Method, apparatus, and system for communication-assisted sensing

Abstract

Knowing the sensing capabilities of a device, a network node may send a sensing report configuration to the device. The network node may send a definition of the sensing area of the communication scheduling area to the device. The network node may further send a definition of the sensing feedback report channel to the device. After sending the scheduled data transmission to the device, the network node may receive a sensing report from the device through the sensing feedback report channel, based on processing the scheduled data transmission received by the device in the sensing area.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present disclosure generally relates to sensing in a wireless network,

[0002] and in particular embodiments, to communication-assisted sensing.

Background Art

[0003] Existing sensing methods can be considered to be characterized as either monostatic sensing or multistatic sensing.

[0004] In the monostatic sensing method, a given network node transmits a radio frequency (RF) sensing signal. The given network node also receives an echo of the RF sensing signal. Advantageously, for this configuration, since communication data can be reused for signal sensing, there is no need for the additional overhead associated with the use of pilot signals. However, the monostatic sensing method may be considered to rely on full-duplex functionality or special signal design for sensing reception. Furthermore, the sensing range may be considered to be limited to the area surrounding a given network node.

[0005] In multistatic sensing, the node that receives the echo of the sensing signal is different from the node that transmits the sensing signal. An example of multistatic sensing is so-called bistatic sensing, where a transmitting node transmits a sensing signal and a receiving node receives the sensing signal after the sensing signal traverses the channel between the transmitting node and the receiving node. The use of multistatic sensing can be shown to enable efficient and scalable environmental sensing through collaborative sensing.

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0006] Utilizing the advantages of multi-static sensing for future wireless communication networks will face many challenges. In multi-static sensing methods based on using dedicated sensing pilot signals, there are drawbacks in the amount of overhead caused by the dedicated sensing pilot signals. Alternatively, in methods based on reusing communication pilot signals as sensing pilot signals, the communication pilots may be considered too sparse to achieve the processing gain that provides appropriate sensing performance.

[0007] Aspects of the present application relate to a method for implementing a multi-static sensing scheme in a manner that aims to avoid the drawbacks of the existing proposed schemes outlined above.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0008] Aspects of the present application relate to using communication data as a sensing pilot signal. One advantage of using communication data as a sensing pilot signal is the reduction of sensing overhead. Another advantage of using communication data as a sensing pilot signal is the processing gain. The processing gain can result from a large number of data symbols. A large number of data symbols can be shown to enable relatively simple fast Fourier transform (FFT)-based reception. Another advantage of using communication data as a sensing pilot signal is that the communication data may be considered similar to a large set of random data. Using a large set of random data to sense the pilot signal can be shown to have advantages regarding self-ambiguity. The degree of self-ambiguity is known to be an important performance metric as far as delay estimation and Doppler shift estimation are concerned.

[0009] Aspects of the present application relate to various communication-assisted sensing schemes in which user equipment can use communication signals for sensing purposes.

[0010] Knowing the sensing capabilities of a device, a network node may send a sensing report configuration to the device. The network node may send the device a definition of the sensing area in the communication scheduling area. The network node may further send the device a definition of the sensing feedback report channel. After sending the scheduled data transmission to the device, the network node may receive, from the device through the sensing feedback report channel, a sensing report based on processing the scheduled data transmission received by the device in the sensing area.

[0011] Existing versions of the multistatic sensing solution do not provide an end-to-end solution to address the overhead and performance issues specific to the existing versions of the multistatic sensing solution.

[0012] Aspects of the present application relate to a multistatic sensing solution characterized by sensing performance that can be optimized based on the sensing capabilities of nodes expected to perform sensing. Efficient sensing is made possible by processing the scheduled data transmission to obtain sensing parameters. Sensing can be considered efficient based on avoiding the use of additional sensing overhead. Due to the large number of data symbols in the scheduled data transmission, an improvement in sensing performance (which is due in part to an increase in processing gain) and an improvement in resolution can be expected. It has been found that a large number of data symbols enable a very simple sensing reception algorithm (e.g., an FFT-based method) without requiring a sophisticated algorithm (e.g., a super-resolution method).

[0013] Aspects of the present application relate to a configuration for efficient sensing feedback reporting. That is, the sensing feedback report can obtain efficiency by being related to a plurality of data blocks.

[0014] Aspects of the present application relate to decoding and processing scheduled data transmissions on multiple beams for sensing purposes. Advantageously, since beamforming is already known through communication establishment, power does not need to be expended for beamforming of sensing signals, and power savings can be achieved.

[0015] According to an aspect of the present disclosure, a method for a network node or a base station is provided. The method includes receiving, from a device, a sensing capability report. The method further includes transmitting, to the device, a definition of a sensing area. The sensing area definition is defined based on the sensing capability report. The method further includes transmitting, to the device, a definition of a sensing feedback report channel and transmitting data to the device. The method further includes receiving, from the device through the sensing feedback report channel, a sensing report based on processing of the scheduled data transmission received in the sensing area.

[0016] According to another aspect of the present disclosure, a method for an electronic device or a user equipment is provided. The method includes transmitting a sensing capability report to a base station. The method further includes receiving, from the base station, a definition of a sensing area. The sensing area definition is defined based on the sensing capability report. The method further includes receiving, from the base station, a definition of a sensing feedback report channel and receiving data from the base station. The method further includes transmitting, to the base station through the sensing feedback report channel, a sensing report based on processing of the data transmission received in the sensing area.

[0017] Further aspects of the present disclosure relate to an apparatus, a computer-readable storage medium, a computer program product, and a processor for performing the aforementioned methods.

[0018] According to another aspect of the present disclosure, a system is provided that includes a device and a base station in wireless communication with the device. The device is configured to transmit a sensing capability report and receive data transmissions. The device is further configured to transmit a sensing report based on processing data transmissions received in a sensing area through a sensing feedback report channel. The base station is configured to transmit a definition of the sensing area to the device based on the sensing capability report. The base station is further configured to transmit a definition of the sensing feedback report channel to the device based on the sensing capability report. The base station is further configured to transmit data transmissions to the device.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0019] For a more complete understanding of the embodiments of the present application and their advantages, reference is now made, by way of example, to the following description in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

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[0037] For purposes of illustration, certain exemplary embodiments will now be described in more detail with reference to the drawings.

[0038] The embodiments described in this specification represent sufficient information to implement the claimed subject matter and illustrate ways of implementing such subject matter. Reading the following description in light of the accompanying drawings, one of ordinary skill in the art will understand the concepts of the claimed subject matter and will recognize applications of these concepts that are not particularly addressed herein. It is to be understood that these concepts and their applications are within the scope of this disclosure and the appended claims.

[0039] Furthermore, any module, component, or device disclosed herein that executes instructions can include or otherwise have access to one or more non-transitory computer / processor-readable storage media for storing information such as computer / processor-readable instructions, data structures, program modules, and / or other data. A non-exhaustive list of examples of non-transitory computer / processor-readable storage media includes magnetic cassettes, magnetic tape, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, optical disks such as compact disc read only memory (CD-ROM), digital video disc or digital versatile disc (i.e., DVD), Blu-ray Disc™, or other optical storage, volatile and non-volatile, removable and non-removable media implemented in any method or technology, random access memory (RAM), read only memory (ROM), electrically erasable programmable read only memory (EEPROM), flash memory, or other memory technologies. Any such non-transitory computer / processor storage media may be part of the device, or accessible or connectable to the device. Computer / processor-readable / executable instructions for implementing the applications or modules described herein can be stored or otherwise held by such non-transitory computer / processor-readable storage media.

[0040] Referring to FIG. 1, a simplified schematic diagram of a communication system is provided as an illustrative example and not a limitation. Communication system 100 includes a radio access network 120. The radio access network 120 may be a next-generation (e.g., 6th generation, "6G", or later) radio access network or a legacy (e.g., 5G, 4G, 3G, or 2G) radio access network. One or more communication electronic devices (EDs) 110a, 110b, 110c, 110d, 110e, 110f, 110g, 110h, 110i, 110j (collectively referred to as 110) may be interconnected with each other or connected to one or more network nodes (170a, 170b, collectively referred to as 170) within the radio access network 120. The core network 130 may be part of the communication system, may depend on the radio access technology used in the communication system 100, or may be independent. Also, the communication system 100 includes a public switched telephone network (PSTN) 140, the Internet 150, and other networks 160.

[0041] FIG. 2 shows an exemplary communication system 100. Generally, communication system 100 enables a plurality of wireless or wired elements to communicate data and other content. The purpose of communication system 100 may be to provide content such as voice, data, video, and / or text via broadcast, multicast, and unicast, etc. Communication system 100 may operate by sharing resources such as carrier spectral bandwidth among its components. Communication system 100 may include a terrestrial communication system and / or a non-terrestrial communication system. Communication system 100 can provide a wide range of communication services and applications (such as earth monitoring, remote sensing, passive sensing and positioning, navigation and tracking, autonomous delivery and mobility, etc.). Communication system 100 can provide a high degree of availability and robustness through the cooperative operation of a terrestrial communication system and a non-terrestrial communication system. For example, integrating a non-terrestrial communication system (or its components) into a terrestrial communication system can result in what can be regarded as a heterogeneous network with multiple layers. Compared with conventional communication networks, heterogeneous networks can achieve better overall performance through efficient multi-link cooperative operation, more flexible function sharing, and faster physical layer link switching between terrestrial and non-terrestrial networks.

[0042] A terrestrial communication system and a non-terrestrial communication system can be considered as subsystems of a communication system. In the example shown in FIG. 2, the communication system 100 includes electronic devices (EDs) 110a, 110b, 110c, 110d (collectively referred to as ED 110), radio access networks (RANs) 120a, 120b, a non-terrestrial communication network 120c, a core network 130, a public switched telephone network (PSTN) 140, the Internet 150, and other networks 160. RANs 120a, 120b each include a respective base station (BS) 170a, 170b, which may generally be referred to as terrestrial transmit-receive points (T-TRPs) 170a, 170b. The non-terrestrial communication network 120c includes an access node 172 that can be collectively referred to as a non-terrestrial transmit-receive point (NT-TRP) 172.

[0043] Any ED 110 can alternatively or additionally be configured to interface with, access, or communicate with any T-TRP 170a, 170b and NT-TRP 172, the Internet 150, the core network 130, the PSTN 140, other networks 160, or any combination of the above. In some examples, ED 110a can communicate uplink and / or downlink transmissions through a terrestrial air interface 190a with T-TRP 170a. In some examples, EDs 110a, 110b, 110c, and 110d may also communicate directly with each other via one or more sidelink air interfaces 190b. In some examples, ED 110d can communicate uplink and / or downlink transmissions with NT-TRP 172 via a non-terrestrial air interface 190c.

[0044] The air interfaces 190a and 190b can use the same communication technologies such as any suitable radio access technology. For example, the communication system 100 can implement one or more channel access methods such as code division multiple access (CDMA), space division multiple access (SDMA), time division multiple access (TDMA), frequency division multiple access (FDMA), orthogonal FDMA (OFDMA), single carrier FDMA (SC-FDMA), or direct Fourier transform spread OFDMA (DFT-OFDMA) at the air interfaces 190a and 190b. The air interfaces 190a and 190b can utilize other higher-dimensional signal spaces that may involve a combination of orthogonal and / or non-orthogonal dimensions.

[0045] The non-terrestrial air interface 190c can enable communication between the ED 110d and one or more NT-TRPs 172 via a wireless link or simply a link. In some examples, the link is a dedicated connection for unicast transmission, a connection for broadcast transmission, or a connection between a group of EDs 110 for multicast transmission and one or more NT-TRPs 175.

[0046] RANs 120a and 120b communicate with core network 130 to provide various services, such as voice, data, and other services, to EDs 110a, 110b, and 110c. RANs 120a and 120b and / or core network 130 may or may not be directly served by core network 130, and may or may not employ the same radio access technology as RAN 120a, RAN 120b, or both, and may communicate directly or indirectly with one or more other RANs (not shown). Core network 130 may also act as a gateway access between (i) RANs 120a and 120b, or EDs 110a, 110b, 110c, or both, and (ii) other networks, such as PSTN 140, Internet 150, and other networks 160. Additionally, some or all of EDs 110a, 110b, 110c may include functionality to communicate with different wireless networks over different wireless links using different wireless technologies and / or protocols. Instead of (or in addition to) wireless communication, EDs 110a, 110b, 110c may communicate via a wired communication channel with a service provider or switch (not shown) and Internet 150. PSTN 140 may include a circuit-switched telephone network for providing traditional telephone services (POTS). Internet 150 may include networks of computers and subnets (intranets) or both, and may incorporate protocols such as Internet Protocol (IP), Transmission Control Protocol (TCP), User Datagram Protocol (UDP), etc. EDs 110a, 110b, 110c may be multimode devices capable of operating according to multiple radio access technologies and may incorporate multiple transceivers necessary to support such.

[0047] FIG. 3 shows another example of the ED 110 and base stations 170a, 170b, and / or 170c. The ED 110 is used to connect people, objects, machines, etc. The ED 110 can be widely used in various scenarios such as cellular communication, device-to-device (D2D), vehicle to everything (V2X), peer-to-peer (P2P), machine-to-machine (M2M), machine-type communications (MTC), Internet of things (IOT), virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), mixed reality (MR), metaverse, digital twin, industrial control, autonomous driving, telemedicine, smart grid, smart furniture, smart office, smart wearable, smart transportation, smart city, drones, robots, remote sensing, passive sensing, positioning, navigation and tracking, autonomous delivery and mobility, etc.

[0048] Each ED 110 represents any suitable end-user device for wireless operation and can include (or be referred to as) devices such as, among other possibilities, user equipment / devices (UEs), wireless transmit / receive units (WTRUs), mobile stations, fixed or mobile subscriber units, cellular telephones, stations (STAs), machine type communication (MTC) devices, personal digital assistants (PDAs), smartphones, laptops, computers, tablets, wireless sensors, consumer electronics, wearable devices such as wristwatches, head-mounted devices, glasses, smartbooks, vehicles, automobiles, trucks, buses, trains, or Internet of Things (IoT) devices, industrial devices, or devices within the aforementioned devices (e.g., communication modules, modems, or chips). Future generations of ED 110 may be referred to using other terms. Base stations 170a and 170b are each T-TRPs and are hereinafter referred to as T-TRP 170. Also, as shown in FIG. 3, the NT-TRP is hereinafter referred to as NT-TRP 172. Each ED 110 connected to T-TRP 170 and / or NT-TRP 172 can be turned on (i.e., established, activated, or enabled), turned off (i.e., released, deactivated, or disabled), and / or configured dynamically or semi-statically in response to one or more of connection availability and connection necessity.

[0049] ED 110 includes a transmitter 201 and a receiver 203 coupled to one or more antennas 204. Only one antenna 204 is shown. One, some, or all of the antennas 204 may alternatively be panels. The transmitter 201 and the receiver 203 may be integrated, for example, as a transceiver. The transceiver is configured to modulate data or other content for transmission by the at least one antenna 204 or by a network interface controller (NIC). The transceiver may also be configured to demodulate data or other content received by the at least one antenna 204. Each transceiver includes any suitable structure for generating signals for wireless or wired transmission and / or for processing signals received wirelessly or wired. Each antenna 204 includes any suitable structure for transmitting and / or receiving wireless or wired signals.

[0050] ED 110 includes at least one memory 208. The memory 208 stores instructions and data used, generated, or collected by the ED 110. For example, the memory 208 is configured to implement some or all of the functions and / or embodiments described herein and can store software instructions or modules to be executed by one or more processing units (e.g., processor 210). Each memory 208 includes any suitable volatile and / or non-volatile storage and retrieval device. Any suitable type of memory such as random access memory (RAM), read only memory (ROM), hard disk, optical disk, subscriber identity module (SIM) card, memory stick, secure digital (SD) memory card, on-processor cache, etc. may be used.

[0051] ED 110 may further include one or more input / output devices (not shown) or interfaces (such as a wired interface to the Internet 150 in FIG. 1). The input / output devices enable interaction with users or other devices within the network. Each input / output device includes any suitable structure for providing information to or receiving information from a user, through operations as a speaker, microphone, keypad, keyboard, display, or touch screen, including network interface communication.

[0052] ED 110 includes a processor 210 for performing operations including operations related to preparing transmissions for uplink transmissions to NT-TRP 172 and / or T-TRP 170, operations related to processing downlink transmissions received from NT-TRP 172 and / or T-TRP 170, and operations related to processing sidelink transmissions to and from another ED 110. The processing operations related to preparing transmissions for uplink transmissions may include operations such as encoding, modulation, transmission beamforming, and generation of symbols for transmission. The processing operations related to processing downlink transmissions may include operations such as reception beamforming, demodulation and decoding of received symbols. Depending on the embodiment, the downlink transmission may be received by the receiver 203, possibly using reception beamforming, and the processor 210 may extract signaling from the downlink transmission (e.g., by detecting and / or decoding the signaling). An example of signaling may be a reference signal transmitted by NT-TRP 172 and / or by T-TRP 170. In some embodiments, the processor 210 implements transmission beamforming and / or reception beamforming based on beam direction indications received from T-TRP 170, such as beam angle information (BAI). In some embodiments, the processor 210 may perform operations related to network access (e.g., initial access) and / or downlink synchronization, such as operations related to detecting a synchronization sequence, decoding and obtaining system information. In some embodiments, the processor 210 may perform channel estimation, for example, using reference signals received from NT-TRP 172 and / or T-TRP 170.

[0053] Although not shown, the processor 210 may form part of the transmitter 201 and / or part of the receiver 203. Although not shown, the memory 208 may form part of the processor 210.

[0054] The processor 210, the processing components of the transmitter 201, and the processing components of the receiver 203 may each be implemented by the same or different one or more processors configured to execute instructions stored in a memory (e.g., within the memory 208). Alternatively, some or all of the processor 210, the processing components of the transmitter 201, and the processing components of the receiver 203 may each be implemented using dedicated circuits such as a programmed field programmable gate array (FPGA), a central processing unit (CPU), a graphics processing unit (GPU), or an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC).

[0055] The T-TRP 170 may be known by other names in some implementations. Among other possibilities, it may be a base station, a base transceiver station (BTS), a radio base station, a network node, a network device, a network-side device, a transceiver node, a Node B, an evolved Node B (eNode B or eNB), a home eNode B, a next-generation Node B (gNB), a transmission point (TP), a site controller, an access point (AP), a wireless router, a relay station, a remote radio head, a terrestrial node, a terrestrial network device, a terrestrial base station, a baseband unit (BBU), a remote radio unit (RRU), an active antenna unit (AAU), a remote radio head (RRH), a central unit (CU), a distributed unit (DU), a positioning node, etc. The T-TRP 170 may be a macro BS, a pico BS, a relay node, a donor node, etc., or a combination thereof. The T-TRP 170 may refer to the aforementioned devices or to devices within the aforementioned devices (e.g., a communication module, a modem, or a chip).

[0056] In some embodiments, portions of the T-TRP 170 may be distributed. For example, some of the modules of the T-TRP 170 may be located away from the equipment that houses the antenna 256 for the T-TRP 170 and may be coupled to the equipment that houses the antenna 256 through a communication link (not shown), sometimes known as a fronthaul, such as the Common Public Radio Interface (CPRI). Thus, in some embodiments, the term T-TRP 170 may refer to network-side modules that perform processing operations such as determination of the location of the ED 110, resource allocation (scheduling), message generation, and encoding / decoding, and are not necessarily part of the equipment that houses the antenna 256 of the T-TRP 170. Those modules may be coupled to other T-TRPs. In some embodiments, the T-TRP 170 may actually be a plurality of T-TRPs operating together to serve the ED 110, for example, through the use of coordinated multipoint transmission.

[0057] As shown in FIG. 3, T-TRP 170 includes at least one transmitter 252 and at least one receiver 254 coupled to one or more antennas 256. Only one antenna 256 is shown. One, some, or all of the antennas 256 may alternatively be panels. The transmitter 252 and the receiver 254 may be integrated as a transceiver. T-TRP 170 is for preparing transmissions for downlink transmission to ED 110; processing uplink transmissions received from ED 110; preparing transmissions for backhaul transmission to NT-TRP 172; and processing transmissions received from NT-TRP 172 through the backhaul. It further includes a processor 260 for performing operations including operations related to preparing transmissions for downlink or backhaul transmission. Processing operations related to preparing transmissions for downlink or backhaul transmission may include operations such as encoding, modulation, precoding (e.g., multiple-input multiple-output “MIMO” precoding), transmit beamforming, and generating symbols for transmission. In the uplink, or processing operations related to processing transmissions received through the backhaul may include operations such as receive beamforming, demodulating received symbols, and decoding received symbols. The processor 260 may also perform operations related to network access (e.g., initial access) and / or downlink synchronization, such as generating the content of a synchronization signal block (SSB), generating system information, etc. In some embodiments, the processor 260 may also generate an indication of a beam direction, such as a BAI, that may be scheduled for transmission by the scheduler 253. The processor 260 performs other network-side processing operations described herein, such as determining the location of the ED 110, determining where to deploy the NT-TRP 172. In some embodiments, the processor 260 may generate signaling, for example, to configure one or more parameters of the ED 110 and / or one or more parameters of the NT-TRP 172. Any signaling generated by the processor 260 is sent by the transmitter 252.Note that "signaling" as used herein may alternatively be referred to as control signaling. Dynamic signaling may be transmitted in a control channel, e.g., a Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH), and static or semi-static upper layer signaling may be included in packets transmitted in a data channel, e.g., a Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH).

[0058] Scheduler 253 may be coupled to processor 260. Scheduler 253 may be included within T-TRP 170 or may operate separately from T-TRP 110. Scheduler 253 may schedule uplink, downlink, and / or backhaul transmissions, including issuing scheduling approvals and / or configuring scheduling-free ("configured grant") resources. T-TRP 170 further includes a memory 258 for storing information and data. Memory 258 stores instructions and data used, generated, or collected by T-TRP 170. For example, memory 258 may be configured to implement some or all of the functions and / or embodiments described herein and may store software instructions or modules executed by processor 260.

[0059] Although not shown, processor 260 may form part of transmitter 252 and / or part of receiver 254. Also, although not shown, processor 260 may implement scheduler 253. Although not shown, memory 258 may form part of processor 260.

[0060] The processing components of the processor 260, the scheduler 253, the transmitter 252, and the receiver 254 may be implemented by the same processor, or different processors, among one or more processors configured to execute instructions stored in a memory, such as memory 258. Alternatively, some or all of the processing components of the processor 260, the scheduler 253, the transmitter 252, and the receiver 254 may be implemented using a dedicated circuit such as an FPGA, CPU, GPU, or ASIC.

[0061] In particular, NT-TRP 172 is shown as a drone only by way of example, and NT-TRP 172 may be implemented in any suitable non-ground-based form such as a high-altitude platform, a satellite, a high-altitude platform as an international mobile communication base station, and an unmanned aerial vehicle, among others, which will be discussed below. Also, in some implementations, NT-TRP 172 may be known by other names such as a non-ground node, a non-ground network device, or a non-ground base station. NT-TRP 172 includes a transmitter 272 and a receiver 274 coupled to one or more antennas 280. Only one antenna 280 is shown. One, some, or all of the antennas may alternatively be panels. The transmitter 272 and the receiver 274 may be integrated as a transceiver. NT-TRP 172 further includes a processor 276 for performing operations including operations related to preparing transmissions for downlink transmission to ED 110; processing uplink transmissions received from ED 110; preparing transmissions for backhaul transmission to T-TRP 170; and processing transmissions received from T-TRP 170 through the backhaul. Processing operations related to preparing transmissions for downlink or backhaul transmission may include operations such as encoding, modulation, precoding (e.g., MIMO precoding), transmit beamforming, and generation of symbols for transmission. In the uplink, or in processing transmissions received through the backhaul, processing operations may include operations such as receive beamforming, demodulation of received signals, and decoding of received symbols. In some embodiments, the processor 276 implements transmit beamforming and / or receive beamforming based on beam direction information (e.g., BAI) received from T-TRP 170. In some embodiments, the processor 276 may generate signaling, for example, to configure one or more parameters of ED 110. In some embodiments, NT-TRP 172 implements physical layer processing but does not implement higher layer functions such as functions in the medium access control (MAC) or radio link control (RLC) layers.This is only an example, and more generally, NT-TRP 172 can implement functions of higher layers in addition to physical layer processing.

[0062] NT-TRP 172 further includes a memory 278 for storing information and data. Although not shown, the processor 276 may form part of the transmitter 272 and / or part of the receiver 274. Although not shown, the memory 278 may form part of the processor 276.

[0063] The processor 276, the processing components of the transmitter 272, and the processing components of the receiver 274 may each be implemented by the same or different one or more processors configured to execute instructions stored in a memory, such as the memory 278. Alternatively, some or all of the processor 276, the processing components of the transmitter 272, and the processing components of the receiver 274 may be implemented using a dedicated circuit such as a programmed FPGA, CPU, GPU, or ASIC. In some embodiments, NT-TRP 172 may actually be a plurality of NT-TRPs operating together to serve the ED 110, for example, through coordinated multipoint transmission.

[0064] T-TRP 170, NT-TRP 172, and / or ED 110 may include other components, but these are omitted for clarity.

[0065] One or more steps of the methods of the embodiments provided herein may be performed by corresponding units or modules according to FIG. 4. FIG. 4 shows units or modules within a device such as ED 110, T-TRP 170, or NT-TRP 172. For example, a signal may be transmitted by a transmitting unit or by a transmitting module. A signal may be received by a receiving unit or a receiving module. A signal may be processed by a processing unit or a processing module. Other steps may be performed by an artificial intelligence (AI) or machine learning (ML) module. Each unit or module may be implemented using hardware, one or more components or devices that execute software, or a combination thereof. For example, one or more of the units or modules may be an integrated circuit such as a programmed FPGA, CPU, GPU, or ASIC. When a module is implemented using software, for example for execution by a processor, it should be understood that the module may be retrieved by the processor, individually or together, in whole or in part as necessary, in one or more instances for processing, and that those modules themselves may contain instructions for further deployment and instantiation.

[0066] Further details regarding ED 110, T-TRP 170, and NT-TRP 172 are known to those skilled in the art. Thus, these details are omitted here.

[0067] Devices such as base station 170 can provide coverage across cells. Wireless communication with devices may be performed through one or more carrier frequencies. Carrier frequencies are referred to as carriers. Carriers may alternatively be referred to as component carriers (CCs). Carriers can be characterized by their bandwidth and a reference frequency, such as the center frequency, lowest frequency, or highest frequency of the carrier. Carriers can be on licensed spectrum or unlicensed spectrum. Wireless communication with devices may also, or instead, be performed through one or more bandwidth parts (BWPs). For example, a carrier may have one or more BWPs. More generally, wireless communication with devices can be performed on the spectrum. The spectrum can include one or more carriers and / or one or more BWPs.

[0068] A cell can include one or more downlink resources and optionally one or more uplink resources. A cell can include one or more uplink resources and optionally one or more downlink resources. A cell can include both one or more downlink resources and one or more uplink resources. As an example, a cell may include only 1 downlink carrier / BWP, or only 1 uplink carrier / BWP, or multiple downlink carriers / BWPs, or multiple uplink carriers / BWPs, or 1 downlink carrier / BWP and 1 uplink carrier / BWP, or 1 downlink carrier / BWP and multiple uplink carriers / BWPs, or multiple downlink carriers / BWPs and 1 uplink carrier / BWP, or multiple downlink carriers / BWPs and multiple uplink carriers / BWPs. In some embodiments, a cell may instead or additionally include one or more sidelink resources including sidelink transmission and reception resources.

[0069] A BWP is a set of contiguous or non - contiguous frequency sub - carriers on one carrier, or a set of contiguous or non - contiguous frequency sub - carriers on multiple carriers, or a set of non - contiguous or contiguous frequency sub - carriers that may have one or more carriers.

[0070] In some embodiments, a carrier may have one or more BWPs. For example, a carrier may have a bandwidth of 20 MHz and consist of one BWP, or a carrier may have a bandwidth of 80 MHz and consist of two adjacent and contiguous BWPs, and so on. In other embodiments, a BWP may have one or more carriers. For example, a BWP may have a bandwidth of 40 MHz and consist of two adjacent and contiguous carriers, where each carrier has a bandwidth of 20 MHz. In some embodiments, a BWP may have a discontinuous spectral resource consisting of a plurality of non - contiguous carriers. The first carrier among the non - contiguous carriers may be in the mmW band, the second carrier may be in a low band (such as the 2 GHz band), the third carrier may be in the THz band (if any), and the fourth carrier may be in the visible light band (if any). The resources within one carrier belonging to a BWP may be continuous or discontinuous. In some embodiments, a BWP has non - contiguous spectral resources on one carrier.

[0071] Wireless communication can be performed over an occupied bandwidth. The occupied bandwidth may be defined as the width of a frequency band where the average power radiated below the frequency lower limit and above the frequency upper limit is equal to a specified fraction β / 2 of the total average transmit power, respectively. For example, the value of β / 2 is taken as 0.5%.

[0072] A carrier, BWP, or occupied bandwidth may be signaled dynamically by a network device (e.g., by base station 170) in physical layer control signaling such as a known downlink control channel (DCI), or semi-statically in signaling such as radio resource control (RRC) signaling or in the media access control (MAC) layer, or may be predefined based on an application scenario; or may be determined by UE 110 as a function of other parameters known to UE 110, or may be fixed, e.g., by a standard.

[0073] UE location information is often used in cellular communication networks to improve various performance metrics for the network. Such performance metrics may include, for example, capacity, agility, and efficiency. This improvement can be achieved when network elements utilize the location, behavior, mobility pattern, etc. of the UE in the context of empirical information that describes the radio environment in which the UE is operating.

[0074] The sensing system can be used to assist in collecting information about the position of the UE in the global coordinate system, the speed and direction of the movement of the UE in the global coordinate system, UE attitude information including orientation information, and information about the radio environment. "Position" is also known as "location", and these two terms can be used interchangeably in this specification. Examples of well-known sensing systems include radar (RADAR, Radio Detection and Ranging) and lidar (LIDAR, Light Detection and Ranging). The sensing system is typically separate from the communication system, but it may be advantageous to use an integrated system to collect the information, which reduces the hardware (and cost) within the system, as well as the time, frequency, or spatial resources required to perform both functions. However, using communication system hardware to perform sensing of UE attitude and environmental information is a very difficult and unsolved problem. The difficulty of this problem is related to factors such as the limited resolution of the communication system, the dynamics of the environment, and the large number of objects whose electromagnetic characteristics and positions are to be estimated.

[0075] Therefore, integrated sensing and communication (also known as integrated communication and sensing) is a desirable feature in existing and future communication systems.

[0076] Any or all of ED 110 and BS 170 may be sensing nodes within system 100. A sensing node is a network entity that performs sensing by transmitting and receiving sensing signals. Some sensing nodes are communication devices that perform both communication and sensing. However, some sensing nodes may not perform communication and instead may be dedicated to sensing. Sensing agent 174 is an example of a sensing-dedicated sensing node. Unlike ED 110 and BS 170, sensing agent 174 does not transmit or receive communication signals. However, sensing agent 174 may communicate configuration information, sensing information, signaling information, or other information within communication system 100. Sensing agent 174 can communicate with core network 130 to communicate information with the rest of communication system 100. As an example, sensing agent 174 can determine the location of ED 110a and transmit this information to base station 170a via core network 130. Although only one sensing agent 174 is shown in FIG. 2, any number of sensing agents may be implemented in communication system 100. In some embodiments, one or more sensing agents may be implemented in one or more of RAN 120.

[0077] To improve UE position determination, a sensing node may combine sensing-based techniques with reference signal-based techniques. This type of sensing node may also be known as a sensing management function (SMF). In some networks, the SMF may also be known as a location management function (LMF). The SMF may be implemented as a physically separate entity located in core network 130 having connections to multiple BSs 170. In other aspects of the present application, the SMF may be implemented as a logical entity co-located within BS 170 through logic executed by processor 260.

[0078] As shown in FIG. 5, when implemented as a physically independent entity, the SMF 176 includes at least one processor 290, at least one transmitter 282, at least one receiver 284, one or more antennas 286, and at least one memory 288. Instead of the transmitter 282 and the receiver 284, a transceiver (not shown) may be used. A scheduler 283 may be coupled to the processor 290. The scheduler 283 may be included within the SMF 176 or may be operated separately from the SMF 110. The processor 290 performs various processing operations of the SMF 176, such as signal encoding, data processing, power control, input / output processing, or any other function. The processor 290 may also be configured to implement some or all of the functions and / or embodiments described in more detail above. Each processor 290 includes any suitable processing or computing device configured to execute one or more operations. Each processor 290 may include, for example, a microprocessor, a microcontroller, a digital signal processor, a field programmable gate array, or an application specific integrated circuit.

[0079] Reference signal-based pose determination techniques belong to the "active" pose estimation paradigm. In the active pose estimation paradigm, the querying side of the pose information (e.g., the UE 110) is involved in the process of determining the pose of the querying side. The querying side may transmit or receive (or both) signals specific to the pose determination process. Positioning techniques based on global navigation satellite systems (GNSS), such as the known global positioning system (GPS), are other examples of the active pose estimation paradigm.

[0080] In contrast, for example, radar-based sensing techniques may be considered to belong to the "passive" pose determination paradigm. In the passive pose determination paradigm, the target is unaware of the pose determination process.

[0081] By integrating sensing and communication into one system, the system no longer needs to operate according to only a single paradigm. Therefore, a combination of sensing-based techniques and reference signal-based techniques can bring about improved pose determination.

[0082] Improved pose determination may include, for example, obtaining UE channel partial space information, which is particularly useful for UE channel reconstruction at the sensing node, especially for beam-based operations and communications. The UE channel partial space is a subset of the entire algebraic space defined over a spatial region, within which the entire channel from the TP to the UE lies. Therefore, the UE channel partial space defines the channel from the TP to the UE with very high accuracy. Signals transmitted through other subspaces contribute negligibly to the UE channel. Knowledge of the UE channel partial space helps reduce the effort required for channel measurements at the UE and channel reconstruction on the network side. Thus, a combination of sensing-based techniques and reference signal-based techniques can enable UE channel reconstruction with much less overhead compared to traditional methods. The partial space information can also facilitate subspace-based sensing, reduce the complexity of sensing, and improve the accuracy of sensing.

[0083] In some embodiments of integrated sensing and communication, the same radio access technology (RAT) is used for both sensing and communication. This avoids the need to multiplex two different RATs under one carrier spectrum or require two different carrier spectra for two different RATs.

[0084] In embodiments where sensing and communication are integrated under one RAT, a first set of channels may be used to transmit sensing signals, and a second set of channels may be used to transmit communication signals. In some embodiments, each channel in the first set of channels and each channel in the second set of channels are logical channels, transport channels, or physical channels.

[0085] At the physical layer, communication and sensing can be performed via separate physical channels. For example, a first physical downlink shared channel PDSCH-C is defined for data communication, and a second physical downlink shared channel PDSCH-S is defined for sensing. Similarly, for uplink communication and sensing, separate physical uplink shared channels (PUSCH), PUSCH-C, and PUSCH-S can be defined.

[0086] In another example, the same PDSCH and PUSCH can also be used for both communication and sensing, and separate logical layer channels and / or transport layer channels are defined for communication and sensing. Also, note that the control channel(s) and data channel(s) for sensing can have the same or different channel structures (formats) and can occupy the same or different frequency bands or bandwidth portions.

[0087] In a further example, a common physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) and a common physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) can be used to carry control information for both sensing and communication. Alternatively, separate physical layer control channels can be used to carry separate control information for communication and sensing. For example, PUCCH-S and PUCCH-C can be used for uplink control for sensing and communication, respectively, and PDCCH-S and PDCCH-C can be used for downlink control for sensing and communication, respectively.

[0088] Different combinations of shared channels and dedicated channels for sensing and communication are possible in each of the physical layer, transport layer, and logical layer.

[0089] The term RADAR (Radar) is derived from the phrase Radio Detection and Ranging, although expressions with different capitalizations (e.g., Radar and radar) are equally valid and are now more common. Radar is typically used to detect the presence and location of objects. A radar system radiates radio frequency energy and receives an echo of that energy reflected from one or more targets. The system determines the orientation of a given target based on the echo returned from that target. The radiated energy can be in the form of energy pulses or continuous waves, which can be represented or defined by a specific waveform. Examples of waveforms used in radar include frequency modulated continuous wave (FMCW) and ultra-wideband (UWB) waveforms.

[0090] A radar system can be monostatic, bistatic, or multistatic. In a monostatic radar system, the radar signal transmitter and receiver are located in the same place, such as being integrated into a transceiver. In a bistatic radar system, the transmitter and receiver are spatially separated, and the separation distance is comparable to or greater than the expected target distance (often called the range). In a multistatic radar system, two or more radar components are spatially diverse but have a shared coverage area. A multistatic radar is also called a multi-site radar or a netted radar.

[0091] Ground radar applications face challenges such as multipath propagation and shadowing obstacles. Another challenge is the issue of discriminability due to ground targets having similar physical attributes. Integrating sensing into communication systems is likely to suffer from these same challenges and additional ones.

[0092] A communication node can be either half-duplex or full-duplex. A half-duplex node cannot perform both transmission and reception using the same physical resources (such as time, frequency, etc.), whereas a full-duplex node can perform transmission and reception using the same physical resources. Existing commercial wireless communication networks are all half-duplex. Even if a full-duplex communication network is put into practical use in the future, since half-duplex devices are less complex, lower in cost, and consume less power, it is expected that at least some of the nodes in the network will still be half-duplex nodes. In particular, full-duplex implementation is more difficult at higher frequencies (e.g., millimeter wave band) and is very difficult for small and low-cost devices such as femtocell base stations and UEs.

[0093] The limitations of half-duplex nodes in a communication network pose additional challenges for integrating sensing and communication in the devices and systems of the communication network. For example, both half-duplex nodes and full-duplex nodes can perform bistatic or multistatic sensing, but monostatic sensing typically requires the sensing node to have full-duplex capabilities. A half-duplex node can perform monostatic sensing with certain limitations, such as in a pulsed radar with a specific duty cycle and ranging capabilities.

[0094] The characteristics of the sensing signal, or the signal used for both sensing and communication, include the waveform of the signal and the frame structure of the signal. The frame structure defines the time-domain boundaries of the signal. The waveform describes the shape of the signal as a function of time and frequency. Examples of waveforms that can be used for the sensing signal include ultra-wideband (UWB) pulses, frequency-modulated continuous wave (FMCW) or "chirp", orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM), cyclic prefix (CP)-OFDM, and discrete Fourier transform spread (DFT-s)-OFDM.

[0095] In one embodiment, the sensing signal is a linear chirp signal having a bandwidth B and a duration T. Such linear chirp signals are generally known from their use in FMCW radar systems. The linear chirp signal has an initial frequency f chirp0 at an initial time t chirp0 and increases in frequency to a final frequency f chirp1 at a final time t chirp1 . Here, the relationship between the frequency (f) and time (t) can be expressed as a linear relationship of f - f chipr0 = α(t - t chirp0 ). Here, α = (f chirp1 - f chirp0 ) / (t chirp1 - t chirp0 ) is defined as the chirp gradient. The bandwidth of the linear chirp signal may be defined as B = f chirp1 - f chirp0 , and the duration of the linear chirp signal may be defined as T = t chirp1 - t chirp0 . Such a linear chirp signal can be presented in baseband representation as

Number

[0096] As used herein, pre-encoding can refer to any coding operation(s) or modulation(s) that convert an input signal to an output signal. Pre-encoding may be performed in different domains [regions], typically converting an input signal in a first domain to an output signal in a second domain. Pre-encoding may include linear operations.

[0097] A terrestrial communication system, which may also be referred to as a land-based or ground-based communication system, may further or alternatively be implemented over water or underwater. A non-terrestrial communication system can fill in coverage gaps in areas where services are not adequately provided by extending the coverage of a cellular network through the use of non-terrestrial nodes, which is key to establishing global seamless coverage and providing mobile broadband services in areas where services are not provided / adequately provided. Currently, it is almost impossible to implement terrestrial access point / base station infrastructure in areas such as the ocean, mountains, forests, or other remote areas.

[0098] The terrestrial communication system can be a wireless communication system that uses 5G technology and / or later-generation wireless technologies (e.g., 6G or later). In some examples, the terrestrial communication system may also accept some legacy wireless technologies (e.g., 3G or 4G wireless technologies). The non-terrestrial communication system may be a communication system that uses a satellite constellation such as a conventional geostationary orbit (GEO) satellite that utilizes broadcast public / popular content to a local server. The non-terrestrial communication system may be a communication system that uses low Earth orbit (LEO) satellites, which are known to establish a better balance between a wide coverage area and propagation path loss / delay. The non-terrestrial communication system may be a communication system that uses stabilized satellites in very low Earth orbit (VLEO) technology, thereby substantially reducing the cost for launching satellites into a lower orbit. The non-terrestrial communication system may be a communication system that uses a high altitude platform (HAP), which is known to provide a low path loss air interface for users with a limited power budget. The non-terrestrial communication system may be a communication system that uses unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) (or unmanned aerial systems, "UASs"), and their coverage can be limited to local areas such as the air, balloons, quadcopters, drones, etc., to achieve high-density deployment. In some examples, GEO satellites, LEO satellites, UAVs, HAPs, and VLEOs may be two-dimensional horizontally. In some examples, UAVs, HAPs, and VLEOs can be combined to integrate satellite communication into a cellular network. The emerging 3D vertical network consists of many moving (non-geostationary) high-altitude access points such as UAVs, HAPs, and VLEOs.

[0099] MIMO technology allows an antenna array consisting of multiple antennas to perform signal transmission and reception, thereby meeting the requirements for high transmission rates. ED 110 and T-TRP 170 and / or NT-TRP may use MIMO to communicate using radio resource blocks. MIMO uses multiple antennas at the transmitter to transmit radio resource blocks through parallel radio signals. As a result, multiple antennas can be used at the receiver. MIMO can beamform parallel radio signals for reliable multipath transmission of radio resource blocks. MIMO can combine parallel radio signals transporting different data to increase the data rate of radio resource blocks.

[0100] In recent years, MIMO (Massive MIMO) wireless communication systems configured with a large number of antennas for T-TRP 170 and / or NT-TRP 172 have received extensive attention from the academic and industrial communities. In a massive MIMO system, T-TRP 170 and / or NT-TRP 172 generally consist of more than 10 antenna units (see antenna 256 and antenna 280 in FIG. 3). T-TRP 170 and / or NT-TRP 172 can generally operate to serve dozens (such as 40) of ED 110. The large number of antenna units of T-TRP 170 and NT-TRP 172 can significantly increase the spatial degrees of freedom of wireless communication, greatly improve the transmission rate, spectral efficiency, and power efficiency, and significantly reduce the interference between cells. By increasing the number of antennas, each antenna unit can be made smaller and less costly. Using the spatial degrees of freedom provided by the massive antenna units, T-TRP 170 and NT-TRP 172 of each cell can communicate with many ED 110 within the cell simultaneously on the same time-frequency resource, thereby significantly increasing the spectral efficiency. The large number of antenna units of T-TRP 170 and / or NT-TRP 172 also enables each user to have better spatial directivity for uplink and downlink transmissions, thereby reducing the transmission power of T-TRP 170 and / or NT-TRP 172 as well as ED 110, and increasing the power efficiency accordingly. When the number of antennas of T-TRP 170 and / or NT-TRP 172 is large enough, the random channel between each ED 110 and T-TRP 170 and / or NT-TRP 172 can approach orthogonality, thereby reducing the impact of interference and noise between the cell and the user. The above-mentioned multiple advantages enable massive MIMO to have excellent application prospects.

[0101] A MIMO system may include a receiver connected to a receiving (Rx) antenna, a transmitter connected to a transmitting (Tx) antenna, and a signal processor connected to the transmitter and the receiver. Each of the Rx antenna and the Tx antenna can include a plurality of antennas. For example, the Rx antenna can have a uniform linear array (ULA) antenna in which a plurality of antennas are arranged in a line at equal intervals. When a radio frequency (RF) signal is transmitted through the Tx antenna, the Rx antenna can receive a signal reflected back from a target in front.

[0102] A non-exhaustive list of possible units or possible configurable parameters, or in some embodiments of a MIMO system, includes a panel and a beam.

[0103] The panel is a unit of an antenna group, or an antenna array, or an antenna subarray, and this unit can independently control a Tx beam or an Rx beam.

[0104] The beam can be formed by performing amplitude and / or phase weighting on data transmitted or received by at least one antenna port. The beam may be formed by using another method, for example, by adjusting relevant parameters of the antenna unit. The beam can include a Tx beam and / or an Rx beam. The transmission beam shows the distribution of signal intensities formed in different directions in space after the signal is transmitted through the antenna. The reception beam shows the distribution of signal intensities in different directions in space of the radio signal received from the antenna. The beam information can include a beam identifier, or an antenna port(s) identifier, or a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) resource identifier, or an SSB resource identifier, or a sounding reference signal (SRS) resource identifier, or other reference signal resource identifiers.

[0105] Given the choice between monostatic sensing and multistatic sensing, the multistatic sensing configuration can be considered the most appropriate choice to realize the "network as a sensor" concept in future wireless communication systems. Some existing proposals can be understood as attempting to utilize the advantages of multistatic sensing for future wireless communication networks. One of the existing proposals is a method based on using dedicated sensing pilot signals. Another one of the existing proposals is a method based on reusing communication pilot signals as sensing pilot signals. Exemplary communication pilot signals include CSI-RS, demodulation reference signal (DMRS), phase tracking reference signal (PTRS), and positioning reference signal (PRS). The method based on using dedicated sensing pilot signals can be considered to have a disadvantageous amount of overhead. In the method based on reusing communication pilots, the communication pilots can be considered to be too sparse to achieve the processing gain that provides appropriate sensing performance.

[0106] Aspects of the present application relate to a method for implementing a multistatic sensing scheme in a manner that aims to avoid the drawbacks of existing proposed schemes, which are outlined above.

[0107] Aspects of the present application relate to using communication data as a sensing pilot signal. One advantage of using communication data as a sensing pilot signal is reduced sensing overhead. Another advantage of using communication data as a sensing pilot signal is processing gain. The processing gain can result from a large number of data symbols. It can be shown that a large number of data symbols enable relatively simple fast Fourier transform (FFT)-based reception. Another advantage of using communication data as a sensing pilot signal is that the communication data can be considered to resemble a large set of random data. Using a large set of random data for the sensing pilot signal can be shown to have an advantage with respect to self-ambiguity. The degree of self-ambiguity is known to be an important performance metric as far as delay estimation and Doppler shift estimation are concerned.

[0108] Aspects of the present application relate to various communication-assisted sensing schemes in which a user equipment can use a communication signal for sensing purposes.

[0109] FIG. 6 shows an exemplary communication scheduling region 600. The exemplary communication scheduling region 600 is defined as a grid indexed by bandwidth parts (BWP1, BWP2, BWP3, BWP4) and time slots (TS1, TS2, TS3, TS4, TS5, TS6). In particular, a general communication scheduling region can be defined as being indexed by K bandwidth parts. Here, K is not necessarily equal to 4. Similarly, a general communication scheduling region can be defined as being indexed by M time slots. Here, M is not necessarily equal to 6. The exemplary communication scheduling region 600 of FIG. 6 includes six data block transmissions (DB0, DB1, DB2, DB3, DB4, DB5).

[0110] FIG. 7 shows an example of the signal flow between UE 110 and TRP 170 in a signal flow diagram. First, UE 110 may transmit a capability report to TRP 170 (step 702). The capability report may include an indication of the buffering capability at UE 110 and an indication of the sensing processing capability at UE 110. The indication of the sensing processing capability may include one or more of an indication of the sensing processing delay, an indication of the sensing bandwidth processing capability, and an indication of the sensing duration processing capability.

[0111] In response to receiving the capability report, TRP 170 may transmit a sensing report configuration to UE 110 (step 704). TRP 170 may transmit the sensing report configuration, for example, using RRC signaling (step 704). UE 110 may use the sensing report configuration to define the content of its sensing report and / or the manner in which the sensing report is transmitted, as further described below. For example, the sensing report configuration may define how UE 110 should behave in the case of a decoding error and whether the sensing report should be merged with the decoding error feedback or transmitted separately.

[0112] TRP 170 may then transmit information defining a sensing region (step 706). TRP 170 may transmit the sensing region definition, for example, using DCI (step 706). In particular, the sensing region may be defined to include the entirety of a given communication scheduling region (see the exemplary communication scheduling region 600 of FIG. 6) or a subset of a given communication scheduling region. The sensing region definition may be based on the capability report transmitted by UE 110 (step 702). The sensing region definition may alternatively or additionally be based on a specified "quality of sensing" (QoSe) parameter. The communication scheduling region may include N data block transmissions allocated for sensing detection.

[0113] TRP 170 may define a sensing feedback channel (step 708).

[0114] When defining a sensing feedback channel (step 708), TRP 170 may take into account the length dimension of the sensing region, the self-reported UE processing latency, the sensing report type, and the acceptable sensing latency parameters.

[0115] TRP 170 may then send an indication of the definition of the sensing feedback channel to UE 110 (step 710).

[0116] The transmission of the definition of the sensing feedback channel (step 710) can be achieved using DCI.

[0117] In response to receiving a scheduled transmission from TRP 170 (step 712), UE 110 may process the received scheduled transmission. The processing of the received scheduled transmission may include performing data decoding of the scheduled transmission, thereby obtaining the decoded data (step 714). UE 110 may buffer the decoded data. The processing of the received scheduled transmission may include UE 110 performing a sensing parameter estimation operation (step 716). UE 110 can base the execution of the sensing parameter estimation operation (step 716) on the knowledge of the already decoded data of the data block transmission allocated for sensing detection.

[0118] The processing of the received scheduled transmission may further include UE 110 sending a sensing report to TRP 170 (step 718). UE 110 may adopt the sensing feedback channel as described in the received definition. UE 110 may use PUSCH to send the sensing report (step 718).

[0119] The sensing report may be merged with other information and transmitted together with the other information, or may be transmitted alone. As an example, the other information may be communication-related feedback, in which case the sensing report may be merged with the communication-related feedback, and the merged information may be transmitted on a communication-related feedback channel. When the sensing report is transmitted alone, the sensing report may be transmitted on a dedicated sensing report channel. The merging of the sensing report and other information may depend on the timing relationship between the sensing report and the other information.

[0120] The UE capability report transmitted in step 702 may include an indication of the capability to buffer data after decoding the scheduled transmission received (step 712) at UE 110 (step 714). In a first scenario, UE 110 does not have the capability to buffer the received (step 712), decoded (step 714) data block. In this first scenario, UE 110 may be configured to perform a sensing parameter estimation operation on each individual decoded data block in response to the data block being decoded (step 714). In a second scenario, UE 110 has the capability to buffer the received (step 712), decoded (step 714) data block. In fact, UE 110 may have the capability to buffer a plurality of decoded data blocks. UE 110 may be configured to perform a sensing parameter estimation operation across the plurality of decoded data blocks (step 716).

[0121] The UE capability report transmitted in step 702 may include an indication of the capability to perform multi-BWP and parallel baseband sensing parameter estimation after the data block has been decoded (step 714). In a first scenario, UE 110 does not have the capability to perform sensing parameter estimation across multiple BWPs (step 716). Thus, UE 110 may be configured to perform sensing parameter estimation on the data block decoded from a particular BWP (step 716). In a second scenario, UE 110 has the capability to perform sensing parameter estimation on the decoded (step 714) data block jointly across multiple BWPs (step 716).

[0122] The UE capability report transmitted in step 702 may include an indication of processing capability. The indication of processing capability may include an indication of sensing bandwidth processing capability. The indication of processing capability may also include an indication of time processing capability. The indication of processing capability may further include an indication of how complex sensing reception can be. The indication of how complex sensing reception can be may be expressed in terms of the FFT size that the receiver can handle and whether the receiver can employ a super-resolution algorithm. The UE capability report transmitted in step 702 may include an indication of the UE power mode. The indication of sensing processing delay may be understood to be related to how much power budget the UE can utilize to perform the sensing operation (after decoding the scheduled data block). The indication of the UE power mode may implicitly indicate other capabilities such as processing capability, multi-BWP processing capability, and receiver complexity capability.

[0123] The UE capability report transmitted in step 702 may include an indication of the sensing processing delay. The indication of the sensing processing delay may be understood to relate to the amount of additional latency (such time) associated with the UE 110 performing sensing parameter estimation to obtain a sensing report (step 716). This delay is called "additional" latency because latency is already associated with the time it takes for the UE 110 to decode the received data block (step 714).

[0124] Figure 8 shows a sensing area 800 shown as a subset of the exemplary communication scheduling area 600 of FIG. 6.

[0125] Figure 9 shows exemplary steps in a method of processing a received scheduled transmission for execution by a UE 110 that has no buffering capability and no multi-BWP processing capability. Due to the lack of buffering capability and multi-BWP processing capability, the UE 110 may be configured to perform sensing parameter estimation separately for each decoded data block. The method of FIG. 9 is presented as a plurality of methods executed for a plurality of exemplary data blocks. The exemplary data blocks are referenced by data block indices DB0 and DB(G-1). As shown in FIG. 8, not all data blocks need to be designated for sensing.

[0126] The multiple methods shown in FIG. 9 are based on the assumption that the data block DB0 in the first time slot is designated for sensing and the data block DB(G-1) in the G-th time slot is designated for sensing. Also, the multiple methods shown in FIG. 9 are based on the assumption that an OFDM-based waveform is used for communication / sensing. The multiple methods shown in FIG. 9 are based on the assumption that the UE 110 does not have multi-BWP capability, and thus G DBs should be scheduled for the UE 110 over G time slots. This is not necessarily true in the general case. In the general case, multiple DBs can be scheduled for the UE 110 over the same time slot.

[0127] In the first time slot, the UE 110 obtains a first received matrix Y0 (step 902-0). The first received matrix Y0 can be understood to represent a set of received complex symbols over each resource element (RE) after applying cyclic prefix removal and FFT operation for waveform demodulation to the received time-domain signal y(t). The UE 110 then decodes the first data block referred to by the data block index DB0 (step 904-0). If it is determined that the decoding is successful (step 906-0), the UE 110 reconstructs a first transmitted matrix X0 (step 908-0). Reconstructing the first transmitted matrix X0 includes applying forward error correction to the decoded information bits, modulating the encoded bits, and mapping the modulated symbols onto the resource elements corresponding to the time / frequency domain allocated for the first data block. The UE 110 can then determine a first channel matrix Z0 (step 910-0). The channel matrix may be determined as the two-dimensional FFT of the quotient of the received matrix and the reconstructed transmitted matrix (step 910-0). That is, Z0 = FFT 2D(Y0 / X0). Based on the first channel matrix, UE 110 may estimate various sensing parameters including delay parameters and Doppler shift parameters (step 912-0). UE 110 may then transmit a first sensing report to TRP 170 (step 914-0). The first sensing report may include some or all of the determined (step 912-0) sensing parameters and may be associated with data block index DB0.

[0128] FIG. 9 shows two sensing methods configured to be performed on data blocks received in two corresponding time slots (the first time slot, the G-th time slot) among a plurality of sensing methods configured to be performed on data blocks received in corresponding multiple time slots. The plurality of time slots may include all time slots if sensing is performed based on all data blocks, as shown in FIG. 6. As shown in FIG. 8, if sensing is performed based on a subset of data blocks, the plurality of time slots may include a subset of time slots.

[0129] In the G-th time slot, UE 110 obtains the G-th received matrix Y G-1 (step 902-G-1). Obtaining the G-th received matrix Y G-1 (step 902-G-1) may be achieved in a manner similar to the manner of obtaining the first received matrix Y0 described above (step 902-0). UE 110 then decodes the G-th data block referred to by the data block index DB(G-1) (step 904-G-1). When it is determined that the decoding is successful (step 906-G-1), UE 110 reconstructs the G-th transmitted matrix X G-1 (step 908-G-1). The G-th transmitted matrix X G-1Reconfiguration (step 908-G-1) may be achieved in a manner similar to the manner of reconfiguring the first transmission matrix X0 described above (step 908-0). UE 110 then G-1 can determine the G-th channel matrix Z G-1 = FFT 2D (Y G-1 / X G-1 ). Based on the G-th channel matrix, UE 110 can estimate various sensing parameters (step 912-G-1). UE 110 can then transmit the G-th sensing report to TRP 170 (step 914-G-1). The G-th sensing report can include some or all of the determined (step 912-G-1) sensing parameters and may be associated with the data block index DB(G - 1).

[0130] FIG. 10 shows exemplary steps in a method of processing received scheduled transmissions for execution by a UE 110 having buffering capabilities and multi-BWP processing capabilities, in contrast to the UE 110 targeted by the method of FIG. 9. Due to the presence of buffering capabilities and multi-BWP processing capabilities, UE 110 can be configured to jointly perform sensing parameter estimation on multiple decoded data blocks. The method of FIG. 10 is presented as multiple methods executed on multiple exemplary data blocks. However, in contrast to the multiple methods shown in FIG. 9, the multiple methods shown in FIG. 10 converge for the last few steps. The exemplary data blocks are referenced by the data block indices DB0 and DB(G - 1). As shown in FIG. 8, not all data blocks may be designated for sensing.

[0131] In the first time slot, UE 110 obtains the first received matrix Y0 (step 1002-0). UE 110 then decodes the first data block referenced by the data block index DB0 (step 1004-0). If it is determined that the decoding is successful (step 1006-0), UE 110 buffers the first received matrix Y0 (step 1007-0).

[0132] In the G-th time slot, UE 110 obtains the G-th received matrix Y G-1 (step 1002-G-1). UE 110 then decodes the G-th data block referenced by the data block index DB(G-1) (step 1004-G-1). If it is determined that the decoding is successful (step 1006-G-1), UE 110 buffers the G-th received matrix Y G-1 (step 1007-G-1).

[0133] UE 110 may then combine all the transmission matrices [X0, …, X G-1 to determine the overall transmission matrix X. UE 110 may also combine all the received matrices [Y0, …, Y G-1 to determine the overall received matrix Y. Each of the received matrices [Y0, …, Y G-1 may be obtained in a manner similar to the manner of obtaining the first received matrix Y0 described above (step 902-0). Each of the transmission matrices [X0, …, X G-1 may be reconstructed in a manner similar to the manner of reconstructing the first transmission matrix X0 described above (step 908-0). The process of combining the individual transmission matrices X g and the received matrices Y g (g = 0, …, G-1) may involve inserting zero matrices for time / frequency resources where data blocks are not transmitted ("empty regions"). In this case, the zero matrices may be obtained based on the number of OFDM symbols and the number of subcarriers of the corresponding empty regions.

[0134] UE 110 can then determine the overall channel matrix Z (step 1010). The overall channel matrix Z may be determined as the two-dimensional FFT of the quotient of the overall received matrix Y and the overall transmitted matrix X (step 1010). That is, Z = FFT 2D (Y / X). Based on the overall channel matrix Z, UE 110 may estimate various sensing parameters (step 1012). UE 110 may then transmit an overall sensing report to the TRP 170 (step 1014). The overall sensing report may include some or all of the determined (step 1012) sensing parameters.

[0135] Aspects of the present application relate to the TRP 170 scheduling a configuration for the sensing feedback report channel and signaling it to the UE 110 through DCI. Since sensing detection is related to data decoding, there are many options for the content of the sensing feedback report channel.

[0136] In a first option, as shown in FIG. 11, the TRP 170 may transmit a PDCCH 1104 that includes an instruction for the UE 110. In particular, a data block (not shown) to be used for sensing detection in the UE 110 may be carried by the PDSCH 1102. The instruction may indicate to the UE 110 to bundle the sensing feedback report channel with future transmissions as part of the HARQ protocol. If the sensing report is associated with an individual HARQ process, the sensing feedback report channel may be defined separately for each HARQ process. In this case, the instruction includes an allocation of sensing report resources 1110 (in the time domain and frequency domain) for each sensing feedback report channel by the TRP 170. Generally, the instruction, in particular the sensing report resources, may be communicated to the UE 110 in a new field of the DCI within the PDCCH 1104. Thereafter, after a delay associated with decoding and sensing detection, the UE 110 may transmit a PUSCH 1106, in which the UE 110 includes a HARQ feedback 1108. In the same PUSCH 1106, the UE 110 can transmit a sensing feedback report using the sensing report resources 1110 allocated by the TRP 170.

[0137] In the exemplary table 1200 of FIG. 12, an amount of bits is associated with each field within a plurality of fields of the DCI within the PDCCH 1104. The DCI is known to include a designation of UL resources in the frequency domain and / or time domain for a HARQ feedback 1108 for a certain HARQ process number. The exemplary table 1200 of FIG. 12 differs from the conventional designation of UL resources in that the exemplary table 1200 of FIG. 12 includes a designation of sensing report resources 1110 in the frequency domain and / or time domain for the transmission of the sensing feedback report channel. Multiple sensing report resources 1110 may be defined for each HARQ process for the case where decoding errors occur for some data blocks.

[0138] In a second option, as shown in FIG. 13, the TRP 170 may transmit a PDCCH 1304 that includes an instruction for the UE 110. In particular, a data block (not shown) to be used for sensing detection in the UE 110 may be carried by the PDSCH 1302. The instruction may indicate to the UE 110 to transmit a sensing feedback report channel separately from future transmissions as part of the HARQ protocol. If the sensing report is associated with an individual HARQ process, the sensing feedback report channel may be defined separately for each HARQ process. In contrast, as shown in FIG. 13, the instruction includes an allocation of sensing report resources 1310 (in the time domain and frequency domain) for the sensing feedback report channel by the TRP 170. Generally, the instruction, particularly the sensing report resources, may be communicated to the UE 110 in a new field of the DCI within the PDCCH 1304. Thereafter, after a delay associated with decoding and sensing detection, the UE 110 may transmit a first PUSCH 1306-0, in which the UE 110 includes a HARQ feedback 1308. In a second PUSCH 1306-1, the UE 110 may use the sensing report resources 1310 allocated by the TRP 170 to transmit a sensing feedback report channel. In particular, in FIG. 13, the HARQ feedback 1308 temporally precedes the sensing report in the sensing report resources 1310. However, this does not necessarily have to be the case. In fact, it is considered possible that the sensing report in the sensing report resources 1310 may temporally precede the HARQ feedback 1308.

[0139] The second option may be mainly applicable to a scenario where the UE 110 transmits a single aggregated sensing report for all decoded data blocks in a given sensing area.

[0140] In a second option, the sensing feedback report channel can use sensing report resources defined using a new field within the UL DCI (format 0_0 or 0_1). That is, the UE 110 may include the sensing feedback report channel in a second PUSCH 1306-1.

[0141] In the exemplary table 1400 of FIG. 14, the number of bits is associated with each field within a plurality of fields of the DCI within the PDCCH 1304. The DCI is known to include a specification of UL resources in the frequency domain and / or time domain for HARQ feedback 1308 for a certain HARQ process number. The exemplary table 1400 of FIG. 14 differs from the conventional specification of UL resources in that the exemplary table 1400 of FIG. 14 includes a specification of sensing report resources 1310 in the frequency domain and / or time domain for transmission of the sensing feedback report channel. In contrast to the exemplary table 1200 of FIG. 12, in the exemplary table 1400 of FIG. 14, the specification of the UL sensing report resources is not tied to a specific HARQ process.

[0142] It is understood that sensing may not be performed if the UE 110 experiences a decoding error (NACK) for some data blocks. In response to experiencing a decoding error (NACK), the UE 110 may act in a manner defined in the configuration. The configuration may be communicated to the UE by SensingReportConfiguration [sensing report configuration] using RRC signaling. The configuration may include an indication as to whether the UE 110 should bundle the sensing feedback report with the HARQ process or how to behave in case of a decoding error.

[0143] In an exemplary configuration (corresponding to sensingNACKreportconfiguration0), the UE 110 may ignore decoding failures of data blocks in the sensing feedback report.

[0144] In another exemplary configuration shown in FIG. 15 (corresponding to sensingNACKreportconfiguration1), the UE 110 may send a sensing feedback report corresponding to the NACK data block in a manner separate from the sensing feedback report corresponding to the ACK data block after the NACK data block is finally successfully decoded after one or more retransmissions.

[0145] FIG. 15 shows that the UE 110 may receive an initial transmission 1502-0 of a first data block DB0. After failing to properly decode the initial transmission 1502-0 of the first data block DB0, the UE 110 may send a first PUSCH 1506-0. The first PUSCH 1506-0 may include a NACK 1504N to indicate to the TRP 170 that the first data block DB0 was not properly decoded. The first PUSCH 1506-0 includes a sensing report resource 1508, but since the UE 110 does not have a sensing estimation result to report, the UE 110 allows the sensing report resource 1508 to be unused. The UE 110 may then receive a retransmission 1502-1 of the first data block DB0_RV1. After properly decoding the first data block DB0 with the help of the retransmission 1502-1 of the first data block DB0_RV1, the UE 110 may send a second PUSCH 1506-1. The second PUSCH 1506-1 may include an ACK 1504A to indicate to the TRP 170 that DB0 was properly decoded, as well as the retransmission 1502-1 of the first data block DB0_RV1. The second PUSCH 1506-1 may also include two sensing feedback channels, namely, a first sensing feedback channel 1510-0 for the initial transmission 1502-0 of the first data block DB0 and a second feedback channel 1510-1 for the retransmission 1502-1 of the first data block DB0_RV1.

[0146] In a further exemplary configuration shown in FIG. 16 (corresponding to sensing NACK report configuration 2), the UE 110 may transmit all the sensing feedback reports together in one reporting opportunity.

[0147] FIG. 16 shows that the UE 110 may receive an initial transmission 1502-0 of the first data block DB0. After failing to properly decode the initial transmission 1502-0 of the first data block DB0, the UE 110 may transmit a first PUSCH 1506-0. The first PUSCH 1506-0 may include a NACK 1504N for indicating to the TRP 170 that the first data block DB0 was not properly decoded. The first PUSCH 1506-0 includes a sensing report resource 1508, but since the UE 110 has no sensing estimation results to report, the UE 110 allows the sensing report resource 1508 to be unused. The UE 110 may then receive a retransmission 1502-1 of the first data block DB0_RV1. After properly decoding the first data block DB0 with the help of the retransmission 1502-1 of the first data block DB0_RV1, the UE 110 may transmit a second PUSCH 1506-1. The second PUSCH 1506-1 may include an ACK 1504A indicating to the TRP 170 that the DB0 was properly decoded, as well as the retransmission 1502-1 of the first data block DB0_RV1. The second PUSCH 1506-1 may also include an aggregated sensing feedback channel 1610 for the initial transmission 1502-0 of the first data block DB0 and for the retransmission 1502-1 of the first data block DB0_RV1.

[0148] Aspects of the present application relate to a scenario in which the UE 110 receives a plurality of PDSCH transmissions related to a corresponding plurality of spatial layers from the TRP 170.

[0149] It is known that two signals received after transmission from the same antenna port in a given device are likely to experience the same radio channel. In contrast, two signals received after transmission from two different antenna ports in a given device are likely to experience different radio conditions [radio wave conditions]. Notably, there are some cases where two signals received after transmission from two different antenna ports experience a radio channel with common characteristics. In such cases, those antenna ports may be said to be Quasi-Co-Located (QCL). In fact, efforts may be made to increase the likelihood that two or more PDSCH transmissions are quasi-co-located. Such efforts may be referred to as QCL configuration.

[0150] In the absence of a QCL configuration for multiple PDSCH transmissions, the UE 110 may handle each received PDSCH transmission individually. The UE 110 may handle each received PDSCH transmission in the manner described previously herein.

[0151] However, at the TRP 170, if there is a QCL configuration for, for example, two PDSCH transmissions transmitted from the same antenna port or on the same beam, it can be understood that the UE 110 has options for processing the PDSCH transmissions for sensing purposes and for the purpose of transmitting a sensing feedback report.

[0152] Consider a first communication scheduling region 1700A for a first set of PDSCH transmissions and a second communication scheduling region 1700B for a second set of PDSCH transmissions as shown in FIG. 17. In view of FIG. 17, it is noted that the resources (BWP1, TS3) scheduled for one data block (DB2) in the first communication scheduling region 1700A are the same as the resources (BWP1, TS3) scheduled for the same data block (DB2) in the second communication scheduling region 1700B. These may be referred to as overlapping resources.

[0153] In the first option, the UE 110 may process the received QCL PDSCH transmissions and transmit a single sensing feedback report for all received QCL PDSCH transmissions. In the first option, the sensing feedback report is unlikely to be associated with a specific HARQ process.

[0154] In a second option, the UE 110 may process the received QCL PDSCH transmissions and transmit a single sensing feedback report corresponding to each PDSCH transmission. In the second option, when the UE 110 is scheduled over overlapping resources, one data block from the first PDSCH transmission (DB2 in the first communication scheduling region 1700A; see FIG. 17) is successfully decoded, but another data block from the second PDSCH transmission (DB2 in the second communication scheduling region 1700B; see FIG. 17) may not be successfully decoded. In this case, the UE 110 may report sensing based on processing the data block DB2 from the first PDSCH transmission. Alternatively, the UE 110 may recognize that the data block from the first PDSCH transmission was successfully decoded despite interference from the data during the second PDSCH transmission. Thus, the UE 110 may delay processing the data block from the first PDSCH transmission for sensing purposes. The UE 110 may also be able to delay transmission of the sensing feedback report related to the data block from the first PDSCH transmission. The UE 110 may wait for a retransmission of the data block DB2 from the second PDSCH transmission. When the data block DB2 from the second PDSCH transmission is successfully decoded, the UE 110 may process the data block from the first PDSCH transmission for sensing purposes. The processing of the data block from the first PDSCH transmission by the UE 110 may involve interference cancellation. That is, the information obtained by successfully decoding the data block DB2 from the second PDSCH transmission may indicate that the UE 110 is allowed to remove interference from the data block from the first PDSCH transmission from the data in the data block DB2 from the second PDSCH transmission. Similarly, the information obtained by successfully decoding the data block DB2 from the first PDSCH transmission may indicate that the UE 110 is allowed to remove interference from the data block from the second PDSCH transmission from the data in the data block DB2 from the first PDSCH transmission.This process can help obtain a more accurate sensing estimate for both data blocks, as the receiver experiences a higher signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR) state for both data blocks due to interference mitigation.

[0155] All of these UE behaviors can be defined as additional SensingReportConfiguration parameters (through RRC signaling) to indicate UE behavior in this scenario.

[0156] It should be understood that one or more steps of the methods of the embodiments provided herein may be performed by corresponding units or modules. For example, data may be transmitted by a transmitting unit or module. Data may be received by a receiving unit or module. Data may be processed by a processing unit or module. Each unit / module may be hardware, software, or a combination thereof. For example, one or more of the units / modules may be an integrated circuit such as a field programmable gate array (FPGA) or an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC). If the modules are software, it will be understood that they may be retrieved by a processor, individually or together, in whole or in part, in one or more instances as necessary, and the modules themselves may contain instructions for further deployment and instantiation.

[0157] While combinations of features are shown in the illustrated embodiments, all of them need not be combined to realize the benefits of the various embodiments of the present disclosure. In other words, a system or method designed in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure does not necessarily include all of the features shown in any one of the figures, or all of the portions schematically shown in the figures. Further, selected features of one exemplary embodiment may be combined with selected features of other exemplary embodiments.

[0158] The present disclosure has been described with reference to exemplary embodiments, but this description is not intended to be construed in a limiting sense. Various modifications and combinations of the exemplary embodiments, as well as other embodiments of the present disclosure, will be apparent to those skilled in the art by reference to the description. Accordingly, the appended claims are intended to encompass any such modifications or embodiments.

Claims

1. Receiving a sensing capability report from a device; Transmitting to the device a definition of a sensing area, wherein the sensing area definition is defined based on the sensing capability report; Transmitting to the device a definition of a sensing feedback report channel; Transmitting data transmission to the device; Receiving, from the device through the sensing feedback report channel, a sensing report based on processing the data transmission received in the sensing area A method comprising.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the sensing capability report includes an indication of buffering capability.

3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the sensing capability report includes an indication of data transmission processing capability.

4. The data transmission processing capability is: An indication of sensing processing delay; An indication of sensing bandwidth processing capability; and An indication of sensing duration processing capability The method according to claim 3, comprising one or more of.

5. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the definition of the sensing area indicates the entire communication scheduling area.

6. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the definition of the sensing area indicates a subset of the communication scheduling area.

7. The method according to claim 5 or 6, wherein the definition of the sensing area is further based on sensing quality requirements.

8. The definition of the sensing feedback report channel is at least partially based on: The length of the sensing area; The processing latency in the device; The type of the sensing report; and Sensing latency requirements The method according to any one of claims 1 to 7, comprising one or more of.

9. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein the definition of the sensing feedback channel specifies merging sensing feedback with communication-related feedback.

10. The method according to claim 9, wherein the communication-related feedback includes an indication of the decoding status of a data block.

11. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein the definition of the sensing feedback report channel specifies a dedicated sensing feedback report channel.

12. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 11, wherein receiving the sensing capability report includes receiving a physically shared link channel.

13. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 12, further comprising transmitting a sensing report configuration to the device, the sensing report configuration being created based on the sensing capability report.

14. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 13, wherein transmitting the definition of the sensing area includes transmitting downlink control information.

15. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 14, wherein transmitting the definition of the sensing feedback channel includes transmitting downlink control information.

16. transmitting a sensing capability report to a base station; receiving a definition of a sensing area from the base station, the sensing area definition being defined based on the sensing capability report; receiving a definition of a sensing feedback report channel from the base station; receiving data transmission from the base station; transmitting a sensing report based on processing the data transmission received in the sensing area to the base station through the sensing feedback report channel comprising a method.

17. The method according to claim 16, wherein the sensing capability report includes an indication of buffering capability.

18. The method according to claim 16 or 17, wherein the sensing capability report includes an indication of data transmission processing capability.

19. The data transmission processing capability is: an indication of sensing processing delay; an indication of sensing bandwidth processing capability; and an indication of sensing duration processing capability The method according to claim 18, comprising one or more of.

20. The method according to any one of claims 16 to 19, wherein the definition of the sensing area indicates the entire communication scheduling area.

21. The method according to any one of claims 16 to 19, wherein the definition of the sensing area indicates a subset of the communication scheduling area.

22. The method according to claim 20 or 21, wherein the definition of the sensing area is further based on sensing quality requirements.

23. The definition of the sensing feedback report channel is, at least in part: The length of the sensing area; The processing latency in the device; The type of the sensing report; and Sensing latency requirements The method according to any one of claims 16 to 22, based on one or more of the foregoing. **Claim 24** The definition of the sensing feedback channel is the method according to any one of claims 16 to 23, which specifies merging sensing feedback with communication-related feedback. **Claim 25** The method according to claim 24, wherein the communication-related feedback includes an indication of the decoding status of a data block. **Claim 26** The definition of the sensing feedback report channel is the method according to any one of claims 16 to 23, which specifies a dedicated sensing feedback report channel. **Claim 27** The method according to any one of claims 16 to 26, wherein transmitting the sensing capability report includes transmitting a physically uplink shared channel. **Claim 28** The method according to any one of claims 16 to 27, further comprising receiving a sensing report configuration from the base station, the sensing report configuration being created based on the sensing capability report. **Claim 29** The method according to any one of claims 16 to 28, wherein receiving the definition of the sensing area includes receiving downlink control information. **Claim 30** The method according to any one of claims 16 to 29, wherein receiving the definition of the sensing feedback channel includes receiving downlink control information. **Claim 31** An apparatus having a processor configured to cause the apparatus to execute the method according to any one of claims 1 to 30. **Claim 32** A computer-readable storage medium including instructions that, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to execute the method according to any one of claims 1 to 30. **Claim 33** A computer program product including instructions that, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to execute the method according to any one of claims 1 to 30. **Claim 34** A processor of the device, the processor being configured to cause the device to execute the method according to any one of claims 1 to 30. [

35. ] A system, a device configured to transmit a sensing capability report, receive data transmissions, and transmit a sensing report based on processing the data transmissions received in a sensing area through a sensing feedback report channel; a base station in wireless communication with the device, the base station being: defining the sensing area based on the sensing capability report; defining the sensing feedback report channel based on the sensing capability report; and the data transmission configured to transmit to the device, a system.

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