Sensing method and apparatus

Abstract

Embodiments of this application provide a sensing method and apparatus for performing sensing through frequency stitching. A second device transmits a first message, and the first device receives the first message. The first message includes first information, which indicates a feedback policy for sensing results corresponding to multiple frequency bands, and the multiple frequency bands are used for frequency stitching. Based on the first message, the first device transmits a second message to the second device. The second message includes sensing results corresponding to at least one of the multiple frequency bands. This solution can improve the reliability of performing sensing through frequency stitching and can improve the sensing performance of a UWB system.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] Cross - reference to related applications This application claims the priority of Chinese Patent Application No. 202310242160.6, entitled "Sensing Method and Device", filed with the China National Intellectual Property Administration on March 6, 2023, the entire content of which is incorporated herein by reference.

[0002] Embodiments of this application relate to the field of wireless communication, and in particular, to sensing methods and devices.

Background Art

[0003] One of the main topics of UWB technology is to perform sensing using ultra - wideband (UWB) signals. The principle of sensing is to extract information such as the distance, angle, or speed of a target by detecting the echo of the UWB signal on the target. Usually, the sensing performance is directly proportional to the effective bandwidth of the UWB signal, that is, the larger the effective bandwidth, the higher the sensing accuracy. However, in actual applications, the capabilities of different devices are different. Some low - cost and low - power - consumption UWB devices are limited by the performance of the analog - to - digital converter (ADC) and cannot process wide - bandwidth UWB signals. In this case, frequency - stitching technology may be used. Specifically, frequency bands with overlapping frequencies in the frequency domain are stitched to a wide bandwidth in order to perform sensing with a wide bandwidth.

[0004] However, there is no specific solution for performing sensing in a UWB system through frequency - stitching, and the reliability of frequency - stitching is low. As a result, the sensing performance of the UWB system is limited.

Summary of the Invention

Means for Solving the Problems

[0005] Embodiments of this application provide a sensing method and apparatus for performing sensing through frequency stitching in a UWB system and improving the sensing performance of a UWB system.

[0006] According to a first embodiment, a sensing method is provided which includes a first device receiving a first message from a second device. The first message includes first information, which indicates a feedback policy for sensing results corresponding to multiple frequency bands, and the multiple frequency bands are used for frequency stitching. The first device transmits a second message to the second device based on the first message. The second message includes sensing results corresponding to at least one of the multiple frequency bands. Optionally, adjacent frequency bands in the multiple frequency bands overlap with respect to frequency. Optionally, the frequency bands are frequency bands in a UWB system. Optionally, the second device is an initiator and the first device is a responder.

[0007] In embodiments of this application, the second device may indicate a feedback policy for sensing results corresponding to a plurality of frequency bands used for frequency stitching, based on first information carried in the first message. Furthermore, the first device can feed back sensing results corresponding to at least one of the plurality of frequency bands to the second device in accordance with the feedback policy indicated by the second device, thereby improving the reliability of performing sensing through frequency stitching and improving the sensing performance of the UWB system.

[0008] In embodiments of this application, there may be multiple possible feedback policies. Some possibilities are listed below.

[0009] 1. The first information instructs the first device to feed back the channel impulse response (CIR) of any one of the frequency bands to the second device after the first device has received a sensing packet in any one of the frequency bands, or 2. The first information instructs the first device to feed back the CIR of at least one of the multiple frequency bands to the second device after the first device has received sensing packets in all of the multiple frequency bands, or 3. The first information instructs the first device to feed back to the second device the broad bandwidth CIR obtained through any one frequency stitching after the first device has completed any one frequency stitching, and the broad bandwidth obtained through any one frequency stitching is determined based on some or all of a plurality of frequency bands, or 4. The first information instructs the first device to feed back to the second device a broad bandwidth CIR obtained through at least one of the multiple frequency stitchings after the first device has completed multiple frequency stitchings, wherein the broad bandwidth obtained through any one of the multiple frequency stitchings is determined based on some or all of the multiple frequency bands, or 5. The first information instructs the first device to feed back the wide bandwidth CIR obtained through frequency stitching to the second device after the first device has performed frequency stitching in multiple frequency bands, or 6. The first information instructs the first device to feed back the target information to the second device after the first device has completed frequency stitching in at least two of the multiple frequency bands and determined the target information based on the wide bandwidth CIR obtained through frequency stitching.

[0010] It will be understood that some of these possibilities are merely examples, not limitations.

[0011] In a possible design, the first message further includes second information, which indicates the initial phase of at least one sensing packet in multiple frequency bands, or the difference in initial phase between two adjacent sensing packets in multiple frequency bands, or the difference in initial phase between the first sensing packet and all other sensing packets in multiple frequency bands.

[0012] In this design, the second device transmits second information to the first device. Therefore, the first device can determine the phase information for each frequency band to support the first device when performing frequency stitching, further improving the reliability of sensing performed through frequency stitching.

[0013] In a possible design, the first message further contains third information, which indicates the order in which the center frequencies or carrier frequencies of the frequency bands are configured. For example, the center frequencies or carrier frequencies of multiple frequency bands may be in ascending order, or in descending order. If the center frequencies or carrier frequencies of multiple frequency bands are in ascending order, the center frequency or carrier frequency of the first frequency band among the multiple frequency bands is the lowest. Conversely, if the center frequencies or carrier frequencies of multiple frequency bands are in descending order, the center frequency or carrier frequency of the first frequency band among the multiple frequency bands is the highest.

[0014] Therefore, the first and second devices transmit sensing packets in a pre-configured frequency band to improve the success rate of sensing packet transmission and further enhance the reliability of sensing.

[0015] In a possible design, the first message further includes one or more of the following information: a fourth piece of information indicating the identifier of the first frequency band in a plurality of frequency bands; a fifth piece of information indicating the frequency overlap rate between adjacent frequency bands in the plurality of frequency bands; and a sixth piece of information indicating the total bandwidth of the plurality of frequency bands.

[0016] Therefore, the first device may determine the frequency domain resources used for sensing packet exchange based on the third, fourth, fifth, and sixth pieces of information to improve the reliability of receiving sensing packets by the first device and to further improve the reliability of sensing.

[0017] In a possible design, the first message would contain seventh information, which indicates the number of sensing packets transmitted by the second device in a single frequency band across multiple frequency bands.

[0018] Therefore, the first device may determine the number of sensing packets in a single frequency band in order to further improve the reliability of receiving sensing packets by the first device.

[0019] In a possible design, the first device receives and detects sensing packets in a first set of frequency bands. The first set of frequency bands includes at least two frequency bands. If the sensing results corresponding to multiple frequency bands detected by the first device satisfy the sensing requirements, the first device sends a second message to the second device. The second message includes the sensing results corresponding to multiple frequency bands detected by the first device, where the multiple frequency bands are some or all of the frequency bands detected by the first device. If the sensing results corresponding to multiple frequency bands detected by the first device do not satisfy the sensing requirements, the first device sends instruction information to the second device. The instruction information instructs the second device to transmit sensing packets in a second set of frequency bands, where the second set of frequency bands includes at least two frequency bands, and the frequency bands in the second set of frequency bands are different from the frequency bands in the first set of frequency bands.

[0020] Therefore, sensing accuracy can be guaranteed while frequency bandwidth overhead and feedback overhead can be reduced.

[0021] In a possible design, at least one frequency band in the first set of frequency bands and at least one frequency band in the second set of frequency bands overlap in terms of frequency, and the frequency overlap rate between at least one frequency band in the first set of frequency bands and at least one frequency band in the second set of frequency bands is greater than the frequency overlap rate between adjacent frequency bands in the first set of frequency bands.

[0022] Therefore, as the number of sensing packets received by the first device increases, the accuracy of the sensing results obtained by the first device also increases, further improving the reliability of sensing performed through frequency stitching.

[0023] In a possible design, the first message further includes the eighth information, and the eighth information indicates the sensing requirement.

[0024] Therefore, the first device can determine the sensing requirement and further feedback the sensing result to the second device when the sensing requirement is met, so as to avoid waste of resources and improve the sensing efficiency.

[0025] In a possible design, the second message further includes the ninth information, and the ninth information indicates that the sensing result is the CIR of a frequency band where frequency stitching is not performed, or the wide-bandwidth CIR obtained through frequency stitching, or the target information determined based on the wide-bandwidth CIR obtained through frequency stitching.

[0026] Therefore, the second device can determine the type of the content of the sensing result carried in the second message in order to calculate the target information better and improve the sensing accuracy.

[0027] In a possible design, the second message further includes the tenth information, and the tenth information further indicates the frequency band corresponding to the sensing result.

[0028] Therefore, the second device can determine the frequency band corresponding to the sensing result carried in the second message in order to calculate the target information better and improve the sensing accuracy.

[0029] In a possible design, the tenth information includes the index of the frequency band corresponding to the sensing result, or the tenth information includes a bitmap, the bitmap includes a plurality of bits, the plurality of bits correspond one-to-one to a plurality of frequency bands, and the frequency band corresponding to the sensing result is indicated by the value of the bit in the bitmap. Of course, this is not limited to the above two methods.

[0030] In a possible design, multiple frequency bands correspond one-to-one with multiple time units, and sensing packets in each of the multiple frequency bands are transmitted in the time unit corresponding to the frequency band, with a second message further containing a tenth piece of information, the tenth piece of information indicating the time unit corresponding to the sensing result.

[0031] Therefore, the second device can determine the frequency band corresponding to the sensing result carried in the second message based on the time unit fed back by the first device, in order to better calculate target information and improve sensing accuracy.

[0032] In a possible design, the tenth piece of information may include an index of time units corresponding to the sensing result, or the tenth piece of information may include a bitmap containing multiple bits, each corresponding one-to-one to multiple time units, with the index of time units corresponding to the sensing result being indicated by the value of a bit in the bitmap. Of course, this is not limited to the two methods described above.

[0033] In a possible design, before receiving the first message from the second device, the first device may further transmit capability information of the first device to the second device. The capability information of the first device is used by the second device to determine the first message. The capability information may include one or more of the following: 11th information indicating whether or not the first device supports or does not support receiving sensing packets in multiple frequency bands; 12th information indicating whether or not the first device supports or does not support frequency stitching; and 13th information indicating the frequency bands permitted by the first device for frequency stitching.

[0034] Therefore, in order to further improve the reliability of sensing through frequency stitching, it can be ensured that the solution for performing sensing through frequency stitching is only implemented if the first device supports frequency stitching.

[0035] According to a second embodiment, a sensing method is provided, which includes a second device sending a first message to the first device. The first message includes first information, which indicates a feedback policy for sensing results corresponding to multiple frequency bands, the multiple frequency bands being used for frequency stitching. The second device receives a second message from the first device. The second message includes sensing results corresponding to at least one of the multiple frequency bands.

[0036] In possible designs, the first information instructs the first device to feed back the channel impulse response (CIR) of any one of the multiple frequency bands to the second device after the first device has received a sensing packet in any one of the multiple frequency bands, or the first information instructs the first device to feed back the CIR of at least one of the multiple frequency bands to the second device after the first device has received sensing packets in all of the multiple frequency bands, or the first information instructs the first device to feed back the wide bandwidth CIR obtained through any one of the frequency stitchings to the second device after the first device has completed any one of the frequency stitchings, and the wide bandwidth obtained through any one of the frequency stitchings is determined based on some or all of the multiple frequency bands, or the first information instructs the first device After Vice completes multiple frequency stitchings, the first device is instructed to feed back a broadband CIR obtained through at least one of the multiple frequency stitchings to a second device, where the broadband obtained through any one of the multiple frequency stitchings is determined based on some or all of the multiple frequency bands, or the first information instructs the first device to feed back a broadband CIR obtained through frequency stitchings to a second device after the first device performs frequency stitching on multiple frequency bands, or the first information instructs the first device to feed back target information to a second device after the first device completes frequency stitching on at least two of the multiple frequency bands and determines target information based on the broadband CIR obtained through frequency stitchings.

[0037] In a possible design, the first message further includes second information, which indicates the initial phase of at least one sensing packet in multiple frequency bands, or the difference in initial phase between two adjacent sensing packets in multiple frequency bands, or the difference in initial phase between the first sensing packet and all other sensing packets in multiple frequency bands.

[0038] In a possible design, the first message further contains a third piece of information, which indicates the configuration order of the center frequencies or carrier frequencies of multiple frequency bands.

[0039] In possible designs, the direction of change of the center frequencies or carrier frequencies of multiple frequency bands is either ascending or descending.

[0040] In a possible design, the first message further includes one or more of the following information: a fourth piece of information indicating the identifier of the first frequency band in a plurality of frequency bands; a fifth piece of information indicating the frequency overlap rate between adjacent frequency bands in the plurality of frequency bands; and a sixth piece of information indicating the total bandwidth of the plurality of frequency bands.

[0041] In a possible design, the first message would contain seventh information, which indicates the number of sensing packets transmitted by the second device in a single frequency band across multiple frequency bands.

[0042] In a possible design, the first message would further contain the eighth piece of information, which would indicate the sensing requirements.

[0043] In a possible design, the second message further includes the ninth piece of information, which indicates that the sensing result is CIR in a frequency band where frequency stitching is not performed, or CIR in a wide bandwidth obtained through frequency stitching, or target information determined based on CIR in a wide bandwidth obtained through frequency stitching.

[0044] In a possible design, the second message would further include a tenth piece of information, which would further indicate the frequency band corresponding to the sensing result.

[0045] In a possible design, the tenth piece of information may include an index of the frequency band corresponding to the sensing result, or the tenth piece of information may include a bitmap, the bitmap may include multiple bits, the multiple bits may correspond one-to-one to multiple frequency bands, and the frequency band corresponding to the sensing result may be indicated by the value of the bit in the bitmap.

[0046] In a possible design, multiple frequency bands correspond one-to-one with multiple time units, and sensing packets in each of the multiple frequency bands are transmitted in the time unit corresponding to the frequency band, with a second message further containing a tenth piece of information, the tenth piece of information indicating the time unit corresponding to the sensing result.

[0047] In a possible design, the tenth piece of information may include an index of time units corresponding to the sensing result, or the tenth piece of information may include a bitmap, the bitmap may include multiple bits, the multiple bits may correspond one-to-one to multiple time units, and the index of time units corresponding to the sensing result may be indicated by the value of the bit in the bitmap.

[0048] In a possible design, before sending the first message to the first device, the second device may receive further capability information from the first device and determine the first message based on the capability information of the first device. The capability information includes one or more of the following: 11th information indicating whether or not the first device supports or does not support receiving sensing packets in multiple frequency bands; 12th information indicating whether or not the first device supports or does not support frequency stitching; and 13th information indicating the frequency bands permitted by the first device for frequency stitching.

[0049] For the beneficial effects corresponding to the design of the second embodiment, please refer to the beneficial effects of the design corresponding to the first embodiment. Further details will not be explained again.

[0050] According to a third aspect, a sensing method is provided, which includes a first device receiving a third message from a second device. The third message indicates a transmission policy for the first device to transmit sensing packets in multiple frequency bands, the multiple frequency bands being used for frequency stitching. The first device transmits sensing packets in multiple frequency bands based on the third message. Optionally, the frequency bands are frequency bands in a UWB system. Optionally, the second device is an initiator and the first device is a responder.

[0051] In embodiments of this application, the second device sends a third message to the first device indicating a transmission policy for the first device to transmit sensing packets across multiple frequency bands, and as a result, the first device can transmit sensing packets across multiple frequency bands in accordance with the transmission policy instructed by the second device in order to support the second device when performing sensing via frequency stitching. This improves the reliability of sensing performed through frequency stitching and enhances the sensing performance of the UWB system.

[0052] In a possible design, the third message contains 14 pieces of information, which indicate the order in which the center frequencies or carrier frequencies of multiple frequency bands are configured. For example, the center frequencies or carrier frequencies of multiple frequency bands may be in ascending order, or in descending order. If the center frequencies or carrier frequencies of multiple frequency bands are in ascending order, the center frequency or carrier frequency of the first frequency band in the set of multiple frequency bands is the lowest. Conversely, if the center frequencies or carrier frequencies of multiple frequency bands are in descending order, the center frequency or carrier frequency of the first frequency band in the set of multiple frequency bands is the highest.

[0053] In a possible design, the third message may include one or more of the following information: a 15th piece of information indicating the identifier of the first frequency band in multiple frequency bands; a 16th piece of information indicating the frequency overlap rate between adjacent frequency bands in multiple frequency bands; and a 17th piece of information indicating the total bandwidth of multiple frequency bands.

[0054] Therefore, the first device may determine the frequency domain resources used to transmit sensing packets in order to improve the reliability of the first device transmitting sensing packets and the second device receiving sensing packets, and to further improve the reliability of sensing.

[0055] In a possible design, the third message would contain information number 18, which indicates the number of sensing packets transmitted by the first device in a single frequency band across multiple frequency bands.

[0056] Therefore, the first device may determine the number of sensing packets transmitted in a single frequency band in order to further improve the reliability of the first device's reception of sensing packets.

[0057] According to a fourth aspect, a sensing method is provided, which includes a second device sending a third message to a first device. The third message indicates a transmission policy for the first device to transmit sensing packets in multiple frequency bands, the multiple frequency bands being used for frequency stitching. The second device receives sensing packets from the first device in multiple frequency bands.

[0058] In a possible design, the third message contains 14 pieces of information, which indicate the configuration order of the center frequencies or carrier frequencies of multiple frequency bands.

[0059] In possible designs, the direction of change of the center frequencies or carrier frequencies of multiple frequency bands is either ascending or descending.

[0060] In a possible design, the third message may include one or more of the following information: a 15th piece of information indicating the identifier of the first frequency band in multiple frequency bands; a 16th piece of information indicating the frequency overlap rate between adjacent frequency bands in multiple frequency bands; and a 17th piece of information indicating the total bandwidth of multiple frequency bands.

[0061] In a possible design, the third message would contain information number 18, which indicates the number of sensing packets transmitted by the first device in a single frequency band across multiple frequency bands.

[0062] For the beneficial effects of the design of the fourth aspect, please refer to the beneficial effects of the design of the third aspect. Further details will not be explained again.

[0063] According to a fifth aspect, a communication device is provided. The device includes modules, units, or technical means used to carry out the method in the first aspect or any possible design of the first aspect.

[0064] For example, the apparatus may include a transceiver unit and a processing unit. The transceiver unit is configured to receive a first message from a second device. The first message contains first information, which indicates a feedback policy for sensing results corresponding to multiple frequency bands, and the multiple frequency bands are used for frequency stitching. The processing unit is configured to generate a second message based on the first message and to control the transceiver unit to send the second message to the second device. The second message contains sensing results corresponding to at least one of the multiple frequency bands. The transceiver unit is further configured to transmit the second message.

[0065] According to the sixth aspect, a communication device is provided. The device includes modules, units, or technical means used to carry out the method in the second aspect or any possible design of the second aspect.

[0066] For example, the device may include a transceiver unit and a processing unit. The processing unit is configured to generate a first message. The first message contains first information, which indicates a feedback policy for sensing results corresponding to multiple frequency bands, and the multiple frequency bands are used for frequency stitching. The transceiver unit is configured to send the first message to a first device and to receive a second message from the first device. The second message contains sensing results corresponding to at least one of the multiple frequency bands.

[0067] According to the seventh aspect, a communication device is provided. The device includes modules, units, or technical means used to carry out the method in the third aspect or any possible design of the third aspect.

[0068] For example, the device may include a transceiver unit and a processing unit. The transceiver unit is configured to receive a third message from a second device. The third message indicates a transmission policy for the first device on which the device is located to transmit sensing packets in multiple frequency bands, the multiple frequency bands being used for frequency stitching. The processing unit is configured to generate sensing packets based on the third message and to control the transceiver unit to transmit the sensing packets in multiple frequency bands.

[0069] According to the eighth aspect, a communication device is provided. The device includes modules, units, or technical means used to carry out the method in the fourth aspect or any possible design of the fourth aspect.

[0070] For example, the device may include a transceiver unit and a processing unit. The processing unit is configured to generate a third message, which indicates a transmission policy for the first device to transmit sensing packets across multiple frequency bands, the multiple frequency bands being used for frequency stitching.

[0071] The transceiver unit is configured to send a third message to the first device and to receive sensing packets from the first device across multiple frequency bands.

[0072] According to the ninth aspect, a communication device is provided, comprising a processor and an interface circuit. The processor is coupled to the interface circuit. The processor is configured to execute a computer program or instructions, so that the device executes the method of the first aspect or any possible design of the first aspect, or the method of the second aspect or any possible design of the second aspect, or the method of the third aspect or any possible design of the third aspect, or the method of the fourth aspect or any possible design of the fourth aspect.

[0073] According to the tenth aspect, a computer-readable storage medium is provided, which includes a program or instructions. When the program or instructions are executed in a computer, a method or any possible design of the first aspect, or a method or any possible design of the second aspect, or a method or any possible design of the third aspect, or a method or any possible design of the fourth aspect is executed.

[0074] According to the eleventh aspect, a computer program product is provided. The computer program product includes computer program code or instructions, and when the computer program code or instructions are executed, a method or any possible design of the first aspect, or a method or any possible design of the second aspect, or a method or any possible design of the third aspect, or a method or any possible design of the fourth aspect is executed.

[0075] According to the twelfth aspect, a communication system is provided, comprising a second device and a first device. The first device is configured to perform the method in the first aspect or any possible design of the first aspect, and the second device is configured to perform the method in the second aspect or any possible design of the second aspect, or the first device is configured to perform the method in the third aspect or any possible design of the third aspect, and the second device is configured to perform the method in the fourth aspect or any possible design of the fourth aspect.

[0076] For the beneficial effects of the designs corresponding to the 5th through 12th embodiments, please refer to the beneficial effects of the designs corresponding to the 1st through 4th embodiments. Further details will not be explained again. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0077] [Figure 1] This is a diagram of a star topology according to one embodiment of this application. [Figure 2]This is a diagram of a mesh topology according to one embodiment of the present application. [Figure 3] This is a flowchart of a sensing method according to one embodiment of this application. [Figure 4A] This is a diagram showing several possible scheduling methods for control messages. [Figure 4B] This is a diagram showing several possible scheduling methods for control messages. [Figure 4C] This is a diagram showing several possible scheduling methods for control messages. [Figure 5] This is a diagram of a multilayer frequency stitching solution according to one embodiment of the present application. [Figure 6] This is a flowchart of another sensing method according to one embodiment of this application. [Figure 7] This is a diagram showing the structure of a possible communication device according to one embodiment of this application. [Figure 8] This is a diagram showing the structure of another possible communication device according to one embodiment of this application. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0078] The following will first explain some of the terms used in the embodiments of this application.

[0079] (1) Sensing, also called sensing measurement or wireless sensing, means that a transmitter and receiver transmit signals to carry out the purpose of discovering a target or determining the state of a target. UWB sensing means that a station (STA) with UWB signal sensing capability uses received UWB signals to detect expected target features in a given environment. For example, features include one or more of the following: range, velocity, angle, motion, presence or proximity, gestures, etc. Targets include one or more of the following: objects, people, animals, etc. Environments include one or more of the following: rooms, houses, vehicles, businesses, etc.

[0080] For example, the transmitter may send a UWB signal to the receiver used to sense the measurement, and the receiver may measure the signal to obtain a channel estimation result, such as a channel impulse response (CIR). The receiver may perform sensing based on the CIR. Alternatively, the receiver may send the channel estimation result to the transmitter, and the transmitter may perform target sensing or target state sensing based on the channel estimation result. For example, the receiver or transmitter may process the CIR to determine whether there is a moving object in the environment.

[0081] In actual implementation, sensing signals may be transmitted one by one in the form of data packets, and therefore may also be called sensing packets (SPs).

[0082] In some embodiments, a sensing signal transmitted within a frequency band over a certain period of time may be called a sensing fragment (SF), and each sensing fragment may contain one or more sensing packets. Once the number of sensing packets in a sensing fragment is determined, it will be understood that sensing packets can be replaced by sensing fragments.

[0083] In the sensing process, the devices involved in sensing mainly include sensing initiators, sensing responders, sensing transmitters, and sensing receivers.

[0084] (2) A sensing initiator, also known as an initiator, is a device that initiates the sensing procedure.

[0085] (3) A sensing responder, also known as a sensing responder, is a device that responds to sensing initiated by a sensing initiator and participates in sensing.

[0086] (4) A sensing transmitter, also called a transmitter, is a device that transmits a sensing signal. The sensing signal may be a signal used for sensing measurement.

[0087] (5) A sensing receiver, also called a receiver, is a device that receives sensing signals. A sensing receiver may also measure sensing signals.

[0088] In specific implementations, the initiator may be used as the transmitter and the responder as the receiver, or the initiator may be used as the receiver and the responder as the transmitter.

[0089] (6) The frequency band may also be a range of the frequency domain. For example, in a UWB system, a bandwidth of 499.2 MHz may be called the frequency band.

[0090] (7) A time unit is a time range determined by the duration. For example, a time unit is a frame, subframe, sensing slot, sensing ground, sensing block, or symbol. This is not limited to the present application. For example, one slot may have a duration of 9 microseconds.

[0091] (8) In this application, “at least one” means one or more, and “multiple” means two or more. The term “and / or” describes a relational relationship between related objects and may indicate three relationships. For example, A and / or B may indicate the case where only A is present, where both A and B are present, and where only B is present, and A and B may be singular or plural. In the textual descriptions of this application, the letter “ / ” usually represents an “or” relationship between related objects. In the formulas of this application, the letter “ / ” represents a “division” relationship between related objects. “Containing at least one of A, B, and C” may mean containing A, containing B, containing C, containing A and B, containing A and C, containing B and C, and containing A, B, and C.

[0092] The technical solutions provided in this application are applicable to wireless personal area networks (WPANs) based on UWB technology. For example, the methods provided in embodiments of this application are applicable to Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.15 series protocols such as the 802.15.4a protocol, the 802.15.4z protocol, the 802.15.4ab protocol, or future generations of UWB WPAN standards. Examples are not enumerated herein. The methods provided in this application may be further applied to various communication systems, such as Internet of Things (IoT) systems, Vehicle to Everything (V2X) and Narrowband Internet of Things (NB-IoT) systems, and are applicable to Vehicle to Everything devices, Internet of Things nodes, sensors, smart cameras, smart remotes, and smart water or electricity meters in smart homes, as well as sensors in smart cities, etc. The methods provided in this application are also applicable to LTE frequency division duplex (FDD) systems, LTE time division duplex (TDD) systems, universal mobile telecommunications systems (UMTS), worldwide interoperability for microwave access (WiMAX) communication systems, long-term evolution (LTE) systems, 5th-generation (5G) communication systems, 6th-generation (6G) communication systems, and the like.

[0093] The technical solutions provided in embodiments of this application may operate in a star topology, a point-to-point topology, or a mesh topology. Figure 1 is a diagram of a star topology according to one embodiment of this application. As shown in Figure 1, in a star topology, a central node may control data communication between one or more other devices.

[0094] It will be understood that a point-to-point topology can be considered a special type of mesh topology. A point-to-point topology is a structure for data communication between two devices. In a mesh topology structure, data communication may occur between any two devices, as shown in Figure 2.

[0095] Optionally, in Figure 1 or Figure 2, black nodes are full-function devices (FFDs), and white nodes are reduced-function devices (RFDs). In a UWB system, an FFD may be an anchor device or a tag device with powerful computing capabilities, such as a UWB tag mounted on a smartphone. An RFD is a tag device with only partial computing capabilities. In possible implementations, an FFD may function as a personal area network (PAN) coordinator or coordinator, while an RFD cannot function as a PAN coordinator or coordinator.

[0096] UWB technology is a wireless carrier communication technology that uses narrow pulses at the nanosecond level to transmit data. These narrow pulses occupy a wide spectral range and have an extremely low radiated spectral density. UWB systems offer advantages such as high multipath resolution, low power consumption, and high security. As UWB technology is applied in the consumer sector, ultra-wideband wireless communication is becoming one of the common physical layer technologies for short-range and high-speed wireless networks.

[0097] The IEEE has incorporated UWB into its IEEE 802 series of wireless standards and released the UWB-based WPAN standards IEEE 802.15.4a and its evolved version, IEEE 802.15.4z. In terms of communication, ranging, and sensing capabilities, UWB places greater emphasis on ranging and sensing, and a single waveform may be used to perform sensing and ranging. A typical pulse waveform is one acquired according to a Gaussian window function using an 8th-order Butterworth filter. The pulse waveform has low sidelobe peaks to facilitate sensing. In addition, the first path signal of the pulse waveform is also important and applicable to ranging, and the power spectral density of the waveform also meets the limits specified in the 802.15.4z version, so that sensing and ranging can be performed simultaneously using the waveform.

[0098] However, the existing IEEE 802.15.4z protocol does not support services that perform sensing and ranging simultaneously using a single waveform. This results in extra signaling exchange overhead due to the switching and coordination between sensing and ranging services in a UWB system, reducing spectrum utilization.

[0099] In this case, UWB systems require a large bandwidth to perform sensing services in order to improve sensing and ranging performance. However, UWB systems have a limited frequency bandwidth, and switching between large bandwidths imposes high demands on device capability and cost. Therefore, frequency stitching techniques may be used. Frequency bands with overlapping frequencies in the frequency domain are stitched together to reduce device capability and cost, perform ranging and sensing over a wide bandwidth, and improve ranging and sensing performance. However, there is no specific solution for a particular scheduling scheme for frequency stitching, and as a result, the sensing performance of UWB systems is limited.

[0100] With this in mind, the technical solution provided in the embodiments of this application clearly defines the specific content of messages (e.g., control messages or feedback messages) in frequency stitching to support the UWB system when performing sensing through frequency stitching and to improve the sensing performance of the UWB system.

[0101] Figure 3 is a flowchart of a sensing method according to one embodiment of the present application. The method may be applied to the system shown in Figure 1 or Figure 2. The method uses an example in which a second device transmits a sensing packet to a first device (it will be understood that the sensing packets below may be replaced with sensing fragments unless otherwise specified). The method includes the following steps.

[0102] S301: The second device sends the first message, and the first device receives the first message.

[0103] The first message contains first information, which indicates a feedback policy for sensing results corresponding to multiple frequency bands, and the multiple frequency bands are used for frequency stitching. The second device may be an initiator, and the first device may be a responder.

[0104] Adjacent frequency bands in multiple frequency bands will be understood to overlap in terms of frequency to ensure that multiple frequency bands can be used for frequency stitching. The overlap rate may be 25%, 50%, 75%, etc. This is not limited to this application. Adjacent frequency bands are frequency bands whose frequency ranges are adjacent. The sensing result may be CIR, or target information determined based on CIR, such as the velocity, distance, and angle of the target. This is not limited to this application.

[0105] The feedback policy may include one or more embodiments, for example, the content of the sensing results that the first device feeds back to the second device (for example, the content of the sensing results may be CIR or target information, and the content of the sensing results may correspond to a frequency band in which frequency stitching is not performed or a wide bandwidth obtained through frequency stitching (also called a large frequency band, stitched frequency band, etc.)), and the method by which the first device feeds back the sensing results to the second device (for example, the first device may feed back to the second device once or multiple times, and the first device feeds back the sensing results to the second device on specific occasions).

[0106] The following is a list of some possible feedback policies.

[0107] Feedback Policy 1: After receiving a sensing packet (or sensing fragment) in any one of several frequency bands, the first device feeds back the channel impulse response (CIR) of that frequency band to the second device.

[0108] In this case, the first device may provide feedback to the second device multiple times. For example, the multiple frequency bands include frequency band 1, frequency band 2, and frequency band 3. The first device receives and detects sensing packet 1 in frequency band 1 to obtain the CIR of frequency band 1, and then transmits the CIR of frequency band 1 to the second device. The first device receives and detects sensing packet 2 in frequency band 2 to obtain the CIR of frequency band 2, and then provides feedback of the CIR of frequency band 2 to the second device. The first device receives and detects sensing packet 3 in frequency band 3 to obtain the CIR of frequency band 3, and then provides feedback of the CIR of frequency band 3 to the second device.

[0109] In this case, it will be understood that after receiving the CIR for each frequency band, the second device can perform frequency stitching to determine the target information.

[0110] Feedback Policy 2: After receiving sensing packets (or sensing fragments) across all of the multiple frequency bands, the first device feeds back the CIR of at least one of the multiple frequency bands to the second device.

[0111] For example, multiple frequency bands include frequency band 1, frequency band 2, and frequency band 3. The first device receives and detects sensing packet 1 in frequency band 1, receives and detects sensing packet 2 in frequency band 2, and receives and detects sensing packet 3 in frequency band 3 to obtain the CIR of frequency band 1, frequency band 2, and frequency band 3, and then feeds back the CIR of frequency band 1, frequency band 2, and frequency band 3 to the second device.

[0112] In this case, after receiving the CIR for each frequency band, the second device may perform frequency stitching to determine the target information.

[0113] Feedback Policy 3: After completing one frequency stitching, the first device feeds back the CIR of the wide bandwidth (or wide frequency band) obtained through the one frequency stitching to the second device, and the wide bandwidth obtained through the one frequency stitching is determined based on some or all of multiple frequency bands.

[0114] For example, the first device may perform M frequency stitching operations on multiple frequency bands. After each frequency stitching operation is completed, the first device sends a CIR (Conditional Indication Report) to the second device for the wide bandwidth obtained through the current frequency stitching (the wide bandwidth is the wide bandwidth obtained through frequency stitching, and may also be called the wide frequency band, the frequency band after stitching, etc.). The wide bandwidth obtained through the current frequency stitching is determined based on some or all of multiple frequency bands, where M is a positive integer.

[0115] In some embodiments, if M is greater than 1, frequency stitching may be performed based on a different frequency band each time. For example, the multiple frequency bands include frequency band 1, frequency band 2, frequency band 3, and frequency band 4. The first device receives and detects sensing packet 1 in frequency band 1 to obtain the CIR of frequency band 1, receives and detects sensing packet 2 in frequency band 2 to obtain the CIR of frequency band 2, stitches frequency bands 1 and 2 into a broad bandwidth 1, determines the CIR of broad bandwidth 1 based on the CIR of frequency band 1 and the CIR of frequency band 2, and feeds the CIR of broad bandwidth 1 back to the second device. The first device receives and detects sensing packets 3 in frequency band 3 to obtain the CIR of frequency band 3, and receives and detects sensing packets 4 in frequency band 4 to obtain the CIR of frequency band 4. It stitches frequency bands 3 and 4 into a broad bandwidth 2, determines the CIR of broad bandwidth 2 based on the CIR of frequency band 3 and the CIR of frequency band 4, and feeds back the CIR of broad bandwidth 2 to the second device.

[0116] In some embodiments, if M is greater than 1, frequency stitching may be performed based on frequency bands that are partially the same each time. For example, multiple frequency bands include frequency band 1, frequency band 2, and frequency band 3. The first device receives and detects sensing packet 1 in frequency band 1 to obtain the CIR of frequency band 1, receives and detects sensing packet 2 in frequency band 2 to obtain the CIR of frequency band 2, stitches frequency bands 1 and 2 into a broad bandwidth 1, determines the CIR of broad bandwidth 1 based on the CIR of frequency band 1 and the CIR of frequency band 2, and feeds the CIR of broad bandwidth 1 back to the second device. The first device receives and detects sensing packet 3 in frequency band 3 to obtain the CIR of frequency band 3, stitches frequency bands 2 and 3 into a broad bandwidth 2, determines the CIR of broad bandwidth 2 based on the CIR of frequency band 2 and the CIR of frequency band 3, and feeds the CIR of broad bandwidth 2 back to the second device.

[0117] It will be understood that one of the M frequency stitching steps may be performed on all of multiple frequency bands. For example, the multiple frequency bands include frequency band 1, frequency band 2, and frequency band 3. After receiving and detecting sensing packets in frequency bands 1, 2, and 3, the first device stitches frequency bands 1, 2, and 3 into a broad bandwidth and feeds back the broad bandwidth CIR obtained by stitching frequency bands 1, 2, and 3 to the second device.

[0118] In this case, the second device may determine the target information based on the wide-bandwidth CIR feedback received by the first device.

[0119] Feedback Policy 4: After completing multiple frequency stitchings, the first device feeds back to the second device the CIR of the wide bandwidth (or wide frequency band) obtained through at least one of the multiple frequency stitchings, and the wide bandwidth obtained through any one of the multiple frequency stitchings is determined based on some or all of the multiple frequency bands.

[0120] For example, the first device performs M frequency stitching operations on multiple frequency bands. After the M frequency stitching operations are complete, the first device feeds back the wide bandwidth CIR obtained through at least one frequency stitching operation to the second device. The wide bandwidth obtained through each frequency stitching operation is determined based on some or all of the multiple frequency bands, where M is a positive integer greater than 1.

[0121] For example, multiple frequency bands include frequency band 1, frequency band 2, frequency band 3, and frequency band 4. The first device receives and detects sensing packet 1 in frequency band 1 to obtain the CIR of frequency band 1, receives and detects sensing packet 2 in frequency band 2 to obtain the CIR of frequency band 2, stitches frequency bands 1 and 2 into a broad bandwidth 1, and determines the CIR of broad bandwidth 1 based on the CIR of frequency band 1 and the CIR of frequency band 2. The first device receives and detects sensing packet 3 in frequency band 3 to obtain the CIR of frequency band 3, receives and detects sensing packet 4 in frequency band 4 to obtain the CIR of frequency band 4, stitches frequency bands 3 and 4 into a broad bandwidth 2, determines the CIR of broad bandwidth 2 based on the CIR of frequency band 3 and the CIR of frequency band 4, and sends a feedback message to the second device, which carries the CIR of broad bandwidth 1 and the CIR of broad bandwidth 2.

[0122] Furthermore, one of the multiple frequency stitching operations may be performed based on all of the multiple frequency bands. For example, the multiple frequency bands include frequency band 1, frequency band 2, and frequency band 3. The first device receives and detects sensing packets 1 and 2 in frequency bands 1 and 2, and stitches frequency bands 1 and 2 into a broad bandwidth 1. However, the broad bandwidth CIR obtained by stitching frequency bands 1 and 2 does not satisfy the sensing requirements. The first device then receives and detects sensing packet 3 in frequency band 3, and stitches frequency bands 1, 2, and 3 into a broad bandwidth. The broad bandwidth CIR obtained by stitching frequency bands 1, 2, and 3 satisfies the sensing requirements. Therefore, the first device feeds back the broad bandwidth CIR obtained by stitching frequency bands 1, 2, and 3 to the second device.

[0123] In this case, the second device may determine the target information based on a wide-bandwidth CIR.

[0124] Feedback Policy 5: After performing frequency stitching across multiple frequency bands, the first device feeds back the wide bandwidth (or wide frequency band) of CIR obtained through frequency stitching to the second device.

[0125] For example, after acquiring all CIRs across multiple frequency bands, the first device stitches all of the multiple frequency bands into a broadband and feeds back the broadband CIR to the second device. For example, the multiple frequency bands include frequency band 1, frequency band 2, and frequency band 3. The first device sequentially receives and detects sensing packet 1 in frequency band 1 to acquire the CIR of frequency band 1, receives and detects sensing packet 2 in frequency band 2 to acquire the CIR of frequency band 2, receives and detects sensing packet 3 in frequency band 3 to acquire the CIR of frequency band 3, stitches frequency bands 1, 2, and 3 into a broadband, determines the broadband CIR based on the CIRs of frequency band 1, 2, and 3, and feeds back the broadband CIR obtained by stitching frequency bands 1, 2, and 3 to the second device.

[0126] In this case, the second device may determine the target information based on a wide-bandwidth CIR.

[0127] Feedback Policy 6: After completing frequency stitching in at least two of the multiple frequency bands and determining target information based on the wide bandwidth (or wide frequency band) CIR obtained through frequency stitching, the first device feeds the target information back to the second device.

[0128] For example, after acquiring all CIRs across multiple frequency bands, the first device stitches the multiple frequency bands together and feeds back target information determined based on the wide bandwidth CIRs acquired through frequency stitching to the second device.

[0129] For example, multiple frequency bands include frequency band 1, frequency band 2, and frequency band 3. The first device sequentially receives and detects sensing packet 1 in frequency band 1 to obtain the CIR of frequency band 1, receives and detects sensing packet 2 in frequency band 2 to obtain the CIR of frequency band 2, receives and detects sensing packet 3 in frequency band 3 to obtain the CIR of frequency band 3, stitches frequency bands 1, 2, and 3 into a wide bandwidth, determines the wide bandwidth CIR based on the CIR of frequency band 1, the CIR of frequency band 2, and the CIR of frequency band 3, determines information such as the speed, distance, or angle of the target based on the wide bandwidth CIR, and sends a feedback message to the second device, which carries information such as the speed, distance, or angle of the target.

[0130] In this case, the second device may directly obtain target information based on the feedback message.

[0131] It should be understood that the six feedback policies mentioned above are merely examples, and actual applications are not limited to these.

[0132] In some embodiments, the first message may be a control message (CM) sent by the second device to the first device, which instructs the second and first devices to exchange information used for sensing. In some other embodiments, the first message may, alternatively, be a message sent by the second device to the first device during a connection setup phase, capability exchange phase, or sensing initiation phase between the second and first devices. It will be understood that the transmission time of the first message is not limited in the embodiments of this application.

[0133] For the sake of clarity, the following examples will primarily use cases where the first message is a control message. Unless otherwise specified, the first message and the control message may be substituted for each other.

[0134] Figure 4A shows possible scheduling schemes for control messages. Control messages reside in only one frequency band, and sensing packets (or sensing fragments) may be transmitted in the frequency band where the control message resides, or in a different frequency band. The frequency band for transmitting control messages is usually referred to as the main UWB channel.

[0135] Figure 4B shows another possible scheduling scheme for control messages. Control messages exist in each frequency band, and the control messages for each frequency band are used to control the transmission of sensing packets (or sensing fragments) in that frequency band.

[0136] Figure 4C illustrates another possible scheduling scheme for control messages. Control messages reside in only one frequency band, while sensing packets (or sensing fragments) are transmitted in frequency bands other than the one where the control messages reside. In this case, the frequency band where the control messages reside is dedicated to them and may be called a dedicated control channel.

[0137] It should be understood that some of the control message scheduling schemes provided in Figures 4A to 4C are merely examples, not limitations.

[0138] In an alternative design, the feedback policy for sensing results across multiple frequency bands does not need to be instructed by the second device to the first device. For example, the feedback policy for sensing results across multiple frequency bands may be determined by the second and first devices through negotiation, may be predefined, may be preconfigured, or may be instructed by the first device to the second device.

[0139] S302: The first device sends a second message based on the first message, and the second device receives the second message, which includes a sensing result corresponding to at least one of a plurality of frequency bands.

[0140] In a specific implementation, the second device transmits sensing packets in at least one of multiple frequency bands. After receiving and detecting sensing packets (or sensing fragments) in at least one of multiple frequency bands, the first device generates sensing results corresponding to at least one frequency band based on the feedback policy indicated by the first information and feeds back a second message containing the sensing results to the second device.

[0141] The first device may receive the sensing packet after receiving the first message and before sending the second message, or it may receive the sensing packet before receiving the first message. This is not limited to the present application. For example, if the first message is a control message, in addition to the first information, the first message may further carry information indicating a time-frequency resource for the second device to transmit the sensing packet. After receiving the first message, the first device receives and detects the sensing packet on the corresponding time-frequency resource based on the first message and transmits the second message to the second device. For example, the first message is another message transmitted after the control message, and the control message carries information indicating a time-frequency resource for the second device to transmit the sensing packet. After receiving the control message, the first device detects and receives the sensing packet on the corresponding time-frequency resource based on the information indicating the time-frequency resource carried in the control message and, after receiving the first message, transmits the second message to the second device based on the first message.

[0142] When the first device needs to perform feedback after frequency stitching (for example, the feedback policy indicated by the first information is one of the aforementioned feedback policies 3 to 6), it will be understood that the first device needs to determine the phase information of the frequency band in order to perform frequency stitching.

[0143] In a possible design, the second device may further transmit the second information to the first device.

[0144] The second piece of information indicates the initial phase of at least one sensing packet (or sensing fragment) in multiple frequency bands, for example, the initial phase of the sensing packet in each frequency band.

[0145] Alternatively, the second piece of information may indicate the initial phase difference between two adjacent sensing packets (or sensing fragments) across multiple frequency bands.

[0146] Alternatively, the second piece of information indicates the initial phase difference between the first sensing packet and all other sensing packets across multiple frequency bands (or the initial phase difference between the first sensing fragment and all other sensing fragments across multiple frequency bands).

[0147] In specific implementations, the second information may be carried in the first message, or the second information may be carried in a separate message. This is not limited to the present application.

[0148] It will be understood that in order to ensure that the first device can successfully receive the sensing packet after the second device has sent it, the first device needs to determine the frequency domain resource on which the sensing packet is located and then receive the sensing packet on that frequency domain resource.

[0149] In a possible design, the second device may further transmit one or more of the following pieces of information to the first device:

[0150] (1) Third piece of information: The third piece of information indicates the configuration order of the center frequencies or carrier frequencies of multiple frequency bands.

[0151] In some embodiments, the configuration order of the center frequencies or carrier frequencies of multiple frequency bands may be specifically implemented such that the center frequencies or carrier frequencies of the multiple frequency bands can change in a predetermined direction. For example, the direction of change of the center frequencies or carrier frequencies of the frequency bands is as follows: the center frequencies or carrier frequencies of the multiple frequency bands are in ascending order, or the center frequencies or carrier frequencies of the multiple frequency bands are in descending order. When the center frequencies or carrier frequencies of the multiple frequency bands are in ascending order, it will be understood that the center frequency or carrier frequency of the first frequency band in the multiple frequency bands is the lowest. Conversely, when the center frequencies or carrier frequencies of the multiple frequency bands are in descending order, the center frequency or carrier frequency of the first frequency band in the multiple frequency bands is the highest.

[0152] For example, the multiple frequency bands are frequency band 1, frequency band 2, and frequency band 3. Frequency band 1 has the lowest center frequency, and frequency band 3 has the highest center frequency. The second device may transmit sensing packets in frequency band 1, then in frequency band 2, and finally in frequency band 3 (i.e., the center frequencies of the frequency bands configured to receive sensing packets increase over time), or the second device may transmit sensing packets in frequency band 3, then in frequency band 2, and finally in frequency band 1 (i.e., the center frequencies of the frequency bands configured to receive sensing packets decrease over time). Of course, the above is merely an example and not an limitation to a predetermined order of frequency bands, and the frequency bands may be in a different order.

[0153] For example, a larger center frequency of a frequency band indicates a larger index for the channel corresponding to that frequency band, or a larger center frequency of a frequency band indicates a smaller index for the channel corresponding to that frequency band. This is not limited to the present application. The fact that the center frequencies or carrier frequencies of multiple frequency bands are in ascending or descending order may be described as the indices of the channels corresponding to multiple frequency bands being in ascending or descending order.

[0154] Therefore, the first and second devices transmit sensing packets in a pre-configured frequency band to improve the success rate of sensing packet transmission and further enhance the reliability of sensing.

[0155] Alternatively, the configuration order of the center frequencies or carrier frequencies of multiple frequency bands does not have to be dictated by the second device. For example, the configuration order of the center frequencies or carrier frequencies of multiple frequency bands may be determined by the second and first devices through negotiation, may be predefined, may be preconfigured, or may be dictated to the second device by the first device.

[0156] (2) Fourth piece of information: The fourth piece of information indicates the identifier of the first frequency band in multiple frequency bands. The first frequency band is the first frequency band in which the sensing packet is transmitted, i.e., the frequency band in which the first sensing packet is located.

[0157] The frequency band identifier may include, but is not limited to, the center frequency, carrier frequency, and channel index of the frequency band. For example, the first device transmits a sensing packet in frequency band 1, then in frequency band 2, and finally in frequency band 3. In this case, the second instruction information may indicate the channel index, carrier frequency, center frequency, etc., of frequency band 1.

[0158] (3) Fifth piece of information: The fifth piece of information indicates the frequency overlap rate between adjacent frequency bands in multiple frequency bands.

[0159] For example, the frequency overlap rates of adjacent frequency bands are 25%, 50%, or 75%.

[0160] (4) Sixth piece of information: The sixth piece of information indicates the total bandwidth of multiple frequency bands, the total number of sensing packets (or sensing fragments) of multiple frequency bands, or the number of frequency bands, etc.

[0161] In some embodiments, the number of frequency bands may be determined based on the total bandwidth of multiple frequency bands or the total number of sensing packets (or sensing fragments) in multiple frequency bands. Alternatively, the total bandwidth of multiple frequency bands may be determined based on the number of frequency bands or the total number of sensing packets (or sensing fragments) in multiple frequency bands. Alternatively, the total number of sensing packets (or sensing fragments) in multiple frequency bands may be determined based on the total bandwidth of multiple frequency bands or the number of frequency bands. Therefore, the total bandwidth of multiple frequency bands, the total number of sensing packets (or sensing fragments) in multiple frequency bands, and the number of frequency bands may be interchangeable.

[0162] One or more of the aforementioned information (1) to (4) may be carried in the first message or another message. This is not limited to the present application.

[0163] Based on the information provided above, the first device may determine the frequency domain resources used for switching sensing packets in order to improve the reliability of receiving sensing packets by the first device and to further improve the reliability of sensing.

[0164] Optionally, the second device may further transmit a seventh piece of information to the first device. This seventh piece of information indicates the number of sensing packets (or sensing fragments) transmitted by the second device in a single frequency band across multiple frequency bands. The seventh piece of information may be carried in the first message or another message, but is not limited to this application. The first device may determine the number of sensing packets (or sensing fragments) in a single frequency band based on the provided seventh piece of information in order to further improve the reliability of the first device's reception of sensing packets.

[0165] In a possible design, the first device may perform frequency stitching multiple times in succession and decide whether to terminate the frequency stitching based on the acquired sensing results (in other words, the first device may control whether the second device continues to transmit sensing packets based on the acquired sensing results).

[0166] For example, a second device transmits sensing packets in a first frequency band set (the first frequency band set includes at least two frequency bands), and a first device receives and detects sensing packets in the first frequency band set.

[0167] If the sensing results corresponding to multiple frequency bands detected by the first device satisfy the sensing requirements, the first device sends a second message to the second device. The second message includes the sensing results corresponding to multiple frequency bands detected by the first device, where the multiple frequency bands detected by the first device are some or all of the frequency bands detected by the first device, and the multiple frequency bands in S301 are the multiple frequency bands detected by the first device (it will be understood that if the first device has not received sensing packets in another frequency band before receiving sensing packets in the first frequency band set, the frequency bands detected by the first device are some or all of the frequency bands in the first frequency band set, or if the first device has received sensing packets in another frequency band before receiving sensing packets in the first frequency band set, the frequency bands detected by the first device are all of the frequency bands in the first frequency band set and some or all of the other frequency bands from which sensing packets were previously received).

[0168] If the sensing results corresponding to multiple frequency bands detected by the first device do not meet the sensing requirements, the first device sends instruction information to the second device. The instruction information indicates that the second device will transmit sensing packets in a second set of frequency bands (the second set of frequency bands includes at least two frequency bands), so that the first device can receive and detect sensing packets in more frequency bands. The above operation is repeated until the sensing results corresponding to some or all of the frequency bands detected by the first device meet the sensing requirements, or until all available frequency bands for sensing are exhausted (for example, the second device transmits sensing packets in all available frequency bands, or the number of frequency bands used by the second device to transmit sensing packets reaches a threshold, or the first device does not receive sensing packets within a predetermined period).

[0169] Sensing requirements may be related to feedback policies. For example, if the sensing result indicated by the feedback policy is target information, the sensing requirement might be that the Figure of Merit (FoM) of the target information (e.g., at least one of distance, velocity, or angle) reaches a figure of merit threshold. For example, if the sensing result indicated by the feedback policy is CIR, the sensing requirement might be that the sampling rate of the CIR reaches a sampling rate threshold. Of course, the above are merely examples, and actual applications are not limited to these.

[0170] It will be understood that the number of frequency bands in the first frequency band set may be the same as or different from the number of frequency bands in the second frequency band set. This is not limited to the present application.

[0171] Therefore, sensing accuracy can be guaranteed while frequency bandwidth overhead and feedback overhead can be reduced.

[0172] In a possible design, at least one frequency band in the first frequency band set and at least one frequency band in the second frequency band set overlap in terms of frequency, and the frequency overlap rate between at least one frequency band in the first frequency band set and at least one frequency band in the second frequency band set is greater than the frequency overlap rate between adjacent frequency bands in the first frequency band set. In other words, as the number of frequency bands detected by the first device increases, the overlap rate between frequency bands also increases. Therefore, as the number of received sensing packets increases, the accuracy of the sensing results obtained by the first device also increases.

[0173] In possible designs, the second device may further transmit an eighth piece of information to the first device. This eighth piece of information indicates sensing requirements. For example, if the sensing result indicated by the feedback policy is target information, the eighth piece of information may include an evaluation index threshold. For example, if the sensing result indicated by the feedback policy is CIR, the eighth piece of information may include a sampling rate threshold. In specific implementations, the eighth piece of information may be carried in the first message or another message, but this is not limited to this application. Thus, the first device can determine the sensing requirements and, when the sensing requirements are met, further feed back the sensing results to the second device to avoid wasting resources and improve sensing efficiency.

[0174] To better understand the aforementioned solution, specific examples are used for the purposes of this specification. Figure 5 is a diagram of a multilayer frequency stitching solution according to one embodiment of this application. This solution includes the following steps:

[0175] {C0,C1,C2,…,C N It is assumed that} represents a list of frequency bands available for frequency stitching. The bandwidth of each frequency band is 499.2 MHz, and the spacing between the center frequencies of adjacent frequency bands is 124.8 MHz.

[0176] Step 1: The second device sequentially transmits sensing packets in frequency bands {C0, C3, C6, ...}, and the first device sequentially receives and detects sensing packets in frequency bands {C0, C3, C6, ...}, with one or more sensing packets being transmitted in each frequency band, the interval between the center frequencies of adjacent frequency bands in {C0, C3, C6, ...} being 374.4 MHz, and the overlap rate between adjacent frequency bands in {C0, C3, C6, ...} being 25%.

[0177] Step 2: The first device performs frequency stitching in the frequency band {C0, C3, C6, ...} and obtains sensing result 1 (e.g., CIR or target information) from the wide bandwidth obtained through the current frequency stitching. If sensing result 1 satisfies the sensing requirements, the first device feeds sensing result 1 back to the second device, completing the frequency stitching. Alternatively, if sensing result 1 does not satisfy the sensing requirements, the first device feeds back instruction information to the second device indicating that it will continue transmitting the signal, and Step 3 continues.

[0178] Step 3: The second device sequentially transmits sensing packets in frequency bands {C1, C4, C7, ...}, and the first device sequentially receives and detects sensing packets in frequency bands {C1, C4, C7, ...}, and one or more sensing packets may be transmitted in each frequency band, the interval between the center frequencies of adjacent frequency bands in {C1, C4, C7, ...} is 374.4 MHz, the overlap rate between adjacent frequency bands in {C1, C4, C7, ...} is 25%, and the overlap rate between adjacent frequency bands in {C0, C3, C6, ...} and {C1, C4, C7, ...} is greater than 25%, for example, the overlap rate between C0 and C0 is 75%.

[0179] Step 4: The first device performs frequency stitching in the frequency bands {C0, C3, C6, ...} and {C1, C4, C7, ...}, obtains sensing result 2 (e.g., CIR or target information) from the broad bandwidth obtained through the current frequency stitching, and if sensing result 2 satisfies the sensing requirements, the first device feeds sensing result 2 back to the second device, and if frequency stitching is completed or sensing result 2 does not satisfy the sensing requirements, the first device feeds back instruction information to the second device indicating to continue transmitting the signal, and Step 5 is then performed.

[0180] Step 5: The second device sequentially transmits sensing packets in frequency bands {C2, C5, C8, ...}, and the first device sequentially receives and detects sensing packets in frequency bands {C2, C5, C8, ...}, and one or more sensing packets may be transmitted in each frequency band, the interval between the center frequencies of adjacent frequency bands in {C2, C5, C8, ...} is 374.4 MHz, the overlap rate between adjacent frequency bands in {C2, C5, C8, ...} is 25%, and the overlap rate between adjacent frequency bands in {C0, C3, C6, ...} and {C2, C5, C8, ...} is greater than 25%, for example, the overlap rate between C1 and C2 is 75%, and the overlap rate between C4 and C2 is 50%.

[0181] Step 6: The first device performs frequency stitching in the frequency bands {C0, C3, C6, ...}, {C1, C4, C7, ...} and {C2, C5, C8, ...}, obtains sensing results 3 (e.g., CIR or target information) from the wide bandwidth acquired through the current frequency stitching, and feeds the sensing results 3 back to the second device to complete the frequency stitching.

[0182] In sensing scenarios, a range Doppler map of the target may be constructed from multiple measured CIRs during coherence processing time. The coherence processing time may be determined based on the target's relative velocity and effective bandwidth. The measurement accuracy of each CIR can be improved through frequency stitching. Therefore, less time used for frequency stitching indicates that more measured CIRs can be obtained during coherence processing time. In addition, if the CIRs of each frequency band need to be fed back, fewer frequency bands involved in frequency stitching indicates less CIR feedback overhead. Therefore, in terms of the number of CIR measurements and CIR overhead, smaller overlap between frequency bands involved in frequency stitching is better. On the other hand, overlap between frequency bands involved in frequency stitching facilitates phase tracking and is necessary for frequency stitching. Therefore, in terms of CIR accuracy, larger overlap between frequency bands involved in frequency stitching is better. Based on the solutions described above, the number of CIR measurements, CIR feedback overhead, and CIR accuracy can be considered.

[0183] In possible designs, one or more elements of the first to eighth pieces of information may be carried within the control message, and each element of the first to eighth pieces of information may be implemented based on one field or a combination of fields within the control message. For example, Table 1 shows an example of the contents of a control message.

[0184] [Table 1A] [Table 1B]

[0185] The Feedback Control field and Feedback Type field correspond to the first piece of information, the SF Phase Information field corresponds to the second piece of information, the Frequency Stitching Direction field corresponds to the third piece of information, the First SF Channel Index field corresponds to the fourth piece of information, the Overlapping Factor field corresponds to the fifth piece of information, the SF Number field corresponds to the sixth piece of information, and the Stitching Requirement field corresponds to the eighth piece of information.

[0186] For example, the method for processing the frequencies used in the Stitching Method field includes the steps of: converting the CIR from the time domain to the frequency domain in order to obtain a frequency domain CIR; adjusting the frequency domain CIR based on overlaps in the frequency domain in order to obtain a wide bandwidth frequency domain CIR; filtering the wide bandwidth frequency domain CIR; and converting the wide bandwidth frequency domain CIR to the time domain.

[0187] The sizes of each field in Table 1 are examples and should be understood to be adjustable based on actual requirements. In addition, in actual application, control messages may contain fewer or more fields than those described above and should be adjusted based on actual requirements.

[0188] It will be understood that the actual content of a control message may include one or more of the items listed in Table 1.

[0189] The above explains the content of the first message, and the following explains the content of the second message.

[0190] The second message will be understood as a message fed back to the second device by the first device. Therefore, the second message may also be called a feedback message. In the following, unless otherwise specified, the second message and the feedback message may be substituted for each other.

[0191] The second message will be understood to include at least the sensing result. As an example of the content of the CIR, an example is given where a specific type of sensing result is the CIR.

[0192] [Table 2]

[0193] The sizes of each field in Table 2 are examples and should be understood to be adjustable based on actual requirements. In addition, in actual application, the contents of the CIR may include fewer or more fields than those described above and may be adjusted based on actual requirements.

[0194] In a possible design, the second message further includes ninth information, which indicates that the sensing result is target information determined based on CIR in a frequency band where frequency stitching is not performed, or CIR in a wide bandwidth obtained through frequency stitching, or CIR in a wide bandwidth obtained through frequency stitching. It will be understood that some types of information that may be indicated by ninth information are examples, not limitations. In a possible implementation, the sensing result contained in the second message corresponds to the feedback policy indicated by the first information. Thus, the content indicated by ninth information may also correspond to the feedback policy indicated by the first information. Therefore, the second device can determine the type of content of the sensing result carried in the second message.

[0195] In a possible design, the second message would further include a tenth piece of information, which would further indicate the frequency band corresponding to the sensing result.

[0196] For example, the tenth piece of information includes an index of the frequency band corresponding to the sensing result. If the frequency band corresponding to the sensing result is one in which frequency stitching is not performed, it will be understood that the tenth piece of information may include an identifier (e.g., channel index) for each frequency band corresponding to the sensing result. If the frequency band corresponding to the sensing result is a broad bandwidth obtained through frequency stitching, the tenth piece of information may include an identifier for the frequency band involved in frequency stitching.

[0197] In another example, the tenth piece of information may include a bitmap containing multiple bits, each corresponding one-to-one with a frequency band, and the frequency band corresponding to the sensing result is indicated by the value of the bit in the bitmap. For example, the multiple frequency bands include frequency bands 1, 2, and 3. In this case, the bitmap may contain 3 bits, with the first bit corresponding to frequency band 1, the second bit to frequency band 2, the third bit to frequency band 3, and the frequency band corresponding to the sensing result is the frequency band corresponding to the bit with a value of 1. For example, if the bitmap is 111, it indicates that the sensing result corresponds to frequency bands 1, 2, and 3. If the bitmap is 101, it indicates that the sensing result corresponds to frequency bands 1 and 3. Of course, the above are merely examples, and it should be understood that actual applications are not limited to these.

[0198] In possible designs, there is a correspondence between frequency-domain resources and time-domain resources. Therefore, when a frequency-domain resource is determined, a time-domain resource is determined, and vice versa. In this case, the frequency-domain resource may be indicated by indicating the time-domain resource.

[0199] For example, multiple frequency bands correspond one-to-one with multiple time units, and each sensing packet in the multiple frequency bands is transmitted in the time unit corresponding to the frequency band. The time unit may be a symbol, sensing slot, sensing ground, sensing block, frame, subframe, etc. This is not limited to the present application. For example, in slot 1, the first device and the second device transmit sensing packet 1 in frequency band 1. In slot 2, the first device and the second device transmit sensing packet 2 in frequency band 2. In slot 3, the first device and the second device transmit sensing packet 3 in frequency band 3.

[0200] In this case, the frequency band may be indirectly indicated by indicating the time unit. For example, the second message contains a tenth piece of information, the tenth piece of information, which indicates the time unit corresponding to the frequency band corresponding to the sensing result (abbreviated as the time unit corresponding to the sensing result).

[0201] Similarly, the tenth piece of information may include an identifier for a time unit corresponding to the sensing result, or the tenth piece of information may include a bitmap, the bitmap may include multiple bits, the multiple bits may correspond one-to-one to multiple time units, and the time unit corresponding to the sensing result may be indicated by the value of the bit in the bitmap.

[0202] Therefore, the second device can determine the frequency band corresponding to the sensing result carried in the second message in order to better calculate target information and improve sensing accuracy.

[0203] To better understand the aforementioned solutions, specific examples of feedback message content are used herein. See Table 3. Feedback messages may include common control information, frequency band information, and CIR content.

[0204] [Table 3]

[0205] It should be understood that the method of dividing the content of the feedback message shown in Table 3 is merely an example, not an exhaustive one. The actual content of the feedback message may include one or more of the items listed in Table 3.

[0206] Table 4 shows an example of the contents of Common Control information.

[0207] [Table 4]

[0208] The sizes of each field in Table 4 are examples and should be understood to be adjustable based on actual requirements. In addition, in actual application, common control information may include fewer or more fields than those described above and may be adjusted based on actual requirements. The values ​​of each field may be adjusted based on actual requirements.

[0209] Frequency band information (Channel Info.) may be implemented in multiple solutions. The following provides examples of some possible solutions.

[0210] Solution 1: The frequency band information directly indicates the identifier of the frequency band in which the sensing fragment is located, and this frequency band identifier is, for example, the channel index. The contents of the frequency band information in this case are shown in Table 5.

[0211] [Table 5]

[0212] The sizes of each field in Table 5 are examples and should be understood to be adjustable based on actual requirements. In addition, in actual application, frequency band information may include fewer or more fields than those described above and may be adjusted based on actual requirements. The values ​​of each field may be adjusted based on actual requirements.

[0213] Solution 2: The frequency band information (Channel Info.) is specifically a bitmap, which indicates the frequency band in which the sensing fragment is located. The contents of the bitmap are shown in Tables 6A and 6B.

[0214] [Table 6A]

[0215] The sizes of each field in Table 6A are examples and should be understood to be adjustable based on actual requirements. In addition, in actual application, frequency band information may include fewer or more fields than those described above and may be adjusted based on actual requirements. The values ​​of each field may be adjusted based on actual requirements.

[0216] [Table 6B]

[0217] The sizes of each field in Table 6B are examples and should be understood to be adjustable based on actual requirements. In addition, in actual application, frequency band information may include fewer or more fields than those described above and may be adjusted based on actual requirements. The values ​​of each field may be adjusted based on actual requirements.

[0218] [Table 7]

[0219] The bitmap length in each bitmap list is equal to the end channel index minus the start channel index plus 1. However, it should be understood that some channels between the start channel and the end channel do not need to be involved in the current frequency stitching. For example, channel slots corresponding to bits with a value of 0 do not participate in the current frequency stitching.

[0220] The sizes of each field in Table 7 are examples and should be understood to be adjustable based on actual requirements. In addition, in actual application, the contents of the Bitmap List may include fewer or more fields than those described above and should be adjusted based on actual requirements. The values ​​of each field may be adjusted based on actual requirements.

[0221] Solution 3: Frequency band information is time unit information, and frequency band information is indicated by time unit information. It will be understood that there is a correspondence, for example, a one-to-one correspondence, between the frequency band corresponding to the sensing fragment and the time unit corresponding to the sensing fragment. The corresponding frequency band may be determined based on the time unit. Therefore, the frequency band may be indicated by indicating the time unit. For example, the contents of time unit information are shown in Table 8. A slot index is used as an example of time unit information, but it is not limited to this.

[0222] [Table 8]

[0223] The sizes of each field in Table 8 are examples and should be understood to be adjustable based on actual requirements. In addition, in actual application, time unit information may include fewer or more fields than those described above and should be adjusted based on actual requirements. The values ​​of each field may be adjusted based on actual requirements.

[0224] Solution 4: Frequency band information is time-unit information, and time-unit information is specifically a bitmap. A bitmap indicates a time unit, and the contents of the time-unit information are shown in Tables 9A and 9B.

[0225] [Table 9A]

[0226] The sizes of each field in Table 9A are examples and should be understood to be adjustable based on actual requirements. In addition, in actual application, time unit information may include fewer or more fields than those described above and should be adjusted based on actual requirements. The values ​​of each field may be adjusted based on actual requirements.

[0227] [Table 9B]

[0228] The sizes of each field in Table 9B are examples and should be understood to be adjustable based on actual requirements. In addition, in actual application, time unit information may include fewer or more fields than those described above and should be adjusted based on actual requirements. The values ​​of each field may be adjusted based on actual requirements.

[0229] [Table 10]

[0230] The bitmap length within each bitmap list is equal to the end slot index minus the start slot index plus 1. However, it should be understood that some slots between the start slot and the end slot do not need to be involved in the current frequency stitching. For example, slots corresponding to bits with a value of 0 do not participate in the current frequency stitching.

[0231] The sizes of each field in Table 10 are examples and should be understood to be adjustable based on actual requirements. In addition, in actual application, the contents of the Bitmap List may include fewer or more fields than those described above and should be adjusted based on actual requirements. The values ​​of each field may be adjusted based on actual requirements.

[0232] After receiving a second message transmitted by the first device, the second device may determine target information based on the second message, for example, the velocity, distance, or angle of the target. If the sensing result in the second message is a CIR of multiple frequency bands for which frequency stitching is not performed, it will be understood that the first device may stitch the frequency bands, extract the CIR from the broad bandwidth obtained through stitching, and then determine target information based on the CIR extracted from the broad bandwidth. If the sensing result in the second message is a broad bandwidth CIR obtained through frequency stitching, the first device may extract the CIR from the broad bandwidth obtained through stitching and determine target information based on the CIR extracted from the broad bandwidth. If the sensing result in the second message is target information, the first device may obtain the target information directly.

[0233] In possible designs, it is assumed that not all UWB devices support frequency stitching, and the second and first devices may swap their capabilities related to frequency stitching during the device association phase, device discovery phase, or device initialization phase.

[0234] For example, before receiving the first message from the second device, the first device may further send capability information of the first device to the second device. The capability information of the first device is used by the second device to determine, for example, the first information in order to determine the first message.

[0235] Optionally, capability information may include eleventh piece of information indicating whether the first device supports or does not support receiving sensing packets in multiple frequency bands.

[0236] Furthermore, optionally, based on the first device supporting the reception of sensing packets in multiple frequency bands, the capability information may further include a twelfth piece of information indicating whether or not the first device supports frequency stitching (or whether the first device supports processing of broad bandwidths obtained through frequency stitching, for example, extracting broad bandwidth CIRs).

[0237] Furthermore, optionally, based on the fact that the first device supports receiving sensing packets in multiple frequency bands and supports frequency stitching, the capability information may further include a 13th piece of information indicating the frequency bands permitted by the first device for frequency stitching.

[0238] Therefore, this can guarantee the reliability of frequency stitching, and further guarantee the reliability of sensing performed through frequency stitching.

[0239] The solutions provided in S301 and S302 provide specific message content, which is exchanged between the second device and the first device when the second device transmits a sensing packet and the first device receives the sensing packet in a frequency stitching scenario. For example, the second device may indicate a feedback policy for sensing results corresponding to multiple frequency bands based on the first information carried in the control message, and as a result, the first device may feed back the sensing results corresponding to at least one of the multiple frequency bands according to the feedback policy indicated by the second device. For example, the second device may further indicate the time-frequency resources of the sensing packet based on the control message to ensure that the first device can accurately receive the sensing packet. For example, when the first device returns the second message to the second device, in addition to the sensing result (e.g., CIR), the second message may further carry information about the frequency band corresponding to the sensing result (e.g., the content of the sensing result corresponds to frequency bands where frequency stitching is not performed, broad bandwidths obtained through frequency stitching, or frequency band identifiers). Based on this solution, the UWB system can perform sensing through frequency stitching to improve the sensing performance of the UWB system.

[0240] The above describes a solution in a scenario where the second device sends sensing packets to the first device, and the following describes a solution in a scenario where the first device sends sensing packets to the second device.

[0241] Figure 6 is a flowchart of another sensing method according to one embodiment of the present application. This method may be applied to the system shown in Figure 1 or Figure 2. This method uses an example in which a first device sends a sensing packet to a second device (it will be understood that unless otherwise specified, the sensing packets below may be replaced with sensing fragments). This method includes the following steps:

[0242] S601: The second device sends a third message to the first device, and the first device receives the third message from the second device.

[0243] The third message indicates a transmission policy for the first device to send sensing packets across multiple frequency bands, which are used for frequency stitching. The second device may be an initiator, and the first device may be a responder.

[0244] In possible designs, the third message further includes 14th information, which indicates the configuration order of the center frequencies or carrier frequencies of multiple frequency bands. For example, the direction of change of the center frequencies or carrier frequencies of multiple frequency bands is that the center frequencies or carrier frequencies of multiple frequency bands are in ascending or descending order. For specific implementations of the configuration order, please refer to the specific implementation of the configuration order in the embodiment shown in Figure 3. Details will not be repeated here.

[0245] In a possible design, the third message may include one or more of the following pieces of information: (1) A 15th piece of information indicating the identifier of the first frequency band among multiple frequency bands; for the specific implementation form of the 15th piece of information, please refer to the specific implementation form of the 4th piece of information, and the details will not be repeated here. (2) A sixth piece of information indicating the frequency overlap rate between adjacent frequency bands in multiple frequency bands; for specific implementation details of the sixth piece of information, please refer to the specific implementation details of the fifth piece of information, and the details will not be repeated here. (3) Information No. 17, which indicates the total bandwidth of multiple frequency bands. For specific implementation details of Information No. 17, please refer to the specific implementation details of Information No. 6, and we will not repeat the details here.

[0246] In a possible design, the third message may further include information 18, which indicates the number of sensing packets transmitted by the first device in a single frequency band across multiple frequency bands. For specific implementations of information 18, please refer to the specific implementations of information 7. Details will not be repeated here.

[0247] The policy for the first device to transmit sensing packets may be determined based on one or more of the aforementioned pieces of information to ensure the reliability of the exchange of sensing packets between the second device and the first device.

[0248] S602: The first device transmits sensing packets based on the third message across multiple frequency bands, and the second device receives sensing packets across multiple frequency bands.

[0249] For example, sensing packets are transmitted in multiple frequency bands based on the configuration order indicated by the 14th piece of information. For example, a predetermined number of sensing packets are transmitted in a single frequency band based on the 18th piece of information.

[0250] After receiving sensing packets in multiple frequency bands, the second device detects the sensing packets to obtain sensing results corresponding to the multiple frequency bands and determines target information based on the sensing results. For specific implementation details of sensing results, target information, etc., please refer to the related explanations of sensing results, target information, etc. in the embodiment shown in Figure 3. Details will not be repeated here.

[0251] The solutions provided in S601 and S602 provide specific message content, which is exchanged between the first and second devices when the first device transmits sensing packets and the second device receives sensing packets in a frequency stitching scenario. For example, the second device may send a third message to the first device to indicate a transmission policy for the first device to transmit sensing packets across multiple frequency bands. Furthermore, the first device may transmit sensing packets across multiple frequency bands in accordance with the transmission policy instructed by the second device to support the second device in performing frequency stitching and determining sensing results and / or target information based on the wide bandwidth obtained through frequency stitching. Based on this solution, a UWB system can perform sensing through frequency stitching to improve the sensing performance of the UWB system.

[0252] To implement the functions in the embodiments described above, it will be understood that the second and first devices include corresponding hardware structures and / or software modules for performing the functions. Those skilled in the art will readily realize, by referring to the example units and method steps described in the embodiments disclosed in this application, that the application may be implemented by hardware or by a combination of hardware and computer software. Whether the functions are performed through hardware or by hardware driven by computer software depends on the specific application scenario and design constraints of the technical solution.

[0253] Figures 7 and 8 illustrate possible structures of a communication device according to embodiments of the present application. The communication device may be configured to implement the functions of the second and first devices in the embodiments of the method described above, and thus can also implement the beneficial effects of the embodiments of the method described above.

[0254] As shown in Figure 7, the communication device 700 includes a processing unit 710 and a transceiver unit 720. The communication device 700 is configured to implement the functions of the second or first device in the embodiment of the method shown in Figure 3 or Figure 6.

[0255] When the communication device 700 is configured to implement the functions of the first device in the embodiment of the method shown in Figure 3, the transceiver unit 720 is configured to receive a first message from the second device. The first message includes first information, which indicates a feedback policy for sensing results corresponding to multiple frequency bands, and the multiple frequency bands are used for frequency stitching. The processing unit 710 is configured to generate a second message based on the first message and to control the transceiver unit 720 to transmit the second message to the second device. The second message includes sensing results corresponding to at least one of the multiple frequency bands.

[0256] When the communication device 700 is configured to implement the functions of the second device in the embodiment of the method shown in Figure 3, the processing unit 710 is configured to generate a first message. The transceiver unit 720 is configured to transmit the first message and receive a second message from the first device.

[0257] When the communication device 700 is configured to implement the functions of the first device in the embodiment of the method shown in Figure 6, the transceiver unit 720 is configured to receive a third message from the second device. The third message indicates a transmission policy for the first device to transmit sensing packets in multiple frequency bands, which are used for frequency stitching. The processing unit 710 is used by the first device to generate sensing packets based on the third message and controls the transceiver unit 720 to transmit sensing packets in multiple frequency bands.

[0258] When the communication device 700 is configured to implement the functions of the second device in the embodiment of the method shown in Figure 6, the processing unit 710 generates a third message. The transceiver unit 720 is configured to transmit the third message and receive sensing packets in multiple frequency bands. The third message indicates a transmission policy for the first device to transmit sensing packets in multiple frequency bands, which are used for frequency stitching.

[0259] Please understand that all relevant details of the steps in the embodiments of the method described above may be referenced in the functional description of the corresponding functional module. Further details are not provided here.

[0260] As shown in Figure 8, the communication device 800 includes a processor 810 and an interface circuit 820. The processor 810 and the interface circuit 820 are coupled to each other. It will be understood that the interface circuit 820 may be a transceiver or an input / output interface. Optionally, the communication device 800 may further include a memory 830 configured to store instructions executed by the processor 810, or input data required by the processor 810 to execute an instruction, or data generated after the processor 810 has executed an instruction.

[0261] When the communication device 800 is configured to implement the method shown in Figure 3 or Figure 6, the processor 810 may be configured to implement the functions of the processing unit 710, and the interface circuit 820 may be configured to implement the functions of the transceiver unit 720.

[0262] It should be noted that the processor in the embodiments of this application may be a Central Processing Unit (CPU), a general-purpose processor, a Digital Signal Processor (DSP), an Application-Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA), or another programmable logic device, transistor logic device, hardware component, or a combination thereof. The general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor or any conventional processor.

[0263] The steps of the method in the embodiments of this application may be implemented in hardware or by a processor executing software instructions. The software instructions may include corresponding software modules. The software modules may be stored in random access memory, flash memory, read-only memory, programmable read-only memory, erasable programmable read-only memory, electrically erasable programmable read-only memory, registers, hard disks, removable hard disks, CD-ROMs, or any other form of storage medium well known in the art. For example, the storage medium is coupled to the processor to enable the processor to read information from and write information to the storage medium. Naturally, the storage medium may be a component of the processor. The processor and the storage medium may be located within an ASIC. Furthermore, the ASIC may be located within a base station or a terminal. Naturally, the processor and the storage medium may exist as separate components within the base station or terminal.

[0264] All or part of the embodiments described above may be implemented using software, hardware, firmware, or any combination thereof. When software is used to implement an embodiment, all or part of the embodiment may be implemented in the form of a computer program product. This computer program product includes one or more computer programs or instructions. When the computer program or instructions are loaded into a computer and executed, all or part of the procedures or functions in the embodiments of this application are performed. The computer may be a general-purpose computer, a dedicated computer, a computer network, a network device, a user device, or another programmable device. The computer program or instructions may be stored in a computer-readable storage medium or transmitted from one computer-readable storage medium to another. For example, the computer program or instructions may be transmitted by wire or wirelessly from one website, computer, server, or data center to another website, computer, server, or data center. The computer-readable storage medium may be any available medium that can be accessed by a computer, or a data storage device, e.g., a server or data center integrating one or more available media. The usable media may be magnetic media, such as floppy disks, hard disks, or magnetic tapes; optical media, such as digital video discs; or semiconductor media, such as solid-state drives. The computer-readable storage medium may be volatile or non-volatile, or may include both types of storage media, such as volatile and non-volatile.

[0265] In the embodiments of this application, unless otherwise specified or unless there is a logical inconsistency, the terminology and / or descriptions between different embodiments are consistent and may be referenced to one another, and the technical features of different embodiments may be combined on the basis of their internal logical relationships to form new embodiments.

[0266] It should be understood that the various numbers in the embodiments of this application are merely for distinction for the purpose of facilitating explanation and are not intended to limit the scope of the embodiments of this application. The serial numbers of the foregoing processes do not mean the order of execution. The order of execution of the processes should be determined based on the functions and internal logics of the processes.

Description of Reference Numerals

[0267] 700 Communication device 710 Processing unit 720 Transceiver unit 800 Communication device 810 Processor 820 Interface circuit 830 Memory

Claims

1. A sensing method, A first device receives a first message from a second device, the first message containing first information, the first information indicating a feedback policy for sensing results corresponding to multiple frequency bands, and the multiple frequency bands being used for frequency stitching. A step of transmitting a second message to a second device based on the first message, wherein the second message includes a sensing result corresponding to at least one of the plurality of frequency bands. Methods that include...

2. The first information instructs the first device to feed back the channel impulse response (CIR) of any one of the frequency bands to the second device after the first device receives a sensing packet in any one of the multiple frequency bands, or The first information instructs the first device to feed back the CIR of at least one of the multiple frequency bands to the second device after the first device has received sensing packets in all of the multiple frequency bands, or The first information instructs the first device to, after completing any one frequency stitching, to feed back to the second device the broad bandwidth CIR obtained through any one frequency stitching, wherein the broad bandwidth obtained through any one frequency stitching is determined based on some or all of the multiple frequency bands, or The first information instructs the first device to, after the first device has completed multiple frequency stitchings, to feed back to the second device a broad bandwidth CIR obtained through at least one of the multiple frequency stitchings, wherein the broad bandwidth obtained through any one of the multiple frequency stitchings is determined based on some or all of the multiple frequency bands, or The first information instructs the first device to feed back the wide bandwidth CIR obtained through the frequency stitching to the second device after the first device has performed frequency stitching in the plurality of frequency bands, or The method according to claim 1, wherein the first information instructs the first device to feed back the target information to the second device after the first device has determined target information based on the completion of frequency stitching in at least two of the plurality of frequency bands and the broadband CIR obtained through frequency stitching.

3. The first message further includes second information, and the second information is The initial phase of at least one sensing packet in the aforementioned plurality of frequency bands, or The initial phase difference between two adjacent sensing packets in the aforementioned multiple frequency bands, or The initial phase difference between the first sensing packet and all sensing packets other than the first sensing packet in the aforementioned multiple frequency bands. The method according to claim 1 or 2, which demonstrates the above.

4. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the first message further includes a third piece of information indicating the configuration order of the center frequencies or carrier frequencies of the plurality of frequency bands.

5. The direction of change of the center frequency or carrier frequency of the plurality of frequency bands is as follows: The center frequencies or carrier frequencies of the plurality of frequency bands are in ascending order, or The method according to claim 4, wherein the center frequencies or carrier frequencies of the plurality of frequency bands are in descending order.

6. The first message above contains the following information, namely: A fourth piece of information indicating the identifier of the first frequency band among the aforementioned plurality of frequency bands, A fifth piece of information indicating the frequency overlap rate between adjacent frequency bands in the plurality of frequency bands, and A sixth piece of information indicating the total bandwidth of the aforementioned multiple frequency bands. The method according to claim 4 or 5, further comprising one or more of the following.

7. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the first message includes a seventh piece of information, the seventh piece of information indicating the number of sensing packets transmitted by the second device in a single frequency band among the plurality of frequency bands.

8. The step of the first device sending a second message to the second device based on the first message is: The first device receives and detects sensing packets in a first frequency band set, wherein the first frequency band set includes at least two frequency bands. Steps include: If the sensing results corresponding to a plurality of frequency bands detected by the first device satisfy the sensing requirements, the first device transmits the second message to the second device, the second message including the sensing results corresponding to the plurality of frequency bands detected by the first device, wherein the plurality of frequency bands are some or all of the frequency bands detected by the first device; The method according to any one of claims 1 to 7, including the method described in any one of claims 1 to 7.

9. The aforementioned method, If the sensing results corresponding to the plurality of frequency bands detected by the first device do not satisfy the sensing requirements, the first device transmits instruction information to the second device, wherein the instruction information instructs the second device to transmit sensing packets in a second set of frequency bands, the second set of frequency bands comprising at least two frequency bands, and the frequency bands in the second set of frequency bands are different from the frequency bands in the first set of frequency bands. The method according to claim 8, further comprising:

10. The method according to claim 9, wherein at least one frequency band in the first frequency band set and at least one frequency band in the second frequency band set overlap in terms of frequency, and the frequency overlap rate between the at least one frequency band in the first frequency band set and the at least one frequency band in the second frequency band set is greater than the frequency overlap rate between adjacent frequency bands in the first frequency band set.

11. The method according to claim 9 or 10, wherein the first message further includes an eighth piece of information, the eighth piece of information indicating the sensing requirement.

12. The second message further includes a ninth piece of information, the ninth piece of information, which states that the sensing result is as follows: CIR for frequency bands where frequency stitching is not performed, or A wide bandwidth CIR obtained through frequency stitching, or Target information determined based on a wide bandwidth CIR obtained through frequency stitching. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 11, which demonstrates that the condition is met.

13. The method according to claim 12, wherein the second message further includes a tenth piece of information, the tenth piece of information further indicates a frequency band corresponding to the sensing result.

14. The tenth piece of information includes an index of the frequency band corresponding to the sensing result, or The method according to claim 13, wherein the 10th information includes a bitmap, the bitmap includes a plurality of bits, the plurality of bits correspond one-to-one with the plurality of frequency bands, and the frequency band corresponding to the sensing result is indicated by the value of the bit in the bitmap.

15. The aforementioned multiple frequency bands correspond one-to-one with multiple time units, and sensing packets in each of the aforementioned multiple frequency bands are transmitted in the time units corresponding to each frequency band. The method according to claim 12, wherein the second message further includes a tenth piece of information, the tenth piece of information indicating a time unit corresponding to the sensing result.

16. The tenth piece of information includes the time-unit index corresponding to the sensing result, or The method according to claim 15, wherein the 10th information includes a bitmap, the bitmap includes a plurality of bits, the plurality of bits correspond one-to-one to the plurality of time units, and the index of the time unit corresponding to the sensing result is indicated by the value of the bit in the bitmap.

17. Prior to the step in which the first device receives the first message from the second device, the method: The first device transmits capability information of the first device to the second device, the capability information of the first device being used by the second device to determine the first message, further comprising the steps of: The aforementioned capability information is as follows, namely, Eleventh piece of information indicating whether the first device supports or does not support receiving sensing packets in the multiple frequency bands, A 12th piece of information indicating whether the first device supports or does not support frequency stitching, A 13th piece of information indicating the frequency band permitted by the first device for frequency stitching. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 13, comprising one or more of the above.

18. A sensing method, A step of sending a first message to the first device by a second device, wherein the first message includes first information, the first information indicates a feedback policy for sensing results corresponding to multiple frequency bands, and the multiple frequency bands are used for frequency stitching. A step of receiving a second message from the first device by the second device, wherein the second message includes a sensing result corresponding to at least one of the plurality of frequency bands. Methods that include...

19. A sensing method, A step of receiving a third message from a second device by a first device, wherein the third message indicates a transmission policy for the first device to transmit sensing packets in multiple frequency bands, and the multiple frequency bands are used for frequency stitching. The first device transmits the sensing packets in the plurality of frequency bands based on the third message. Methods that include...

20. The method according to claim 19, wherein the third message further includes a 14th piece of information, the 14th piece of information indicating the configuration order of the center frequencies or carrier frequencies of the plurality of frequency bands.

21. The direction of change of the center frequency or carrier frequency of the plurality of frequency bands is as follows: The center frequencies or carrier frequencies of the plurality of frequency bands are in ascending order, or The method according to claim 20, wherein the center frequencies or carrier frequencies of the plurality of frequency bands are in descending order.

22. The third message above contains the following information, namely: A 15th piece of information indicating the identifier of the first frequency band in the plurality of frequency bands, A sixth piece of information indicating the frequency overlap rate between adjacent frequency bands in the plurality of frequency bands, The 17th piece of information indicating the total bandwidth of the aforementioned multiple frequency bands The method according to any one of claims 19 to 21, comprising one or more of the above.

23. The method according to any one of claims 19 to 22, wherein the third message includes 18th information, the 18th information indicating the number of sensing packets transmitted by the first device in a single frequency band among the plurality of frequency bands.

24. A sensing method, A step of a second device sending a third message to a first device, wherein the third message indicates a transmission policy for the first device to transmit sensing packets in multiple frequency bands, and the multiple frequency bands are used for frequency stitching. The second device receives the sensing packets from the first device in the plurality of frequency bands. Methods that include...

25. A communication device, A transceiver unit configured to receive a first message from a second device, wherein the first message includes first information, the first information indicates a feedback policy for sensing results corresponding to multiple frequency bands, and the multiple frequency bands are used for frequency stitching, and the transceiver unit, A processing unit configured to generate a second message based on the first message and to control the transceiver unit to transmit the second message to the second device, wherein the second message includes a sensing result corresponding to at least one of the plurality of frequency bands. A communication device comprising, wherein the transceiver unit is further configured to transmit the second message.

26. A communication device, A processing unit configured to generate a first message, wherein the first message includes first information, the first information indicates a feedback policy for sensing results corresponding to multiple frequency bands, and the multiple frequency bands are used for frequency stitching; A transceiver unit configured to transmit the first message to a first device and to receive a second message from the first device, wherein the second message includes a sensing result corresponding to at least one of the plurality of frequency bands. A communication device equipped with the following features.

27. A communication device, A transceiver unit configured to receive a third message from a second device, wherein the third message indicates a transmission policy for the first device on which the device is located to transmit sensing packets in multiple frequency bands, and the multiple frequency bands are used for frequency stitching, and the transceiver unit, A processing unit configured to generate the sensing packet based on the third message and to control the transceiver unit to transmit the sensing packet in the multiple frequency bands, and A communication device equipped with the following features.

28. A communication device, A processing unit configured to generate a third message, the third message indicating a transmission policy for a first device to transmit sensing packets in multiple frequency bands, the multiple frequency bands being used for frequency stitching, and the processing unit, A transceiver unit configured to transmit the third message to the first device and to receive the sensing packets from the first device in the plurality of frequency bands, A communication device equipped with the following features.

29. A communication device comprising a processor and an interface circuit, wherein the processor is coupled to the interface circuit, and the processor executes a computer program or instruction, thereby the device is configured to perform the method according to any one of claims 1 to 17, or the method according to claim 18, or the method according to any one of claims 19 to 23, or the method according to claim 24.

30. A computer-readable storage medium containing a program or instruction, wherein when the program or instruction is executed on a computer, the method according to any one of claims 1 to 17, or the method according to claim 18, or the method according to any one of claims 19 to 23, or the method according to claim 24 is executed.

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