Encoded wireless sensing for low-power, high-precision positioning

Abstract

Encoded radio sensing for low-power, high-precision positioning is proposed. The present invention proposes a system 100 for locating low-complexity devices such as UEs through the combined use of radio (radar) sensing (for timing measurement) and uplink / sidelink pilot transmission (for angle / identification), wherein the radio (radar) sensing waveform / signal 120 has embedded data representing a code / data 121 that can be detected and decoded by the sensed target UE 112, and is also used to generate an uplink / sidelink transmission that includes the code / data 121 or data derived from the embedded code / data 121.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the field of wireless sensing and communication in a wireless network, such as integrated sensing and communication, but is not limited thereto.

Background Art

[0002] Precise and low-complexity UE device localization within 5G and 6G networks is an important use case, sometimes referred to as low-power high-accuracy positioning (LPHAP). One of the challenges in achieving high-precision ranging with LPHAP is that many low-complexity devices may implement only narrowband signaling, which can limit the maximum bandwidth for detecting and responding to signals, thereby restricting the resolution of timing-based localization approaches.

[0003] A pure angle-based localization approach to solve this problem is known in the literature, but it cannot achieve sufficient localization accuracy (e.g., + / - 5m), and repeated signaling in low-complexity devices is required for each position correction, which may consume battery life.

[0004] Integrated Sensing And Communication (ISAC) refers to the idea of using (part of) a communication waveform for sensing purposes. Many approaches proposed for ISAC implement radar or radar-like technologies to obtain the distance and angle to an object of interest, and the speed of a moving object of interest, for example, from a 5G base station.

[0005] The integration of sensing and communication in these systems makes it possible to embed data within radar sensing signals. The general idea of ​​mixing 5G / 6G data with radar signals has already been explored, for example, in the literature Bo Tan et al.: "Improved Sensing and Positioning via 5G and mmWave radar for Airport Surveillance", Proceedings of the 11th SESAR Innovation Days conference, 7-9 December 2021. More recently, Batu K. Chalise et al.: "Information embedding in DFRC networks through chirp waveform diversity", EURASIP Journal on Advances in Signal Processing, Article number: 14 (2023), which discloses information embedding through chirp multiplexing.

[0006] Furthermore, millimeter-wave radar can achieve extremely high range sensitivity. For example, Kang Min Bae et al.: "OmniScatter: extreme sensitivity mmWave backscattering using commodity FMCW radar", MobiSys '22, Proceedings of the 20th Annual International Conference on Mobile Systems, Applications and Services, June 2022, pp. 316-329 shows a 10 mm wide range "bin" in the 28 GHz band with a 2 GHz bandwidth, which is wider than the bandwidth available for 5G NR, yet demonstrates excellent performance.

[0007] However, there are some potential drawbacks when considering radar in LPHAP use cases. The angular resolution of radar is limited by the number of antennas in the receiver and is affected by the radar's angle of attack (AoA), with a narrower AoA resulting in more accurate resolution. Also, weak signals from radar reflections are less likely to be detected at multiple points, which is necessary to generate redundant measurements for improved accuracy.

[0008] Furthermore, a time-based and angle-based hybrid localization solution that combines both uplink arrival time difference (UL-TDoA) and angle-of-a-station (AoA) has been demonstrated, for example, in Alda Xhafa et al.: “Evaluation of 5G Positioning Performance Based on UTDoA, AoA and Base-Station Selective Exclusion”, Sensors (Basel), 2022 Jan; 22(1): 101, in which the authors showed that errors caused by multipath in uplink AoA measurements can be corrected if redundant observations are available.

[0009] Therefore, locating low-complexity devices that use only communication signals may be inaccurate for the following reasons: (i) The narrowband communication capabilities common in low-complexity devices degrade the accuracy of timing-based approaches or approaches that combine timing and angular data; (ii) Pure angle-based localization approaches have problems, including low resolution and potentially increased power consumption in low-complexity devices when repeated signaling is required.

[0010] On the other hand, localization of low-complexity devices using only radar signals can lead to the following problems (even if the device being localized is large enough to achieve this): (i) The complexity of implementing a radar system with sufficient angular resolution due to the large number of antennas required for the transceiver; (ii) Due to the weakness of radar reflection, performing multiple angle measurements using multiple receivers becomes even more complicated; (iii) Variation in measurement accuracy due to reliance on AoA in radar.

[0011] Considering the above, a mixed radar and communications localization approach is desirable, but known methods appear to have drawbacks when localizing low-complexity UE devices. For example, these techniques, based on the concept of using 5G positioning reference signals (PRS) or other 5G signaling such as radar-like broadband sensing signals, may not be feasible for localizing low-complexity devices because they require broadband signaling at the UE to be localized and / or a multi-antenna UE to perform AoA calculations locally on the UE. [Overview of the project] [Problems that the invention aims to solve]

[0012] The objective of the present invention is to achieve enhanced localization or positioning of low-complexity devices. [Means for solving the problem]

[0013] The advantage of the present invention is to improve the localization or positioning of a low-complexity narrowband target device by converting a broadband wireless sensing signal into an encoded wireless sensing signal.

[0014] This objective is achieved by the methods claimed in claims 1 and 13, the transmitting sensing device claimed in claim 16, the receiving sensing device claimed in claim 17, the target device claimed in claim 18, the system claimed in claim 19, and the computer program product claimed in claim 20.

[0015] According to the first aspect, a method is provided for obtaining an estimated position of a target device. This method is: The steps include transmitting a sensing signal using a transmitting sensing device, Accordingly, the process includes the step of receiving and using a sensing signal accompanied by a code using a target device.

[0016] According to a second aspect, a method for determining the location of a target device is provided. This method is performed in a target device that receives a sensing signal accompanied by a code. A step of generating a response signal using the aforementioned code, The process includes the step of transmitting the aforementioned response signal.

[0017] According to a third aspect, a transmitting sensing device is provided. The transmitting sensing device is A transmitter configured to transmit sensing signals, It includes a controller configured to add a code to the sensing signal that is received by the target device and to be used as a result.

[0018] According to a fourth aspect, a receiving sensing device is provided. The receiving sensing device is A sensor configured to detect reflected sensing signals, It has a controller configured to determine a position estimate based on reflected sensing signals.

[0019] According to a fifth aspect, a target device is provided. The target device is A receiver configured to receive a code associated with a sensing signal, A controller configured to generate a response signal using the aforementioned symbols, It includes a transmitter configured to transmit the aforementioned response signal.

[0020] According to the sixth aspect, a system is provided. The system comprises at least, The transmission sensing device of the third aspect, the reception sensing device of the fourth aspect, and the target device of the fifth aspect.

[0021] According to the seventh aspect, a computer program product is provided. When the computer program product is executed on a computer device, it has code means for executing any of the steps of the first and second aspects.

[0022] The proposed aspects of the present invention advantageously enable broadband wireless sensing signals, such as radar or radar-like signals with fine ranging resolution, to be modified in order to enhance the positioning of narrowband UEs (narrowband UEs cannot receive or decode the entire broadband frequency range and thus cannot inherently benefit from the ranging resolution provided by broadband signals).

[0023] Specific advantages of the present invention are as follows: · Associating a specific UE (e.g., a target UE) with a specific radar reflection signal by a code included in / embedded in (a part of) the radar signal. In this case, it is not necessary to decode the entire frequency band of the radar signal to receive the code; · By using an uplink response triggered by the code, improving the positioning accuracy of the identified UE by using high-precision data for each of distance and angle (in most cases, radar data for distance and uplink data for angle); · Embedding additional information, such as data indicating the transmission angle of a specific radar signal, into the code to simplify or enhance the entire positioning system.

[0024] According to a first option that can be combined with the first aspect, the method further comprises, a step of detecting, by the reception sensing device, the reflected sensing signal, The receiving sensing device has the step of determining a position estimate based on the reflected sensing signal.

[0025] According to the second option, which can be combined with the first option, the transmitting sensing device and the receiving sensing device can be located in the same place.

[0026] According to the third option, which can be combined with either the first or second option, the position estimation may include one or more of the following: Angle of arrival; speed; Direction of movement; Direction; distance.

[0027] According to a fourth option which can be combined with any of the first, second, and third options, the method further comprises the step of detecting by the receiving sensing device a response signal transmitted from the target device including the code, or a response signal derived from the code.

[0028] According to a fifth option which can be combined with a fourth option, the method further comprises the step of relating the position estimation to the response signal by the receiving sensing device, wherein the response signal includes an identifier for the target device.

[0029] According to a sixth option which can be combined with either of the fourth or fifth options, the method further comprises the step of a receiving sensing device determining the ID of a target device based on a response signal.

[0030] According to the first embodiment and a seventh option which can be combined with any of the first to sixth options, the sensing signal is transmitted in a broadband manner to allow reflection of the sensing signal.

[0031] According to an eighth option which can be combined with a seventh option, the symbols are contained within a narrowband of a broadband sensing signal, and the narrowband overlaps with the receiving band of the target device.

[0032] According to the first embodiment and a ninth option which can be combined with any of the first to eighth options, the reference numerals accompany the sensing signal by being included in the sensing signal, and optionally may be included in the preamble or postamble of the sensing signal.

[0033] According to the first embodiment and a tenth option which can be combined with any of the first to ninth options, the reference numerals may include data relating to a transmission parameter, the transmission parameter including one or more of a transmission angle, beam ID, and transmission power.

[0034] According to the first embodiment and an eleventh option which can be combined with any of the fourth to sixth options, the method further includes the step of transferring the data contained in the response signal to a positioning function by a receiving sensing device.

[0035] According to a twelfth option which can be combined with the second embodiment, the response signal may include an identifier and code for the target device.

[0036] According to a 13th option which can be combined with either the second embodiment or the 12th option, the response signal can be generated only when it is determined that the code corresponds to a target device.

[0037] The above-described devices can be implemented based on the arrangement of discrete hardware circuits, integrated chips, or chip modules with discrete hardware components, or based on signal processing devices or chips controlled by software routines or programs stored in memory, written to computer-readable media, or downloaded from a network such as the Internet.

[0038] The methods of claims 1 and 13, the transmitting sensing device of claim 16, the receiving sensing device of claim 17, the target device of claim 18, the system of claim 19, and the computer program product of claim 20 may have similar and / or identical preferred embodiments, in particular, as defined in the dependent claims.

[0039] It should be understood that preferred embodiments of the present invention may be dependent claims or any combination of the above embodiments and their respective independent claims.

[0040] These and other aspects of the present invention will become apparent from and be explained with reference to the embodiments described below. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0041] [Figure 1] A schematic diagram showing a block diagram of a system according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 2A] A schematic flowchart of the main processes according to the embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 2B] A schematic flowchart of a first subprocess according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 2C] A schematic flowchart of a second subprocess according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 3] A schematic diagram showing a network system in which the main process is implemented according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 4]A schematic diagram showing a time chart representing an SSB burst embedded in a wireless sensing signal according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 5] A schematic diagram showing a time-frequency resource graph of block resources for uplink-sidelink joint communications according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 6] A schematic diagram of various entities in an uplink-sidelink Kyodo News according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0042] Embodiments of the present invention will be described based on a 5G cellular network environment.

[0043] Throughout this disclosure, the abbreviations “gNB” (5G terminology) or “BS” (base station) are intended to mean a cellular base station or an access device / point such as a Wi-Fi or ultra-wideband (UWB) access point. A gNB may consist of a centralized control plane unit (gNB-CU-CP), multiple centralized user plane units (gNB-CU-UP), and / or multiple distributed units (gNB-DU). A gNB is part of a radio access network (RAN) and provides an interface to functions within the core network (CN). The RAN is part of a radio communication network. It implements radio access technology (RAT). Conceptually, it exists between communication devices such as mobile phones, computers, or remotely operated machines and provides connectivity to their CN. The CN is the core part of the communication network and provides numerous services to customers interconnected via the RAN. More specifically, it forwards communication streams across the communication network and, potentially, other networks.

[0044] Furthermore, in this disclosure, the terms “base station” (BS) and “network” are often used as synonyms. This means, for example, that when “network” is described as performing a particular operation, it is done by the CN function of a cellular network or by a particular base station that is part of such a cellular network, and vice versa. It may also mean that some functions are performed by the cellular network and some functions are performed by base stations.

[0045] Throughout this disclosure, the abbreviation “UE” (3GPP term) is intended to mean user equipment capable of operating with a base station. A UE can be a localized target UE or a co-operating UE that can assist the base station in locating the target UE. In some cases, a localized target UE may function as a co-operating UE. A UE may include a fully functional or low-functionality (RedCap) legacy UE with extensions to support embodiments of this disclosure, or it may include a low-capacity configuration primarily intended to support embodiments of this disclosure. The latter type of UE may have an ultra-low-power architecture that can be powered by a small battery (e.g., a coin cell) and / or environmental energy harvesting technology, and may use, for example, a simplified and / or a novel wireless communication protocol optimized for low-power operation, instead of a conventional protocol. In addition to, or instead of, a conventional RF transmitter, a tag UE may have means of modulating an incident RF waveform using backscattering techniques, the modulation of which is detectable by a receiver. This simplicity allows the UE to have a small tag form factor similar to an RFID tag. A tagged UE typically acts as a target UE, but may support some collaborative UE features.

[0046] Please note that only the blocks, components, and / or devices related to the proposed data distribution functionality are shown in the accompanying drawings. Other blocks have been omitted for brevity. Furthermore, blocks designated with the same reference number are intended to have the same or at least similar functionality, and therefore their functionality will not be described again later.

[0047] Furthermore, a suitable ISAC OFDM-based diagonal waveform structure and corresponding signal processing algorithm are described in Yi Geng et al.: "A Novel Waveform Design for OFDM-Based Joint Sensing and Communication System", arXiv:2301.03347v1 [cs.IT], 9 Jan 2023. This approach assigns the sensing signal along the diagonal components of a time-frequency resource block. Thus, the linearly structured sensing signal spans both the frequency and time domains. The distance and velocity of an object can be simultaneously estimated by applying a one-dimensional discrete Fourier transform (DFT) to the diagonal sensing signal. Although this sensing signal is not chirp, such sensing signals can also be applied to scenarios described in the embodiments below. In fact, an OFDM-based diagonal waveform can be considered a discrete version of a chirp signal.

[0048] system Figure 1 schematically shows a block diagram of system 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0049] System 100 consists of multiple blocks representing a primary cell 110, a wireless sensing signal 120, one or more optional additional BS / gNB 130, and a Localization Network Function (LNF) 140.

[0050] A primary cell 110 is considered to be an area within a cellular communication network that is covered by a single access point (e.g., a transmit / receive point, or, in a non-cellular network, simply the coverage area around a particular access point).

[0051] The primary cell 110 includes at least a primary BS 111 and a target user equipment (UE) 112.

[0052] Primary BS111 is an access point that provides services to primary cell 110, and in a CU / DU split architecture, it can consist of one gNB-CU and multiple gNB-DUs associated with that gNB-CU. This can be, for example, a gNB as defined in the 5G standard.

[0053] The target UE112 is to be located and may include an asset tracker, connected vehicle, smartphone, or other similar communication device. In principle, any UE can be the target UE112 of this system 100, but the greatest advantages over known location systems will arise for the following target UE112: (i) A target UE that implements narrowband signaling (i.e., a UE that operates in a narrower frequency range compared to the frequency range in which the primary BS / gNB111 can generate signals); (ii) UEs (such as connected vehicles) that are large enough to produce radar reflections from their own structure, or UEs permanently attached to such objects (such as asset trackers attached to large objects). Radar reflections can be defined as echoes generated by the interaction of a sensing signal with an object in the environment and detected by a detector (which is the same device or a different device that emitted the signal). In addition to those echoes from the target UE 112, echoes may also be from the cooperating UE 113. When echoes are generated from passive objects in the environment that are not of interest in localization, this is referred to as “noise reflections”. Furthermore, it should be noted that if radar reflections cannot be generated by / associated with the target UE 112, the ability to generate finer distance measurements than is possible by other means using known systems may be limited, although it may still participate in this system 100. However, other advantages may remain (in particular if the sign has additional angular information embedded that helps resolve multipath errors, as described below in the first and second subprocesses).

[0054] Optionally, primary cell 110 may include one or more cooperative UEs 113, i.e., one or more UEs that can receive and decode code 121 (see below) but are not necessarily localized targets. As illustrated, one or more cooperative UEs 113' may be outside the coverage of cell 110. Cooperative UEs can also generate (part of) the sensing signal on behalf of the primary BS / gNB 111. In this sense, the term BS / gNB can be understood to include cooperative UEs that thus act on behalf of the primary BS / gNB 111.

[0055] The wireless sensing signal 120 is generated by the primary BS / gNB 111 or the cooperative UE 113. The sensing signal 120 can be any type of signal, such as: (i) Signals that generate radar reflections; (ii) A signal containing code 121.

[0056] The broadband nature of the sensing signal 120 is advantageous because, as the sensing signal 120 is transmitted across its broadband, it covers all or most of the frequency range in which the primary BS / gNB 111 operates, thus enabling reflection of the sensing signal.

[0057] The code 121 contained in / included in the sensing signal 120 includes data packets that can be received and decoded by a standards-compliant receiver such as a target UE 112. The code 121 is contained within a narrow frequency range (i.e., a frequency subset) of the entire sensing signal 120. Optionally, identical or different codes 121 may be contained within different frequency subdomains of a single sensing signal 120. Optionally, identical or different codes 121 may be contained within the same frequency subdomain of a single sensing signal 120 but within different time slots / symbols, and the code 121 may periodically apply different beam patterns. Optionally, the frequency range in which the code is embedded may partially overlap or not overlap at all with the sensing signal 120, both of which are within the operating frequency range of the BS / gNB 111. The content of the code 121 is compliant with standards implemented by at least one UE 112 and at least one BS / gNB 111.

[0058] Reference numeral 121 is included in / can be included in a narrowband portion of the spectrum of the entire broadband radio sensing signal 120, i.e., a portion of the sensing signal that can be received and decoded by the localized target UE 112. For example, reference numeral 121 is included in a narrowband of the broadband sensing signal 120, and this narrowband overlaps with the receiving band of the target device 112.

[0059] Reference numeral 121 is part of the sensing signal 120 itself and may optionally be in the preamble or postamble of the sensing signal 120, or it may be transmitted before or after the sensing signal 120, for example, as a preamble that can be decoded by a receiver before the radio sensing signal is transmitted.

[0060] Symbol 121 can contain various types of information, including the following: (a) A pseudorandom number or nonce used as a one-time identifier; (b) Information regarding the angle at which a particular transmission or beam was radiated from the primary BS / gNB111. For example, the reference numeral 121 can increase over a numerical range (e.g., 0 to 360) according to the transmission angle (e.g., 0 to 360 degrees). Thus, the information may be about transmission parameters such as transmission angle, beam ID, and transmission power; (c) An instruction from a target UE112 or cooperating UE113 that receives code 121 that triggers a specific behavior. For example, the specific behavior may be a selective behavior including a selective response (e.g., where only a specific UE112 is required to respond to code 121), or a wildcard function (e.g., where a previous selective response instruction is removed in order to allow any UE112 to respond); (d) Information used to identify the primary BS / gNB111 (including, for example, a numerical identifier); (e) Information used by the network to broadcast cell-specific settings (including, for example, the structure of a synchronization signal block (SSB) in 5G NR, which consists of a primary synchronization signal (PSS), a secondary synchronization signal (SSS), and a physical broadcast channel (PBCH); (f) Information used to schedule and instruct the target UE112 or coordinating UE113 to generate uplink / sidelink transmissions, for example, which time-frequency resources, modulation coding scheme (MCS), etc., to be used. This information can be set by radio resource control (RRC) signaling, and the code can only provide an index to a table of parameters set by the RRC signaling.

[0061] Of the candidate sensing signals 120 of the present invention, there may be three options for obtaining a sensing signal 120 that is a potentially good candidate in the 5G embodiment.

[0062] The first option can be a modified version of the Positioning Reference Signal (PRS). In fact, Zhiqing Wei et al.: "5G PRS-Based Sensing: A Sensing Reference Signal Approach for Joint Sensing and Communication System", IEEE Transactions on Vehicular Technology, Volume 72, Issue 3, pp. 3250-3263, March 2023 showed that PRS can be used for radar sensing and digital communications, and therefore PRS can both generate radar reflections and embed codes. Thus, the modification required to adapt PRS to the present invention is the embedding of a standardized code.

[0063] The second option is chirp data transmission technology, as described, for example, in Batu Krishna Chalise et al.: "Information Embedding in DFRC Networks Through Chirp Waveform Diversity", EURASIP Journal on Advances in Signal Processing, 26 Jan, 2023. This is particularly relevant when chirp is used as a radar signal. This also applies to pseudo-chirp (i.e., chirp modified to be transmitted in existing OFDM-based communication systems) (see Alpha Çahin et al.: "DFT-Spread-OFDM-Based Chirp Transmission", IEEE Communications Letters, vol. 25, no. 3, pp. 902-906, March 2021).

[0064] A third option is to “chain” different signals in the frequency domain (e.g., chain: sensing signal-code-sensing signal), in which case the sensing signal is extended in the frequency domain by the code or divided into two or more domains, and the code is transmitted at an intermediate frequency. In this case, the code can be transmitted by virtually any type of signal, as long as it can be generated and transmitted by the base station simultaneously with the sensing signal. Note that if simultaneous transmission is not possible, the system may operate without some of the localization techniques described in this disclosure, more specifically, even though modified bidirectional ranging will not function.

[0065] One or more optional additional BS / gNB130s are BS / gNBs located outside the primary cell 110 and are nevertheless able to receive (at least) uplink (UL) communications from the target UE 112. The optional additional BS / gNB130s are likely to implement similar hardware and software to the primary BS / gNB111 (i.e., they could be BS / gNBs in a 5G network, for example).

[0066] LNF140 is a positioning function that takes in data measured by the primary BS / gNB111 (and other devices) and forwarded to the LNF140, and uses a positioning algorithm to calculate the position (and optionally other parameters) of the target UE112. LNF140 is run or accessed by the primary BS / gNB111 and is favorably available by any coordinating UE113 or additional BS / gNB130. Examples of several positioning algorithms of interest that may be implemented by LNF140 are described in this disclosure, and more specifically, LNF is defined in the 3GPP technical specification TS 37.355 “LTE Positioning Protocol” for 4G LTE and 5G NR positioning.

[0067] method The method 200 of the present invention includes a main process 200A that references a first subprocess 200B and a second subprocess 200C.

[0068] Main process Figure 2A schematically shows a flow chart of the main process 200A according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0069] In step 201A, the primary BS / gNB111 functions as a transmitting sensing device by emitting a sensing signal 120 (e.g., a radar sensing signal) consisting of a broadband signal having at least one frequency subdomain containing data representing code 121 (the content of which conforms to a standard implemented by at least one UE). The sensing signal 120 can be transmitted periodically by the primary BS / gNB111 as part of its normal sensing activity, according to policy, or in response to specific requests from the LNF140, such as a request to locate a specific UE (e.g., target UE112) or any UE within the primary cell 110. As an example of variation, the primary BS / gNB111 can instruct a capable coordinating UE within or near the primary cell 110 to transmit the sensing signal 120.

[0070] In step 202A, the entire broadband sensing signal 120 interacts with objects in the environment, generating radar reflections (and possibly noise reflections). The reflections, as reflected sensing signals, are received and detected by the primary BS / gNB 111, and thus function as a receive-detection device 111, enabling the primary BS / gNB 111 to determine a position estimate. The position estimate may include one or more of the following: angle of arrival; speed; direction of movement; bearing; distance. In the first option, the reflections may also be detected by other BS / gNB 130 or coordinating UE 113, 113' (multistatic radar), in which case the sensing device (i.e., the interacting object in the environment) transmits information, including reception time, to the primary BS / gNB 111 and / or LNF 140. In the second option, the primary BS / gNB111 can notify other BS / gNB130 or cooperative UE113, 113' (multistatic radar) of the settings for the sensing signal 120 in a cooperative radio sensing scheme. In this second option, the settings for the sensing signal 120 may include time-frequency-spatial resource information, signal waveform, etc., in which case the cooperative sensing device (other BS / gNB130 or cooperative UE113, 113') can detect / detect both the original sensing signal 120 and its reflections and transmit information including reception time to the primary BS / gNB111 and / or LNF140.

[0071] In step 203A, the subregion of the sensing signal 120, including code 121, is received and decoded by one or more standards-compliant UEs (e.g., 112, 113, 113'). The UE that receives code 121 responds according to the standard.

[0072] In step 204A, the reception of code 121 can trigger all receiving UEs, or, if it is determined that code 121 corresponds to a target UE 112, to uniquely trigger that target UE 112, generating and transmitting a response signal that includes / contains (i) the received code 121 and (ii) the unique device identifier of the UE. The response signal may be in the same or different frequency range with respect to code 121. Standard 5G uplink signaling may be used. The unique device identifier may be, for example, the UE's International Mobile Equipment Identification (IMEI) number, or an ID number specific to this system and assigned as part of the registration phase.

[0073] In step 205A, in other embodiments, the UE may instead behave differently depending on the data content of reference numeral 121. For example, the UE may be required by the data contained in reference numeral 121 as follows: (i) No response; (ii) Respond only if its own device ID matches one of those included in code 121 or falls within the range specified in code 121; (iii) Provide orchestration or communication with other neighboring UEs (e.g., receive code 121 responses via sidelink (SL) communication and, if applicable, forward them to the primary BS / gNB111 or LNF140 over a certain future period).

[0074] In step 206A, an uplink (UL) / sidelink (SL) response transmission from the UE, which includes a response signal triggered by the reception of code 121 and contains data such as the code and the UE's unique device identifier, is received and detected by the primary BS / gNB 111, advantageously by at least one other BS / gNB or UE. In one embodiment, based on the UE's unique device identifier, the primary BS / gNB 111 can associate a location estimate with the corresponding response signal to determine the ID of the corresponding “target” UE. The reception timing and data content of these UL / SL response transmissions are then forwarded by the primary BS / gNB 111 to the LNF 140.

[0075] In step 207A, the primary BS / gNB 111 (or LNF 140) calculates the precise distance and approximate angle (azimuth) for all reflections (or reflections within a range of interest, such as a reduced angle of interest range) generated by the sensing signal 120 using conventional radar sensing techniques. For example, the primary BS / gNB 111 can use a frequency-modulated continuous wave (FMCW) radar to calculate the distance from the intermediate frequency and use an antenna array to calculate the approximate angle. Alternatively, other radar or radar-like distance and azimuth calculation techniques can be used. As described in step 202A, this function can be performed alternatively by an external BS / gNB or UE, such as a multistatic radar. The resulting radar map, including radar reflections and possibly noise reflections, is associated with the distance and approximate angle from the primary BS / gNB 111, respectively, and is transferred to the LNF 140 to determine the precise position.

[0076] In step 208A, the LNF140 associates those UEs that responded to code 121 with specific radar reflections via a first subprocess 200B. From this set of responding UEs, the LNF140 identifies one or more target UEs 112 whose precise positions should be calculated. This determination is made as follows: (i) Based on a policy (for example, all responding UEs become target UE112; UEs that remain unlocalized for longer than a threshold become target UE112) or other similar constant policies; (ii) In response to a request from a user or external function to locate a specific UE. When locating a specific UE, it is advantageous to trigger a response only from that UE by adding appropriate data to code 121 in step 205A (although this is not strictly necessary).

[0077] In step 209A, once associated with its radar reflection, the distance from the primary BS / gNB111 to the target UE112 is determined with high accuracy (using the distance to the appropriate radar reflection). To improve the accuracy of the bearing from the primary BS / gNB111 to the target UE112, angle measurements are improved via a second subprocess 200B using the uplink transmission from the UE112. The precise position of the target UE112 is calculated by LNF140 with the highest expected accuracy from the (distance, angle) data pair relative to the primary BS / gNB111. In most cases, this is expected to be the distance calculated from the radar measurement and the angle calculated from the uplink / sidelink transmission of the UE 112. However, this is not always the case. For example, if the primary BS / gNB111 has a large number of antennas and uplink / sidelink responses from UE112 are not received by additional BS / gNB130, the unadjusted angle from the radar may be more accurate than the angle measured from the uplink / sidelink transmission (which may be affected by, for example, multipath errors). To address such situations, the LNF140 can favorably include an expected range of accuracy for data measured in two ways according to measurement parameters (e.g., the number of additional BS / gNB130s that received uplink / sidelink responses, the number of antennas in the primary BS / gNB111, the angular range between UE112 and the primary BS / gNB111, and similar metadata). Such metadata is implementation-specific and can be measured empirically.

[0078] In step 210A, the precise location of target UE112 is transmitted by LNF140 to a downstream function stored in the database or to another action according to the policy.

[0079] First subprocess Figure 2B schematically shows a flowchart of the first subprocess 200B (UE-radar reflection matching) according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0080] In step 201B, the LNF 140 associates each UE that retransmitted code 121 with a specific radar reflection by matching the precise distance and approximate angle of the radar reflection with the approximate distance and angle measured via known uplink / sidelink localization techniques from the UE's uplink / sidelink transmission. Any uplink / sidelink localization technique can be used, such as techniques based on uplink / sidelink angle of arrival (AoA), received signal strength (RSS), or any other known localization technique. The LNF 140 filters the radar map by approximate distance and angle to the UE to identify the most likely radar reflection. If there is only one reasonable match, the UE is associated with that radar reflection.

[0081] In step 202B, if ambiguity remains, the LNF140 may attempt to resolve the following potential ambiguities in the UE-radar reflection matching. Several scenarios (a), (b), and (c) may occur:

[0082] (a) When multiple radar reflections plausibly match a certain UE (especially if it is the target UE 112), the LNF 140 can do the following: (i) The primary BS / gNB 111 is instructed to repeat the measurement at a higher power or more sensitive location of interest (i.e., retransmit sensing signal 120), and the process returns to step 201B using the new radar data. If the UE is moving, this second uplink / sidelink measurement provides a measure of the UE, which can be used to further filter the radar map by matching the Doppler frequency of the radar reflection with the velocity of the UE. If the velocity of the UE is known by other means, it can be used without a second uplink / sidelink measurement. If the UE is not moving but some plausible radar reflections are (measured by Doppler or by a shift in apparent position between subsequent radar measurements), these reflections can be excluded; (ii) The process can proceed to a second subprocess 200C (angle improvement), where a more precise angle to the target UE is calculated and ambiguity can be reduced by excluding some of the reflection; (iii) Filter radar reflections by signal intensity or angular range using knowledge of the size or material of the UE or any object attached thereto; (iv) Accept a certain degree of uncertainty and use the closest, most plausible match.

[0083] (b) If the radar reflection is not associated with a specific UE, the LNF140 may do the following: (i) Instruct the primary BS / gNB111 to ideally repeat the measurement at a higher power or more precise sensitivity at the approximate location of interest (i.e., retransmit sensing signal 120), and return to step 201B with the new radar data; (ii) Concluding that the UE is too small to generate radar reflections, only an approximate position by uplink / sidelink transmission is reported without enhancement by radar data. As stated elsewhere, even when enhancement by radar data is unavailable, the presence of code 121 can still provide advantages for localization. For example, if code 121 includes the angle radiated by the primary BS / gNB111 and the transmission is beamforming, the angle data in code 121 returned by the UE provides information about its approximate azimuth from the BS / gNB111, which can be used to resolve multipath errors that may affect localization techniques that operate only on the UE's uplink transmission.

[0084] (c) If there are multiple UEs (e.g., devices in close proximity to each other) that could potentially match a single radar reflection, the BS / gNB111 can do the following: (i) The sensing signal 120 is repeatedly transmitted with a different code 121 each time, so that code 121 sequentially triggers responses from each of the ambiguous UEs. This may resolve the situation in some, but not all, cases (for example, if some of the ambiguous UEs move away from the radar reflection between subsequent measurements). Optionally, in each measurement, ambiguous UEs not triggered by code 121 to generate uplink / sidelink responses can be recruited as coordinating UEs 113, 113', which can be done via code 121 specifically used for that purpose, or via other forms of signaling. Coordinating UEs 113, 113' can each sense the AoA of the signal from target UE 112, which helps identify which UE is close to a given radar reflection; (ii) Otherwise, the LNF140 can use the range for a single radar reflection as the precise distance to all ambiguous UEs.

[0085] In step 203B, additionally or alternatively, LNF140 may attempt to resolve any ambiguity by further improving the angle measurement to the UE through one of the techniques in the first subprocess 200C. In some cases, the ambiguity may be eliminated when more precise angle data becomes available.

[0086] Second subprocess Figure 2C schematically shows a flowchart of the second subprocess 200C (angle refinement) according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0087] In step 201C, depending on the content of reference numeral 121 and the number of cooperating external devices, the LNF140 may attempt to refine the angle estimate from the primary BS / gNB111 to the target UE112 through several methods shown in (a), (b), (c), (d), and (e) below:

[0088] (a) Repetition of single receiver uplink / sidelink AoA (i) If the retransmission of the UE code 121 is received only by the primary BS / gNB 111, the LNF 140 uses this transmission to measure an approximate angle to the UE via a first subprocess 200B. This first subprocess 200B can be repeated or iterated, which may help to achieve a better angle measurement. In particular, if a strong multipath component is present, using a different beamforming setting from the primary BS / gNB 111 for each transmission of the sensing signal 120 may be advantageous as it may help to identify a direct line of sight (LoS) path to the target UE 112.

[0089] (b) Refinement based on code content (i) As described above, the primary BS / gNB111 may optionally embed angular information, such as the transmission angle, into its transmitted code 121. Angular refinement is then achieved by simply decoding the content of the code 121 returned by the UE, which will vary depending on the angle from the primary BS / gNB111. This can be particularly useful in cases of strong multipathing, as it allows for easy identification of the LoS path from the primary BS / gNB111 to the target UE112.

[0090] (c) Multi-receiver uplink / sidelink positioning (i) If the retransmission of code 121 of target UE112 is received by multiple additional BS / gNB130s, they can cooperate to detect a more accurate angle of UE112 using known multi-AoA positioning, as described above, referring to, for example, techniques that mix angle and timing data, or techniques that operate on angle data only (or simply calculate its position directly). In techniques that mix timing and angle data, it is in most cases advantageous to use timing data from radar measurements (assuming successful UE-radar reflection matching). (ii) In order to support coordination between the primary BS / gNB111 and the additional BS / gNB130, in this case, code 121 may include data identifying the primary BS / gNB111 (or an ID suitable for network functions) so that radar and angular data from the primary BS / gNB111 can be combined by the LNF140 with angular or positional data from the additional BS / gNB130.

[0091] (d) Multi-cell ranging (i) Multiple BS / gNBs can cooperate to jointly transmit broadband ranging signals, and code 121 can include BS / gNB ID information. As a result, target UE 112 can send different uplink / sidelink responses to the received code 121, and each BS / gNB can receive its own code 121 response from target UE 112; (ii) The LNF140 can calculate the position of the target UE112 using position information received from multiple BS / gNBs.

[0092] (e) Modified bidirectional ranging (i) Primary BS / gNB111 receives both radar echoes and uplink / sidelink transmissions from target UE112. The time to arrival (ToA) of the uplink / sidelink transmission at primary BS / gNB111 is a function of the distance to target UE112 plus the (unknown) processing delay at target UE112. Using the round-trip time (RTT) from the radar reflection, LNF140 can calculate the processing delay (using the formula: delay = ToA - 0.5 * RTT), and thus the transmission time (ToT) of the uplink / sidelink transmission at target UE112 can be calculated; (ii) This ToT is transmitted to several other additional BS / gNB130 or coordinated UE113, 113' (location known) to enhance the AoA-based localization of the UE by rejecting multipath components by finding the shortest ToA signal arriving after the known ToT.

[0093] Network System Figure 3 schematically shows a network system 300 that can implement the main process 200A of Method 200, with reference to the system 100 of Figure 1, according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0094] As illustrated, the network system 300 includes a pallet of goods 301 containing an asset tracker 302 of interest for localization as a target UE 112, another pallet of goods 301' containing another asset tracker 302' of no interest for localization as a UE of no interest, an indoor base station 303 as a primary base station 111, and other more distant base stations 303' as additional base stations 130.

[0095] In step 300-1, referring to step 201A of main process 200A, the indoor base station 303 transmits a radar sensing signal 120 to sense its environment. The radar signal waveform includes a code 121 that can also be received by narrowband UEs 112, 113, and 113'.

[0096] In step 300-2, which references step 202A of the main process 200A, the radar signal interacts with palettes of physical objects in the environment, e.g., goods 301, 301', emitting radar reflections from a palette containing asset tracker 302 as target UE112 (this radar reflection serves to provide a precise distance to target UE112) and noise reflections from a “passive” palette containing other asset trackers 302' as uninterested UEs.

[0097] In step 300-3, which refers to steps 203A and 204A of the main process 200A, the asset tracker 302 as the target UE 112 receives and decodes code 121 before responding on the uplink by transmitting a response signal containing the code and a unique identifier of the asset tracker 302 as the target UE 112.

[0098] In step 300-4, which refers to steps 206A and 209A of the main process 200A, the uplink response transmission from asset tracker 302 as target UE 112 is received by indoor base station 303 as primary base station 111.

[0099] In step 300-4', which refers to steps 206A and 209A of the main process 200A, the uplink response transmission from asset tracker 302 as target UE112 is received by another more distant base station 303' or asset tracker 301'.

[0100] In step 300-5, referring to steps 207A and 209A of the main process 200A, the indoor base station 303, acting as the primary base station 111, identifies and locates the asset tracker 302 as the target UE 112 based on all angle data from uplink response transmissions to refine the angle measurement.

[0101] Network Access The method 200 described above can be applied to network access procedures in which an access device can transmit wireless sensing signals separately from the SSB / Master Information Block (MIB) or System Information Block 1 (SIB1).

[0102] Figure 4 schematically shows a time chart 400 representing an SSB burst 402 embedded in a wireless sensing signal 120 according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown, SSBs 401 (designated as SSB#0 to SSB#Lmax-1) are grouped into blocks to form an SSB burst 402 transmitted with a configurable period 403 of 5, 10, 20, 40, 80, or 160 milliseconds. The maximum number of SSBs 401 in a single burst 402 is indicated by Lmax. The SSBs 401 grouped into an SSB burst 402 participate in a beam sweep procedure. Each SSB 401 is associated with a different beam 404 (designated as B0 to BLmax-1) pointing in a different direction in space.

[0103] In this embodiment, after selecting beam 404 (associated with SSB401), reflection from the UE can be included in the random access channel (RACH) procedure.

[0104] In another embodiment, the code 121 embedded in the broadband wireless sensing signal 120 may be an SSB 401 from a BS / gNB. The same code content can sweep the beam 404 in different directions using beam sweeping techniques, and the target UE 112 can detect the optimal SSB receiving beam direction and respond with a beamformed signal in the direction of the optimal SSB receiving beam direction. The target UE 112 can embed optimal beam direction information into the code response.

[0105] In another embodiment, the code response may be a 4-step or 2-step RACH preamble transmission (Msg1 or MsgA), respectively.

[0106] In another embodiment, the access device can use information about the beam 404 selected by the UE, along with location information learned about the UE, to determine which beam 404 should be used for subsequent communication. For example, the UE may have selected a particular beam 404 because it has the highest signal strength, but the access device can determine from the sensing signal 120 that the particular beam 404 is moving into an area where it is not the best option. Based on this, the access device can, for example, change the direction of the particular beam 404 or notify the UE of its preferred beam configuration.

[0107] Uplink data transmission In one embodiment, the code 121 embedded in the broadband wireless sensing signal may be physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) scheduling information for the UE, and the code response may be a scheduled uplink transmission from the scheduled UE.

[0108] Uplink Sidelink Kyodo News Figure 5 schematically shows a time-frequency resource graph 500 of block resources RB_UL and RB_SL for uplink-sidelink joint communication according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0109] Here, the vertical axis, denoted as F_RB, represents the frequency domain, and the horizontal axis, denoted as T, represents the time domain, where the largest unit is a frame. Frames are subdivided into subframes, which in turn are divided into slots containing symbols. As shown in the diagram, sidelink communication between UEs can be scheduled in conjunction with uplink communication from the UE to the BS / gNB.

[0110] In this embodiment, the same code response can be replicated simultaneously in uplink and sidelink transmissions.

[0111] Figure 6 schematically shows Figure 600 of various entities 111, 112, 113, 113', and 130 in the uplink-sidelink joint news agency according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0112] In this embodiment of Figure 600, new uplink-sidelink co-communication control information can be defined so that BS / gNB111 can specifically schedule the code response from target UE112 as uplink-sidelink co-communication. In this case, the uplink communication can share the same spectral resources of the resource pool (designated as SLRP in Figure 5) for the sidelink communication. From there, BS / gNB111 and co-communicating UE113, 113' can receive the uplink-sidelink co-transmission together.

[0113] In another embodiment, the primary BS / gNB111 can share uplink-sidelink co-communication scheduling information with other additional BS / gNB130s. From there, the other additional BS / gNB130s can receive the uplink-sidelink co-transmissions together.

[0114] Integrated wireless sensing and communication scheduling The primary BS / gNB111 may need to inform other additional BS / gNB130s or coordinating UE113, 113' when and where integrated radio sensing and communication signals may be transmitted within the time-frequency-spatial resource grid.

[0115] In one embodiment, the integrated wireless sensing signal and communication signal are scheduled by the network in the form of a kind of downlink control information, and the network notifies the coordinating UEs 113, 113' of the scheduling information before transmitting the wireless sensing signal and communication signal.

[0116] In another embodiment, the time-frequency resource configuration of the integrated radio sensing and communication signals (e.g., frequency range and time-domain allocation for the broadband radio sensing signal 120, frequency range and time-domain allocation for the embedded code / data 121 for the broadband radio sensing signal 120) can be configured by upper-layer RRC signaling from the network to the coordinating UEs 113, 113', so that the scheduling information transmitted by the network to the coordinating UEs 113, 113' is in a compact format and only requires the inclusion of an index pointing to a table of parameters set by the upper-layer RRC signaling.

[0117] In another embodiment, a narrowband communication signal embedded in the broadband wireless sensing signal 120 can use legacy downlink assignment via PDCCH to notify the target UE 112 to receive downlink code / data transmissions on the physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH).

[0118] In another embodiment, a narrowband communication signal embedded in the broadband wireless sensing signal 120 can use a new type of downlink control information format to directly deliver the code / data 121 via the PDCCH without transmitting the code / data 121 over the PDSCH.

[0119] In summary, the present invention proposes a system 100 and method 200 for locating low-complexity devices such as UEs, e.g., low-capability UEs (e.g., UEs having only a single antenna and / or UEs implementing only narrowband signals and / or UEs powered by small cells or ambient energy harvesting technology), or higher-capability UEs, by joint radio (radar) sensing for timing measurement and uplink / sidelink pilot transmission for angle / identification, wherein the radio (radar) sensing waveform / signal 120 embeds data representing a code / data 121, which can be detected and decoded by the sensed target UE 112 and used to generate an uplink / sidelink transmission that also includes code / data 121 or data that can be derived from embedded code / data 121.

[0120] By receiving uplink / sidelink transmissions of codes / data 121 at both the original / primary base station 111 and several other / additional base stations 130 or anchor / cooperative UEs 113, 113', multiple redundant angle of arrival (AoA) measurements can be derived and added to the precise distance measurements obtained by the radar, allowing base stations 111, 130 to jointly locate and identify the target UE 112.

[0121] Thus, the proposed invention "inherits" the broadband nature of radar 111, 130 to accurately locate the target device 112 in the distance domain as well as the speed of the moving target device 112, and then uses the (narrowband) response from the target device 112 to improve positioning / locating accuracy in the angular domain, thereby enabling the identification of the target device / object 112. Accordingly, reference numeral 121 can be included in the narrowband portion of the spectrum of the entire radio sensing signal 120, i.e., in the part of the sensing signal 120 that can be received and decoded by the localized target device 112. Reference numeral 121 can be part of the radio sensing signal 120 itself, or it can be transmitted as a preamble that can be decoded by the receiver 112 before or after the radio sensing signal 120, for example, before the radio sensing signal 120 is transmitted.

[0122] More generally, the present invention can provide the following features: A sensing device operating in a system for localizing narrowband UEs using encoded wireless sensing signals; A wireless sensing signal with a bandwidth wider than the bandwidth that the UE can receive; A radio sensing signal that embeds data (i.e., a code) within a subsection of the bandwidth that the UE can receive; When the UE receives the code within this subsection, it generates a normalized response, which can be used to identify the UE, associate the identified UE with radar reflections, and enable additional functions (e.g., localization in an enhanced angular region).

[0123] Although the present invention has been illustrated and described in detail in the drawings and the foregoing description, such illustrations and descriptions should be considered illustrative or descriptive and not limiting. The present invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiments. It can be applied to a variety of types, including mobile phones, vital sign monitoring / telemetry devices, smartwatches, detectors, vehicles (for vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communication or more generally vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communication), V2X devices, IoT hubs, IoT devices including low-power medical sensors for health monitoring, medical (emergency) diagnostic and treatment devices, hospital or first responder devices, virtual reality (VR) headsets, and more.

[0124] A base station can be any network access device that provides a geographical service area (e.g., Node B: eNB, eNodeB, gNB, gNodeB, ng-eNB, access point, etc.).

[0125] Although a broadband wireless sensing signal is used in the above embodiment, the present invention is also applicable to other sensing signals such as OFDM-based sensing signals and chirp signals.

[0126] Furthermore, at least some of the embodiments described above can be implemented to provide enhanced network functions and equipment for 5G / 6G / xG cellular networks.

[0127] Other modifications of the disclosed embodiments can be understood and implemented by those skilled in the art in carrying out the claimed invention, from a consideration of the drawings, disclosures, and appended claims. In the claims, the word “has” does not preclude other elements or steps, and the indefinite article “a” or “an” does not preclude plurality. A single processor or other unit can fulfill the functions of several items enumerated in the claims. The mere fact that certain means are described in mutually different dependent claims does not imply that combinations of these means cannot be used advantageously. The foregoing description details certain embodiments of the invention. However, however detailed the foregoing may be in the text, it will be understood that the invention can be carried out in many forms and is therefore not limited to the disclosed embodiments. It should be noted that the use of certain terms in describing certain features or embodiments of the invention does not mean that the terms are redefined herein to limit them to certain features of the features or embodiments of the invention to which they relate.

[0128] Furthermore, where expressions similar to “at least one of A, B, and C” are used, generally such configurations are intended to be understood by those skilled in the art, for example, “a system having at least one of A, B, and C” includes, but is not limited to, systems having only A, only B, only C, A and B, B and C, A and C, A and B and C, etc. Where expressions similar to “at least one of A, B, C, etc” are used, generally such configurations are intended to be understood by those skilled in the art, for example, “a system having at least one of A, B, or C” includes, but is not limited to, systems having only A, only B, only C, A and B, B and C, A and C, A and B and C, etc. A person skilled in the art will further understand that virtually any alternative phrase and / or expression indicating two or more alternative terms in the detailed description of the invention, claims, or drawings should be assumed to include the possibility of including either one of the terms, either of the terms, or both terms. For example, the phrase "A or B" is understood to include the possibilities of "A" or "B" or "A and B".

[0129] At least some steps of the described operation, as shown in Figures 2A to 2C, can each be implemented as program code in at least one computer program and / or as dedicated hardware for the associated network device or function. The computer program may be stored and / or distributed on a suitable medium such as an optical storage medium or a solid-state medium supplied together with or as part of other hardware, but it may also be delivered in other forms such as the Internet or other wired or wireless telecommunications systems.

Claims

1. A method for obtaining the position estimation of a target device, the method is: The steps include transmitting a sensing signal using a transmitting sensing device, In response, the target device receives and uses the sensing signal accompanied by a code. A method of having.

2. The receiving sensing device detects the reflected sensing signal, The receiving sensing device determines the position estimation based on the reflected sensing signal, The method according to claim 1, having the following characteristics:

3. The method according to claim 2, wherein the transmitting sensing device and the receiving sensing device are located in the same position.

4. The aforementioned position estimation is, angle of arrival, Speed, Direction of movement, Direction, and distance, The method according to claim 2 or 3, comprising one or more of the above.

5. The method according to claim 2 or 3, further comprising the step of detecting a response signal transmitted from the target device and including the code, or a response signal derived from the code, using the receiving sensing device.

6. The method according to claim 5, further comprising the step of associating the position estimation with the response signal using the receiving sensing device, wherein the response signal includes an identifier for the target device.

7. The method according to claim 5, wherein the receiving sensing device determines the ID of the target device based on the response signal.

8. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the sensing signal is transmitted over a wide bandwidth to enable reflection of the sensing signal.

9. The method according to claim 8, wherein the symbol is included in a narrow band of the broadband sensing signal, and the narrow band overlaps with the receiving band of the target device.

10. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the reference numerals are included in the sensing signal, or optionally included in the preamble of the sensing signal or the postamble of the sensing signal, thereby accompanying the sensing signal.

11. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the reference numerals include data relating to transmission parameters, and the transmission parameters include one or more of the transmission angle, beam ID, and transmission power.

12. The method according to claim 5, further comprising the step of transferring the data contained in the response signal to a position determination function using the receiving sensing device.

13. A method for determining the location of a target device, the method being performed on a target device that receives a sensing signal accompanied by a code, A step of generating a response signal using the aforementioned code, A method comprising the step of transmitting the aforementioned response signal.

14. The method according to claim 13, wherein the response signal includes the identifier of the target device and the reference numeral (121).

15. The method according to claim 13 or 14, wherein the response signal is generated only when it is determined that the reference numeral corresponds to the target device.

16. A transmitter configured to transmit sensing signals, A controller configured to add a code received from a target device and used in the response to the sensing signal, A transmitting sensing device having [a certain feature].

17. A sensor configured to detect reflected sensing signals, A controller configured to determine a position estimate based on the reflected sensing signal, A receiving sensing device having [a certain feature].

18. A receiver configured to receive a code associated with a sensing signal, A controller configured to generate a response signal using the aforementioned symbols, A transmitter configured to transmit the aforementioned response signal, A target device having

19. A system comprising at least the transmitting sensing device described in claim 16, the receiving sensing device described in claim 17, and the target device described in claim 18.

20. A computer program that is executed by a computer and causes the computer to perform the method described in any one of claims 1 to 3 and 13 to 15.

Images