User equipment, radio network node, and methods for performing wireless object sensing

Abstract

Embodiments herein disclose, for example, a method performed by a radio network node (12) for handling sensing of one or more objects in a wireless communication network (1). The radio network node (12) transmits a first indication to a UE (10) in inactive mode, indicating to trigger or prepare the UE for a sensing procedure. The radio network node (12) further performs a sensing measurement, and determines, based on the sensing measurement, whether or not to request the UE (10) to report a result from the sensing procedure. With the proviso that it is determined to request the UE (10) to report the result, the radio network node (12) sends a second indication to the UE (10), triggering the UE (10) to report the result from the sensing procedure.

Description

[0001] USER EQUIPMENT, RADIO NETWORK NODE, AND METHODS FOR PERFORMING WIRELESS OBJECT SENSING

[0002] TECHNICAL FIELD

[0003] Embodiments herein relate to a user equipment (UE), a radio network node, and methods performed therein regarding wireless communication. Furthermore, a computer program product and a computer readable storage medium are also provided herein. In particular, embodiments herein relate to handling sensing in a wireless communication network.

[0004] BACKGROUND

[0005] In a typical wireless communication network, UEs, also known as wireless communication devices, mobile stations, stations (STA) and / or wireless devices, communicate via a Radio Access Network (RAN) with one or more core networks (CN). The RAN covers a geographical area which is divided into service areas or cells, with each service area or cell being served by a radio network node such as an access node e.g. a Wi-Fi access point or a radio base station (RBS), which in some networks may also be called, for example, a NodeB, a gNodeB, or an eNodeB. The service area or cell is a geographical area where radio coverage is provided by the radio network node. The radio network node operates on radio frequencies to communicate over an air interface with the UEs within range of the radio network node. The radio network node communicates over a downlink (DL) to the UE and the UE communicates over an uplink (UL) to the radio network node.

[0006] A Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) is a third generation (3G) telecommunication network, which evolved from the second generation (2G) Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM). The UMTS terrestrial radio access network (UTRAN) is essentially a RAN using wideband code division multiple access (WCDMA) and / or High-Speed Packet Access (HSPA) for communication with user equipment. In a forum known as the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), telecommunications suppliers propose and agree upon standards for present and future generation networks and investigate e.g. enhanced data rate and radio capacity. In some RANs, e.g. as in UMTS, several radio network nodes may be connected, e.g., by landlines or microwave, to a controller node, such as a radio network controller (RNC) or a base station controller (BSC), which supervises and coordinates various activities of the plural radio network nodes connected thereto. The RNCs are typically connected to one or more core networks.

[0007] Specifications for the Evolved Packet System (EPS) have been completed within the 3GPP and coming 3GPP releases, such as New Radio (NR), are worked on. The EPS comprises the Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (E-UTRAN), also known as the Long-Term Evolution (LTE) radio access network, and the Evolved Packet Core (EPC), also known as System Architecture Evolution (SAE) core network. E-UTRAN / LTE is a 3GPP radio access technology wherein the radio network nodes are directly connected to the EPC core network. As such, the Radio Access Network (RAN) of an EPS has an essentially “flat” architecture comprising radio network nodes connected directly to one or more core networks.

[0008] With the emerging 5G technologies such as NR, the use of very many transmit- and receive-antenna elements may be of great interest as it makes it possible to utilize beamforming, such as transmit-side and receive-side beamforming. Transmit-side beamforming means that the transmitter can amplify the transmitted signals in a selected direction or directions, while suppressing the transmitted signals in other directions. Similarly, on the receive-side, a receiver can amplify signals from a selected direction or directions, while suppressing unwanted signals from other directions. NR is connected to the 5G Core Network (5GC) which comprises a number of Network Functions (NF) such as Session Management Function (SMF), Access Management Function (AMF), Authentication Service Function (ALISF), Policy Control Function (PCF), Unified Data Manager (UDM), Network Repository Function (NRF), Network Exposure Function (NEF), just to mention some. In the 5GC, NFs can discover other NFs by using a discovery service provided by the Network Repository Function (NRF).

[0009] Sensing procedure follows some of the principles that are being used by animals for echolocation. That is, a pulse is emitted, usually with high frequency, that travels until it hits a reflecting surface after which a reflection of the original pulse travels back to the transmitter or some other receiver. With this technique some animal species can navigate in darkness with very high precision, see LIZ LANGLEY (2021) Echolocation is nature’s built-in sonar. Here’s how it works. National Geographic, Feb 3, 2021. https: / / www.nationalgeographic.com / animals / article / echolocation-is-nature-built-in-sonar-here-is- how-it-works.

[0010] The sensing procedure is also used in many different businesses. Some obvious examples are the radars used to navigate airplanes and the lidar now available in many cars. However, radar can also be used for registering input to small devices since the radar can detect movements of a person’s fingers.

[0011] To describe some of the phenomena a brief look at geophysics can be used. There are several geophysical methods that rely on the abovementioned principles. One very commonly used method is a seismic procedure where a sound pulse is transmitted into the ground. When the pulse encounters an object, e.g., a boundary between two types of rock or a fracture zone, where the physical properties differ enough, this causes a reflection that travels back to the transmitter. However, if the original pulse hits the boundary at a high enough angle, the original wave may be refracted instead. Naturally, a wave or pulse that is sent through a mountain may, even if parts of the energy is reflected, travel though the mountain, however, being affected by the physical properties on its path. This type of data is also used for investigations, e.g., using tomography or when characterizing and identifying sources of earthquakes. These methods work well also using a radar to transmit the first pulse, however, radar investigations are used for other purposes. The property that determines if there will be a radar reflection is the dielectric constant, rather than the physical properties for seismic waves.

[0012] The principles exemplified above also work for WiFi. The operating frequency and output power of ordinary WiFi, for example, as set in IEEE 802.11 , limits the possible types of investigations. That is, the WiFi waves will attenuate quickly, especially in solid materials, so it may be difficult to detect anything behind reinforced concrete walls.

[0013] Usually, WiFi sensing exploits radio channel changes measured, e.g., as amplitude and phase. This channel environment changes, e.g., when a person or object moves in this area and alters the radio path. The radio measurements are analysed to identify and possibly characterize the reason for changes in the environment.

[0014] Since there are advantages with being able to detect, e.g., movement, using radio waves there are already commercial implementations of WiFi sensing. There are advantages with a standard and so as a result the IEEE 802.11 working group has formed a new Task Group, 802.11 bf, to develop a new amendment to define necessary physical layer (PHY) and medium access control (MAC) protocols to support WiFi sensing in all spectrum bands, including sub-7 GHz bands (2.4 GHz, 5 GHz, and 6 GHz band), as well as 60 GHz millimeter wave (mmWave) band.

[0015] In 3GPP a sensing process is referred to as Joint Communication and Sensing (JCAS), which is in principle the same as WiFi sensing, but emphasizes that the same radio resources are used both for ordinary communication and for sensing measurements. The sensing process discussed in the previous section is almost identical to a process for JCAS in a cellular system.

[0016] For this background description of JCAS, the emphasis is put on a radar-like sensing setup. Radar means that a radio pulse is transmitted towards the anticipated target, e.g., the pulse is transmitted in a certain direction or beam. When the pulse hits the target, assuming that the difference in electrical properties is large enough, a reflection is generated that travels back to the transmitter. From the travel time between transmission and reception of the reflection, it is possible to calculate the distance to the reflector, see Fig. 1.

[0017] There are numerous papers describing L1 problems and solutions, e.g., using Orthogonal Frequency-Division Multiplexing (OFDM) to create a radar-like pulse. Another interesting set of L1 problems is to handle reflections, e.g., is the received reflection a first arrival from a line of sight (LOS) or are there several arrivals also from non-line of sight (NLOS). To be able to correctly handle reflections, the receiver needs high time resolution and powerful signal processing. Consequently, the sensing capability of a UE may be limited since the receiver is not capable enough. OFDM signal processing for radar, which resembles spread spectrum reception, is based on normalized matched filter processing, which is implemented by complex division in frequency domain. An advantage of OFDM is its ability to maintain carrier orthogonality if correctly processed. Naturally, prerequisites are transmission (Tx) and / or reception (Rx) synchronization, symbol lengths shorter than the typical channel coherence time, and correct handling of the Cyclic Prefix (CP). For radar-like JCAS, the range, respectively delay, and Doppler estimation are factorized, which simplifies processing and makes it more flexible. Another advantage is the low estimation variance as leakage variance disappears when Tx and Rx are synchronized. A disadvantage of OFDM is the non-optimum Peak-to- Average Power Ratio (PAPR). In case of JCAS it is difficult to optimize due to the unknown communication signal, i.e. , the reflection, which is not under user control and has to be recovered at the receiver.

[0018] Radar-like JCAS measurements may be monostatic and bistatic. It is obvious that if more information than the distance to an object is needed, a simple arrival time from the reflection is not enough, but probably additional measurements from different directions are needed.

[0019] Different types of sensing deployment:

[0020] Monostatic:

[0021] The sensing transmitter and sensing receiver are at the same location, and may even be the same device. The sensing measurement takes place in a radar-like manner by measuring the echoes of a sensing transmission such as radio or WiFi transmission.

[0022] Bistatic:

[0023] The sensing transmitter and sensing receiver are two distinct devices. This may be two gNBs in a 3GPP network or two Access Points (AP) in WiFi. The sensing measurement is carried out at the sensing receiver by taking measurements sent from the sensing transmitter. In some cases, the measurement receiver may be a UE (or ST A); the transmitter being the gNB (or AP) or in the other direction.

[0024] Multistatic:

[0025] In a multistatic setup there could be one transmitter and several receivers. This is a common setup in geophysics such as reflection seismic that may be useful in some scenarios also for sensing.

[0026] In many cases, it is not sufficient to rely on fixed nodes, e.g., gNBs, to do sensing of an area since some areas are not within coverage of fixed nodes. In this case, UEs that are in the vicinity of the area where sensing is wanted can perform the sensing. However, how to identify UEs within the area that are willing to aid with sensing is not yet known.

[0027] The key characteristic of cellular networks is that users’ devices can move within the coverage area of a base station. In addition to this, the device can move to another cell without losing the connection. Given this characteristic an obvious service is to locate devices within the network. Localization or positioning has been part of cellular technology probably since networks were first made available. Note that positioning by a cellular network involves a device connected to the network.

[0028] In previous generations of cellular systems, the accuracy of positioning has been limited primarily by frequency and bandwidth. With mmWave, dense deployment at higher frequencies have given the possibility to improve positioning accuracy drastically.

[0029] Fig. 2 shows Communication and monostatic sensing, see A), by gNB using orthogonal waveforms. In B), it is shown bistatic sensing by mobile node reusing communication waveform radiated by gNB, and in C) it is shown Multistatic sensing. See Reiner Thoma et al (2012) Joint communication and Radar Sensing: An overview. EuCAP 2021 convened session “Convergence of Mobile Radio and Radar”.

[0030] With JCAS as a new emerging technology, there is an opportunity to find objects that are not connected to the network (passive objects), in addition to connected devices of course. This principle is by itself not unique since, for instance, vehicles can be equipped with radar or Lidar technology to detect objects and then pass this information to the network. What is new is the network involvement in the sensing procedure by reusing the same resources used for communication, and the ability to perform sensing even entirely without extra devices. As current and future networks already use high frequency spectrum for communication, the same spectrum and communication equipment can be reused.

[0031] Sensing can be implemented in different ways. In WiFi most applications appear to rely on changes of the radio channel when movement of objects changes the radio environment, see C. Chen, H. Song, Q. Li, F. Meneghello, F. Restuccia and C. Cordeiro, "Wi-Fi Sensing Based on IEEE 802.11bf," in IEEE Communications Magazine, vol. 61 , no. 1 , pp. 121-127, January 2023, doi: 10.1109 / MCOM.007.2200347. Wi-Fi Sensing Based on IEEE 802.11bf. There are already commercial applications that use WiFi sensing, e.g. to detect if a user in a room falls. Another method to do sensing is to transmit a radar-like pulse using a beam in the direction of the area of interest. The pulse will reflect on the object and travel back to a receiver. By analyzing the traveltime it is possible to calculate the distance to the object (direction is known from the received beam). A suitable radar pulse can be generated from the communication signal.

[0032] For 6G, maximum frequencies just below THz bands have been discussed. At 6G frequencies, beamforming of the transmitted signals is a must to concentrate and direct the signal energy to a specific geographical area where the intended receiver is located. Therefore, the mechanisms for beamforming available in 6G, will be possible to be used also for sensing. Although higher frequencies result in increased accuracy, the possibility for signal interference increases.

[0033] A sensing session usually follows these steps, see C. Chen, H. Song, Q. Li, F. Meneghello, F. Restuccia and C. Cordeiro, "Wi-Fi Sensing Based on IEEE 802.11bf," in IEEE Communications Magazine, vol. 61, no. 1 , pp. 121-127, January 2023, doi: 10.1109 / MCOM.007.2200347. Wi-Fi Sensing Based on IEEE 802.11bf.

[0034] Sensing session setup is a process for sensing-capable devices to discover each other, establish security context, and exchange basic sensing capabilities. This process may be omitted for monostatic sensing where the Tx and Rx are in the same device.

[0035] Sensing measurement setup is a process for the sensing initiator and sensing responder(s) to negotiate and agree on operational parameters associated with a specific sensing application, including role assignment, such as transmitter or receiver, PHY parameters, such as bandwidth, number of spatial streams etc., type of sensing measurement report, and preferred scheduling information, such as sensing periodicity, duration, etc.. This process may be omitted for monostatic sensing where the Tx and Rx are in the same device.

[0036] Sensing measurement instance is a process where actual sensing measurements take place.

[0037] Sensing measurement setup termination and sensing session termination terminate an established sensing measurement setup and sensing session, respectively.

[0038] The sensing can be performed by either the network or the UEs. Sensing by the network can primarily detect objects which are visible from the network nodes. UE sensing on the other hand can detect objects which are not visible from the network. To efficiently sense the area between the network antennas and the UE, sensing by both the network and UE give valuable information.

[0039] In some areas and geometries there is a need for additional information, i.e. , reflections from other directions, than what is possible to attain by monostatic sensing from the gNB. This can be provided via bi-static or multi-static setups, see e.g., b) in Fig. 2, where the UE can report sensing measurements to the gNB.

[0040] Fig. 3 shows signaling needed for basic sensing where only gNB is used for sensing.

[0041] The application reguest, see Fig. 3, among others, includes information on what area that is to be investigated. Sensing control then applies the information on position, i.e., the area, when selecting the nodes, e.g., gNBs, that cover the area of interest and then configures these gNBs for sensing.

[0042] In Rel-15, 3GPP introduced a new radio-access technology known as NR. The technology was further enhanced in release 16, and has continued to evolve in release 17, and later. In NR, the device can be RRCJDLE, in RRC_CONNECTED or RRCJNACTIVE. Until release 16, the data transmission was possible only when RRC_CON NESTED. Therefore, a UE must transition to a connected state from idle or inactive states every time there is data transfer between UE and gNB. The transition from RRCJDLE or RRC NACTIVE state to RRC_CON NESTED leads to significant signaling overhead and power consumption, particularly for the UEs with infreguent transmission of small data packets. In RRCJNACTIVE state, the UE has established an RRC context and a core network connection. Therefore, the transition from RRC NACTIVE to RRC_CONNECTED is relatively fast and requires less signaling, compared to the transition from RRCJDLE to RRC_CONNECTED.

[0043] In order to enable efficient transmission of small infrequent data packets, 3GPP specifications since Rel-17 support Small Data Transmissions (SDT) in RRCJNACTIVE. In more detail the first part of SDT specified was Mobile Originated (MO)- SDT to allow SDT for UL-oriented packets.

[0044] In Release 18 there will be support also for Mobile Terminated (MT)-SDT, that is DL- triggered small data, to allow similar benefits, i.e. , 1) reducing signaling overhead and UE power consumption by not transitioning to RRC_CONNECTED and reducing latency by allowing fast transmission of small and infrequent packets, e.g., for positioning. The scope of the Rel-18 work majorly addresses two main objectives.

[0045] • MT-SDT triggering mechanism for UEs in RRCJNACTIVE, supporting Random Access (RA)-SDT and Configured Grant (CG)-SDT as the UL response.

[0046] • MT-SDT procedure for initial DL data reception and subsequent UL / DL data transmissions in RRCJNACTIVE.

[0047] MT-SDT addresses application use-cases by typically reducing the overall signaling overhead and therefore the UE power consumption.

[0048] In short, the MO-SDT procedure is triggered by the UE receiving UL data in its buffer. If the UL data is mapped to a Data Radio Bearer (DRB) configured for SDT, the UE further checks that the data volume is below a Data Volume Threshold (DVT) and that a Reference Signal Received Power (RSRP) is above a configured threshold. If these conditions are satisfied, the UE initiates the SDT procedure using either CG-SDT or RA-SDT based access.

[0049] The CG-SDT uses configured grants and requires the UE to remain in the cell where it was released to RRCJNACTIVE and that its RSRP does not change more than a threshold from the RSRP it had when it was released to RRCJNACTIVE. There is also a specific Timing Advance Timer (TAT) called CG-SDT-TAT, which must be running.

[0050] When the 4-step RA is applied for SDT, the Msg3 will contain the RRCResumeRequest message and User Plane (UP) data. The gNB will as in the legacy case respond with the Contention Resolution ID (CR-ID) to resolve contention and at this point the Temporary Cell-Radio Network Temporary Identifier (TC-RNTI) will be used by the UE as Cell (C)-RNTI, i.e., the UE will monitor Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) for Downlink Control Information (DCI) scrambled by C-RNTI to obtain new UL_grants or assignments for DL data, in case subsequent transmissions are needed. The SDT procedure ends when the gNB sends an RRCRelease with suspend config message and keeping the UE in RRCJNACTIVE. Alternatively, the gNB may instead send an RRCResume and move the UE to RRC_CONNECTED.

[0051] SDT is a very efficient way to transmit small amounts of UL data for RRCJNACTIVE UEs since the signaling is reduced as the UE does not have to transit to RRC_CONNECTED.

[0052] Many devices intended for Internet of Things (loT) applications will only transmit and receive very small amounts of data very rarely, say, a few times a day. The problem is that in this scenario an loT device does not know when to expect to receive data, and thus must perform energy-draining scanning to detect the presence of a packet.

[0053] Imagine a receiver in a very low power mode that would wake up just in time for the data to be received. The trick to make the main receiver, hereafter referred to as the Main Radio (MR), wake up just in time is to add a small companion receiver, with the sole purpose to wake up the MR. This is a good idea for power consumption since Wake Up Radio (WUR) uses much less power than the MR. There are many different types of WUR concepts and in Rel-18 WUR is being studied for inclusion in NR specifications.

[0054] An important part of the WUR concept is the Wake Up Signal (WUS). The WUS is a type of power saving mechanism that was introduced already in NR release 16 for narrow band (NB)-loT. WUS tries to save power by allowing a UE to continue to sleep even for a Discontinuous Reception (DRX) OnDuration period when there is no data for the UE and the gNB notifies the UE of 'No Wake Up'. When there is data for the UE, the gNB notifies the UE to 'Wake Up' and receive data during OnDuration time.

[0055] In Rel-18 WUR and / or WUS are being studied for NR since it is anticipated that the use of WUR will result in significant power saving. Many aspects of WUS and / or WUR remain to be decided, e.g., how much information can be carried over WUR. Fig. 4 shows a principle for WUS / WUR with paging occasions (PO).

[0056] SUMMARY

[0057] As part of developing embodiments herein one or more problems have been identified. In many cases monostatic sensing, see, e.g., Fig. 2, by the gNB will produce sufficient results. However, in some cases it is advantageous if UEs in the area can also measure the sensing signal and assist the gNB. If the gNB does not get sufficiently accurate results using monostatic sensing, the UEs can be asked to report their sensing measurements to the gNB. To ensure good coverage of the sensing area, it may not be sufficient to rely only on RRC_CONNECTED UEs but RRCJNACTIVE UEs are needed to sense the area with sufficient accuracy, before reporting their sensing results. With RRCJNACTIVE UEs two main problems are: 1. Requiring that all UEs always report their sensing results will lead to a lot of unnecessary signaling of sensing measurements that are not needed by the gNB.

[0058] 2. The measurement reporting may be carried out with low latency to be of use for the gNB (handling the sensing request). If the UE is in RRCJNACTIVE, going to connected mode to transmit the sensing measurements may create a too long delay to be of use.

[0059] An object of embodiments herein is to handle sensing procedures in a wireless communication network in an efficient manner.

[0060] According to an aspect the object is achieved, according to some embodiments herein, by providing a method performed by a radio network node for handling sensing of one or more objects in a wireless communication network. The radio network node transmits a first indication to a UE in inactive mode, indicating to trigger or prepare the UE for a sensing procedure. The radio network node performs a sensing measurement, and determines, based on the sensing measurement, whether or not to request the UE to report a result from the sensing procedure. With the proviso that it is determined to request the UE to report the result, the radio network node sends a second indication to the UE, triggering the UE to report the result from the sensing procedure.

[0061] According to another aspect the object is achieved, according to some embodiments herein, by providing a method performed by a UE for handling sensing of one or more objects in a wireless communication network. The UE receives, in inactive mode, a first indication from a radio network node, indicating to trigger or prepare for a sensing procedure. The UE performs the sensing procedure. The UE further receives a second indication from the radio network node triggering the UE to report a result from the sensing procedure; and the UE transmits the result of the sensing procedure to the radio network node.

[0062] It is furthermore provided herein a computer program product comprising instructions, which, when executed on at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to carry out the methods herein, as performed by the radio network node, and the UE, respectively. It is additionally provided herein a computer-readable storage medium, having stored thereon a computer program product comprising instructions which, when executed on at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to carry out the method according to the methods herein, as performed by the radio network node, and the UE, respectively.

[0063] According to yet another aspect the object is achieved by providing a radio network node for handling sensing of one or more objects in a wireless communication network. The radio network node is configured to transmit a first indication to a UE in inactive mode, indicating to trigger or prepare the UE for a sensing procedure. The radio network node is configured to perform a sensing measurement, and to determine, based on the sensing measurement, whether or not to request the UE to report a result from the sensing procedure. With the proviso that it is determined to request the UE to report the result, the radio network node is configured to send a second indication to the UE, triggering the UE to report the result from the sensing procedure.

[0064] According to still another aspect the object is achieved by providing a UE for handling sensing of one or more objects in a wireless communication network. The UE is configured to receive, in inactive mode, a first indication from a radio network node, indicating to trigger or prepare the UE for a sensing procedure. The UE is configured to perform the sensing procedure. The UE is further configured to receive a second indication from the radio network node triggering the UE to report a result from the sensing procedure; and to transmit the result of the sensing procedure to the radio network node.

[0065] Thus, it is herein disclosed a procedure designed for low latency where the radio network node in a first step may perform a sensing measurement, e.g., do monostatic sensing, and simultaneously may order inactive UEs to measure the same sensing signal and prepare the UE to report the results by, for example, initiating a SDT procedure. The radio network node then determines if the sensing measurement has produced results of sufficient accuracy, and if needed, the radio network node requests measurement results from the inactive UEs.

[0066] With the proposed method inactive UEs, such as RRCJNACTIVE UEs, can assist a radio network node performing sensing, with very little overhead and latency in terms of signaling and UE involvement. This is important since sensing measurements in a UE will use resources that the user, who pays for the subscription, may need for other purposes. Furthermore, this method of using sensing measurements of inactive UEs does not require perfect synchronization between involved nodes, which is a big advantage since perfect synchronization is very difficult to achieve.

[0067] Thus, embodiments herein handle a sensing procedure in a wireless communication network in an efficient manner.

[0068] BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0069] Embodiments will now be described in more detail in relation to the enclosed drawings, in which:

[0070] Fig. 1 is a schematic overview depicting principle of radar operation according to prior art;

[0071] Fig. 2 shows sensing procedures according to prior art;

[0072] Fig. 3 shows signaling for basic sensing according to prior art;

[0073] Fig. 4 shows a principle for WUS / WUR according to prior art;

[0074] Fig. 5 shows an overview depicting a wireless communication network according to embodiments herein;

[0075] Fig. 6 is a combined flowchart and signaling scheme according to embodiments herein;

[0076] Fig. 7 shows a flowchart illustrating a method performed by a radio network node according to embodiments herein; Fig. 8 shows a flowchart illustrating a method performed by a UE according to embodiments herein;

[0077] Fig. 9 shows a schematic overview depicting some embodiments herein;

[0078] Fig. 10 shows a block diagram depicting embodiments of a radio network node according to embodiments herein;

[0079] Fig. 11 shows a block diagram depicting embodiments of a UE according to embodiments herein;

[0080] Fig. 12 shows an example of a communication system QQ100 in accordance with some embodiments;

[0081] Fig. 13 shows a UE QQ200 in accordance with some embodiments;

[0082] Fig. 14 shows a network node QQ300 in accordance with some embodiments;

[0083] Fig. 15 is a block diagram of a host QQ400, which may be an embodiment of the host QQ116 of Fig. 12, in accordance with various aspects described herein;

[0084] Fig. 16 is a block diagram illustrating a virtualization environment QQ500 in which functions implemented by some embodiments may be virtualized; and

[0085] Fig. 17 shows a communication diagram of a host QQ602 communicating via a network node QQ604 with a UE QQ606 over a partially wireless connection in accordance with some embodiments.

[0086] DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0087] Embodiments herein relate to wireless communication networks in general. Fig. 5 is a schematic overview depicting a wireless communication network 1. The wireless communication network 1 comprises one or more RANs and one or more CNs. The wireless communication network 1 may use one or a number of different technologies. Embodiments herein relate to recent technology trends that are of particular interest in a New Radio (NR) context, however, embodiments are also applicable in further development of existing wireless communications systems such as e.g. LTE or Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA).

[0088] In the wireless communication network 1, one or more UEs such as a User Equipment (UE) 10 exemplified herein as a wireless device such as a mobile station, a non-access point (non- AP) station (STA), a STA and / or a wireless terminal, are comprised communicating via e.g. one or more Access Networks (AN), e.g. Radio Access Network (RAN), to one or more Core Networks (CN). It should be understood by the skilled in the art that “UE” is a non-limiting term which means any terminal, wireless communications terminal, user equipment, narrowband Internet of Things (NB-loT) device, Machine Type Communication (MTC) device, Device to Device (D2D) terminal, or node e.g. smart phone, laptop, mobile phone, sensor, relay, mobile tablets or even a small base station capable of communicating using radio communication with a radio network node within an area served by the radio network node. According to embodiments herein the UE 10 is a sensing UE, i.e., a UE capable of performing one or more sensing measurements in an area.

[0089] The wireless communication network 1 comprises a first radio network node 12 or just radio network node 12, providing radio coverage over a geographical area, a first service area 11 or first cell, of a first Radio Access Technology (RAT), such as NR, LTE, or similar. The first radio network node 12 may be a transmission and reception point such as an access node, an access controller, a base station, e.g. a radio base station such as a gNodeB (gNB), an evolved Node B (eNB, eNode B), a NodeB, a base transceiver station, a radio remote unit, an Access Point Base Station, a base station router, a Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) access point or an Access Point Station (AP STA), a transmission arrangement of a radio base station, a stand-alone access point or any other network unit or node capable of communicating with a UE within the area served by the first radio network node depending e.g. on the first radio access technology and terminology used. The first radio network node may be referred to as a serving radio network node wherein the service area may be referred to as a serving cell, and the serving network node communicates with the wireless device in form of DL transmissions to the wireless device and UL transmissions from the wireless device. It should be noted that a service area may be denoted as cell, beam, beam group or similar to define an area of radio coverage.

[0090] The wireless communication network 1 comprises a second radio network node 13, providing radio coverage over a geographical area, a second service area 14 or second cell, of a second RAT, such as NR, LTE, or similar. The second radio network node 13 may be a transmission and reception point such as an access node, an access controller, a base station, e.g. a radio base station such as a gNodeB (gNB), an evolved Node B (eNB, eNode B), a NodeB, a base transceiver station, a radio remote unit, an Access Point Base Station, a base station router, a Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) access point or an Access Point Station (AP STA), a transmission arrangement of a radio base station, a stand-alone access point or any other network unit or node capable of communicating with a wireless device within the area served by the second radio network node depending e.g. on the first radio access technology and terminology used. The second radio network node may be referred to as a visiting radio network node or target radio network node, wherein the service area may be referred to as a visiting cell or target cell, and the second radio network node communicates with the UE in form of DL transmissions to the UE and UL transmissions from the UE. It should be noted that a service area may be denoted as cell, beam, beam group or similar to define an area of radio coverage.

[0091] The first RAT may be the same RAT as the second RAT or the first RAT may be a different RAT than the second RAT.

[0092] The wireless communication network 1 may further comprise a number of network nodes providing applications, such as an Application Server (AS), e.g. in NR, or Network Functions (NF) or actually instantiations of NFs also referred to as NF instances, such as a first network node 15 , also referred to as network node 15, providing, for example, a sensing application, an instantiation of a sensing function, or any other NF instances in the communication network 1. The different NF instances may have different tasks. Other functions may be for LTE such as MME or similar.

[0093] The respective node may be a standalone server, a cloud-implemented server, a distributed server or processing resources in a server farm or same node. Embodiments herein may be implemented as physical bare metal, virtual or cloud native such as Kubernetes environment in, e.g., hyper-cloud networks.

[0094] The radio network node 12 transmits a first indication to the UE 10, being in inactive mode. The first indication indicates to the UE 10 to trigger or prepare the UE for a sensing procedure.

[0095] The radio network node 12 further performs a sensing measurement, such as monostatic sensing, and determines, based on the sensing measurement, whether or not to request the UE 10 to report a result from the sensing procedure. That being the case or with the proviso that it is determined to request the UE 10 to report the result, the radio network node 12 sends a second indication to the UE 10, triggering the UE 10 to report the result from the sensing procedure.

[0096] Embodiments herein handle a sensing procedure in an efficient manner by using inactive UEs to assist when performing sensing upon request. This results in a solution with very little overhead and with low latency in terms of signaling and UE involvement.

[0097] Fig. 6 is a combined flowchart and signaling scheme according to some embodiments herein.

[0098] Action 601. The network node 15 may obtain, for example, receive, a request for doing sensing in a target area, for example, from an application or similar. The network node 15 may further select one or more radio network nodes based on the target area where sensing of at least parts of the target area can be performed. The network node 15 may, for example, select the radio network node 12. As an example, the network node 15 receives a request to sense a target area, e.g. described by the coordinates x,y,z,r. The network node 15 may then know which cells that serve this target area and selects the corresponding radio network nodes accordingly.

[0099] Action 602. The network node 15 may then send to the selected radio network node 12, a request for initiating sensing of the target area.

[0100] Action 603. The radio network node 12 transmits the first indication to the UE 10 in inactive mode, indicating to trigger or prepare the UE for a sensing procedure.

[0101] Action 604. The UE 10 may initiate sensing procedure such as start sensing or prepare to sense. It should be noted that the inactive UE 10 may initiate an SDT procedure to be able to report the measurement results with low latency upon request from the radio network node 12. The first indication may be in the form of a paging message or a WUS over WUR. The first indication may trigger the UE 10 to measure sensing signals from the radio network node 12 and if requested, e.g. by the radio network node 12, report the sensing results. Hence, inactive UEs in the target area covering the sensing request by the radio network node 12 may be notified before the radio network node 12 performs monostatic sensing so that there is time to activate a main radio (MR) of the UE 10, in case the radio network node 12 may also require sensing assist measurements from one or more UEs, i.e. , bistatic measurements.

[0102] Action 605. The radio network node 12 performs a sensing measurement, such as monostatic sensing measurement. As an example, the radio network node 12 may transmit a measurement signal, which is received by the triggered and / or prepared UEs. The signal reflects from a sensing area (or an object in the target area) and may be registered in the triggered and / or prepared UEs, before being received by the measuring radio network node 12.

[0103] Action 606. The radio network node 12 determines, based on the sensing measurement, whether or not to request the UE 10 to report a result from the sensing procedure. For example, if the radio network node 12 does not receive enough information from the received signal, e.g., the monostatic reflections to the radio network node do not give sufficient information to determine location of an object, the radio network node 12 determines to request the UE 10 to report a result from the sensing procedure.

[0104] Action 607. The radio network node 12, with the proviso that it is determined to request the UE to report the result, sends the second indication to the UE 10, triggering the UE (10) to report the result from the sensing procedure. Thus, if the radio network node 12 does not receive enough information from the received signal, the radio network node 12 may request the triggered and / or prepared UEs to send measurements of the measurement signal to the radio network node 12. This request can be in a form of a UL grant. It should be noted that if the radio network node 12 is satisfied, the radio network node 21 ignores the data on the activated UEs, thus allowing the UEs to discard all data and return to INACTIVE.

[0105] Action 608. The UE 10 may thus upon request report a sensing result back to the radio network node 12. The UE may use SDT that ensures low latency and a new method to report position to the radio network node 12, also contributing to a low signaling overhead. Position is reported in, for example, a msg3 of a SDT preparation, which enables for the radio network node 12 to select which UEs that report sensing measurements.

[0106] Action 609. The radio network node 12 may then estimate a sensing result based on the received result and performed sensing measurement.

[0107] Action 610. The radio network node 12 may further send to the requesting network node 15, the estimated result or indication related to received result and performed sensing measurement, and / or related to the the estimated result.

[0108] The method actions performed by the radio network node 12 for handling sensing of one or more objects in the wireless communication network, according to embodiments herein will now be described with reference to a flowchart depicted in Fig. 7. The actions do not have to be taken in the order stated below, but may be taken in any suitable order. Actions performed in some embodiments are marked with dashed boxes.

[0109] Action 701. The radio network node transmits the first indication to the UE 10 in inactive mode. The first indication triggers or prepares the UE for a sensing procedure. The first indication may comprise a paging message or a wake-up signal. The first indication may further be associated with an area or location of interest. For example, a target area may be included in the paging message or a wake-up signal. The first indication may comprise a RNTI that is unique for an area. It should be noted that transmitting the first indication may initiate a timer at the UE 10 and / or the radio network node 12.

[0110] Action 702. The radio network node 12 performs the sensing measurement. The radio network node 12 may, for example, perform a monostatic sensing measurement, such as a sensing measurement in a radar-like manner by measuring one or more echoes of a sensing transmission such as radio or WiFi transmission.

[0111] Action 703. The radio network node 12 determines, based on the sensing measurement, whether or not to request the UE 10 to report a result from the sensing procedure. As an example, the radio network node 12 may determine whether or not to request the UE 10 to report the result is further based on position of the UE 10. The position may be known at the radio network node 12 and / or received from SDT transmissions from the UE 10.

[0112] Action 704. The radio network node 12, with the proviso that it is determined to request the UE to report the result, sends the second indication to the UE 10, triggering the UE 10 to report the result from the sensing procedure. The second indication may comprise an uplink grant to use an ongoing SDT.

[0113] It should be noted that the radio network node 12 may select UEs to transmit the first and / or the second indication to. An outer loop may be used to select a fraction of inactive UEs that are paged for sensing. This may be implemented by only paging UEs with the RNTI such as Inactive (l)-RNTI mod n = k. The RNTI is unique per UE within Radio Network Area (RNA) and this implementation allows only paging some of the UEs camping in the cell. This is advantageous if there are many UEs camping in the cell and only a fraction of them is needed for sensing purposes. As another example, the radio network node 12 may only page UEs in certain part(s) of the cell. This is advantageous if there are many UEs camping in the cell and only a fraction of them is needed for sensing purposes.

[0114] It should further be noted that the radio network node 12 may, if a second or third round of measurements are needed, use the received results to make a different selection of UEs to assist with the sensing determination. The method actions performed by the UE 10 for handling sensing of one or more objects in the wireless communication network according to embodiments herein will now be described with reference to a flowchart depicted in Fig. 8. The actions do not have to be taken in the order stated below, but may be taken in any suitable order. Actions performed in some embodiments are marked with dashed boxes.

[0115] Action 801. The UE 10 receives, in inactive mode, the first indication from the radio network node 12, indicating to trigger or prepare the UE for a sensing procedure. The first indication may comprise the paging message or the wake-up signal. The first indication may further be associated with the area or location of interest. For example, the target area may be included in the paging message or a wake-up signal. The first indication may comprise the RNTI that is unique for an area. It should be noted that transmitting the first indication may initiate a timer at the UE 10 and / or the radio network node 12. Thus, the UE 10 may, upon receiving the first indication, initiate the timer at the UE 10, which timer indicates a time interval the UE will perform the sensing procedure and / or a time value when the UE will release a small data transmission procedure.

[0116] Action 802. The UE 10 may determine whether or not to perform the sensing procedure based on the first indication. For example, when the first indication is associated with the area or location of interest, the UE 10 may determine whether or not to perform the sensing procedure based on the area or location of interest. The UE 10 may determine whether or not to perform the sensing procedure based on

[0117] ■ a received signal strength of a signal from the radio network node;

[0118] ■ a position of the UE relative a position of the radio network node;

[0119] ■ an energy state of the UE.

[0120] As an example, the UE 10 may upon reception of the first indication determine if it will participate in the sensing procedure or if the UE 10 will ignore the first indication. The determination may depend on one or more of the following:

[0121] The RSRP of the UE 10. If this is above a configurable threshold and in the direction of the sensing area, the RSRP indicates that the UE 10 is in LOS of the radio network node 12 and the additional gain of UE sensing measurements is low. In this case the UE 10 may ignore the first indication;

[0122] If the UE 10 knows it is in LOS of the radio network node 12, the UE 10 may ignore the first indication;

[0123] If the UE 10 may determine that it is in a region specified in the first indication; and if the UE 10 does not have sufficient battery level, the UE 10 may ignore the first indication.

[0124] Action 803. The UE 10 may initiate an SDT. The SDT transmission may be initiated upon receiving the first indication and / or the second indication. Using SDT ensures low latency and a new method to report position to the radio network node 12, also contributing to a low signaling overhead. Position may be reported in msg3 of the SDT preparation which enables for the radio network node to select which UEs that report sensing measurements.

[0125] Action 804. The UE 10 performs the sensing procedure.

[0126] Action 805. The UE 10 further receives the second indication from the radio network node 12 triggering the UE to report the result from the sensing procedure.

[0127] Action 806. The UE 10 transmits the result of the sensing procedure to the radio network node 12.

[0128] It should be noted that the UE 10 may not initiate the SDT procedure until the second indication is received. This gives the advantage that no UE 10 needs to initiate SDT in case the monostatic sensing by the radio network node 12 gives sufficient quality and accuracy. This may affect latency.

[0129] Fig. 9 shows a schematic overview depicting some embodiments herein. Sensing is initiated by the network node 15 sending a sensing request. The network node 15 may, e.g., be a connected vehicle asking if there is anything behind a corner or a UE, ready to transmit data, that needs to know of possible blockers between the UE 10 and the radio network node 12. Each sensing request may include information on the area of interest, e.g., a position such as x,y,z and a radius (r). With information on the area a (beam) direction from the radio network node 12 (or node performing sensing) to the actual area may be calculated. One or more UEs located in or near an actual sensing area can assist in the sensing process by providing more detailed data than the radio network node 12 located at a distance from the area. Furthermore, a UE such as the UE 10 may have LOS to the sensing area while the radio network node 12 may be located behind a building and thus have NLOS.

[0130] The UE 10 often knows where it is located using any of its available positioning technologies. In addition, the radio network node 12 may also know the location of UEs. The radio network node 12 may have capability to determine the position of a UE. Also, the UE 10 may, upon request, notify the radio network node 12 of its position.

[0131] The illustrated embodiment in Fig. 9 follows the following algorithm.

[0132] 91. In a first action, the radio network node 12 may send the first indication to the UE 10. This first indication may indicate or mean that a sensing signal will be transmitted, and that the UE 10 should measure the sensing signal and be prepared to transmit one or more measurements of the sensing signal. The first indication may be in a form of a paging message or a wake-up signal. The first indication may include the area or location, e.g. a circle with a radius r and a centre point located at coordinates x,y,z, in which circle the UE 10 should be to act on the first indication. The UE 10 and the radio network node 12 may start a timer, at the UE 10, upon reception of the first indication and / or a timer, at the radio network node 12, upon transmission of the first indication. To limit the timer, the timer may be configured as a function of the radius r, i.e., the two way travel time, also referred to as Round Trip Time (RTT), of a radio wave for the distance r, and a position of the UE 10. The purpose of the timer may be: a. that the UE 10 measures the sensing signal as long as the timer is running, and / or b. the UE 10 releases itself from the SDT procedure when the timer expires. The UE 10, such as an RRCJNACTIVE UE, that receives the first indication may perform one or more of the following: a. Start or get ready for “passive sensing” of the sensing signal from the radio network node 12. That is, the UE 10 may trigger or be prepared to perform the sensing procedure such as a performing a bistatic measurement, wherein a sensing transmitter and a sensing receiver are two distinct devices; b. The UE 10 may initiate an SDT procedure including, for example, i. A preamble transmission from the UE 10. There may be specific Random Access Channel (RACH) resources in the form of preambles of time / frequency resources for the SDT procedure initiated for sensing. ii. A Radio Access Response (RAR) transmission from the radio network node 12. The RAR may indicate a grant that may be tailored, i.e., be of a size sufficient for only msg3 transmission, i.e., no additional UL data as for legacy SDT. iii. A msg3 transmission including RRCResumeRequest with a new ResumeCause indicating that the SDT procedure is initiated to report sensing results and optionally the UE position. The radio network node 12 transmits a sensing signal and performs the sensing measurement on the received sensing signal. As a result, one or more of the following may occur: a. The UE 10 may receive the sensing signal at time TO b. The UE 10 may further receive one or more reflections, e.g., at time T1, or receive changes of radio characteristics from a direction where the requested sensing area is located. c. The UE 10 may interpret or estimate a result from the received sensing signal and the received one or more reflections, and / or may store the result. The radio network node 12 may then determine if results from one or more UEs are needed or if the sensing measurement, e.g., a monostatic sensing, performed by the radio network node 12 gives results of a required quality and / or accuracy. In this example two UEs respond to the first indication and the radio network node 12 may determine that only measurements from the UE 10 is needed. a. if no additional sensing results are needed, the procedure is terminated. i. This may be done by an expiry of the timer, where the UEs who have initiated the SDT procedure may release themselves to RRC NACTIVE. In this case, no update of KgNB and KRRcint keys and the nextHopChainingCount is performed. Instead, the values of these variables that were stored in the UEs Inactive AS context prior to sending the RRCResumeRequest in action 92biii are saved in the UEs Inactive AS context. ii. In another option this is performed by the radio network node 12, which radio network node 12 may send an RRCRelease containing a Suspendconfig IE to the UEs. The radio network node 12 sends the second indication to the UE 10 that has ongoing SDT procedures. For example, the radio network node 12 may send an UL grant. This UL grant may be used by the UE 10 to send the result such as a sensing report to the radio network node 12. The radio network node 12 may determine which UEs need to send a report based on the respective position reported in msg3. Thus, the radio network node 12 may select UEs based on their positions relative the target area. The selected UE 10 reports the result or results to radio network node 12 using, for example, the grant.

[0133] Note that the radio network node 12 may continue to send sensing signals, i.e. sensing is not restricted to one single sensing signal. Simliarly, the radio network node 12 may continue to send grants to one or more UEs, which UEs respond with the latest sensing results. When the radio network node 12 determines that sufficient sensing reports have been obtained, the radio network node may release the UE 10 or UEs back to inactive by sending a RRCRelease containing a Suspendconfig IE Fig. 10 is a block diagram depicting the radio network node 12 for handling sensing of one or more objects in the wireless communication network 1 according to embodiments herein.

[0134] The radio network node 12 may comprise processing circuitry 1001 , e.g., one or more processors, configured to perform the methods herein.

[0135] The radio network node 12 and / or the processing circuitry 1001 is configured to transmit the first indication to the UE 10 in inactive mode, indicating to trigger or prepare the UE for the sensing procedure. The first indication may comprise a paging message or a wake-up signal. The first indication may further be associated with the area or location of interest.

[0136] The radio network node 12 and / or the processing circuitry 1001 is configured to perform the sensing measurement.

[0137] The radio network node 12 and / or the processing circuitry 1001 is configured to determine, based on the sensing measurement, whether or not to request the UE to report the result from the sensing procedure.

[0138] The radio network node 12 and / or the processing circuitry 1001 is configured to, with the proviso that it is determined to request the UE 10 to report the result, send the second indication to the UE 10, triggering the UE 10 to report the result from the sensing procedure. The second indication may comprise an uplink grant to use an ongoing SDT.

[0139] The radio network node 12 and / or the processing circuitry 1001 may be configured to transmit the first indication and thereby initiating a timer at the UE 10 and / or the radio network node 12.

[0140] The radio network node 12 and / or the processing circuitry 1001 may be configured to perform the sensing measurement by performing a monostatic sensing measurement.

[0141] The radio network node 12 and / or the processing circuitry 1001 may be configured to determine whether or not to request the UE 10 to report the result further based on position of the UE 10.

[0142] The first indication may comprise a radio network temporary identifier that is unique for an area.

[0143] The radio network node 12 may comprise a memory 1005. The memory 1005 comprises one or more units to be used to store data on, such as data packets, indications, messages, UE context, paging records, WUS, sensing measurements, resource information, messages, information, events and applications to perform the methods disclosed herein when being executed, and similar. Furthermore, the radio network node 12 may comprise a communication interface 1006 such as comprising a transmitter, a receiver, a transceiver and / or one or more antennas.

[0144] The methods according to the embodiments described herein for the radio network node 12 are respectively implemented by means of e.g. a computer program product 1007 or a computer program, comprising instructions, i.e. , software code portions, which, when executed on at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to carry out the actions described herein, as performed by the radio network node 12. The computer program product 1007 may be stored on a computer-readable storage medium 1008, e g., a disc, a Universal Serial Bus (USB) stick or similar. The computer-readable storage medium 1008, having stored thereon the computer program product, may comprise the instructions which, when executed on at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to carry out the actions described herein, as performed by the radio network node 12. In some embodiments, the computer-readable storage medium may be a transitory or a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium. Thus, embodiments herein may disclose the radio network node 12 for handling sensing of one or more objects in a wireless communication network, wherein the radio network node 12 comprises processing circuitry and a memory, said memory comprising instructions executable by said processing circuitry whereby said radio network node 12 is operative to perform any of the methods herein.

[0145] Fig. 11 is a block diagram depicting the UE 10 for handling sensing of one or more objects in the wireless communication network 1 according to embodiments herein.

[0146] The UE 10 may comprise processing circuitry 1101 , e.g., one or more processors, configured to perform the methods herein.

[0147] The UE 10 and / or the processing circuitry 1101 is configured to receive, in inactive mode, the first indication from the radio network node 12, indicating to trigger or prepare the UE for a sensing procedure. The first indication may comprise a paging message or a wake-up signal. The UE 10 and / or the processing circuitry 1101 is configured to perform the sensing procedure.

[0148] The UE 10 and / or the processing circuitry 1101 is configured to receive the second indication from the radio network node 12 triggering the UE 10 to report a result from the sensing procedure.

[0149] The UE 10 and / or the processing circuitry 1101 is configured to transmit the result of the sensing procedure to the radio network node 12.

[0150] The UE 10 and / or the processing circuitry 1101 may be configured to determine whether or not to perform the sensing procedure based on the first indication.

[0151] The first indication may further be associated with the area or location of interest and the UE 10 and / or the processing circuitry 1101 may be configured to determine whether or not to perform the sensing procedure based on the area or location of interest.

[0152] The UE 10 and / or the processing circuitry 1101 may be configured to determine whether or not to perform the sensing procedure based on

[0153] ■ a received signal strength of a signal from the radio network node;

[0154] ■ a position of the UE relative a position of the radio network node;

[0155] ■ an energy state of the UE. The UE 10 and / or the processing circuitry 1101 may be configured to initiate an SDT. The SDT transmission may be initiated upon receiving the first indication and / or the second indication.

[0156] The UE 10 and / or the processing circuitry 1101 may be configured to receive the first indication and thereby initiate the timer at the UE 10, which timer indicates a time interval the UE will perform the sensing procedure and / or a time value when the UE will release a small data transmission procedure.

[0157] The UE 10 may comprise a memory 1105. The memory 1105 comprises one or more units to be used to store data on, such as data packets, indications, sensing measurements, messages, traffic characteristics, measurement, events and applications to perform the methods disclosed herein when being executed, and similar. Furthermore, the UE 10 may comprise a communication interface 1106 such as comprising a transmitter, a receiver, a transceiver and / or one or more antennas.

[0158] The methods according to the embodiments described herein for the UE 10 are respectively implemented by means of e.g. a computer program product 1107 or a computer program, comprising instructions, i.e. , software code portions, which, when executed on at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to carry out the actions described herein, as performed by the UE 10. The computer program product 1107 may be stored on a computer- readable storage medium 1108, e.g., a disc, a USB stick or similar. The computer-readable storage medium 1108, having stored thereon the computer program product, may comprise the instructions which, when executed on at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to carry out the actions described herein, as performed by the UE 10. In some embodiments, the computer-readable storage medium may be a transitory or a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium. Thus, embodiments herein may disclose the UE 10 for handling sensing of one or more objects in a wireless communication network, wherein UE 10 comprises processing circuitry and a memory, said memory comprising instructions executable by said processing circuitry whereby said UE 10 is operative to perform any of the methods herein.

[0159] In some embodiments a more general term “network node” or “radio network node” is used and it can correspond to any type of radio-network node or any network node, which communicates with a UE and / or with another network node.

[0160] In some embodiments the non-limiting term wireless device or UE is used and it refers to any type of wireless device communicating with a network node and / or with another wireless device in a cellular or mobile communication system. Examples of UE are target device, Device to Device (D2D) UE, proximity capable UE (aka ProSe UE), loT capable device, machine type UE or UE capable of Machine to Machine (M2M) communication, Tablet, mobile terminals, smart phone, Laptop Embedded Equipped (LEE), Laptop Mounted Equipment (LME), USB dongles etc. Embodiments are applicable to any RAT or multi-RAT systems, where the wireless device receives and / or transmit signals (e.g. data) e.g. NR, Wi-Fi, LTE, LTE-Advanced, Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA), Global System for Mobile communications / enhanced Data rate for GSM Evolution (GSM / EDGE), Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMax), or Ultra Mobile Broadband (UMB), just to mention a few possible implementations.

[0161] As will be readily understood by those familiar with communications design, that functions means or circuits may be implemented using digital logic and / or one or more microcontrollers, microprocessors, or other digital hardware. In some embodiments, several or all of the various functions may be implemented together, such as in a single application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), or in two or more separate devices with appropriate hardware and / or software interfaces between them. Several of the functions may be implemented on a processor shared with other functional components of a wireless device or network node, for example.

[0162] Alternatively, several of the functional elements of the processing means discussed may be provided through the use of dedicated hardware, while others are provided with hardware for executing software, in association with the appropriate software or firmware. Thus, the term “processor” or “controller” as used herein does not exclusively refer to hardware capable of executing software and may implicitly include, without limitation, digital signal processor (DSP) hardware and / or program or application data. Other hardware, conventional and / or custom, may also be included. Designers of communications devices will appreciate the cost, performance, and maintenance trade-offs inherent in these design choices.

[0163] Any appropriate steps, methods, features, functions, or benefits disclosed herein may be performed through one or more functional units or modules of one or more virtual apparatuses. Each virtual apparatus may comprise a number of these functional units. These functional units may be implemented via processing circuitry, which may include one or more microprocessor or microcontrollers, as well as other digital hardware, which may include Digital Signal Processors (DSPs), special-purpose digital logic, and the like. The processing circuitry may be configured to execute program code stored in memory, which may include one or several types of memory such as Read-Only Memory (ROM), Random-Access Memory (RAM), cache memory, flash memory devices, optical storage devices, etc. Program code stored in memory includes program instructions for executing one or more telecommunications and / or data communications protocols as well as instructions for carrying out one or more of the techniques described herein. In some implementations, the processing circuitry may be used to cause the respective functional unit to perform corresponding functions according one or more embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0164] Fig. 12 shows an example of a communication system QQ100 in accordance with some embodiments.

[0165] In the example, the communication system QQ100 includes a telecommunication network QQ102 that includes an access network QQ104, such as a radio access network (RAN), and a core network QQ106, which includes one or more core network nodes QQ108. The access network QQ104 includes one or more access network nodes, such as network nodes QQ110a and QQ110b (one or more of which may be generally referred to as network nodes QQ110) being examples of the first radio network node 12 and second radio network node 13, or any other similar 3rdGeneration Partnership Project (3GPP) access nodes or non- 3GPP access points. Moreover, as will be appreciated by those of skill in the art, a network node, being examples of the entities herein, is not necessarily limited to an implementation in which a radio portion and a baseband portion are supplied and integrated by a single vendor. Thus, it will be understood that network nodes include disaggregated implementations or portions thereof. For example, in some embodiments, the telecommunication network QQ102 includes one or more Open-RAN (ORAN) network nodes. An ORAN network node is a node in the telecommunication network QQ102 that supports an ORAN specification (e.g., a specification published by the O-RAN Alliance, or any similar organization) and may operate alone or together with other nodes to implement one or more functionalities of any node in the telecommunication network QQ102, including one or more network nodes QQ110 and / or core network nodes QQ108.

[0166] Examples of an ORAN network node include an open radio unit (0-Rll), an open distributed unit (0-Dll), an open central unit (O-CU), including an O-CU control plane (O-CU- CP) or an O-CU user plane (O-CU-UP), a RAN intelligent controller (near-real time or non-real time) hosting software or software plug-ins, such as a near-real time control application (e.g., xApp) or a non-real time control application (e.g., rApp), or any combination thereof (the adjective “open” designating support of an ORAN specification). The network node may support a specification by, for example, supporting an interface defined by the ORAN specification, such as an A1, F1, W1, E1 , E2, X2, Xn interface, an open fronthaul user plane interface, or an open fronthaul management plane interface. Moreover, an ORAN access node may be a logical node in a physical node. Furthermore, an ORAN network node may be implemented in a virtualization environment (described further below) in which one or more network functions are virtualized. For example, the virtualization environment may include an O-Cloud computing platform orchestrated by a Service Management and Orchestration Framework via an 0-2 interface defined by the O-RAN Alliance or comparable technologies. The network nodes QQ110 facilitate direct or indirect connection of the user equipment (UE) 10, such as by connecting UEs QQ112a, QQ112b, QQ112c, and QQ112d (one or more of which may be generally referred to as UEs QQ112) to the core network QQ106 over one or more wireless connections.

[0167] Example wireless communications over a wireless connection include transmitting and / or receiving wireless signals using electromagnetic waves, radio waves, infrared waves, and / or other types of signals suitable for conveying information without the use of wires, cables, or other material conductors. Moreover, in different embodiments, the communication system QQ100 may include any number of wired or wireless networks, network nodes, UEs, and / or any other components or systems that may facilitate or participate in the communication of data and / or signals whether via wired or wireless connections. The communication system QQ100 may include and / or interface with any type of communication, telecommunication, data, cellular, radio network, and / or other similar type of system.

[0168] The UEs QQ112 may be any of a wide variety of communication devices, including wireless devices arranged, configured, and / or operable to communicate wirelessly with the network nodes QQ110 and other communication devices. Similarly, the network nodes QQ110 are arranged, capable, configured, and / or operable to communicate directly or indirectly with the UEs QQ112 and / or with other network nodes or equipment in the telecommunication network QQ102 to enable and / or provide network access, such as wireless network access, and / or to perform other functions, such as administration in the telecommunication network QQ102.

[0169] In the depicted example, the core network QQ106 connects the network nodes QQ110 to one or more hosts, such as host QQ116. These connections may be direct or indirect via one or more intermediary networks or devices. In other examples, network nodes may be directly coupled to hosts. The core network QQ106 includes one more core network nodes (e.g., core network node QQ108) such as network node 15 that are structured with hardware and software components. Features of these components may be substantially similar to those described with respect to the UEs, network nodes, and / or hosts, such that the descriptions thereof are generally applicable to the corresponding components of the core network node QQ108. Example core network nodes include functions of one or more of a Mobile Switching Center (MSC), Mobility Management Entity (MME), Home Subscriber Server (HSS), Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF), Session Management Function (SMF), Authentication Server Function (AUSF), Subscription Identifier De-concealing function (SIDF), Unified Data Management (UDM), Security Edge Protection Proxy (SEPP), Network Exposure Function (NEF), and / or a User Plane Function (UPF).

[0170] The host QQ116 may be under the ownership or control of a service provider other than an operator or provider of the access network QQ104 and / or the telecommunication network QQ102, and may be operated by the service provider or on behalf of the service provider. The host QQ116 may host a variety of applications to provide one or more service. Examples of such applications include live and pre-recorded audio / video content, data collection services such as retrieving and compiling data on various ambient conditions detected by a plurality of UEs, analytics functionality, social media, functions for controlling or otherwise interacting with remote devices, functions for an alarm and surveillance center, or any other such function performed by a server. As a whole, the communication system QQ100 of Fig. 12 enables connectivity between the UEs, network nodes, and hosts. In that sense, the communication system may be configured to operate according to predefined rules or procedures, such as specific standards that include, but are not limited to: Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM); Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS); Long Term Evolution (LTE), and / or other suitable 2G, 3G, 4G, 5G standards, or any applicable future generation standard (e.g., 6G); wireless local area network (WLAN) standards, such as the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 standards (WiFi); and / or any other appropriate wireless communication standard, such as the Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMax), Bluetooth, Z-Wave, Near Field Communication (NFC) ZigBee, LiFi, and / or any low- power wide-area network (LPWAN) standards such as LoRa and Sigfox.

[0171] In some examples, the telecommunication network QQ102 is a cellular network that implements 3GPP standardized features. Accordingly, the telecommunications network QQ102 may support network slicing to provide different logical networks to different devices that are connected to the telecommunication network QQ102. For example, the telecommunications network QQ102 may provide Ultra Reliable Low Latency Communication (URLLC) services to some UEs, while providing Enhanced Mobile Broadband (eMBB) services to other UEs, and / or Massive Machine Type Communication (mMTC) / Massive loT services to yet further UEs.

[0172] In some examples, the UEs QQ112 are configured to transmit and / or receive information without direct human interaction. For instance, a UE may be designed to transmit information to the access network QQ104 on a predetermined schedule, when triggered by an internal or external event, or in response to requests from the access network QQ104. Additionally, a UE may be configured for operating in single- or multi-RAT or multi-standard mode. For example, a UE may operate with any one or combination of Wi-Fi, NR (New Radio) and LTE, i.e. being configured for multi-radio dual connectivity (MR-DC), such as E-UTRAN (Evolved-UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access Network) New Radio - Dual Connectivity (EN-DC).

[0173] In the example, the hub QQ114 communicates with the access network QQ104 to facilitate indirect communication between one or more UEs (e.g., UE QQ112c and / or QQ112d) and network nodes (e.g., network node QQ110b). In some examples, the hub QQ114 may be a controller, router, content source and analytics, or any of the other communication devices described herein regarding UEs. For example, the hub QQ114 may be a broadband router enabling access to the core network QQ106 for the UEs. As another example, the hub QQ114 may be a controller that sends commands or instructions to one or more actuators in the UEs. Commands or instructions may be received from the UEs, network nodes QQ110, or by executable code, script, process, or other instructions in the hub QQ114. As another example, the hub QQ114 may be a data collector that acts as temporary storage for UE data and, in some embodiments, may perform analysis or other processing of the data. As another example, the hub QQ114 may be a content source. For example, for a UE that is a VR headset, display, loudspeaker or other media delivery device, the hub QQ114 may retrieve VR assets, video, audio, or other media or data related to sensory information via a network node, which the hub QQ114 then provides to the UE either directly, after performing local processing, and / or after adding additional local content. In still another example, the hub QQ114 acts as a proxy server or orchestrator for the UEs, in particular if one or more of the UEs are low energy loT devices.

[0174] The hub QQ114 may have a constant / persistent or intermittent connection to the network node QQ110b. The hub QQ114 may also allow for a different communication scheme and / or schedule between the hub QQ114 and UEs (e.g., UE QQ112c and / or QQ112d), and between the hub QQ114 and the core network QQ106. In other examples, the hub QQ114 is connected to the core network QQ106 and / or one or more UEs via a wired connection. Moreover, the hub QQ114 may be configured to connect to an M2M service provider over the access network QQ104 and / or to another UE over a direct connection. In some scenarios, UEs may establish a wireless connection with the network nodes QQ110 while still connected via the hub QQ114 via a wired or wireless connection. In some embodiments, the hub QQ114 may be a dedicated hub - that is, a hub whose primary function is to route communications to / from the UEs from / to the network node QQ110b. In other embodiments, the hub QQ114 may be a nondedicated hub - that is, a device which is capable of operating to route communications between the UEs and network node QQ110b, but which is additionally capable of operating as a communication start and / or end point for certain data channels.

[0175] Figure 13 shows a UE QQ200 in accordance with some embodiments. As used herein, a UE refers to a device capable, configured, arranged and / or operable to communicate wirelessly with network nodes and / or other UEs. Examples of a UE include, but are not limited to, a smart phone, mobile phone, cell phone, voice over IP (VoIP) phone, wireless local loop phone, desktop computer, personal digital assistant (PDA), wireless cameras, gaming console or device, music storage device, playback appliance, wearable terminal device, wireless endpoint, mobile station, tablet, laptop, laptop-embedded equipment (LEE), laptop-mounted equipment (LME), smart device, wireless customer-premise equipment (CPE), vehicle, vehiclemounted or vehicle embedded / integrated wireless device, etc. Other examples include any UE identified by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), including a narrow band internet of things (NB-loT) UE, a machine type communication (MTC) UE, and / or an enhanced MTC (eMTC) UE.

[0176] A UE may support device-to-device (D2D) communication, for example by implementing a 3GPP standard for sidelink communication, Dedicated Short-Range Communication (DSRC), vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V), vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I), or vehicle-to-everything (V2X). In other examples, a UE may not necessarily have a user in the sense of a human user who owns and / or operates the relevant device. Instead, a UE may represent a device that is intended for sale to, or operation by, a human user but which may not, or which may not initially, be associated with a specific human user (e.g., a smart sprinkler controller). Alternatively, a UE may represent a device that is not intended for sale to, or operation by, an end user but which may be associated with or operated for the benefit of a user (e.g., a smart power meter).

[0177] The UE QQ200 includes processing circuitry QQ202 that is operatively coupled via a bus QQ204 to an input / output interface QQ206, a power source QQ208, a memory QQ210, a communication interface QQ212, and / or any other component, or any combination thereof. Certain UEs may utilize all or a subset of the components shown in Figure 13. The level of integration between the components may vary from one UE to another UE. Further, certain UEs may contain multiple instances of a component, such as multiple processors, memories, transceivers, transmitters, receivers, etc.

[0178] The processing circuitry QQ202 is configured to process instructions and data and may be configured to implement any sequential state machine operative to execute instructions stored as machine-readable computer programs in the memory QQ210. The processing circuitry QQ202 may be implemented as one or more hardware-implemented state machines (e.g., in discrete logic, field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), etc.); programmable logic together with appropriate firmware; one or more stored computer programs, general-purpose processors, such as a microprocessor or digital signal processor (DSP), together with appropriate software; or any combination of the above. For example, the processing circuitry QQ202 may include multiple central processing units (CPUs).

[0179] In the example, the input / output interface QQ206 may be configured to provide an interface or interfaces to an input device, output device, or one or more input and / or output devices. Examples of an output device include a speaker, a sound card, a video card, a display, a monitor, a printer, an actuator, an emitter, a smartcard, another output device, or any combination thereof. An input device may allow a user to capture information into the UE QQ200. Examples of an input device include a touch-sensitive or presence-sensitive display, a camera (e.g., a digital camera, a digital video camera, a web camera, etc.), a microphone, a sensor, a mouse, a trackball, a directional pad, a trackpad, a scroll wheel, a smartcard, and the like. The presence-sensitive display may include a capacitive or resistive touch sensor to sense input from a user. A sensor may be, for instance, an accelerometer, a gyroscope, a tilt sensor, a force sensor, a magnetometer, an optical sensor, a proximity sensor, a biometric sensor, etc., or any combination thereof. An output device may use the same type of interface port as an input device. For example, a Universal Serial Bus (USB) port may be used to provide an input device and an output device.

[0180] In some embodiments, the power source QQ208 is structured as a battery or battery pack. Other types of power sources, such as an external power source (e.g., an electricity outlet), photovoltaic device, or power cell, may be used. The power source QQ208 may further include power circuitry for delivering power from the power source QQ208 itself, and / or an external power source, to the various parts of the UE QQ200 via input circuitry or an interface such as an electrical power cable. Delivering power may be, for example, for charging of the power source QQ208. Power circuitry may perform any formatting, converting, or other modification to the power from the power source QQ208 to make the power suitable for the respective components of the UE QQ200 to which power is supplied.

[0181] The memory QQ210 may be or be configured to include memory such as random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), programmable read-only memory (PROM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable readonly memory (EEPROM), magnetic disks, optical disks, hard disks, removable cartridges, flash drives, and so forth. In one example, the memory QQ210 includes one or more application programs QQ214, such as an operating system, web browser application, a widget, gadget engine, or other application, and corresponding data QQ216. The memory QQ210 may store, for use by the UE QQ200, any of a variety of various operating systems or combinations of operating systems.

[0182] The memory QQ210 may be configured to include a number of physical drive units, such as redundant array of independent disks (RAID), flash memory, USB flash drive, external hard disk drive, thumb drive, pen drive, key drive, high-density digital versatile disc (HD-DVD) optical disc drive, internal hard disk drive, Blu-Ray optical disc drive, holographic digital data storage (HDDS) optical disc drive, external mini-dual in-line memory module (DIMM), synchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM), external micro-DIMM SDRAM, smartcard memory such as tamper resistant module in the form of a universal integrated circuit card (UICC) including one or more subscriber identity modules (SIMs), such as a USIM and / or ISIM, other memory, or any combination thereof. The UICC may for example be an embedded UICC (eUlCC), integrated UICC (iUICC) or a removable UICC commonly known as ‘SIM card.’ The memory QQ210 may allow the UE QQ200 to access instructions, application programs and the like, stored on transitory or non-transitory memory media, to off-load data, or to upload data. An article of manufacture, such as one utilizing a communication system may be tangibly embodied as or in the memory QQ210, which may be or comprise a device-readable storage medium.

[0183] The processing circuitry QQ202 may be configured to communicate with an access network or other network using the communication interface QQ212. The communication interface QQ212 may comprise one or more communication subsystems and may include or be communicatively coupled to an antenna QQ222. The communication interface QQ212 may include one or more transceivers used to communicate, such as by communicating with one or more remote transceivers of another device capable of wireless communication (e.g., another UE or a network node in an access network). Each transceiver may include a transmitter QQ218 and / or a receiver QQ220 appropriate to provide network communications (e.g., optical, electrical, frequency allocations, and so forth). Moreover, the transmitter QQ218 and receiver QQ220 may be coupled to one or more antennas (e.g., antenna QQ222) and may share circuit components, software or firmware, or alternatively be implemented separately.

[0184] In the illustrated embodiment, communication functions of the communication interface QQ212 may include cellular communication, Wi-Fi communication, LPWAN communication, data communication, voice communication, multimedia communication, short-range communications such as Bluetooth, near-field communication, location-based communication such as the use of the global positioning system (GPS) to determine a location, another like communication function, or any combination thereof. Communications may be implemented in according to one or more communication protocols and / or standards, such as IEEE 802.11, Code Division Multiplexing Access (CDMA), Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA), GSM, LTE, New Radio (NR), UMTS, WiMax, Ethernet, transmission control protocol / internet protocol (TCP / IP), synchronous optical networking (SONET), Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM), QUIC, Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP), and so forth.

[0185] Regardless of the type of sensor, a UE may provide an output of data captured by its sensors, through its communication interface QQ212, via a wireless connection to a network node. Data captured by sensors of a UE can be communicated through a wireless connection to a network node via another UE. The output may be periodic (e.g., once every 15 minutes if it reports the sensed temperature), random (e.g., to even out the load from reporting from several sensors), in response to a triggering event (e.g., when moisture is detected an alert is sent), in response to a request (e.g., a user initiated request), or a continuous stream (e.g., a live video feed of a patient).

[0186] As another example, a UE comprises an actuator, a motor, or a switch, related to a communication interface configured to receive wireless input from a network node via a wireless connection. In response to the received wireless input the states of the actuator, the motor, or the switch may change. For example, the UE may comprise a motor that adjusts the control surfaces or rotors of a drone in flight according to the received input or to a robotic arm performing a medical procedure according to the received input.

[0187] A UE, when in the form of an Internet of Things (loT) device, may be a device for use in one or more application domains, these domains comprising, but not limited to, city wearable technology, extended industrial application and healthcare. Non-limiting examples of such an loT device are a device which is or which is embedded in: a connected refrigerator or freezer, a TV, a connected lighting device, an electricity meter, a robot vacuum cleaner, a voice controlled smart speaker, a home security camera, a motion detector, a thermostat, a smoke detector, a door / window sensor, a flood / moisture sensor, an electrical door lock, a connected doorbell, an air conditioning system like a heat pump, an autonomous vehicle, a surveillance system, a weather monitoring device, a vehicle parking monitoring device, an electric vehicle charging station, a smart watch, a fitness tracker, a head-mounted display for Augmented Reality (AR) or Virtual Reality (VR), a wearable for tactile augmentation or sensory enhancement, a water sprinkler, an animal- or item-tracking device, a sensor for monitoring a plant or animal, an industrial robot, an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV), and any kind of medical device, like a heart rate monitor or a remote controlled surgical robot. A UE in the form of an loT device comprises circuitry and / or software in dependence of the intended application of the loT device in addition to other components as described in relation to the UE QQ200 shown in Figure 13.

[0188] As yet another specific example, in an loT scenario, a UE may represent a machine or other device that performs monitoring and / or measurements, and transmits the results of such monitoring and / or measurements to another UE and / or a network node. The UE may in this case be an M2M device, which may in a 3GPP context be referred to as an MTC device. As one particular example, the UE may implement the 3GPP NB-loT standard. In other scenarios, a UE may represent a vehicle, such as a car, a bus, a truck, a ship and an airplane, or other equipment that is capable of monitoring and / or reporting on its operational status or other functions associated with its operation.

[0189] In practice, any number of UEs may be used together with respect to a single use case. For example, a first UE might be or be integrated in a drone and provide the drone’s speed information (obtained through a speed sensor) to a second UE that is a remote controller operating the drone. When the user makes changes from the remote controller, the first UE may adjust the throttle on the drone (e.g. by controlling an actuator) to increase or decrease the drone’s speed. The first and / or the second UE can also include more than one of the functionalities described above. For example, a UE might comprise the sensor and the actuator, and handle communication of data for both the speed sensor and the actuators.

[0190] Figure 14 shows a network node QQ300 in accordance with some embodiments. As used herein, network node refers to equipment capable, configured, arranged and / or operable to communicate directly or indirectly with a UE and / or with other network nodes or equipment, in a telecommunication network. Examples of network nodes include, but are not limited to, access points (APs) (e.g., radio access points), base stations (BSs) (e.g., radio base stations, Node Bs, evolved Node Bs (eNBs) and NR NodeBs (gNBs)), O-RAN nodes or components of an O-RAN node (e.g., O-RU, O-DU, O-CU).

[0191] Base stations may be categorized based on the amount of coverage they provide (or, stated differently, their transmit power level) and so, depending on the provided amount of coverage, may be referred to as femto base stations, pico base stations, micro base stations, or macro base stations. A base station may be a relay node or a relay donor node controlling a relay. A network node may also include one or more (or all) parts of a distributed radio base station such as centralized digital units, distributed units (e.g., in an O-RAN access node) and / or remote radio units (RRUs), sometimes referred to as Remote Radio Heads (RRHs). Such remote radio units may or may not be integrated with an antenna as an antenna integrated radio. Parts of a distributed radio base station may also be referred to as nodes in a distributed antenna system (DAS).

[0192] Other examples of network nodes include multiple transmission point (multi-TRP) 5G access nodes, multi-standard radio (MSR) equipment such as MSR BSs, network controllers such as radio network controllers (RNCs) or base station controllers (BSCs), base transceiver stations (BTSs), transmission points, transmission nodes, multi-cell / multicast coordination entities (MCEs), Operation and Maintenance (O&M) nodes, Operations Support System (OSS) nodes, Self-Organizing Network (SON) nodes, positioning nodes (e.g., Evolved Serving Mobile Location Centers (E-SMLCs)), and / or Minimization of Drive Tests (MDTs).

[0193] The network node QQ300 includes a processing circuitry QQ302, a memory QQ304, a communication interface QQ306, and a power source QQ308. The network node QQ300 may be composed of multiple physically separate components (e.g., a NodeB component and a RNC component, or a BTS component and a BSC component, etc.), which may each have their own respective components. In certain scenarios in which the network node QQ300 comprises multiple separate components (e.g., BTS and BSC components), one or more of the separate components may be shared among several network nodes. For example, a single RNC may control multiple NodeBs. In such a scenario, each unique NodeB and RNC pair, may in some instances be considered a single separate network node. In some embodiments, the network node QQ300 may be configured to support multiple radio access technologies (RATs). In such embodiments, some components may be duplicated (e.g., separate memory QQ304 for different RATs) and some components may be reused (e.g., a same antenna QQ310 may be shared by different RATs). The network node QQ300 may also include multiple sets of the various illustrated components for different wireless technologies integrated into network node QQ300, for example GSM, WCDMA, LTE, NR, WiFi, Zigbee, Z-wave, LoRaWAN, Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) or Bluetooth wireless technologies. These wireless technologies may be integrated into the same or different chip or set of chips and other components within network node QQ300.

[0194] The processing circuitry QQ302 may comprise a combination of one or more of a microprocessor, controller, microcontroller, central processing unit, digital signal processor, application-specific integrated circuit, field programmable gate array, or any other suitable computing device, resource, or combination of hardware, software and / or encoded logic operable to provide, either alone or in conjunction with other network node QQ300 components, such as the memory QQ304, to provide network node QQ300 functionality.

[0195] In some embodiments, the processing circuitry QQ302 includes a system on a chip (SOO). In some embodiments, the processing circuitry QQ302 includes one or more of radio frequency (RF) transceiver circuitry QQ312 and baseband processing circuitry QQ314. In some embodiments, the radio frequency (RF) transceiver circuitry QQ312 and the baseband processing circuitry QQ314 may be on separate chips (or sets of chips), boards, or units, such as radio units and digital units. In alternative embodiments, part or all of RF transceiver circuitry QQ312 and baseband processing circuitry QQ314 may be on the same chip or set of chips, boards, or units.

[0196] The memory QQ304 may comprise any form of volatile or non-volatile computer- readable memory including, without limitation, persistent storage, solid-state memory, remotely mounted memory, magnetic media, optical media, random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), mass storage media (for example, a hard disk), removable storage media (for example, a flash drive, a Compact Disk (CD) or a Digital Video Disk (DVD)), and / or any other volatile or non-volatile, non-transitory device-readable and / or computer-executable memory devices that store information, data, and / or instructions that may be used by the processing circuitry QQ302. The memory QQ304 may store any suitable instructions, data, or information, including a computer program, software, an application including one or more of logic, rules, code, tables, and / or other instructions capable of being executed by the processing circuitry QQ302 and utilized by the network node QQ300. The memory QQ304 may be used to store any calculations made by the processing circuitry QQ302 and / or any data received via the communication interface QQ306. In some embodiments, the processing circuitry QQ302 and memory QQ304 is integrated.

[0197] The communication interface QQ306 is used in wired or wireless communication of signaling and / or data between a network node, access network, and / or UE. As illustrated, the communication interface QQ306 comprises port(s) / terminal(s) QQ316 to send and receive data, for example to and from a network over a wired connection. The communication interface QQ306 also includes radio front-end circuitry QQ318 that may be coupled to, or in certain embodiments a part of, the antenna QQ310. Radio front-end circuitry QQ318 comprises filters QQ320 and amplifiers QQ322. The radio front-end circuitry QQ318 may be connected to an antenna QQ310 and processing circuitry QQ302. The radio front-end circuitry may be configured to condition signals communicated between antenna QQ310 and processing circuitry QQ302. The radio front-end circuitry QQ318 may receive digital data that is to be sent out to other network nodes or UEs via a wireless connection. The radio front-end circuitry QQ318 may convert the digital data into a radio signal having the appropriate channel and bandwidth parameters using a combination of filters QQ320 and / or amplifiers QQ322. The radio signal may then be transmitted via the antenna QQ310. Similarly, when receiving data, the antenna QQ310 may collect radio signals which are then converted into digital data by the radio front-end circuitry QQ318. The digital data may be passed to the processing circuitry QQ302. In other embodiments, the communication interface may comprise different components and / or different combinations of components. In certain alternative embodiments, the network node QQ300 does not include separate radio front-end circuitry QQ318, instead, the processing circuitry QQ302 includes radio front-end circuitry and is connected to the antenna QQ310. Similarly, in some embodiments, all or some of the RF transceiver circuitry QQ312 is part of the communication interface QQ306. In still other embodiments, the communication interface QQ306 includes one or more ports or terminals QQ316, the radio front-end circuitry QQ318, and the RF transceiver circuitry QQ312, as part of a radio unit (not shown), and the communication interface QQ306 communicates with the baseband processing circuitry QQ314, which is part of a digital unit (not shown).

[0198] The antenna QQ310 may include one or more antennas, or antenna arrays, configured to send and / or receive wireless signals. The antenna QQ310 may be coupled to the radio frontend circuitry QQ318 and may be any type of antenna capable of transmitting and receiving data and / or signals wirelessly. In certain embodiments, the antenna QQ310 is separate from the network node QQ300 and connectable to the network node QQ300 through an interface or port.

[0199] The antenna QQ310, communication interface QQ306, and / or the processing circuitry QQ302 may be configured to perform any receiving operations and / or certain obtaining operations described herein as being performed by the network node. Any information, data and / or signals may be received from a UE, another network node and / or any other network equipment. Similarly, the antenna QQ310, the communication interface QQ306, and / or the processing circuitry QQ302 may be configured to perform any transmitting operations described herein as being performed by the network node. Any information, data and / or signals may be transmitted to a UE, another network node and / or any other network equipment.

[0200] The power source QQ308 provides power to the various components of network node QQ300 in a form suitable for the respective components (e.g., at a voltage and current level needed for each respective component). The power source QQ308 may further comprise, or be coupled to, power management circuitry to supply the components of the network node QQ300 with power for performing the functionality described herein. For example, the network node QQ300 may be connectable to an external power source (e.g., the power grid, an electricity outlet) via an input circuitry or interface such as an electrical cable, whereby the external power source supplies power to power circuitry of the power source QQ308. As a further example, the power source QQ308 may comprise a source of power in the form of a battery or battery pack which is connected to, or integrated in, power circuitry. The battery may provide backup power should the external power source fail.

[0201] Embodiments of the network node QQ300 may include additional components beyond those shown in Figure 14 for providing certain aspects of the network node’s functionality, including any of the functionality described herein and / or any functionality necessary to support the subject matter described herein. For example, the network node QQ300 may include user interface equipment to allow input of information into the network node QQ300 and to allow output of information from the network node QQ300. This may allow a user to perform diagnostic, maintenance, repair, and other administrative functions for the network node QQ300.

[0202] Figure 15 is a block diagram of a host QQ400, which may be an embodiment of the host QQ116 of Figure 12, in accordance with various aspects described herein. As used herein, the host QQ400 may be or comprise various combinations hardware and / or software, including a standalone server, a blade server, a cloud-implemented server, a distributed server, a virtual machine, container, or processing resources in a server farm. The host QQ400 may provide one or more services to one or more UEs.

[0203] The host QQ400 includes processing circuitry QQ402 that is operatively coupled via a bus QQ404 to an input / output interface QQ406, a network interface QQ408, a power source QQ410, and a memory QQ412. Other components may be included in other embodiments. Features of these components may be substantially similar to those described with respect to the devices of previous figures, such as Figures 13 and 14, such that the descriptions thereof are generally applicable to the corresponding components of host QQ400.

[0204] The memory QQ412 may include one or more computer programs including one or more host application programs QQ414 and data QQ416, which may include user data, e.g., data generated by a UE for the host QQ400 or data generated by the host QQ400 for a UE. Embodiments of the host QQ400 may utilize only a subset or all of the components shown. The host application programs QQ414 may be implemented in a container-based architecture and may provide support for video codecs (e.g., Versatile Video Coding (VVC), High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC), Advanced Video Coding (AVC), MPEG, VP9) and audio codecs (e.g., FLAG, Advanced Audio Coding (AAC), MPEG, G.711), including transcoding for multiple different classes, types, or implementations of UEs (e.g., handsets, desktop computers, wearable display systems, heads-up display systems). The host application programs QQ414 may also provide for user authentication and licensing checks and may periodically report health, routes, and content availability to a central node, such as a device in or on the edge of a core network. Accordingly, the host QQ400 may select and / or indicate a different host for over- the-top services for a UE. The host application programs QQ414 may support various protocols, such as the HTTP Live Streaming (HLS) protocol, Real-Time Messaging Protocol (RTMP), Real-Time Streaming Protocol (RTSP), Dynamic Adaptive Streaming over HTTP (MPEG- DASH), etc.

[0205] Figure 16 is a block diagram illustrating a virtualization environment QQ500 in which functions implemented by some embodiments may be virtualized. In the present context, virtualizing means creating virtual versions of apparatuses or devices which may include virtualizing hardware platforms, storage devices and networking resources. As used herein, virtualization can be applied to any device described herein, or components thereof, and relates to an implementation in which at least a portion of the functionality is implemented as one or more virtual components. Some or all of the functions described herein may be implemented as virtual components executed by one or more virtual machines (VMs) implemented in one or more virtual environments QQ500 hosted by one or more of hardware nodes, such as a hardware computing device that operates as a network node, UE, core network node, or host. Further, in embodiments in which the virtual node does not require radio connectivity (e.g., a core network node or host), then the node may be entirely virtualized. In some embodiments, the virtualization environment QQ500 includes components defined by the O-RAN Alliance, such as an O-Cloud environment orchestrated by a Service Management and Orchestration Framework via an 0-2 interface.

[0206] Applications QQ502 (which may alternatively be called software instances, virtual appliances, network functions, virtual nodes, virtual network functions, etc.) are run in the virtualization environment Q400 to implement some of the features, functions, and / or benefits of some of the embodiments disclosed herein.

[0207] Hardware QQ504 includes processing circuitry, memory that stores software and / or instructions executable by hardware processing circuitry, and / or other hardware devices as described herein, such as a network interface, input / output interface, and so forth. Software may be executed by the processing circuitry to instantiate one or more virtualization layers QQ506 (also referred to as hypervisors or virtual machine monitors (VMMs)), provide VMs QQ508a and QQ508b (one or more of which may be generally referred to as VMs QQ508), and / or perform any of the functions, features and / or benefits described in relation with some embodiments described herein. The virtualization layer QQ506 may present a virtual operating platform that appears like networking hardware to the VMs QQ508.

[0208] The VMs QQ508 comprise virtual processing, virtual memory, virtual networking or interface and virtual storage, and may be run by a corresponding virtualization layer QQ506. Different embodiments of the instance of a virtual appliance QQ502 may be implemented on one or more of VMs QQ508, and the implementations may be made in different ways. Virtualization of the hardware is in some contexts referred to as network function virtualization (NFV). NFV may be used to consolidate many network equipment types onto industry standard high volume server hardware, physical switches, and physical storage, which can be located in data centers, and customer premise equipment.

[0209] In the context of NFV, a VM QQ508 may be a software implementation of a physical machine that runs programs as if they were executing on a physical, non-virtualized machine. Each of the VMs QQ508, and that part of hardware QQ504 that executes that VM, be it hardware dedicated to that VM and / or hardware shared by that VM with others of the VMs, forms separate virtual network elements. Still in the context of NFV, a virtual network function is responsible for handling specific network functions that run in one or more VMs QQ508 on top of the hardware QQ504 and corresponds to the application QQ502. Hardware QQ504 may be implemented in a standalone network node with generic or specific components. Hardware QQ504 may implement some functions via virtualization. Alternatively, hardware QQ504 may be part of a larger cluster of hardware (e.g. such as in a data center or CPE) where many hardware nodes work together and are managed via management and orchestration QQ510, which, among others, oversees lifecycle management of applications QQ502. In some embodiments, hardware QQ504 is coupled to one or more radio units that each include one or more transmitters and one or more receivers that may be coupled to one or more antennas. Radio units may communicate directly with other hardware nodes via one or more appropriate network interfaces and may be used in combination with the virtual components to provide a virtual node with radio capabilities, such as a radio access node or a base station. In some embodiments, some signaling can be provided with the use of a control system QQ512 which may alternatively be used for communication between hardware nodes and radio units.

[0210] Figure 17 shows a communication diagram of a host QQ602 communicating via a network node QQ604 with a UE QQ606 over a partially wireless connection in accordance with some embodiments. Example implementations, in accordance with various embodiments, of the UE (such as a UE QQ112a of Figure 12 and / or UE QQ200 of Figure 13), network node (such as network node QQ110a of Figure 12 and / or network node QQ300 of Figure 14), and host (such as host QQ116 of Figure 12 and / or host QQ400 of Figure 15) discussed in the preceding paragraphs will now be described with reference to Figure 17.

[0211] Like host QQ400, embodiments of host QQ602 include hardware, such as a communication interface, processing circuitry, and memory. The host QQ602 also includes software, which is stored in or accessible by the host QQ602 and executable by the processing circuitry. The software includes a host application that may be operable to provide a service to a remote user, such as the UE QQ606 connecting via an over-the-top (OTT) connection QQ650 extending between the UE QQ606 and host QQ602. In providing the service to the remote user, a host application may provide user data which is transmitted using the OTT connection QQ650.

[0212] The network node QQ604 includes hardware enabling it to communicate with the host QQ602 and UE QQ606. The connection QQ660 may be direct or pass through a core network (like core network QQ106 of Figure 12) and / or one or more other intermediate networks, such as one or more public, private, or hosted networks. For example, an intermediate network may be a backbone network or the Internet.

[0213] The UE QQ606 includes hardware and software, which is stored in or accessible by UE QQ606 and executable by the UE’s processing circuitry. The software includes a client application, such as a web browser or operator-specific “app” that may be operable to provide a service to a human or non-human user via UE QQ606 with the support of the host QQ602. In the host QQ602, an executing host application may communicate with the executing client application via the OTT connection QQ650 terminating at the UE QQ606 and host QQ602. In providing the service to the user, the UE's client application may receive request data from the host's host application and provide user data in response to the request data. The OTT connection QQ650 may transfer both the request data and the user data. The UE's client application may interact with the user to generate the user data that it provides to the host application through the OTT connection QQ650.

[0214] The OTT connection QQ650 may extend via a connection QQ660 between the host QQ602 and the network node QQ604 and via a wireless connection QQ670 between the network node QQ604 and the UE QQ606 to provide the connection between the host QQ602 and the UE QQ606. The connection QQ660 and wireless connection QQ670, over which the OTT connection QQ650 may be provided, have been drawn abstractly to illustrate the communication between the host QQ602 and the UE QQ606 via the network node QQ604, without explicit reference to any intermediary devices and the precise routing of messages via these devices.

[0215] As an example of transmitting data via the OTT connection QQ650, in step QQ608, the host QQ602 provides user data, which may be performed by executing a host application. In some embodiments, the user data is associated with a particular human user interacting with the UE QQ606. In other embodiments, the user data is associated with a UE QQ606 that shares data with the host QQ602 without explicit human interaction. In step QQ610, the host QQ602 initiates a transmission carrying the user data towards the UE QQ606. The host QQ602 may initiate the transmission responsive to a request transmitted by the UE QQ606. The request may be caused by human interaction with the UE QQ606 or by operation of the client application executing on the UE QQ606. The transmission may pass via the network node QQ604, in accordance with the teachings of the embodiments described throughout this disclosure. Accordingly, in step QQ612, the network node QQ604 transmits to the UE QQ606 the user data that was carried in the transmission that the host QQ602 initiated, in accordance with the teachings of the embodiments described throughout this disclosure. In step QQ614, the UE QQ606 receives the user data carried in the transmission, which may be performed by a client application executed on the UE QQ606 associated with the host application executed by the host QQ602.

[0216] In some examples, the UE QQ606 executes a client application which provides user data to the host QQ602. The user data may be provided in reaction or response to the data received from the host QQ602. Accordingly, in step QQ616, the UE QQ606 may provide user data, which may be performed by executing the client application. In providing the user data, the client application may further consider user input received from the user via an input / output interface of the UE QQ606. Regardless of the specific manner in which the user data was provided, the UE QQ606 initiates, in step QQ618, transmission of the user data towards the host QQ602 via the network node QQ604. In step QQ620, in accordance with the teachings of the embodiments described throughout this disclosure, the network node QQ604 receives user data from the UE QQ606 and initiates transmission of the received user data towards the host QQ602. In step QQ622, the host QQ602 receives the user data carried in the transmission initiated by the UE QQ606.

[0217] One or more of the various embodiments improve the performance of OTT services provided to the UE QQ606 using the OTT connection QQ650, in which the wireless connection QQ670 forms the last segment. More precisely, the teachings of these embodiments may improve sensing of objects and thereby provide benefits such as reduced user waiting time, better responsiveness, better session handling of UEs, and / or better battery life.

[0218] In an example scenario, factory status information may be collected and analyzed by the host QQ602. As another example, the host QQ602 may process audio and video data which may have been retrieved from a UE for use in creating maps. As another example, the host QQ602 may collect and analyze real-time data to assist in controlling vehicle congestion (e.g., controlling traffic lights). As another example, the host QQ602 may store surveillance video uploaded by a UE. As another example, the host QQ602 may store or control access to media content such as video, audio, VR or AR which it can broadcast, multicast or unicast to UEs. As other examples, the host QQ602 may be used for energy pricing, remote control of non-time critical electrical load to balance power generation needs, location services, presentation services (such as compiling diagrams etc. from data collected from remote devices), or any other function of collecting, retrieving, storing, analyzing and / or transmitting data.

[0219] In some examples, a measurement procedure may be provided for the purpose of monitoring data rate, latency and other factors on which the one or more embodiments improve. There may further be an optional network functionality for reconfiguring the OTT connection QQ650 between the host QQ602 and UE QQ606, in response to variations in the measurement results. The measurement procedure and / or the network functionality for reconfiguring the OTT connection may be implemented in software and hardware of the host QQ602 and / or UE QQ606. In some embodiments, sensors (not shown) may be deployed in or in association with other devices through which the OTT connection QQ650 passes; the sensors may participate in the measurement procedure by supplying values of the monitored quantities exemplified above, or supplying values of other physical quantities from which software may compute or estimate the monitored quantities. The reconfiguring of the OTT connection QQ650 may include message format, retransmission settings, preferred routing etc.; the reconfiguring need not directly alter the operation of the network node QQ604. Such procedures and functionalities may be known and practiced in the art. In certain embodiments, measurements may involve proprietary UE signaling that facilitates measurements of throughput, propagation times, latency and the like, by the host QQ602. The measurements may be implemented in that software causes messages to be transmitted, in particular empty or ‘dummy’ messages, using the OTT connection QQ650 while monitoring propagation times, errors, etc.

[0220] Although the computing devices described herein (e.g., UEs, network nodes, hosts) may include the illustrated combination of hardware components, other embodiments may comprise computing devices with different combinations of components. It is to be understood that these computing devices may comprise any suitable combination of hardware and / or software needed to perform the tasks, features, functions and methods disclosed herein. Determining, calculating, obtaining or similar operations described herein may be performed by processing circuitry, which may process information by, for example, converting the obtained information into other information, comparing the obtained information or converted information to information stored in the network node, and / or performing one or more operations based on the obtained information or converted information, and as a result of said processing making a determination. Moreover, while components are depicted as single boxes located within a larger box, or nested within multiple boxes, in practice, computing devices may comprise multiple different physical components that make up a single illustrated component, and functionality may be partitioned between separate components. For example, a communication interface may be configured to include any of the components described herein, and / or the functionality of the components may be partitioned between the processing circuitry and the communication interface. In another example, non-computationally intensive functions of any of such components may be implemented in software or firmware and computationally intensive functions may be implemented in hardware.

[0221] In certain embodiments, some or all of the functionality described herein may be provided by processing circuitry executing instructions stored on in memory, which in certain embodiments may be a computer program product in the form of a non-transitory computer- readable storage medium. In alternative embodiments, some or all of the functionality may be provided by the processing circuitry without executing instructions stored on a separate or discrete device-readable storage medium, such as in a hard-wired manner. In any of those particular embodiments, whether executing instructions stored on a non-transitory computer- readable storage medium or not, the processing circuitry can be configured to perform the described functionality. The benefits provided by such functionality are not limited to the processing circuitry alone or to other components of the computing device, but are enjoyed by the computing device as a whole, and / or by end users and a wireless network generally.

[0222] It will be appreciated that the foregoing description and the accompanying drawings represent non-limiting examples of the methods and apparatus taught herein. As such, the apparatus and techniques taught herein are not limited by the foregoing description and accompanying drawings. Instead, the embodiments herein are limited only by the following claims and their legal equivalents.

Claims

CLAIMS1. A method performed by a radio network node (12) for handling sensing of one or more objects in a wireless communication network (1), the method comprising:- transmitting (701) a first indication to a User Equipment, UE, (10) in inactive mode, indicating to trigger or prepare the UE for a sensing procedure; performing (702) a sensing measurement; determining (703), based on the sensing measurement, whether or not to request the UE to report a result from the sensing procedure;- with the proviso that it is determined to request the UE to report the result, sending (704) a second indication to the UE (10), triggering the UE (10) to report the result from the sensing procedure.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the first indication comprises a paging message or a wake-up signal.

3. The method according to any of the claims 1-2, wherein the first indication is further associated with an area or location of interest.

4. The method according to any of the claims 1-3, wherein transmitting the first indication initiates a timer at the UE (10) and / or the radio network node (12).

5. The method according to any of the claims 1-4, wherein performing the sensing measurement comprises performing a monostatic sensing measurement.

6. The method according to any of the claims 1-5, wherein determining whether or not to request the UE (10) to report the result is further based on position of the UE (10).

7. The method according to any of the claims 1-6, wherein the second indication comprise an uplink grant to use an ongoing Small Data Transmission, SDT.

8. The method according to any of the claims 1-7, wherein the first indication comprises a radio network temporary identifier that is unique for an area.

9. A method performed by a user equipment, UE, (10) for handling sensing of one or more objects in a wireless communication network (1), the method comprising: receiving (801), in inactive mode, a first indication from a radio network node (12), indicating to trigger or prepare the UE (10) for a sensing procedure;performing (804) the sensing procedure; receiving (805) a second indication from the radio network node (12) triggering the UE (10) to report a result from the sensing procedure; and- transmitting (806) the result of the sensing procedure to the radio network node.

10. The method according to claim 9, wherein the first indication comprises a paging message or a wake-up signal.

11. The method according to any of the claims 9-10, further comprising determining (802) whether or not to perform the sensing procedure based on the first indication.

12. The method according to claim 11, wherein the first indication is further associated with an area or location of interest and determining whether or not to perform the sensing procedure is based on the area or location of interest.

13. The method according to any of the claims 11-12, wherein determining (802) whether or not to perform the sensing procedure is based on■ a received signal strength of a signal from the radio network node (12);■ a position of the UE (10) relative a position of the radio network node (12);■ an energy state of the UE (10).

14. The method according to any of the claims 9-13, further comprising initiating (803) a Small Data Transmission, SDT.

15. The method according to claim 14, wherein the SDT transmission is initiated upon receiving the first indication and / or the second indication.

16. The method according to any of the claims 9-15, wherein receiving the first indication initiates a timer at the UE (10), which timer indicates a time interval the UE (10) will perform the sensing procedure and / or a time value when the UE (10) will release a small data transmission procedure.

17. A radio network node (12) for handling sensing of one or more objects in a wireless communication network (1), wherein the radio network node (12) is configured to: transmit a first indication to a user equipment, UE, (10) in inactive mode, indicating to trigger or prepare the UE (10) for a sensing procedure;perform a sensing measurement; determine, based on the sensing measurement, whether or not to request the UE (10) to report a result from the sensing procedure; with the proviso that it is determined to request the UE (10) to report the result, send a second indication to the UE (10), triggering the UE (10) to report the result from the sensing procedure.

18. The radio network node (12) according to claim 17, wherein the first indication comprises a paging message or a wake-up signal.

19. The radio network node (12) according to any of the claims 17-18, wherein the first indication is further associated with an area or location of interest.

20. The radio network node (12) according to any of the claims 17-19, wherein the radio network node (12) is configured to transmit the first indication and thereby initiating a timer at the UE (10) and / or the radio network node (12).

21. The radio network node (12) according to any of the claims 17-20, wherein the radio network node (12) is configured to perform the sensing measurement by performing a monostatic sensing measurement.

22. The radio network node (12) according to any of the claims 17-21, wherein the radio network node (12) is configured to determine whether or not to request the UE (10) to report the result further based on position of the UE (10).

23. The radio network node (12) according to any of the claims 17-22, wherein the second indication comprises an uplink grant to use an ongoing Small Data Transmission, SDT.

24. The radio network node (12) according to any of the claims 17-23, wherein the first indication comprises a radio network temporary identifier that is unique for an area.

25. A user equipment, UE, (10) for handling sensing of one or more objects in a wireless communication network (1), wherein the UE (10) is configured to: receive, in inactive mode, a first indication from a radio network node (12), indicating to trigger or prepare the UE (10) for a sensing procedure; perform the sensing procedure;receive a second indication from the radio network node (12) triggering the UE (10) to report a result from the sensing procedure; and transmit the result of the sensing procedure to the radio network node (12).

26. The UE (10) according to claim 25, wherein the first indication comprises a paging message or a wake-up signal.

27. The UE (10) according to any of the claims 25-26, wherein the UE (10) is further configured to determine whether or not to perform the sensing procedure based on the first indication.

28. The UE (10) according to claim 27, wherein the first indication is further associated with an area or location of interest and the UE (10) is configured to determine whether or not to perform the sensing procedure based on the area or location of interest.

29. The UE (10) according to any of the claims 27-28, wherein the UE (10) is configured to determine whether or not to perform the sensing procedure based on■ a received signal strength of a signal from the radio network node (12);■ a position of the UE (10) relative a position of the radio network node (12);■ an energy state of the UE (10).

30. The UE (10) according to any of the claims 27-29, wherein the UE (10) is configured to initiate a Small Data Transmission, SDT.

31. The UE (10) according to claim 30, wherein the SDT transmission is initiated upon receiving the first indication and / or the second indication.

32. The UE (10) according to any of the claims 27-31 , wherein the UE (10) is configured to receive the first indication and thereby initiate a timer at the UE (10), which timer indicates a time interval the UE (10) will perform the sensing procedure and / or a time value when the UE (10) will release a small data transmission procedure.

33. A computer program product comprising instructions, which, when executed on at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to carry out the methodaccording to any of the claims 1-16, as performed by the radio network node, and the UE, respectively.

34. A computer-readable storage medium, having stored thereon a computer program product comprising instructions which, when executed on at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to carry out the method according to the any of the claims 1-16, as performed by the radio network node, and the UE, respectively.

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