as described in any of clauses 1 to 4 comprising determining one or more object features by determining a common set of object features for different non-RF techniques used for one or more non-RF measurements.

[0159]

[0159] Clause 7. The method of clause 6, wherein the common set of object features includes one or more of radar cross section, radar cross section variation, speed, position, trajectory, orientation, or combinations thereof.

[0160]

[0160] Clause 8. A method according to any one of clauses 1 to 7, wherein the object feature report further includes a timestamp associated with one or more non-RF measurements.

[0161]

[0161] Clause 9. A method according to any one of clauses 1 to 8, wherein the object feature report further includes an object identity (ID) associated with each object feature.

[0162]

[0162] Clause 10. A method according to any one of clauses 1 to 9, wherein the object feature report further includes within it an indication of the reporting period.

[0163]

[0163] Clause 11. A method according to any one of clauses 1 to 10, further comprising prioritizing an object feature report over another object feature report.

[0164]

[0164] Clause 12. A method as described in clause 11, wherein prioritization of object feature reports is dynamically requested by a server or requested by a network node.

[0165]

[0165] Clause 13. A method as described in any of clauses 1 to 11, further comprising obtaining a subsequent set of one or more non-RF measurements associated with the target object of RF sensing, determining that a change in the one or more object features determined from the subsequent set of one or more non-RF measurements relative to the one or more object features in the object feature report is less than a threshold, and not reporting the one or more object features.

[0166]

[0166] Clause 14. A method according to any one of clauses 1 to 13, wherein the object feature report has a format of object features used in an RF sensing measurement report for the target object that is sent to the server.

[0167]

[0167] Clause 15. A network node in a wireless network configured to support radio frequency (RF) sensing in the wireless network, comprising: at least one transceiver, one or more non-RF sensors, at least one memory, and at least one processor coupled to the at least one transceiver, the one or more non-RF sensors, and the at least one memory, and configured to: cause the network node to obtain one or more non-RF measurements associated with a target object of RF sensing from the one or more non-RF sensors, determine one or more object features associated with the target object based on the one or more non-RF measurements, generate an object feature report including the one or more object features associated with the target object, and transmit the object feature report via the at least one transceiver to a server in the wireless network.

[0168]

[0168] Clause 16. A network node as described in clause 15, wherein the one or more non-RF sensors comprise one or more of a camera, an ultrasonic sensor, a lidar, and a barometer.

[0169]

[0169] Clause 17. A network node described in any of clauses 15 to 16, wherein at least one processor is further configured to send, via at least one transceiver, a capability message to a server indicating support for object feature reporting.

[0170]

[0170] Clause 18. A network node as described in clause 17, wherein at least one processor is further configured to receive, via at least one transceiver, an indication of object features to be included in the object feature report.

[0171]

[0171] Clause 19. A network node described in any of Clauses 15 to 18, wherein at least one processor is configured to determine one or more object features by being configured to determine a different object feature for each different non-RF sensor used for one or more non-RF measurements.

[0172]

[0172] Clause 20. A network node described in any of clauses 15 to 18, wherein at least one processor is configured to determine one or more object features by configuring for a common object feature set for different non-RF technologies used for one or more non-RF measurements.

[0173]

[0173] Clause 21. A network node as described in clause 20, wherein the common set of object features includes one or more of radar cross section, radar cross section variation, speed, position, trajectory, orientation, or combinations thereof.

[0174]

[0174] Clause 22. A network node as described in any of clauses 15 to 21, wherein the object feature report further includes a timestamp associated with one or more non-RF measurements.

[0175]

[0175] Clause 23. A network node according to any of clauses 15 to 22, wherein the object feature report further includes an object identity (ID) associated with each object feature.

[0176]

[0176] Clause 24. A network node according to any of clauses 15 to 23, wherein the object feature report further includes within it an indication of the reporting period.

[0177]

[0177] Clause 25. A network node according to any of clauses 15 to 24, wherein at least one processor is further configured to give a higher priority to an object feature report than another object feature report.

[0178]

[0178] Clause 26. A network node according to any of clauses 15 to 25, wherein prioritization of object feature reports is dynamically requested by a server or requested by the network node.

[0179]

[0179] Clause 27. A network node as described in any of Clauses 15 to 26, further configured by at least one processor to obtain a subsequent set of one or more non-RF measurements associated with the RF sensing target object from one or more non-RF sensors, determine that a change in the one or more object features determined from the subsequent set of one or more non-RF measurements relative to the one or more object features in the object feature report is less than a threshold, and not report the one or more object features.

[0180]

[0180] Clause 28. A network node described in any of clauses 15 to 27, wherein the object feature report has a format of object features used in an RF sensing measurement value report for the target object that is sent to the server.

[0181]

[0181] Clause 29. A network node in a wireless network configured to support radio frequency (RF) sensing in the wireless network, the network node comprising: means for obtaining one or more non-RF measurements associated with a target object of the RF sensing; means for determining one or more object features associated with the target object based on the one or more non-RF measurements; means for generating an object feature report including the one or more object features associated with the target object; and means for transmitting the object feature report to a server in the wireless network.

[0182]

[0182] Clause 30. A network node as described in clause 29, wherein the one or more non-RF measurements include measurements performed by one or more of a camera, an ultrasonic sensor, a lidar, and a barometer.

[0183]

[0183] Clause 31. A network node as described in any of clauses 29 to 30, further comprising means for sending a capability message to a server indicating support for object feature reporting.

[0184]

[0184] Clause 32. A network node as described in clause 31, further comprising means for receiving an indication of object features to be included in the object feature report.

[0185]

[0185] Clause 33. A network node as described in any of clauses 29 to 32, wherein the means for determining one or more object characteristics determines a different object characteristic for each different non-RF sensor used for the one or more non-RF measurements.

[0186]

[0186] Clause 34. A network node as described in any of clauses 29 to 32, wherein the means for determining one or more object features determines a common set of object features for different non-RF technologies used for one or more non-RF measurements.

[0187]

[0187] Clause 35. A network node as described in clause 34, wherein the common set of object features includes one or more of radar cross section, radar cross section variation, speed, position, trajectory, orientation, or combinations thereof.

[0188]

[0188] Clause 36. A network node as described in any of clauses 29 to 35, wherein the object feature report further includes a timestamp associated with one or more non-RF measurements.

[0189]

[0189] Clause 37. A network node according to any of clauses 29 to 36, wherein the object feature report further includes an object identity (ID) associated with each object feature.

[0190]

[0190] Clause 38. A network node according to any of clauses 29 to 37, wherein the object feature report further includes within it an indication of the reporting period.

[0191]

[0191] Clause 39. A network node according to any of clauses 29 to 38, further comprising means for prioritising an object feature report over another object feature report.

[0192]

[0192] Clause 40. A network node according to any of clauses 29 to 39, wherein prioritization of object feature reports is dynamically requested by a server or requested by the network node.

[0193]

[0193] Clause 41. A network node as described in any of Clauses 29 to 40, further comprising means for obtaining a subsequent set of one or more non-RF measurements associated with a target object of RF sensing, means for further determining that a change in the one or more object features determined from the subsequent set of one or more non-RF measurements relative to the one or more object features in the object feature report is less than a threshold, and means for not reporting the one or more object features.

[0194]

[0194] Clause 42. A network node described in any of clauses 29 to 41, wherein the object feature report has a format of object features used in an RF sensing measurement value report for the target object that is sent to the server.

[0195]

[0195] Clause 43. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having program code stored thereon, the program code being operable to configure at least one processor in a network node in a wireless network to support radio frequency (RF) sensing in the wireless network, the program code including instructions for obtaining one or more non-RF measurements associated with a target object of the RF sensing, determining one or more object features associated with the target object based on the one or more non-RF measurements, generating an object feature report including the one or more object features associated with the target object, and transmitting the object feature report to a server in the wireless network.

[0196]

[0196] Clause 44. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium as described in clause 43, wherein the one or more non-RF measurements include measurements performed by one or more of a camera, an ultrasonic sensor, a lidar, and a barometer.

[0197]

[0197] Clause 45. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium according to any one of clauses 43 to 44, wherein the program code further comprises instructions for sending a capability message to a server indicating support for object feature reporting.

[0198]

[0198] Clause 46. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium as described in clause 45, wherein the program code further comprises instructions for receiving an indication of object features to be included in the object feature report.

[0199]

[0199] Clause 47. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium as described in any of clauses 43 to 46, wherein the instructions for determining one or more object characteristics include instructions for determining a different object characteristic for each different non-RF sensor used for the one or more non-RF measurements.

[0200]

[0200] Clause 48. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium as described in any of clauses 43 to 46, wherein instructions for determining one or more object features include instructions for a common object feature set for different non-RF techniques used for one or more non-RF measurements.

[0201]

[0201] Clause 49. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium as described in Clause 48, wherein the common set of object features includes one or more of radar cross section, radar cross section variation, speed, position, trajectory, orientation, or combinations thereof.

[0202]

[0202] Clause 50. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium according to any of clauses 43 to 49, wherein the object feature report further includes a timestamp associated with one or more non-RF measurements.

[0203]

[0203] Clause 51. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium according to any of clauses 43 to 50, wherein the object feature report further includes an object identity (ID) associated with each object feature.

[0204]

[0204] Clause 52. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium according to any of clauses 43 to 51, wherein the object feature report further includes within it an indication of the reporting period.

[0205]

[0205] Clause 53. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium according to any of clauses 43 to 52, wherein the program code further comprises instructions for prioritizing an object feature report over another object feature report.

[0206]

[0206] Clause 54. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium according to any of clauses 43 to 53, wherein prioritization of object feature reports is dynamically requested by a server or requested by a network node.

[0207]

[0207] Clause 55. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium as described in any of Clauses 43 to 54, wherein the program code further comprises instructions for obtaining a subsequent set of one or more non-RF measurements associated with a target object of RF sensing, determining that a change in the one or more object features determined from the subsequent set of one or more non-RF measurements relative to the one or more object features in the object feature report is less than a threshold, and not reporting the one or more object features.

[0208]

[0208] Clause 56. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium according to any of clauses 43 to 55, wherein the object feature report has a format of object features used in an RF sensing measurement report for the target object that is sent to the server.

[0209]

[0209] Clause 57. A method implemented by a server in a wireless network to support radio frequency (RF) sensing in the wireless network, the method comprising: sending to a network node an indication of object features of a target object of the RF sensing to be included in an object feature report; and receiving from the network node an object feature report including one or more object features determined by the network node based on one or more non-RF measurement values ​​associated with the target object of the RF sensing.

[0210]

[0210] Clause 58. The method of clause 57, wherein the one or more non-RF measurements include measurements performed by one or more of a camera, an ultrasonic sensor, a lidar, and a barometer.

[0211]

[0211] Clause 59. A method according to any one of clauses 57 to 58, further comprising receiving a capability message from the network node indicating support for object feature reporting.

[0212]

[0212] Clause 60. A method according to any of clauses 57 to 59, wherein the object feature report includes a different feature for each different non-RF sensor used to generate the one or more non-RF measurements.

[0213]

[0213] Clause 61. A method according to any of clauses 57 to 59, wherein the object feature report includes a common set of features reported for different non-RF sensors used to generate one or more non-RF measurements.

[0214]

[0214] Clause 62. The method of clause 61, wherein the common set of features for the target objects includes one or more of radar cross section, radar cross section variation, speed, position, trajectory, orientation, or combinations thereof.

[0215]

[0215] Clause 63. A method according to any of clauses 57 to 62, wherein the object feature report further includes a timestamp associated with one or more non-RF measurements.

[0216]

[0216] Clause 64. A method according to any of clauses 57 to 63, wherein the object feature report further includes an object identity (ID) associated with each feature.

[0217]

[0217] Clause 65. A method according to any of clauses 57 to 64, wherein the object feature report further includes an indication of the reporting period.

[0218]

[0218] Clause 66. A method according to any of clauses 57 to 65, further comprising sending to or receiving from a network node a request to prioritize object features for the target object.

[0219]

[0219] Clause 67. A method as described in any of clauses 57 to 66, wherein object feature reports are received periodically from a network node and it is determined that no updates to one or more object features have been received during a reporting period.

[0220]

[0220] Clause 68. A method according to any of clauses 57 to 67, wherein the object feature report has a format of object features used in a received RF sensing measurement report for the target object.

[0221]

[0221] Clause 69. A server in a wireless network configured to support radio frequency (RF) sensing in the wireless network, comprising: at least one transceiver; at least one memory; and at least one processor coupled to the at least one transceiver and the at least one memory, the at least one processor being configured to cause the server to send, via the at least one transceiver, to the network node an indication of object features of a target object of the RF sensing to be included in an object feature report, and to receive, via the at least one transceiver, an object feature report from the network node including one or more object features determined by the network node based on one or more non-RF measurement values ​​associated with the target object of the RF sensing.

[0222]

[0222] Clause 70. A server as described in clause 69, wherein the one or more non-RF measurements include measurements performed by one or more of a camera, an ultrasonic sensor, a lidar, and a barometer.

[0223]

[0223] Clause 71. A server as described in any of clauses 69 to 70, wherein at least one processor is further configured to receive, via at least one transceiver, a capability message from a network node indicating support for object feature reporting.

[0224]

[0224] Clause 72. A server according to any of clauses 69 to 71, wherein the object feature report includes a different feature for each different non-RF sensor used to generate the one or more non-RF measurements.

[0225]

[0225] Clause 73. A server according to any of clauses 69 to 71, wherein the object feature report includes a common set of features reported for different non-RF sensors used to generate one or more non-RF measurements.

[0226]

[0226] Clause 74. The server of clause 73, wherein the common set of characteristics for the target objects includes one or more of radar cross section, radar cross section variation, speed, position, trajectory, orientation, or combinations thereof.

[0227]

[0227] Clause 75. A server according to any of clauses 69 to 74, wherein the object feature report further includes a timestamp associated with one or more non-RF measurements.

[0228]

[0228] Clause 76. A server according to any of clauses 69 to 75, wherein the object feature report further includes an object identity (ID) associated with each feature.

[0229]

[0229] Clause 77. A server according to any of clauses 69 to 76, wherein the object feature report further includes an indication of the reporting period.

[0230]

[0230] Clause 78. A server described in any of clauses 69 to 77, wherein at least one processor is further configured to send to or receive from a network node, via at least one transceiver, a request to prioritize object features for a target object.

[0231]

[0231] Clause 79. A server described in any of clauses 69 to 78, wherein object feature reports are periodically received from network nodes and the server determines that no updates to one or more object features have been received during a reporting period.

[0232]

[0232] Clause 80. A server according to any of clauses 69 to 79, wherein the object feature report has a format of object features used in a received RF sensing measurement report for the target object.

[0233]

[0233] Clause 81. A server in a wireless network configured to support radio frequency (RF) sensing in the wireless network, the server comprising: means for sending to a network node an indication of object features of a target object of the RF sensing to be included in an object feature report; and means for receiving from the network node an object feature report including one or more object features determined by the network node based on one or more non-RF measurement values ​​associated with the target object of the RF sensing.

[0234]

[0234] Clause 82. The server of clause 81, wherein the one or more non-RF measurements include measurements performed by one or more of a camera, an ultrasonic sensor, a lidar, and a barometer.

[0235]

[0235] Clause 83. A server as described in any of clauses 81 to 82, further comprising means for receiving a capability message from a network node indicating support for object feature reporting.

[0236]

[0236] Clause 84. A server according to any of clauses 81 to 83, wherein the object feature report includes a different feature for each different non-RF sensor used to generate the one or more non-RF measurements.

[0237]

[0237] Clause 85. A server according to any of clauses 81 to 83, wherein the object feature report includes a common set of features reported for different non-RF sensors used to generate one or more non-RF measurements.

[0238]

[0238] Clause 86. The server of clause 85, wherein the common set of characteristics for the target objects includes one or more of radar cross section, radar cross section variation, speed, position, trajectory, orientation, or combinations thereof.

[0239]

[0239] Clause 87. A server according to any of clauses 81 to 86, wherein the object feature report further includes a timestamp associated with one or more non-RF measurements.

[0240]

[0240] Clause 88. A server according to any of clauses 81 to 87, wherein the object feature report further includes an object identity (ID) associated with each feature.

[0241]

[0241] Clause 89. A server according to any of clauses 81 to 88, wherein the object feature report further includes an indication of the reporting period.

[0242]

[0242] Clause 90. A server as described in any of clauses 81 to 89, further comprising means for sending to or receiving from a network node a request to prioritize object features for a target object.

[0243]

[0243] Clause 91. A server described in any of clauses 81 to 90, wherein object feature reports are periodically received from network nodes and the server determines that no updates to one or more object features have been received during a reporting period.

[0244]

[0244] Clause 92. A server according to any of clauses 81 to 91, wherein the object feature report has a format of object features used in a received RF sensing measurement report for the target object.

[0245]

[0245] Clause 93. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium having program code stored thereon, the program code being operable to configure at least one processor in a server in a wireless network to support radio frequency (RF) sensing in the wireless network, the program code including instructions for sending to a network node an indication of object features of a target object of the RF sensing to be included in an object feature report, and receiving from the network node an object feature report including one or more object features determined by the network node based on one or more non-RF measurement values ​​associated with the target object of the RF sensing.

[0246]

[0246] Clause 94. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium as described in clause 93, wherein the one or more non-RF measurements include measurements performed by one or more of a camera, an ultrasonic sensor, a lidar, and a barometer.

[0247]

[0247] Clause 95. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium according to any one of clauses 93 to 94, wherein the program code further comprises instructions for receiving a capability message from a network node indicating support for object feature reporting.

[0248]

[0248] Clause 96. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium according to any of clauses 93 to 95, wherein the object feature report includes different features for each different non-RF sensor used to generate the one or more non-RF measurements.

[0249]

[0249] Clause 97. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium described in any of clauses 93 to 95, wherein the object feature report includes a common set of features reported for different non-RF sensors used to generate one or more non-RF measurements.

[0250]

[0250] Clause 98. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium as described in Clause 97, wherein the common set of characteristics for the target objects includes one or more of radar cross section, radar cross section variation, speed, position, trajectory, orientation, or combinations thereof.

[0251]

[0251] Clause 99. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium according to any one of clauses 93 to 98, wherein the object feature report further includes a timestamp associated with one or more non-RF measurements.

[0252]

[0252] Clause 100. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium according to any one of clauses 93 to 99, wherein the object feature report further includes an object identity (ID) associated with each feature.

[0253]

[0253] Clause 101. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium according to any of clauses 93 to 100, wherein the object feature report further includes an indication of a reporting period.

[0254]

[0254] Clause 102. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium as described in any of clauses 93 to 101, wherein the program code further includes instructions for sending to or receiving from a network node a request to prioritize object features for a target object.

[0255]

[0255] Clause 103. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium described in any of clauses 93 to 102, wherein object feature reports are periodically received from a network node and it is determined that no updates to one or more object features have been received during a reporting period.

[0256]

[0256] Clause 104. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium as described in any of clauses 93 to 103, wherein the object feature report has a format of object features used in a received RF sensing measurement report for the target object.

[0257]

[0257] Accordingly, it is intended that the claimed subject matter not be limited to the particular examples disclosed, but that such claimed subject matter may include all aspects falling within the scope of the appended claims and equivalents thereof.

Claims

1. 1. A method implemented by a network node in a wireless network to support radio frequency (RF) sensing in the wireless network, comprising: obtaining one or more non-RF measurements associated with a target object of RF sensing; determining one or more object characteristics associated with the target object based on the one or more non-RF measurements; generating an object feature report including the one or more object features associated with the target object; sending the object characteristic report to a server in the wireless network; A method comprising:

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the one or more non-RF measurements include measurements performed by one or more of a camera, an ultrasonic sensor, a lidar, and a barometer.

3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising sending a capabilities message to the server indicating support for object feature reporting.

4. 1. A network node in a wireless network configured to support radio frequency (RF) sensing in the wireless network, comprising: at least one transceiver; one or more non-RF sensors; at least one memory; at least one processor coupled to the at least one transceiver, the one or more non-RF sensors, and the at least one memory, wherein the network node: obtaining one or more non-RF measurements associated with a target object of RF sensing from the one or more non-RF sensors; determining one or more object features associated with the target object based on the one or more non-RF measurements; generating an object feature report including the one or more object features associated with the target object; transmitting the object feature report via the at least one transceiver to a server within the wireless network; at least one processor configured to: A network node including:

5. The network node of claim 4 , wherein the one or more non-RF sensors comprise one or more of a camera, an ultrasonic sensor, a lidar, and a barometer.

6. 5. The network node of claim 4, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to send, via the at least one transceiver, a capabilities message to the server indicating support for object feature reporting.

7. 7. The network node of claim 6, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to receive, via the at least one transceiver, an indication of object features to be included in the object feature report.

8. 1. A method implemented by a server in a wireless network to support radio frequency (RF) sensing in the wireless network, comprising: sending to the network node an indication of object features of the RF sensing target object to be included in the object feature report; receiving from the network node an object feature report including one or more object features determined by the network node based on one or more non-RF measurements associated with the target object of RF sensing; A method comprising:

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein the one or more non-RF measurements include measurements performed by one or more of a camera, an ultrasonic sensor, a lidar, and a barometer.

10. 10. The method of claim 8, further comprising receiving a capabilities message from the network node indicating support for object feature reporting.

11. 1. A server in a wireless network configured to support radio frequency (RF) sensing in the wireless network, comprising: at least one transceiver; at least one memory; at least one processor coupled to the at least one transceiver and the at least one memory, the server comprising: transmitting, via the at least one transceiver, to a network node, an indication of object characteristics of the RF sensing target object to be included in an object characteristic report; receiving, via the at least one transceiver, from the network node, the object feature report including one or more object features determined by the network node based on one or more non-RF measurements associated with the target object of RF sensing; at least one processor configured to: A server comprising:

12. The server of claim 11 , wherein the one or more non-RF measurements include measurements performed by one or more of a camera, an ultrasonic sensor, a lidar, and a barometer.

13. 12. The server of claim 11, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to receive, via the at least one transceiver, a capabilities message from the network node indicating support for object feature reporting.

14. The server of claim 11 , wherein the object feature report includes a different feature for each different non-RF sensor used to generate the one or more non-RF measurements.

15. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having stored thereon program code, the program code operable to configure at least one processor in a server in a wireless network to support radio frequency (RF) sensing in the wireless network, the program code comprising: sending to the network node an indication of object features of the RF sensing target object to be included in the object feature report; receiving from the network node an object feature report including one or more object features determined by the network node based on one or more non-RF measurements associated with the target object of RF sensing; 10. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium comprising instructions for:

Images