COMMUNICATION APPARATUS AND COMMUNICATION METHOD FOR PROXY-BASED EXTENDED SENSING

Abstract

The present disclosure provides a communications device and a communications method for proxy sensing, the communications device comprising: a circuit configured, in operation, to generate a request frame indicating conditions to be used by a second communications device to select one or more links, each of which is coupled to one or more third communications devices; a transmitter, in operation, to transmit the request frame to the second communications device to request the second communications device to perform measurements on the one or more links; and a receiver, in operation, to receive a report frame from the second communications device, the report frame including one or more reports of the measurements corresponding to the one or more links.

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] TECHNICAL FIELD The present disclosure relates to a communication apparatus and method for sensing, and more particularly for sensing by a proxy. [Background technology]

[0002] Wireless local area network (WLAN) sensing is being developed by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11bf Task Group. The task group has proposed Sensing by Proxy (SBP), which allows a client to obtain sensing measurements by using multiple wireless links. However, the details of the protocol / procedure for selecting the best link / STA in the SBP procedure have not been discussed in the task group.

[0003] Wi-Fi coverage with multiple links is now very common, but blindly measuring and reporting all possible links in the SBP reporting phase would cause a large overhead in the Wi-Fi links used for reporting.

[0004] Therefore, there is a need for a communication apparatus and method for enhanced sensing by a proxy that provides a viable technical solution to address the problem, and more specifically, that enables an SBP initiator and / or an SBP responder to select the best link / STA to reduce reporting overhead in an SBP procedure.

[0005] Furthermore, other desirable features and characteristics will become apparent from the following detailed description and the appended claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and this background of disclosure. Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0006] The non-limiting and exemplary embodiments facilitate providing a communications apparatus and method for a cooperative sounding procedure in the context of a WLAN. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] In a first aspect, the present disclosure provides a first communication device comprising: circuitry configured, in operation, to generate a request frame indicating conditions to be used by a second communication device to select one or more links, each of which is coupled to one or more third communication devices; a transmitter, in operation, that transmits the request frame to the second communication device to request the second communication device to perform measurements on the one or more links; and a receiver, in operation, that receives a report frame from the second communication device, the report frame including one or more reports of the measurements corresponding to the one or more links.

[0008] In a second aspect, the present disclosure provides a second communications device comprising: a receiver configured, in operation, to receive from a first communications device a request frame indicating conditions for selecting one or more links, each of which is associated with one or more third communications devices; circuitry configured, in operation, to generate a report frame including one or more reports of measurements corresponding to the one or more links; and a transmitter configured, in operation, to transmit the report frame to the first communications device.

[0009] In a third aspect, the present disclosure provides a communication method implemented by a first communication device, comprising: generating a request frame indicating conditions to be used by a second communication device to select one or more links, each of which is coupled to one or more third communication devices; transmitting the request frame to the second communication device to request the second communication device to perform measurements on the one or more links; and receiving a report frame from the second communication device, the report frame including one or more reports of the measurements corresponding to the one or more links.

[0010] In a fourth aspect, the present disclosure provides a communication method implemented by a second communication device, comprising: receiving a request frame from a first communication device indicating conditions for selecting one or more links, each of which is coupled to one or more third communication devices; generating a report frame including one or more reports of measurements corresponding to the one or more links; and transmitting the report frame to the first communication device.

[0011] It should be noted that the general or specific embodiments may be implemented as a system, a method, an integrated circuit, a computer program, a storage medium, or any combination thereof.

[0012] Further advantages and benefits of an embodiment of the present disclosure will become apparent from the specification and drawings. Such advantages and / or benefits may be provided by some of the embodiments and features described in the specification and drawings, but not all of them necessarily need to be provided to obtain one or more identical features.

[0013] Embodiments of the present disclosure, by way of example only, will be better understood and readily apparent to those skilled in the art from the following description and in conjunction with the drawings in which: [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0014] [Figure 1]Schematic diagram showing single-user (SU) communication between an access point (AP) and a station (STA) in a multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) wireless network. [Figure 2] Schematic diagram showing downlink multi-user (MU) communication between an AP and multiple STAs in a MIMO wireless network. [Figure 3] Schematic diagram showing trigger-based (TB) uplink MU communication between an AP and multiple STAs in a MIMO wireless network. [Figure 4] Schematic diagram showing communication between STA (Client 0) and AP for basic SBP procedure [Figure 5] Floor plan and schematic showing devices located on the floor [Figure 6] Schematic diagram of a communication device according to the present disclosure. [Figure 7] 1 is a flowchart illustrating a communication method implemented by a first communication device according to various embodiments of the present disclosure. [Figure 8] 1 is a flowchart illustrating a communication method implemented by a second communication device according to various embodiments of the present disclosure. [Figure 9] 1 is a flowchart outlining a procedure for proxy-based sensing between an AP and three non-AP STAs according to a first embodiment of the present disclosure; [Figure 10] A flowchart showing the detailed procedure flow of the proxy-based sensing procedure between the AP and three non-AP STAs in FIG. [Figure 11] Schematic diagram showing the connection between the AP and three non-AP STAs in FIG. [Figure 12] An exemplary format of an extended capabilities element used for basic discovery according to one embodiment of the present disclosure [Figure 13A] An exemplary format of an SBP Request frame according to the first embodiment of the present disclosure [Figure 13B] An exemplary format of a Protected SBP Request frame according to a first embodiment of the present disclosure. [Figure 14A] An exemplary format of an SBP response frame according to the first embodiment of the present disclosure [Figure 14B] An exemplary format of a Protected SBP Response frame according to a first embodiment of the present disclosure. [Figure 15] Exemplary Format of the SBP Parameters Element Field in the SBP Request / Response Frames of FIGS. 13A-14B [Figure 16] Exemplary Format of the SBP Link Information Element Field in the SBP Response Frame of FIGS. 14A and 14B [Figure 17] An exemplary format of an SBP Report frame according to the first embodiment of the present disclosure [Figure 18A] 1. Exemplary Format of an SBP Termination Frame According to a First Embodiment of the Present Disclosure [Figure 18B] An exemplary format of a Protected SBP Termination frame according to a first embodiment of the present disclosure. [Figure 19] FIG. 1 is a flowchart illustrating communication between an SBP initiator (non-AP STA) and an SBP responder (AP) for proxy-based sensing according to a first embodiment of the present disclosure. [Figure 20A] 10 is a flowchart outlining a procedure for proxy-based sensing between an AP and three non-AP STAs according to a second embodiment of the present disclosure. [Figure 20B] 20A is a schematic diagram showing the connection between the AP and three non-AP STAs. [Figure 21] 20B is a flowchart showing the detailed procedure flow of the proxy-based sensing procedure between the AP and three non-AP STAs in FIG. 20A. [Figure 22] FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary visualization of enhanced client discovery results. [Figure 23] 1. Exemplary Format of an SBP Parameter Element Field of an SBP Request Frame According to a Second Embodiment of the Present Disclosure [Figure 24A] An exemplary format of an SBP response according to the second embodiment of the present disclosure [Figure 24B] An exemplary format of a protected SBP response according to the second embodiment of the present disclosure [Figure 25] Exemplary Format of the SBP Link Information Element Field in the SBP Response Frame of FIGS. 24A and 24B According to an Embodiment [Figure 26] Exemplary Format of an SBP Report Frame According to a Second Embodiment of the Present Disclosure [Figure 27A] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a floor plan and devices located on the floor, along with two exemplary implementations of a proxy sensing procedure, according to a second embodiment of the present disclosure; [Figure 27B] Another exemplary format of the SBP request frame according to the second embodiment of the present disclosure [Figure 28] 10 is a flowchart outlining a procedure for proxy-based sensing between an AP and three non-AP STAs according to a third embodiment of the present disclosure. [Figure 29] 10 is a flowchart illustrating an embodiment of a procedure for proxy-based sensing between an AP and two non-AP STAs according to a third embodiment of the present disclosure. [Figure 30] An exemplary format of a sensing measurement setup request frame according to a third embodiment of the present disclosure. [Figure 31] 1. Exemplary Format of a Protected Authorization Validation Request Frame According to a Third Embodiment of the Present Disclosure [Figure 32]1. Exemplary Format of a Protected Authorization Validation Response Frame According to a Third Embodiment of the Present Disclosure [Figure 33A] Exemplary Format of an SBP Response Frame According to a Third Embodiment of the Present Disclosure [Figure 33B] 1. Exemplary Format of a Protected SBP Response Frame According to a Third Embodiment of the Present Disclosure [Figure 34] 1. Exemplary Format of an SBP Request Frame According to a Third Embodiment of the Present Disclosure [Figure 35] FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary configuration of a communication device. [Figure 36] FIG. 1 illustrates another exemplary configuration of a communication device. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0015] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the elements in the figures are illustrated for simplicity and clarity and have not necessarily been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions of some of the elements in the figures, block diagrams, or flowcharts may be exaggerated relative to other elements to facilitate an accurate understanding of the present embodiments.

[0016] Some embodiments of the present disclosure will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the drawings in which like reference numbers and letters indicate similar or equivalent elements.

[0017] In the following paragraphs, exemplary embodiments are described with particular reference to access points (APs) and stations (STAs) for proxy-based sensing in multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) wireless networks.

[0018] In the context of IEEE 802.11 (Wi-Fi) technology, a station (also referred to as STA) is a communication device capable of using the 802.11 protocol. Based on the definition of IEEE 802.11-2016, a STA can be any device that includes an IEEE 802.11-compliant media access control (MAC) and physical layer (PHY) interface to a wireless medium (WM).

[0019] For example, a STA may be a laptop, a desktop personal computer (PC), a personal digital assistant (PDA), an access point, or a Wi-Fi phone in a wireless local area network (WLAN) environment. A STA may be stationary or mobile. In a WLAN environment, the terms "STA," "wireless client," "user," "user device," and "node" are often used interchangeably.

[0020] Similarly, an AP, which may be interchangeably referred to as a Wireless Access Point (WAP) in the context of IEEE 802.11 (Wi-Fi) technology, is a communications device that enables STAs in a WLAN to connect to a wired network. APs typically connect to a router (via the wired network) as standalone devices, but may also be integrated with or used within a router.

[0021] As mentioned above, a STA in a WLAN may operate as an AP at other times, and vice versa. This is because a communication device in the context of IEEE 802.11 (Wi-Fi) technology may include both STA and AP hardware components. In this manner, a communication device may switch between STA mode and AP mode based on the conditions and / or requirements of the actual WLAN.

[0022] In a MIMO wireless network, "multiple" refers to multiple antennas used simultaneously for transmission and multiple antennas used simultaneously for reception over a wireless channel. In this regard, "multiple-input" refers to multiple transmitter antennas that input wireless signals into the channel, and "multiple-output" refers to multiple receiver antennas that receive wireless signals from the channel to the receiver. For example, in an N×M MIMO network system, N is the number of transmitter antennas and M is the number of receiver antennas, and N may or may not be equal to M. For simplicity, the respective numbers of transmitter antennas and receiver antennas will not be further described in this disclosure.

[0023] In a MIMO wireless network, single-user (SU) and multi-user (MU) communications can be deployed for communication between communication devices such as APs and STAs. MIMO wireless networks have advantages such as spatial multiplexing and spatial diversity, which enable higher data rates and robustness through the use of multiple spatial streams. According to various embodiments, the term "spatial stream" may be used interchangeably with the term "space-time stream" (or STS).

[0024] FIG. 1 shows a schematic diagram of SU communication 100 between an AP 102 and a STA 104 in a MIMO wireless network. As shown, the MIMO wireless network may include one or more STAs (e.g., STA 104, STA 106, etc.). When the SU communication 100 in a channel is performed across the entire channel bandwidth, it is referred to as full-bandwidth SU communication. When the SU communication 100 in a channel is performed across a portion of the channel bandwidth (e.g., when one or more 20 MHz subchannels in the channel are punctured), it is referred to as punctured SU communication. In the SU communication 100, the AP 102 transmits multiple space-time streams using multiple antennas (e.g., four antennas as shown in FIG. 1 ), with all space-time streams directed to a single communication device, i.e., the STA 104. For simplicity, the multiple space-time streams directed to the STA 104 are depicted as a grouped data transmission arrow 108 directed to the STA 104.

[0025] SU communication 100 can be configured for bidirectional transmission. As shown in FIG. 1A, in SU communication 100, STA 104 may transmit multiple space-time streams using multiple antennas (e.g., two antennas as shown in FIG. 1) with all space-time streams directed to AP 102. For simplicity, the multiple space-time streams directed to AP 102 are shown as grouped data transmission arrow 110 directed to AP 102.

[0026] Thus, the SU communication 100 shown in FIG. 1 allows for both uplink and downlink SU transmission in a MIMO wireless network.

[0027] 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating downlink multiple-user (MU) communication 200 between an AP 202 and multiple STAs 204, 206, and 208 in a MIMO wireless network. The MIMO wireless network may include one or more STAs (e.g., STA 204, STA 206, STA 208, etc.). The MU communication 200 can be Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA) communication or MU-MIMO communication. In the case of OFDMA communication in a channel, the AP 202 simultaneously transmits multiple streams to the STAs 204, 206, and 208 in the network on different resource units (RUs) within the channel bandwidth. In the case of MU-MIMO communication in a channel, the AP 202 simultaneously transmits multiple streams to the STAs 204, 206, and 208 on the same one or more RUs within the channel bandwidth using multiple antennas via spatial mapping or precoding techniques. When RUs performing OFDMA or MU-MIMO communication occupy the entire channel bandwidth, the OFDMA or MU-MIMO communication is referred to as full-bandwidth OFDMA or full-bandwidth MU-MIMO communication. When RUs performing OFDMA or MU-MIMO communication occupy a portion of the channel bandwidth (e.g., when one or more 20 MHz subchannels in the channel are punctured), the OFDMA or MU-MIMO communication is referred to as punctured OFDMA or punctured MU-MIMO communication. For example, two space-time streams may be directed to STA 206, one other space-time stream may be directed to STA 204, and yet another space-time stream may be directed to STA 208. For simplicity, the two space-time streams directed to STA 206 are shown as grouped data transmission arrow 212, the space-time stream directed to STA 204 is shown as data transmission arrow 210, and the space-time stream directed to STA 208 is shown as data transmission arrow 214.

[0028] To enable uplink MU transmissions, trigger-based communication is provided in a MIMO wireless network. In this regard, Figure 3 illustrates a schematic diagram of trigger-based (TB) uplink MU communication 300 between an AP 302 and multiple STAs 304, 306, and 308 in a MIMO wireless network.

[0029] Because there are multiple STAs 304, 306, and 308 participating in trigger-based uplink MU communications, the AP 302 must coordinate the simultaneous transmissions of the multiple STAs 304, 306, and 308.

[0030] 3, the AP 302 simultaneously transmits trigger frames 310, 314, and 318 to the STAs 304, 306, and 308 to indicate user-specific resource allocation information (e.g., the number of space-time streams, the starting STS number, and the assigned RUs) that each STA can use. The STAs 304, 306, and 308 may then, in response to the trigger frames, simultaneously transmit their respective space-time streams to the AP 302 according to the user-specific resource allocation information indicated in the trigger frames 310, 314, and 318. For example, two space-time streams may be directed from the STA 306 to the AP 302, one other space-time stream may be directed from the STA 304 to the AP 302, and one other space-time stream may be directed from the STA 308 to the AP 302. For simplicity, the two space-time streams directed from STA 306 to AP 302 are shown as grouped data transmission arrow 316, the space-time stream directed from STA 304 to AP 302 is shown as data transmission arrow 312, and the space-time stream directed from STA 308 to AP 302 is shown as data transmission arrow 320.

[0031] Due to the packet / PPDU (Physical Layer Protocol Data Unit) based transmission and distributed MAC (Medium Access Control) scheme in 802.11 WLAN, there is no time scheduling (e.g., TDMA (Time Division Multiple Access)-like periodic time slot allocation for data transmission) in 802.11 WLAN. Frequency and spatial resource scheduling is performed on a packet basis, i.e., resource allocation information is in PPDU units.

[0032] According to various embodiments, a WLAN supports non-trigger-based communication as shown in Figure 1 and trigger-based communication as shown in Figure 2. In non-trigger-based communication, a communication device transmits PPDUs to one other communication device or one or more other communication devices in an unsolicited manner. In trigger-based communication, a communication device transmits PPDUs to one other communication device or one or more other communication devices only upon receiving a request for a trigger frame.

[0033] In this disclosure, the term "sensing initiator" refers to a device that initiates a sensing session with a STA (hereinafter also referred to as a "client") and requests sensing results from the STA. The term "sensing responder" refers to a STA that responds to the sensing initiator and participates in the sensing session. In the following various embodiments, unless otherwise specified, the initiator and responder refer to the "sensing initiator" and the "sensing responder," respectively. Typically (e.g., in trigger-based (TB) sensing measurements), the initiator is an AP, and the responder is a non-AP STA. However, this need not always be the case; sometimes (e.g., in non-TB sensing measurements or fine timing measurements (FTM) / ranging), a non-AP STA may be the initiator, and the AP may be the responder.

[0034] In contrast to "sensing initiator" and "sensing responder," the term "proxy sensing (SBP) initiator" refers to a STA that initiates an SBP procedure and requests a device (e.g., an AP or sensing initiator) to be the proxy sensing initiator to initiate a sensing session and request sensing results on behalf of the SBP initiator from another STA (e.g., a client of the device). An "SBP responder" refers to a device that responds to the SBP initiator, agrees to be the proxy sensing initiator, and participates in the SBP procedure. Note that an SBP initiator can be a sensing responder or one of multiple sensing responders of an SBP responder (sensing initiator).

[0035] As mentioned above, SBP, which allows a client to acquire sensing measurements using multiple wireless links, has been introduced in IEEE 802.11bf. FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram 400 illustrating communication between a STA (client 0) and an AP for a basic SBP procedure. According to the basic concept, the proxy sensing procedure includes SBP procedure setup, sensing measurements, SBP procedure reporting, and SBP procedure termination. During SBP procedure setup, a client (e.g., client 0) requests the AP to acquire sensing measurements with other clients (e.g., clients 1 and 2). The AP is configured to act as a proxy initiator for the requesting client. In various embodiments described in this disclosure, the AP is referred to as a proxy AP or SBP responder, while such a requesting client is referred to as an SBP requesting STA or SBP initiator. The proxy is established by exchanging SBP request / response frames 412 between the SBP initiator and the SBP responder. The AP then performs sensing measurements with one or more clients (e.g., clients 1 and 2) by, for example, exchanging measurement setup request / response frames to establish a session and / or measurement report frames 414a, 414b during a measurement instance. In the example of FIG. 4, the SBP initiator is one of the clients, but the AP may also perform sensing measurements with the SBP initiator by exchanging associated frames 414c. During the SBP procedure reporting, the AP that has obtained the client's measurement reports then reports them to the SBP initiator, for example, by transmitting an SBP report frame 416. After the SBP procedure reporting, the SBP procedure may be terminated at any time by either the SBP initiator or the SBP responder transmitting an SBP end frame (not shown).

[0036] As mentioned above, there is a problem with client discovery in the SBP procedure. Because multi-AP Wi-Fi coverage of an entire home / office / building / entity (e.g., by mesh Wi-Fi or enterprise Wi-Fi networks) is now very common, blindly measuring and reporting all possible links in the SBP reporting phase would cause a large overhead in the Wi-Fi links used for reporting. FIG. 5 shows a schematic diagram 500 illustrating a floor plan and devices located on the floor. In this diagram, STA-8 is an SBP initiator 502 configured to track people entering through door 504. As shown using lines between devices, there may be 15 possible links between devices, but only a few links, such as links 506, 507, 508, 509, and 510 (among STA-5, phone-1, and AP-1), may be interesting links for a people tracking sensing application responsible for tracking people near door 504.

[0037] Therefore, there is a need for a communication apparatus and method for enhanced sensing by a proxy that allows an SBP initiator to select the best link / STA in an SBP procedure to reduce reporting overhead.

[0038] This disclosure presents a proxy-assisted sensing procedure that enables a non-AP STA to become the SBP initiator during the SBP negotiation phase and select a STA or link for sensing measurements. The link may be an AP-to-STA link (e.g., an initiator-to-responder (I2R) link or a responder-to-initiator (R2I) link) or a STA-to-STA link (e.g., a responder-to-responder (R2R) link). This disclosure also aims to propose related signaling and frame formats for the proxy-assisted sensing procedure.

[0039] 6 illustrates a schematic diagram of a communication device 600 according to the present disclosure. The communication device 600 may also be implemented as a sensing initiator, a sensing responder, an SBP initiator, or an SBP responder.

[0040] 6, the communications device 600 may include a circuit 614, at least one wireless transmitter 802, at least one wireless receiver 604, and at least one antenna 612 (for simplicity, only one antenna is shown in FIG. 6 for illustrative purposes). The circuit 614 may include at least one controller 606 for use in software and hardware-assisted execution of the tasks the at least one controller 606 is designed to perform, including controlling communications with one or more other communications devices in a MIMO wireless network. The circuit 614 may further include at least one transmit signal generator 608 and at least one receive signal processor 610. The at least one controller 606 may control the at least one transmit signal generator 608 to generate MAC frames and PPDUs to be transmitted to one or more other communication devices via the at least one wireless transmitter 602, where the MAC frames may be, for example, Client Discovery Query / Request / Response frames, Sensing Measurement Setup Request / Response frames, SBP Request / Response frames, SBP Report frames, Sensing Measurement Report frames, Polling Trigger frames, Sounding Trigger frames, NFRP Trigger frames, Sensing Trigger frames, Sensing NDPA frames, etc. NDPA), and the PPDU may be, for example, a PPDU used for non-trigger-based communication, a PPDU used for trigger-based sounding / sensing measurement procedures, a PPDU used for non-trigger-based sounding / sensing measurement procedures, a PPDU used for trigger-based downlink transmission when the communication device 600 is an AP, or a PPDU used for trigger-based uplink transmission when the communication device 600 is a STA.At least one control unit 606 may, under the control of the at least one control unit 606, control at least one receiving signal processing unit 610 to process MAC frames and PPDUs received from one or more other communication devices via at least one radio receiving unit 604, where the MAC frames may be, for example, client discovery query / request / response frames, sensing measurement setup request / response frames, SBP request / response frames, SBP report frames, sensing measurement report frames, polling trigger frames, sounding trigger frames, NFRP trigger frames, sensing trigger frames, sensing NDPAs, and the PPDUs may be, for example, PPDUs used for non-triggered communication, PPDUs used for triggered sounding / sensing measurement procedures, non-triggered sounding / sensing measurement procedure PPDUs used for triggered uplink transmissions when the communication device 600 is an AP, or PPDUs used for triggered downlink transmissions when the communication device 600 is a STA. The at least one transmit signal generator 608 and the at least one receive signal processor 610 may be standalone modules of the communication device 600 that communicate with the at least one controller 606 for the above-described functions, as shown in FIG. 6 . Alternatively, the at least one transmit signal generator 608 and the at least one receive signal processor 610 may be included in the at least one controller 606. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the arrangement of these functional modules is flexible and may vary according to actual needs and / or requirements. Data processing, storage, and other related control devices may be provided on an appropriate circuit board and / or within a chipset. In various embodiments, in operation, the at least one wireless transmitter 802, the at least one wireless receiver 604, and the at least one antenna 612 may be controlled by the at least one controller 606.

[0041] In operation, the communications device 600 provides functionality required for proxy sensing. For example, the communications device 600 may be an SBP initiator. The circuit 614 (e.g., at least one transmit signal generator 608 of the circuit 614) may be configured to generate a request frame. The request frame indicates conditions used by a second communications device (e.g., an SBP responder) to select one or more links, each of which is coupled to one or more third communications devices (e.g., sensing responders). The at least one wireless transmitter 602 may then transmit the request frame to the second communications device, requesting the second communications device to perform measurements on the one or more links. The at least one wireless receiver 604 may then receive a report frame from the second communications device, the report frame including one or more reports of measurements corresponding to the one or more links.

[0042] In one embodiment, the at least one radio receiver 604 further receives a response frame from the second communication device including information identifying each of the one or more links before receiving the report frame including one or more reports of measurements corresponding to the one or more links from the second communication device.

[0043] In another embodiment, the at least one wireless receiver 604 further receives a verification request frame requesting verification information indicating that the communications device 600 is authorized to receive one or more reports. The circuit 614 (e.g., each of the at least one receive signal processor 610 and the at least one transmit signal generator 608 of the circuit 614) may be configured to process the verification request frame and generate a verification response frame including the verification information. The at least one wireless transmitter 602 may then transmit the verification response frame.

[0044] The communications device 600 may be a sensing SBP responder, and the at least one wireless receiver 604 may receive a request frame from a first communications device (e.g., an SBP initiator) indicating conditions for selecting one or more links, each of which is associated with one or more third communications devices (e.g., sensing responders). The circuit 614 (e.g., the at least one transmit signal generator 608 of the circuit 614) may be configured to generate a report frame including a report of one or more measurements corresponding to the one or more links. The at least one wireless transmitter 602 may then transmit the report frame to the first communications device.

[0045] In one embodiment, the circuit 614 (e.g., the at least one transmit signal generator 608 of the circuit 614) may be configured to generate a setup request frame for each of the one or more third communication devices, the setup request frame including an identifier or address of the communication device 600, to set up measurements for each of the one or more third communication devices. The at least one wireless transmitter 602 may then transmit the setup request frame to the first communication device.

[0046] In another embodiment, the at least one wireless receiver 604 may receive a validation request frame from one of the one or more third communication devices to request validation information indicating that the first communication device is authorized to receive measurement reports from one of the one or more third communication devices. The at least one wireless transmitter 602 may then transmit the validation request frame to the communication device 600. The at least one wireless receiver 604 may then further receive a validation response frame from the communication device 600 that includes the validation information, and the at least one wireless transmitter 602 may then transmit the validation response frame to one of the one or more third communication devices.

[0047] In yet another embodiment, the circuit 614 (e.g., the at least one transmit signal generating unit 608 of the circuit 614) may be configured to assign a different setup identifier to each of the one or more links, and generate a response frame after receiving a request frame including the different setup identifiers assigned to each of the one or more links. The report frame includes information of the different setup identifiers that identify each of the one or more links corresponding to the reporting of one or more measurements.

[0048] 7 shows a flowchart 700 illustrating a communication method implemented by a first communication device, such as an SBP initiator, according to various embodiments of the present disclosure. In step 702, a request frame is generated indicating conditions to be used by a second communication device (e.g., an SBP responder) to select one or more links, each of which is associated with one or more third communication devices (e.g., sensing responders). In step 704, a request frame is transmitted to the second communication device to request the second communication device to perform measurements of the one or more links. In step 706, a report frame is received from the second communication device, the report frame including one or more reports of measurements corresponding to the one or more links.

[0049] 8 shows a flowchart 800 illustrating a communication method implemented by a second communication device, such as an SBP responder, according to various embodiments of the present disclosure. In step 802, receiving a request frame from a first communication device (e.g., an SBP initiator), the request frame indicating conditions for selecting one or more links, each of which is associated with one or more third communication devices, is performed. In step 804, generating a report frame including reports of one or more measurements corresponding to the one or more links is performed. In step 806, transmitting the report frame to the first communication device is performed.

[0050] The following paragraphs describe a first embodiment of the present disclosure for a proxy sensing procedure in which a non-AP STA indicates conditions for an AP to select one or more other non-AP STAs or links.

[0051] According to the first embodiment, during SBP setup, the SBP initiator (non-AP STA) specifies in the SBP request the attributes (e.g., sampling rate, report type, etc.) and information of the basic sensing operation as conditions to help the SBP responder (AP) select the STA or link. Then, the SBP responder determines / selects the STA / link to be used for sensing measurement based on the conditions (i.e., the attributes and information).

[0052] FIG. 9 shows a flowchart 900 outlining a procedure for proxy-assisted sensing between an AP and three non-AP STAs (STA1, STA4, and STA3) according to the first embodiment of the present disclosure. FIG. 10 shows a flowchart 1000 illustrating a detailed procedure flow of the proxy-assisted sensing procedure between the AP and the three non-AP STAs in FIG. 9. FIG. 11 shows a schematic diagram 1100 illustrating the connection between the AP and the three non-AP STAs in FIG. 9. The AP first uses a beacon / probe response frame to advertise its capability to support enhanced client discovery and basic information about associated non-AP STAs (e.g., the number / number of associated STAs). STA1 may perform basic SBP discovery and discover the AP's support for the SBP function. STA1 may then select the AP as its SBP responder.

[0053] STA1 may then initiate an extended client discovery procedure by sending a protected client discovery query frame requesting the AP to provide a list of non-AP STAs (associated non-AP STAs and, optionally, non-associated non-AP STAs). The AP then sends a protected client discovery response frame containing the requested list of non-AP STAs and, optionally, their respective neighboring STAs, completing the extended client discovery procedure. In this extended client discovery procedure, the SBP initiator discovers information about the AP and potential sensing responders. Specifically, the AP already has basic information about associated STAs, such as the STAs' operating channel, sensing capabilities, and R2R sensing capabilities. The SBP initiator (STA1) can obtain such information from the AP using a Level 1 client discovery query. Although not shown in the figure, upon receiving a request from an SBP initiator (or even the SBP initiator itself), the AP may collect other relevant information from its associated STAs, such as information about the STA's neighboring STAs, including the STA's location / position, RSSI (or propagation loss) to / from the STA (which represents the distance between the STA and the AP), and link metrics. This allows the SBP initiator to obtain such relevant information about the AP's associated STAs (and their neighboring STAs) from the AP using a Level 2 Client Discovery Query. Based on the above information, the SBP initiator can select not only one or more APs as SBP responders but also one or more non-AP STAs as target sensing responders for the SBP procedure.Alternatively, for example, if the AP does not support enhanced client discovery, or in addition to information collected via enhanced client discovery, the SBP initiator may also use information received via other means (e.g., IP / MAC addresses provided by upper layer applications) to select an SBP responder and sensing responder for the SBP procedure.

[0054] Alternatively, the SBP initiator may initially request measurements from all / many available links, but later, in subsequent SBP requests, select a subset of links that are most suitable for the sensing application. Link selection may be based on statistical analysis of sensing measurement reports for the links; for example, links whose CSI feedback is less likely to change relative to the needs of the sensing application may be omitted in subsequent SBP requests.

[0055] The SBP initiator (STA1) may be associated with an AP (SBP responder), in which case it is assumed that normal authentication / association procedures with the AP have been completed and a security association (SA) has been set up, e.g., via a 4-way handshake, before the SBP request is initiated. Alternatively, the SBP initiator (STA1) may not be associated with an AP, in which case it is assumed that security associated with the AP has been set up, e.g., via a Pre-Association Security Negotiation (PASN) via a 3-way handshake, before the SBP request is initiated.

[0056] STA1 discovers an AP through a client discovery procedure and selects the AP as an SBP responder. It then initiates an SBP procedure, requesting the AP to act as a proxy sensing initiator on its behalf by transmitting a protected SBP request frame containing link / measurement parameters related to SBP links and measurement attributes, such as a minimum received signal strength indicator (RSSI) or received channel power indicator (RCPI), and the number of measurement links. Based on the link / measurement parameters, the AP then determines three STAs / links (in this case, the I2R link associated with STA4, the I2R link associated with STA3, and the R2R link between STA4 and STA3) that are more relevant for sensing measurements, and initiates sensing session setup and sensing measurement setup with the selected STAs (STA4, STA3) by transmitting a protected sensing measurement setup request frame to the selected STAs. In this embodiment, the same measurement setup identifier (ID) is assigned to all different measurement links for the SBP procedure (e.g., the I2R link between the AP and the STA and the R2R link between STA4 and STA3). After receiving the protected sensing measurement setup request frame, STA4 and STA3 (sensing responders) then send a protected sensing measurement setup response frame to the AP (SBP responder or proxy sensing initiator) indicating successful sensing measurement setup.

[0057] The AP then sends a protected SBP response frame to indicate the successful setup with its sensing responder and also indicates the measurement setup ID selected for the SBP procedure to the SBP initiator (STA1) to complete the SBP setup.

[0058] Subsequently, the AP performs a sensing measurement instance with STA4 and STA3 by first transmitting an I2R measurement PPDU (e.g., a sensing NDP) to STA4 and STA3. In response, STA4 and STA3 measure their respective channels based on the reception of the I2R measurement PPDU and, if requested, transmit their measurement reports. The measurement report includes the assigned measurement setup ID "1." After collecting measurement reports for its own links, the AP aggregates the measurement reports and transmits a protected SBP report frame to STA1 that includes measurement reports for the I2R links with STA4 and STA3. The report frame includes link information, such as a STA ID or other ID that can be used to identify the I2R measurement link. Alternatively or additionally, R2R measurements and R2R link reports may also be performed during the same measurement instance (measurement instance ID 1). In this case, STA4 transmits an R2R measurement PPDU (e.g., a sensing NDP) to STA3, and STA3 transmits a measurement report to the AP in response. The measurement report includes the assigned measurement setup ID "1." Upon receiving the measurement report, the AP then transmits a protected SBP report frame containing the measurement report of the R2R link between STA4 and STA3 to STA1. Similarly, the SBP report frame includes link information such as the STA ID and other IDs that can be used to identify the R2R measurement link.

[0059] Alternatively, as shown in Figure 9, the AP may perform measurements on different links / STAs in different measurement instances (different measurement instance IDs but the same measurement setup ID), e.g., perform a sensing measurement with STA3 under measurement instance ID "1" in the first measurement instance, and then perform a sensing measurement with STA4 under measurement instance ID "2" in the second measurement instance. The AP then transmits an SBP report frame to STA1, including the measurement reports of STA4 and STA3 received in the different measurement instances. Similarly, the report frame includes link information such as the STA ID or other ID that can be used to identify the measured link.

[0060] Finally, STA1 may initiate the termination of the SBP procedure by sending an SBP end frame (not shown) to the AP after the SBP procedure. The AP then performs, together with STA4 and STA3, the termination of the sensing measurement and the termination of the sensing session for the sensing measurement setup ID corresponding to the SBP procedure.

[0061] FIG. 12 illustrates an example format of an Extended Capability Element 1200 used for basic discovery according to one embodiment of the present disclosure. The Extended Capability Element 1200 is used to indicate the capabilities of a STA (AP or non-AP) and its support for specified services and communication functions. It has an Element ID field, a Length field, and an Extended Capabilities field. The Extended Capabilities field includes a WLAN Sensing subfield, an SBP subfield, an SBP R2R subfield, a Level 1 Enhanced Client Discovery subfield, and a Level 2 Enhanced Client Discovery subfield. The SBP subfield indicates that the AP is capable of providing proxy-assisted sensing services with associated STAs. The SBP R2R indicates that the AP is capable of providing proxy-assisted sensing services in an R2R link with its associated STAs. The Level 1 and Level 2 Enhanced Client Discovery subfields indicate that the AP / non-AP STA can perform Level 1 and Level 2 enhanced client discovery. For Level 1 enhanced client discovery, the AP can provide a list of non-AP STAs (associated non-AP STAs and, optionally, unassociated non-AP STAs), and for Level 2 enhanced client discovery, the AP can provide detailed information of neighboring clients / devices located within wireless range of a specified non-AP STA (associated non-AP STAs or unassociated non-AP STAs).

[0062] In the present disclosure, an SBP initiator and an SBP responder exchange SBP request / response / termination frames to set up an SBP procedure if no security association (SA) exists between them. If one exists, they exchange protected SBP request / response frames. According to a first embodiment of the present disclosure, exemplary formats of an SBP request frame 1300 and a protected SBP request frame 1310 are shown in FIGS. 13A and 13B, respectively. The SBP request frame 1300 includes a MAC Header (Frame Control, Duration, Recipient Address (RA), and Transmitter Address (TA) fields), a Category field set to "Public," a Public Action field set to "SBP Request," a Dialog Token field, SBP parameter elements, and a Frame Checking Sequence (FCS) field. The SBP protected frame 1310 includes a MAC header (Frame Control, Duration, RA, and TA fields), a Category field set to "Protected Dual of Public Action", a Public Action field set to "Protected SBP Request", a Dialog Token field, an SBP Parameter Elements field, and an FCS field.

[0063] 14A and 14B show exemplary formats of an SBP response frame 1400 and a protected response frame 1410, respectively, according to a first embodiment of the present disclosure. The SBP response frame 1400 includes a MAC header (Frame Control, Duration, RA, and TA fields), a Category field set to “Public,” a Public Action field set to “SBP Response,” a Dialog Token field, a Status Code field, a Measurement Setup ID field, an SBP Parameters Element field, an SBP Link Info Element field, and an FCS field. The protected SBP response frame 1410 includes a MAC header (Frame Control, Duration, RA, and TA fields), a Category field set to "Protected Public Action Dual", a Public Action field set to "Protected SBP Response", a Dialog Token field, a Status Code field, a Measurement Setup ID field, an SBP Parameter Elements field, an SBP Link Information Elements field, and an FCS field.

[0064] The Measurement Setup ID field is set to a Measurement Setup ID value that uniquely identifies the SBP procedure and all measurement links corresponding to the SBP procedure. The Measurement Setup ID field is present in the SBP response frame 1400, 1410 only if the Status Code field indicates "success."

[0065] 15 shows an example format of an SBP parameter element field 1500 in the SBP request frames 1300, 1310 / SBP response frames 1400, 1410 of FIGS. 13A-14B. The SBP parameter element field includes an Element ID field, a Length field, an Element ID Extension field, and an SBP parameters field. The SBP parameters field includes a Link Parameters subfield, a Measurement Parameters subfield, and a Report Parameters subfield, which specify attributes related to the link being measured, the measurement PPDU, and the SBP report, respectively.

[0066] The Link Parameters subfield includes the Include SBP Initiator bit, the Include R2R bit, the Minimum RSSI / RCPI subfield, and the Number of Measurement Links subfield. The Include SBP Initiator bit is set to 1, indicating a request to include the SBP initiator as one of the sensing responders. Therefore, measurement reports for the links to which the SBP initiator is associated are also measured and included in the SBP report frame. The Include R2R bit is set to 1 to indicate that R2R links may be taken into account. The Minimum RSSI / RCPI subfield indicates that the average RSSI or RCPI observed for frames transmitted on the selected links is expected to exceed the indicated level. The Number of Links subfield indicates the number of links used for sensing measurements.

[0067] The Measurement Parameters subfield includes an NDP Type subfield, an NDP Bandwidth subfield, and a Sampling Rate subfield. The NDP Type subfield indicates the NDP type or format (e.g., High Efficiency (HE), Extremely High Throughput (EHT), or Ranging) used to measure the channel. The NDP Bandwidth subfield indicates the channel bandwidth of the NDP used to measure the channel. The Sampling Rate subfield indicates how often the measurements are made, i.e., how often the sensing measurements are performed in terms of Hz or measurements per second.

[0068] The Reporting Parameters subfield includes the Measurement Report Type subfield, the Report Frequency subfield, and the Channel State Information (CSI) Variation Threshold subfield. The Measurement Report Type subfield indicates the type of sensing measurement report used during the SBP reporting procedure. The Report Frequency subfield indicates the frequency at which the SBP report is transmitted, i.e., how often the SBP report is transmitted in terms of Hz or transmissions per second. The CSI Variation Threshold subfield indicates a number between 0 and 1 corresponding to the threshold used to determine whether the change in the measured CSI is large enough for the AP to generate an SBP report.

[0069] FIG. 16 shows an example format of an SBP link information element field 1600 in the SBP response frames 1400, 1410 of FIGS. 14A and 14B, according to an embodiment. The SBP link information element field includes an Element ID field, a Length field, an Element ID Extension field, and an SBP Link Info field. The SBP Link Info field includes a Link Info Count (N) subfield and one or more Link Information fields corresponding to one or more links. The Link Info Count (N) subfield indicates the number of links (Link Info subfields) present in the SBP Link Info field. Each Link Info subfield includes a STA2 Present subfield, a STA1 ID subfield, and a STA2 ID subfield (if the STA2 Present subfield is set to 1). For an I2R or R2I link to which the SBP responder itself is attached, the STA2 Present subfield is set to 0, and the STA1 ID subfield indicates the STA ID (e.g., MAC address or associated identifier (AID)) of the STA associated with the other end of the link. For an R2R link, the STA2 Present subfield is set to 1, and the STA1 and STA2 ID subfields indicate the STA IDs (e.g., MAC addresses or AIDs) of the two STAs associated with both ends of the R2R link. Alternatively, instead of the STA ID, a unique link ID for each measured link (assigned during sensing measurement setup for the SBP procedure) may be included in the Link Info subfield. The SBP initiator uses the link ID to identify the measured link in subsequent frames.

[0070] Regarding SBP reporting, the sensing measurement results obtained in the WLAN sensing procedure resulting from an SBP request are reported by the SBP responder to the SBP initiator in a protected SBP report frame, which is either constructed by the SBP responder (AP) itself (if the AP is the sensing receiver) or by adding a link information field (shown in Figure 16) and updating the resulting Report Length field in each sensing measurement report field sent by the sensing responder on the link.

[0071] FIG. 17 illustrates an exemplary format of an SBP report frame 1700 according to the first embodiment of the present disclosure. The SBP report frame 1700 includes a MAC header (Frame Control, Duration, RA, and TA fields), a Category field set to “Protected Sensing,” an Action field set to “Protected SBP Reporting,” a Dialog Token field, a Sensing Measurement Report List field, and an FCS field. The Sensing Measurement Report List field includes one or more Sensing Measurement Report fields corresponding to one or more links. Each Sensing Measurement Report field includes a Report Length field, a Measurement Setup ID field, a Measurement Instance ID field, a Sensing Measurement Time field, a Sensing Measurement Report Type field, a Sensing Measurement Control field, a Sensing Measurement Feedback field, and a Link Information field. The Report Length field indicates the length of the Sensing Measurement Report field. If a Link Information field is added, the Report Length field should also be updated accordingly. The Measurement Setup ID field indicates the Measurement Setup ID value corresponding to the SBP procedure. The Measurement Instance ID field identifies the measurement instance at which the sensing measurement is performed. The Sensing Measurement Time field indicates the measurement timestamp at which the measurement was performed by the sensing receiver (responder).The Sensing Measurement Control field includes an Nc Index subfield, an Nr Index subfield, a Bandwidth (BW) subfield, a Number of Groups (NG) subfield, a Remaining Feedback Segments subfield, and a First Feedback Segment subfield. The sensing measurement feedback includes sensing measurement results, such as CSI or partial CSI. The link information shown in FIG. 16 includes a STA2 Present subfield, a STA1 ID subfield, and (if the STA2 Present subfield is set to 1 to indicate an R2R link) a STA2 ID subfield. The STA1 and STA2 ID subfields include the IDs (e.g., MAC addresses or AIDs) of the sensing responders and identify the links corresponding to the sensing measurement report. Alternatively, a unique link ID may be assigned to each measurement link and included in the link information subfield instead of the STA ID.

[0072] According to a first embodiment of the present disclosure, Figures 18A and 18B show exemplary formats of an SBP termination frame 1800 and a protected SBP termination frame 1810, respectively. The SBP termination frame 1800 includes a MAC header (Frame Control, Duration, RA, and TA fields), a Category field set to "Public," a Public Action field set to "SBP Termination," a Measurement Setup ID field, and an FCS field. The protected SBP termination frame 1810 includes a MAC header (Frame Control, Duration, RA, and TA fields), a Category field set to "Protected Public Action Dual," a Public Action field set to "Protected SBP Termination," a Measurement Setup ID field, and an FCS field. The Measurement Setup ID field is set to a Measurement Setup ID value assigned by the SBP responder (AP) corresponding to the SBP procedure being terminated.

[0073] 19 shows a flowchart 1900 illustrating communication between an SBP initiator (non-AP STA) and an SBP responder (AP), such as communication between the Station Management Entity (SME) and MAC sublayer management entity (MLME) of the SBP initiator and the SBP responder, for proxy-based sensing according to the first embodiment of the present disclosure. The MLME-SBP.request primitive is issued by the MAC sublayer to request the SME of the SBP initiator to send an SBP request frame to the peer STA (SBP responder). Upon receiving this primitive, the MLME of the SBP initiator constructs an SBP request frame and causes it to be sent to the MAC address of the peer STA (SBP responder). The MLME-SBP.request primitive and its primitive parameters are shown as follows:

[0074] MLE-SBP.request( PeerSTAAddress, SBPParameters )

[0075] Table 1 shows details of the primitive parameters included in the MLME_SBP_request primitive. [Table 1]

[0076] The MLME-SBP.indication primitive is issued by the MAC sublayer to notify the SME of an SBP responder of the receipt of an SBP request frame from a peer STA (SBP initiator). Upon receipt of this primitive, the SME initiates the SBP procedure on behalf of the peer STA. The MLME-SBP_indication primitive and its primitive parameters are shown below.

[0077] MLME-SBP.indication( PeerSTAAddress, SBPParameters )

[0078] Table 2 shows details of the primitive parameters included in the MLME_SBP.indication primitive. [Table 2]

[0079] The MLME-SBP.response primitive is issued by the SBP responder's SME to the MAC sublayer in response to an MLME-SBP.indication and a request to send an SBP response frame to the peer STA (SBP initiator). Upon receiving this primitive, the SBP responder's MLME constructs an SBP response frame and ensures that it is sent to the peer STA's MAC address. The MLME-SBP.response primitive and its primitive parameters are shown below.

[0080] MLME-SBP.response( PeerSTAAddress, StatusCode, SBPParameters, MeasurementSetupID, SBPLinkInfo )

[0081] Table 3 shows details of the primitive parameters included in the MLME_SBP_response primitive. [Table 3]

[0082] The MLME-SBP.confirm primitive is issued to the MAC sublayer of the SBP initiator for the SME to notify the result of the SBP response when an SBP response is received from a peer STA (SBP responder). The MLME-SBP.confirm primitive and its primitive parameters are shown below.

[0083] MLME-SBP.confirm( PeerSTAAddress, StatusCode, SBPParameters, MeasurementSetupID, SBPLinkInfo )

[0084] Table 4 shows details of the primitive parameters included in the MLME-SBP.confirm primitive. [Table 4]

[0085] The MLME-SBPREPORT.request primitive is issued by the SBP responder's SME to the MAC sublayer to request the transmission of an SBP report frame to a peer STA (SBP initiator). Upon receiving the primitive, the SBP responder's MLME constructs an SBP report frame and ensures that it is sent to the peer STA's MAC address. The MLME-SBPREPORT.request primitive and its primitive parameters are shown below.

[0086] MLME-SBPREPORT.request( PeerSTAAddress, SensingMeasurementReportList )

[0087] Table 5 shows details of the primitive parameters included in the MLME-SBPREPORT.request primitive. [Table 5]

[0088] The MLME-SBRREPORT.indication primitive is issued by the MAC sublayer to notify the SME of the SBP initiator of the receipt of an SBP report frame from a peer STA (SBP responder). The MLME-SBRREPORT.indication primitive and its primitive parameters are shown below.

[0089] MLME-SBPREPORT.indication( PeerSTAAddress, SensingMeasurementReportList )

[0090] Table 6 shows details of the primitive parameters included in the MLME-SBPREPORT.request primitive. [Table 6]

[0091] The MLME-SBPREPORT.confirm primitive is issued by the MAC sublayer to the SME of the SBP responder to notify the result of the request for the transmission of an SBP report frame. The MLME-SBPREPORT.confirm primitive and its primitive parameters are shown below.

[0092] MLME-SBPREPORT.confirm( PeerSTAAddress, StatusCode, )

[0093] Table 7 shows details of the primitive parameters included in the MLME-SBPREPORT.confirm primitive. [Table 7]

[0094] The MLME-SBPTERMINATION.request primitive is issued by the SME to the MAC sublayer to request the transmission of an SBP termination frame to the peer STA. On receipt of this primitive, the MLME constructs an SBP termination frame and causes it to be sent to the peer MAC address.

[0095] MLME-SBPTERMINATION.request( PeerSTAAddress, )

[0096] Table 8 shows details of the primitive parameters included in the MLME-SBPTERMINATION.request primitive. [Table 8]

[0097] The MLME-SBPTERMINATION.indication primitive is issued by the MAC sublayer to the SME to acknowledge receipt of an SBP termination frame from a peer STA.

[0098] MLME-SBPTERMINATION.indication( PeerSTAAddress, )

[0099] Table 9 shows details of the primitive parameters included in the MLME-SBPTERMINATION.indication primitive. [Table 9]

[0100] The MLME-SBPTERMINATION.confirm primitive is issued by the MAC sublayer to the SME to notify the result of the request to send an SBP termination frame.

[0101] MLME-SBPTERMINATION.confirm( PeerSTAAddress, StatusCode, )

[0102] Details of the primitive parameters included in the MLME-SBPTERMINATION.confirm primitive are shown in Table 10. [Table 10]

[0103] In FIG. 19, the SBP end frame is sent by the SBP initiator, but can also be sent by the SBP responder, in which case the direction of the corresponding MLME primitive is reversed.

[0104] The following paragraphs describe a second embodiment of the present disclosure for a proxy sensing procedure in which a non-AP STA indicates the conditions and target STA or link information for the AP to select one or more other non-AP STAs or links.

[0105] FIG. 20A shows a flowchart 2000 outlining a procedure for proxy-assisted sensing between an AP and three non-AP STAs (STA1, STA2, and STA3) according to a second embodiment of the present disclosure. FIG. 21 shows a flowchart 2100 illustrating a detailed procedure flow of the proxy-assisted sensing procedure between the AP and three non-AP STAs in FIG. 20A. The AP first uses a Beacon / Probe Response frame to advertise its capability to support enhanced client discovery and basic information about associated non-AP STAs (e.g., the number / number of associated STAs). STA1 may perform basic SBP discovery and discover the AP's support for the SBP function. STA1 may then select the AP as its SBP responder.

[0106] STA1 (SBP initiator) may then initiate the enhanced client discovery procedure by sending a protected client discovery query frame requesting the AP (SBP responder) to provide a list of non-AP STAs (associated non-AP STAs and, optionally, non-associated non-AP STAs). The AP sends a protected client discovery response frame containing the requested list of non-AP STAs and, optionally, their respective neighboring STAs, completing the enhanced client discovery procedure.

[0107] The SBP initiator (STA1) may be associated with an AP (SBP responder), in which case it is assumed that normal authentication / association procedures with the AP have been completed and a security association (SA) has been set up, e.g., via a four-way handshake, before the SBP request is initiated. Alternatively, the SBP initiator (STA1) may not be associated with an AP, in which case it is assumed that security associated with the AP has been set up, e.g., through a pre-association security negotiation (PASN) via a three-way handshake, before the SBP request is initiated.

[0108] STA1 discovers the AP, STA2, and STA3 through the discovery procedure and selects the AP as an SBP responder. It then initiates an SBP procedure, requesting the AP to be the proxy sensing initiator on its behalf by transmitting a protected SBP request frame containing link / measurement parameters and information related to SBP link and measurement attributes, such as minimum RSSI / RCPI, and the number of measured links. Unlike the SBP procedure described in the first embodiment, in this second embodiment, the SBP request frame also contains information on target device parameters, such as the location, coverage information, and STA IDs of one or more specific target sensing responders. Based on the link / measurement parameters and target device parameters, the AP then determines three STAs / links (in this case, the I2R link associated with STA2, the I2R link associated with STA3, and the R2R link between STA2 and STA3) that are more relevant for sensing measurements based on the parameters and information of the target sensing responder, and initiates sensing session setup and sensing measurement setup with the selected STAs (STA2, STA3) by sending protected sensing measurement setup request frames to the selected STAs.

[0109] In this second embodiment, a unique Measurement Setup ID (MSID) is assigned to each measurement link for the SBP procedure. For example, the I2R link between the AP and STA3 is assigned MSID "1," the link between the AP and STA2 is assigned MSID "2," and the R2R link between STA2 and STA3 is assigned MSID "3." STA2 and STA3 (sensing responders) that receive the protected sensing measurement setup request frame then return a protected sensing measurement setup response frame to the AP (SBP responder or proxy sensing initiator) indicating successful sensing measurement setup.

[0110] The AP then sends a protected SBP response frame back to the SBP initiator (STA1) to indicate successful setup along with its sensing responder and the measurement setup ID selected for the SBP procedure and assigned to the measurement link, completing the SBP setup.

[0111] Subsequently, the AP performs a sensing measurement instance with STA2 and STA3 by first transmitting an I2R measurement PPDU (e.g., a sensing NDP) to STA2 and STA3. In response, STA2 and STA3 measure their respective channels based on receiving the I2R measurement PPDU and, if requested, transmit their respective measurement reports. The measurement reports include their respective measurement setup IDs "1" and "2." After collecting the measurement reports for their own links, the AP aggregates the measurement reports and transmits a protected SBP report frame to STA1 containing measurement reports for the I2R links between the AP and STA2 and STA3. The measurement setup IDs are included in the measurement reports in the SBP report frame to identify the measurement links, respectively. Alternatively or additionally, R2R measurements and R2R link reports may also be performed during the same measurement instance (measurement instance ID 1). In this case, STA2 transmits an R2R measurement PPDU (e.g., a sensing NDP) to STA3, and STA3 transmits a measurement report to the AP in response. The measurement report includes its measurement setup ID "3." Upon receiving the measurement report, the AP then sends a protected SBP report frame to STA1 that includes a measurement report of the R2R link between STA2 and STA3. The measurement setup ID is included in the measurement report in the SBP report frame to identify the measurement link, respectively.

[0112] Alternatively, as shown in Figure 20A, the AP may perform measurements on different links / STAs in different measurement instances (different measurement instance IDs but the same measurement setup ID), e.g., perform a sensing measurement with STA3 under measurement instance ID "1" in the first measurement instance, and then perform a sensing measurement with STA2 under measurement instance ID "2" in the second measurement instance. The AP then sends an SBP report frame to STA1 including measurement reports of its I2R links with STA2 and STA3 received in the different measurement instances. The measurement setup ID is included in the measurement report in the SBP report frame to identify the I2R and R2R measurement links, respectively.

[0113] Finally, STA1 may initiate the termination of the SBP procedure by sending an SBP end frame (not shown) to the AP after the SBP procedure. The AP then performs, together with STA2 and STA3, the termination of the sensing measurement and the termination of the sensing session for the sensing measurement setup ID corresponding to the SBP procedure.

[0114] FIG. 22 is an example visualization of enhanced client discovery results. The results of enhanced client discovery correspond to links between devices located within a floor plan, as shown in FIG. 5. Such visualization may be displayed on the screen of a laptop, smartphone, or any electronic device. In this example, the SBP initiator (STA8) performs Level 1 client discovery and displays only a list of AP / AP MLDs (in this case, four different APs (AP1, AP2, AP3, and AP4)). Each AP sends its discovery results, consisting of a list of STAs associated with the AP along with their basic information, to the SBP initiator. The results may be sorted in descending order according to link quality. Optionally, the AP also provides a list of unassociated STAs (and / or MLDs) known to the AP. In this example, AP1 provides information for STA8, STA5, and STA1; AP2 provides information for STA7 and STA1; AP4 provides information for STA4 and STA6; and AP3 provides information for STA2 and STA3. The SBP initiator may additionally or alternatively perform Level 2 client discovery. This Level 2 client discovery can be triggered by selection in a specific STA or non-AP MLD. In this example, STA-5 is selected, and the SBP initiator performs Level 2 client discovery with AP1 for STA-5. A client discovery query frame including STA-5's ID (e.g., MAC address) is transmitted to AP1. Thus, AP1 provides not only information about STA-5 but also information about its neighboring APs, STAs (in this case, STA5, STA8 (the SBP initiator itself)), Phone1, STA1, AP2, AP4, and STA4) located within the wireless range of STA-5, as shown in block 2202. The results can then be used to select a sensing responder for SBP procedure measurement.

[0115] As part of enhanced client discovery, an SBP initiator can also discover the location of APs (in addition to the locations of non-AP STAs). Location information may be obtained via GPS (if outdoors) or precise timing measurements and / or ranging (if indoors), etc. AP location information (along with other information, such as supported capabilities) may be used by the SBP initiator to select an appropriate AP to act as an SBP responder. If the STA information field in the client discovery response frame contains information for a DMG (Directional Multi-Gigabit, i.e., 802.11ad) STA or an EDMG (Enhanced Directional Multi-Gigabit, i.e., 802.11ay) STA, the STA information field may also include a Sector Select subfield containing the value of the Sector ID subfield of the SSW field in the frame received with the best quality in the previous sector sweep. The Sector ID subfield indicates the sector number to which the frame containing this SSW field is transmitted. The AP may take into consideration and use the sector number information when selecting a sensing responder STA from among the DMG / EDMG STAs.

[0116] 23 illustrates an exemplary format of an SBP parameter element field of an SBP request frame according to a second embodiment of the present disclosure. The SBP parameter element field 2300 includes an Element ID field, a Length field, an Element ID Extension field, and an SBP Parameters field. Unlike the SBP parameter element field illustrated in FIG. 15 for the first embodiment, the SBP parameters field includes additional Target Device Parameter subfields, Link Parameter subfields, Measurement Parameter subfields, and Report Parameter subfields, which specify attributes related to the target STA / link, the measured link, the measurement PPDU, and the SBP report, respectively.

[0117] The Link Parameters subfield, Measurement Parameters subfield, and Reporting Parameters subfield are the same as those described in Figure 15. The Target Device Parameters subfield includes a Target Device Control field, a Device Location Info field, a Coverage Info field, and one or more Target Device Info fields. The Target Device Control field includes a Device Type subfield, a Device Location Info Present subfield, a Coverage Info Present subfield, and a Target Device Count (N) subfield. The Device Type subfield specifies device type restrictions for sensing responders.

[0118] Table 11 shows the various device types that correspond to the Device Type subfield values. [Table 11]

[0119] The Device Location Information Present subfield and the Coverage Information Present subfield indicate the presence of corresponding fields in the Target Device Parameters subfield. The Number of Target Devices (N) subfield indicates the number of target device information fields in the Target Device Parameters subfield.

[0120] The Device Location Information field specifies the location of the device and uses that location as a center to determine the coverage area or wireless range extended from the location. The Coverage Information field includes a Coverage Radius subfield and a Coverage Sector Bitmap subfield. The Coverage Radius subfield specifies the radius (e.g., presented by RSSI / RCPI level (dBm) or as distance (m)) of the coverage area associated with the device location specified in the Device Location Information field. The Coverage Sector Bitmap subfield indicates a segment or region for the device location.

[0121] The Device Location Information field contains information about the location where the target STA should be located. For example, this field may include a Device Location Information Body field as described in 9.4.1.56 of 802.11-2020. The Device Location Information Body field contains Location Configuration Information (LCI), including latitude, longitude, and altitude information. Together with the Coverage Information field, the SBP initiator can specify a coverage area (with the location indicated in the Device Location Information field). The SBP initiator requests the AP (SBP responder) to select a target sensing responder within this coverage area. If the Device Location Information field is not present but the Coverage Information field is present, the location of the SBP responder (AP) is considered to be the center of the target coverage area.

[0122] Table 12 shows the various sectors indicated by the bits in the coverage sector bitmap. [Table 12]

[0123] Each target device information field within the target device parameters subfield specifies a target link and has a STA2 Presence subfield, a STA1 ID subfield, and a STA2 ID subfield. For an I2R link or an R2I link, the STA2 Presence subfield is set to 0, and the STA1 ID subfield indicates the STA ID (e.g., MAC address, association identifier (AID), or unassociated ID (UID)) of the STA associated with the link, while the SBP responder is understood to be attached to the other end of the link. For an R2R link, the STA2 Presence subfield is set to 1, and the STA1 ID and STA2 ID subfields indicate the STA IDs (e.g., MAC addresses or AIDs) of the two STAs associated with the R2R link. Alternatively, a unique link ID may be assigned for each measurement link and included in the link information subfield, rather than a STA ID.

[0124] Although not shown in the figure, other information about the target device, such as device name, PHY version (HT / VHT / HE / EHT, etc.), supported features (WLAN sensing supported, precise timing measurement (FTM) supported, etc.), may also be included in the target device parameters field.

[0125] According to a second embodiment of the present disclosure, an SBP initiator provides target device parameters specified in a target device parameters subfield frame in addition to link / measurement parameters in an SBP parameter element field in an SBP request to an SBP responder (AP). The SBP responder (AP) uses the provided target device parameters and link parameters to select a STA / link to be used for SBP sensing measurements. For example, if the device location information field and coverage information field are included, the AP may select a STA located within a specified sector of the coverage area and satisfying link parameters (e.g., minimum RSSI / RCPI). Additionally or alternatively, if the target device information field is included, the AP directly selects a STA indicated to satisfy other parameters, such as link parameters. The SBP responder (AP) then acts as a sensing initiator and performs sensing session setup and sensing measurement setup with the selected STA (sensing responder) using a unique measurement setup ID for each measurement link.

[0126] 24A and 24B show exemplary formats of an SBP response frame 2400 and a protected response frame 2410, respectively, according to a second embodiment of the present disclosure. The SBP response frame 2400 includes a MAC header (frame control, duration, RA, and TA fields), a category field set to "public," a public action field set to "SBP response," a dialog token field, a status code field, an SBP parameter element field, an SBP link information element field, and an FCS field. The protected SBP response frame 2410 includes a MAC header (frame control, duration, RA, and TA fields), a category field set to "protected public action dual," a public action field set to "protected SBP response," a dialog token field, a status code field, an SBP parameter element field, an SBP link information element field, and an FCS field. Note that for the SBP procedure according to the second embodiment, different measurement links are assigned different measurement setup IDs, and therefore the measurement setup ID is included in the SBP link element field of the SBP response frames 2400, 2410 differently than in the SBP response frames 1400, 1410 shown in Figures 14A and 14B. Alternatively, a measurement setup ID field is also included in the SBP response frame itself, and a unique measurement setup ID can be assigned to represent the SBP procedure.

[0127] FIG. 25 shows an example format of an SBP link information element field 2500 of the SBP response frames 2400, 2410 of FIGS. 24A and 24B according to an embodiment. The SBP link information element field includes an Element ID field, a Length field, an Element ID Extension field, and an SBP link information field. The SBP link information field includes a Link Info Count (N) subfield and one or more Link Info fields corresponding to one or more links. The Link Info Count (N) subfield indicates the number of links (Link Info subfields) present in the SBP link information field. Each Link Info subfield includes a STA2 Present subfield, a STA1 ID subfield, a STA2 ID subfield (if the STA2 Present subfield is set to 1), and a Measurement Setup ID subfield. For an I2R link or an R2I link, the STA2 Present subfield is set to 0, and the STA1 ID subfield indicates the STA ID (e.g., MAC address, AID, or UID) of the STA associated with the link. For an R2R link, the STA2 Present subfield is set to 1, and the STA1 and STA2 ID subfields indicate the STA IDs (e.g., MAC addresses, AIDs, or UIDs) of the two STAs associated with the R2R link. A unique link ID for each measurement link is assigned to and included in the Measurement Setup ID subfield of the Link Information subfield.

[0128] If the setup is successful, the AP proceeds to perform a sensing measurement instance on the selected link based on the attributes indicated in the SBP request and, if applicable, collects sensing measurement reports from sensing responders.

[0129] Regarding SBP reporting, the sensing measurement results obtained in the WLAN sensing procedure resulting from an SBP request are reported by the SBP responder to the SBP initiator in a protected SBP report frame, which is either constructed by the SBP responder (AP) itself (if the AP is the sensing receiver) or by adding a link information field (shown in Figure 16) and updating the resulting report length field in each sensing measurement report field sent by the sensing responder on the link.

[0130] FIG. 26 illustrates an exemplary format of an SBP report frame 2600 according to the second embodiment of the present disclosure. The SBP report frame 2600 includes a MAC header (frame control, duration, RA, and TA fields), a category field set to “protected sensing,” an action field set to “protected SBP reporting,” a dialog token field, a sensing measurement report list field, and an FCS field. The sensing measurement report list field includes one or more sensing measurement report fields corresponding to one or more links. Each sensing measurement report field includes a report length field, a measurement setup ID field, a measurement instance ID field, a sensing measurement time field, a sensing measurement report type field, a sensing measurement control field, a sensing measurement feedback field, and a link information field. The report length field indicates the length of the sensing measurement report field. If a link information field is added, the report length field should also be updated accordingly. The measurement setup ID field indicates a measurement setup ID value corresponding to the measurement setup assigned and initiated by the AP. The Measurement Setup ID uniquely identifies the link corresponding to the sensing measurement report from other sensing measurement reports. The Measurement Instance ID field identifies the measurement instance at which the sensing measurement is performed. The Sensing Measurement Time field indicates the measurement timestamp at which the measurement is performed by the sensing receiver (responder). The Sensing Measurement Control field includes an Nc Index subfield, an Nr Index subfield, a Bandwidth (BW) subfield, an NG (Number of Groups) subfield, a Remaining Feedback Segment subfield, and a First Feedback Segment subfield. The Sensing Measurement Feedback includes the sensing measurement result, such as CSI or partial CSI. The Link Information shown in FIG. 25 includes a STA2 Present subfield, a STA1 ID subfield, and (if the STA2 Present subfield is set to 1 to indicate an R2R link) a STA2 ID subfield.The STA1 and STA2 ID subfields contain the ID of the sensing responder (e.g., MAC address, AID, or UID) and identify the link corresponding to the sensing measurement report. Alternatively, instead of the STA ID, a unique link ID may be assigned to each measurement link and included in the link information subfield. In this embodiment, since a unique measurement setup ID is assigned to identify each measurement link, the link information field may be omitted. In this case, instead of using a protected SBP report frame, the SBP responder may directly forward a protected sensing measurement report frame received from the STA (with the MAC header properly modified if necessary) or generated by the SBP responder itself to the SBP initiator. That is, the sensing measurement report frame can also be used as an SBP report frame.

[0131] 27A is a schematic diagram 2700 showing a floor plan and devices located on the floor along with two exemplary implementations of a proxy-based sensing procedure according to a second embodiment of the present disclosure. As an example, a motion detection sensing application is running on an SBP initiator (STA8) to detect the movement of a person in an office entrance / lobby area 2704. The SBP initiator performs basic client discovery and advanced client discovery and selects AP1 and AP2 as two SBP responders based on, for example, their capabilities (e.g., SBP support) and locations, as well as the capabilities and locations of their associated STAs. In this example, the SBP initiator includes the following target device parameters and link parameters as target selection criteria for AP1: Device type = "Non-mobile devices only" Device location information present = 0 Coverage radius = -62dBm, Coverage sector = North and East Number of target devices (N) = 0 Include SBP initiator bit = 1 Include R2R bit = 1 Number of measured links = 3

[0132] Based on the specified target selection criteria, a target coverage area 2706 can be determined from the coverage radius parameters (since there is no device location information, the location of AP-1 is taken as the center of the target coverage area), and AP1 selects three links (AP1-STA8 link 2706, AP1-STA9 link 2707, and STA8-STA9 link 2708) for SBP measurement. Similarly, the SBP initiator also includes similar parameters as AP2 as target selection criteria and sets up SBP with AP2 on one link (AP2-STA1 link 2708) for SBP measurement.

[0133] In another example that can be implemented as a continuation of the first example, STA8 may be implemented as a motion detection sensor and obtain sensing measurement results from three selected SBP links (AP1-STA8 link, AP1-STA9 link, and STA8-STA9 link) using, for example, the SBP procedure according to the first exemplary embodiment, but may determine that the sensing measurement results on the AP1-STA9 link and the STA8-STA9 link are less disruptive (e.g., because a person entering the entrance / lobby area is far from the link). The SBP initiator (STA8) may then determine that STA5 is a better choice than STA9 for SBP measurement. STA8 then (re)initiates a new SBP setup with AP1, for example, after terminating the previous SBP setup.

[0134] The SBP initiator includes the following target device parameters and link parameters in a new SBP request frame as target selection criteria for AP1. Device Type = "Include all types" Device location information present = Coverage information present = 0 Number of target devices (N) = 3 Include SBP initiator bit = 1 Include R2R bit = 1 Number of measured links = 3 Target device information 1, 2, 3 = STA8, STA5; STA5, STA8 (R2R link)

[0135] The SBP initiator directly specifies the target STAs to be used as sensing responders for the SBP procedure. Based on the specified target selection criteria (i.e., target device information), AP1 selects three links (AP1-STA8 link 2706, AP1-STA5 link 2709, and STA8-STA5 link 2710) for SBP measurement.

[0136] 27B shows another exemplary format of an SBP request frame 2750 according to the second embodiment. In the above second example, after the SBP initiator (STA8) determines that STA5 is a better choice than STA9 for SBP measurement, instead of terminating the existing SBP procedure, the SBP initiator may also choose to make a modification to the existing SBP procedure and send an SBP request frame 2750 with the Re-Setup bit field 2752 set to 1 to indicate that this is not a new SBP request but rather a request for a change in SBP parameters. When the Re-Setup bit field 2752 is equal to 1, the Measurement Setup ID field is present in the SBP request frame and indicates the measurement setup ID corresponding to the SBP procedure to be re-setup. The SBP initiator includes the following target device parameters and link parameters in the SBP request frame for SBP re-setup as target selection criteria to AP1: Device Type = "Include all types" Device location information present = Coverage information present = 0 Number of target devices (N) = 3 Include SBP initiator bit = 1 Include R2R bit = 1 Number of measured links = 3 Target device information 1, 2, 3 = STA8, STA5; STA5, STA8 (R2R link)

[0137] Upon receiving this SBP request frame, the SBP responder (AP-1) compares the STAs specified in the target device information and determines that the SBP initiator is requesting that sensing responder STA-9 be removed from the current SBP procedure and that STA-5 be used instead as the second sensing responder for the SBP procedure. Based on the specified target device information, AP-1 sends a sensing end frame to STA-9 to terminate its sensing measurement setup with STA-9 in the MSID corresponding to the SBP procedure. AP-1 also performs sensing measurement setup with STA-5 and adds STA-5 as a new sensing responder for the SBP procedure corresponding to the MSID. This use of SBP request re-setup has the advantageous effect of changing SBP parameters without having to terminate the SBP procedure and perform a new SBP setup.

[0138] The following paragraphs describe a third embodiment of the present disclosure for a proxy-assisted sensing procedure, in which a non-AP STA negotiates one SBP procedure for one measurement link at a time. Different measurement setup IDs are assigned to different measurement links for the SBP procedure. The measurement setup IDs can then be used to identify the measurement link corresponding to the sensing measurement report.

[0139] 28 shows a flowchart 2800 outlining a procedure for proxy-assisted sensing between an AP and three non-AP STAs (STA1, STA2, and STA3) according to a third embodiment of the present disclosure. First, basic SBP discovery is performed to discover the AP's support for SBP functionality. STA1 may then select the AP as its SBP responder. STA1 may then initiate an extended client discovery procedure to request the AP to provide a list of non-AP STAs (associated non-AP STAs and optionally non-associated non-AP STAs) to discover basic information about the AP and potential sensing responders.

[0140] STA1 discovers the AP through the client discovery procedure and selects it as its SBP responder. It then initiates the SBP procedure, requesting that the AP perform sensing measurements on its behalf with a specific target sensing responder (STA3 in this case) by sending a protected SBP request frame containing target device parameters such as location, coverage information, and the target sensing responder's STA ID. Based on the target device parameters, the AP determines STA3 for sensing measurements and initiates sensing session setup and sensing measurement setup with the selected STA / link (STA3) by sending a protected sensing measurement setup request frame to STA3. The AP assigns a unique sensing measurement setup ID (MSID "1") to the STA / link. The AP then sends a protected SBP response frame back to STA1 to indicate successful setup with the sensing responder, the sensing responder's link information, and their measurement setup ID ("2"), completing the SBP setup.

[0141] Then, the AP performs sensing measurement with STA3, collects measurement reports on the link, and then sends an SBP report. In the report frame, the measurement setup ID ("1") of the link / STA is included to identify the measurement link.

[0142] Next, STA1 initiates a second SBP procedure, requesting that the AP perform sensing measurements on its behalf with another specific target sensing responder (STA2 in this case) by sending a protected SBP request frame containing target device parameters such as location, coverage information, and the target sensing responder's STA ID. Based on the target device parameters, the AP determines STA2 for sensing measurements and initiates sensing session setup and sensing measurement setup with the selected STA / link (STA2) by sending a protected sensing measurement setup request frame to STA2. The AP assigns a unique sensing measurement setup ID (MSID "2") to the STA / link. The AP then sends a protected SBP response frame to indicate successful setup with the sensing responder, the sensing responder's link information, and their measurement setup ID ("2") back to STA1, completing the SBP setup.

[0143] Then, the AP performs sensing measurement with STA2, collects measurement reports on the link, and then sends an SBP report. In the report frame, the measurement setup ID ("2") of the link / STA is included to identify the measurement link.

[0144] In this third embodiment, the selected sensing responder (e.g., STA2) may also need to verify whether the SBP initiator is authorized to obtain sensing measurement reports involving the selected sensing responder. Thus, during the sensing measurement setup phase after receiving an SBP request frame from the SBP initiator, the sensing measurement setup request frame sent to the sensing responder (e.g., STA2) includes the identity (e.g., MAC address) of the SBP initiator, so that the selected sensing responder can verify whether the SBP initiator is so authorized.

[0145] An exchange of additional authorization verification frames (e.g., frames requesting / containing a password) may also be performed between the sensing responder and the SBP initiator (via the AP). If the authorization verification is successful, the sensing responder accepts the measurement setup request and the SBP setup is successful. If the authorization verification fails, the sensing responder rejects the measurement setup request, causing the SBP setup to fail.

[0146] 29 shows a flowchart 2900 illustrating a detailed procedure flow of a proxy sensing procedure between an AP as an SBP responder and two non-AP STAs (STA1 as an SBP initiator and STA2 as a sensing responder) according to a third embodiment of the present disclosure. After a basic client discovery procedure and an extended client discovery procedure (not shown), STA1 initiates an SBP procedure and requests the AP to be the proxy sensing initiator on its behalf by sending a protected SBP request frame. Based on the target device parameters specified in the SBP request frame, the AP selects two STAs / links that are more relevant for sensing measurements (in this case, the AP-to-STA1 I2R link and the AP-STA2 I2R link associated with itself (STA1)).

[0147] The SBP initiator (STA1) may be associated with an AP (SBP responder), in which case it is assumed that normal authentication / association procedures with the AP have been completed and a security association (SA) has been set up, e.g., via a four-way handshake, before the SBP request is initiated. Alternatively, the SBP initiator (STA1) may not be associated with an AP, in which case it is assumed that security associated with the AP has been set up, e.g., through a pre-association security negotiation (PASN) via a three-way handshake, before the SBP request is initiated.

[0148] In this third embodiment, similar to the second embodiment, a unique measurement setup ID (MSID) is assigned to each measurement link. For example, the I2R link between the AP and STA1 is assigned MSID "1," and the link between the AP and STA2 is assigned MSID "2." Unlike the second embodiment, the SBP responder performs separate sensing procedures for different STAs / links.

[0149] 30 illustrates an exemplary format of a sensing measurement setup request frame 3000 according to a third embodiment of the present disclosure. The sensing measurement setup request frame 3000 includes a MAC header, a category field set to “public,” a public action field set to “sensing measurement setup request,” a dialog token field, a re-setup bit field, a measurement setup ID field, a sensing measurement parameter element field, and an FCS field. The sensing measurement parameter element field includes an element ID field, a length field, an element ID extension field, and a sensing measurement parameters field. The sensing measurement parameters field includes a sensing transmitter subfield, a sensing receiver subfield, a sensing measurement report subfield, a measurement report type subfield, an SBP procedure subfield, an SBP initiator ID present subfield, and an SBP initiator ID subfield. The SBP procedure subfield indicates that the sensing measurement setup request frame is for an SBP procedure, and the SBP initiator ID subfield indicates the ID of the SBP initiator. If the sensing initiator chooses to change the attributes (parameters) of an existing sensing measurement setup, it sends a sensing measurement setup request frame 3000 with the re-setup bit field 3052 set to 1 to indicate that this is not a new sensing measurement setup request, but rather a request to change the sensing measurement setup parameters. If the re-setup bit field 3052 is equal to 1, the measurement setup ID field of the sensing measurement setup request frame indicates the measurement setup ID corresponding to the sensing measurement setup being re-setup.This use of re-setup sensing measurement setup request has the advantageous effect of changing the sensing measurement setup without having to terminate the sensing measurement setup and perform a new sensing measurement setup.

[0150] Returning to FIG. 29, the SBP responder may first perform sensing setup with STA1, and then perform another sensing setup with STA2. In the case of sensing setup with STA2, upon receiving the sensing measurement setup request frame 3000, the sensing responder STA2 that received the request may perform authorization verification by sending a Protected Authorization Validation Request frame to the SBP initiator (STA1 in FIG. 29) via the SBP responder (AP in FIG. 29) to verify whether the SBP initiator (STA1) is authorized for the SBP procedure. Upon receiving the Protected Authorization Validation Request frame, the SBP initiator replies to the sensing responder via the SBP responder with a Protected Authorization Validation Response frame containing verification information (e.g., a shared password) in the requested format.

[0151] If the authorization verification is successful, the steps shown in block 2902 are executed; if the authorization verification is unsuccessful, the steps shown in block 2904 are executed. In particular, if the authorization verification is successful, the sensing responder accepts the sensing measurement setup request and returns a measurement setup response frame including its measurement setup ID "2" assigned by the SBP responder to the SBP responder to indicate that the SBP setup is successful. The SBP responder then sends a protected SBP response frame to the SBP initiator to indicate that the SBP setup with the STA / link under measurement setup ID "2" is successful.

[0152] If the authorization verification fails, the sensing responder sends a measurement setup response frame back to the SBP responder, including its measurement setup ID "2" assigned by the SBP responder, to indicate that the SBP setup failed. The SBP responder then sends a protected SBP response frame to the SBP initiator, indicating that the SBP setup with the STA / link failed under measurement setup ID "2". However, even though the AP cannot perform sensing measurements for STA2 by proxy on behalf of STA1, it can still perform I2R measurements and reporting between STA1 and the AP.

[0153] In one embodiment, the AP may skip the authorization verification request / response if it has other means to verify whether the STA is authorized to obtain information about other STAs, such as when the AP maintains a list of authorized devices or when the AP references the list of authorized devices from a database, such as a server.

[0154] When STA1 receives the sensing measurement setup request frame 3000, STA1 accepts the sensing measurement setup without exchanging an authorization verification frame and replies to the SBP responder with a protected sensing measurement setup response frame including the measurement setup ID "1" assigned by the SBP responder for the SBP procedure, indicating that the SBP setup is successful. The SBP responder then sends a protected SBP response frame to the SBP initiator to indicate that the SBP setup with the STA / link under the measurement setup ID "1" is successful.

[0155] 31 illustrates an exemplary format of a protected authorization validation request frame 3100 according to a third embodiment of the present disclosure. The protected authorization validation request frame 3100 includes a MAC header (frame control field, duration field, RA field, and TA field), a category field set to “protected discovery,” an action field set to “protected authorization validation request frame,” a dialog token field, a requesting STA ID field, a target STA ID field, a validation mode field, and an FCS field.

[0156] 32 illustrates an exemplary format of a protected authorization validation response frame 3200 according to a third embodiment of the present disclosure. The protected authorization validation response frame 3200 includes a MAC header (frame control field, duration field, RA field, and TA field), a category field set to “protected discovery,” an action field set to “protected authorization validation response frame,” a dialog token field, a requesting STA ID field, a target STA ID field, a validation mode field, a validation information field, and an FCS field. The requesting STA ID of the authorization validation frame 3100, 3200 indicates the ID (e.g., MAC address) of the STA requesting validation. The target ID of the authorization validation frame 3100, 3200 indicates the ID (e.g., MAC address) of the SBP initiator STA. The validation mode is set to 0 to indicate a cleartext password or 1 to indicate a hashed password. The validation information of the authorization validation response frame 3200 includes a PN / TSF field, a length subfield, and a validation text subfield. The PN / TSF field contains a packet number or a time synchronization function used as a salt to prevent replay attacks. The length subfield indicates the length of the text in the verification text subfield. The verification text subfield contains either a plaintext password or a hashed password, depending on the verification mode field.

[0157] For example, the hashed password is SHA-256(Key, PN / TSF || "plaintext password"), where "Key" is a common private secret key known to both parties, e.g., it may be a PTK generated during security association or a dedicated secret key for sensing provided by the AP / upper layer application, "||" is the concatenation operation, and "PN / TSF" is the value of the PN / TSF field. The transmitter should ensure that the same value is never used twice to prevent replay attacks. For example, it may be a monotonically increasing number or may contain the current value of the transmitter's time synchronization function (TSF).

[0158] According to a third embodiment of the present disclosure, Figures 33A and 33B show exemplary formats of an SBP response frame 3300 and a protected SBP response frame 3310, respectively. The SBP response frame 3300 includes a MAC header (frame control, duration, RA, and TA fields), a category field set to "public," a public action field set to "SBP response," a dialog token field, a status code field, a measurement setup ID field, an SBP parameter element field, and an FCS field. The protected SBP response frame 3310 includes a MAC header (frame control, duration, RA, and TA fields), a category field set to "protected public action dual," a public action field set to "protected SBP response," a dialog token field, a status code field, a measurement setup ID field, an SBP parameter element field, and an FCS field. The SBP parameter element fields may be similar to those described in Figure 15.

[0159] In this third embodiment, the SBP initiator requests two separate SBP procedures, and therefore two SBP response frames are sent separately for different STAs / links. The Measurement Setup ID field of each SBP response frame identifies the Measurement Setup ID value corresponding to the sensing measurement link assigned by the SBP responder, so no additional link information field is included in the SBP response frames.

[0160] Also, in one implementation according to the third embodiment of the present disclosure, if the SBP initiator is one of the sensing responders (and sensing receivers), the measurement reports for the I2R or R2R links to which the SBP initiator is attached do not need to be sent to the SBP responder, and the SBP report does not need to include the measurement reports for such I2R or R2R links, because the SBP initiator already knows the results of the sensing measurements performed by the SBP initiator itself. This can be indicated by setting the "No Report for SBP Initiator Links" field in the SBP request frame.

[0161] 34 illustrates an exemplary format of an SBP request frame 3400 according to a third embodiment of the present disclosure. The SBP request frame 3400 includes a MAC header (Frame Control, Duration, TA, and RA fields), a Category field set to “Public,” a Public Action field set to “SBP Request,” a Dialog Token field, an SBP Parameter Elements field, and an FCS field. The SBP Parameter Elements field includes an Element ID field, a Length field, an Element ID Extension field, and an SBP Parameters field. The SBP Parameters field includes a Target Device Parameters subfield, a Link Parameters subfield, a Measurement Parameters subfield, and a Report Parameters subfield, which specify attributes associated with the target STA / link, the link being measured, the measurement PPDU, and the SBP report, respectively.

[0162] In particular, the Reporting Parameters subfield includes a Measurement Report Type subfield, a Reporting Frequency subfield, a Channel State Information (CSI) Variation Threshold subfield, and a No Report for Additional SBP Initiator Link subfield. If the No Report for SBP Initiator Link subfield is set to 1, the SBP Responder (AP) assigns the SBP initiator as a sensing receiver on any R2R or I2R links that include the SBP initiator and shall not solicit sensing measurement reports from the SBP initiator on such links. Also, the SBP Responder shall not include measurement reports in SBP report frames on links with the SBP initiator.

[0163] Returning to Figure 29, in the SBP request frame, the No Report subfield for the SBP initiator link in the SBP parameters field is set to 1, indicating that the SBP responder should not request sensing measurement reports from the SBP initiator for the link associated with the SBP initiator. Thus, during the measurement instance, upon receiving an I2R measurement PPDU (e.g., a sensing NDP) from the AP, the SBP initiator STA1 does not send its own measurement report to the AP over the I2R link. The SBP responder also does not include a measurement report for the link associated with STA1 in the SBP initiator.

[0164] FIG. 35 illustrates an exemplary configuration of a communications device 3500. The communications device 3500 is implemented as a STA for proxy-based sensing in accordance with various embodiments of the present disclosure. The communications device may include at least one antenna 3522 for transmitting and receiving signals (for simplicity, only one antenna is shown in FIG. 35). The communications device 5200 also includes an 802.11 MAC / PHY sublayer 3504 with a sensing module 3506 for channel measurements, layer management service interfaces such as an MLME SAP 3508 and a MAC SAP 3510 through which defined primitives are exchanged to communicate information and layer management functions, such as WLAN sensing, may be invoked, and upper layer applications (e.g., a WLAN sensing abstraction layer 3514) communicate with the 802.11 MAC / PHY 3504 via the MLME SAP 3508.

[0165] Additionally, the 802.11 MAC / PHY sublayer 3504 may communicate with a WLAN data application (not shown) via MAC SAP 5210. In this example, the sensing module 3506 performs channel measurements and provides the raw results to the WLAN sensing abstraction layer 3514 via a WLAN sensing API. The WLAN sensing abstraction layer 3514 may collect and consolidate channel measurement results from 802.11 devices and process the results (e.g., smoothing compression, etc.) before passing the processed results to WLAN sensing client applications such as WLAN sensing client application 1 (vital signs detection) 3516 and WLAN sensing client application 2 (motion detection) 3518. The WLAN sensing client applications such as 3516, 3518 may perform WLAN sensing based on the channel measurements (e.g., using application-specific machine learning algorithms, etc.) and provide WLAN sensing results, in this case, the presence or absence of human detection and human motion detection.

[0166] The communication device further comprises a Station Management Entity (SME) (not shown), which is a layer dependent entity that performs functions on behalf of the general system management entity and implements standard management protocols to ensure correct MAC operation. The layer dependent entity provides interfaces such as MLME SAP 3508 and PLME SAP (not shown) for exchanging primitives and communication with the MLME and PLME, respectively.

[0167] In one embodiment, the communication device may be an SBP initiator, and an upper layer application may issue an MLME primitive (not shown), for example, using an MLME-SBP.request primitive, to start an SBP procedure.

[0168] The MAC / PHY sublayer 3504 may be configured to receive information or MAC / PHY parameters related to WLAN sensing to form an SBP request frame, which trigger frame or PPDU is then transmitted from the antenna 3522 via at least one wireless transmitter (not shown) to one or more communication devices (e.g., APs or SBP responders).

[0169] The MAC / PHY sublayer 3504 may also be configured to extract response PPDUs or measurement PPDUs, such as SBP response frames and SBP report frames received from another communication device, and pass information related to the received PPDUs to the sensing module 3506.

[0170] The sensing module 3506 further comprises a CSI feedback encoding / decoding module configured to decode and encode CSI information, e.g., information of CSI sub-components (e.g., amplitude, phase, I and Q) indicated by the report type indicator, in accordance with various above-described embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0171] FIG. 36 illustrates another exemplary configuration of a communications device 3600. The communications device 3600 is implemented as an AP or SBP responder for proxy-based sensing according to the present disclosure. The communications device 3600 includes a power supply 3602, a memory 3604, a CPU 3606 with at least one processor, a secondary storage device 3608, a wired I / F 3610, and a wireless I / F 3612. The memory 3604 may be a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium on which data representing instructions executable by the at least one processor of the CPU 3606 to communicate with the wireless I / F 3612 to perform multi-generation random access according to various embodiments of the present disclosure is stored. The wireless I / F 3612 includes a MAC layer 3614 and a PHY layer 3616. The PHY layer 3616 connects to a wireless transmitter (not shown), a wireless receiver (not shown), and an antenna 3622 used to transmit / receive signals to / from other (base) communications devices. Alternatively, the communication device 3600 may transmit / receive signals to / from other communication devices via a wired I / F 3610.

[0172] The MAC layer 3614 further includes a link / STA selection module 3618, which stores information of non-AP STAs 3620. The link / STA selection module 3618 may be configured to generate and process frames (e.g., SBP request / response frames, sensing measurement setup request / response frames, authorization verification request / response frames, measurement reports, SBP report frames), act as a proxy sensing initiator for the SBP initiator, and utilize information of the non-AP STAs 3520 to perform proxy sensing procedures for the SBP initiator, according to the various embodiments described above.

[0173] As described above, the embodiments of the present disclosure provide an advanced communication system, communication method, and communication device for sensing with proxy procedure in MIMO WLAN networks.

[0174] The present disclosure can be implemented by software, hardware, or software cooperating with hardware. Each functional block described in the above embodiments may be partially or entirely realized as an LSI, which is an integrated circuit. Each process described in the above embodiments may be partially or entirely controlled by a single LSI or a combination of LSIs. The LSI may be formed as an individual chip, or a single chip may be formed to include some or all of the functional blocks. The LSI may include a data input / output unit coupled to it. Depending on the level of integration, the LSI may also be referred to as an IC (integrated circuit), system LSI, super LSI, or ultra LSI. However, the technology for implementing an integrated circuit is not limited to LSI, and may be implemented using dedicated circuits, general-purpose processors, or dedicated processors. Furthermore, FPGAs (field programmable gate arrays), which can be programmed after LSI fabrication, and reconfigurable processors, which can reconfigure the connections and settings of circuit cells arranged within LSI, may also be used. The present disclosure can be implemented using digital or analog processing. If, as a result of advances in semiconductor technology or other derivative technologies, LSI is replaced by future integrated circuit technologies, these future integrated circuit technologies can be used to integrate functional blocks. Biotechnology can also be applied.

[0175] The present disclosure can be implemented by any kind of apparatus, device, or system having a communication capability (referred to as a communication apparatus).

[0176] Non-limiting examples of communication devices include telephones (e.g., cell phones, smartphones), tablets, personal computers (PCs) (e.g., laptops, desktops, notebooks), cameras (e.g., digital still cameras / video cameras), digital players (e.g., digital audio players / video players), wearable devices (e.g., wearable cameras, smart watches, tracking devices), game consoles, digital book readers, telehealth / telemedicine devices, communication-enabled vehicles (e.g., cars, airplanes, ships), and combinations of the above devices.

[0177] Communications equipment is not limited to portable or mobile equipment, but also includes non-portable or fixed equipment, devices, and systems of any kind, such as smart home devices (appliances, lighting equipment, smart meters or metering devices, control panels, etc.), vending machines, and any other "things" that may exist on an Internet of Things (IoT) network.

[0178] Communication can include, for example, exchanging data through cellular systems, wireless LAN systems, satellite systems, etc., and various combinations thereof.

[0179] A communications device may include devices such as a controller or a sensor coupled to the communications device to perform the communications functions described in this disclosure. For example, a communications device may include a controller or a sensor that generates control or data signals used by the communications device to perform the communications functions of the communications device.

[0180] The communications apparatus may further include infrastructure facilities, such as base stations, access points, and any other apparatus, device, or system that communicate with or control apparatuses such as the apparatuses in the non-limiting examples above.

[0181] Although some features of the various embodiments are described with reference to devices, it will be understood that corresponding features also apply to the methods of the various embodiments, and vice versa.

[0182] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that numerous variations and / or modifications may be made to the present disclosure as set forth in the specific embodiments without departing from the spirit or scope of the disclosure as broadly described, and the present embodiments are, therefore, to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive.

Claims

1. A station device that functions as a sensing-by-proxy (SBP) initiator that requests an access point selected as an SBP responder to perform and report sensing measurements of channel quality for each of one or more stations, comprising: a transmitter that transmits an SBP request frame to the access point, the SBP request frame including an SBP initiator field indicating whether the SBP initiator is to be included as one of the sensing responders, a link number field corresponding to the number of sensing responders that are targets of the sensing measurement, and a device address field indicating each of the sensing responders that are targets of the sensing measurement; a receiving unit for receiving from the access point an SBP report frame including a sensing measurement report including a measurement instance identifier (ID) field for identifying a measurement instance, a station ID field for identifying each sensing responder that was the target of the sensing measurement, and a sensing measurement feedback field indicating a result of the sensing measurement; A station device comprising:

2. When the SBP initiator field included in the SBP request frame indicates that the SBP initiator is to be included as one of the sensing responders, the device address field included in the SBP request frame includes a device address field indicating the SBP initiator. The station device according to claim 1 .

3. If the SBP request frame requests sensing measurements of a responder-to-responder (R2R) link, the receiver receives a second SBP report frame including measurement results of the R2R link. The station device according to claim 2 .

4. The SBP report frame includes a measurement setup ID field for identifying a measurement setup. The station device according to claim 1 .

5. The receiving unit receives, from the access point before receiving the SBP report frame, a response frame including a measurement setup ID field for identifying a measurement setup and a station ID field for identifying each sensing responder that is a target of the sensing measurement. The station device according to claim 1 .

6. A communication method implemented by a station device functioning as a sensing-by-proxy (SBP) initiator that requests an access point selected as an SBP responder to perform and report sensing measurements of channel quality for each of one or more stations, comprising: In the sensing measurement, the access point is a sensing initiator, and each of the one or more stations is a sensing responder; Transmitting an SBP request frame to the access point, the SBP request frame including an SBP initiator field indicating whether the SBP initiator is to be included as one of the sensing responders, a link number field corresponding to the number of sensing responders to be subjected to the sensing measurement, and a device address field indicating each of the sensing responders to be subjected to the sensing measurement; receiving, from the access point, an SBP report frame including a sensing measurement report including a measurement instance identifier (ID) field for identifying a measurement instance, a station ID field for identifying each sensing responder that was the subject of the sensing measurement, and a sensing measurement feedback field indicating a result of the sensing measurement; Communication method.

7. When the SBP initiator field included in the SBP request frame indicates that the SBP initiator is to be included as one of the sensing responders, the device address field included in the SBP request frame includes a device address field indicating the SBP initiator. The communication method according to claim 6.

8. If the SBP request frame requests sensing measurements of a responder-to-responder (R2R) link, receiving a second SBP report frame containing the measurement results of the R2R link. The communication method according to claim 7.

9. The SBP report frame includes a measurement setup ID field for identifying a measurement setup. The communication method according to claim 6.

10. Before receiving the SBP report frame, a response frame is received from the access point, the response frame including a measurement setup ID field for identifying a measurement setup and a station ID field for identifying each sensing responder that was the subject of the sensing measurement. The communication method according to claim 6.

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