Systems and methods for adaptive sensing power control

Abstract

Some aspects of the present disclosure provide an adaptive sensing method that enables separate power control parameter configuration for uplink (UL) or sidelink (SL) communication transmissions and sensing transmissions. When a signal or channel is used for both communication and sensing, two sets of parameters may be configured: a first set of parameters for UL or SL communication and a second set of parameters for sensing. Some aspects of the present disclosure provide a distributed power control method that includes a slow power ramp of a transmission signal used for sensing. The distributed power control method may also include interference avoidance. Some aspects of the present disclosure provide a centralized power control method that includes a centralized network-side device, such as a base station, sending signaling to adapt UE power to mitigate interference between UEs when interference is detected.

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present disclosure relates generally to wireless communications, and more particularly to systems and methods for adaptive sensing power control. [Background technology]

[0002] In some wireless communication systems, user equipment (UE) communicates wirelessly with a base station (e.g., a NodeB, an evolved NodeB, or a gNB) to send data to and / or receive data from the base station. Wireless communication from a UE to a base station is called uplink (UL) communication. Wireless communication from a base station to a UE is called downlink (DL) communication. Wireless communication from a first UE to a second UE is called sidelink (SL) communication or device-to-device (D2D) communication.

[0003] Resources are required for uplink and downlink communications. For example, a base station may wirelessly transmit data, such as a transport block (TB), to a UE in a downlink transmission over a particular frequency and for a particular duration. Frequency and duration are examples of resources.

[0004] Sensing may be performed by a UE to obtain information about its surroundings. Sensing allows the UE to detect one or more object information, such as, but not limited to, environmental information proximate to the UE, UE position, UE velocity, UE orientation, and, for objects proximate to the UE, distance to the object and object shape. Sensing may include the UE making measurements of signals reflected by the object. The measurements may be performed by radio frequency (RF) sensing, e.g., a radio signal is reflected from the object and measured by the UE. There are two types of sensing: monostatic sensing and bistatic sensing. In monostatic sensing, the transmitter and receiver are the same device. For example, the UE sends an RF signal and receives an echo to measure and determine the sensing result. In bistatic sensing, the transmitter and receiver are different devices, e.g., a base station sends a sensing signal and the UE receives an echo signal, or vice versa.

[0005] Interference can occur when using monostatic or bistatic sensing when multiple UEs are close to each other and use the same or similar resources (i.e., time, frequency, and spatial resources) for sensing transmissions.

[0006] Generally, there are two types of solutions to attempt to address interference-related problems. In a centralized approach, the base station allocates sensing resources and transmit power for each UE. However, this approach can be complicated due to UE mobility. In a distributed approach, UEs are responsible for communicating with each other to allocate sensing resources and transmit power for UEs within a local area. Such a distributed approach can also make it difficult to coordinate multiple UEs to reduce interference. Summary of the Invention [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] Some aspects of the present disclosure provide an adaptive sensing method that allows separate power control parameter configuration for uplink (UL) or sidelink (SL) communication transmissions and sensing transmissions. When a signal or channel is used for both communication and sensing, two sets of parameters may be configured: a first set of parameters for UL or SL communication and a second set of parameters for sensing. Providing for the use of separate power control parameters for UL or SL communication transmissions and sensing may allow flexible configuration for sensing power control.

[0008] Some aspects of the present disclosure provide a centralized power control method that includes a centralized network side device, such as a base station, sending signaling to adapt UE power to mitigate interference between UEs when interference is detected. Centralized UE power control, which includes the base station forwarding power control information to the UE, can enable interference coordination between multiple UEs that are performing sensing.

[0009] Some aspects of the present disclosure provide a distributed power control method that includes a slow power ramp of a transmit signal used for sensing. The distributed power control method may also include interference avoidance. Distributed UE sensing power control, which includes multiple UEs coordinating power control information among the UEs, may enable improved spectral efficiency among the multiple UEs performing sensing.

[0010] According to certain aspects of the present disclosure, a method is provided for use by a user equipment (UE) having both communication and sensing capabilities, the method including receiving, by the UE, a first set of multiple power control parameters for determining a transmit power of an uplink (UL) communication transmission or a sidelink (SL) communication transmission and a second set of multiple power control parameters for determining a transmit power of a sensing transmission; and determining, by the UE, at least one of the transmit power for the UL communication transmission or the SL communication transmission based on the first set of multiple power control parameters or the transmit power for the sensing transmission based on the second set of multiple power control parameters.

[0011] In some embodiments, the UE determines whether to use the first set of power control parameters or the second set of power control parameters based on receiving the instruction to select the first set or the second set.

[0012] In some embodiments, the UE determines whether to use the first set of power control parameters or the second set of power control parameters based on first and second sets of power control parameters each associated with a reference signal resource, and when a given reference signal resource is selected, the associated first or second set of power control parameters is selected.

[0013] In some embodiments, the UE determines whether to use the first set of multiple power control parameters or the second set of multiple power control parameters based on first and second sets of multiple power control parameters each associated with the resource configuration parameter, and when a given resource configuration parameter is selected, the associated first or second set of multiple power control parameters is selected.

[0014] In some embodiments, the resource configuration parameter is one of a reference signal bandwidth, a number of reference signal ports, a number of reference signal symbols, or a number of physical channel symbols.

[0015] In some embodiments, the method further includes determining a transmit power of a UL communication transmission or a SL communication transmission using a first set of the plurality of power control parameters, or a transmit power of a sensing transmission using a second set of the plurality of power control parameters.

[0016] In some embodiments, the UL or SL communication transmission and the sensing transmission is a sounding reference signal (SRS).

[0017] In some embodiments, the parameters in the first set of parameters are different from the parameters in the second set of parameters.

[0018] In some embodiments, one or more parameters in the second set are dedicated to sensing power control.

[0019] In some embodiments, the method includes receiving, by the UE, an instruction for the UE to adjust UE sensing transmit power for use in sensing transmission interference avoidance, the instruction being an instruction for absolute sensing transmit power or an instruction for differential sensing transmit power, and adjusting, by the UE, the sensing transmit power based on the instruction.

[0020] In some embodiments, the indication is received in a UE-specific downlink control information (DCI), a group-specific DCI, a medium access control control element (MAC-CE), or a radio resource control (RRC) message.

[0021] In some embodiments, the indication includes at least one of an indication of whether the UE is configured to adjust power control for both UL communication transmissions or SL communication transmissions and sensing transmissions, or a transmit power command (TPC).

[0022] In some embodiments, the method further includes receiving, by the UE, configuration information indicating whether the instructions include an indication of whether the UE is configured to adjust power control for both UL or SL communication transmissions and sensing transmissions, and if not, the instructions are to adjust sensing transmission power.

[0023] In some embodiments, the method further includes receiving, by the UE, configuration information regarding sensing resources for other UEs.

[0024] In some embodiments, the method further comprises measuring, by the UE, resources of other UEs.

[0025] In some embodiments, the method further includes transmitting, by the UE, a report including interference information measured by the UE.

[0026] In some embodiments, the method further includes increasing, by the UE, the sensing transmit power by at least one of exponentially increasing the sensing transmit power or linearly increasing the sensing transmit power.

[0027] In some embodiments, the step of increasing the sensing transmit power is performed by the UE before the UE receives an instruction to adjust the UE sensing transmit power or after the UE adjusts the UE sensing transmit power by reducing the UE sensing signal transmit power.

[0028] In some embodiments, the method includes receiving, by the UE, configuration information regarding sensing resources used by other UEs for use in interference avoidance of sensing transmissions; when interference from a second one of the other UEs is detected, comparing a priority of the UE with a priority of the second one of the other UEs; and based on the comparing, sending a sensing transmission power reduction request to reduce the transmission power of the second UE if the priority of the UE is higher than the priority of the second UE, or reducing the sensing transmission power of the UE if the priority of the UE is lower than the priority of the second UE.

[0029] In some embodiments, the configuration information regarding the sensing resources used by the other UEs includes at least one priority associated with the sensing resources for at least one of the other UEs.

[0030] In some embodiments, reducing the sensing transmit power of the UE includes reducing the sensing transmit power to a value that is less than the most recent value of the sensing transmit power from before determining that the sensing transmit power should be reduced.

[0031] In some embodiments, the lesser of the most recent value of the sensing transmit power is a value equal to the initial power or a previously configured value.

[0032] In some embodiments, the method further includes increasing, by the UE, the sensing transmit power by at least one of exponentially increasing the sensing transmit power or linearly increasing the sensing transmit power.

[0033] In some embodiments, the step of increasing the sensing transmit power is performed by the UE before the UE receives an instruction to adjust the UE sensing transmit power or after the UE adjusts the UE sensing transmit power by reducing the UE sensing transmit power.

[0034] In some embodiments, the method further includes receiving an indication of a threshold value indicating a maximum sensing transmit power for the UE when to increase the sensing transmit power.

[0035] In some embodiments, the method further includes receiving, by the UE, priority configuration information for defining a priority for the UE.

[0036] In some embodiments, the priority of resources for a UE is determined based on a sensing requirements report of the UE.

[0037] In some embodiments, detecting interference from the second UE includes detecting sensing resources from the second UE that enables the UE to determine a priority of the sensing resources of the second UE based on configuration information regarding sensing resources used by other UEs.

[0038] In some embodiments, the step of transmitting, by the UE, the sensing transmission power reduction request to reduce the transmission power of the second UE includes the step of transmitting, by the UE, a request to reduce the sensing transmission power to the second UE over an SL to the second UE, or the step of transmitting, by the UE, a request to reduce the sensing transmission power to the base station over an UL such that the base station forwards the request to reduce the sensing transmission power to the second UE over a downlink (DL).

[0039] In some embodiments, the method further includes receiving, by the UE, sensing configuration information related to interference avoidance, wherein the sensing configuration information related to interference avoidance includes at least one of sensing transmission timing offset information for offsetting the timing of the sensing transmission, or sensing transmission signal interval information for changing the interval of the sensing transmission.

[0040] According to some aspects of the present disclosure, there is provided a device including a processor and a computer-readable storage medium having stored thereon computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the processor, perform the methods described above or in detail below.

[0041] According to some aspects of the present disclosure, a method is provided that includes transmitting, by a base station, a first set of a plurality of power control parameters for determining a transmit power of an UL communication transmission or an SL communication transmission, and a second set of a plurality of power control parameters for determining a transmit power of a sensing transmission.

[0042] In some embodiments, the method further includes transmitting, by the base station, an explicit instruction as to whether the UE should use a first set of power control parameters for determining the transmit power of the UL communication transmission or the SL communication transmission, or a second set of power control parameters for determining the transmit power of the sensing transmission.

[0043] In some embodiments, the method further includes transmitting, by the base station, a first association between a first set of the plurality of power control parameters and a first reference signal resource and a second association between a second set of the plurality of power control parameters and a second reference signal resource.

[0044] In some embodiments, the method further includes transmitting, by the base station, a first association between a first set of the plurality of power control parameters and the first resource configuration parameter, and a second association between a second set of the plurality of power control parameters and the second resource configuration parameter.

[0045] In some embodiments, the resource configuration parameter is one of a reference signal bandwidth, a number of reference signal ports, a number of reference signal symbols, or a number of physical channel symbols.

[0046] In some embodiments, the transmit power of the UL communication transmission or the SL communication transmission is determined using a first set of multiple power control parameters, or the transmit power of the sensing transmission is determined using a second set of multiple power control parameters.

[0047] In some embodiments, the UL or SL communication transmission and the sensing transmission is a sounding reference signal (SRS).

[0048] In some embodiments, the parameters in the first set of parameters are different from the parameters in the second set of parameters.

[0049] In some embodiments, one or more parameters in the second set are dedicated to sensing power control.

[0050] In some embodiments, the method includes transmitting, by the base station, an instruction for at least one UE to adjust UE sensing transmit power upon detecting interference involving two or more UEs, for use in sensing transmission interference avoidance, wherein the instruction is an instruction for absolute sensing transmit power or an instruction for differential sensing transmit power.

[0051] In some embodiments, the indication is sent in a UE-specific DCI, a group-specific DCI, a MAC-CE or an RRC message.

[0052] In some embodiments, the indication includes at least one of an indication of whether the UE is configured to adjust power control for both UL communication transmissions or SL communication transmissions and sensing transmissions, or TPC.

[0053] In some embodiments, the method further includes transmitting, by the base station, configuration information indicating whether the instruction includes an indication of whether the UE is configured to adjust power control for both UL transmissions and sensing transmission indicators, and if not, the instruction is to adjust sensing transmission power.

[0054] In some embodiments, the method further includes transmitting, by the base station, configuration information regarding sensing transmit power for other UEs.

[0055] In some embodiments, the method further includes receiving, by the base station, a report including interference information measured by the at least one UE.

[0056] In some embodiments, the method includes transmitting, by the base station, configuration information regarding sensing resources used by at least one UE for use in interference avoidance of sensing transmissions, the configuration information enabling a first UE to determine a priority of the sensing resources of a second UE, such that when interference is detected between the first UE and the second UE, the first UE is configured to compare the priority of the sensing resources of the first UE with the priority of the sensing resources used by the second UE.

[0057] In some embodiments, the configuration information regarding the sensing resources used by the at least one UE includes a priority associated with the sensing resources for at least one of the other UEs.

[0058] In some embodiments, the method further includes transmitting, by the base station, threshold information for use by the first UE during interference mitigation, the threshold information being compared to the exponentially increased sensing transmit power of the first UE.

[0059] In some embodiments, the method further includes transmitting, by the base station, priority configuration information for defining a priority of the first UE.

[0060] In some embodiments, the method further includes transmitting a sensing transmission power reduction request to reduce a transmission power of the second UE, wherein transmitting the sensing transmission power reduction request includes receiving, by the base station over the UL from the first UE, a request to reduce the sensing transmission power of the second UE, and forwarding, by the base station, the request to reduce the sensing transmission power to the second UE over the DL.

[0061] In some embodiments, the method further includes transmitting sensing configuration information related to interference avoidance, wherein the sensing configuration information related to interference avoidance includes at least one of sensing transmission timing offset information for offsetting the timing of the sensing transmission, or sensing transmission signal interval information for changing the interval of the sensing transmission.

[0062] According to some aspects of the present disclosure, there is provided a device including a processor and a computer-readable storage medium having stored thereon computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the processor, perform the methods described above or in detail below.

[0063] For a more complete understanding of the present embodiments and their advantages, reference is now made, by way of example, to the following descriptions taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which: [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0064] [Figure 1A] 1 is a schematic diagram of a communication system in which embodiments of the present disclosure may occur; [Figure 1B] FIG. 2 is another schematic diagram of a communication system in which embodiments of the present disclosure may occur. [Figure 2] FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating units or modules within a device in which embodiments of the present disclosure may occur. [Figure 3] FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating units or modules within a device in which embodiments of the present disclosure may occur. [Figure 4] 1 includes two examples of tabular information for use in an adaptive transmit power control (TPC) method for sensing and UL transmission control, according to one aspect of the present disclosure. [Figure 5A] 10 illustrates an example of determining values ​​to be used over increasing time as part of a power ramping method using exponential power ramping for sensing transmissions, according to one aspect of the present disclosure. [Figure 5B] 10 illustrates an example of determining values ​​to be used over increasing time as part of a power ramping method using both exponential and linear power ramping for sensing transmissions, according to one aspect of the present disclosure. [Figure 6A] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating a first example of adaptively controlled variable pulse power boost with power backoff for interference mitigation, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. [Figure 6B] FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram illustrating a second example of adaptively controlled variable pulse power boost with power backoff for interference mitigation, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. [Figure 7A] FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of adaptive sensing timing offset for use in interference mitigation, according to one aspect of the present disclosure. [Figure 7B] FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of an adaptive sensing interval for use in interference mitigation, according to an aspect of the present disclosure. [Figure 8] 1 illustrates an example of a signal flow diagram for signaling between a base station and a UE, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. [Figure 9] 10 illustrates another example of a signal flow diagram for signaling between a base station and a UE, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0065] For purposes of illustration, certain exemplary embodiments are described in more detail below in conjunction with the drawings.

[0066] The embodiments described herein represent sufficient information to practice the claimed subject matter and illustrate how such subject matter may be practiced. Upon reading the following description in light of the accompanying drawings, one skilled in the art will understand the concepts of the claimed subject matter and will recognize applications of those concepts not specifically addressed herein. It should be understood, however, that these concepts and applications are within the scope of this disclosure and the appended claims.

[0067] It will also be understood that any module, component, or device disclosed herein that executes instructions may include or otherwise have access to one or more non-transitory computer / processor-readable storage media for storage of 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 tapes, magnetic disk storage media, or other magnetic storage devices, optical disks such as compact disk read-only memories (CD-ROMs), digital video disks, or digital versatile disks (i.e., DVDs), Blu-ray Discs™, or other optical storage, volatile and non-volatile removable and non-removable media implemented in any manner or technology, random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), flash memory, or other memory technology. 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 may be stored by or otherwise maintained on such non-transitory computer / processor readable storage media.

[0068] According to some aspects of the present disclosure, an adaptive sensing method is provided that enables separate power control parameter configuration for uplink (UL) or sidelink (SL) communication transmissions and sensing transmissions. In some embodiments, one or more parameters are dedicated to sensing power control. When a signal or channel is used for both communication and sensing, two sets of parameters may be configured: a first set of parameters for UL or SL communication and a second set of parameters for sensing. In some embodiments, one or both of the first and second sets of parameters for power control may be explicitly indicated to the UE. In some embodiments, one or both of the first and second sets of parameters for power control may be implicitly provided to the UE such that the UE may be able to determine power control information from the provided information.

[0069] According to some aspects of the present disclosure, a distributed power control method is provided that includes a slow power increase of a transmit signal used for sensing. The slow power increase may include an exponential power increase or a linear power increase, or both types of power increase. The distributed power control method may also include interference avoidance. The interference avoidance may include interference measurement and interference mitigation. In some embodiments, a UE may be notified of sensing resources (e.g., time and frequency to be used for sensing signals, sequence resources) of other UEs. In some embodiments, a UE may be notified of the associated sensing priorities of one or more other UEs, or more generally, the overall priorities of one or more other UEs. When measured interference from one or more other UEs exceeds a threshold, if the UE has a higher priority than one or more other UEs, the UE requests one or more other UEs to reduce interference. This may include having one or more other UEs reduce power or change sensing resources. When the measured interference from one or more other UEs exceeds a threshold, if the UE has a lower priority than the other UEs, the UE reduces its power or modifies sensing resources, or both, to avoid interfering with the one or more other UEs. Modifying sensing resources may include modifying the UE sensing pattern, including features such as sensing timing offset or sensing signal interval, or both.

[0070] According to some aspects of the present disclosure, a centralized power control method is provided that includes a centralized network side device, such as a base station, sending signaling to adapt UE power to mitigate interference between UEs when interference is detected.

[0071] 1A, 1B, and 2 below provide context for networks and devices that may be present within the networks and that may implement aspects of the present disclosure.

[0072] Referring to FIG. 1A, a simplified schematic diagram of a communication system is provided by way of illustrative, non-limiting example. The communication system 100 comprises a radio access network 120. The radio access network 120 may be a next-generation (e.g., sixth-generation (6G) or later) radio access network or a legacy (e.g., 5G, 4G, 3G, or 2G) radio access network. One or more communicating electrical devices (EDs) 110a-120j (collectively referred to as 110) may be interconnected to each other or, alternatively, may be connected to one or more network nodes (170a, 170b, collectively referred to as 170) within the radio access network 120. A core network 130 may be part of the communication system and may or may not depend on the radio access technology used in the communication system 100. The communication system 100 also comprises a public switched telephone network (PSTN) 140, the Internet 150, and other networks 160.

[0073] 1B illustrates an exemplary communication system 100 in which embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented. Typically, system 100 enables multiple wireless or wired elements to communicate data or other content. The purpose of system 100 may be to provide content (voice, data, video, text) by broadcasting, narrowcasting, user device to user device, etc. System 100 may operate efficiently by sharing resources such as bandwidth.

[0074] In this example, communication system 100 includes electronic devices (EDs) 110a-110c, radio access networks (RANs) 120a-120b, a core network 130, a public switched telephone network (PSTN) 140, the Internet 150, and other networks 160. Although a particular number of these components or elements are shown in FIG. 1B, any reasonable number of these components or elements may be included in system 100.

[0075] The EDs 110a-110c are configured to operate, communicate, or both in the system 100. For example, the EDs 110a-110c are configured to transmit, receive, or both over a wireless communication channel. Each ED 110a-110c represents any suitable end-user device for wireless operation and may include devices such as (or may be referred to as) a user equipment / device (UE), a wireless transceiver unit (WTRU), a mobile station, a mobile subscriber unit, a cellular telephone, a station (STA), a machine type communication device (MTC), a personal digital assistant (PDA), a smartphone, a laptop, a computer, a touchpad, a wireless sensor, or a consumer electronic device.

[0076] 1B illustrates an exemplary communication system 100 in which embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented. Generally, communication system 100 enables multiple wireless or wired elements to communicate data and other content. The purpose of communication system 100 may be to provide content (voice, data, video, text) by broadcast, by multicast, by unicast, from user device to user device, etc. Communication system 100 may operate efficiently by sharing resources such as bandwidth.

[0077] In this example, communication system 100 includes electronic devices (EDs) 110a-110d, radio access networks (RANs) 120a-120c, a core network 130, a public switched telephone network (PSTN) 140, the Internet 150, and other networks 160. Although a particular number of these components or elements are shown in FIG. 1B, any reasonable number of these components or elements may be included in communication system 100.

[0078] The EDs 110a-110d are configured to operate, communicate, or both in the communication system 100. For example, the EDs 110a-110d are configured to transmit, receive, or both over wireless or wired communication channels. Each ED 110a-110d represents any suitable end-user device for wireless operation and may include (or be referred to as) a device such as a user equipment / device (UE), a wireless transmit / receive unit (WTRU), a mobile station, a fixed or mobile subscriber unit, a cellular telephone, a station (STA), a machine-type communication (MTC) device, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a smartphone, a laptop, a computer, a tablet, a wireless sensor, or a consumer electronics device.

[0079] 1B, the RANs 120a-120b include base stations 170a-170b, respectively. Each base station 170a-170b is configured to wirelessly interface with one or more of the EDs 110a-110c to enable access to any other base stations 170a-170b, the core network 130, the PSTN 140, the Internet 150, and / or other networks 160. For example, the base stations 170a-170b may include (or be) one or more of several well-known devices, such as a base transceiver station (BTS), a Node-B (NodeB), an evolved NodeB (eNodeB), a home eNodeB, a gNodeB, a transmit / receive point (TRP), a site controller, an access point (AP), or a wireless router.

[0080] In some examples, one or more of the base stations 170a-170b may be terrestrial base stations mounted on the ground. For example, a terrestrial base station may be mounted on a building or tower. Alternatively, one or more of the base stations 170a-170b may be a non-terrestrial base station or non-terrestrial TRP (NT-TRP) that is not mounted on the ground. An airborne base station is an example of a non-terrestrial base station. An airborne base station may be implemented using communication equipment supported or carried by an airborne device. Non-limiting examples of airborne devices include airborne platforms (e.g., blimps or airships), balloons, quadcopters, and other air vehicles. In some implementations, an airborne base station may be supported or carried by an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), such as an unmanned aerial system (UAS) or drone. An airborne base station may be a mobile or mobile base station that can be flexibly deployed at different locations to meet network demands. A satellite base station is another example of a non-terrestrial base station. A satellite base station may be implemented using communication equipment supported or carried by a satellite. A satellite base station may also be referred to as an orbiting base station.

[0081] Any of the EDs 110a-110d may alternatively or additionally be configured to interface with, access, or communicate with any other base station 170a-170b, the Internet 150, the core network 130, the PSTN 140, other networks 160, or any combination thereof.

[0082] The EDs 110a-110d and base stations 170a-170b, 172 are examples of communication equipment that may be configured to implement some or all of the operations and / or embodiments described herein. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 1B, the base station 170a forms part of the RAN 120a, which may include other base stations, base station controller (BSC)(s), radio network controller (RNC)(s), relay nodes, elements, and / or devices. Any base station 170a, 170b may be a single element as shown, or may be multiple elements distributed in a corresponding RAN or otherwise. The base station 170b also forms part of the RAN 120b, which may include other base stations, elements, and / or devices. Each base station 170a-170b transmits and / or receives wireless signals within a particular geographic region or area, which may be referred to as a "cell" or "coverage area." A cell may be further divided into cell sectors, and base stations 170a-170b may use multiple transceivers, for example, to serve multiple sectors. In some embodiments, picocells or femtocells may be established, and the radio access technology supports this. In some embodiments, multiple transceivers may be used per cell, for example, using multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) technology. The number of RANs 120a-120b shown is for illustrative purposes only. Any number of RANs may be contemplated when conceiving communication system 100.

[0083] The base stations 170a-170b, 172 communicate with one or more of the EDs 110a-110c over one or more air interfaces 190a, 190c using wireless communication links, such as radio frequency (RF), microwave, infrared (IR), etc. The air interfaces 190a, 190c may utilize any suitable radio access technology. For example, the communication system 100 may implement one or more orthogonal or non-orthogonal channel access methods, such as code division multiple access (CDMA), time division multiple access (TDMA), frequency division multiple access (FDMA), orthogonal FDMA (OFDMA), or single-carrier FDMA (SC-FDMA), over the air interfaces 190a, 190c.

[0084] The base stations 170a-170b, 172 may implement Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) Terrestrial Radio Access (UTRA) to establish the air interfaces 190a, 190c using Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA). In this regard, the base stations 170a-170b, 172 may implement protocols such as High Speed ​​Packet Access (HSPA), Evolved High-Performance Packet Access (HSPA+), which optionally includes High-Speed ​​Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA), High-Speed ​​Packet Uplink Access (HSPUA), or both. Alternatively, the base stations 170a-170b, 172 may establish the air interfaces 190a, 190c with Evolved UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA) using LTE, LTE-A, and / or LTE-B. It is contemplated that the communication system 100 may employ multiple channel access capabilities, including those described above. Other wireless technologies for implementing the air interface include IEEE 802.11, 802.15, 802.16, CDMA2000, CDMA2000 1X, CDMA2000 EV-DO, IS-2000, IS-95, IS-856, GSM, EDGE, and GERAN. Of course, other multiple access schemes and wireless protocols may also be utilized.

[0085] The RANs 120a-120b communicate with the core network 130 to provide various services, such as voice, data, and other services, to the EDs 110a-110c. The RANs 120a-120b and / or the core network 130 may communicate directly or indirectly with one or more other RANs (not shown), which may or may not be served directly by the core network 130 and which may or may not use the same radio access technology as the RAN 120a, RAN 120b, or both. The core network 130 may also serve as a gateway access between (i) the RANs 120a-120b and / or the EDs 110a-110c and (ii) other networks (such as the PSTN 140, the Internet 150, and other networks 160).

[0086] The EDs 110a-110d communicate with one another over one or more sidelink (SL) air interfaces 190b, 190d using wireless communication links, such as radio frequency (RF), microwave, infrared (IR), etc. The SL air interfaces 190b, 190d may utilize any suitable radio access technology and may be substantially similar to or substantially different from the air interfaces 190a, 190c through which the EDs 110a-110c communicate with one or more of the base stations 170a-170b. For example, the communication system 100 may implement one or more channel access methods, such as code division multiple access (CDMA), time division multiple access (TDMA), frequency division multiple access (FDMA), orthogonal FDMA (OFDMA), or single-carrier FDMA (SC-FDMA), in the SL air interfaces 190b, 190d. In some embodiments, the SL air interface 180 may be implemented, at least in part, by unlicensed spectrum.

[0087] Additionally, some or all of the EDs 110a-110d may include operations for communicating with different wireless networks over different wireless links using different wireless technologies and / or protocols. Alternatively (or in addition to) wireless communications, the EDs may communicate via wired communications channels to a service provider or switch (not shown) and the Internet 150. The PSTN 140 may include a circuit-switched telephone network for providing plain old telephone service (POTS). The Internet 150 may include a network of computers and / or subnets (intranets) and may incorporate protocols such as Internet Protocol (IP), Transmission Control Protocol (TCP), and User Datagram Protocol (UDP). The EDs 110a-110d may be multimode devices capable of operating with multiple wireless access technologies and may incorporate multiple transceivers necessary to support multiple wireless access technologies.

[0088] In some embodiments, signals are transmitted from a terrestrial BS to a UE or directly from the UE to a terrestrial BS, and in either case, the signals are not reflected by a RIS. However, signals may be reflected by obstacles and reflectors, such as buildings, walls, and furniture. In some embodiments, signals are communicated between a UE and a non-terrestrial BS, such as a satellite, drone, or high-altitude platform. In some embodiments, signals are communicated between a relay and a UE, or between a relay and a BS, or between two relays. In some embodiments, signals are transmitted between two UEs. In some embodiments, one or more RISs are utilized to reflect signals from a transmitter and a receiver, either of which includes a UE, a terrestrial BS or a non-terrestrial BS, and a relay.

[0089] 2 shows another example of an ED 110 and network devices, including base stations 170a, 170b, and an NT-TRP 172 (at 170). The ED 110 is used to connect people, objects, machines, and the like. The ED 110 may be widely used in various scenarios, such as cellular communications, device-to-device (D2D), vehicle-to-vehicle, vehicle-to-infrastructure, vehicle-to-pedestrian, vehicle-to-vehicle, and vehicle-to-everything (V2X), peer-to-peer (P2P), machine-to-machine (M2M), machine-to-machine communications (MTC), Internet of Things (IoT), virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), industrial control, autonomous driving, telemedicine, smart grid, smart furniture, smart offices, smart wearables, smart transportation, smart cities, drones, robots, remote sensing, passive sensing, positioning, navigation and tracking, autonomous delivery, and mobility.

[0090] Each ED 110 represents, among various possibilities, any suitable end-user device for wireless operation and may include (or may be referred to as) a user equipment / device (UE), a wireless transceiver unit (WTRU), a mobile station, a fixed or mobile subscriber unit, a cellular phone, a station (STA), a machine-type communication (MTC) device, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a smartphone, a laptop, a computer, a touchpad, a wireless sensor, or a consumer electronic device, a smartbook, a vehicle, an automobile, a truck, a bus, a train, or an IoT device, an industrial device, or an apparatus (e.g., a communication module, modem, or chip) within the above devices. Future generation EDs 110 may be referred to using other terminology. Base stations 170a, 170b are T-TRPs and are hereinafter referred to as T-TRP 170. As also shown in FIG. 2, an NT-TRP is hereinafter referred to as NT-TRP 172. Each ED110 connected to the T-TRP170 and / or NT-TRP172 can be dynamically or semi-statically turned on (i.e., established, activated or enabled), turned off (i.e., released, deactivated or disabled), and / or configured depending on one or more of the availability of the connection and the need for the connection.

[0091] The ED 110 includes a transmitter 201 and a receiver 203 coupled to one or more antennas 204. Only one antenna 204 is shown. Alternatively, one, some, or all of the antennas may be panels. The transmitter 201 and receiver 203 may be integrated as a transceiver. The transceiver is configured to modulate data or other content for transmission by at least one antenna 204 or a network interface controller (NIC). The transceiver is also 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 processing signals received wirelessly or wired. Each antenna 204 includes any suitable structure for transmitting and / or receiving wireless or wired signals.

[0092] The 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 may store software instructions or modules executed by the processing unit(s) 210 configured to implement some or all of the functions and / or embodiments described herein. Each memory 208 includes any suitable volatile and / or non-volatile storage and retrieval device. Any suitable type of memory may be used, 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.

[0093] The ED 110 may further include one or more input / output devices (not shown) or interfaces (such as a wired interface to the Internet 150 of FIG. 1A or FIG. 1B). The input / output devices enable interaction with a user or other devices in a network. Each of the input / output devices includes any suitable structure for providing information to or receiving information from a user, such as a speaker, microphone, keypad, keyboard, display, or touch screen, including network interface communications.

[0094] The ED 110 further includes a processor 210 for performing operations including operations related to preparing a transmission for uplink transmission to the NT-TRP 172 and / or the T-TRP 170, operations related to processing a downlink transmission received from the NT-TRP 172 and / or the T-TRP 170, and operations related to processing a sidelink transmission or reception from another ED 110. Processing operations related to preparing a transmission for uplink transmission may include operations such as encoding, modulation, transmit beamforming, and generation of symbols for transmission. Processing operations related to processing a downlink transmission may include operations such as receive beamforming, demodulation, and decoding of received symbols. Depending on the embodiment, the downlink transmission may be received by the receiver 203, possibly using receive beamforming, and the processor 210 may extract signaling from the downlink transmission (e.g., by detecting and / or decoding the signaling). One example of signaling may be a reference signal transmitted by the NT-TRP 172 and / or the T-TRP 170. In some embodiments, processor 210 performs transmit beamforming and / or receive beamforming based on beam direction instructions, e.g., beam angle information (BAI), received from T-TRP 170. In some embodiments, processor 210 may perform operations related to network access (e.g., initial access) and / or downlink synchronization, e.g., operations related to detecting synchronization sequences, decoding and obtaining system information, etc. In some embodiments, processor 210 may perform channel estimation, e.g., using reference signals received from NT-TRP 172 and / or T-TRP 170.

[0095] Although not shown, the processor 210 may form part of the transmitter 201 and / or the receiver 203. Although not shown, the memory 208 may form part of the processor 210.

[0096] The processor 210 and the processing components of the transmitter 201 and receiver 203 may each be implemented by one or more of the same or different processors configured to execute instructions stored in a memory, such as memory 208. Alternatively, some or all of the processor 210 and the processing components of the transmitter 201 and receiver 203 may be implemented using special purpose circuitry, such as a programmed field programmable gate array (FPGA), a graphics processing unit (GPU), or an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC).

[0097] In some implementations, the T-TRP 170 may be known by other names such as a base station, base transceiver station (BTS), radio base station, network node, network device, network-side device, transmitting / receiving node, Node B, evolved Node B (eNodeB or eNB), Home eNodeB, next-generation Node B (gNB), transmission point (TP), site controller, access point (AP), wireless router, relay station, remote radio head, terrestrial node, terrestrial network device, terrestrial base station, baseband unit (BBU), remote radio unit (RRU), active antenna unit (AAU), remote radio head (RRH), central unit (CU), distributed unit (DU), positioning node, etc. The T-TRP 170 may be a macro BS, pico BS, relay node, donor node, etc., or a combination thereof. The T-TRP 170 may refer to a forging device or an apparatus within the aforementioned devices (e.g., a communication module, modem, or chip). Although the figures and accompanying description of examples and embodiments of the present disclosure generally use the terms AP, BS, and AP or BS, it should be understood that such devices may be of any of the types described above.

[0098] In some embodiments, parts of the T-TRP 170 may be distributed. For example, some of the modules of the T-TRP 170 may be located remotely from the equipment housing the T-TRP 170's antenna and may be coupled to the equipment housing the antenna via a communications link (not shown), sometimes known as fronthaul, such as a Common Public Radio Interface (CPRI). Thus, in some embodiments, the term T-TRP 170 may also refer to network-side modules that perform processing operations such as determining the location of the ED 110, resource allocation (scheduling), message generation, and encoding / decoding, and that are not necessarily part of the equipment housing the T-TRP 170's antenna. Modules may also be coupled to other T-TRPs. In some embodiments, the T-TRP 170 may actually be multiple T-TRPs operating together to serve the ED 110, for example, via coordinated multipoint transmission.

[0099] The 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. Alternatively, one, some, or all of the antennas may be panels. The transmitter 252 and receiver 254 may be integrated as a transceiver. The T-TRP 170 further includes a processor 260 for performing operations including operations related to preparing a transmission for downlink transmission to the ED 110, processing uplink transmissions received from the ED 110, preparing a transmission for backhaul transmission to the NT-TRP 172, and processing transmissions received via the backhaul from the NT-TRP 172. Processing operations related to preparing a transmission 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. Processing operations related to processing received transmissions in the uplink or over the backhaul may include operations such as receive beamforming and demodulation and decoding of received symbols. The processor 260 may also perform operations related to network access (e.g., initial access) and / or downlink synchronization, such as generating synchronization signal block (SSB) content and generating system information. In some embodiments, the processor 260 also generates beam direction indications, such as a BAI, which 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 and determining where the NT-TRP 172 should be deployed. 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. It should be noted that "signaling," as used herein, may alternatively be referred to as control signaling.Dynamic signaling may be transmitted on a control channel, e.g., the Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH), and static or semi-static higher layer signaling may be included in packets transmitted on a data channel, e.g., the Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH).

[0100] The scheduler 253 may be coupled to the processor 260. The scheduler 253 may be included within the T-TRP 170 or may operate separately from the T-TRP 170 and may schedule uplink, downlink, and / or backhaul transmissions, including issuing scheduling grants and / or configuring scheduling-free ("configured grants") resources. The T-TRP 170 further includes a memory 258 for storing information and data. The memory 258 stores instructions and data used, generated, or collected by the T-TRP 170. For example, the memory 258 may store software instructions or modules configured to implement some or all of the functions and / or embodiments described herein and executed by the processor 260.

[0101] Although not shown, the processor 260 may form part of the transmitter 252 and / or the receiver 254. Also, although not shown, the processor 260 may implement the scheduler 253. Although not shown, the memory 258 may form part of the processor 260.

[0102] The processing components of the processor 260, the scheduler 253, and the transmitter 252 and receiver 254 may each be implemented by one or more of the same or different 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, and the transmitter 252 and receiver 254 may be implemented using dedicated circuitry, such as an FPGA, a GPU, or an ASIC.

[0103] Although the NT-TRP 172 is shown as a drone by way of example only, the NT-TRP 172 may be embodied in any suitable non-terrestrial form. The NT-TRP 172 may also be known by other names, such as a non-terrestrial node, a non-terrestrial network device, or a non-terrestrial base station, in some implementations. The NT-TRP 172 includes a transmitter 272 and a receiver 274 coupled to one or more antennas 280. Only one antenna 280 is shown. Alternatively, one, some, or all of the antennas may be panels. The transmitter 272 and the receiver 274 may be integrated as a transceiver. The NT-TRP 172 further includes a processor 276 for performing operations, including operations related to preparing a transmission for downlink transmission to the ED 110, processing uplink transmissions received from the ED 110, preparing a transmission for backhaul transmission to the T-TRP 170, and processing transmissions received via the backhaul from the T-TRP 170. Processing operations related to preparing a transmission for downlink or backhaul transmission may include operations such as encoding, modulation, precoding (e.g., MIMO precoding), transmit beamforming, and generating symbols for transmission. Processing operations related to processing a received transmission in the uplink or over the backhaul may include operations such as receive beamforming and demodulation 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 the T-TRP 170. In some embodiments, the processor 276 may generate signaling, for example, to configure one or more parameters of the ED 110. In some embodiments, the NT-TRP 172 performs physical layer processing but does not perform higher layer functions, such as functions at the medium access control (MAC) layer or the radio link control (RLC) layer. This is just one example; more generally, the NT-TRP 172 may perform higher layer functions in addition to physical layer processing.

[0104] The 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 the receiver 274. Although not shown, the memory 278 may form part of the processor 276.

[0105] The processor 276 and the processing components of the transmitter 272 and receiver 274 may each be implemented by the same or different processor(s) configured to execute instructions stored in a memory, e.g., memory 278. Alternatively, some or all of the processing components of the processor 276 and the transmitter 272 and receiver 274 may be implemented using dedicated circuitry, such as an FPGA, GPU, or ASIC. In some embodiments, the NT-TRP 172 may actually be multiple NT-TRPs operating together to serve the EDs 110, e.g., via coordinated multipoint transmission.

[0106] T-TRP170, NT-TRP172, and / or ED110 may include other components, which have been omitted for clarity.

[0107] One or more steps of the method of the embodiments provided herein may be performed by a corresponding unit or module according to FIG. 2. FIG. 2 illustrates units or modules within a device such as the ED 110, the T-TRP 170, or the NT-TRP 172. For example, a signal may be transmitted by a transmitting unit or 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 executing 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, GPU, or ASIC. When modules are implemented using software, for example, for execution by a processor, it will be understood that they may be acquired by the processor, in whole or in part, individually or together, in single or multiple instances, for processing as needed, and the modules themselves may include instructions for further deployment and instantiation.

[0108] Further details relating to ED110, T-TRP170, and NT-TRP172 are known to those skilled in the art, and therefore, these details are omitted herein.

[0109] One or more steps of the method of the embodiments provided herein may be performed by a corresponding unit or module according to FIG. 3. FIG. 3 illustrates units or modules within a device such as the ED 110, the T-TRP 170, or the NT-TRP 172. For example, a signal may be transmitted by a transmitting unit or 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 executing 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, GPU, or ASIC. When modules are implemented using software, for example, for execution by a processor, it will be understood that they may be acquired by the processor, in whole or in part, individually or together, in single or multiple instances, for processing as needed, and the modules themselves may include instructions for further deployment and instantiation.

[0110] Further details relating to ED110, T-TRP170, and NT-TRP172 are known to those skilled in the art, and therefore, these details are omitted herein.

[0111] In future wireless networks, the number of new devices is likely to increase exponentially with diverse functionality. Also, many new applications and new use cases in future wireless networks may emerge with more diverse quality of service requirements than exist in 5G. These will bring about new key performance indicators (KPIs) for future wireless networks (e.g., 6G networks) that may be very challenging. Therefore, sensing technologies and AI technologies, especially ML (deep learning) technologies, are being introduced into telecommunications to improve system performance and efficiency.

[0112] AI / ML technologies are applied in communications, including AI / ML communications at the physical layer and media access control (MAC) layer. For the physical layer, AI / ML communications can help optimize component designs and improve algorithm performance, such as channel coding, channel modeling, channel estimation, channel decoding, modulation, demodulation, MIMO, waveforms, multiple access, PHY element parameter optimization and update, and AI / ML for beamforming, tracking, sensing, and positioning. For the MAC layer, AI / ML communications utilize AI / ML capabilities, along with learning and prediction, to make decisions that solve complex optimization problems with better strategies and optimal solutions, such as intelligent TRP management, intelligent beam management, intelligent channel resource allocation, intelligent power control, intelligent spectrum utilization, intelligent demodulation and coding scheme (MCS), intelligent hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) strategies, and intelligent transmit / receive (Tx / Rx) mode adaptation, to optimize MAC functions.

[0113] AI / ML architectures typically include multiple nodes that can be organized into two modes: centralized and distributed. Both can be deployed in access networks, core networks, edge computing systems, or third-party networks. Centralized training and computing architectures are limited by significant communication overhead and strict user data privacy requirements. Distributed training and computing architectures include several frameworks, such as distributed machine learning and federated learning. AI / ML architectures include intelligent controllers that can operate as a single agent or multiple agents, based on joint or individual optimization. New protocols and signaling mechanisms are required so that corresponding interface links can be personalized with customized parameters to meet specific requirements, while personalized AI techniques minimize signaling overhead and maximize system-wide spectral efficiency.

[0114] Further terrestrial and non-terrestrial networks can enable a new range of services and applications, such as earth monitoring, remote sensing, passive sensing and positioning, navigation and tracking, autonomous delivery, and mobility. Terrestrial and non-terrestrial network-based sensing can provide intelligent, context-aware networks to enhance the UE experience. For example, terrestrial and non-terrestrial network-based sensing may include opportunities for localization and sensing applications based on new sets of features and service capabilities. Applications such as THz imaging and spectroscopy have the potential to provide continuous, real-time physiological information through dynamic, non-invasive, and non-contact measurements for future digital health technologies. Simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM) methods not only enable advanced cross-reality (XR) applications, but also enhance the navigation of autonomous objects such as vehicles and drones. Furthermore, in terrestrial and non-terrestrial networks, measured channel data as well as sensing and positioning data can be acquired through higher bandwidth, new spectrum, higher-density networks, and more line-of-sight (LOS) links. Based on these data, a radio environment map can be derived via AI / ML methods, and the channel information is linked to its corresponding positioning or environmental information to provide an enhanced physical layer design based on this map.

[0115] Sensing coordinators are nodes in the network that can assist in sensing operations. These nodes can be standalone nodes dedicated solely to sensing operations, or other nodes (e.g., TRP170, ED110, or core network nodes) that perform sensing operations in parallel with communication transmissions. To meet specific requirements while minimizing signaling overhead and maximizing overall system spectral efficiency, new protocols and signaling mechanisms are needed so that the corresponding interface links can be performed with customized parameters.

[0116] AI / ML and sensing methods consume large amounts of data. To incorporate AI / ML and sensing into wireless communications, more and more data needs to be collected, stored, and exchanged. The characteristics of wireless data are multidimensional and span a very wide range, including carrier frequencies from sub-6 GHz, millimeter waves, to terahertz, scenarios from space, outdoor, to indoor, and data types from text, audio, to video. These data collection, processing, and usage operations can be performed within a unified framework or across different frameworks.

[0117] Control information is referred to in some embodiments herein. Control information may alternatively be referred to as control signaling or signaling. In some cases, control information may be dynamically communicated at the physical layer in a control channel, such as a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH), a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH), or a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH). An example of dynamically indicated control information is information transmitted in physical layer control signaling, e.g., uplink control information (UCI) transmitted in a PUCCH or a PUSCH, or downlink control information (DCI) transmitted in a PDCCH. A dynamic indication may be an indication in a lower layer, e.g., physical layer / Layer 1 signaling, rather than in a higher layer (e.g., rather than RRC signaling or MAC CE). A semi-static indication may be an indication in semi-static signaling. As used herein, semi-static signaling may refer to signaling that is not dynamic, e.g., higher layer signaling (such as RRC signaling) and / or MAC CE. Dynamic signaling, as used herein, may refer to dynamic, e.g., physical layer control signaling, transmitted at the physical layer, such as DCI transmitted on the PDCCH or UCI transmitted on the PUCCH or PUSCH.

[0118] According to some aspects of the present disclosure, an adaptive sensing method is provided that enables separate power control parameter configuration for UL communication transmissions (or SL communication transmissions) and for sensing transmissions. Examples of existing UL power control schemes can be found in Section 7 of 3GPP TS38.213v17.2.0. Examples of existing sidelink power control schemes can be found in Section 16.2 of 3GPP TS38.213v17.2.0.

[0119] In some embodiments, when a signal or channel is used for both UL or SL transmission communications and sensing, two sets of parameters may be configured for the UE: a first set of parameters for UL or SL communications and a second set of parameters for sensing. A network side device, such as a base station, may provide configuration information for configuring separate power control parameters for UL communication (and / or SL communication) transmissions and for sensing transmissions. The UE may then determine transmit power for the UL or SL communication transmissions and for the sensing transmissions according to the configuration information provided by the network side device.

[0120] In some embodiments, one or more parameters are dedicated to sensing power control. An example of a parameter dedicated to sensing power control is the maximum sensing power used by the UE, which is P MAX,sensing This maximum sensing power can be typically expressed as P CMAX .times. ...

[0121] The following is the sensing power P Sensing is an example of how (i) may be determined at the UE based on configuration information provided to the UE by a network side device, where i is an integer representing the index of the time opportunity (e.g., time slot, or symbol) for which the sensing power is being determined. The UE may determine P for the sensing signal or sensing channel transmission at transmission opportunity i according to the following example formula: Sensing (i) may be determined:

number

number

[0122] When a signal or channel can be used as both a UL (or SL) communication transmission signal or channel and a sensing transmission signal or channel, the network side device may configure two sets of power control parameters, one set of power control parameters for the UL or SL communication transmission and the other set of power control parameters for the sensing transmission. An example of a signal used as both a UL (or SL) communication transmission signal and a sensing transmission signal is a sounding reference signal (SRS). An example of a channel used as both a UL (or SL) communication transmission channel and a sensing transmission channel is a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH).

[0123] Regarding the calculation of sensing power, P SensingAlthough described above using equation (i), if the types of parameters for UL communication or SL communication are similar, the UL communication power or SL communication power may be determined in a similar manner.

[0124] In some embodiments, the UE determines the transmit power according to a function f(a, b, c, d), where a, b, c, and d represent parameters configured by the network side device. In a particular example where a first set of parameters includes {a1, b1, c1, d1} for UL (or SL) communication transmissions and a second set of parameters {a2, b2, c2, d2} for sensing transmissions, at least one parameter in the two sets of parameters is different. While the above set of parameters includes four parameters (a, b, c, d), it should be understood that there may be more or fewer parameters than four in the set for determining the transmit power.

[0125] Regarding using SRS as a signal, when the UE transmits SRS in the active UL bandwidth portion (BWP) b of carrier f of serving cell c using the SRS power control adjustment state with index l, the UE sets the SRS transmit power P SRS,b,f,c (i,q s ,l)

number

[0126] Continuing with the example of using SRS as a signal, the network side device may configure two sets of power control parameters for SRS, a first set of parameters for UL channel sounding and a second set of parameters for sensing, each set being defined by the following parameters P O_SRS,b,f,c (q s ), M SRS,b,f,c (i), α SRS,b,f,c (q s ), P.L. b,f,c (q d ), h b,f,c (i, l) where the UE uses a first set of parameters for power control if the SRS is used for UL channel sounding, and the UE uses a second set of parameters for power control if the SRS is used for monostatic or bistatic sensing.

[0127] In some embodiments, the network side device explicitly provides the configuration information to the UE. The configuration information may be provided to the UE via one or more of DCI, MAC-CE, or RRC. In some embodiments, after the UE is provided with the first and second sets of parameters, the UE is informed by the network side device that the first set of parameters is for use in UL or SL transmissions and the second set of parameters is for use in sensing transmissions, or vice versa.

[0128] In some embodiments, after the UE is provided with the first and second sets of parameters, the network side device may provide configuration information to the UE and the UE may implicitly determine which set of parameters to use for UL communication (or SL communication) or sensing.

[0129] The following example shows how the selection of an appropriate set of parameters may be based on reference signal resources or resource configuration parameters provided by the network side device.

[0130] In some embodiments, each set of parameters may be associated with a reference signal (RS) resource defined by time, frequency, and space resources, where the association is configured by a network-side device or the association is predefined. Based on the selected resource and association, the UE may then know the appropriate set of parameters to use for power control.

[0131] In some embodiments, each set of parameters may be associated with a particular resource configuration parameter, the association being configured by a network-side device or predefined for the UE. Thus, when the UE is configured for a particular resource configuration, based on the association, the UE selects an appropriate set of parameters to use for power control.

[0132] Some examples of different types of resource configuration parameter associations are described below.

[0133] In a first example, the set of parameters is associated with the RS bandwidth (BW) or channel BW used by the UE. If the RS BW or channel BW is less than or equal to a threshold, the UE selects the UL transmission-specific parameters. In some embodiments, if the RS BW or channel BW is greater than a threshold, the UE selects the sensing-specific parameters by default. In some embodiments, if the RS BW or channel BW is greater than a threshold, the UE is configured by the network side device via RRC to select the parameters for UL transmission or the sensing-specific parameters. The threshold may be configured by the network side device or may be predefined.

[0134] In a second example, the set of parameters is associated with several RS ports. If the number of RS ports is greater than a threshold, the UE selects UL transmission-specific parameters. In some embodiments, if the number of ports is equal to or less than a threshold, the UE selects sensing-specific parameters by default. In some embodiments, if the number of ports is equal to or less than a threshold, the UE is configured to select parameters for UL transmission or sensing-specific parameters by a network side device via RRC. The threshold may be configured by the network side device or may be pre-configured.

[0135] In a third example, the set of parameters is associated with several RS symbols or channel symbols. If the number of RS symbols or channel symbols is greater than a threshold, the UE selects UL transmission-specific parameters, UL Tx-specific parameters. In some embodiments, if the number of RS symbols or channel symbols is equal to or less than a threshold, the UE selects sensing-specific parameters by default. In some embodiments, if the number of RS symbols or channel symbols is equal to or less than a threshold, the UE is configured by a network side device via RRC to select parameters for UL transmission or sensing-specific parameters. The threshold may be configured by the network side device or may be pre-configured.

[0136] 9 illustrates an example signal flow diagram 900 for providing an adaptive sensing method that allows separate power control parameter configuration for UL communication transmissions (or SL communication transmissions) and for sensing transmissions for use by a UE having both communication and sensing capabilities. FIG. 9 illustrates signaling between a base station 905 and a UE 907.

[0137] In step 910, a first set of power control parameters for determining the transmit power of the UL communication transmission or the SL communication transmission and a second set of power control parameters for determining the transmit power of the sensing transmission are transmitted by the base station 905 to the UE 907.

[0138] Step 915 is an optional step that involves the base station 905 sending an indication to select the first set of power control parameters or the second set of power control parameters. While this may be done in some embodiments, in other embodiments the UE 907 selects the appropriate set of parameters for the appropriate action to be taken by the UE 907.

[0139] In step 920, the UE 907 determines at least one of a transmit power for an UL transmission based on the first set of power control parameters or a transmit power for a sensing transmission based on the second set of power control parameters.

[0140] In some embodiments, for example, if the UE does not receive the indication sent in optional step 915, the UE determines whether to use the first set of power control parameters or the second set of power control parameters based on the first and second sets of power control parameters each associated with the reference signal resource, and when a given reference signal resource is selected, the associated first or second set of power control parameters is selected.

[0141] In some embodiments, for example, if the UE does not receive the indication sent in optional step 915, the UE determines whether to use the first set of power control parameters or the second set of power control parameters based on the first and second sets of power control parameters each associated with the resource configuration parameter, and when a given resource configuration parameter is selected, the associated first or second set of power control parameters is selected. The resource configuration parameter may be one of a reference signal bandwidth, a number of reference signal ports, a number of reference signal symbols, or a number of physical channel symbols.

[0142] In step 930, the UE determines a transmit power for an uplink (UL) communication transmission or an SL communication transmission using a first set of multiple power control parameters, or determines a transmit power for a sensing transmission using a second set of multiple power control parameters.

[0143] In some embodiments, the UL or SL communication transmission and the sensing transmission is a sounding reference signal (SRS).

[0144] In some embodiments, the parameters in the first set of parameters are different from the parameters in the second set of parameters.

[0145] In some embodiments, one or more parameters in the second set are dedicated to sensing power control.

[0146] Providing for the use of separate power control parameters for UL or SL communication transmission and sensing may allow for flexible configuration for sensing power control.

[0147] According to some aspects of the present disclosure, a centralized power control method is provided that includes a network side device sending signaling to one or more UEs when interference is detected to adapt UE sensing power to mitigate interference between the UEs.

[0148] In some embodiments, the network side device notifies the UE to adapt its sensing transmit power. In some embodiments, the network side device sends a notification to the UE when the network side device observes interference between UEs. In some embodiments, the network side device may observe interference between UEs based on receiving UE reports from one or more UEs that provide measurements of other UE resources. In some embodiments, the network side device may observe interference between UEs based on performing measurements of UE resources and determine that there is potential interference based on the measurements. In some embodiments, for example, in a bistatic sensing scenario, the network side device receives sensing signals from two different UEs and measures interference between the sensing signals.

[0149] In some embodiments, after the network side device determines that there is interference between the UEs, the network side device indicates a transmit power value to one or more UEs that the UEs should use to avoid the potential interference. For example, the network side device indicates an updated value of a power control parameter, or the network side device indicates a transmit power for the UE. The indication of the transmit power value may be carried in a downlink control information (DCI), a medium access control control element (MAC-CE), or a radio resource element (RRC).

[0150] In some embodiments, after the network side device determines that there is interference between the UEs, the network side device instructs one or more UEs to increase or decrease their UE sensing power. The indication of the transmit power value may be carried in a UE-specific DCI, a group-specific DCI, a MAC-CE, or an RRC.

[0151] The following provides an example of how a transmit power indication may be transmitted via DCI, which is for transmitting a transmit power control (TPC) command for sensing. In some embodiments, the TPC with a cyclic redundancy check (CRC) may be scrambled using a radio network temporary identifier (RNTI), e.g., a TPC sensing RNTI (TPC-SENSING-RNTI). The transmit power indication may be transmitted by the network side device for each UE block by block, i.e., block number 1, block number 2, ..., block number N. In a particular example, a parameter denoted as tpc-SENSING transmitted by higher layers may indicate an index of the block number for the UE.

[0152] For each block, the transmit power indication may include one or more fields to provide UE information. Examples of two different fields included in the indication are the UL transmission and sensing indicator field and the TPC command field. The UL transmission and sensing indicator field may be a single bit. For example, if this field is "0", the power control indication is for UL transmission, and if the field is "1", the power control indication is for sensing.

[0153] The TPC command field contains one or more bits that act as an index associated with a particular power value. The value in the TPC command field may be used to increase or decrease the UE transmit power. FIG. 4 shows an example of two groups of TPC commands: a first group 400 for sensing transmissions and a second group 450 for UL transmissions. In FIG. 4, the TPC command field is shown with values ​​from 0 to 3. Four values ​​of this type can be represented by two bits (00, 01, 10, 11). Each group of bits 400, 450 for TPC commands is shown in a respective table in FIG. 4, where the first column 410 of the table is the TPC command value that acts as an index associated with the power value, and the second column 412 is the associated power value in decibels (dB). Once the UE is notified of the TPC command index, the UE increases or decreases the sensing transmission or the UL or SL transmit power according to the associated power value. The updated power is then updated by P Update =P current +Δ, where Δ is a value from the second column selected based on the indicated TPC command index. While Figure 4 shows an example of a TPC command index that is two bits, it should be understood that this is merely an example and the TPC command index may be more or less than two bits.

[0154] In some embodiments, the set of TPC command values ​​for sensing and UL communication (or SL communication) transmission may include similar values ​​for sensing and for UL communication (or SL communication) transmission. In some embodiments, the set of TPC command values ​​for sensing and UL transmission may include one or more values ​​for sensing and UL communication (or SL communication) transmission that are different in each set of TPC command values. If the UL communication (or SL communication) transmission and sensing indicator field indicates that the TPC command is for UL communication (or SL communication) transmission, the UE determines the TPC value according to the set of TPC command values ​​for UL communication (or SL communication) transmission. If the UL transmission and sensing indicator field indicates that the TPC command is for sensing, the UE determines the TPC value according to the set of TPC command values ​​for sensing.

[0155] In some embodiments, if the UE is not configured to indicate that power control is for either UL communication (or SL communication) or sensing, the UL communication (or SL communication) transmission and sensing indicator field may not be present.

[0156] In some embodiments, the network side device may inform one or more UEs of the sensing resources (e.g., time / frequency, sequence resources) used by other UEs. This allows the UE to be aware of the sensing resources other UEs are using, thereby enabling the UE to know which other UEs are interfering with it based on measurements made on those resources.

[0157] The UE may measure resources identified by the network side device. In some embodiments, to assist power control by the network side device, the UE may report measurement information, such as interference measured by the UE, to the network side device. This may allow the network side device to notify a particular UE to increase or decrease power based on the network side device's knowledge of measurements from multiple UEs and other knowledge, such as the UE's priority.

[0158] Centralized UE power control, which involves a base station forwarding power control information to the UEs, may enable interference coordination among multiple sensing UEs.

[0159] According to some aspects of the present disclosure, a distributed power control method is provided that includes a UE adjusting power control for the UE when interference is detected between the UEs.

[0160] Some UEs may have different sensing service requirements than other UEs. The sensing service requirements may include parameters such as, but not limited to, sensing latency, accuracy, range, angle, or velocity resolution, detection probability, and false alarm probability. The sensing service requirements may affect the sensing priority or, more generally, the priority of the UE.

[0161] In some embodiments, the UE is configured with a sensing priority by the base station, or more generally an overall priority, and in some embodiments, the first UE may be informed of the priority of the second UE by a sensing requirements report sent from the second UE to the first UE.

[0162] In some embodiments, the UE may measure interference from one or more other UEs. If interference is detected and determined to exceed a threshold, the UE may determine whether it has a higher or lower priority than the one or more other UEs determined to be interfering with the UE. The threshold may be configured or predefined for the UE. For example, a network-side device may provide the threshold to the UE as part of configuration information, or the UE may be preconfigured with the threshold.

[0163] If the first UE determines that the first UE has a higher priority than the interfering second UE, the first UE may be considered a Type 1 UE. When the first UE is considered a Type 1 UE and detects that the measured interference exceeds a threshold, the first UE sends a request to the lower priority second UE to reduce its transmit power or changes the sensing resource of the lower priority second UE to reduce the interference.

[0164] If the first UE determines that it has a lower priority than the interfering second UE, the first UE is considered a Type 2 UE. If the first UE is considered a Type 2 UE and detects that the interference exceeds a threshold, the first UE may autonomously reduce power, change its sensing pattern, or both, to avoid interfering with the second UE.

[0165] In some embodiments, the first UE may determine that it is a Type 2 UE by receiving notification from the second UE that the first UE needs to reduce transmit power or change sensing resources. In some embodiments, the first UE may determine that it is a Type 2 UE by receiving priority information from the second UE and determining that the first UE has a lower priority than the second UE when comparing the priority of the first UE with the priority information from the second UE.

[0166] Interference measurements by the UE: In some embodiments, a UE is informed of the sensing resources (e.g., time / frequency, sequence resources) of one or more other UEs. In addition, the associated priority of the sensing resources may also be indicated. Different sensing sequences may be associated with different sensing priorities, so a UE with a particular priority may be assigned a sensing sequence appropriate for the UE priority. As a result, if a UE is informed of the sensing resources of other UEs and the UE knows that a particular priority is associated with a particular sensing resource, when the UE detects the particular sensing resource, the UE can determine the priority of the other UE based on the detected sensing sequence. In some embodiments, once the UE is informed of the sensing resources and priorities of other UEs, when the UE detects the particular sensing resource, the UE may be able to determine the identity of the other UE based on the detected sensing sequence. As a result of the association between priority and sensing sequence, when the UE detects the sensing resources of one or more other UEs as part of an interference measurement, the UE may be able to determine the priority level of one or more other UEs. In some embodiments, the overall priority of one or more other UEs may be provided to the UE, and the overall priority of one or more other UEs may be associated with the sensing resources of the one or more other UEs.

[0167] In some embodiments, the UE may determine whether the UE is a Type 1 UE or a Type 2 UE by comparing the priority of the UE with the priority of one or more other UEs.

[0168] The following describes a scenario that occurs between two UEs, a first UE and a second UE, coordinating interference mitigation during sensing. If the first UE is a Type 1 UE, the first UE may send a reduce interference request to the second UE, which has a lower priority. The reduce interference request may include the priority level of the UE sending the request.

[0169] In some embodiments, the reduce interference request may be conveyed directly to the second UE on the SL channel using broadcast, groupcast, or unicast. In some embodiments, the request may be sent to the second UE over a Uu link. The reduce interference request is sent on an UL channel to a network side device, such as a base station, which forwards the reduce interference request to the second UE.

[0170] If the first UE is a Type 2 UE, the first UE may reduce the transmit power of the first UE or change at least one sensing resource. The transmit power and the at least one sensing resource may be changed according to a predefined rule or a rule configured by a network side device.

[0171] The following example describes a method for a UE to perform sensing (either monostatic or bistatic sensing) to determine transmit sensing power while using an adaptively controlled variable pulse methodology.

[0172] Slow Power Ramp As part of the nth sensing transmission, where n is an integer value, the UE determines the transmit power according to the relationship shown in equation (1) below: P n =min(α n-1 *P1,P Max,C ) (1) where α>1, P1 is the initial power, and P Max,C is the UE maximum transmit power. The parameters α and P1 may be configured by the base station. In some embodiments, P Max,C is the maximum transmit power predefined for the UE at which the UE can transmit. In some embodiments, P Max,C is the maximum transmit power configured for the UE by the network side device.

[0173] FIG. 5A shows the sensing transmission times t1, t2, t3, and t k, where k denotes the set of transmit powers for the UE based on equation (1) for the maximum transmit power threshold P Max,C Since α>1, the power rise is from t1 to t k The exponential increase over the time interval up to

[0174] In an alternative example, as part of the nth sensing transmission, where n is an integer value, the UE determines the transmit power according to the relationship shown in equation (2) below: P n =min(α n-1 *P1,Pth) (2) where α>1, P1 is the initial power, and P th is the threshold transmission power. Threshold transmission power P th may be configured by the network side device.

[0175] In some embodiments, the UE may use an exponential power ramp up to a threshold, and then, after the exponential power ramp, the UE may perform a linear power ramp. For example, if the UE transmit power allowed by the UE is greater than a maximum power threshold for exponential ramp configured by the network device, the UE may continue to increase the transmit power linearly. k For the nth sensing transmission after the transmission, the UE determines the transmit power according to equation (2) below: P n =min(P K +(nK)*Δ,P Max,C ) (3) where Δ is the power increase step, K is the time opportunity, i.e., the Kth transmission, at which point the UE transmit power is increased beyond the threshold P ThK The parameter Δ may be configurable by the network side device.

[0176] FIG. 5B shows the time series of the time periods t1, t2, t3, and t k , t k+1 , and t k+2(2) and (3) for k, where k is the maximum power threshold P for the UE for exponential ramp-up. Thk The maximum power threshold for the exponential rise, P Thk may be configured by the network side device. k 5 shows a graphical plot 500 having an exponential range 510 up to and a linear range 515 thereafter.

[0177] Interference Avoidance As mentioned above, when the UE is a Type 2 UE and the UE needs to reduce its transmit power, the UE may reduce its transmit power according to a predefined or preconfigured rule. Two different methods for reducing transmit power are described below for a first UE that is a Type 2 UE and a second UE that is a Type 1 UE.

[0178] In the first method, the first UE performs power reduction when it receives an interference reduction request from the second UE, or when it measures interference and determines that the second UE has a higher priority. In the first method, the first UE reduces its power by reducing its initial transmit power (e.g., a 0 P1). Figure 6A shows an example of a continuous curve 600 illustrating a first power increase section 610 and a second power increase section 630 and a power reduction 625. Figure 6A also shows an adaptively controlled variable pulse curve 650 illustrating the same first and second power increase sections 610 and 630 and a power reduction 625 with pulses at discrete times whose amplitudes are limited by the continuous curve 600. Both curves 600 and 650 in Figure 6A are plotted against time t0 and t n This indicates an increase in transmission power between t n At , it is determined that the interference measurement exceeds a threshold 620. The first UE then reduces 625 its power to its initial transmit power.

[0179] In a second method, the first UE reduces its transmit power by an amount N times the power value when it detects that the interference measurement exceeds a threshold. The value of N is less than 1, e.g., N=0.5. The value of N may be configured by a network-side device or may be predefined. FIG. 6B shows an example of a continuous curve 605 illustrating a first power-up section 612 and a second power-up section 632 and a power reduction 627. FIG. 6B also shows an adaptively controlled variable pulse curve 655 illustrating the same first and second power-up sections 612 and 632 and a power reduction 627 with pulses at discrete times whose amplitudes are limited by the continuous curve 605. Both curves 605 and 655 in FIG. 6B are plotted against time intervals t0 and t1. n This indicates an increase in transmission power between t n At , it is determined that the interference measurement exceeds a threshold 620. The power is then reduced 627 to a fraction of the power at which the interference measurement was detected to exceed the threshold 620. Not reducing the power all the way to the initial power as in the first method allows for faster power recovery for the first UE.

[0180] For both the first and second methods described above, after the power of the first UE is reduced according to an appropriate rule (i.e., to the initial power or a fraction of the power when the interference measurement is detected to exceed the threshold), the first UE may return to increasing its transmit power according to an appropriate power increase method as described above.

[0181] When determining power according to the ascending method described above and with reference to Figures 6A and 6B, the UE may use separate sets of parameters for determining power for sensing and for UL or SL communication, as described above.

[0182] In addition to or as an alternative to reducing power to avoid interference, one or more sensing configuration parameters may be adapted in one or more UEs to mitigate the interference. Examples of sensing configuration parameters that may be adapted include, but are not limited to, a sensing timing offset and a sensing signal interval.

[0183] For essentially periodic sensing transmissions, the UE may be configured to transmit sensing signals at time opportunities based on a relationship such as n0+periodicity*n, where n0 is the initial transmission time, n is the transmission number, and periodicity is a fixed period between transmissions. The transmission opportunities may occur every slot or every symbol. In some embodiments, a sensing timing offset K may be added to the timing relationship such that the UE may send sensing signals at time opportunities based on the relationship n0+K+periodicity*n.

[0184] In some embodiments, the sensing signal interval may be changed by an amount M, where M may be a value greater than 0, and more generally, greater than 1. If the interval is configured as M times the periodicity, the UE transmits the sensing signal at time opportunities based on the relationship n0+periodicity*M*n.

[0185] In some embodiments, the timing offsets and / or timing intervals are configured by a network side device. In some embodiments, the network side device may configure a set of timing offsets and / or a set of timing intervals for the UE.

[0186] In some embodiments, the UE may be configured to adapt the sensing timing offset, adapt the sensing interval, or both. If the UE desires to reduce interference to one or more other UEs, the UE may choose an appropriate offset or interval from a set of timing offsets provided to the UE.

[0187] FIG. 7A illustrates an example 700 of two UEs, UE1 and UE2, transmitting sensing signals 705 with a period 702 between sensing transmissions. The transmissions are shown in a time sequence occurring over increasing time on the horizontal axis. UE1 and UE2 are shown transmitting sensing signals 705 simultaneously in a first time series 710 and a second time series 720. In this example, UE1 is assumed to be a Type 1 UE and UE2 is assumed to be a Type 2 UE. Thus, when UE1 measures interference from UE2, UE1 notifies UE2 to perform interference mitigation. Upon such notification, UE2 selects a sensing timing offset 704 to offset the time at which UE2 transmits sensing signals 709 relative to the transmission by UE1, as shown in a third time series 730. Alternatively, UE2 may detect interference and autonomously take steps to undertake interference mitigation. Because the sensing signal transmissions for UE1 and UE2 in time series 710 and 730 occur at different times, there is less opportunity for interference.

[0188] FIG. 7B illustrates another example 750 of two UEs, UE1 and UE2, transmitting sensing signals 705 with a period 702 between sensing transmissions. The transmissions are shown in a time sequence occurring over increasing time on the horizontal axis. UE1 and UE2 are shown transmitting sensing signals 705 simultaneously in a first time series 710 and a second time series 720. In the second time series 720, a first time interval 707 is shown between the end of the first sensing signal and the start of the second sensing signal. In this example, UE1 is assumed to be a Type 1 UE and UE2 is assumed to be a Type 2 UE. Thus, when UE1 measures interference from UE2, UE1 notifies UE2 to perform interference mitigation. In response to such notification, UE2 selects a second sensing interval 714 to change the period at which UE2 transmits sensing signals 719 relative to transmissions by UE1, as shown in a third time series 740. Alternatively, UE2 may detect the interference and autonomously take action to initiate interference mitigation. Because the sensing signal transmissions for UE1 and UE2 in time series 710 and 740 occur at different times, there is less opportunity for interference.

[0189] Distributed UE sensing power control, which involves multiple UEs coordinating power control information among the UEs, may enable improved spectral efficiency among the multiple UEs that are performing sensing.

[0190] 8 illustrates an example signal flow diagram for power boosting and interference mitigation for a distributed UE sensing power control method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. Figure 8 illustrates signaling between a base station 805, a first UE (UE1 807), and a second UE (UE2 809).

[0191] In step 820, the base station 805 transmits one or more signals to convey configuration information to UE1 807. In step 825, the base station 805 transmits one or more signals to convey configuration information to UE2 809. The configuration information sent by the base station includes one or more of the following information about the sensing signals, such as time and frequency resource information of the sensing signals, sensing intervals, sensing time offsets, interference threshold information, configuration information regarding power up and power down, priority information of UE1 807 and UE2 809, or an association between sensing resources and priorities.

[0192] In step 830, UE1 807 may perform power increase of sensing signaling and perform interference measurement of signals from other UEs, such as UE2 809. In step 835, UE2 809 may perform power increase of sensing signaling and perform interference measurement of signals from other UEs, such as UE1 807.

[0193] 8, UE1 807 is determined to be a Type 1 UE and UE2 809 is determined to be a Type 2 UE. There are at least two possible ways for UE1 807 to notify UE2 809 that it should reduce power to mitigate interference between UE1 807 and UE2 809. In step 840, the first option is for UE1 807 to send a notification to UE2 809 to reduce power directly. In steps 845 and 846, the second option is for UE1 807 to send a notification to the base station 805 to reduce power, and for the base station 805 to send a notification to UE2 809 to reduce power.

[0194] In step 850, UE2 809 receives the notification sent in either step 840 or step 846, and then takes steps to reduce transmit power, as shown in interference avoidance 625 or 627 in FIG. 6A or 6B, or change the sensing timing offset or sensing interval, or both reduce power and change the sensing timing offset or sensing interval, as shown in FIG. 7A or 7B.

[0195] In another embodiment, UE2 809 may determine that there is interference between UE1 807 and UE2 809 because UE2 809 is a Type 2 UE. UE2 809 may autonomously reduce its power to mitigate the interference.

[0196] In step 860, UE2 809 may again power up its sensing signaling and make interference measurements of signals from other UEs, such as UE1 807.

[0197] It should be understood that one or more steps of the methods of the embodiments provided herein may be performed by a corresponding unit or module. For example, a signal may be transmitted by a transmitting unit or 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. 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). When modules are software, it should be understood that they may be acquired by a processor, in whole or in part, individually or together, in single or multiple instances as needed, for processing, and the modules themselves may include instructions for further deployment and instantiation.

[0198] Although the illustrated embodiments show combinations of features, not all of these need to be combined to realize the benefits of various embodiments of the present disclosure. In other words, a system or method designed in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure need not include all of the features shown in any one of the figures or all of the parts schematically shown in the figures. Furthermore, selected features of one exemplary embodiment may be combined with selected features of other exemplary embodiments.

[0199] While the present disclosure has been described with reference to exemplary embodiments, 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 upon reference to the description. It is therefore intended that the appended claims cover any such modifications or embodiments. [Explanation of symbols]

[0200] 100 Communication Systems 110 Electrical Devices for Communication (ED) 120 Wireless Access Network 130 Core Network 140 Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) 150 Internet 160 other networks 170 network nodes (base stations) 172 Base Station 190a, 190c Air Interface 190b, 190d Sidelink (SL) Air Interface 201 Transmitter 203 Receiver 204 Antenna 208 memory 210 Processing Unit (Processor) 252 Transmitter 253 Scheduler 254 receiver 256 antennas 258 memory 260 processor 272 Transmitter 274 Receiver 276 processors 278 memory 280 Antenna 610, 612 First power-up section 620 threshold 625, 627 Power Reduction 630, 632 Second power-up section 650, 655 Adaptively controlled variable pulse curve 702 cycles 704 Sensing Timing Offset 705 Sensing Signal 707 First Time Interval 709 Sensing Signal 710 First Time Series 714 Second Sensing Interval 719 Sensing Signal 720 Second Time Series 730, 740 Third Time Series 805 base station 807 First UE (UE1) 809 Second UE (UE2) 905 base station 907 UE

Claims

1. 1. A method for use by a user equipment (UE) having both communication and sensing capabilities, the method comprising: receiving, by the UE, a first set of power control parameters for determining a transmit power of an uplink (UL) communication transmission or a sidelink (SL) communication transmission and a second set of power control parameters for determining a transmit power of a sensing transmission; by the UE, a transmit power for an UL communication transmission or an SL communication transmission based on the first set of power control parameters; or a transmit power for the sensing transmission based on the second set of the plurality of power control parameters; determining at least one of A method comprising:

2. 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the UE determines whether to use the first set of power control parameters or the second set of power control parameters based on receiving an instruction to select the first set or the second set.

3. 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the UE determines whether to use the first set of power control parameters or the second set of power control parameters based on the first and second sets of power control parameters each associated with a reference signal resource, and wherein when a given reference signal resource is selected, the associated first or second set of power control parameters is selected.

4. 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the UE determines whether to use the first set of power control parameters or the second set of power control parameters based on the first and second sets of power control parameters each associated with a resource configuration parameter, and when a given resource configuration parameter is selected, the associated first or second set of power control parameters is selected.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the resource configuration parameter is one of a reference signal bandwidth, a number of reference signal ports, a number of reference signal symbols, or a number of physical channel symbols.

6. the transmit power of the UL communication transmission or the SL communication transmission using the first set of power control parameters; or transmit power of the sensing transmission using the second set of power control parameters The method of claim 1 , further comprising determining:

7. 7. The method of claim 1, wherein the UL communication transmission or the SL communication transmission and the sensing transmission are sounding reference signals (SRS).

8. 8. The method of claim 1, wherein the parameters in the first set of parameters are different from the parameters in the second set of parameters.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein one or more parameters in the second set are dedicated to sensing power control.

10. For use in interference avoidance of sensing transmissions, receiving, by the UE, an instruction for the UE to adjust a UE sensing transmit power, the instruction being an instruction for absolute sensing transmit power or an instruction for differential sensing transmit power; adjusting, by the UE, the sensing transmit power based on the instruction; 10. The method of any one of claims 1 to 9, comprising:

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the indication is received in a UE-specific Downlink Control Information (DCI), a group-specific DCI, a Medium Access Control Control Element (MAC-CE), or a Radio Resource Control (RRC) message.

12. The instructions are: an indication of whether the UE is configured to adjust power control for the UL communication transmission or the SL communication transmission and both the sensing transmission; or Transmit Power Command (TPC) The method of claim 11 , comprising at least one of:

13. receiving, by the UE, configuration information indicating whether the indication includes an indication of whether the UE is configured to adjust power control for the UL communication transmission or both the SL communication transmission and the sensing transmission, and if not, the indication is to adjust sensing transmission power; 13. The method of claim 12, further comprising:

14. The UE senses the transmission power by: exponentially increasing the sensing transmission power; or Linearly increasing the sensing transmission power. by at least one of 14. The method of any one of claims 11 to 13, further comprising:

15. The step of increasing the sensing transmission power is performed by the UE: before the UE receives an instruction to adjust the UE sensing transmit power; or After the UE adjusts the UE sensing transmission power by reducing the UE sensing signal transmission power, The method of claim 14, wherein

16. For use in interference avoidance of sensing transmissions, receiving, by the UE, configuration information regarding sensing resources used by other UEs; when interference from a second one of the other UEs is detected, comparing a priority of the UE with a priority of the second one of the other UEs; Based on the comparing step, sending a sensing transmission power reduction request to reduce the transmission power of the second UE if the priority of the UE is higher than the priority of the second UE; or If the priority of the UE is lower than the priority of the second UE, reducing a sensing transmission power of the UE.

10. The method of any one of claims 1 to 9, comprising:

17. 17. The method of claim 16, wherein the configuration information regarding sensing resources used by the other UEs includes at least one priority associated with sensing resources for at least one of the other UEs.

18. 18. The method of claim 16 or 17, wherein reducing the sensing transmit power of the UE comprises reducing the sensing transmit power to a value that is less than a most recent value of the sensing transmit power from before determining that the sensing transmit power should be reduced.

19. A value smaller than the latest value of the sensing transmission power is A value equal to the initial power, or Previously configured value 19. The method of claim 18, wherein:

20. The UE senses the transmission power by: exponentially increasing the sensing transmission power; or Linearly increasing the sensing transmission power. by at least one of 20. The method of any one of claims 16 to 19, further comprising:

21. The step of increasing the sensing transmission power is performed by the UE: before the UE receives an instruction to adjust the UE sensing transmit power; or After the UE adjusts the UE sensing transmit power by reducing the UE sensing transmit power. The method of claim 20, wherein

22. 22. The method of claim 20 or 21, further comprising receiving an indication of a threshold value indicating a maximum sensing transmit power for the UE when to increase a sensing transmit power.

23. 23. The method of any one of claims 16 to 22, further comprising receiving, by the UE, priority configuration information for defining the priority of the UE.

24. 23. The method of claim 16, wherein the priority of the resources of the UE is determined based on a sensing requirements report of the UE.

25. 25. The method of claim 16, wherein detecting interference from the second UE comprises detecting sensing resources from the second UE, which enables the UE to determine the priority of the sensing resources of the second UE based on the configuration information regarding sensing resources used by other UEs.

26. The step of transmitting, by the UE, a sensing transmission power reduction request to reduce the transmission power of the second UE includes: transmitting, by the UE, the request to the second UE to reduce the sensing transmit power via a side link (SL) to the second UE; or transmitting, by the UE, the request to reduce the sensing transmission power to the base station via an uplink (UL), such that the base station forwards the request to reduce the sensing transmission power to the second UE via a downlink (DL); 26. The method of any one of claims 16 to 25, comprising:

27. The method further includes receiving, by the UE, sensing configuration information related to interference avoidance, wherein the sensing configuration information related to interference avoidance includes: sensing transmission timing offset information for offsetting the timing of the sensing transmission; or Sensing transmission signal interval information for changing the sensing transmission interval 27. The method of any one of claims 16 to 26, comprising at least one of:

28. a processor; a computer-readable storage medium having stored thereon computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the processor, perform the method of any one of claims 1 to 27; 1. A device comprising:

29. transmitting, by the base station, a first set of power control parameters for determining a transmit power of an uplink (UL) communication transmission or a sidelink (SL) communication transmission, and a second set of power control parameters for determining a transmit power of a sensing transmission. A method comprising:

30. 30. The method of claim 29, further comprising transmitting, by the base station, an explicit indication to a user equipment (UE) as to whether to use the first set of power control parameters for determining a transmit power of the UL communication transmission or the SL communication transmission, or the second set of power control parameters for determining a transmit power of a sensing transmission.

31. 30. The method of claim 29, further comprising transmitting, by the base station, a first association between the first set of power control parameters and a first reference signal resource and a second association between the second set of power control parameters and a second reference signal resource.

32. 30. The method of claim 29, further comprising transmitting, by the base station, a first association between the first set of the plurality of power control parameters and a first resource configuration parameter, and a second association between the second set of the plurality of power control parameters and a second resource configuration parameter.

33. 33. The method of claim 32, wherein the resource configuration parameter is one of a reference signal bandwidth, a number of reference signal ports, a number of reference signal symbols, or a number of physical channel symbols.

34. a transmit power of the UL communication transmission or the SL communication transmission is determined using the first set of power control parameters; or 34. The method of claim 29, wherein a transmit power of a sensing transmission is determined using the second set of power control parameters.

35. 35. The method of any one of claims 29 to 34, wherein the UL or SL communication transmission and the sensing transmission are sounding reference signals (SRS).

36. 36. The method of any one of claims 29 to 35, wherein the parameters in the first set of parameters are different from the parameters in the second set of parameters.

37. 37. The method of any one of claims 29 to 36, wherein one or more parameters in the second set are dedicated to sensing power control.

38. For use in interference avoidance of sensing transmissions, transmitting, by the base station, an instruction for at least one UE to adjust a UE sensing transmit power upon detecting interference involving two or more UEs, wherein the instruction is an instruction for absolute sensing transmit power or an instruction for differential sensing transmit power; 38. The method of any one of claims 29 to 37, comprising:

39. 39. The method of claim 38, wherein the indication is sent in a UE-specific Downlink Control Information (DCI), a group-specific DCI, a Medium Access Control Control Element (MAC-CE), or a Radio Resource Control (RRC) message.

40. The instructions are: an indication of whether the UE is configured to adjust power control for both UL communication transmissions or SL communication transmissions and sensing transmissions; or Transmit Power Command (TPC) 40. The method of claim 38 or 39, comprising at least one of:

41. transmitting, by the base station, configuration information indicating whether the instruction includes an indication of whether the UE is configured to adjust power control for both UL transmissions and a sensing transmission indicator, and if not, the instruction is to adjust sensing transmission power.

41. The method of claim 40, further comprising:

42. 42. The method of any one of claims 38 to 41, further comprising the step of transmitting, by the base station, configuration information regarding sensing transmission power for other UEs.

43. 43. The method of any one of claims 38 to 42, further comprising receiving, by the base station, a report comprising interference information measured by at least one UE.

44. For use in interference avoidance of sensing transmissions, transmitting, by the base station, configuration information regarding sensing resources used by at least one UE, the configuration information enabling a first UE to determine a priority of sensing resources of a second UE, such that, when interference is detected between the first UE and the second UE, the first UE is configured to compare the priority of the sensing resources of the first UE with the priority of sensing resources used by the second UE; 38. The method of any one of claims 29 to 37, comprising:

45. 45. The method of claim 44, wherein the configuration information regarding sensing resources used by the at least one UE includes a priority associated with sensing resources for at least one of the other UEs.

46. 46. ​​The method of claim 44 or 45, further comprising the step of transmitting, by the base station, threshold information for use by the first UE during interference mitigation, the threshold information being compared to an exponentially increased sensing transmit power of the first UE.

47. 47. The method of any one of claims 44 to 46, further comprising transmitting, by the base station, priority configuration information for defining the priority of the first UE.

48. The method further includes transmitting a sensing transmission power reduction request to reduce the transmission power of the second UE, wherein the transmitting the sensing transmission power reduction request includes: receiving, by the base station, via an uplink (UL) from the first UE, a request to reduce the sensing transmit power of the second UE; forwarding, by the base station, the request to reduce the sensing transmit power to the second UE via a downlink (DL); 48. The method of any one of claims 44 to 47, comprising:

49. The method further includes transmitting sensing configuration information related to interference avoidance, wherein the sensing configuration information related to interference avoidance is: sensing transmission timing offset information for offsetting the timing of the sensing transmission; or Sensing transmission signal interval information for changing the sensing transmission interval 49. The method of any one of claims 44 to 48, comprising at least one of:

50. a processor; a computer-readable storage medium having stored thereon computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the processor, perform the method of any one of claims 29 to 49; 1. A device comprising:

51. 50. A communications device configured to perform a method according to any one of claims 1 to 27 or claims 29 to 49.

52. A computer readable storage medium having stored thereon instructions that, when executed, cause an apparatus to perform the method of any one of claims 1 to 27 or claims 29 to 49.

53. A communication system comprising a device according to claim 28 and a device according to claim 50.

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