Methods, apparatus, and systems for communication-assisted sensing

Abstract

Knowing the sensing capabilities of a device, a network node may send a sensing report configuration to the device. The network node may send a definition of the sensing area of the communication scheduling area to the device. The network node may further send a definition of the sensing feedback report channel to the device. After sending the scheduled data transmission to the device, the network node may receive a sensing report from the device through the sensing feedback report channel, based on processing the scheduled data transmission received by the device in the sensing area.

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] This application claims priority to the international application PCT / CN2022 / 109306, filed on 30 July 2022. The disclosure of said application is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

[0002] This disclosure broadly relates to sensing in wireless networks. In a specific embodiment, this relates to sensing supported by communication. [Background technology]

[0003] Existing sensing methods can be characterized as either monostatic sensing or multistatic sensing.

[0004] In a monostatic sensing scheme, a given network node transmits a radio frequency (RF) sensing signal. The same network node also receives an echo of the RF sensing signal. Conveniently, this configuration avoids the extra overhead known to be associated with the use of pilot signals, as communication data can be reused to sense the signal. However, a monostatic sensing scheme may rely on full-duplex functionality or a special signal design for sensing reception. Furthermore, the sensing range may be limited to the area surrounding a given network node.

[0005] In multistatic sensing, the node that receives the echo of the sensing signal is different from the node that transmits the sensing signal. An example of multistatic sensing is so-called bistatic sensing, where a transmitting node sends the sensing signal, and the receiving node receives the sensing signal after it has crossed a channel between the transmitting and receiving nodes. The use of multistatic sensing can be shown to enable efficient and scalable environmental sensing through collaborative sensing. [Overview of the Initiative] [Problems that the invention aims to solve]

[0006] Leveraging the advantages of multistatic sensing for future wireless communication networks will face numerous challenges. Multistatic sensing techniques based on the use of dedicated sensing pilot signals suffer from the amount of overhead caused by these dedicated signals. Alternatively, techniques based on reusing communication pilot signals as sensing pilot signals may be problematic because the communication pilots may be too sparse to achieve the processing gain necessary to provide adequate sensing performance.

[0007] The aspects of this application relate to a method for implementing a multistatic sensing system in a manner that avoids the shortcomings of the existing proposed methods outlined above. [Means for solving the problem]

[0008] Aspects of this invention relate to the use of communication data as a sensing pilot signal. One advantage of using communication data as a sensing pilot signal is the reduction of sensing overhead. Another advantage of using communication data as a sensing pilot signal is the processing gain. The processing gain may be due to the large number of data symbols. It can be shown that a large number of data symbols enables relatively simple Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) based reception. Another advantage of using communication data as a sensing pilot signal is that the communication data can be considered to resemble a large set of random data. It can be shown that using a large set of random data to sense a pilot signal has an advantage in terms of self-ambiguity. The degree of self-ambiguity is known to be an important performance indicator as far as delay estimation and Doppler shift estimation are concerned.

[0009] The present invention relates to various communication-assisted sensing methods in which user equipment can use communication signals for sensing purposes.

[0010] Knowing the device's sensing capabilities, the network node may send the device a sensing report configuration. The network node may also send the device a definition of the sensing area in the communication scheduling region. The network node may further send the device a definition of the sensing feedback report channel. After sending the scheduled data transmission to the device, the network node may receive a sensing report from the device via the sensing feedback report channel based on processing the scheduled data transmission received by the device in the sensing area.

[0011] Existing versions of the multistatic sensing solution do not provide an end-to-end solution to address the overhead and performance issues inherent in existing versions of the multistatic sensing solution.

[0012] Aspects of this invention relate to a multistatic sensing solution characterized by sensing performance that can be optimized based on the sensing capabilities of the nodes expected to perform sensing. Efficient sensing is made possible by processing scheduled data transmissions to obtain sensing parameters. Sensing can be considered efficient on the basis of avoiding the use of additional sensing overhead. Due to the large number of data symbols in the scheduled data transmissions, improved sensing performance (which is partly due to increased processing gain) and improved resolution can be considered possible. It turns out that the large number of data symbols enables a very simple sensing reception algorithm (e.g., an FFT-based scheme) without requiring sophisticated algorithms (e.g., a super-resolution scheme).

[0013] Aspects of this invention relate to a configuration for efficient sensing feedback reporting. Specifically, the sensing feedback report can achieve efficiency by relating to multiple data blocks.

[0014] Aspects of the present application relate to decoding and processing scheduled data transmissions on multiple beams for sensing purposes. Advantageously, since beamforming is already known through communication establishment, power need not be expended for beamforming of the sensing signal, and thus power savings can be achieved.

[0015] According to an aspect of the present disclosure, a method for a network node or base station is provided. The method includes receiving a sensing capability report from a device. The method further includes transmitting a definition of a sensing area to the device. The sensing area definition is defined based on the sensing capability report. The method further includes transmitting a definition of a sensing feedback report channel to the device and transmitting data to the device. The method further includes receiving, from the device through the sensing feedback report channel, a sensing report based on processing the scheduled data transmissions received in the sensing area.

[0016] According to another aspect of the present disclosure, a method for an electronic device or user equipment is provided. The method includes transmitting a sensing capability report to a base station. The method further includes receiving a definition of a sensing area from the base station. The sensing area definition is defined based on the sensing capability report. The method further includes receiving a definition of a sensing feedback report channel from the base station and receiving data from the base station. The method further includes transmitting, to the base station through the sensing feedback report channel, a sensing report based on processing the data transmissions received in the sensing area.

[0017] Further aspects of the present disclosure relate to an apparatus, a computer-readable storage medium, a computer program product, and a processor for performing the aforementioned methods.

[0018] According to another aspect of this disclosure, a system is provided which includes a device and a base station communicating wirelessly with the device. The device is configured to transmit sensing capability reports and receive data transmissions. The device is further configured to transmit sensing reports based on processing data transmissions received in a sensing area through a sensing feedback reporting channel. The base station is configured to transmit definitions about the sensing area to the device based on the sensing capability reports. The base station is further configured to transmit definitions about the sensing feedback reporting channel to the device based on the sensing capability reports. The base station is further configured to transmit data transmissions to the device. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0019] For a more complete understanding of the embodiments and advantages of the present invention, the following description is provided hereby made in reference to the attached drawings, as an example.

[0020] [Figure 1] A schematic diagram shows a communication system in which embodiments of this disclosure may occur. The communication system includes a plurality of exemplary electronic devices and a plurality of exemplary transmit / receive points, along with various networks.

[0021] [Figure 2] The communication system in Figure 1 is shown in block diagram form. The communication system includes various networks, multiple exemplary electronic devices, exemplary terrestrial transmission / reception points, and exemplary non-terrestrial transmission / reception points.

[0022] [Figure 3] The elements of the exemplary electronic device in Figure 2, the elements of the exemplary terrestrial transmission / reception point in Figure 2, and the elements of the exemplary non-terrestrial transmission / reception point in Figure 2 are shown as block diagrams according to various aspects of the present invention.

[0023] [Figure 4]Various modules that may be included in exemplary electronic devices, exemplary ground transmitting / receiving points, and exemplary non-ground transmitting / receiving points, according to aspects of the present invention, are shown as block diagrams.

[0024] [Figure 5] The sensing and management functions, based on various aspects of this invention, are shown as a block diagram.

[0025] [Figure 6] An example of a communication scheduling area is shown.

[0026] [Figure 7] An example of the signal flow between an electronic device and a transmitting / receiving point, based on various aspects of this invention, is shown in the signal flow diagram.

[0027] [Figure 8] The sensing region is shown as a subset of the exemplary communication scheduling region in Figure 6, according to various aspects of the present invention.

[0028] [Figure 9] The present invention provides illustrative steps in a method for processing a received scheduled transmission, to be performed by an electronic device that lacks buffering capability and multi-bandwidth partial processing capability, according to various aspects of the present invention.

[0029] [Figure 10] The present invention illustrates exemplary steps in a method for processing a received scheduled transmission, to be performed by an electronic device having buffering capability and multi-bandwidth partial processing capability, according to various aspects of the present invention.

[0030] [Figure 11] The present invention illustrates time-frequency resources, including a physical downlink control channel containing instructions for an electronic device, from various aspects.

[0031] [Figure 12]Figure 11 shows a table illustrating the amount of bits associated with each field in the multiple fields of downlink control information in the physical downlink control channel, according to various aspects of the present invention.

[0032] [Figure 13] The present invention illustrates time-frequency resources, including a physical downlink control channel containing instructions for an electronic device, from various aspects.

[0033] [Figure 14] Figure 13 shows a table illustrating the amount of bits associated with each field in the multiple fields of downlink control information in the physical downlink control channel, according to various aspects of the present invention.

[0034] [Figure 15] In accordance with various aspects of this application, a diagram of time-frequency resources including a sensing feedback report corresponding to a NACK data block is shown, in a manner separate from the sensing feedback report corresponding to an ACK data block.

[0035] [Figure 16] The present invention illustrates time-frequency resources, including sensing feedback reports corresponding to NACK and ACK data blocks in a single reporting opportunity, from various aspects of the present invention.

[0036] [Figure 17] This shows a first communication scheduling area for a first set of physical downlink shared channel transmissions and a second communication scheduling area for a second set of physical downlink shared channel transmissions. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0037] For illustrative purposes, certain exemplary embodiments are described here in more detail with reference to the drawings.

[0038] The embodiments described herein provide sufficient information to carry out the claimed subject matter and illustrate how such subject matter can be carried out. Those skilled in the art will understand the concepts of the claimed subject matter and recognize applications of these concepts that are not specifically addressed herein by reading the following description in reference to the accompanying drawings. It should be understood that these concepts and applications fall within the scope of this disclosure and the accompanying claims.

[0039] Furthermore, it will be understood that any module, component, or device disclosed herein that executes instructions may include, or otherwise have access to, one or more non-temporary computer / processor-readable storage media for storing information such as computer / processor-readable instructions, data structures, program modules, and / or other data. A non-exclusive list of examples of non-temporary computer / processor-readable storage media includes magnetic cassettes, magnetic tapes, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, optical discs, e.g., compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), digital video discs or digital multipurpose discs (i.e., DVDs), Blu-ray Discs®, or other optical storage, volatile and non-volatile, removable and non-removable media implemented in any way or technique, random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), flash memory, or other memory technologies. Any such non-temporary computer / processor-readable storage medium may be part of a device, or may be accessible or connectable to a device. Computer / processor-readable / executable instructions for implementing the applications or modules described herein may be stored or otherwise retained in such non-temporary computer / processor-readable storage media.

[0040] Referring to Figure 1, a simplified schematic diagram of a communication system is provided as an illustrative, not limiting, example. The communication system 100 includes a radio access network 120. The radio access network 120 may be a next-generation (e.g., sixth-generation, "6G", or later) radio access network or a legacy (e.g., 5G, 4G, 3G, or 2G) radio access network. One or more communication electronic devices (EDs) 110a, 110b, 110c, 110d, 110e, 110f, 110g, 110h, 110i, 110j (collectively referred to as 110) may be interconnected with one another or connected to one or more network nodes (170a, 170b, collectively referred to as 170) within the radio access network 120. The core network 130 may be part of the communication system, depend on the radio access technology used in the communication system 100, or be independent of it. Furthermore, the communication system 100 includes a public switched telephone network (PSTN) 140, the Internet 150, and other networks 160.

[0041] Figure 2 shows an exemplary communication system 100. Generally, the communication system 100 enables multiple wireless or wired elements to communicate data and other content. The purpose of the communication system 100 may be to provide content such as voice, data, video, and / or text via broadcast, multicast, and unicast, etc. The communication system 100 may operate by sharing resources such as carrier spectral bandwidth among its components. The communication system 100 may include a terrestrial communication system and / or a non-terrestrial communication system. The communication system 100 can provide a wide range of communication services and applications, such as earth monitoring, remote sensing, passive sensing and positioning, navigation and tracking, autonomous delivery and mobility, etc. The communication system 100 can provide high availability and robustness through the joint operation of the terrestrial and non-terrestrial communication systems. For example, integrating a non-terrestrial communication system (or its components) into a terrestrial communication system may result in what can be considered a heterogeneous network with multiple layers. Compared to conventional communication networks, heterogeneous networks can achieve better overall performance through efficient multilink joint operation, more flexible function sharing, and faster physical layer link switching between terrestrial and non-terrestrial networks.

[0042] Terrestrial and non-terrestrial communication systems can be considered subsystems of a communication system. In the example shown in Figure 2, the communication system 100 includes electronic devices (EDs) 110a, 110b, 110c, and 110d (collectively referred to as ED 110), radio access networks (RANs) 120a and 120b, a non-terrestrial communication network 120c, a core network 130, a public switched telephone network (PSTN) 140, the Internet 150, and other networks 160. RANs 120a and 120b include base stations (BSs) 170a and 170b, respectively, which are sometimes commonly referred to as terrestrial transceiver points (T-TRPs) 170a and 170b. The non-terrestrial communication network 120c includes access nodes 172, which may be collectively referred to as non-terrestrial transceiver points (NT-TRPs) 172.

[0043] Any ED 110 may, alternatively or additionally, interface with, access to, or communicate with any T-TRP 170a, 170b, and NT-TRP 172, the Internet 150, the core network 130, the PSTN 140, other networks 160, or any combination thereof. In some examples, ED 110a may communicate uplink and / or downlink transmits through a ground air interface 190a with T-TRP 170a. In some examples, ED 110a, 110b, 110c, and 110d may also communicate directly with each other through one or more sidelink air interfaces 190b. In some examples, ED 110d may communicate uplink and / or downlink transmits with NT-TRP 172 through a non-ground air interface 190c.

[0044] Air interfaces 190a and 190b can use any suitable radio access technology or similar communication technology. For example, communication system 100 can implement one or more channel access methods in air interfaces 190a and 190b, such as code division multiple access (CDMA), space division multiple access (SDMA), time division multiple access (TDMA), frequency division multiple access (FDMA), orthogonal FDMA (OFDMA), single-carrier FDMA (SC-FDMA), or direct Fourier transform spread OFDMA (DFT-OFDMA). Air interfaces 190a and 190b can utilize other higher-dimensional signal spaces, which may involve combinations of orthogonal and / or non-orthogonal dimensions.

[0045] The non-terrestrial air interface 190c can enable communication between the ED 110d and one or more NT-TRP 172s via a radio link or simply a link. In some examples, the link is a dedicated connection for unicast transmissions, a connection for broadcast transmissions, or a connection between a group of ED 110s and one or more NT-TRP 175s for multicast transmissions.

[0046] RANs 120a and 120b communicate with the core network 130 to provide EDs 110a, 110b, and 110c with a variety of services, including voice, data, and other services. RANs 120a and 120b and / or the core network 130 may communicate directly or indirectly with one or more other RANs (not shown) that may or may not be directly serviced by the core network 130 and may or may not employ the same radio access technology as RANs 120a, RAN 120b, or both. The core network 130 may also act as a gateway access between (i) RANs 120a and 120b, or EDs 110a, 110b, 110c, or both, and (ii) other networks (such as the PSTN 140, the Internet 150, and other networks 160). In addition, some or all of the ED 110a, 110b, and 110c may include the ability to communicate with different wireless networks through different wireless links using different wireless technologies and / or protocols. Instead of (or in addition to) wireless communication, the ED 110a, 110b, and 110c may communicate with a service provider or switch (not shown) and the Internet 150 via a wired communication channel. The PSTN 140 may include a circuit-switched telephone network for providing legacy telephone services (POTS). The Internet 150 may include a network of computers and / or subnets (intranets) and may incorporate protocols such as Internet Protocol (IP), Transmission Control Protocol (TCP), and User Datagram Protocol (UDP). The ED 110a, 110b, and 110c may be multimode devices capable of operating according to multiple wireless access technologies and may incorporate multiple transceivers necessary to support such a device.

[0047] Figure 3 shows another example of the ED 110 and base stations 170a, 170b, and / or 170c. The ED 110 is used to connect people, things, machines, etc. ED 110 can be widely used in a variety of scenarios, such as cellular communications, device-to-device (D2D), vehicle-to-everything (V2X), peer-to-peer (P2P), machine-to-machine (M2M), machine-type communications (MTC), Internet of Things (IOT), virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), mixed reality (MR), metaverse, digital twin, industrial control, autonomous driving, telemedicine, smart grids, smart furniture, smart offices, smart wearables, smart transportation, smart cities, drones, robots, remote sensing, passive sensing, positioning, navigation and tracking, autonomous delivery and mobility.

[0048] Each ED 110 represents any suitable end-user device for wireless operation and may include (or may be referred to as) devices such as user equipment / devices (UE), radio transceiver units (WTRU), mobile stations, fixed or mobile subscriber units, cellular telephones, stations (STA), machine-type communications (MTC) devices, personal digital assistants (PDAs), smartphones, laptops, computers, tablets, wireless sensors, consumer electronics, wearable devices such as watches, head-mounted devices, eyeglasses, smartbooks, vehicles, automobiles, trucks, buses, trains, or IoT devices, industrial devices, or devices within the aforementioned devices (e.g., communication modules, modems, or chips). Future generations of ED 110 may be referred to using other terminology. Base stations 170a and 170b are T-TRPs, and will be referred to as T-TRP 170 below. Also, as shown in Figure 3, the NT-TRP will be referred to as NT-TRP 172 below. Each ED 110 connected to T-TRP 170 and / or NT-TRP 172 may be dynamically or semi-statically turned on (i.e., established, activated, or enabled), turned off (i.e., released, deactivated, or disabled), and / or configured in response to one or more of the connection availability and connection needs.

[0049] ED 110 includes a transmitter 201 and a receiver 203 coupled to one or more antennas 204. Only one antenna 204 is shown. One, some, or all of the antennas 204 may alternatively be panels. The transmitter 201 and receiver 203 may be integrated, for example, as a transceiver. The transceiver is configured to modulate data or other content for transmission by the at least one antenna 204 or by a network interface controller (NIC). The transceiver may also be configured to demodulate data or other content received by the at least one antenna 204. Each transceiver includes any suitable structure for generating signals for wireless or wired transmission and / or processing signals received wirelessly or wired. Each antenna 204 includes any suitable structure for transmitting and / or receiving wireless or wired signals.

[0050] The ED 110 includes at least one memory 208. The memory 208 stores instructions and data used, generated, or collected by the ED 110. For example, the memory 208 may be configured to implement some or all of the functions and / or embodiments described herein and may store software instructions or modules executed by one or more processing units (e.g., processor 210). Each memory 208 includes any suitable volatile and / or non-volatile storage and retrieval device. Any suitable type of memory may be used, such as random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), hard disk, optical disk, subscriber identification module (SIM) card, memory stick, secure digital (SD) memory card, or on-processor cache.

[0051] ED 110 may further include one or more input / output devices (not shown) or interfaces (such as a wired interface to the Internet 150 in Figure 1). The input / output devices enable interaction with users or other devices within the network. Each input / output device includes any preferred configuration for providing information to or receiving information from a user, such as through operation as a speaker, microphone, keypad, keyboard, display, or touchscreen, including network interface communication.

[0052] ED 110 includes a processor 210 for performing operations related to preparing transmissions for uplink transmissions to NT-TRP 172 and / or T-TRP 170, operations related to processing downlink transmissions received from NT-TRP 172 and / or T-TRP 170, and operations related to processing sidelink transmissions to and from another ED 110. Processing operations related to preparing transmissions for uplink transmissions may include operations such as encoding, modulation, transmit beamforming, and symbol generation for transmission. Processing operations related to processing downlink transmissions may include operations such as receive beamforming, demodulation, and decoding of received symbols. Depending on the embodiment, the downlink transmission may also be received by a receiver 203, possibly using receive beamforming, and the processor 210 may extract signaling from the downlink transmission (for example, by detecting and / or decoding the signaling). An example of signaling may be a reference signal transmitted by the NT-TRP 172 and / or the T-TRP 170. In some embodiments, the processor 210 implements transmit beamforming and / or receive beamforming based on beam direction indications received from the T-TRP 170, such as beam angle information (BAI). In some embodiments, the processor 210 may perform operations related to network access (e.g., initial access) and / or downlink synchronization, such as operations related to detecting synchronization sequences and decoding and retrieving system information. In some embodiments, the processor 210 may perform channel estimation using, for example, reference signals received from the NT-TRP 172 and / or the T-TRP 170.

[0053] Although not shown, the processor 210 may form part of the transmitter 201 and / or part of the receiver 203. Although not shown, the memory 208 may form part of the processor 210.

[0054] The processor 210, the processing components of the transmitter 201, and the processing components of the receiver 203 may each be implemented by one or more identical or different processors configured to execute instructions stored in memory (for example, in memory 208). Alternatively, some or all of the processor 210, the processing components of the transmitter 201, and the processing components of the receiver 203 may each be implemented using dedicated circuits such as programmed field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), central processing units (CPUs), graphics processing units (GPUs), or application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs).

[0055] T-TRP 170 may be known by other names in some implementations. Among other possibilities are, among others, base station, base transceiver station (BTS), radio base station, network node, network device, network-side device, transmit / receive node, node B, evolved node B (enode B or eNB), home enode B, next-generation node B (gNB), transmit point (TP), site controller, access point (AP), radio router, relay station, remote radio head, ground node, ground network device, ground base station, baseband unit (BBU), remote radio unit (RRU), active antenna unit (AAU), remote radio head (RRH), central unit (CU), distributed unit (DU), positioning node, etc. T-TRP 170 may be a macro BS, pico BS, relay node, donor node, etc., or a combination thereof. T-TRP 170 may refer to any of the aforementioned devices or to a device within any of the aforementioned devices (e.g., a communication module, modem, or chip).

[0056] In some embodiments, portions of the T-TRP 170 may be distributed. For example, some of the modules of the T-TRP 170 may be located away from the equipment housing the antenna 256 for the T-TRP 170 and may be coupled to the equipment housing the antenna 256 via a communication link (not shown) sometimes known as a fronthaul, such as a Public Radio Interface (CPRI). Thus, in some embodiments, the term T-TRP 170 may also refer to network-side modules that perform processing operations such as determining the location of the ED 110, resource allocation (scheduling), message generation, and encoding / decoding, and are not necessarily part of the equipment housing the antenna 256 of the T-TRP 170. These modules may be coupled to other T-TRPs. In some embodiments, the T-TRP 170 may actually be multiple T-TRPs working together to service the ED 110, for example, through the use of coordinated multipoint transmission.

[0057] As shown in Figure 3, the T-TRP 170 includes at least one transmitter 252 and at least one receiver 254 coupled to one or more antennas 256. Only one antenna 256 is illustrated. One, some, or all of the antennas 256 may alternatively be panels. The transmitter 252 and receiver 254 may be integrated as a transceiver. The T-TRP 170 further includes a processor 260 for performing operations including operations related to preparing a transmit for a downlink transmit to ED 110; processing an uplink transmit received from ED 110; preparing a transmit for a backhaul transmit to NT-TRP 172; and processing a transmit received from NT-TRP 172 via backhaul. Processing operations related to preparing a transmit for a downlink or backhaul transmit may include operations such as encoding, modulation, prefix coding (e.g., multiple input multiple output "MIMO" prefix coding), transmit beamforming, and symbol generation for the transmit. Processing operations related to processing transmissions received on the uplink or through backhaul may include operations such as receive beamforming, demodulation of received symbols, and decoding of received symbols. The processor 260 may also perform operations related to network access (e.g., initial access) and / or downlink synchronization, such as generating the contents of a synchronous signal block (SSB) and generating system information. In some embodiments, the processor 260 may also generate beam direction instructions, e.g., BAI, which may be scheduled for transmission by the scheduler 253. The processor 260 performs other network-side processing operations described herein, such as determining the location of the ED 110 and determining where to deploy the NT-TRP 172. In some embodiments, the processor 260 may generate signaling to constitute, for example, one or more parameters of the ED 110 and / or one or more parameters of the NT-TRP 172. Any signaling generated by the processor 260 is sent by the transmitter 252.It should be noted that the term "signaling" as used herein may alternatively be referred to as control signaling. Dynamic signaling may be transmitted in a control channel, for example, a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH), and static or semi-static upper-layer signaling may be included in packets transmitted in a data channel, for example, a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH).

[0058] The scheduler 253 may be coupled to the processor 260. The scheduler 253 may be contained within the T-TRP 170 or may operate separately from the T-TRP 110. The scheduler 253 may schedule uplink, downlink, and / or backhaul transmissions, including issuing scheduling authorizations and / or configuring scheduling-free ("configured authorization") resources. The T-TRP 170 further includes a memory 258 for storing information and data. The memory 258 stores instructions and data used, generated, or collected by the T-TRP 170. For example, the memory 258 may be configured to implement some or all of the functions and / or embodiments described herein and store software instructions or modules executed by the processor 260.

[0059] Although not shown, the processor 260 may form part of the transmitter 252 and / or part of the receiver 254. Also, although not shown, the processor 260 may implement a scheduler 253. Although not shown, memory 258 may form part of the processor 260.

[0060] The processing components of processor 260, scheduler 253, transmitter 252, and receiver 254 may each be implemented by the same or different processors from one or more processors configured to execute instructions stored in memory, for example, memory 258. Alternatively, some or all of the processing components of processor 260, scheduler 253, transmitter 252, and receiver 254 may be implemented using dedicated circuitry such as FPGAs, CPUs, GPUs, or ASICs.

[0061] In particular, the NT-TRP 172 is shown only as a drone as an example, and the NT-TRP 172 may be implemented in any suitable non-terrestrial form such as a high-altitude platform, satellite, high-altitude platform as an international mobile communications base station, and unmanned aerial vehicle, which will be discussed below. Also, the NT-TRP 172 may be known by other names in some implementations, such as a non-terrestrial node, non-terrestrial network device, or non-terrestrial base station. The NT-TRP 172 includes a transmitter 272 and a receiver 274 coupled to one or more antennas 280. Only one antenna 280 is illustrated. One, some, or all of the antennas may alternatively be panels. The transmitter 272 and receiver 274 may be integrated as a transceiver. The NT-TRP 172 further includes a processor 276 for performing operations including operations related to preparing a transmission for downlink transmission to ED 110; processing an uplink transmission received from ED 110; preparing a transmission for backhaul transmission to T-TRP 170; and processing a transmission received from T-TRP 170 via backhaul. Processing operations related to preparing a transmission for downlink or backhaul transmission may include operations such as encoding, modulation, pre-coding (e.g., MIMO pre-coding), transmit beamforming, and symbol generation for transmission. Processing operations related to processing a transmission received on the uplink or via backhaul may include operations such as receive beamforming, demodulation of the received signal, and decoding of the received symbol. In some embodiments, the processor 276 implements transmit beamforming and / or receive beamforming based on beam direction information (e.g., BAI) received from T-TRP 170. In some embodiments, the processor 276 may generate signaling to configure, for example, one or more parameters of the ED 110. In some embodiments, the NT-TRP 172 implements physical layer processing but does not implement higher layer functions such as functions in the media access control (MAC) or radio link control (RLC) layer.This is just one example; more generally, the NT-TRP 172 can implement higher-layer functionalities in addition to physical layer processing.

[0062] The NT-TRP 172 further includes a memory 278 for storing information and data. Although not shown, a processor 276 may form part of the transmitter 272 and / or part of the receiver 274. Although not shown, the memory 278 may form part of the processor 276.

[0063] The processor 276, the processing components of the transmitter 272, and the processing components of the receiver 274 may each be implemented by one or more identical or different processors configured to execute instructions stored in memory, for example, memory 278. Alternatively, some or all of the processing components of the processor 276, the processing components of the transmitter 272, and the processing components of the receiver 274 may be implemented using dedicated circuitry such as a programmed FPGA, CPU, GPU, or ASIC. In some embodiments, the NT-TRP 172 may actually be multiple NT-TRPs working together to service the ED 110, for example, through coordinated multipoint transmission.

[0064] T-TRP 170, NT-TRP 172, and / or ED 110 may include other components, but these are omitted for clarity.

[0065] One or more steps of the methods of the embodiments provided herein may be performed by the corresponding units or modules shown in Figure 4. Figure 4 shows units or modules in a device such as ED 110, T-TRP 170, or NT-TRP 172. For example, a signal may be transmitted by a transmitting unit or transmitting module. A signal may be received by a receiving unit or receiving module. A signal may be processed by a processing unit or processing module. Other steps may be performed by an artificial intelligence (AI) or machine learning (ML) module. Each unit or module may be implemented using hardware, one or more components or devices that run software, or a combination thereof. For example, one or more of the units or modules may be integrated circuits such as programmed FPGAs, CPUs, GPUs, or ASICs. If a module is implemented using software for execution by a processor, for example, the module may be extracted by the processor individually or together, as whole or in part, in one or more instances, for processing, and the modules themselves may contain instructions for further deployment and instantiation.

[0066] Further details regarding ED 110, T-TRP 170, and NT-TRP 172 are known to those skilled in the art; therefore, these details are omitted here.

[0067] Devices such as base station 170 may provide coverage across a cell. Radio communication with a device may be conducted over one or more carrier frequencies. Carrier frequencies are called carriers. Carriers are sometimes alternatively called component carriers (CCs). A carrier may be characterized by its bandwidth and a reference frequency, such as the carrier's center frequency, lowest frequency, or highest frequency. A carrier may be on a licensed spectrum or an unlicensed spectrum. Radio communication with a device may also be conducted over one or more bandwidth parts (BWPs). For example, a carrier may have one or more BWPs. More generally, radio communication with a device may be conducted over a spectrum. A spectrum may contain one or more carriers and / or one or more BWPs.

[0068] A cell may include one or more downlink resources and optionally one or more uplink resources. A cell may include one or more uplink resources and optionally one or more downlink resources. A cell may include both one or more downlink resources and one or more uplink resources. For example, a cell may include only one downlink carrier / BWP, or only one uplink carrier / BWP, or multiple downlink carriers / BWPs, or multiple uplink carriers / BWPs, or one downlink carrier / BWP and one uplink carrier / BWP, or one downlink carrier / BWP and multiple uplink carriers / BWPs, or multiple downlink carriers / BWPs and one uplink carrier / BWP, or multiple downlink carriers / BWPs and multiple uplink carriers / BWPs. In some embodiments, the cell may instead or additionally include one or more sidelink resources, including sidelink transmit and receive resources.

[0069] A BWP is a set of consecutive or non-consecutive frequency subcarriers on one carrier, or a set of consecutive or non-consecutive frequency subcarriers on multiple carriers, or a set of non-consecutive or consecutive frequency subcarriers that may have one or more carriers.

[0070] In some embodiments, a carrier may have one or more BWPs, for example, a carrier with a bandwidth of 20 MHz and consisting of one BWP, or a carrier with a bandwidth of 80 MHz and consisting of two adjacent consecutive BWPs. In other embodiments, a BWP may have one or more carriers, for example, a BWP with a bandwidth of 40 MHz and consisting of two adjacent consecutive carriers, each having a bandwidth of 20 MHz. In some embodiments, a BWP may have discontinuous spectral resources consisting of a plurality of discontinuous carriers, where the first of the discontinuous carriers may be in the mmW band, the second carrier may be in a low band (such as the 2 GHz band), the third carrier may be in the THz band (if any), and the fourth carrier may be in the visible light band (if any). Resources within a single carrier belonging to a BWP can be continuous or discontinuous. In some embodiments, a BWP has discontinuous spectral resources on a single carrier.

[0071] Wireless communication can be conducted on an occupied bandwidth. The occupied bandwidth may be defined as the width of the frequency band such that the average power emitted below the lower frequency limit and above the upper frequency limit is equal to a specified ratio β / 2 of the total average transmitted power, for example, with β / 2 being 0.5%.

[0072] The carrier, BWP, or occupied bandwidth may be signaled by a network device (e.g., by base station 170) dynamically in physical layer control signaling, such as a known downlink control channel (DCI), or semi-statically in radio resource control (RRC) signaling or medium access control (MAC) layer signaling, or may be predefined based on an application scenario; or may be determined by UE 110 as a function of other parameters known by UE 110, or may be fixed by a standard, for example.

[0073] UE location information is often used in cellular communication networks to improve various performance metrics of the network. Such performance metrics may include, for example, capacity, agility, and efficiency. This improvement can be achieved when network elements utilize the location, behavior, mobility patterns, etc., of the UE in the context of a priori information describing the radio environment in which the UE operates.

[0074] Sensing systems can be used to help collect information about the UE's position in a global coordinate system, the velocity and direction of the UE's movement in a global coordinate system, UE attitude information including orientation information, and information about the radio environment. "Position" is also known as "location," and these two terms may be used interchangeably herein. Examples of well-known sensing systems include radar (RADAR, Radio Detection and Ranging) and lidar (LIDAR, Light Detection and Ranging). Sensing systems are typically separate from communication systems, but it can be advantageous to use an integrated system to collect the information, which reduces the hardware (and cost) in the system, as well as the time, frequency, or spatial resources required to perform both functions. However, using communication system hardware to perform sensing of UE attitude and environmental information is a very difficult and unresolved problem. The difficulty of this problem lies in factors such as the limited resolution of communication systems, the dynamism of the environment, and the enormous number of objects whose electromagnetic properties and positions must be estimated.

[0075] Therefore, integrated sensing and communication (also known as integrated communication and sensing) is a desirable feature in existing and future communication systems.

[0076] ED 110 and BS 170, or all of them, may be sensing nodes in system 100. A sensing node is a network entity that performs sensing by transmitting and receiving sensing signals. Some sensing nodes are communication devices that perform both communication and sensing. However, some sensing nodes may not perform communication and instead be dedicated to sensing. Sensing agent 174 is an example of a sensing-only sensing node. Unlike ED 110 and BS 170, sensing agent 174 does not transmit or receive communication signals. However, sensing agent 174 can communicate configuration information, sensing information, signaling information, or other information within communication system 100. Sensing agent 174 can communicate with the core network 130 to communicate information with the rest of communication system 100. For example, sensing agent 174 can determine the location of ED 110a and transmit this information to base station 170a via the core network 130. Although only one sensing agent 174 is shown in Figure 2, any number of sensing agents can be implemented in the communication system 100. In some embodiments, one or more sensing agents may be implemented in one or more of the RAN 120.

[0077] The sensing node may combine sensing-based techniques with reference signal-based techniques to improve UE attitude determination. This type of sensing node is sometimes known as a sensing management function (SMF). In some networks, the SMF may also be known as a location management function (LMF). The SMF may be implemented as a physically independent entity located in the core network 130, which has connections to multiple BS 170s. In other aspects of the present invention, the SMF may be implemented as a logical entity located together within the BS 170 through logic executed by the processor 260.

[0078] As shown in Figure 5, when implemented as a physically separate entity, the SMF 176 includes at least one processor 290, at least one transmitter 282, at least one receiver 284, one or more antennas 286, and at least one memory 288. Transceivers (not shown) may be used instead of the transmitter 282 and receiver 284. A scheduler 283 may be coupled to the processor 290. The scheduler 283 may be included within the SMF 176 or may operate separately from the SMF 110. The processor 290 performs various processing operations of the SMF 176, such as signal coding, data processing, power control, input / output processing, or any other functions. The processor 290 may also be configured to implement some or all of the functions and / or embodiments described in more detail above. Each processor 290 includes any suitable processing or computing device configured to perform one or more operations. Each processor 290 may include, for example, a microprocessor, microcontroller, digital signal processor, field-programmable gate array, or application-specific integrated circuit.

[0079] Reference signal-based attitude determination techniques belong to the “active” attitude estimation paradigm. In the active attitude estimation paradigm, the attitude information queryer (e.g., UE 110) participates in the process of determining its own attitude. The queryer may transmit or receive (or both) signals specific to the attitude determination process. Positioning techniques based on known Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS), such as GPS, are another example of the active attitude estimation paradigm.

[0080] In contrast, radar-based sensing techniques, for example, can be considered to belong to a "passive" attitude determination paradigm. In a passive attitude determination paradigm, the target is unaware of the attitude determination process.

[0081] By integrating sensing and communication into a single system, the system no longer needs to operate according to only one paradigm. Therefore, a combination of sensing-based techniques and reference signal-based techniques can lead to improved attitude determination.

[0082] Improved attitude determination may include, for example, acquiring UE channel subspace information, which is particularly useful for UE channel reconstruction at the sensing node, especially for beam-based operation and communication. The UE channel subspace is a subset of the entire algebraic space defined across the spatial domain, containing the entire channel from the TP to the UE. Thus, the UE channel subspace defines the channel from the TP to the UE with very high precision. Signals transmitted through other subspaces contribute negligibly to the UE channel. Knowledge of the UE channel subspace helps reduce the effort required for channel measurement at the UE and channel reconstruction on the network side. Therefore, a combination of sensing-based and reference signal-based techniques can enable UE channel reconstruction with much less overhead compared to traditional methods. Subspace information can also facilitate subspace-based sensing, reducing the complexity of sensing and improving the accuracy of sensing.

[0083] In some embodiments of integrated sensing and communication, the same radio access technology (RAT) is used for sensing and communication. This avoids the need to multiplex two different RATs under one carrier spectrum, or to require two different carrier spectra for two different RATs.

[0084] In embodiments that integrate sensing and communication under a single RAT, a first set of channels may be used to transmit sensing signals, and a second set of channels may be used to transmit communication signals. In some embodiments, each channel in the first set of channels and each channel in the second set of channels are logical channels, transport channels, or physical channels.

[0085] At the physical layer, communication and sensing can be performed via separate physical channels. For example, a first physical downlink sharing channel PDSCH-C is defined for data communication, and a second physical downlink sharing channel PDSCH-S is defined for sensing. Similarly, separate physical uplink sharing channels (PUSCH), PUSCH-C and PUSCH-S, may be defined for uplink communication and sensing.

[0086] In another example, the same PDSCH and PUSCH may be used for both communication and sensing, with separate logical layer channels and / or transport layer channels defined for communication and sensing. It should also be noted that the control channel(s) and data channel(s) for sensing may have the same or different channel structure (format) and may occupy the same or different frequency band or bandwidth portion.

[0087] In further examples, a common physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) and a common physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) may be used to carry control information for both sensing and communication. Alternatively, separate physical layer control channels may be used to carry separate control information for communication and sensing. For example, PUCCH-S and PUCCH-C may be used for uplink control for sensing and communication, respectively, and PDCCH-S and PDCCH-C may be used for downlink control for sensing and communication, respectively.

[0088] Different combinations of shared and dedicated channels for sensing and communication are possible at the physical, transport, and logical layers, respectively.

[0089] The term RADAR derives from the phrase Radio Detection and Ranging, but expressions with different capitalizations (e.g., Radar and radar) are equally valid and now more common. Radar is typically used to detect the presence and location of objects. A radar system emits radio frequency energy and receives echoes of that energy reflected from one or more targets. The system determines the attitude of a given target based on the echoes returned from that target. The emitted energy can be in the form of energy pulses or continuous waves, which can be represented or defined by a particular waveform. Examples of waveforms used in radar include frequency-modulated continuous wave (FMCW) and ultra-wideband (UWB) waveforms.

[0090] Radar systems can be monostatic, bistatic, or multistatic. In a monostatic radar system, the radar signal transmitter and receiver are located in the same place, such as integrated into a transceiver. In a bistatic radar system, the transmitter and receiver are spatially separated, and the separation distance is comparable to or greater than the expected target distance (often called range). In a multistatic radar system, two or more radar components are spatially diverse but share a coverage area. Multistatic radar is also called multi-site radar or net radar.

[0091] Ground radar applications face challenges such as multipath propagation and shadowing interference. Another challenge is the issue of identifiability due to ground targets having similar physical attributes. Integrating sensing into communication systems is likely to face these same challenges, as well as additional ones.

[0092] Communication nodes can be either half-duplex or full-duplex. Half-duplex nodes cannot both transmit and receive using the same physical resources (time, frequency, etc.), while full-duplex nodes can both transmit and receive using the same physical resources. All existing commercial wireless communication networks are half-duplex. Even if full-duplex communication networks become practical in the future, it is expected that at least some nodes in the network will still be half-duplex because half-duplex devices are less complex, less expensive, and consume less power. In particular, full-duplex implementation is more difficult at higher frequencies (e.g., millimeter-wave band), which is very difficult for small, low-cost devices such as femtocell base stations and UEs.

[0093] The limitations of half-duplex nodes in communication networks present further challenges to integrating sensing and communication into devices and systems within those networks. For example, while both half-duplex and full-duplex nodes can perform bistatic or multistatic sensing, monostatic sensing typically requires the sensing node to have full-duplex capability. Half-duplex nodes can perform monostatic sensing, albeit with certain limitations, such as in pulse radar with specific duty cycles and ranging capabilities.

[0094] The characteristics of a sensing signal, or a signal used for both sensing and communication, include the signal's waveform and frame structure. The frame structure defines the signal's time-domain boundary. The waveform describes the signal's shape as a function of time and frequency. Examples of waveforms that can be used for sensing signals include ultra-wideband (UWB) pulses, frequency-modulated continuous waves (FMCW) or "chirps," orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM), cyclic prefix (CP)-OFDM, and discrete Fourier transform spread (DFT-s)-OFDM.

[0095] In one embodiment, the sensing signal is a linear chirp signal having a bandwidth B and a duration T. Such linear chirp signals are generally known from their use in FMCW radar systems. The linear chirp signal is at an initial time t chirp0 with an initial frequency f chirp0 from a final time t chirp1 to a final frequency f chirp1 defined by the increase in frequency up to. Here, the relationship between frequency (f) and time (t) can be expressed as a linear relationship of f - f chipr0 = α(t - t chirp0 ). Here, α = (f chirp1 - f chirp0 ) / (t chirp1 - t chirp0 ) is defined as the chirp gradient. The bandwidth of the linear chirp signal may be defined as B = f chirp1 - f chirp0 , and the duration of the linear chirp signal may be defined as T = t chirp1 - t chirp0 . Such a linear chirp signal can be presented as

Number

[0096] Pre-encoding as used herein can refer to any coding operation(s) or modulation(s) that convert an input signal to an output signal. Pre-encoding may be performed in different domains [regions], typically converting an input signal in a first domain to an output signal in a second domain. Pre-encoding can include linear operations.

[0097] Terrestrial communication systems are sometimes called land-based or ground-based communication systems, but they may also be implemented on or underwater. Non-terrestrial communication systems can fill coverage gaps in underserved areas by extending cellular network coverage through the use of non-terrestrial nodes, which is key to establishing global seamless coverage and providing mobile broadband services to underserved / underserved areas. Currently, it is often not feasible to implement terrestrial access point / base station infrastructure in areas such as oceans, mountains, forests, or other remote areas.

[0098] Terrestrial communication systems can be wireless communication systems using 5G technology and / or later generations of wireless technology (e.g., 6G or later). In some examples, terrestrial communication systems may also accept some legacy wireless technology (e.g., 3G or 4G wireless technology). Non-terrestrial communication systems may be communication systems that use satellite constellations, such as conventional geostationary (GEO) satellites, that utilize public / popular content broadcast to local servers. Non-terrestrial communication systems may be communication systems that use low Earth orbit (LEO) satellites, which are known to establish a better balance between wide coverage area and propagation path loss / delay. Non-terrestrial communication systems may also be communication systems that use stabilized satellites in very low Earth orbit (VLEO) technology, thereby substantially reducing the cost of launching satellites to lower orbits. Non-terrestrial communication systems may be communication systems that use high altitude platforms (HAPs), which are known to provide low path loss air interfaces for users with limited power budgets. Non-terrestrial communication systems may also be communication systems using unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) (or unmanned aerial systems, "UAS"), and their coverage may be limited to local areas such as the air, balloons, quadcopters, and drones, thus achieving high-density deployment. In some examples, GEO satellites, LEO satellites, UAVs, HAPs, and VLEOs may be horizontal and two-dimensional. In some examples, UAVs, HAPs, and VLEOs may be combined to integrate satellite communications into cellular networks. Emerging 3D vertical networks consist of many moving (non-geostationary) high-altitude access points such as UAVs, HAPs, and VLEOs.

[0099] MIMO technology allows an antenna array consisting of multiple antennas to perform signal transmission and reception to meet the requirements of high transmission rates. ED 110 and T-TRP 170 and / or NT-TRP can use MIMO to communicate using radio resource blocks. MIMO utilizes multiple antennas in the transmitter to transmit radio resource blocks through parallel radio signals. As a result, multiple antennas may be utilized in the receiver. MIMO can beamform parallel radio signals for reliable multipath transmission of radio resource blocks. MIMO can combine parallel radio signals carrying different data to increase the data rate of radio resource blocks.

[0100] In recent years, MIMO (Large-Scale MIMO) wireless communication systems using T-TRP 170 and / or NT-TRP 172 with numerous antennas have attracted widespread attention from academia and industry. In large-scale MIMO systems, T-TRP 170 and / or NT-TRP 172 typically consist of more than 10 antenna units (see antennas 256 and 280 in Figure 3). T-TRP 170 and / or NT-TRP 172 are generally capable of serving tens (e.g., 40) of ED 110s. The numerous antenna units of T-TRP 170 and NT-TRP 172 significantly increase the spatial degrees of freedom in wireless communication, greatly improving transmission rate, spectral efficiency, and power efficiency, and significantly reducing inter-cell interference. Increasing the number of antennas allows each antenna unit to be made smaller and less expensive. By utilizing the spatial degrees of freedom provided by the large-scale antenna units, each cell's T-TRP 170 and NT-TRP 172 can communicate with many ED 110s within the cell simultaneously on the same time-frequency resources, thereby significantly increasing spectral efficiency. The numerous antenna units of the T-TRP 170 and / or NT-TRP 172 also allow each user to have better spatial directivity for uplink and downlink transmissions, thereby reducing the transmit power of the T-TRP 170 and / or NT-TRP 172 and ED 110s, and increasing power efficiency accordingly. When the number of T-TRP 170 and / or NT-TRP 172 antennas is sufficiently large, the random channels between each ED 110 and the T-TRP 170 and / or NT-TRP 172 can approach orthogonality, thereby reducing the impact of interference and noise between the cell and users. The multiple advantages described above enable large-scale MIMO to have excellent application prospects.

[0101] A MIMO system may include a receiver connected to a receiving (Rx) antenna, a transmitter connected to a transmitting (Tx) antenna, and a signal processor connected to both the transmitter and receiver. Each of the Rx and Tx antennas may include multiple antennas. For example, the Rx antenna may have a Uniform Linear Array (ULA) antenna in which multiple antennas are arranged in a line at equal intervals. When a radio frequency (RF) signal is transmitted through the Tx antenna, the Rx antenna can receive the signal reflected back from a target in front of it.

[0102] A non-exhaustive list of possible units or possible configurable parameters, or, in some embodiments of the MIMO system, including panels and beams.

[0103] A panel is a unit of an antenna group, or antenna array, or antenna sub-array, which can independently control the Tx beam or Rx beam.

[0104] A beam can be formed by performing amplitude and / or phase weighting on data transmitted or received by at least one antenna port. A beam may also be formed by using another method, for example, by tuning relevant parameters of an antenna unit. The beam may include a Tx beam and / or Rx beam. The transmit beam shows the distribution of signal intensity formed in different directions in space after a signal has been transmitted through the antenna. The receive beam shows the distribution of signal intensity in different directions in space of the radio signal received from the antenna. Beam information may include a beam identifier, or antenna port(s) identifier, or channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) resource identifier, or SSB resource identifier, or sounding reference signal (SRS) resource identifier, or other reference signal resource identifier.

[0105] Given a choice between monostatic and multistatic sensing, a multistatic sensing configuration might be considered the most appropriate choice for realizing the "network as a sensor" concept in future wireless communication systems. Several existing proposals can be understood as attempting to leverage the advantages of multistatic sensing for future wireless communication networks. One existing proposal is a scheme based on using a dedicated sensing pilot signal. Another existing proposal is a scheme based on reusing a communication pilot signal as a sensing pilot signal. Exemplary communication pilot signals include CSI-RS, demodulation reference signal (DMRS), phase tracking reference signal (PTRS), and positioning reference signal (PRS). Schemes based on using a dedicated sensing pilot signal may be considered to have an unfavorable amount of overhead. In schemes based on reusing communication pilots, the communication pilots may be considered too sparse to achieve the processing gain that provides adequate sensing performance.

[0106] The aspects of this application relate to a method for implementing a multistatic sensing system in a manner that avoids the shortcomings of existing proposed methods, which are outlined above.

[0107] Aspects of this invention relate to the use of communication data as a sensing pilot signal. One advantage of using communication data as a sensing pilot signal is the reduction of sensing overhead. Another advantage of using communication data as a sensing pilot signal is the processing gain. The processing gain may be due to the large number of data symbols. It can be shown that a large number of data symbols enables relatively simple Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) based reception. Another advantage of using communication data as a sensing pilot signal is that the communication data can be considered to resemble a large set of random data. It can be shown that using a large set of random data for a sensing pilot signal has an advantage in terms of self-ambiguity. The degree of self-ambiguity is known to be an important performance indicator as far as delay estimation and Doppler shift estimation are concerned.

[0108] The present invention relates to various communication-assisted sensing methods in which user equipment can use communication signals for sensing purposes.

[0109] Figure 6 shows an exemplary communication scheduling area 600. The exemplary communication scheduling area 600 is defined as a grid indexed by bandwidth portions (BWP1, BWP2, BWP3, BWP4) and time slots (TS1, TS2, TS3, TS4, TS5, TS6). In particular, a typical communication scheduling area can be defined as being indexed by K bandwidth portions, where K is not necessarily equal to 4. Similarly, a typical communication scheduling area can be defined as being indexed by M time slots, where M is not necessarily equal to 6. The exemplary communication scheduling area 600 in Figure 6 includes six data block transmissions (DB0, DB1, DB2, DB3, DB4, DB5).

[0110] Figure 7 shows an example of the signal flow between UE 110 and TRP 170 in a signal flow diagram. First, UE 110 may send a capability report to TRP 170 (step 702). The capability report may include instructions for the buffering capability of UE 110 and instructions for the sensing processing capability of UE 110. The sensing processing capability instructions may include one or more of the following: instructions for sensing processing delay, instructions for sensing bandwidth processing capability, and instructions for sensing duration processing capability.

[0111] In response to receiving the capability report, TRP 170 may send a sensing report configuration to UE 110 (step 704). TRP 170 may send the sensing report configuration using, for example, RRC signaling (step 704). UE 110 may use the sensing report configuration to define the content of its sensing report and / or how the sensing report is sent, as further described below. For example, the sensing report configuration may define how UE 110 should behave in the event of a decryption error and whether the sensing report should be merged with the decryption error feedback or sent separately.

[0112] TRP 170 can then transmit information defining the sensing area (step 706). TRP 170 may transmit the sensing area definition using, for example, DCI (step 706). In particular, the sensing area may be defined to include the entirety of a given communication scheduling area (see the exemplary communication scheduling area 600 in Figure 6) or a subset of a given communication scheduling area. The sensing area definition may be based on a capability report transmitted by UE 110 (step 702). The sensing area definition may also be based on a specified “quality of sensing” (QoSe) parameter, either additionally or alternatively. The communication scheduling area may include N data block transmissions allocated for sensing detection.

[0113] TRP 170 can define a sensing feedback channel (step 708).

[0114] When defining the sensing feedback channel (step 708), TRP 170 can take into account the length dimension of the sensing area, the self-reported UE processing latency, the sensing report type, and acceptable sensing latency parameters.

[0115] The TRP 170 may then send instructions to the UE 110 for defining the sensing feedback channel (step 710).

[0116] The transmission of the definition of the sensing feedback channel (step 710) can be achieved using DCI.

[0117] In response to receiving a scheduled transmission from TRP 170 (step 712), UE 110 may process the received scheduled transmission. Processing the received scheduled transmission may include performing data decoding of the scheduled transmission and thereby obtaining the decoded data (step 714). UE 110 may buffer the decoded data. Processing the received scheduled transmission may include UE 110 performing a sensing parameter estimation operation (step 716). UE 110 may perform the sensing parameter estimation operation (step 716) based on knowledge of already decoded data of a data block transmission allocated for sensing detection.

[0118] Processing of the received scheduled transmission may further include UE 110 sending a sensing report to TRP 170 (step 718). UE 110 may employ a sensing feedback channel as described in the received definition. UE 110 may send the sensing report using PUSCH (step 718).

[0119] The sensing report may be merged with other information and transmitted together with that information, or it may be transmitted independently. For example, the other information may be communication-related feedback, in which case the sensing report may be merged with the communication-related feedback, and the merged information may be transmitted over the communication-related feedback channel. If the sensing report is transmitted independently, it may be transmitted over a dedicated sensing report channel. The merging of the sensing report with other information may depend on the timing relationship between the sensing report and the other information.

[0120] The UE capability report transmitted in step 702 may include an indication of the UE 110's ability to buffer data after it has decoded (step 714) the scheduled transmission received (step 712). In a first scenario, the UE 110 does not have the ability to buffer the received (step 712) and decoded (step 714) data blocks. In this first scenario, the UE 110 may be configured to perform a sensing parameter estimation operation (step 716) for each individual decoded data block in response to the data block being decoded (step 714). In a second scenario, the UE 110 has the ability to buffer the received (step 712) and decoded (step 714) data blocks. In fact, the UE 110 may have the ability to buffer multiple decoded data blocks. The UE 110 may be configured to perform a sensing parameter estimation operation (step 716) across multiple decoded data blocks.

[0121] The UE capability report transmitted in step 702 may include an indication of the capability to perform multi-BWP and parallel baseband sensing parameter estimation after the data blocks have been decoded (step 714). In the first scenario, UE 110 does not have the capability to perform sensing parameter estimation across multiple BWPs (step 716). Therefore, UE 110 may be configured to perform sensing parameter estimation (step 716) on data blocks decoded from a particular BWP. In the second scenario, UE 110 has the capability to perform sensing parameter estimation (step 716) congruently across multiple BWPs on decoded (step 714) data blocks.

[0122] The UE capability report transmitted in step 702 may include an indication of processing capability. The processing capability indication may include an indication of sensing bandwidth processing capability. The processing capability indication may also include an indication of time processing capability. The processing capability indication may further include an indication of how complex the sensing reception may be. The indication of how complex the sensing reception may be may be expressed in terms of the FFT size that the receiver can handle and whether the receiver can employ a super-resolution algorithm. The UE capability report transmitted in step 702 may include an indication of UE power mode. The indication of sensing processing delay may be understood to relate to how much power budget the UE has available to perform sensing operations (after decoding the scheduled data block). The indication of UE power mode may implicitly indicate other capabilities such as processing capability, multi-BWP processing capability, and receiver complexity capability.

[0123] The UE capability report transmitted in step 702 may include an indication of sensing processing delay. The indication of sensing processing delay can be understood as relating to the amount of additional latency (time taken) that may be associated with UE 110 performing sensing parameter estimation to obtain the sensing report (step 716). This delay is called “additional” latency because latency is already associated with the time it takes for UE 110 to decode the received data block (step 714).

[0124] Figure 8 shows a sensing region 800, which is shown as a subset of the exemplary communication scheduling region 600 in Figure 6.

[0125] Figure 9 shows exemplary steps in a method for processing a received scheduled transmission to be performed by a UE 110 that lacks buffering capability and multi-BWP processing capability. Due to the lack of buffering capability and multi-BWP processing capability, the UE 110 may be configured to perform sensing parameter estimation separately for each decoded data block. The method in Figure 9 is presented as multiple methods to be performed for multiple exemplary data blocks. The exemplary data blocks are referenced in data block indexes DB0 and DB(G-1). Not all data blocks may be designated for sensing, as shown in Figure 8.

[0126] The methods shown in Figure 9 are based on the assumption that data block DB0 in the first time slot is designated for sensing, and data block DB(G-1) in the G-th time slot is designated for sensing. The methods shown in Figure 9 are also based on the assumption that OFDM-based waveforms are used for communication / sensing. The methods shown in Figure 9 are based on the assumption that UE 110 does not have multi-BWP capability, and therefore G DBs should be scheduled for UE 110 over G time slots. This is not necessarily true in all common cases. In all common cases, multiple DBs can be scheduled for UE 110 over the same time slot.

[0127] In the first time slot, UE 110 obtains a first receive matrix Y0 (step 902-0). The first receive matrix Y0 can be understood as representing the set of received complex symbols across each resource element (RE) after applying waveform demodulation through cyclic prefix removal and FFT operations to the received time-domain signal y(t). UE 110 then decodes a first data block referenced by data block index DB0 (step 904-0). If decoding is determined to be successful (step 906-0), UE 110 reconstructs a first transmit matrix X0 (step 908-0). Reconstructing the first transmit matrix X0 involves applying forward error correction to the decoded information bits, modulating the encoded bits, and mapping the modulated symbols onto the resource elements corresponding to the time / frequency domains allocated for the first data block. UE 110 can then determine the first channel matrix Z0 (step 910-0). The channel matrix may be determined as a two-dimensional FFT of the quotient between the received matrix and the reconstructed transmitted matrix (step 910-0). That is, Z0 = FFT 2D(Y0 / X0). Based on the first channel matrix, UE 110 may estimate various sensing parameters, including delay parameters and Doppler shift parameters (step 912-0). UE 110 may then send a first sensing report to TRP 170 (step 914-0). The first sensing report may include some or all of the determined (step 912-0) sensing parameters and may be associated with a data block index DB0.

[0128] Figure 9 shows two sensing methods, out of several sensing methods configured to perform sensing on data blocks received in multiple corresponding time slots, that are configured to perform sensing on data blocks received in two corresponding time slots (the first time slot and the G time slot). The multiple time slots may include all time slots if sensing is performed on all data blocks, as shown in Figure 6. If sensing is performed on a subset of data blocks, as shown in Figure 8, the multiple time slots may include a subset of time slots.

[0129] In the G-th time slot, UE 110 is the G-th received matrix Y G-1 Obtain the G-th received matrix Y (step 902-G-1). G-1 Obtaining (step 902-G-1) may be achieved in a similar manner to obtaining the first received matrix Y0 (step 902-0) as described above. The UE 110 then decodes the G-th data block referenced in the data block index DB (G-1) (step 904-G-1). If it determines that the decryption was successful (step 906-G-1), the UE 110 obtains the G-th transmitted matrix X G-1 Reconstruct the G-th transmission matrix X (step 908-G-1). G-1Reconstructing the first transmission matrix X0 (step 908-G-1) may be achieved in a manner similar to the way the first transmission matrix X0 is reconstructed (step 908-0) described above. UE 110 then reconstructs the G-th channel matrix Z G-1 This can be determined (step 910-G-1). The G-th channel matrix can be determined as a 2D FFT of the quotient between the receive matrix and the reconstructed transmit matrix (step 910-G-1). That is, Z G-1 =FFT 2D (Y G-1 / X G-1 Based on the G-th channel matrix, UE 110 can estimate various sensing parameters (step 912-G-1). UE 110 may then send the G-th sensing report to TRP 170 (step 914-G-1). The G-th sensing report may include some or all of the determined (step 912-G-1) sensing parameters and may be associated with a data block index DB (G-1).

[0130] Figure 10 shows exemplary steps in a method for processing a received scheduled transmission, to be performed by a UE 110 having buffering and multi-BWP processing capabilities, in contrast to the UE 110 targeted by the method in Figure 9. The presence of buffering and multi-BWP processing capabilities allows the UE 110 to be configured to congruently perform sensing parameter estimation for multiple decoded data blocks. The method in Figure 10 is presented as multiple methods to be performed for multiple exemplary data blocks. However, in contrast to the multiple methods shown in Figure 9, the multiple methods shown in Figure 10 converge for the last few steps. The exemplary data blocks are referenced in data block indices DB0 and DB(G-1). Not all data blocks are designated for sensing, as shown in Figure 8.

[0131] In the first time slot, UE 110 obtains the first receive matrix Y0 (step 1002-0). UE 110 then decodes the first data block referenced by the data block index DB0 (step 1004-0). If it determines that the decoding was successful (step 1006-0), UE 110 buffers the first receive matrix Y0 (step 1007-0).

[0132] In the G-th time slot, UE 110 is the G-th received matrix Y G-1 The UE 110 then obtains the G-th data block referenced by the data block index DB (G-1) (step 1004-G-1). If it determines that the decryption was successful (step 1006-G-1), the UE 110 obtains the G-th received matrix Y G-1 Buffer the data (step 1007-G-1).

[0133] UE 110 then processes all transmission matrices [X0, ..., X G-1 By combining the ], the overall transmit matrix X can be determined. UE 110 also combines all the receive matrices [Y0,…,Y G-1 By combining the elements of the receiving matrix [Y0, ..., Y G-1 The transmission matrix [X0,…,X G-1 Each of the ] may be reconstructed in a manner similar to the way in which the first transmission matrix X0 is reconstructed (step 908-0) described above. g and the receiving matrix Y g The process of combining (g=0,…,G-1) may involve inserting a zero matrix for time / frequency resources ("empty regions") where no data blocks are transmitted. In this case, the zero matrix may be obtained based on the number of OFDM symbols and the number of subcarriers in the corresponding empty regions.

[0134] UE 110 can then determine the overall channel matrix Z (step 1010). The overall channel matrix Z may be determined as the 2D FFT of the quotient of the overall receive matrix Y and the overall transmit matrix X (step 1010). That is, Z = FFT 2D (Y / X). Based on the overall channel matrix Z, UE 110 may estimate various sensing parameters (step 1012). UE 110 may then send an overall sensing report to TRP 170 (step 1014). The overall sensing report may include some or all of the determined (step 1012) sensing parameters.

[0135] Aspects of this invention relate to the TRP 170 scheduling configurations for the sensing feedback report channel and signaling them to the UE 110 via DCI. Since sensing detection is related to data decoding, there are many options regarding the content of the sensing feedback report channel.

[0136] In the first option, TRP 170 may transmit PDCCH 1104 containing instructions for UE 110, as shown in Figure 11. In particular, a data block (not shown) to be used for sensing detection in UE 110 may be carried by PDCCH 1102. The instructions may indicate to UE 110 that sensing feedback report channels be bundled with future transmissions as part of the HARQ protocol. If sensing reports are associated with individual HARQ processes, sensing feedback report channels may be defined separately for each HARQ process. In this case, the instructions include the allocation of sensing report resources 1110 (in the time domain and frequency domain) for each sensing feedback report channel by TRP 170. In general, instructions, particularly sensing report resources, may be communicated to UE 110 in a new field of DCI within PDCCH 1104. Subsequently, after a delay associated with decoding and sensing detection, the UE 110 may send a PUSCH 1106, in which the UE 110 includes HARQ feedback 1108. In the same PUSCH 1106, the UE 110 may send a sensing feedback report using the sensing report resource 1110 assigned by the TRP 170.

[0137] In the exemplary table 1200 in Figure 12, the amount of bits is associated with each field in multiple fields of the DCI within the PDCCH 1104. The DCI is known to include the specification of UL resources in the frequency domain and / or time domain for HARQ feedback 1108 for a given HARQ process number. The exemplary table 1200 in Figure 12 differs from conventional UL resource specification in that it includes the specification of sensing report resources 1110 in the frequency domain and / or time domain for transmitting sensing feedback report channels. Multiple sensing report resources 1110 may be defined per HARQ process in case decoding errors occur for some data blocks.

[0138] In a second option, TRP 170 may transmit PDCCH 1304 containing instructions for UE 110, as shown in Figure 13. In particular, a data block (not shown) to be used for sensing detection in UE 110 may be carried by PDCCH 1302. The instructions may instruct UE 110 to transmit a sensing feedback report channel separately from future transmissions as part of the HARQ protocol. If the sensing report is associated with individual HARQ processes, the sensing feedback report channel may be defined separately for each HARQ process. In contrast, as shown in Figure 13, the instructions include the allocation of sensing report resources 1310 (in the time domain and frequency domain) for the sensing feedback report channel by TRP 170. In general, instructions, in particular the sensing report resources, may be communicated to UE 110 in a new field of DCI within PDCCH 1304. Subsequently, after a delay associated with decoding and sensing detection, UE 110 may transmit a first PUSCH 1306-0, in which UE 110 includes HARQ feedback 1308. In a second PUSCH 1306-1, UE 110 may transmit a sensing feedback report channel using sensing report resource 1310 assigned by TRP 170. In particular, in Figure 13, HARQ feedback 1308 temporally precedes the sensing report in sensing report resource 1310. However, this is not necessarily required. In fact, it is conceivable that the sensing report in sensing report resource 1310 may temporally precede HARQ feedback 1308.

[0139] The second option is likely to be primarily applicable to scenarios where the UE 110 sends a single aggregated sensing report for all decoded data blocks in a given sensing area.

[0140] In the second option, the sensing feedback report channel can use sensing report resources defined using a new field in UL DCI (format 0_0 or 0_1). That is, UE 110 may include the sensing feedback report channel in the second PUSCH 1306-1.

[0141] In the exemplary table 1400 in Figure 14, the number of bits is associated with each field in the multiple fields of the DCI within the PDCCH 1304. The DCI is known to include the designation of UL resources in the frequency domain and / or time domain for HARQ feedback 1308 for a given HARQ process number. The exemplary table 1400 in Figure 14 differs from conventional UL resource designations in that it includes the designation of sensing report resources 1310 in the frequency domain and / or time domain for sensing feedback report channel transmission. In contrast to the exemplary table 1200 in Figure 12, in the exemplary table 1400 in Figure 14, the designation of UL sensing report resources is not tied to a specific HARQ process.

[0142] It is understood that sensing may not occur if UE 110 experiences a decryption error (NACK) for some data blocks. In response to experiencing a decryption error (NACK), UE 110 may act in a manner defined in the configuration. This configuration may be communicated to the UE by the SensingReportConfiguration using RRC signaling. The configuration may include instructions on whether UE 110 should bundle a sensing feedback report with the HARQ process or how it should behave in the event of a decryption error.

[0143] In the exemplary configuration (corresponding to sensingNACKreportconfiguration0), the UE 110 may ignore decryption failures of data blocks in the sensing feedback report.

[0144] In another exemplary configuration shown in Figure 15 (corresponding to sensingNACKreportconfiguration1), UE 110 may send a sensing feedback report corresponding to a NACK data block, separately from the sensing feedback report corresponding to the ACK data block, after the NACK data block has been successfully decoded after one or more retransmissions.

[0145] Figure 15 shows that UE 110 may receive an initial transmission 1502-0 of the first data block DB0. After failing to properly decode the initial transmission 1502-0 of the first data block DB0, UE 110 may transmit a first push 1506-0. The first push 1506-0 may include a NACK 1504N to indicate to TRP 170 that the first data block DB0 was not properly decoded. The first push 1506-0 includes a sensing report resource 1508, but since UE 110 has no sensing estimation results to report, UE 110 allows the sensing report resource 1508 to remain unused. UE 110 may then receive a retransmission 1502-1 of the first data block DB0_RV1. After successfully decoding the first data block DB0 with the help of a retransmission 1502-1 of the first data block DB0_RV1, the UE 110 may transmit a second push 1506-1. The second push 1506-1 may include an ACK 1504A indicating to the TRP 170 that DB0 has been successfully decoded, as well as a retransmission 1502-1 of the first data block DB0_RV1. The second push 1506-1 may also include two sensing feedback channels, namely a first sensing feedback channel 1510-0 for the initial transmission 1502-0 of the first data block DB0, and a second feedback channel 1510-1 for the retransmission 1502-1 of the first data block DB0_RV1.

[0146] In the further exemplary configuration shown in Figure 16 (corresponding to sensingNACKreportconfiguration2), the UE 110 can send all sensing feedback reports together in a single reporting opportunity.

[0147] Figure 16 shows that UE 110 may receive an initial transmission 1502-0 of the first data block DB0. After failing to properly decode the initial transmission 1502-0 of the first data block DB0, UE 110 may transmit a first push 1506-0. The first push 1506-0 may include a NACK 1504N to indicate to TRP 170 that the first data block DB0 was not properly decoded. The first push 1506-0 includes a sensing report resource 1508, but since UE 110 has no sensing estimation results to report, UE 110 allows the sensing report resource 1508 to remain unused. UE 110 may then receive a retransmission 1502-1 of the first data block DB0_RV1. After successfully decoding the first data block DB0 with the help of a retransmission 1502-1 of the first data block DB0_RV1, the UE 110 may transmit a second push 1506-1. The second push 1506-1 may include an ACK 1504A indicating to the TRP 170 that DB0 has been successfully decoded, as well as a retransmission 1502-1 of the first data block DB0_RV1. The second push 1506-1 may also include an aggregate sensing feedback channel 1610 for the initial transmission 1502-0 of the first data block DB0 and for the retransmission 1502-1 of the first data block DB0_RV1.

[0148] Aspects of this invention relate to a scenario in which UE 110 receives multiple PDSCH transmissions from TRP 170, each associated with a corresponding number of spatial layers.

[0149] It is known that two signals received after transmission from the same antenna port on a given device are likely to experience the same radio channel. In contrast, two signals received after transmission from two different antenna ports on a given device are likely to experience different radio conditions. Notably, there are some cases in which two signals received after transmission from two different antenna ports experience a radio channel with common characteristics. In such cases, those antenna ports are sometimes said to be quasi-co-located (QCL). In fact, efforts are sometimes made to increase the likelihood that two or more PDSCH transmissions are quasi-co-located. Such efforts are sometimes called QCL configurations.

[0150] If there is no QCL configuration for multiple PDSCH transmissions, UE 110 may handle each received PDSCH transmission individually. UE 110 may handle each received PDSCH transmission in the manner previously described herein.

[0151] However, in TRP 170, if there is a QCL configuration for, for example, two PDSCH transmissions transmitted from the same antenna port or on the same beam, it can be understood that UE 110 has the option to process the PDSCH transmissions for sensing purposes and for transmitting sensing feedback reports.

[0152] Consider a first communication scheduling area 1700A for a first set of PDSCH transmissions and a second communication scheduling area 1700B for a second set of PDSCH transmissions, as shown in Figure 17. In view of Figure 17, it is noted that the resources (BWP1, TS3) scheduled for one data block (DB2) in the first communication scheduling area 1700A are the same as the resources (BWP1, TS3) scheduled for the same data block (DB2) in the second communication scheduling area 1700B. These are sometimes called duplicate resources.

[0153] In the first option, the UE 110 may process the PDSCH transmission of the received QCL and send a single sensing feedback report for all received QCL PDSCH transmissions. In the first option, the sensing feedback report is unlikely to be associated with a specific HARQ process.

[0154] In the second option, UE 110 may process the received QCL PDSCH transmission and send a single sensing feedback report corresponding to each PDSCH transmission. In the second option, when UE 110 is scheduled across overlapping resources, one data block from the first PDSCH transmission (DB2 in the first communication scheduling area 1700A; see Figure 17) may be successfully decoded, while another data block from the second PDSCH transmission (DB2 in the second communication scheduling area 1700B; see Figure 17) may not be successfully decoded. In this case, UE 110 may report sensing based on processing the data block DB2 from the first PDSCH transmission. Alternatively, UE 110 may recognize that the data block from the first PDSCH transmission was successfully decoded despite interference from data in the second PDSCH transmission. Thus, UE 110 may delay processing the data block from the first PDSCH transmission for sensing purposes. UE 110 may also delay the transmission of a sensing feedback report related to the data block from the first PDSCH transmission. UE 110 may wait for the retransmission of the data block DB2 from the second PDSCH transmission. Once the data block DB2 from the second PDSCH transmission is successfully decoded, UE 110 may process the data block from the first PDSCH transmission for sensing purposes. Processing of the data block from the first PDSCH transmission by UE 110 may involve interference rejection. That is, information obtained by successfully decoding the data block DB2 from the second PDSCH transmission may indicate that UE 110 is allowed to remove interference from the data block from the first PDSCH transmission from the data block in the data block DB2 from the second PDSCH transmission. Similarly, information obtained by successfully decoding the data block DB2 from the first PDSCH transmission may indicate that UE 110 allows interference from the data block DB2 from the first PDSCH transmission to be removed from the data block from the second PDSCH transmission.This process can help the receiver obtain a more accurate sensing estimate for both data blocks, as interference mitigation causes it to experience a higher effective signal-to-noise plus interference ratio (SINR) state for both data blocks.

[0155] All of these UE behaviors can be defined as additional SensingReportConfiguration parameters (through RRC signaling) to indicate the UE behavior in this scenario.

[0156] It should be understood that one or more steps of the methods of the embodiments provided herein may be performed by corresponding units or modules. For example, data may be transmitted by a transmitting unit or transmitting module. Data may be received by a receiving unit or receiving module. Data may be processed by a processing unit or processing module. Each unit / module may be hardware, software, or a combination thereof. For example, one or more of the units / modules may be an integrated circuit, such as a field-programmable gate array (FPGA) or an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC). If the modules are software, they may be extracted by a processor individually or together, in one or more instances as needed, for processing, in whole or in part as needed, and the modules themselves may contain instructions for further deployment and instantiation.

[0157] While combinations of features are shown in the illustrated embodiments, not all of them need to be combined to realize the benefits of the various embodiments of this disclosure. In other words, a system or method designed according to one embodiment of this disclosure does not necessarily include all of the features shown in any one of the figures, or all of the parts schematically shown in the figures. Furthermore, selected features of one exemplary embodiment may be combined with selected features of other exemplary embodiments.

[0158] This disclosure has been described with reference to exemplary embodiments, but this description is not intended to be construed as limiting. Various modifications and combinations of the exemplary embodiments, as well as other embodiments of this disclosure, will become apparent to those skilled in the art by reference to the description. Accordingly, the appended claims are intended to encompass any such modifications or embodiments.

Claims

1. The stage of receiving a sensing capability report from the device; A step of transmitting a definition of the sensing area to the device, wherein the definition of the sensing area is defined based on the sensing capability report; The steps include: sending a definition of the sensing feedback report channel to the device; The step of transmitting communication data to the device; The steps include receiving a sensing report from the device via the sensing feedback report channel, based on processing the data transmission received in the sensing area, and Methods that include...

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the sensing capability report includes an instruction for buffering capability.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the sensing capability report includes an instruction for data transmission processing capability indicating the device's ability to process the data transmission.

4. The instruction for the aforementioned data transmission processing capacity is: Instructions for delaying the sensing process; Instructions for sensing bandwidth processing capability; or Instructions for sensing duration and processing capacity The method according to claim 3, comprising one or more of the above.

5. The method according to claim 1, wherein the definition of the sensing area is further based on sensing quality requirements.

6. The above definition of the sensing feedback report channel is at least in part: Length of the aforementioned sensing area; Processing latency in the aforementioned device; The type of the aforementioned sensing report; and Sensing latency requirements The method according to claim 1, based on one or more of the above.

7. The method according to claim 1, wherein the definition of the sensing feedback report channel specifies merging sensing feedback with communication-related feedback.

8. The method according to claim 7, wherein the communication-related feedback includes an indication of the decoding status of the data block.

9. The method according to claim 1, wherein the definition of the sensing feedback report channel specifies a dedicated sensing feedback report channel.

10. The method according to claim 1, further comprising the step of transmitting a sensing report configuration to the device, wherein the sensing report configuration is created based on the sensing capability report.

11. A method performed by a device, the method being: The stage of sending a sensing capability report to the base station; A step in which a definition of the sensing area is received from the base station, wherein the definition of the sensing area is defined based on the sensing capability report; The step of receiving a definition of the sensing feedback report channel from the base station; The step of receiving data transmission of communication data from the aforementioned base station; The steps include: transmitting a sensing report to the base station via the sensing feedback report channel, based on processing the data transmission received in the sensing area; Methods that include...

12. The method according to claim 11, wherein the sensing capability report includes an instruction for buffering capability.

13. The method according to claim 11, wherein the sensing capability report includes an instruction for data transmission processing capability indicating the device's ability to process the data transmission.

14. The instruction for the aforementioned data transmission processing capacity is: Instructions for delaying the sensing process; Instructions for sensing bandwidth processing capability; or Instructions for sensing duration and processing capacity The method according to claim 13, comprising one or more of the above.

15. The method according to claim 11, wherein the definition of the sensing area is further based on sensing quality requirements.

16. The above definition of the sensing feedback report channel is, at least in part: Length of the aforementioned sensing area; Processing latency in the aforementioned device; The type of the aforementioned sensing report; and Sensing latency requirements The method according to claim 11, based on one or more of the above.

17. The method according to claim 11, wherein the definition of the sensing feedback report channel specifies merging the sensing feedback with communication-related feedback.

18. The method according to claim 17, wherein the communication-related feedback includes an indication of the decoding status of the data block.

19. The method according to claim 11, wherein the definition of the sensing feedback report channel specifies a dedicated sensing feedback report channel.

20. The method according to claim 11, further comprising the step of receiving a sensing report configuration from the base station, wherein the sensing report configuration is prepared based on the sensing capability report.

21. An apparatus having a processor configured to cause the apparatus to perform the method described in any one of claims 1 to 10.

22. A computer-readable storage medium that, when executed by a computer, includes an instruction causing the computer to perform the method according to any one of claims 1 to 10.

23. A computer program product that, when executed by a computer, includes instructions causing the computer to perform the method described in any one of claims 1 to 10.

24. A processor for a device, wherein the processor is configured to cause the device to perform the method described in any one of claims 1 to 10.

25. An apparatus having a processor configured to cause the apparatus to perform the method described in any one of claims 11 to 20.

26. A computer-readable storage medium that, when executed by a computer, includes an instruction causing the computer to perform the method according to any one of claims 11 to 20.

27. ​​A computer program product that, when executed by a computer, includes instructions causing the computer to perform the method described in any one of claims 11 to 20.

28. A processor for a device, wherein the processor is configured to cause the device to perform the method described in any one of claims 11 to 20.

29. It is a system, A device configured to perform the method described in any one of claims 11 to 20; The device includes a base station that communicates wirelessly with the device, wherein the base station is configured to perform the method described in any one of claims 1 to 10. system.

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