Method and apparatus for transmission parameter indication to support WLAN sensing

Abstract

To provide a method and apparatus for transmit parameter indication in support of Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) sensing.SOLUTION: In an apparatus comprising a Radio Frequency (RF) interface and processor circuitry coupled with the RF interface, the processor circuitry decodes an Information Element (IE) received from a Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) device via the RF interface. The IE indicates a transmit parameter for a transmission of a Physical layer Protocol Data Unit (PPDU) of the WLAN device. The processor circuitry performs WLAN sensing on the WLAN device based on the IE.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] FIELD Embodiments of the present disclosure relate generally to wireless communications, and more particularly to a method and apparatus for transmit parameter indication in support of Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) sensing. [Background technology]

[0002] WLAN sensing is typically used to characterize the environment in which a WLAN device is located. WLAN sensing is affected by various factors, such as the movement of people in the environment. Furthermore, several other factors may be investigated to improve the performance of WLAN sensing. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0003] Embodiments of the present disclosure are illustrated by way of example, and not limitation, in the figures of the accompanying drawings, in which like reference symbols indicate similar elements and in which:

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[0004] Various aspects of the exemplary embodiments are described using terms commonly employed by those skilled in the art to convey the contents of the disclosure to others skilled in the art. However, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that many alternative embodiments can be implemented using some of the described aspects. For purposes of explanation, specific numbers, materials, and configurations are set forth to provide a thorough understanding of the exemplary embodiments. However, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that alternative embodiments can be implemented without the specific details. In other instances, well-known features may be omitted or simplified to avoid obscuring the exemplary embodiments.

[0005] Furthermore, while various operations are described sequentially as multiple discrete operations in a manner that is most useful in understanding the exemplary embodiments, the order of description should not be construed to imply that these operations are necessarily order dependent, and in particular, these operations do not have to be performed in the order presented.

[0006] The phrases "in an embodiment," "in one embodiment," and "in some embodiments" are used repeatedly herein. Such phrases generally do not refer to the same embodiment, but may refer to the same embodiment. The terms "comprising," "having," and "including" are synonymous unless the context dictates otherwise. The phrases "A or B" and "A / B" mean "(A), (B), or (A and B)."

[0007] 1 is a network diagram illustrating an exemplary network environment according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG. 1, a wireless network 100 may include one or more user devices 102 and one or more access points 104 that may communicate according to the IEEE 802.11 communications standard. The user devices 102 may be mobile devices that are non-stationary (e.g., do not have a fixed location) or may be stationary devices.

[0008] In some embodiments, the user device 102 and the AP 104 may include one or more functional modules similar to those in the functional diagram of FIG. 11 and / or the example machine / system of FIG.

[0009] One or more user devices 102 and / or APs 104 may be operable by one or more users 110. It should be noted that any addressable unit may be a station (STA). A STA may exhibit multiple different characteristics, each defining its function. For example, a single addressable unit may simultaneously be a portable STA, a quality-of-service (QoS) STA, a subordinate STA, and a hidden STA. One or more user devices 102 and one or more APs 104 may be STAs. One or more user devices 102 and / or APs 104 may operate as a personal basic service set (PBSS) control point / access point (PCP / AP). The user device 102 (e.g., 1024, 1026, or 1028) and / or AP 104 may comprise any suitable processor-driven device, including, but not limited to, a mobile device or a non-mobile device (e.g., a stationary device). For example, the user device 102 and / or the AP 104 may be a user equipment (UE), a station (STA), an access point (AP), a software enabled AP (SoftAP), a personal computer (PC), a wearable wireless device (e.g., a bracelet, a watch, glasses, a ring, etc.), a desktop computer, a mobile computer, a laptop computer, an ultrabook, etc. TMcomputer, notebook computer, tablet computer, server computer, handheld computer, handheld device, internet of things (IoT) device, sensor device, personal digital assistant (PDA) device, handheld PDA device, on-board device, off-board device, hybrid device (e.g., combining cellular telephone functionality with PDA device functionality), consumer device, vehicular device, non-vehicular device, mobile or portable device, non-mobile or non-portable device, mobile phone, cellular telephone, personal communications service (PCS) device, PDA device incorporating a wireless communication device, mobile or portable global positioning system (GPS) device, digital video broadcasting (DVB) device, relatively small computing device, non-desktop computer, "carry small live large" (CSLL) device, ultra mobile device (UMD), ultra mobile PC (UMPC), mobile internet device, MID), "origami" device or computing device, device supporting dynamically composable computing (DCC), context-aware device, video device, audio device, A / V device, set-top box (STB), Blu-ray disc (BD) player, BD recorder, digital video disc (DVD) player, high definitionThis may include HD DVD players, DVD recorders, HD DVD recorders, personal video recorders (PVRs), broadcast HD receivers, video sources, audio sources, video sinks, audio sinks, stereo tuners, broadcast radio receivers, flat panel displays, personal media players (PMPs), digital video cameras (DVCs), digital audio players, speakers, audio receivers, audio amplifiers, gaming devices, data sources, data sinks, digital still cameras (DSCs), media players, smartphones, televisions, music players, etc. Other devices may also be included in this list, including smart devices such as lamps, climate control, auto parts, household parts, appliances, etc.

[0010] As used herein, the term "Internet of Things (IoT) device" is used to refer to any object (e.g., device, sensor, etc.) that has an addressable interface (e.g., Internet protocol (IP) address, Bluetooth® identifier (ID), near-field communication (NFC) ID, etc.) and can transmit information to one or more other devices over a wired or wireless connection. The IoT device may have a passive communication interface such as a quick response (QR) code, radio-frequency identification (RFID) tag, NFC tag, etc., or an active communication interface such as a modem, transceiver, transceiver, etc. The IoT device can be embedded in and / or controlled / monitored by a central processing unit (CPU), microprocessor, ASIC, etc., and can be configured for connection to an IoT network such as a local ad hoc network or the Internet, with a specific set of attributes (e.g., device state or status such as whether the IoT device is on or off, open or closed, idle or active, available or busy for task execution, etc., cooling or heating function, environmental monitoring or recording function, lighting function, sound-emitting function, etc.). For example, the IoT device may include, but is not limited to, a refrigerator, toaster, oven, microwave oven, freezer, dishwasher, dish, hand tool, clothes washer, clothes dryer, stove, air conditioner, thermostat, television, lighting fixture, vacuum cleaner, sprinkler, electric meter, gas meter, etc., as long as the device has an addressable communication interface for communicating with the IoT network. The IoT device may also include a mobile phone, desktop computer, laptop computer, tablet computer, personal digital assistant (PDA), etc.Thus, an IoT network may consist of a combination of "legacy" internet-accessible devices (e.g., laptop or desktop computers, mobile phones, etc.) in addition to devices that typically do not have internet connectivity (e.g., dishwashers, etc.).

[0011] The user device 102 and / or AP 104 may also comprise a mesh station in a mesh network, for example, according to one or more IEEE 802.11 and / or 3GPP standards.

[0012] Either the user device 102 (e.g., user devices 1024, 1026, 1028) or the AP 104 may be configured to communicate with each other wirelessly or wired via one or more communication networks 130 and / or 135. The user devices 102 may also communicate with each other peer-to-peer or directly, regardless of the presence of the AP 104. Either of the communication networks 130 and / or 135 may include, for example, a broadcast network, a cable network, a public network (e.g., the Internet), a private network, a wireless network, a cellular network, or any other suitable combination of different types of appropriate communication networks such as private and / or public networks, but is not limited thereto. Further, either of the communication networks 130 and / or 135 may have any suitable communication range associated therewith, for example, a global network (e.g., the Internet), a metropolitan area network (MAN), a wide area network (WAN), a local area network (LAN), or a personal area network (PAN). Further, either of the communication networks 130 and / or 135 may include, but is not limited to, coaxial cables, twisted pair wires, optical fibers, hybrid fiber coaxial (HFC) media, microwave terrestrial transceivers, radio frequency communication media, white space communication media, ultra-high frequency communication media, satellite communication media, or any combination thereof, and may include any type of media over which network traffic can be carried.

[0013] Either the user device 102 (e.g., user devices 1024, 1026, 1028) or the AP 104 may include one or more communication antennas. The one or more communication antennas may be any suitable type of antenna corresponding to the communication protocol used by the user device 102 (e.g., user devices 1024, 1026, and 1028) and the AP 104. Some non-limiting examples of suitable communication antennas include Wi-Fi antennas, antennas compliant with the IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) 802.11 family of standards, directional antennas, omnidirectional antennas, dipole antennas, folded dipole antennas, patch antennas, multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) antennas, omni-directional antennas, quasi-omni-directional antennas, and the like. The one or more communication antennas may be communicatively coupled to the radio component to transmit and / or receive signals such as communication signals to / from the user device 102 and / or the AP 104 and / or communication signals from / to the user device 102 and / or the AP 104.

[0014] Either the user device 102 (e.g., user devices 1024, 1026, 1028) or the AP 104 may be configured to perform wireless communication in a wireless network and perform directional transmission and / or directional reception. Either the user device 102 (e.g., user devices 1024, 1026, 1028) or the AP 104 may be configured to perform such directional transmission and / or reception using a set of multiple antenna arrays (e.g., DMG antenna arrays, etc.). Each of the multiple antenna arrays may be used for transmission and / or reception in its respective specific direction or range of directions. Either the user device 102 (e.g., user devices 1024, 1026, 1028) or the AP 104 may be configured to perform any given directional transmission towards one or more defined transmission sectors. Either the user device 102 (e.g., user devices 1024, 1026, 1028) or the AP 104 may be configured to perform any given directional reception from one or more defined reception sectors.

[0015] MIMO beamforming in a wireless network may be achieved using radio frequency (RF) beamforming and / or digital beamforming. In some embodiments, when performing a given MIMO transmission, the user device 102 and / or the AP 104 may be configured to use all or part of its one or more communication antennas to perform MIMO beamforming.

[0016] Either the user device 102 (e.g., user devices 1024, 1026, 1028) or the AP 104 may include any suitable radio and / or transceiver for transmitting and / or receiving radio frequency (RF) signals within a bandwidth and / or channel corresponding to a communication protocol utilized by either the user device 102 or the AP 104 to communicate with each other. The radio component may include hardware and / or software for modulating and / or demodulating communication signals according to a pre-established transmission protocol. The radio component may further include hardware and / or software instructions for communicating via one or more Wi-Fi and / or Wi-Fi Direct protocols, such as those standardized by the IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) 802.11 standard. It should be understood that this list of communication channels according to a particular 802.11 standard is only a partial list, and other 802.11 standards (e.g., Next Generation Wi-Fi or other standards) may be used. In some embodiments, non-Wi-Fi protocols such as Bluetooth, dedicated short-range communication (DSRC), ultra-high frequency (UHF) (e.g., IEEE 802.11af, IEEE 802.22), white band frequencies (e.g., white space), or other packetized wireless communications may be used for communication between devices. The wireless components may include any known receiver and baseband suitable for communicating via the communication protocol. The wireless components may further include a low noise amplifier (LNA), additional signal amplifiers, an analog-to-digital (A / D) converter, one or more buffers, and a digital baseband.

[0017] To enhance the performance of WLAN sensing, embodiments are provided for indicating transmission parameters that support WLAN sensing.

[0018] Wi-Fi sensing is a Wi-Fi technology for implementing sensor and radar-like applications such as: -Motion detection: Detecting environmental changes between devices, including those resulting from human movement. - Remote Patient Monitoring: Passively monitor patient movement, including fall detection and other motion alerts. - Passive positioning: determining the location of people, animals and objects not carrying wireless devices in pre-mapped / scanned / trained locations. - Life Detection: Distinguishing inanimate objects from animate ones through the detection of vital signs and minute movements. -Vital signs monitoring: non-contact estimation of respiratory rate and / or heart rate.

[0019] Typically, Wi-Fi sensing implementations include two categories. The same device transmits and receives waveforms like traditional radar (e.g., Frequency Modulated Continuous Wave (FMCW) technology). This is usually implemented using mmWave technology (IEEE 802.11ad / ay) and Doppler processing. It is typically used for short-range, high-resolution applications such as gesture recognition and vital signs monitoring. Sensing is performed by tracking one or more wireless links between one "sensing" STA (e.g., AP) and one or more transmitting STAs (e.g., clients). Typically, this is implemented using sub-7 (e.g., 2.4 / 5 / 6) GHz Wi-Fi technology and utilizes artificial intelligence (AI) / machine learning (ML) algorithms to classify time variations in the wireless channel into events / activities. This supports wide coverage (e.g., single-family homes) and low-resolution applications such as home security and smart buildings.

[0020] WLAN sensing implementations typically rely on solutions that (1) force participating STAs to maintain / freeze their transmission parameters and / or (2) enable participating STAs to indicate relevant transmission parameters through the backchannel. Such WLAN sensing implementations are always subject to performance degradation whenever one or more of the STAs participating in the sensing procedure change their transmission parameters, e.g., always change the transmission power level, beamforming matrix, and antenna / antenna set used. This is because there are no definitions and procedures that enable participating STAs to indicate transmission parameters and adaptations.

[0021] The present disclosure is mainly described based on WLAN sensing applications (e.g., the second category above) that rely primarily on tracking one or more wireless links over time. Such applications rely on the fact that the movement of people or objects around a given environment can affect how Wi-Fi signals propagate from a transmitter to a receiver (e.g., creating and destroying propagation paths to generate time-varying multipath fading). However, the solutions in the present disclosure are applicable to other WLAN sensing applications (e.g., sensing applications that rely on Doppler processing). The present disclosure is not limited in this regard.

[0022] Channel estimation of a wireless link is expected to show little or no time variation when the environment is static, and to show variation when the environment is not static, such as when people are walking in the monitored environment. However, these expected behaviors depend on the assumption that the sensing transmitter does not change these transmission parameters when transmitting packets used for WLAN sensing purposes. However, most Wi-Fi devices adapt their transmission parameters over time for multiple reasons. This fact, if not properly addressed, can significantly degrade the performance of WLAN sensing. For example, different sets of transmission parameters can result in very different channel estimates.

[0023] Typically, the sensing receiver does not recognize when (or how) such changes occur, resulting in a potential performance loss for WLAN sensing as a result of transmission parameter adaptation. Therefore, the sensing receiver cannot distinguish whether the observed changes occurred as a result of a change in the channel (such as when people are walking in an environment) that is the target of Wi-Fi sensing, or as a result of a change / adaptation in the transmission parameters.

[0024] For ease of explanation, the sensing transmitter is the STA that transmits the Physical layer Protocol Data Unit (PPDU) used for sensing measurements in a sensing session, and the sensing receiver is the STA that receives the PPDU transmitted by the sensing transmitter and performs sensing measurements in the sensing session. If the sensing receiver has knowledge of the transmission parameters used in the transmission of each PPDU it receives, it can not only determine when adaptation occurs, but in some cases can remove or reduce the impact of such adaptation.

[0025] To notify a transmitting station (e.g., a sensing receiver) that executes WLAN sensing of transmission parameters used in PPDU transmission, a new information element (IE) may be defined to carry such information. The new information element may be referred to as a WLAN sensing element. The transmission parameters may include Physical layer (PHY) parameters.

[0026] FIG. 2a is a schematic diagram of an exemplary WLAN sensing element 201 according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. In FIG. 2a, fields labeled PHY1, PHY2, ..., and PHYn of the WLAN sensing element 201 correspond to various PHY parameters such as TX power levels that are not seen in the PHY header of the PPDU.

[0027] In some embodiments, as shown in FIG. 2a, the WLAN sensing element 201 may further include other fields, such as an element ID, a length, and an element ID extension.

[0028] FIG. 2b is a schematic diagram of an exemplary WLAN sensing element 202 according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. The WLAN sensing element 202 in FIG. 2b shows a second possible format of the proposed information element.

[0029] Compared with the WLAN sensing element 201 of FIG. 2a, the WLAN sensing element 202 includes an additional field before the PHY1, PHY2, ..., and PHYn fields, which is shown as the "parameter bitmap" field in FIG. 2b. Through the "parameter bitmap" field, the PHY parameters included in the information element can be determined via the bitmap. In some embodiments, the length of this field is fixed, and by using 0 and 1, it indicates the parameter values included in the element. For example, the first bit in the bitmap may indicate the transmission (TX) power level, the second bit may indicate the antenna set used, and so on. In this case, if the first bit in the bitmap is equal to 1, PHY1 includes the TX power used in the transmission of the PPDU. If the first bit in the bitmap is equal to 0 and the second bit in the bitmap is equal to 1, PHY1 indicates the antenna set used in the transmission of the PPDU. In some embodiments, the length of each PHY field may be predefined or configured by signaling.

[0030] In some embodiments, the proposed WLAN sensing elements (e.g., WLAN sensing element 201 and WLAN sensing element 202) may be extended to include more fields than those used for transmitting PHY parameters, such as, among other things, an address, the duration of the current WLAN sensing session, and an indication of a request to extend the WLAN sensing session. That is, in addition to the PHY parameter information, additional fields may be defined within the WLAN sensing element to carry information related to the sensing session and / or application.

[0031] In some embodiments, the proposed information element may be used in other procedures other than WLAN sensing. In this case, the information element may be referred to as a "transmission parameter element", and the format may be extensible.

[0032] In some embodiments, the WLAN sensing element may be carried within an existing management frame such as a beacon frame. This enables, for example, a sensing receiver to track beacon frames that are periodically broadcast by an AP to support WLAN sensing. Alternatively, in some embodiments, as described below, a new management frame may be defined to carry the WLAN sensing element.

[0033] In some embodiments, the action type of the new management frame may be "No Ack". For example, the new management frame may be referred to as a WLAN sensing frame. Similarly to the above, the new management frame may also be referred to as a transmission parameter frame for reporting transmission parameters in addition to the use of WLAN sensing.

[0034] FIG. 3a is a schematic diagram of an exemplary WLAN sensing frame 301 according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG. 3a, the WLAN sensing frame 301 may include a field "Category", a field "Action", and fields "PHY1", "PHY2",..., "PHYn" indicating transmission parameters used for WLAN sensing.

[0035] FIG. 3b is a schematic diagram of an exemplary WLAN sensing frame 302 according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. The WLAN sensing frame 302 in FIG. 3b shows a second possible format of the proposed new management frame. As shown in FIG. 3b, the disclosed WLAN sensing element is included in the WLAN sensing frame 302.

[0036] Similar to the above WLAN sensing element, in addition to PHY parameter information, in some embodiments, additional fields may be defined within the WLAN sensing frames 301 and 302 to carry information regarding the sensing session and / or application.

[0037] The information contained in the WLAN sensing element / frame is detailed below.

[0038] As noted above, various fields (PHY1, PHY2, ..., and PHYn) within the WLAN sensing element / frame may correspond to PHY parameters not found in the PHY header of the PPDU.

[0039] In some embodiments, the "PHY parameters" may include the TXVECTOR value used in generating the PPDU.

[0040] For example, for high-throughput (HT), very-high throughput (VHT), high-efficiency (HE) and extremely high throughput (EHT) PPDUs, these fields may indicate one or more of the following TXVECTOR parameters: - TXPWR_LEVEL_INDEX: Indicates which of the available TxPowerLevel attributes defined in the Master Information Block (MIB) is used for the current transmission. - N_TX: indicates the number of transmit chains; ANTENNA_SET: Indicates which of the available antennas will be used in transmission.

[0041] Other PHY parameters may also be defined when the disclosed WLAN sensing elements and / or WLAN sensing frames are carried within a HT, VHT, HE, or EHT PPDU, although the disclosure is not limited in this respect.

[0042] For Directional Multi-Gigabit (DMG) and Enhanced Directional Multi-Gigabit (EDMG) PPDUs, these fields may indicate one or more of the following TXVECTOR parameters: -ANT_CONFIG: Indicates which antenna configuration will be used throughout the transmission of the packet and when to switch configurations. -TX_SECTOR_CONFIG_INDEX: An integer to identify the TX sector configuration index. - CSD_APPLIED: Indicates that a Cyclic Shift Delay (CSD) is applied to different transmit chains.

[0043] Other PHY parameters may also be defined for the proposed WLAN sensing elements and / or WLAN sensing frames carried within the DMG and EDMG PPDUs, although the disclosure is not limited in this respect.

[0044] These fields in the WLAN sensing element / frame may also contain indications of PHY parameters that are implementation specific and are not passed to the PHY through the TXVECTOR. For example, in generating PPDUs for HT, VHT, HE, and EHT, the transmitter uses a spatial mapping matrix Q that maps the space-time streams to the transmit chains. k You can also use the matrix Q k is determined by the PHY in an implementation-specific manner and is not controlled by the TXVECTOR parameter. As a result, a STA may use a different spatial mapping matrix in each PPDU transmission. Therefore, the PHY field in the WLAN sensing element / frame may be defined with one of the following possible definitions: A single bit indicates, for example, the matrix Q used in the transmission of the PPDU. kmay indicate being the same as the matrix used in the last transmission to the same user or set of users. If the bit is equal to 0, this may indicate a change in matrix Q k of. - Indication by multiple bits. This indicates the matrix Q used through the transmission of a packet k configuration and when to switch the configuration. The mapping between the index and matrix Q k is unknown to the receiving STA, but the receiving STA can still track changes to Q k and, in some cases, even "combine" PPDUs transmitted with the same configuration over time.

[0045] In some embodiments, to enable a sensing receiver to recognize that a particular PPDU may be used for WLAN sensing purposes, for example, if the PPDU contains a WLAN sensing element therein, an indication for indicating the presence of the WLAN sensing element / frame may be included in the PHY header. The indication may trigger the use of different channel estimation algorithms or receivers, among other implementation issues, to store the acquired channel estimates until the decoding of the WLAN sensing element / frame.

[0046] In some embodiments, for an HT PPDU, the indication may be included in the HT-SIG; for a VHT PPDU, the indication may be included in the VHT-SIG-A; for a HE PPDU, the indication may be included in the HE-SIG-A; for a DMG PPDU, the indication may be included in the header; for an EDMG PPDU, the indication may be included in the EDMG-Header-A. In some embodiments, the indication may be included in a field different from the above. The present disclosure is not limited in this regard.

[0047] It is beneficial to add little or no load from WLAN sensing to the WLAN. Thus, whenever possible (e.g., depending on the requirements of the sensing application), WLAN sensing may utilize PPDUs transmitted for purposes other than WLAN sensing (e.g., transmission of data frames).

[0048] In some embodiments, when the sensing application uses PPDUs transmitted for different purposes, it is important that one or more sensing receivers can still obtain the information contained in the WLAN sensing element / frame. Thus, when transmitting a PPDU having an Aggregation MAC Protocol Data Unit (A-MPDU), or more generally, when transmitting a frame aggregatable with other MAC Protocol Data Units (MPDUs), the sensing transmitter may aggregate the WLAN sensing element / frame so that the sensing receiver can obtain knowledge of the PHY parameters used for these transmissions.

[0049] In some embodiments, the sensing transmitter makes a best effort to aggregate the WLAN sensing element / frame as one of the MPDUs in each of the PPDUs transmitted, especially when it is recognized that the PPDU can be used in support of WLAN sensing. This process effectively reduces the overhead of WLAN sensing since the PPDUs transmitted for data exchange can also be used, for example, by WLAN sensing.

[0050] FIG. 4 is a flowchart of a method 400 for transmission parameter indication to support WLAN sensing according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. Method 400 may include steps 410 and 420.

[0051] At 410, an information element (IE) received from the WLAN is decoded. The IE indicates transmission parameters for the WLAN device's transmission of the PPDU.

[0052] At 420, WLAN sensing is performed on the WLAN device based on the IE.

[0053] Method 400 may include more or fewer steps, and this is not a limitation of this disclosure.

[0054] In some embodiments, the IE is carried within an existing management frame or a dedicated management frame.

[0055] In some embodiments, based on the IE, it is determined when a transmission parameter of the WLAN device changes, and if it is determined that the transmission parameter of the WLAN device changes, WLAN sensing is performed based on the changed transmission parameter.

[0056] In some embodiments, the transmission parameters include PHY parameters. In some embodiments, the PHY parameters include TXVECTOR values. In some embodiments, the PHY parameters indicate a transmit power level, a number of transmit chains, an antenna used for transmission, an antenna configuration used for transmission, a transmit sector combination index, or application of CSD. In some embodiments, the PHY parameters include implementation-specific parameters.

[0057] In some embodiments, the IE is included in a PPDU, and the PPDU includes a PHY header that indicates that the IE is included in the PPDU.

[0058] In some embodiments, the IE further indicates other information related to WLAN sensing.

[0059] FIG. 5 is a flowchart of a method 500 for transmission parameter indication to support WLAN sensing according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. Method 500 may include steps 510 and 520.

[0060] In 510, information received from a WLAN device is decoded. The information is carried within a dedicated management frame and indicates transmission parameters for transmission of a PPDU of the WLAN device.

[0061] In 520, WLAN sensing is performed on the WLAN device based on the information.

[0062] Method 500 may include more steps or fewer steps, which is not limited in the present disclosure.

[0063] In some embodiments, the PPDU includes a dedicated management frame as an MPDU of the PPDU.

[0064] Among a broad category of WLAN sensing applications that rely on tracking a wireless link over time, there are at least two possible operating modes, namely, a negotiation mode and an opportunistic / passive mode.

[0065] In the negotiation mode, STAs participating in a sensing session may negotiate operating parameters. The PPDUs transmitted in support of WLAN sensing may also carry data, and these transmissions are mainly triggered for the purpose of WLAN sensing.

[0066] In opportunistic / passive operation, the STA performs WLAN sensing measurements in an opportunistic / passive manner. That is, measurements are made by using PPDUs transmitted for non-sensing purposes. The transmitter of such PPDUs may or may not be aware that the PPDUs it transmits are used for WLAN sensing purposes. In this mode of operation, the WLAN sensing overhead (channel usage) is negligible or even zero.

[0067] Adapting transmission parameters can negatively impact the performance of both negotiated and opportunistic / passive WLAN sensing. While PPDUs used for channel measurements in negotiated WLAN sensing applications will naturally either (1) be transmitted with little or no change in transmission parameters or (2) include the WLAN sensing elements / frames described above, PPDUs used by opportunistic WLAN sensing applications will likely be transmitted with different transmission parameters and therefore require the use of the WLAN sensing elements / frames disclosed herein.

[0068] To improve the performance of opportunistic / passive WLAN sensing applications, a procedure is provided that allows a sensing receiver (or initiator of a sensing session) to request potential sensing transmitters to include proposed WLAN sensing elements / frames in their transmissions whenever possible.

[0069] In some embodiments, the proposed procedure is as follows:

[0070] 1. STAs that support opportunistic / passive sensing and the new information elements and / or frames disclosed herein, respectively, will indicate such support in their capabilities.

[0071] 2. The STA intending to perform opportunistic / passive sensing determines whether other STAS within its coverage area support the capabilities described in step 1. If the STA intending to perform opportunistic / passive sensing is a non-AP STA, it can determine whether the desired capabilities are supported by its neighboring AP STAs through the transmission of probe requests, among other possible methods. A non-AP STA may determine whether other non-AP STAs associated with the same AP support the desired capabilities through Tunneled Direct Link Setup (TDLS), among other possible methods. A non-AP STA may determine whether other non-AP STAs that are not associated with it or associated with a different AP support the desired capabilities by utilizing GAS frames / procedures, among other possible approaches.

[0072] 3. After identifying one or more STAs within its coverage area that support the capability in step 1, the STA that intends to perform WLAN sensing opportunistically transmits a WLAN sensing opportunistic request frame to the identified STAs. The following information may be defined in the request: Duration: A STA receiving a request may, whenever possible, include a WLAN sensing frame in the PPDU transmitted for the duration defined in the request. - Desired PHY parameters such as bandwidth and number of antennas. - Desired number of PPDU transmissions per second. To allow a WLAN sensing application to meet a certain reliability / performance level, the STA sending the request may request a minimum number of transmissions within a given period of time.

[0073] 4. The STA that receives the opportunistic request frame for WLAN sensing may reject the request or may accept the request.

[0074] 5. If the STA that receives the request accepts the request, this STA includes a WLAN sensing element or a WLAN sensing frame in the PPDU transmitted during the negotiated duration if there is a change in the transmission parameters (and optionally in other cases).

[0075] The operation order of the above procedure is not limited to the above example. The operations of the above procedure may be rearranged in some embodiments. The present disclosure is not limited in this regard.

[0076] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the WLAN sensing element or the WLAN sensing frame may be provided in each PPDU regardless of whether there is a change in the transmission parameters. In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the WLAN sensing element or the WLAN sensing frame may be provided in the PPDU only if there is a change in the transmission parameters. The present disclosure is not limited in this regard.

[0077] FIG. 6 is a flowchart of a method 600 for transmission parameter indication to support WLAN sensing according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. The method 600 may include steps 610, 620, 630, and 640.

[0078] In 610, the capability message received from the WLAN device is decoded. The capability message indicates that the WLAN device supports both opportunistic / passive sensing and the transmission of WLAN sensing elements / frames.

[0079] In 620, in response to the capability message, a WLAN sensing request for transmission to the WLAN device is encoded to request a WLAN sensing element / frame.

[0080] At 630, in response to the WLAN sensing request, the PPDU received from the WLAN device is decoded to obtain a WLAN sensing element / frame, which indicates the WLAN device's transmission parameters for the PPDU.

[0081] At 640, WLAN sensing is performed on the WLAN device based on the transmission parameters.

[0082] Method 600 may include more or fewer steps, and this is not a limitation of this disclosure.

[0083] In some embodiments, a non-AP STA may perform the method 600.

[0084] In some embodiments, the WLAN devices may include AP STAs or non-AP STAs.

[0085] With a transmission parameter indication solution supporting WLAN sensing, a sensing receiver may know the transmission parameters used in transmitting a received PPDU. In this way, the sensing receiver can not only determine when adaptation by the sensing transmitter occurs, but also potentially eliminate or reduce the impact of such adaptation. As a result, WLAN sensing performance can be improved.

[0086] 7 is a block diagram of wireless architectures 700A, 700B according to some embodiments that may be implemented in any one of the AP 104 and / or user device 102 of FIG. 1. The wireless architectures 700A, 700B may include radio front-end module (FEM) circuitry 704a-b, radio IC circuitry 706a-b, and baseband processing circuitry 708a-b. The illustrated wireless architectures 700A, 700B include both Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) and Bluetooth (BT) functionality, although embodiments are not limited thereto. In this disclosure, "WLAN" and "Wi-Fi" are used interchangeably.

[0087] The FEM circuits 704a-b may include a WLAN or Wi-Fi FEM circuit 704a and a Bluetooth (BT) FEM circuit 704b. The WLAN FEM circuit 704a may include a receive signal path including circuitry configured to operate on WLAN RF signals received from one or more antennas 701, amplify the received signals, and provide an amplified version of the received signals to the WLAN radio IC circuit 706a for further processing. The BT FEM circuit 704b may include a receive signal path that may include circuitry configured to operate on BT RF signals received from one or more antennas 701, amplify the received signals, and provide an amplified version of the received signals to the BT radio IC circuit 706b for further processing. The FEM circuit 704a may also include a transmit signal path that may include circuitry configured to amplify the WLAN signals provided by the radio IC circuit 706a for wireless transmission by the one or more antennas 701. Additionally, FEM circuitry 704b may include a transmit signal path that may include circuitry configured to amplify BT signals provided by radio IC circuitry 706b for wireless transmission by one or more antennas. While FEM 704a and FEM 704b are shown as distinct from one another in the embodiment of Figure 7, embodiments are not so limited and include within their scope the use of an FEM (not shown) that includes transmit and / or receive paths for both WLAN and BT signals, or the use of one or more FEM circuits where at least some FEM circuits share transmit and / or receive signal paths for both WLAN and BT signals.

[0088] The illustrated wireless IC circuits 706a-b may include a WLAN wireless IC circuit 706a and a BT wireless IC circuit 706b. The WLAN wireless IC circuit 706a may include a receive signal path that may include a circuit that down-converts the WLAN RF signal received from the FEM circuit 704a and provides the baseband signal to the WLAN baseband processing circuit 708a. Next, the BT wireless IC circuit 706b may include a receive signal path that may include a circuit that down-converts the BT RF signal received from the FEM circuit 704b and provides the baseband signal to the BT baseband processing circuit 708b. The WLAN wireless IC circuit 706a may also include a transmit signal path that may include a circuit that up-converts the WLAN baseband signal provided by the WLAN baseband processing circuit 708a and provides the WLAN RF output signal to the FEM circuit 704a for subsequent wireless transmission by one or more antennas 701. The BT wireless IC circuit 706b may also include a transmit signal path that may include a circuit that up-converts the BT baseband signal provided by the BT baseband processing circuit 708b and provides the BT RF output signal to the FEM circuit 704b for subsequent wireless transmission by one or more antennas 701. In the embodiment of FIG. 7, the wireless IC circuits 706a and 706b are shown to be distinguishable from each other, but the embodiment is not limited thereto, and within these ranges, the use of a wireless IC circuit (not shown) that includes transmit signal paths and / or receive signal paths for both WLAN signals and BT signals, or the use of one or more wireless IC circuits in which at least some of the wireless IC circuits share transmit and / or receive signal paths for both WLAN signals and BT signals is included.

[0089] The baseband processing circuits 708a-b may include a WLAN baseband processing circuit 708a and a BT baseband processing circuit 708b. The WLAN baseband processing circuit 708a may include memory, such as a set of RAM arrays in a fast Fourier transform or inverse fast Fourier transform block (not shown) of the WLAN baseband processing circuit 708a. Each of the WLAN baseband circuit 708a and the BT baseband circuit 708b may further include one or more processors and control logic to process signals received from the corresponding WLAN or BT receive signal path of the radio IC circuit 706a-b and generate corresponding WLAN or BT baseband signals for the transmit signal path of the radio IC circuit 706a-b. Each of the baseband processing circuits 708a and 708b may further include physical layer (PHY) and medium access control layer (MAC) circuitry and may further interface with devices for generating and processing baseband signals and for controlling the operation of the radio IC circuit 706a-b.

[0090] 7, according to the illustrated embodiment, WLAN-BT coexistence circuitry 713 may include logic to provide an interface between WLAN baseband circuitry 708a and BT baseband circuitry 708b to enable use cases requiring WLAN and BT coexistence. Additionally, a switch 703 may be provided between WLAN FEM circuitry 704a and BT FEM circuitry 704b to enable switching between WLAN and BT radios according to application needs. Additionally, while antenna 701 is shown as being connected to WLAN FEM circuitry 704a and BT FEM circuitry 704b, respectively, embodiments include sharing one or more antennas between the WLAN and BT FEMs within these ranges, or providing more than one antenna connected to each of FEMs 704a or 704b.

[0091] In some embodiments, the front-end module circuits 704a-b, the wireless IC circuits 706a-b, and the baseband processing circuits 708a-b may be provided on a single radio card, such as the wireless radio card 702. In some other embodiments, one or more antennas 701, the FEM circuits 704a-b, and the wireless IC circuits 706a-b may be provided on a single radio card. In some other embodiments, the wireless IC circuits 706a-b and the baseband processing circuits 708a-b may be provided on a single chip or integrated circuit (IC), such as the IC 712.

[0092] In some embodiments, the wireless radio card 702 may include a WLAN radio card and may be configured for Wi-Fi communication, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this regard. In some of these embodiments, the wireless architectures 700A, 700B may be configured to receive and transmit orthogonal frequency division multiplexed (OFDM) or orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) communication signals on a multi-carrier communication channel. The OFDM signal or the OFDMA signal may include a plurality of orthogonal sub-carriers.

[0093] In some of these multi-carrier embodiments, the radio architectures 700A, 700B may be part of a Wi-Fi communication station (STA), such as a wireless access point (AP), a base station, or a mobile device, including a Wi-Fi device. In some of these embodiments, the radio architectures 700A, 700B may be configured to transmit and receive signals in accordance with a particular communication standard and / or protocol, such as any of the IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) standards, including 802.11n-2009, IEEE 802.11-2012, IEEE 802.11-2016, 802.11n-2009, 802.11ac, 802.11ah, 802.11ad, 802.11ay, and / or 802.11ax standards, and / or proposed specifications for WLANs, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect. The radio architectures 700A, 700B may also be suitable for transmitting and / or receiving communications in accordance with other technologies and standards.

[0094] In some embodiments, the wireless architectures 700A, 700B may be configured for high-efficiency Wi-Fi (HEW) communication in accordance with the IEEE 802.11ax standard. In these embodiments, the wireless architectures 700A, 700B may be configured to communicate in accordance with OFDMA techniques, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect.

[0095] In some other embodiments, the wireless architectures 700A, 700B may be configured to transmit and receive signals transmitted using one or more other modulation techniques such as spread spectrum modulation (e.g., direct sequence code division multiple access (DS-CDMA) and / or frequency hopping code division multiple access (FH-CDMA)), time-division multiplexing (TDM) modulation, and / or frequency-division multiplexing (FDM) modulation, but the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this regard.

[0096] In some embodiments, as further shown in FIG. 7, the BT baseband circuit 708b may conform to a Bluetooth (BT) connection standard such as Bluetooth, Bluetooth 8.0, or Bluetooth 6.0, or any other iteration of the Bluetooth standard.

[0097] In some embodiments, the wireless architectures 700A, 700B may include other radio cards such as cellular radio cards configured for cellular (e.g., 5GPP such as LTE, LTE-Advanced, or 5G communication).

[0098] In some IEEE 802.11 embodiments, the wireless architectures 700A, 700B may be configured for communication on various channel bandwidths including bandwidths having center frequencies of approximately 900 MHz, 2.4 GHz, 5 GHz, and channel bandwidths of approximately 2 MHz, 4 MHz, 5 MHz, 5.5 MHz, 6 MHz, 8 MHz, 10 MHz, 20 MHz, 40 MHz, 80 MHz (having a continuous bandwidth) or 80 + 80 MHz (160 MHz) (having a discontinuous bandwidth). In some embodiments, a channel bandwidth of 720 MHz may be used. However, the scope of the embodiments is not limited with respect to the center frequencies described above.

[0099] FIG. 8 shows a WLAN FEM circuit 704a according to some embodiments. The example of FIG. 8 is described with respect to the WLAN FEM circuit 704a, but the example of FIG. 8 may be described with respect to an exemplary BT FEM circuit 704b (FIG. 7), and other circuit configurations may also be appropriate.

[0100] In some embodiments, the FEM circuit 704a may include a TX / RX switch 802 for switching between transmit mode operation and receive mode operation. The FEM circuit 704a may include a receive signal path and a transmit signal path. The receive signal path of the FEM circuit 704a may include a low-noise amplifier (LNA) 806 for amplifying a received RF signal 803 and providing the amplified received RF signal 807 as an output (e.g., to the wireless IC circuits 706a-b (FIG. 7)). The transmit signal path of the circuit 704a may include a power amplifier (PA) for amplifying an input RF signal 809 (e.g., provided by the wireless IC circuits 706a-b) to generate an RF signal 815 for subsequent transmission (e.g., by one or more of the antennas 701 (FIG. 7)) via an exemplary duplexer 814, and one or more filters 812 such as a band-pass filter (BPF), a low-pass filter (LPF), or other types of filters.

[0101] In some dual-mode embodiments for Wi-Fi communication, the FEM circuit 704a may be configured to operate in either the 2.4 GHz frequency spectrum or the 5 GHz frequency spectrum. In these embodiments, the receive signal path of the FEM circuit 704a may include a separate LNA 806 for each spectrum as shown, and a receive signal path duplexer 804 for separating signals from each spectrum. In these embodiments, the transmit signal path of the FEM circuit 704a may also include, for each frequency spectrum, a power amplifier 810 and a filter 812 such as a BPF, LPF, or other type of filter, and a transmit signal path duplexer 814 for providing a signal of one of the different spectrums to a single transmit path for subsequent transmission by one or more of the antennas 701 (FIG. 7). In some embodiments, the BT communication may utilize the 2.4 GHz signal path and may utilize the same FEM circuit 704a as that used for WLAN communication.

[0102] FIG. 9 shows a wireless IC circuit 706a according to some embodiments. The wireless IC circuit 706a is an example of a circuit that may be suitable for use as a WLAN or BT wireless IC circuit 706a / 706b (FIG. 7), although other circuit configurations may also be suitable. Alternatively, the example of FIG. 9 may be described with respect to an exemplary BT wireless IC circuit 706b.

[0103] In some embodiments, the radio IC circuit 706a may include a receive signal path and a transmit signal path. The receive signal path of the radio IC circuit 706a may include at least a mixer circuit 902, such as a downconversion mixer circuit, an amplifier circuit 906, and a filter circuit 908. The transmit signal path of the radio IC circuit 706a may include at least a filter circuit 912 and a mixer circuit 914, such as an upconversion mixer circuit. The radio IC circuit 706a may also include a synthesizer circuit 904 for synthesizing frequencies 905 used by the mixer circuit 902 and the mixer circuit 914. According to some embodiments, the mixer circuits 902 and / or 914 may each be configured to provide a direct conversion function. This latter type of circuit offers a significantly simpler architecture compared to standard superheterodyne mixer circuits, and any flicker noise introduced by this circuit may be mitigated, for example, through the use of OFDM modulation. 9 shows only simplified versions of the radio IC circuits, and although not shown, may include embodiments in which each of the illustrated circuits may include more than one component. For example, mixer circuit 914 may each include one or more mixers, and filter circuits 908 and / or 912 may each include one or more filters, such as one or more band-pass filters and / or low-pass filters, depending on the needs of the application. For example, if the mixer circuits are of a direct conversion type, they may each include two or more mixers.

[0104] In some embodiments, mixer circuit 902 may be configured to down-convert RF signal 807 received from FEM circuits 704a-b (FIG. 7) based on the synthesized frequency 905 provided by synthesizer circuit 904. Amplifier circuit 906 may be configured to amplify the down-converted signal, and filter circuit 908 may include a LPF configured to remove unwanted signals from the down-converted signal to generate output baseband signal 907. Output baseband signal 907 may be provided to baseband processing circuits 708a-b (FIG. 7) for further processing. In some embodiments, output baseband signal 907 may be a zero-frequency baseband signal, but this is not a requirement. In some embodiments, mixer circuit 902 may include a passive mixer, but the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this regard.

[0105] In some embodiments, mixer circuit 914 may be configured to up-convert input baseband signal 911 based on the synthesized frequency 905 provided by synthesizer circuit 904 to generate an RF output signal 809 for FEM circuits 704a-b. Baseband signal 911 may be provided by baseband processing circuits 708a-b and may be filtered by filter circuit 912. Filter circuit 912 may include a LPF or a BPF, but the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this regard.

[0106] In some embodiments, mixer circuit 902 and mixer circuit 914 may each include two or more mixers and may be configured for quadrature downconversion and / or upconversion, respectively, with the aid of synthesizer 904. In some embodiments, mixer circuit 902 and mixer circuit 914 may each include two or more mixers configured for image rejection (e.g., Hartley image rejection), respectively. In some embodiments, mixer circuit 902 and mixer circuit 914 may be configured for direct downconversion and / or direct upconversion, respectively. In some embodiments, mixer circuit 902 and mixer circuit 914 may be configured for superheterodyne operation, although this is not a requirement.

[0107] According to one embodiment, mixer circuit 902 may include a quadrature passive mixer (e.g., in-phase (I) and quadrature phase (Q) paths). In such an embodiment, the RF input signal 807 from FIG. 9 may be downconverted to provide I and Q baseband output signals that are transmitted to the baseband processor.

[0108] The quadrature passive mixer may be driven by zero and 90-degree time-varying LO switching signals provided by a quadrature circuit, and the quadrature circuit may be configured to receive an LO frequency (fLO) from a synthesizer or local oscillator such as the LO frequency 905 (FIG. 9) of synthesizer 904. In some embodiments, the LO frequency may be the carrier frequency, and in other embodiments, the LO frequency may be a fractional part of the carrier frequency (e.g., half of the carrier frequency, one-third of the carrier frequency). In some embodiments, the zero and 90-degree time-varying switching signals may be generated by the synthesizer, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this regard.

[0109] In some embodiments, the LO signal may vary in duty cycle (the percentage of one period that the LO signal is high) and / or offset (the difference between the starting points of the periods). In some embodiments, the LO signal may have an 85% duty cycle and an 80% offset. In some embodiments, each branch of the mixer circuit (e.g., the in-phase (I) and quadrature-phase (Q) paths) may operate at an 80% duty cycle, which may result in a significant reduction in power consumption.

[0110] RF input signal 807 (FIG. 8) may include a balanced signal, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect. The I and Q baseband output signals may be provided to a low noise amplifier, such as amplifier circuit 906 (FIG. 9), or filter circuit 908 (FIG. 9).

[0111] In some embodiments, output baseband signal 907 and input baseband signal 911 may be analog baseband signals, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect. In some alternative embodiments, output baseband signal 907 and input baseband signal 911 may be digital baseband signals. In these alternative embodiments, the radio IC circuitry may include analog-to-digital converter (ADC) and digital-to-analog converter (DAC) circuitry.

[0112] In some dual-mode embodiments, separate radio IC circuitry may be provided to process signals in each spectrum, or for other spectrums not described herein, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect.

[0113] In some embodiments, synthesizer circuit 904 may be a fractional-N synthesizer or a fractional-N / N+1 synthesizer, but other types of frequency synthesizers may also be suitable, and the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this regard. For example, synthesizer circuit 904 may be a delta-sigma synthesizer, a frequency multiplier, or a synthesizer including a phase-locked loop having a frequency divider. According to some embodiments, synthesizer circuit 904 may include a digital synthesizer circuit. The advantage of using a digital synthesizer circuit is that although it may still include some analog components, its footprint can be significantly reduced compared to that of an analog synthesizer circuit. In some embodiments, the frequency input to synthesizer circuit 904 may be provided by a voltage controlled oscillator (VCO), but this is not a requirement. The divider control input may be further provided by any of baseband processing circuits 708a-b (FIG. 7) depending on the desired output frequency 905. In some embodiments, the divider control input (e.g., N) may be determined from a look-up table (e.g., within a Wi-Fi card) based on the channel number and channel center frequency determined or indicated by an exemplary application processor 710. Application processor 710 may include or be connected to one of exemplary security signal converter 101 or exemplary received signal converter 103 (depending on which device the exemplary wireless architecture is implemented in).

[0114] In some embodiments, synthesizer circuit 904 may be configured to generate a carrier frequency as output frequency 905, and in other embodiments, output frequency 905 may be a fractional part of the carrier frequency (e.g., half of the carrier frequency, one-third of the carrier frequency). In some embodiments, output frequency 905 may be the LO frequency (fLO).

[0115] FIG. 10 shows a functional block diagram of a baseband processing circuit 708a according to some embodiments. The baseband processing circuit 708a is an example of a circuit that may be suitable for use as the baseband processing circuit 708a (FIG. 7), although other circuit configurations may also be suitable. Alternatively, the example of FIG. 10 may be used to implement the exemplary BT baseband processing circuit 708b of FIG. 7.

[0116] The baseband processing circuit 708a may include a receive baseband processor 1002 for processing a received baseband signal 1009 provided by the wireless IC circuits 706a-b (FIG. 7), and a transmit baseband processor 1004 for generating a transmit baseband signal 1011 for the wireless IC circuits 706a-b. The baseband processing circuit 708a may also include control logic 1006 for adjusting the operation of the baseband processing circuit 708a.

[0117] In some embodiments (e.g., when analog baseband signals are exchanged between the baseband processing circuits 708a-b and the wireless IC circuits 706a-b), the baseband processing circuit 708a may include an ADC 1010 for converting an analog baseband signal 1009 received from the wireless IC circuits 706a-b into a digital baseband signal for processing by the RX BBP 1002. In these embodiments, the baseband processing circuit 708a may also include a DAC 1012 for converting a digital baseband signal from the TX BBP 1004 into an analog baseband signal 1011.

[0118] In some embodiments communicating OFDM or OFDMA signals through baseband processor 708a or the like, transmit baseband processor 1004 may be configured to generate an OFDM or OFDMA signal suitable for transmission by performing an inverse fast Fourier transform (IFFT). Receive baseband processor 1002 may be configured to process received OFDM or OFDMA signals by performing an FFT. In some embodiments, receive baseband processor 1002 may be configured to detect the presence of an OFDM or OFDMA signal by performing autocorrelation, detect preambles such as short preambles, and detect long preambles by performing cross-correlation. The preamble may be part of a predetermined frame structure for Wi-Fi communications.

[0119] Referring back to FIG. 7, in some embodiments, antenna 701 (FIG. 7) may each include one or more directional or omnidirectional antennas, including, for example, dipole antennas, monopole antennas, patch antennas, loop antennas, microstrip antennas, or other types of antennas suitable for transmitting RF signals. In some multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) embodiments, the antennas may be effectively separated to take advantage of spatial diversity and the resulting different channel characteristics. Antenna 701 may include a set of phased array antennas, although embodiments are not limited thereto.

[0120] Although the wireless architectures 700A, 700B are shown to have several distinct functional elements, one or more of the functional elements may be combined and may be implemented by a combination of software components such as a processing element including a digital signal processor (DSP) and / or other hardware elements. For example, some elements may include one or more microprocessors, DSPs, field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), radio-frequency integrated circuits (RFICs), and combinations of various hardware and logic circuits for performing at least the functions described herein. In some embodiments, the functional elements may represent one or more processes operating on one or more processing elements.

[0121] FIG. 11 shows a functional diagram of an exemplary communication station 1100 according to one or more exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. In one embodiment, FIG. 11 shows a functional block diagram of a communication station that may be suitable for use as an AP 104 (FIG. 1) or user device 102 (FIG. 1) according to some embodiments. The communication station 1100 may also be suitable for use as a handheld device, mobile device, cellular phone, smartphone, tablet, netbook, wireless terminal, laptop computer, wearable computer device, femtocell, high data rate (HDR) subscriber station, access point, access terminal, or other personal communication system (PCS) device.

[0122] Communication station 1100 may include a communication circuit 1102 and a transceiver 1110 for transmitting signals to and receiving signals from other communication stations using one or more antennas 1101. The communication circuit 1102 may include circuits capable of operating physical layer (PHY) communication and / or medium access control (MAC) communication for controlling access to the wireless medium, and / or any other communication layer for transmitting and receiving signals. The communication station 1100 may also include a processing circuit 1106 and a memory 1108 configured to execute the operations described herein. In some embodiments, the communication circuit 1102 and the processing circuit 1106 may be configured to execute the operations detailed in the above figures, diagrams, and flows.

[0123] According to some embodiments, the communication circuit 1102 may be configured to contend for the wireless medium and construct frames or packets for communicating on the wireless medium. The communication circuit 1102 may be configured to transmit and receive signals. The communication circuit 1102 may also include circuits for modulation / demodulation, upconversion / downconversion, filtering, amplification, etc. In some embodiments, the processing circuit 1106 of the communication station 1100 may include one or more processors. In other embodiments, two or more antennas 1101 may be coupled to the communication circuit 1102 configured to transmit and receive signals. The memory 1108 may store information for constructing and transmitting message frames and configuring the processing circuit 1106 to execute the various operations described herein. The memory 1108 may include any type of memory including non-transitory memory for storing information in a machine (e.g., computer) readable format. For example, the memory 1108 may include computer readable storage devices, read-only memory (ROM), random-access memory (RAM), magnetic disk storage media, optical storage media, flash memory devices, and other storage devices and media.

[0124] In some embodiments, communication station 1100 may be part of a portable wireless communication device such as a personal digital assistant (PDA), a laptop or portable computer with wireless communication capabilities, a web tablet, a wireless phone, a smartphone, a wireless headset, a pager, an instant messaging device, a digital camera, an access point, a television, a medical device (e.g., a heart rate monitor, a blood pressure monitor, etc.), a wearable computer device, or other device capable of receiving and / or transmitting information wirelessly.

[0125] In some embodiments, communication station 1100 may include one or more antennas 1101. Antenna 1101 may include one or more directional or omnidirectional antennas, including, for example, dipole antennas, monopole antennas, patch antennas, loop antennas, microstrip antennas, or other types of antennas suitable for transmitting RF signals. In some embodiments, instead of two or more antennas, a single antenna having multiple apertures may be used. In these embodiments, each aperture may be considered a separate antenna. In some multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) embodiments, the antennas may be effectively separated for spatial diversity and for different channel characteristics that may occur between each of the antennas and the antennas of the transmitting station.

[0126] In some embodiments, communication station 1100 may include one or more of a keyboard, a display, a non-volatile memory port, multiple antennas, a graphics processor, an application processor, a speaker, and other elements of a mobile device. The display may be a liquid crystal display (LCD) screen including a touch screen.

[0127] Communication station 1100 is shown as having several distinct functional elements, although one or more of the functional elements may be combined and may be implemented by a combination of software components such as a processing element including a digital signal processor (DSP) and / or other hardware elements. For example, some elements may include one or more microprocessors, DSPs, field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), radio-frequency integrated circuits (RFICs), and combinations of various hardware and logic circuits for performing at least the functions described herein. In some embodiments, the functional elements of communication station 1100 may represent one or more processes operating on one or more processing elements.

[0128] Certain embodiments may be implemented in hardware, firmware, and / or a combination of software. Other embodiments may also be implemented as instructions stored on a computer-readable storage device, the instructions being read and executed by at least one processor to perform the operations described herein. The computer-readable storage device may include any non-transitory memory mechanism for storing information in a form readable by a machine (e.g., a computer). For example, the computer-readable storage device may include read-only memory (ROM), random-access memory (RAM), magnetic disk storage media, optical storage media, flash memory devices, and other storage devices and media. In some embodiments, communication station 1100 may include one or more processors and may be configured by instructions stored on a computer-readable storage device.

[0129] FIG. 12 shows a block diagram of an example machine or system 1200 on which any one or more of the techniques (e.g., methods) discussed herein may be implemented. In other embodiments, machine 1200 may operate as a standalone device or may be connected (e.g., networked) to other machines. In a networked arrangement, machine 1200 may operate in the capacity of a server machine, a client machine, or both in a server-client network environment. In one example, machine 1200 may operate as a peer machine in a peer-to-peer (P2P) (or other distributed) network environment. Machine 1200 may be any machine capable of executing instructions (sequential or otherwise) that specify actions to be taken by the machine, such as a personal computer (PC), tablet PC, set-top box (STB), personal digital assistant (PDA), mobile phone, wearable computing device, web appliance, network router, switch or bridge, or base station. Furthermore, although only a single machine is shown, the term "machine" shall also be taken to include any collection of machines that individually or collectively execute a set (or sets) of instructions to perform any one or more of the methodologies discussed herein, such as cloud computing, software as a service (SaaS), or other computer cluster configurations.

[0130] Examples described herein may include logic or a number of components, modules, or mechanisms, or may operate with these. A module is a tangible entity (e.g., hardware) that can perform specified operations when operating. A module includes hardware. In one example, the hardware may be specifically configured (e.g., wired) to perform certain operations. In other examples, the hardware may include configurable execution units (e.g., transistors, circuits, etc.) and a computer-readable medium containing instructions that configure the execution units to perform certain operations during operation. The configuration may be performed under the instruction of the execution unit or a loading mechanism. Thus, the execution unit is communicatively coupled to the computer-readable medium when the device is operating. In this example, the execution unit may be a member of more than one module. For example, during operation, the execution unit may be configured by a first set of instructions to implement a first module at one point in time and reconfigured by a second set of instructions to implement a second module at a second point in time.

[0131] A machine (e.g., a computer system) 1200 may include a hardware processor 1202 (e.g., a central processing unit (CPU), a graphics processing unit (GPU), a hardware processor core, or any combination thereof), a main memory 1204, and a static memory 1206, and some or all of these may communicate with each other via an interlink (e.g., a bus) 1208. The machine 1200 may further include a power management device 1232, a graphics display device 1210, an alphanumeric input device 1212 (e.g., a keyboard), and a user interface (UI) navigation device 1214 (e.g., a mouse). In one example, the graphics display device 1210, the alphanumeric input device 1212, and the UI navigation device 1214 may be a touch screen display. The machine 1200 may further include a storage device (e.g., a drive unit) 1216, a signal generation device 1218 (e.g., a speaker), a transmission parameter indication device 1219, a network interface device / transceiver 1220 coupled to an antenna 1230, and one or more sensors 1228 such as a global positioning system (GPS) sensor, a compass, an accelerometer, or other sensors. The machine 1200 may include an output controller 1234 such as a serial (e.g., universal serial bus (USB)), parallel, or other wired or wireless (e.g., infrared (IR), near filed communication (NFC), etc.) connection to communicate with or control one or more peripheral devices (e.g., a printer, a card reader, etc.). Operations according to one or more exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure may be performed by a baseband processor. The baseband processor may be configured to generate a corresponding baseband signal.The baseband processor may further include physical layer (PHY) and medium access control layer (MAC) circuitry and may interface with the hardware processor 1202 for generating and processing baseband signals and for controlling the operation of the main memory 1204, the storage device 1216 and / or the transmit parameter indication device 1219. The baseband processor may be provided on a single radio card, a single chip or integrated circuit (IC).

[0132] Storage device 1216 may include machine-readable medium 1222 on which one or more sets of data structures or instructions 1224 (e.g., software) are stored that embody or are utilized by any one or more of the techniques or functions described herein. Instructions 1224 may also reside, completely or at least partially, within main memory 1204, static memory 1206, or hardware processor 1202 during execution thereof by machine 1200. In one example, one or any combination of hardware processor 1202, main memory 1204, static memory 1206, or storage device 1216 may constitute a machine-readable medium.

[0133] The transmit parameter indication device 1219 may implement or perform any of the operations and processes described above and illustrated (eg, methods 400, 500, and 600).

[0134] It will be understood that the above are only some of the things that the transmit parameter indication device 1219 may be configured to perform, and that other functions encompassed throughout this disclosure may also be performed by the transmit parameter indication device 1219.

[0135] Although machine-readable medium 1222 is shown as a single medium, the term "machine-readable medium" may include a single medium or multiple media (e.g., a centralized or distributed database and / or associated caches and servers) configured to store one or more instructions 1224.

[0136] Various embodiments may be implemented, in whole or in part, in software and / or firmware. This software and / or firmware may be in the form of instructions contained within or on a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium. These instructions may then be read and executed by one or more processors to enable the performance of the operations described herein. The instructions may be in any suitable form, such as source code, compiled code, interpreted code, executable code, static code, dynamic code, etc., but are not limited thereto. Such a computer-readable medium may include any tangible non-transitory medium for storing information in a form readable by one or more computers, such as read only memory (ROM), random access memory (RAM), magnetic disk storage media, optical storage media, flash memory, etc.

[0137] The term "machine-readable medium" may include any medium that can store, encode, or carry instructions for execution by machine 1200, cause machine 1200 to perform any one or more of the techniques of the present disclosure, or store, encode, or carry a data structure used by or associated with such instructions. Examples of non-limiting machine-readable media may include solid-state memory, optical media, and magnetic media. In one example, a mass machine-readable medium includes a machine-readable medium having a plurality of particles with stationary dense bodies. Specific examples of machine-readable media may include non-volatile memory such as semiconductor memory devices (e.g., electrically programmable read-only memory (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM)), and flash memory devices, magnetic disks such as internal hard disks and removable disks, magneto-optical disks, and CD-ROM and DVD-ROM disks.

[0138] Command 1224 may be transmitted or received on communication network 1226 using a transmission medium via network interface device / transceiver 1220 using any one of a number of transfer protocols (e.g., Frame Relay, Internet Protocol (IP), Transmission Control Protocol (TCP), User Datagram Protocol (UDP), Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP), etc.). Exemplary communication networks may include, among others, local area network (LAN), wide area network (WAN), packet data network (e.g., the Internet), mobile telephone network (e.g., cellular network), plain old telephone service (POTS) network, wireless data network (e.g., IEEE 802.11 family of standards known as Wi-Fi®, IEEE 802.16 family of standards known as WiMAX®, IEEE 802.15.4 family of standards, and peer-to-peer (P2P) network, etc.). In one example, network interface device / transceiver 1220 may include one or more physical jacks (e.g., Ethernet, coaxial, or telephone jacks) or one or more antennas for connecting to communication network 1226.In one example, network interface device / transceiver 1220 may include multiple antennas for wireless communication using at least one of single-input multiple-output (SIMO), multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO), or multiple-input single-output (MISO) technologies. The term "transmission medium" shall be interpreted as including any intangible medium capable of storing, encoding, or carrying instructions for execution by machine 1200, including digital or analog communication signals or other intangible media for facilitating communication of such software.

[0139] The above operations and processes may be performed or implemented in any suitable order, as desired in various implementations. Further, in certain implementations, at least some of the operations may be performed in parallel. Further, in certain implementations, fewer or more operations than those described may be performed.

[0140] The term "exemplary" is used herein to mean "serving as an example, instance, or illustration". Any embodiment described herein as "exemplary" should not necessarily be construed as being more preferred or advantageous than other embodiments. The terms "computing device", "user device", "communication station", "station", "handheld device", "mobile device", "wireless device", and "user equipment" (UE) refer to wireless communication devices such as cellular phones, smartphones, tablets, netbooks, wireless terminals, laptop computers, femtocells, high data rate (HDR) subscriber stations, access points, printers, point-of-sale devices, access terminals, or other personal communication system (PCS) devices. The device may be either mobile or stationary.

[0141] The term "communication" as used herein is intended to include transmitting or receiving, or both transmitting and receiving. This can be particularly useful when describing in the claims the configuration of data transmitted by one device and received by another device, although only the functionality of one of these devices is required to infringe the claims. Similarly, a two-way exchange of data between two devices (where both devices transmit and receive during the exchange) may be described as "communication" if only the functionality of one of these devices is recited in the claims. The term "communication" as used herein with respect to wireless communication signals includes transmitting and / or receiving wireless communication signals. For example, a wireless communication unit capable of communicating wireless communication signals may include a wireless transmitter for transmitting the wireless communication signals to at least one other wireless communication unit, and / or a wireless receiver for receiving the wireless communication signals from at least one other wireless communication unit.

[0142] Unless otherwise specified, the use of ordinal adjectives such as "first", "second", "third", etc. in this specification to describe common objects is merely to indicate that different instances of similar objects are being referred to, and it is not intended to mean that the objects so described must be in a given order, whether in terms of time, space, ranking, or any other manner.

[0143] As used herein, the term "access point" (AP) may be a fixed station. An access point may also be referred to as an access node, a base station, an eNodeB (evolved node B), or other similar terms known in the art. An access terminal may also be referred to as a mobile station, a user equipment (UE), a wireless communication device, or other similar terms known in the art. The embodiments disclosed herein generally relate to wireless networks. Some embodiments may relate to wireless networks operating in accordance with one of the IEEE802.11 standards.

[0144] Some embodiments may be used with various devices and systems, such as personal computers (PCs), desktop computers, mobile computers, laptop computers, notebook computers, tablet computers, server computers, handheld computers, handheld devices, personal digital assistant (PDA) devices, handheld PDA devices, on-board devices, off-board devices, hybrid devices, vehicle devices, non-vehicle devices, mobile or portable devices, consumer devices, non-mobile or non-portable devices, wireless communication stations, wireless communication devices, wireless access points (APs), wired or wireless routers, wired or wireless modems, video devices, audio devices, audio-video (A / V) devices, wired or wireless networks, wireless area networks, wireless video area networks (WVANs), local area networks (LANs), wireless LANs (WLANs), personal area networks (PANs), wireless PANs (WPANs), etc.

[0145] Some embodiments may be used with one-way and / or two-way wireless communication systems, cellular radiotelephone communication systems, mobile phones, cellular telephones, radiotelephones, personal communication system (PCS) devices, PDA devices incorporating wireless communication devices, mobile or portable global positioning system (GPS) devices, devices incorporating GPS receivers or transceivers or chips, devices incorporating RFID elements or chips, multiple input multiple output (MIMO) transceivers or devices, single input multiple output (SIMO) transceivers or devices, multiple input single output (MISO) transceivers or devices, devices with one or more internal and / or external antennas, digital video broadcast (DVB) devices or systems, multi-standard wireless devices or systems, wired or wireless handheld devices such as smartphones, wireless application protocol (WAP) devices, etc.

[0146] Some embodiments may utilize one or more wireless communication protocols, such as radio frequency (RF), infrared (IR), frequency-division multiplexing (FDM), orthogonal FDM (OFDM), time-division multiplexing (TDM), time-division multiple access (TDMA), Extended TDMA (E-TDMA), general packet radio service (GPRS), enhanced GPRS, code-division multiple access (CDMA), wideband CDMA (WCDMA), CDMA2000, single-carrier CDMA, multi-carrier CDMA, multi-carrier modulation (MDM), discrete multi-tone (DMT), Bluetooth, global positioning system (GPRS), or the like. The present invention may be used in conjunction with one or more types of wireless communication signals and / or systems in accordance with the following standards: GPS, Wi-Fi, Wi-Max, ZigBee, ultra-wideband (UWB), global system for mobile communications (GSM), 2G, 2.5G, 3.5G, 4G, 5GPP, fifth generation (5G) mobile networks, 3GPP, long term evolution (LTE), LTE Advanced, enhanced data rates for GSM Evolution (EDGE), etc. Other embodiments may be used in various other devices, systems and / or networks.

[0147] The following paragraphs describe examples of various embodiments.

[0148] Example 1 includes an apparatus including a radio frequency (RF) interface and a processor circuit coupled to the RF interface, wherein the processor circuit decodes an information element (IE) received from a wireless local area network (WLAN) device via the RF interface, the IE indicating transmission parameters for transmission of a physical layer protocol data unit (PPDU) of the WLAN device, and the processor circuit performs WLAN sensing for the WLAN device based on the IE.

[0149] Example 2 includes the apparatus of example 1, where the IE is carried in an existing management frame or a dedicated management frame.

[0150] Example 3 includes the apparatus of example 1, wherein the processor circuitry is further configured to determine, based on the IE, when a transmit parameter of the WLAN device changes, and, if the transmit parameter of the WLAN device is determined to change, adapt the WLAN sensing based on the changed transmit parameter.

[0151] Example 4 includes the apparatus of example 1, wherein the transmission parameters include physical layer (PHY) parameters.

[0152] Example 5 includes the apparatus of example 4, wherein the PHY parameters include a TXVECTOR value.

[0153] Example 6 includes the apparatus of example 5, wherein the PHY parameters indicate a transmit power level, a number of transmit chains, an antenna used for transmission, an antenna configuration used for transmission, a transmitting sector combination index, or application of a cyclic shift delay (CSD).

[0154] Example 7 includes the apparatus of example 4, wherein the PHY parameters include implementation-specific parameters.

[0155] Example 8 includes the apparatus of Example 1, and the PPDU includes an HT (High Throughput) PPDU, a VHT (Very High Throughput) PPDU, an HE (High Efficiency) PPDU, an EHT (Extremely High Throughput) PPDU, a DMG (Directional Multi-Gigabit) PPDU, or an EDMG (Enhanced Directional Multi-Gigabit) PPDU.

[0156] Example 9 includes the apparatus of Example 1, the IE is included in the PPDU, and the PPDU includes a PHY header indicating that the IE is included in the PPDU.

[0157] Example 10 includes the apparatus of Example 1, and the IE further indicates information related to WLAN sensing.

[0158] Example 11 includes an apparatus including a radio frequency (RF) interface and a processor circuit coupled to the RF interface. The processor circuit decodes information received from a wireless local area network (WLAN) device via the RF interface. The information is carried in a dedicated management frame and indicates transmission parameters for transmission of a physical layer protocol data unit (PPDU) of the WLAN device. The processor circuit performs WLAN sensing on the WLAN device based on the information.

[0159] Example 12 includes the apparatus of Example 11, and the PPDU includes a dedicated management frame as a media access control (MAC) protocol data unit (MPDU) of the PPDU.

[0160] Example 13 includes an apparatus that includes a radio frequency (RF) interface and a processor circuit coupled to the RF interface. The processor circuit decodes a capability message received from a wireless local area network (WLAN) device via the RF interface. The capability message indicates that the WLAN device supports both opportunistic / passive sensing and the transmission of WLAN sensing elements / frames. The processor circuit encodes a WLAN sensing request for transmission to the WLAN device via the RF interface to request a WLAN sensing element / frame in response to the capability message. The processor circuit decodes a physical layer protocol data unit (PPDU) received from the WLAN device via the RF interface to obtain a WLAN sensing element / frame in response to the WLAN sensing request. The WLAN sensing element / frame indicates transmission parameters of the WLAN device for the PPDU. The processor circuit performs WLAN sensing on the WLAN device based on the transmission parameters.

[0161] Example 14 includes the apparatus of Example 13, and the apparatus is part of a non-access point (AP) STA.

[0162] Example 15 includes the apparatus of Example 13, and the WLAN device includes an AP STA or a non-AP STA.

[0163] Example 16 includes the apparatus of Example 13, and the processor circuit further determines when the transmission parameters of the WLAN device change based on the WLAN sensing element / frame. When it is determined that the transmission parameters of the WLAN device change, the processor circuit adapts the WLAN sensing based on the changed transmission parameters.

[0164] Example 17 includes the apparatus of Example 13, and the transmission parameters include physical layer (PHY) parameters.

[0165] Example 18 includes the apparatus of Example 17, and the PHY parameters include TXVECTOR values.

[0166] Example 19 includes the apparatus of example 18, wherein the PHY parameters indicate a transmit power level, a number of transmit chains, an antenna used for the PPDU, an antenna configuration used for the PPDU, a transmitting sector combination index, or application of a cyclic shift delay (CSD).

[0167] Example 20 includes the apparatus of example 18, wherein the PHY parameters include implementation-specific parameters.

[0168] Example 21 includes the apparatus of example 13, wherein the PPDU includes a High Throughput (HT) PPDU, a Very High Throughput (VHT) PPDU, a High Efficiency (HE) PPDU, an Extremely High Throughput (EHT) PPDU, a Directional Multi-Gigabit (DMG) PPDU, or an Enhanced Directional Multi-Gigabit (EDMG) PPDU.

[0169] Example 22 includes the apparatus of example 13, wherein the PPDU includes a PHY header indicating that a WLAN sensing element / frame is included in the PPDU.

[0170] Example 23 includes the apparatus of example 13, wherein the WLAN sensing element / frame further indicates information related to WLAN sensing.

[0171] Example 24 includes a method, including: decoding an information element (IE) received from a wireless local area network (WLAN) device, the IE indicating transmission parameters for transmission of a physical layer protocol data unit (PPDU) of the WLAN device; and performing WLAN sensing on the WLAN device based on the IE.

[0172] Example 25 includes the method of example 24, wherein the IE is carried in an existing management frame or a dedicated management frame.

[0173] Example 26 includes the method of Example 24, and further includes the steps of determining, based on the IE, when the transmission parameters of the WLAN device change, and adapting the WLAN sensing based on the changed transmission parameters when it is determined that the transmission parameters of the WLAN device change.

[0174] Example 27 includes the method of Example 24, and the transmission parameters include physical layer (PHY) parameters.

[0175] Example 28 includes the method of Example 27, and the PHY parameters include TXVECTOR values.

[0176] Example 29 includes the method of Example 28, and the PHY parameters indicate a transmission power level, the number of transmission chains, the antenna used for transmission, the antenna configuration used for transmission, the combination index of transmission sectors, or the application of a cyclic shift delay (CSD).

[0177] Example 30 includes the method of Example 27, and the PHY parameters include implementation-specific parameters.

[0178] Example 31 includes the method of Example 24, and the PPDU includes an HT (High Throughput) PPDU, a VHT (Very High Throughput) PPDU, an HE (High Efficiency) PPDU, an EHT (Extremely High Throughput) PPDU, a DMG (Directional Multi-Gigabit) PPDU, or an EDMG (Enhanced Directional Multi-Gigabit) PPDU.

[0179] Example 32 includes the method of Example 24, the IE is included in the PPDU, and the PPDU includes a PHY header indicating that the IE is included in the PPDU.

[0180] Example 33 includes the method of Example 24, and the IE further indicates information related to WLAN sensing.

[0181] Example 34 includes a method, including: decoding information received from a wireless local area network (WLAN) device, the information being carried in a dedicated management frame and indicating transmission parameters for transmission of a physical layer protocol data unit (PPDU) of the WLAN device; and performing WLAN sensing on the WLAN device based on the information.

[0182] Example 35 includes the method of example 34, wherein the PPDU includes a dedicated management frame as a medium access control (MAC) protocol data unit (MPDU) of the PPDU.

[0183] Example 36 includes a method, including the steps of: decoding a capability message received from a wireless local area network (WLAN) device, where the capability message indicates that the WLAN device supports both opportunistic / passive sensing and transmission of a WLAN sensing element / frame; encoding a WLAN sensing request for transmission to the WLAN device in response to the capability message to request a WLAN sensing element / frame; decoding a physical layer protocol data unit (PPDU) received from the WLAN device in response to the WLAN sensing request to obtain a WLAN sensing element / frame, where the WLAN sensing element / frame indicates transmission parameters of the WLAN device for the PPDU; and performing WLAN sensing on the WLAN device based on the transmission parameters.

[0184] Example 37 includes the method of example 36, wherein the method is performed by a non-access point (AP) STA.

[0185] Example 38 includes the method of example 36, wherein the WLAN device includes an AP STA or a non-AP STA.

[0186] Example 39 includes the method of Example 36, further including determining, based on the WLAN sensing element / frame, when a transmission parameter of the WLAN device changes, and, if it is determined that the transmission parameter of the WLAN device changes, adapting the WLAN sensing based on the changed transmission parameter.

[0187] Example 40 includes the method of example 36, wherein the transmission parameters include physical layer (PHY) parameters.

[0188] Example 41 includes the method of example 40, wherein the PHY parameters include a TXVECTOR value.

[0189] Example 42 includes the method of Example 41, wherein the PHY parameters indicate a transmit power level, a number of transmit chains, an antenna used for the PPDU, an antenna configuration used for the PPDU, a transmit sector combination index, or application of a cyclic shift delay (CSD).

[0190] Example 43 includes the method of example 41, wherein the PHY parameters include implementation-specific parameters.

[0191] Example 44 includes the method of example 36, wherein the PPDU includes a High Throughput (HT) PPDU, a Very High Throughput (VHT) PPDU, a High Efficiency (HE) PPDU, an Extremely High Throughput (EHT) PPDU, a Directional Multi-Gigabit (DMG) PPDU, or an Enhanced Directional Multi-Gigabit (EDMG) PPDU.

[0192] Example 45 includes the method of example 36, wherein the PPDU includes a PHY header indicating that a WLAN sensing element / frame is included in the PPDU.

[0193] Example 46 includes the method of example 36, wherein the WLAN sensing element / frame further indicates information related to WLAN sensing.

[0194] Example 47 includes an apparatus, including means for decoding an information element (IE) received from a wireless local area network (WLAN) device, the IE indicating transmission parameters for a transmission of a physical layer protocol data unit (PPDU) of the WLAN device, and means for performing WLAN sensing on the WLAN device based on the IE.

[0195] Example 48 includes the apparatus of example 47, wherein the IE is carried within an existing management frame or a dedicated management frame.

[0196] Example 49 includes the apparatus of Example 47, further including means for determining, based on the IE, when a transmission parameter of the WLAN device changes, and means for adapting WLAN sensing based on the changed transmission parameter if the transmission parameter of the WLAN device is determined to change.

[0197] Example 50 includes the apparatus of example 47, wherein the transmission parameters include physical layer (PHY) parameters.

[0198] Example 51 includes the apparatus of example 50, wherein the PHY parameters include a TXVECTOR value.

[0199] Example 52 includes the apparatus of example 51, wherein the PHY parameters indicate a transmit power level, a number of transmit chains, an antenna used for transmission, an antenna configuration used for transmission, a transmit sector combination index, or application of a cyclic shift delay (CSD).

[0200] Example 53 includes the apparatus of example 50, wherein the PHY parameters include implementation-specific parameters.

[0201] Example 54 includes the apparatus of Example 47, wherein the PPDU includes a High Throughput (HT) PPDU, a Very High Throughput (VHT) PPDU, a High Efficiency (HE) PPDU, an Extremely High Throughput (EHT) PPDU, a Directional Multi-Gigabit (DMG) PPDU, or an Enhanced Directional Multi-Gigabit (EDMG) PPDU.

[0202] Example 55 includes the apparatus of example 47, wherein the IE is included in the PPDU, and the PPDU includes a PHY header indicating that the IE is included in the PPDU.

[0203] Example 56 includes the apparatus of example 47, wherein the IE further indicates information related to WLAN sensing.

[0204] Example 57 includes an apparatus, including means for decoding information received from a wireless local area network (WLAN) device, the information being carried in a dedicated management frame and indicating transmission parameters for transmission of a physical layer protocol data unit (PPDU) of the WLAN device, and means for performing WLAN sensing on the WLAN device based on the information.

[0205] Example 58 includes the apparatus of example 57, wherein the PPDU includes a dedicated management frame as a medium access control (MAC) protocol data unit (MPDU) of the PPDU.

[0206] Example 59 includes an apparatus, means for decoding a capabilities message received from a wireless local area network (WLAN) device, the capabilities message indicating that the WLAN device supports both opportunistic / passive sensing and transmission of WLAN sensing elements / frames, means for encoding a WLAN sensing request for transmission to the WLAN device to request a WLAN sensing element / frame in response to the capabilities message, means for decoding a physical layer protocol data unit (PPDU) received from the WLAN device to obtain the WLAN sensing element / frame in response to the WLAN sensing request, the WLAN sensing element / frame indicating transmission parameters of the WLAN device for the PPDU, and means for performing WLAN sensing on the WLAN device based on the transmission parameters.

[0207] Example 60 includes the apparatus of Example 59, and the apparatus is part of a non-access point (AP) STA.

[0208] Example 61 includes the apparatus of Example 59, and the WLAN device includes an AP STA or a non-AP STA.

[0209] Example 62 includes the apparatus of Example 59, and further includes means for determining when the transmission parameters of the WLAN device change based on the WLAN sensing element / frame, and means for adapting the WLAN sensing based on the changed transmission parameters when it is determined that the transmission parameters of the WLAN device change.

[0210] Example 63 includes the apparatus of Example 59, and the transmission parameters include physical layer (PHY) parameters.

[0211] Example 64 includes the apparatus of Example 63, and the PHY parameters include TXVECTOR values.

[0212] Example 65 includes the apparatus of Example 64, and the PHY parameters indicate a transmission power level, the number of transmission chains, the antennas used for the PPDU, the antenna configuration used for the PPDU, a combined index of transmission sectors, or the application of a cyclic shift delay (CSD).

[0213] Example 66 includes the apparatus of Example 64, and the PHY parameters include implementation-specific parameters.

[0214] Example 67 includes the apparatus of Example 59, and the PPDU includes an HT (High Throughput) PPDU, a VHT (Very High Throughput) PPDU, an HE (High Efficiency) PPDU, an EHT (Extremely High Throughput) PPDU, a DMG (Directional Multi-Gigabit) PPDU, or an EDMG (Enhanced Directional Multi-Gigabit) PPDU.

[0215] Example 68 includes the apparatus of Example 59, and the PPDU includes a PHY header indicating that a WLAN sensing element / frame is included in the PPDU.

[0216] Example 69 includes the apparatus of Example 59, and the WLAN sensing element / frame further indicates information regarding WLAN sensing.

[0217] Example 70 includes a computer-readable medium storing instructions that, when executed by a processor circuit, cause the processor circuit to execute any of the methods of Examples 24 to 46.

[0218] Example 71 includes a Wi-Fi (Wireless Fidelity) device illustrated and described in the detailed description.

[0219] Example 72 includes a method executed in a Wi-Fi (Wireless Fidelity) device illustrated and described in the detailed description.

[0220] While specific embodiments have been illustrated and described herein for purposes of explanation, a wide range of alternative and / or equivalent embodiments or implementations calculated to achieve the same purpose may be used in place of the illustrated and described embodiments without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. This application is intended to cover any adaptations or variations of the embodiments discussed herein. Accordingly, it is clearly intended that the embodiments described herein be limited only by the appended claims and their equivalents.

Claims

1. An apparatus comprising a radio frequency (RF) interface and a processor circuit coupled to the RF interface, wherein the processor circuit receives a frame from a wireless local area network (WLAN) device via the RF interface, decodes the frame and determines parameters used for the WLAN sensing operation of the WLAN device based on elements of the frame, executes the WLAN sensing operation based on the parameters, determines when the parameters used for the WLAN sensing operation change based on the elements, and adapts the WLAN sensing operation based on the changed parameters when it is determined that the parameters used for the WLAN sensing operation change.

2. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the frame is a management frame.

3. The apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the WLAN device is a non-access point (non-AP) station (STA) and the frame is a probe request frame.

4. The apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the elements include a field indicating an antenna configuration for WLAN sensing.

5. The apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the antenna configuration includes the number of antennas available for the WLAN sensing.

6. The apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the processor circuit further determines the capabilities of the WLAN device for performing passive sensing based on other elements of the frame.

7. The apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the processor circuit further receives a physical layer protocol data unit (PPDU) not intended for WLAN sensing and obtains measurement values based on sensing of the PPDU.

8. When executed by a processor circuit, the processor circuit receives a frame from a wireless local area network (WLAN) device via an RF interface, decodes the frame and determines parameters used for the WLAN sensing operation of the WLAN device based on elements of the frame, executes the WLAN sensing operation based on the parameters, Based on the foregoing elements, determine when the parameters used for the WLAN sensing operation change, A computer program that, when it is determined that the parameters used for the WLAN sensing operation change, adapts the WLAN sensing operation based on the changed parameters. **Claim 9** The computer program according to claim 8, wherein the frame is a management frame. **Claim 10** The computer program according to claim 8 or 9, wherein the WLAN device is a non-access point (non-AP) station (STA), and the frame is a probe request frame. **Claim 11** The computer program according to any one of claims 8 to 10, wherein the element includes a field indicating an antenna configuration for WLAN sensing. **Claim 12** The computer program according to claim 11, wherein the antenna configuration includes the number of antennas that can be used for the WLAN sensing. **Claim 13** The computer program according to any one of claims 8 to 12, which, when executed by a processor circuit, further causes the processor circuit to determine the capabilities of the WLAN device for performing passive sensing based on other elements of the frame. **Claim 14** The computer program according to claim 13, which, when executed by a processor circuit, further causes the processor circuit to receive a physical layer protocol data unit (PPDU) not intended for WLAN sensing and obtain measurement values based on the sensing of the PPDU. **Claim 15** A computer-readable storage medium storing the computer program according to any one of claims 8 to 14.

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