Uplink or sidelink transmission based on the presence of users in the vicinity of the user equipment

Abstract

Disclosed are techniques for wireless communication. In an aspect, a user equipment (UE) transmits one or more reference signals on one or more transmit beams in at least one direction or according to at least one characteristic that reduces radio frequency exposure to one or more body regions of one or more users within a threshold distance of the UE, wherein each of the one or more body regions corresponds to a three-dimensional space in which at least a portion of a body of a user of the one or more users is estimated to be present.

Description

Qualcomm Ref. No.2307045WO 1 UPLINK OR SIDELINK TRANSMISSION BASED ON THE PRESENCE OF USERS IN THE VICINITY OF THE USER EQUIPMENT FIELD

[0001] Aspects of the disclosure relate generally to wireless technologies. BACKGROUND

[0002] Wireless communication systems have developed through various generations, including a first-generation analog wireless phone service (1G), a second-generation (2G) digital wireless phone service (including interim 2.5G and 2.75G networks), a third-generation (3G) high speed data, Internet-capable wireless service and a fourth-generation (4G) service (e.g., Long Term Evolution (LTE) or WiMax). There are presently many different types of wireless communication systems in use, including cellular and personal communications service (PCS) systems. Examples of known cellular systems include the cellular analog advanced mobile phone system (AMPS), and digital cellular systems based on code division multiple access (CDMA), frequency division multiple access (FDMA), time division multiple access (TDMA), the Global System for Mobile communications (GSM), etc.

[0003] A fifth generation (5G) wireless standard, referred to as New Radio (NR), enables higher data transfer speeds, greater numbers of connections, and better coverage, among other improvements. The 5G standard, according to the Next Generation Mobile Networks Alliance, is designed to provide higher data rates as compared to previous standards, more accurate positioning (e.g., based on reference signals for positioning (RS-P), such as downlink, uplink, or sidelink positioning reference signals (PRS)), and other technical enhancements. These enhancements, as well as the use of higher frequency bands, advances in PRS processes and technology, and high-density deployments for 5G, enable highly accurate 5G-based or 6G based positioning. SUMMARY

[0004] The following presents a simplified summary relating to one or more aspects disclosed herein. Thus, the following summary should not be considered an extensive overview relating to all contemplated aspects, nor should the following summary be considered to 1 QC2307045WOQualcomm Ref. No.2307045WO 2 identify key or critical elements relating to all contemplated aspects or to delineate the scope associated with any particular aspect. Accordingly, the following summary has the sole purpose to present certain concepts relating to one or more aspects relating to the mechanisms disclosed herein in a simplified form to precede the detailed description presented below.

[0005] In an aspect, a method of wireless communication performed by a user equipment (UE) includes receiving, from a network node, assistance data for one or more transmit beams, wherein the assistance data includes information to enable the UE to transmit on the one or more transmit beams in at least one direction or according to at least one characteristic that reduces radio frequency exposure to one or more body regions of one or more users within a threshold distance of the UE, wherein each of the one or more body regions corresponds to a three-dimensional space in which at least a portion of a body of a user of the one or more users is estimated to be present; and transmitting one or more reference signals on the one or more transmit beams in the at least one direction or according to the at least one characteristic.

[0006] In an aspect, a method of wireless communication performed by a network node includes receiving, from a user equipment (UE), a request for assistance data for one or more transmit beams; and transmitting, to the UE, the assistance data for the one or more transmit beams, wherein the assistance data includes information to enable the UE to transmit one or more reference signals on the one or more transmit beams in at least one direction or according to at least one characteristic that reduces radio frequency exposure to one or more body regions of one or more users within a threshold distance of the UE, wherein each of the one or more body regions corresponds to a three-dimensional space in which at least a portion of a body of a user of the one or more users is estimated to be present.

[0007] In an aspect, a user equipment (UE) includes one or more memories; one or more transceivers; and one or more processors communicatively coupled to the one or more memories and the one or more transceivers, the one or more processors, either alone or in combination, configured to: receive, via the one or more transceivers, from a network node, assistance data for one or more transmit beams, wherein the assistance data includes information to enable the UE to transmit on the one or more transmit beams in at least one direction or according to at least one characteristic that reduces radio frequency 2 QC2307045WOQualcomm Ref. No.2307045WO 3 exposure to one or more body regions of one or more users within a threshold distance of the UE, wherein each of the one or more body regions corresponds to a three-dimensional space in which at least a portion of a body of a user of the one or more users is estimated to be present; and transmit, via the one or more transceivers, one or more reference signals on the one or more transmit beams in the at least one direction or according to the at least one characteristic.

[0008] In an aspect, a network node includes one or more memories; one or more transceivers; and one or more processors communicatively coupled to the one or more memories and the one or more transceivers, the one or more processors, either alone or in combination, configured to: receive, via the one or more transceivers, from a user equipment (UE), a request for assistance data for one or more transmit beams; and transmit, via the one or more transceivers, to the UE, the assistance data for the one or more transmit beams, wherein the assistance data includes information to enable the UE to transmit one or more reference signals on the one or more transmit beams in at least one direction or according to at least one characteristic that reduces radio frequency exposure to one or more body regions of one or more users within a threshold distance of the UE, wherein each of the one or more body regions corresponds to a three-dimensional space in which at least a portion of a body of a user of the one or more users is estimated to be present.

[0009] In an aspect, a user equipment (UE) includes means for receiving, from a network node, assistance data for one or more transmit beams, wherein the assistance data includes information to enable the UE to transmit on the one or more transmit beams in at least one direction or according to at least one characteristic that reduces radio frequency exposure to one or more body regions of one or more users within a threshold distance of the UE, wherein each of the one or more body regions corresponds to a three-dimensional space in which at least a portion of a body of a user of the one or more users is estimated to be present; and means for transmitting one or more reference signals on the one or more transmit beams in the at least one direction or according to the at least one characteristic.

[0010] In an aspect, a network node includes means for receiving, from a user equipment (UE), a request for assistance data for one or more transmit beams; and means for transmitting, to the UE, the assistance data for the one or more transmit beams, wherein the assistance data includes information to enable the UE to transmit one or more reference signals on 3 QC2307045WOQualcomm Ref. No.2307045WO 4 the one or more transmit beams in at least one direction or according to at least one characteristic that reduces radio frequency exposure to one or more body regions of one or more users within a threshold distance of the UE, wherein each of the one or more body regions corresponds to a three-dimensional space in which at least a portion of a body of a user of the one or more users is estimated to be present.

[0011] In an aspect, a non-transitory computer-readable medium stores computer-executable instructions that, when executed by a user equipment (UE), cause the UE to: receive, from a network node, assistance data for one or more transmit beams, wherein the assistance data includes information to enable the UE to transmit on the one or more transmit beams in at least one direction or according to at least one characteristic that reduces radio frequency exposure to one or more body regions of one or more users within a threshold distance of the UE, wherein each of the one or more body regions corresponds to a three- dimensional space in which at least a portion of a body of a user of the one or more users is estimated to be present; and transmit one or more reference signals on the one or more transmit beams in the at least one direction or according to the at least one characteristic.

[0012] In an aspect, a non-transitory computer-readable medium stores computer-executable instructions that, when executed by a network node, cause the network node to: receive, from a user equipment (UE), a request for assistance data for one or more transmit beams; and transmit, to the UE, the assistance data for the one or more transmit beams, wherein the assistance data includes information to enable the UE to transmit one or more reference signals on the one or more transmit beams in at least one direction or according to at least one characteristic that reduces radio frequency exposure to one or more body regions of one or more users within a threshold distance of the UE, wherein each of the one or more body regions corresponds to a three-dimensional space in which at least a portion of a body of a user of the one or more users is estimated to be present.

[0013] Other objects and advantages associated with the aspects disclosed herein will be apparent to those skilled in the art based on the accompanying drawings and detailed description. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0014] The accompanying drawings are presented to aid in the description of various aspects of the disclosure and are provided solely for illustration of the aspects and not limitation thereof. 4 QC2307045WOQualcomm Ref. No.2307045WO 5

[0015] FIG. 1 illustrates an example wireless communications system, according to aspects of the disclosure.

[0016] FIGS. 2A and 2B illustrate example wireless network structures, according to aspects of the disclosure.

[0017] FIGS. 3A, 3B, and 3C are simplified block diagrams of several sample aspects of components that may be employed in a user equipment (UE), a base station, and a network entity, respectively, and configured to support communications as taught herein.

[0018] FIGS.4A and 4B illustrate different types of sensing.

[0019] FIG. 5 is a graph representing an example channel estimate of a multipath channel between a receiver device and a transmitter device, according to aspects of the disclosure.

[0020] FIG.6 is a diagram illustrating an example of a real-time specific absorption rate (SAR) calculation, according to aspects of the disclosure.

[0021] FIG.7 is a diagram illustrating an example of determining a body region of a user based on the user having multiple wearable devices, according to aspects of the disclosure.

[0022] FIG.8 is a diagram illustrating an example of determining a body region of a user based on the plane in which the wearable devices are located, according to aspects of the disclosure.

[0023] FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating an example of three orthogonal planes determined based on the plane connecting three wearable devices, according to aspects of the disclosure.

[0024] FIG.10 is a diagram illustrating an example of determining body regions of one or more users in the vicinity of a UE, according to aspects of the disclosure.

[0025] FIG.11 illustrates an example signaling diagram for network-based uplink transmit beam selection, according to aspects of the disclosure.

[0026] FIG.12 illustrates an example signaling diagram for network-based uplink transmit beam selection, according to aspects of the disclosure.

[0027] FIG.13 illustrates an example signaling diagram for network-based uplink transmit beam selection, according to aspects of the disclosure.

[0028] FIG.14 is a diagram illustrating an example of determining body regions of one or more users using sidelink communication, according to aspects of the disclosure.

[0029] FIGS. 15 and 16 illustrate example methods of wireless communication, according to aspects of the disclosure. 5 QC2307045WOQualcomm Ref. No.2307045WO 6 DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0030] Aspects of the disclosure are provided in the following description and related drawings directed to various examples provided for illustration purposes. Alternate aspects may be devised without departing from the scope of the disclosure. Additionally, well-known elements of the disclosure will not be described in detail or will be omitted so as not to obscure the relevant details of the disclosure.

[0031] Various aspects relate generally to wireless sensing. Some aspects more specifically relate to uplink and / or sidelink transmission based on the presence of users in the vicinity of the transmitting user equipment (U). In some examples, a UE receives assistance data from the network that includes information about transmit beams and the locations of users and other UEs in the vicinity. The assistance data may include a list of beams selected by the network based on positioning and / or sensing to avoid radio frequency (RF) exposure to the users in the vicinity of the UE. The assistance data may alternatively indicate the body regions of the users in the vicinity, enabling the UE to select a transmit beam based on the indicated body regions. The assistance data may alternatively or additionally include a set of feasible beam pairs to enable the UE to select a transmit beam.

[0032] Particular aspects of the subject matter described in this disclosure can be implemented to realize one or more of the following potential advantages. In some examples, by providing assistance data indicating body regions of users in the vicinity of the UE, the described techniques can be used to enable the UE to select a transmit beam that will minimize RF exposure to the users (e.g., by transmitting in a direction that does not intersect the body regions or within a maximum transmit power if the transmit beam does intersect the body regions).

[0033] The words “exemplary” and / or “example” are used herein to mean “serving as an example, instance, or illustration.” Any aspect described herein as “exemplary” and / or “example” is not necessarily to be construed as preferred or advantageous over other aspects. Likewise, the term “aspects of the disclosure” does not require that all aspects of the disclosure include the discussed feature, advantage or mode of operation.

[0034] Those of skill in the art will appreciate that the information and signals described below may be represented using any of a variety of different technologies and techniques. For example, data, instructions, commands, information, signals, bits, symbols, and chips that 6 QC2307045WOQualcomm Ref. No.2307045WO 7 may be referenced throughout the description below may be represented by voltages, currents, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or particles, optical fields or particles, or any combination thereof, depending in part on the particular application, in part on the desired design, in part on the corresponding technology, etc.

[0035] Further, many aspects are described in terms of sequences of actions to be performed by, for example, elements of a computing device. It will be recognized that various actions described herein can be performed by specific circuits (e.g., application specific integrated circuits (ASICs)), by program instructions being executed by one or more processors, or by a combination of both. Additionally, the sequence(s) of actions described herein can be considered to be embodied entirely within any form of non- transitory computer-readable storage medium having stored therein a corresponding set of computer instructions that, upon execution, would cause or instruct an associated processor of a device to perform the functionality described herein. Thus, the various aspects of the disclosure may be embodied in a number of different forms, all of which have been contemplated to be within the scope of the claimed subject matter. In addition, for each of the aspects described herein, the corresponding form of any such aspects may be described herein as, for example, “logic configured to” perform the described action.

[0036] As used herein, the terms “user equipment” (UE) and “base station” are not intended to be specific or otherwise limited to any particular radio access technology (RAT), unless otherwise noted. In general, a UE may be any wireless communication device (e.g., a mobile phone, router, tablet computer, laptop computer, consumer asset locating device, wearable (e.g., smartwatch, glasses, augmented reality (AR) / virtual reality (VR) headset, etc.), vehicle (e.g., automobile, motorcycle, bicycle, etc.), Internet of Things (IoT) device, etc.) used by a user to communicate over a wireless communications network. A UE may be mobile or may (e.g., at certain times) be stationary, and may communicate with a radio access network (RAN). As used herein, the term “UE” may be referred to interchangeably as an “access terminal” or “AT,” a “client device,” a “wireless device,” a “subscriber device,” a “subscriber terminal,” a “subscriber station,” a “user terminal” or “UT,” a “mobile device,” a “mobile terminal,” a “mobile station,” or variations thereof. Generally, UEs can communicate with a core network via a RAN, and through the core network the UEs can be connected with external networks such as the Internet and with other UEs. Of course, other mechanisms of connecting to the core network and / or the 7 QC2307045WOQualcomm Ref. No.2307045WO 8 Internet are also possible for the UEs, such as over wired access networks, wireless local area network (WLAN) networks (e.g., based on the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 specification, etc.) and so on.

[0037] A base station may operate according to one of several RATs in communication with UEs depending on the network in which it is deployed, and may be alternatively referred to as an access point (AP), a network node, a NodeB, an evolved NodeB (eNB), a next generation eNB (ng-eNB), a New Radio (NR) Node B (also referred to as a gNB or gNodeB), etc. A base station may be used primarily to support wireless access by UEs, including supporting data, voice, and / or signaling connections for the supported UEs. In some systems a base station may provide purely edge node signaling functions while in other systems it may provide additional control and / or network management functions. A communication link through which UEs can send signals to a base station is called an uplink (UL) channel (e.g., a reverse traffic channel, a reverse control channel, an access channel, etc.). A communication link through which the base station can send signals to UEs is called a downlink (DL) or forward link channel (e.g., a paging channel, a control channel, a broadcast channel, a forward traffic channel, etc.). As used herein the term traffic channel (TCH) can refer to either an uplink / reverse or downlink / forward traffic channel.

[0038] The term “base station” may refer to a single physical transmission-reception point (TRP) or to multiple physical TRPs that may or may not be co-located. For example, where the term “base station” refers to a single physical TRP, the physical TRP may be an antenna of the base station corresponding to a cell (or several cell sectors) of the base station. Where the term “base station” refers to multiple co-located physical TRPs, the physical TRPs may be an array of antennas (e.g., as in a multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) system or where the base station employs beamforming) of the base station. Where the term “base station” refers to multiple non-co-located physical TRPs, the physical TRPs may be a distributed antenna system (DAS) (a network of spatially separated antennas connected to a common source via a transport medium) or a remote radio head (RRH) (a remote base station connected to a serving base station). Alternatively, the non-co-located physical TRPs may be the serving base station receiving the measurement report from the UE and a neighbor base station whose reference radio frequency (RF) signals the UE is measuring. Because a TRP is the point from which a base station transmits and receives 8 QC2307045WOQualcomm Ref. No.2307045WO 9 wireless signals, as used herein, references to transmission from or reception at a base station are to be understood as referring to a particular TRP of the base station.

[0039] In some implementations that support positioning of UEs, a base station may not support wireless access by UEs (e.g., may not support data, voice, and / or signaling connections for UEs), but may instead transmit reference signals to UEs to be measured by the UEs, and / or may receive and measure signals transmitted by the UEs. Such a base station may be referred to as a positioning beacon (e.g., when transmitting signals to UEs) and / or as a location measurement unit (e.g., when receiving and measuring signals from UEs).

[0040] An “RF signal” comprises an electromagnetic wave of a given frequency that transports information through the space between a transmitter and a receiver. As used herein, a transmitter may transmit a single “RF signal” or multiple “RF signals” to a receiver. However, the receiver may receive multiple “RF signals” corresponding to each transmitted RF signal due to the propagation characteristics of RF signals through multipath channels. The same transmitted RF signal on different paths between the transmitter and receiver may be referred to as a “multipath” RF signal. As used herein, an RF signal may also be referred to as a “wireless signal” or simply a “signal” where it is clear from the context that the term “signal” refers to a wireless signal or an RF signal.

[0041] FIG.1 illustrates an example wireless communications system 100, according to aspects of the disclosure. The wireless communications system 100 (which may also be referred to as a wireless wide area network (WWAN)) may include various base stations 102 (labeled “BS”) and various UEs 104. The base stations 102 may include macro cell base stations (high power cellular base stations) and / or small cell base stations (low power cellular base stations). In an aspect, the macro cell base stations may include eNBs and / or ng-eNBs where the wireless communications system 100 corresponds to an LTE network, or gNBs where the wireless communications system 100 corresponds to a NR network, or a combination of both, and the small cell base stations may include femtocells, picocells, microcells, etc.

[0042] The base stations 102 may collectively form a RAN and interface with a core network 170 (e.g., an evolved packet core (EPC) or a 5G core (5GC)) through backhaul links 122, and through the core network 170 to one or more location servers 172 (e.g., a location management function (LMF) or a secure user plane location (SUPL) location platform (SLP)). The location server(s) 172 may be part of core network 170 or may be external 9 QC2307045WOQualcomm Ref. No.2307045WO to core network 170. A location server 172 may be integrated with a base station 102. A UE 104 may communicate with a location server 172 directly or indirectly. For example, a UE 104 may communicate with a location server 172 via the base station 102 that is currently serving that UE 104. A UE 104 may also communicate with a location server 172 through another path, such as via an application server (not shown), via another network, such as via a wireless local area network (WLAN) access point (AP) (e.g., AP 150 described below), and so on. For signaling purposes, communication between a UE 104 and a location server 172 may be represented as an indirect connection (e.g., through the core network 170, etc.) or a direct connection (e.g., as shown via direct connection 128), with the intervening nodes (if any) omitted from a signaling diagram for clarity.

[0043] In addition to other functions, the base stations 102 may perform functions that relate to one or more of transferring user data, radio channel ciphering and deciphering, integrity protection, header compression, mobility control functions (e.g., handover, dual connectivity), inter-cell interference coordination, connection setup and release, load balancing, distribution for non-access stratum (NAS) messages, NAS node selection, synchronization, RAN sharing, multimedia broadcast multicast service (MBMS), subscriber and equipment trace, RAN information management (RIM), paging, positioning, and delivery of warning messages. The base stations 102 may communicate with each other directly or indirectly (e.g., through the EPC / 5GC) over backhaul links 134, which may be wired or wireless.

[0044] The base stations 102 may wirelessly communicate with the UEs 104. Each of the base stations 102 may provide communication coverage for a respective geographic coverage area 110. In an aspect, one or more cells may be supported by a base station 102 in each geographic coverage area 110. A “cell” is a logical communication entity used for communication with a base station (e.g., over some frequency resource, referred to as a carrier frequency, component carrier, carrier, band, or the like), and may be associated with an identifier (e.g., a physical cell identifier (PCI), an enhanced cell identifier (ECI), a virtual cell identifier (VCI), a cell global identifier (CGI), etc.) for distinguishing cells operating via the same or a different carrier frequency. In some cases, different cells may be configured according to different protocol types (e.g., machine-type communication (MTC), narrowband IoT (NB-IoT), enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB), or others) that may provide access for different types of UEs. Because a cell is supported by a specific 10 QC2307045WOQualcomm Ref. No.2307045WO base station, the term “cell” may refer to either or both of the logical communication entity and the base station that supports it, depending on the context. In addition, because a TRP is typically the physical transmission point of a cell, the terms “cell” and “TRP” may be used interchangeably. In some cases, the term “cell” may also refer to a geographic coverage area of a base station (e.g., a sector), insofar as a carrier frequency can be detected and used for communication within some portion of geographic coverage areas 110.

[0045] While neighboring macro cell base station 102 geographic coverage areas 110 may partially overlap (e.g., in a handover region), some of the geographic coverage areas 110 may be substantially overlapped by a larger geographic coverage area 110. For example, a small cell base station 102' (labeled “SC” for “small cell”) may have a geographic coverage area 110' that substantially overlaps with the geographic coverage area 110 of one or more macro cell base stations 102. A network that includes both small cell and macro cell base stations may be known as a heterogeneous network. A heterogeneous network may also include home eNBs (HeNBs), which may provide service to a restricted group known as a closed subscriber group (CSG).

[0046] The communication links 120 between the base stations 102 and the UEs 104 may include uplink (also referred to as reverse link) transmissions from a UE 104 to a base station 102 and / or downlink (DL) (also referred to as forward link) transmissions from a base station 102 to a UE 104. The communication links 120 may use MIMO antenna technology, including spatial multiplexing, beamforming, and / or transmit diversity. The communication links 120 may be through one or more carrier frequencies. Allocation of carriers may be asymmetric with respect to downlink and uplink (e.g., more or less carriers may be allocated for downlink than for uplink).

[0047] The wireless communications system 100 may further include a wireless local area network (WLAN) access point (AP) 150 in communication with WLAN stations (STAs) 152 via communication links 154 in an unlicensed frequency spectrum (e.g., 5 GHz). When communicating in an unlicensed frequency spectrum, the WLAN STAs 152 and / or the WLAN AP 150 may perform a clear channel assessment (CCA) or listen before talk (LBT) procedure prior to communicating in order to determine whether the channel is available. 11 QC2307045WOQualcomm Ref. No.2307045WO

[0048] The small cell base station 102' may operate in a licensed and / or an unlicensed frequency spectrum. When operating in an unlicensed frequency spectrum, the small cell base station 102' may employ LTE or NR technology and use the same 5 GHz unlicensed frequency spectrum as used by the WLAN AP 150. The small cell base station 102', employing LTE / 5G in an unlicensed frequency spectrum, may boost coverage to and / or increase capacity of the access network. NR in unlicensed spectrum may be referred to as NR-U. LTE in an unlicensed spectrum may be referred to as LTE-U, licensed assisted access (LAA), or MULTEFIRE®.

[0049] The wireless communications system 100 may further include a millimeter wave (mmW) base station 180 that may operate in mmW frequencies and / or near mmW frequencies in communication with a UE 182. Extremely high frequency (EHF) is part of the RF in the electromagnetic spectrum. EHF has a range of 30 GHz to 300 GHz and a wavelength between 1 millimeter and 10 millimeters. Radio waves in this band may be referred to as a millimeter wave. Near mmW may extend down to a frequency of 3 GHz with a wavelength of 100 millimeters. The super high frequency (SHF) band extends between 3 GHz and 30 GHz, also referred to as centimeter wave. Communications using the mmW / near mmW radio frequency band have high path loss and a relatively short range. The mmW base station 180 and the UE 182 may utilize beamforming (transmit and / or receive) over a mmW communication link 184 to compensate for the extremely high path loss and short range. Further, it will be appreciated that in alternative configurations, one or more base stations 102 may also transmit using mmW or near mmW and beamforming. Accordingly, it will be appreciated that the foregoing illustrations are merely examples and should not be construed to limit the various aspects disclosed herein.

[0050] Transmit beamforming is a technique for focusing an RF signal in a specific direction. Traditionally, when a network node (e.g., a base station) broadcasts an RF signal, it broadcasts the signal in all directions (omni-directionally). With transmit beamforming, the network node determines where a given target device (e.g., a UE) is located (relative to the transmitting network node) and projects a stronger downlink RF signal in that specific direction, thereby providing a faster (in terms of data rate) and stronger RF signal for the receiving device(s). To change the directionality of the RF signal when transmitting, a network node can control the phase and relative amplitude of the RF signal at each of the one or more transmitters that are broadcasting the RF signal. For example, 12 QC2307045WOQualcomm Ref. No.2307045WO a network node may use an array of antennas (referred to as a “phased array” or an “antenna array”) that creates a beam of RF waves that can be “steered” to point in different directions, without actually moving the antennas. Specifically, the RF current from the transmitter is fed to the individual antennas with the correct phase relationship so that the radio waves from the separate antennas add together to increase the radiation in a desired direction, while cancelling to suppress radiation in undesired directions.

[0051] Transmit beams may be quasi-co-located, meaning that they appear to the receiver (e.g., a UE) as having the same parameters, regardless of whether or not the transmitting antennas of the network node themselves are physically co-located. In NR, there are four types of quasi-co-location (QCL) relations. Specifically, a QCL relation of a given type means that certain parameters about a second reference RF signal on a second beam can be derived from information about a source reference RF signal on a source beam. Thus, if the source reference RF signal is QCL Type A, the receiver can use the source reference RF signal to estimate the Doppler shift, Doppler spread, average delay, and delay spread of a second reference RF signal transmitted on the same channel. If the source reference RF signal is QCL Type B, the receiver can use the source reference RF signal to estimate the Doppler shift and Doppler spread of a second reference RF signal transmitted on the same channel. If the source reference RF signal is QCL Type C, the receiver can use the source reference RF signal to estimate the Doppler shift and average delay of a second reference RF signal transmitted on the same channel. If the source reference RF signal is QCL Type D, the receiver can use the source reference RF signal to estimate the spatial receive parameter of a second reference RF signal transmitted on the same channel.

[0052] In receive beamforming, the receiver uses a receive beam to amplify RF signals detected on a given channel. For example, the receiver can increase the gain setting and / or adjust the phase setting of an array of antennas in a particular direction to amplify (e.g., to increase the gain level of) the RF signals received from that direction. Thus, when a receiver is said to beamform in a certain direction, it means the beam gain in that direction is high relative to the beam gain along other directions, or the beam gain in that direction is the highest compared to the beam gain in that direction of all other receive beams available to the receiver. This results in a stronger received signal strength (e.g., reference signal received power (RSRP), reference signal received quality (RSRQ), signal-to- interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR), etc.) of the RF signals received from that direction. 13 QC2307045WOQualcomm Ref. No.2307045WO

[0053] Transmit and receive beams may be spatially related. A spatial relation means that parameters for a second beam (e.g., a transmit or receive beam) for a second reference signal can be derived from information about a first beam (e.g., a receive beam or a transmit beam) for a first reference signal. For example, a UE may use a particular receive beam to receive a reference downlink reference signal (e.g., synchronization signal block (SSB)) from a base station. The UE can then form a transmit beam for sending an uplink reference signal (e.g., sounding reference signal (SRS)) to that base station based on the parameters of the receive beam.

[0054] Note that a “downlink” beam may be either a transmit beam or a receive beam, depending on the entity forming it. For example, if a base station is forming the downlink beam to transmit a reference signal to a UE, the downlink beam is a transmit beam. If the UE is forming the downlink beam, however, it is a receive beam to receive the downlink reference signal. Similarly, an “uplink” beam may be either a transmit beam or a receive beam, depending on the entity forming it. For example, if a base station is forming the uplink beam, it is an uplink receive beam, and if a UE is forming the uplink beam, it is an uplink transmit beam.

[0055] The electromagnetic spectrum is often subdivided, based on frequency / wavelength, into various classes, bands, channels, etc. In 5G NR two initial operating bands have been identified as frequency range designations FR1 (410 MHz – 7.125 GHz) and FR2 (24.25 GHz – 52.6 GHz). It should be understood that although a portion of FR1 is greater than 6 GHz, FR1 is often referred to (interchangeably) as a “Sub-6 GHz” band in various documents and articles. A similar nomenclature issue sometimes occurs with regard to FR2, which is often referred to (interchangeably) as a “millimeter wave” band in documents and articles, despite being different from the extremely high frequency (EHF) band (30 GHz – 300 GHz) which is identified by the INTERNATIONAL TELECOMMUNICATION UNION® as a “millimeter wave” band.

[0056] The frequencies between FR1 and FR2 are often referred to as mid-band frequencies. Recent 5G NR studies have identified an operating band for these mid-band frequencies as frequency range designation FR3 (7.125 GHz – 24.25 GHz). Frequency bands falling within FR3 may inherit FR1 characteristics and / or FR2 characteristics, and thus may effectively extend features of FR1 and / or FR2 into mid-band frequencies. In addition, higher frequency bands are currently being explored to extend 5G NR operation beyond 14 QC2307045WOQualcomm Ref. No.2307045WO 52.6 GHz. For example, three higher operating bands have been identified as frequency range designations FR4a or FR4-1 (52.6 GHz – 71 GHz), FR4 (52.6 GHz – 114.25 GHz), and FR5 (114.25 GHz – 300 GHz). Each of these higher frequency bands falls within the EHF band.

[0057] With the above aspects in mind, unless specifically stated otherwise, it should be understood that the term “sub-6 GHz” or the like if used herein may broadly represent frequencies that may be less than 6 GHz, may be within FR1, or may include mid-band frequencies. Further, unless specifically stated otherwise, it should be understood that the term “millimeter wave” or the like if used herein may broadly represent frequencies that may include mid-band frequencies, may be within FR2, FR4, FR4-a or FR4-1, and / or FR5, or may be within the EHF band.

[0058] In a multi-carrier system, such as 5G, one of the carrier frequencies is referred to as the “primary carrier” or “anchor carrier” or “primary serving cell” or “PCell,” and the remaining carrier frequencies are referred to as “secondary carriers” or “secondary serving cells” or “SCells.” In carrier aggregation, the anchor carrier is the carrier operating on the primary frequency (e.g., FR1) utilized by a UE 104 / 182 and the cell in which the UE 104 / 182 either performs the initial radio resource control (RRC) connection establishment procedure or initiates the RRC connection re-establishment procedure. The primary carrier carries all common and UE-specific control channels, and may be a carrier in a licensed frequency (however, this is not always the case). A secondary carrier is a carrier operating on a second frequency (e.g., FR2) that may be configured once the RRC connection is established between the UE 104 and the anchor carrier and that may be used to provide additional radio resources. In some cases, the secondary carrier may be a carrier in an unlicensed frequency. The secondary carrier may contain only necessary signaling information and signals, for example, those that are UE-specific may not be present in the secondary carrier, since both primary uplink and downlink carriers are typically UE-specific. This means that different UEs 104 / 182 in a cell may have different downlink primary carriers. The same is true for the uplink primary carriers. The network is able to change the primary carrier of any UE 104 / 182 at any time. This is done, for example, to balance the load on different carriers. Because a “serving cell” (whether a PCell or an SCell) corresponds to a carrier frequency / component carrier over which QC2307045WOQualcomm Ref. No.2307045WO some base station is communicating, the term “cell,” “serving cell,” “component carrier,” “carrier frequency,” and the like can be used interchangeably.

[0059] For example, still referring to FIG. 1, one of the frequencies utilized by the macro cell base stations 102 may be an anchor carrier (or “PCell”) and other frequencies utilized by the macro cell base stations 102 and / or the mmW base station 180 may be secondary carriers (“SCells”). The simultaneous transmission and / or reception of multiple carriers enables the UE 104 / 182 to significantly increase its data transmission and / or reception rates. For example, two 20 MHz aggregated carriers in a multi-carrier system would theoretically lead to a two-fold increase in data rate (i.e., 40 MHz), compared to that attained by a single 20 MHz carrier.

[0060] The wireless communications system 100 may further include a UE 164 that may communicate with a macro cell base station 102 over a communication link 120 and / or the mmW base station 180 over a mmW communication link 184. For example, the macro cell base station 102 may support a PCell and one or more SCells for the UE 164 and the mmW base station 180 may support one or more SCells for the UE 164.

[0061] In some cases, the UE 164 and the UE 182 may be capable of sidelink communication. Sidelink-capable UEs (SL-UEs) may communicate with base stations 102 over communication links 120 using the Uu interface (i.e., the air interface between a UE and a base station). SL-UEs (e.g., UE 164, UE 182) may also communicate directly with each other over a wireless sidelink 160 using the PC5 interface (i.e., the air interface between sidelink-capable UEs). A wireless sidelink (or just “sidelink”) is an adaptation of the core cellular (e.g., LTE, NR) standard that allows direct communication between two or more UEs without the communication needing to go through a base station. Sidelink communication may be unicast or multicast, and may be used for device-to-device (D2D) media-sharing, vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communication, vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communication (e.g., cellular V2X (cV2X) communication, enhanced V2X (eV2X) communication, etc.), emergency rescue applications, etc. One or more of a group of SL- UEs utilizing sidelink communications may be within the geographic coverage area 110 of a base station 102. Other SL-UEs in such a group may be outside the geographic coverage area 110 of a base station 102 or be otherwise unable to receive transmissions from a base station 102. In some cases, groups of SL-UEs communicating via sidelink communications may utilize a one-to-many (1:M) system in which each SL-UE transmits 16 QC2307045WOQualcomm Ref. No.2307045WO to every other SL-UE in the group. In some cases, a base station 102 facilitates the scheduling of resources for sidelink communications. In other cases, sidelink communications are carried out between SL-UEs without the involvement of a base station 102.

[0062] In an aspect, the sidelink 160 may operate over a wireless communication medium of interest, which may be shared with other wireless communications between other vehicles and / or infrastructure access points, as well as other RATs. A “medium” may be composed of one or more time, frequency, and / or space communication resources (e.g., encompassing one or more channels across one or more carriers) associated with wireless communication between one or more transmitter / receiver pairs. In an aspect, the medium of interest may correspond to at least a portion of an unlicensed frequency band shared among various RATs. Although different licensed frequency bands have been reserved for certain communication systems (e.g., by a government entity such as the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in the United States), these systems, in particular those employing small cell access points, have recently extended operation into unlicensed frequency bands such as the Unlicensed National Information Infrastructure (U-NII) band used by wireless local area network (WLAN) technologies, most notably IEEE 802.11x WLAN technologies generally referred to as “Wi-Fi.” Example systems of this type include different variants of CDMA systems, TDMA systems, FDMA systems, orthogonal FDMA (OFDMA) systems, single-carrier FDMA (SC-FDMA) systems, and so on.

[0063] Note that although FIG. 1 only illustrates two of the UEs as SL-UEs (i.e., UEs 164 and 182), any of the illustrated UEs may be SL-UEs. Further, although only UE 182 was described as being capable of beamforming, any of the illustrated UEs, including UE 164, may be capable of beamforming. Where SL-UEs are capable of beamforming, they may beamform towards each other (i.e., towards other SL-UEs), towards other UEs (e.g., UEs 104), towards base stations (e.g., base stations 102, 180, small cell 102’, access point 150), etc. Thus, in some cases, UEs 164 and 182 may utilize beamforming over sidelink 160.

[0064] In the example of FIG.1, any of the illustrated UEs (shown in FIG.1 as a single UE 104 for simplicity) may receive signals 124 from one or more Earth orbiting space vehicles (SVs) 112 (e.g., satellites). In an aspect, the SVs 112 may be part of a satellite positioning QC2307045WOQualcomm Ref. No.2307045WO system that a UE 104 can use as an independent source of location information. A satellite positioning system typically includes a system of transmitters (e.g., SVs 112) positioned to enable receivers (e.g., UEs 104) to determine their location on or above the Earth based, at least in part, on positioning signals (e.g., signals 124) received from the transmitters. Such a transmitter typically transmits a signal marked with a repeating pseudo-random noise (PN) code of a set number of chips. While typically located in SVs 112, transmitters may sometimes be located on ground-based control stations, base stations 102, and / or other UEs 104. A UE 104 may include one or more dedicated receivers specifically designed to receive signals 124 for deriving geo location information from the SVs 112.

[0065] In a satellite positioning system, the use of signals 124 can be augmented by various satellite-based augmentation systems (SBAS) that may be associated with or otherwise enabled for use with one or more global and / or regional navigation satellite systems. For example an SBAS may include an augmentation system(s) that provides integrity information, differential corrections, etc., such as the Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS), the European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service (EGNOS), the Multi- functional Satellite Augmentation System (MSAS), the Global Positioning System (GPS) Aided Geo Augmented Navigation or GPS and Geo Augmented Navigation system (GAGAN), and / or the like. Thus, as used herein, a satellite positioning system may include any combination of one or more global and / or regional navigation satellites associated with such one or more satellite positioning systems.

[0066] In an aspect, SVs 112 may additionally or alternatively be part of one or more non- terrestrial networks (NTNs). In an NTN, an SV 112 is connected to an earth station (also referred to as a ground station, NTN gateway, or gateway), which in turn is connected to an element in a 5G network, such as a modified base station 102 (without a terrestrial antenna) or a network node in a 5GC. This element would in turn provide access to other elements in the 5G network and ultimately to entities external to the 5G network, such as Internet web servers and other user devices. In that way, a UE 104 may receive communication signals (e.g., signals 124) from an SV 112 instead of, or in addition to, communication signals from a terrestrial base station 102.

[0067] The wireless communications system 100 may further include one or more UEs, such as UE 190, that connects indirectly to one or more communication networks via one or more device-to-device (D2D) peer-to-peer (P2P) links (referred to as “sidelinks”). In the 18 QC2307045WOQualcomm Ref. No.2307045WO example of FIG. 1, UE 190 has a D2D P2P link 192 with one of the UEs 104 connected to one of the base stations 102 (e.g., through which UE 190 may indirectly obtain cellular connectivity) and a D2D P2P link 194 with WLAN STA 152 connected to the WLAN AP 150 (through which UE 190 may indirectly obtain WLAN-based Internet connectivity). In an example, the D2D P2P links 192 and 194 may be supported with any well-known D2D RAT, such as LTE Direct (LTE-D), WI-FI DIRECT®, BLUETOOTH®, and so on.

[0068] FIG.2A illustrates an example wireless network structure 200. For example, a 5GC 210 (also referred to as a Next Generation Core (NGC)) can be viewed functionally as control plane (C-plane) functions 214 (e.g., UE registration, authentication, network access, gateway selection, etc.) and user plane (U-plane) functions 212, (e.g., UE gateway function, access to data networks, IP routing, etc.) which operate cooperatively to form the core network. User plane interface (NG-U) 213 and control plane interface (NG-C) 215 connect the gNB 222 to the 5GC 210 and specifically to the user plane functions 212 and control plane functions 214, respectively. In an additional configuration, an ng-eNB 224 may also be connected to the 5GC 210 via NG-C 215 to the control plane functions 214 and NG-U 213 to user plane functions 212. Further, ng-eNB 224 may directly communicate with gNB 222 via a backhaul connection 223. In some configurations, a Next Generation RAN (NG-RAN) 220 may have one or more gNBs 222, while other configurations include one or more of both ng-eNBs 224 and gNBs 222. Either (or both) gNB 222 or ng-eNB 224 may communicate with one or more UEs 204 (e.g., any of the UEs described herein).

[0069] Another optional aspect may include a location server 230, which may be in communication with the 5GC 210 to provide location assistance for UE(s) 204. The location server 230 can be implemented as a plurality of separate servers (e.g., physically separate servers, different software modules on a single server, different software modules spread across multiple physical servers, etc.), or alternately may each correspond to a single server. The location server 230 can be configured to support one or more location services for UEs 204 that can connect to the location server 230 via the core network, 5GC 210, and / or via the Internet (not illustrated). Further, the location server 230 may be integrated into a component of the core network, or alternatively may be 19 QC2307045WOQualcomm Ref. No.2307045WO 20 external to the core network (e.g., a third party server, such as an original equipment manufacturer (OEM) server or service server).

[0070] FIG. 2B illustrates another example wireless network structure 240. A 5GC 260 (which may correspond to 5GC 210 in FIG. 2A) can be viewed functionally as control plane functions, provided by an access and mobility management function (AMF) 264, and user plane functions, provided by a user plane function (UPF) 262, which operate cooperatively to form the core network (i.e., 5GC 260). The functions of the AMF 264 include registration management, connection management, reachability management, mobility management, lawful interception, transport for session management (SM) messages between one or more UEs 204 (e.g., any of the UEs described herein) and a session management function (SMF) 266, transparent proxy services for routing SM messages, access authentication and access authorization, transport for short message service (SMS) messages between the UE 204 and the short message service function (SMSF) (not shown), and security anchor functionality (SEAF). The AMF 264 also interacts with an authentication server function (AUSF) (not shown) and the UE 204, and receives the intermediate key that was established as a result of the UE 204 authentication process. In the case of authentication based on a UMTS (universal mobile telecommunications system) subscriber identity module (USIM), the AMF 264 retrieves the security material from the AUSF. The functions of the AMF 264 also include security context management (SCM). The SCM receives a key from the SEAF that it uses to derive access-network specific keys. The functionality of the AMF 264 also includes location services management for regulatory services, transport for location services messages between the UE 204 and a location management function (LMF) 270 (which acts as a location server 230), transport for location services messages between the NG-RAN 220 and the LMF 270, evolved packet system (EPS) bearer identifier allocation for interworking with the EPS, and UE 204 mobility event notification. In addition, the AMF 264 also supports functionalities for non-3GPP® (Third Generation Partnership Project) access networks.

[0071] Functions of the UPF 262 include acting as an anchor point for intra / inter-RAT mobility (when applicable), acting as an external protocol data unit (PDU) session point of interconnect to a data network (not shown), providing packet routing and forwarding, packet inspection, user plane policy rule enforcement (e.g., gating, redirection, traffic 20 QC2307045WOQualcomm Ref. No.2307045WO steering), lawful interception (user plane collection), traffic usage reporting, quality of service (QoS) handling for the user plane (e.g., uplink / downlink rate enforcement, reflective QoS marking in the downlink), uplink traffic verification (service data flow (SDF) to QoS flow mapping), transport level packet marking in the uplink and downlink, downlink packet buffering and downlink data notification triggering, and sending and forwarding of one or more “end markers” to the source RAN node. The UPF 262 may also support transfer of location services messages over a user plane between the UE 204 and a location server, such as an SLP 272.

[0072] The functions of the SMF 266 include session management, UE Internet protocol (IP) address allocation and management, selection and control of user plane functions, configuration of traffic steering at the UPF 262 to route traffic to the proper destination, control of part of policy enforcement and QoS, and downlink data notification. The interface over which the SMF 266 communicates with the AMF 264 is referred to as the N11 interface.

[0073] Another optional aspect may include an LMF 270, which may be in communication with the 5GC 260 to provide location assistance for UEs 204. The LMF 270 can be implemented as a plurality of separate servers (e.g., physically separate servers, different software modules on a single server, different software modules spread across multiple physical servers, etc.), or alternately may each correspond to a single server. The LMF 270 can be configured to support one or more location services for UEs 204 that can connect to the LMF 270 via the core network, 5GC 260, and / or via the Internet (not illustrated). The SLP 272 may support similar functions to the LMF 270, but whereas the LMF 270 may communicate with the AMF 264, NG-RAN 220, and UEs 204 over a control plane (e.g., using interfaces and protocols intended to convey signaling messages and not voice or data), the SLP 272 may communicate with UEs 204 and external clients (e.g., third-party server 274) over a user plane (e.g., using protocols intended to carry voice and / or data like the transmission control protocol (TCP) and / or IP).

[0074] Yet another optional aspect may include a third-party server 274, which may be in communication with the LMF 270, the SLP 272, the 5GC 260 (e.g., via the AMF 264 and / or the UPF 262), the NG-RAN 220, and / or the UE 204 to obtain location information (e.g., a location estimate) for the UE 204. As such, in some cases, the third-party server 274 may be referred to as a location services (LCS) client or an external client. The third- 21 QC2307045WOQualcomm Ref. No.2307045WO party server 274 can be implemented as a plurality of separate servers (e.g., physically separate servers, different software modules on a single server, different software modules spread across multiple physical servers, etc.), or alternately may each correspond to a single server.

[0075] User plane interface 263 and control plane interface 265 connect the 5GC 260, and specifically the UPF 262 and AMF 264, respectively, to one or more gNBs 222 and / or ng-eNBs 224 in the NG-RAN 220. The interface between gNB(s) 222 and / or ng-eNB(s) 224 and the AMF 264 is referred to as the “N2” interface, and the interface between gNB(s) 222 and / or ng-eNB(s) 224 and the UPF 262 is referred to as the “N3” interface. The gNB(s) 222 and / or ng-eNB(s) 224 of the NG-RAN 220 may communicate directly with each other via backhaul connections 223, referred to as the “Xn-C” interface. One or more of gNBs 222 and / or ng-eNBs 224 may communicate with one or more UEs 204 over a wireless interface, referred to as the “Uu” interface.

[0076] The functionality of a gNB 222 may be divided between a gNB central unit (gNB-CU) 226, one or more gNB distributed units (gNB-DUs) 228, and one or more gNB radio units (gNB-RUs) 229. A gNB-CU 226 is a logical node that includes the base station functions of transferring user data, mobility control, radio access network sharing, positioning, session management, and the like, except for those functions allocated exclusively to the gNB-DU(s) 228. More specifically, the gNB-CU 226 generally host the radio resource control (RRC), service data adaptation protocol (SDAP), and packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) protocols of the gNB 222. A gNB-DU 228 is a logical node that generally hosts the radio link control (RLC) and medium access control (MAC) layer of the gNB 222. Its operation is controlled by the gNB-CU 226. One gNB-DU 228 can support one or more cells, and one cell is supported by only one gNB-DU 228. The interface 232 between the gNB-CU 226 and the one or more gNB-DUs 228 is referred to as the “F1” interface. The physical (PHY) layer functionality of a gNB 222 is generally hosted by one or more standalone gNB-RUs 229 that perform functions such as power amplification and signal transmission / reception. The interface between a gNB-DU 228 and a gNB-RU 229 is referred to as the “Fx” interface. Thus, a UE 204 communicates with the gNB-CU 226 via the RRC, SDAP, and PDCP layers, with a gNB-DU 228 via the RLC and MAC layers, and with a gNB-RU 229 via the PHY layer. 22 QC2307045WOQualcomm Ref. No.2307045WO 23

[0077] FIGS. 3A, 3B, and 3C illustrate several example components (represented by corresponding blocks) that may be incorporated into a UE 302 (which may correspond to any of the UEs described herein), a base station 304 (which may correspond to any of the base stations described herein), and a network entity 306 (which may correspond to or embody any of the network functions described herein, including the location server 230 and the LMF 270, or alternatively may be independent from the NG-RAN 220 and / or 5GC 210 / 260 infrastructure depicted in FIGS. 2A and 2B, such as a private network) to support the operations described herein. It will be appreciated that these components may be implemented in different types of apparatuses in different implementations (e.g., in an ASIC, in a system-on-chip (SoC), etc.). The illustrated components may also be incorporated into other apparatuses in a communication system. For example, other apparatuses in a system may include components similar to those described to provide similar functionality. Also, a given apparatus may contain one or more of the components. For example, an apparatus may include multiple transceiver components that enable the apparatus to operate on multiple carriers and / or communicate via different technologies.

[0078] The UE 302 and the base station 304 each include one or more wireless wide area network (WWAN) transceivers 310 and 350, respectively, providing means for communicating (e.g., means for transmitting, means for receiving, means for measuring, means for tuning, means for refraining from transmitting, etc.) via one or more wireless communication networks (not shown), such as an NR network, an LTE network, a GSM network, and / or the like. The WWAN transceivers 310 and 350 may each be connected to one or more antennas 316 and 356, respectively, for communicating with other network nodes, such as other UEs, access points, base stations (e.g., eNBs, gNBs), etc., via at least one designated RAT (e.g., NR, LTE, GSM, etc.) over a wireless communication medium of interest (e.g., some set of time / frequency resources in a particular frequency spectrum). The WWAN transceivers 310 and 350 may be variously configured for transmitting and encoding signals 318 and 358 (e.g., messages, indications, information, and so on), respectively, and, conversely, for receiving and decoding signals 318 and 358 (e.g., messages, indications, information, pilots, and so on), respectively, in accordance with the designated RAT. Specifically, the WWAN transceivers 310 and 350 include one or more transmitters 314 and 354, respectively, for transmitting and encoding signals 318 23 QC2307045WOQualcomm Ref. No.2307045WO 24 and 358, respectively, and one or more receivers 312 and 352, respectively, for receiving and decoding signals 318 and 358, respectively.

[0079] The UE 302 and the base station 304 each also include, at least in some cases, one or more short-range wireless transceivers 320 and 360, respectively. The short-range wireless transceivers 320 and 360 may be connected to one or more antennas 326 and 366, respectively, and provide means for communicating (e.g., means for transmitting, means for receiving, means for measuring, means for tuning, means for refraining from transmitting, etc.) with other network nodes, such as other UEs, access points, base stations, etc., via at least one designated RAT (e.g., Wi-Fi, LTE Direct, BLUETOOTH®, ZIGBEE®, Z-WAVE®, PC5, dedicated short-range communications (DSRC), wireless access for vehicular environments (WAVE), near-field communication (NFC), ultra- wideband (UWB), etc.) over a wireless communication medium of interest. The short- range wireless transceivers 320 and 360 may be variously configured for transmitting and encoding signals 328 and 368 (e.g., messages, indications, information, and so on), respectively, and, conversely, for receiving and decoding signals 328 and 368 (e.g., messages, indications, information, pilots, and so on), respectively, in accordance with the designated RAT. Specifically, the short-range wireless transceivers 320 and 360 include one or more transmitters 324 and 364, respectively, for transmitting and encoding signals 328 and 368, respectively, and one or more receivers 322 and 362, respectively, for receiving and decoding signals 328 and 368, respectively. As specific examples, the short-range wireless transceivers 320 and 360 may be Wi-Fi transceivers, BLUETOOTH® transceivers, ZIGBEE® and / or Z-WAVE® transceivers, NFC transceivers, UWB transceivers, or vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) and / or vehicle-to- everything (V2X) transceivers.

[0080] The UE 302 and the base station 304 also include, at least in some cases, satellite signal interfaces 330 and 370, which each include one or more satellite signal receivers 332 and 372, respectively, and may optionally include one or more satellite signal transmitters 334 and 374, respectively. In some cases, the base station 304 may be a terrestrial base station that may communicate with space vehicles (e.g., space vehicles 112) via the satellite signal interface 370. In other cases, the base station 304 may be a space vehicle (or other non-terrestrial entity) that uses the satellite signal interface 370 to communicate with terrestrial networks and / or other space vehicles. 24 QC2307045WOQualcomm Ref. No.2307045WO

[0081] The satellite signal receivers 332 and 372 may be connected to one or more antennas 336 and 376, respectively, and may provide means for receiving and / or measuring satellite positioning / communication signals 338 and 378, respectively. Where the satellite signal receiver(s) 332 and 372 are satellite positioning system receivers, the satellite positioning / communication signals 338 and 378 may be global positioning system (GPS) signals, global navigation satellite system (GLONASS) signals, Galileo signals, Beidou signals, Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (NAVIC), Quasi-Zenith Satellite System (QZSS) signals, etc. Where the satellite signal receiver(s) 332 and 372 are non- terrestrial network (NTN) receivers, the satellite positioning / communication signals 338 and 378 may be communication signals (e.g., carrying control and / or user data) originating from a 5G network. The satellite signal receiver(s) 332 and 372 may comprise any suitable hardware and / or software for receiving and processing satellite positioning / communication signals 338 and 378, respectively. The satellite signal receiver(s) 332 and 372 may request information and operations as appropriate from the other systems, and, at least in some cases, perform calculations to determine locations of the UE 302 and the base station 304, respectively, using measurements obtained by any suitable satellite positioning system algorithm.

[0082] The optional satellite signal transmitter(s) 334 and 374, when present, may be connected to the one or more antennas 336 and 376, respectively, and may provide means for transmitting satellite positioning / communication signals 338 and 378, respectively. Where the satellite signal transmitter(s) 374 are satellite positioning system transmitters, the satellite positioning / communication signals 378 may be GPS signals, GLONASS® signals, Galileo signals, Beidou signals, NAVIC, QZSS signals, etc. Where the satellite signal transmitter(s) 334 and 374 are NTN transmitters, the satellite positioning / communication signals 338 and 378 may be communication signals (e.g., carrying control and / or user data) originating from a 5G network. The satellite signal transmitter(s) 334 and 374 may comprise any suitable hardware and / or software for transmitting satellite positioning / communication signals 338 and 378, respectively. The satellite signal transmitter(s) 334 and 374 may request information and operations as appropriate from the other systems.

[0083] The base station 304 and the network entity 306 each include one or more network transceivers 380 and 390, respectively, providing means for communicating (e.g., means QC2307045WOQualcomm Ref. No.2307045WO for transmitting, means for receiving, etc.) with other network entities (e.g., other base stations 304, other network entities 306). For example, the base station 304 may employ the one or more network transceivers 380 to communicate with other base stations 304 or network entities 306 over one or more wired or wireless backhaul links. As another example, the network entity 306 may employ the one or more network transceivers 390 to communicate with one or more base station 304 over one or more wired or wireless backhaul links, or with other network entities 306 over one or more wired or wireless core network interfaces.

[0084] A transceiver may be configured to communicate over a wired or wireless link. A transceiver (whether a wired transceiver or a wireless transceiver) includes transmitter circuitry (e.g., transmitters 314, 324, 354, 364) and receiver circuitry (e.g., receivers 312, 322, 352, 362). A transceiver may be an integrated device (e.g., embodying transmitter circuitry and receiver circuitry in a single device) in some implementations, may comprise separate transmitter circuitry and separate receiver circuitry in some implementations, or may be embodied in other ways in other implementations. The transmitter circuitry and receiver circuitry of a wired transceiver (e.g., network transceivers 380 and 390 in some implementations) may be coupled to one or more wired network interface ports. Wireless transmitter circuitry (e.g., transmitters 314, 324, 354, 364) may include or be coupled to a plurality of antennas (e.g., antennas 316, 326, 356, 366), such as an antenna array, that permits the respective apparatus (e.g., UE 302, base station 304) to perform transmit “beamforming,” as described herein. Similarly, wireless receiver circuitry (e.g., receivers 312, 322, 352, 362) may include or be coupled to a plurality of antennas (e.g., antennas 316, 326, 356, 366), such as an antenna array, that permits the respective apparatus (e.g., UE 302, base station 304) to perform receive beamforming, as described herein. In an aspect, the transmitter circuitry and receiver circuitry may share the same plurality of antennas (e.g., antennas 316, 326, 356, 366), such that the respective apparatus can only receive or transmit at a given time, not both at the same time. A wireless transceiver (e.g., WWAN transceivers 310 and 350, short-range wireless transceivers 320 and 360) may also include a network listen module (NLM) or the like for performing various measurements.

[0085] As used herein, the various wireless transceivers (e.g., transceivers 310, 320, 350, and 360, and network transceivers 380 and 390 in some implementations) and wired 26 QC2307045WOQualcomm Ref. No.2307045WO 27 transceivers (e.g., network transceivers 380 and 390 in some implementations) may generally be characterized as “a transceiver,” “at least one transceiver,” or “one or more transceivers.” As such, whether a particular transceiver is a wired or wireless transceiver may be inferred from the type of communication performed. For example, backhaul communication between network devices or servers will generally relate to signaling via a wired transceiver, whereas wireless communication between a UE (e.g., UE 302) and a base station (e.g., base station 304) will generally relate to signaling via a wireless transceiver.

[0086] The UE 302, the base station 304, and the network entity 306 also include other components that may be used in conjunction with the operations as disclosed herein. The UE 302, the base station 304, and the network entity 306 include one or more processors 342, 384, and 394, respectively, for providing functionality relating to, for example, wireless communication, and for providing other processing functionality. The processors 342, 384, and 394 may therefore provide means for processing, such as means for determining, means for calculating, means for receiving, means for transmitting, means for indicating, etc. In an aspect, the processors 342, 384, and 394 may include, for example, one or more general purpose processors, multi-core processors, central processing units (CPUs), ASICs, digital signal processors (DSPs), field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), other programmable logic devices or processing circuitry, or various combinations thereof.

[0087] The UE 302, the base station 304, and the network entity 306 include memory circuitry implementing memories 340, 386, and 396 (e.g., each including a memory device), respectively, for maintaining information (e.g., information indicative of reserved resources, thresholds, parameters, and so on). The memories 340, 386, and 396 may therefore provide means for storing, means for retrieving, means for maintaining, etc. In some cases, the UE 302, the base station 304, and the network entity 306 may include sensing component 348, 388, and 398, respectively. The sensing component 348, 388, and 398 may be hardware circuits that are part of or coupled to the processors 342, 384, and 394, respectively, that, when executed, cause the UE 302, the base station 304, and the network entity 306 to perform the functionality described herein. In other aspects, the sensing component 348, 388, and 398 may be external to the processors 342, 384, and 394 (e.g., part of a modem processing system, integrated with another processing system, QC2307045WOQualcomm Ref. No.2307045WO 28 etc.). Alternatively, the sensing component 348, 388, and 398 may be memory modules stored in the memories 340, 386, and 396, respectively, that, when executed by the processors 342, 384, and 394 (or a modem processing system, another processing system, etc.), cause the UE 302, the base station 304, and the network entity 306 to perform the functionality described herein. FIG. 3A illustrates possible locations of the sensing component 348, which may be, for example, part of the one or more WWAN transceivers 310, the memory 340, the one or more processors 342, or any combination thereof, or may be a standalone component. FIG. 3B illustrates possible locations of the sensing component 388, which may be, for example, part of the one or more WWAN transceivers 350, the memory 386, the one or more processors 384, or any combination thereof, or may be a standalone component. FIG. 3C illustrates possible locations of the sensing component 398, which may be, for example, part of the one or more network transceivers 390, the memory 396, the one or more processors 394, or any combination thereof, or may be a standalone component.

[0088] The UE 302 may include one or more sensors 344 coupled to the one or more processors 342 to provide means for sensing or detecting movement and / or orientation information that is independent of motion data derived from signals received by the one or more WWAN transceivers 310, the one or more short-range wireless transceivers 320, and / or the satellite signal interface 330. By way of example, the sensor(s) 344 may include an accelerometer (e.g., a micro-electrical mechanical systems (MEMS) device), a gyroscope, a geomagnetic sensor (e.g., a compass), an altimeter (e.g., a barometric pressure altimeter), and / or any other type of movement detection sensor. Moreover, the sensor(s) 344 may include a plurality of different types of devices and combine their outputs in order to provide motion information. For example, the sensor(s) 344 may use a combination of a multi-axis accelerometer and orientation sensors to provide the ability to compute positions in two-dimensional (2D) and / or three-dimensional (3D) coordinate systems.

[0089] In addition, the UE 302 includes a user interface 346 providing means for providing indications (e.g., audible and / or visual indications) to a user and / or for receiving user input (e.g., upon user actuation of a sensing device such a keypad, a touch screen, a microphone, and so on). Although not shown, the base station 304 and the network entity 306 may also include user interfaces. 28 QC2307045WOQualcomm Ref. No.2307045WO

[0090] Referring to the one or more processors 384 in more detail, in the downlink, IP packets from the network entity 306 may be provided to the processor 384. The one or more processors 384 may implement functionality for an RRC layer, a packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) layer, a radio link control (RLC) layer, and a medium access control (MAC) layer. The one or more processors 384 may provide RRC layer functionality associated with broadcasting of system information (e.g., master information block (MIB), system information blocks (SIBs)), RRC connection control (e.g., RRC connection paging, RRC connection establishment, RRC connection modification, and RRC connection release), inter-RAT mobility, and measurement configuration for UE measurement reporting; PDCP layer functionality associated with header compression / decompression, security (ciphering, deciphering, integrity protection, integrity verification), and handover support functions; RLC layer functionality associated with the transfer of upper layer PDUs, error correction through automatic repeat request (ARQ), concatenation, segmentation, and reassembly of RLC service data units (SDUs), re-segmentation of RLC data PDUs, and reordering of RLC data PDUs; and MAC layer functionality associated with mapping between logical channels and transport channels, scheduling information reporting, error correction, priority handling, and logical channel prioritization.

[0091] The transmitter 354 and the receiver 352 may implement Layer-1 (L1) functionality associated with various signal processing functions. Layer-1, which includes a physical (PHY) layer, may include error detection on the transport channels, forward error correction (FEC) coding / decoding of the transport channels, interleaving, rate matching, mapping onto physical channels, modulation / demodulation of physical channels, and MIMO antenna processing. The transmitter 354 handles mapping to signal constellations based on various modulation schemes (e.g., binary phase-shift keying (BPSK), quadrature phase-shift keying (QPSK), M-phase-shift keying (M-PSK), M-quadrature amplitude modulation (M-QAM)). The coded and modulated symbols may then be split into parallel streams. Each stream may then be mapped to an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) subcarrier, multiplexed with a reference signal (e.g., pilot) in the time and / or frequency domain, and then combined together using an inverse fast Fourier transform (IFFT) to produce a physical channel carrying a time domain OFDM symbol stream. The OFDM symbol stream is spatially precoded to produce multiple spatial 29 QC2307045WOQualcomm Ref. No.2307045WO streams. Channel estimates from a channel estimator may be used to determine the coding and modulation scheme, as well as for spatial processing. The channel estimate may be derived from a reference signal and / or channel condition feedback transmitted by the UE 302. Each spatial stream may then be provided to one or more different antennas 356. The transmitter 354 may modulate an RF carrier with a respective spatial stream for transmission.

[0092] At the UE 302, the receiver 312 receives a signal through its respective antenna(s) 316. The receiver 312 recovers information modulated onto an RF carrier and provides the information to the one or more processors 342. The transmitter 314 and the receiver 312 implement Layer-1 functionality associated with various signal processing functions. The receiver 312 may perform spatial processing on the information to recover any spatial streams destined for the UE 302. If multiple spatial streams are destined for the UE 302, they may be combined by the receiver 312 into a single OFDM symbol stream. The receiver 312 then converts the OFDM symbol stream from the time-domain to the frequency domain using a fast Fourier transform (FFT). The frequency domain signal comprises a separate OFDM symbol stream for each subcarrier of the OFDM signal. The symbols on each subcarrier, and the reference signal, are recovered and demodulated by determining the most likely signal constellation points transmitted by the base station 304. These soft decisions may be based on channel estimates computed by a channel estimator. The soft decisions are then decoded and de-interleaved to recover the data and control signals that were originally transmitted by the base station 304 on the physical channel. The data and control signals are then provided to the one or more processors 342, which implements Layer-3 (L3) and Layer-2 (L2) functionality.

[0093] In the downlink, the one or more processors 342 provides demultiplexing between transport and logical channels, packet reassembly, deciphering, header decompression, and control signal processing to recover IP packets from the core network. The one or more processors 342 are also responsible for error detection.

[0094] Similar to the functionality described in connection with the downlink transmission by the base station 304, the one or more processors 342 provides RRC layer functionality associated with system information (e.g., MIB, SIBs) acquisition, RRC connections, and measurement reporting; PDCP layer functionality associated with header compression / decompression, and security (ciphering, deciphering, integrity protection, 30 QC2307045WOQualcomm Ref. No.2307045WO integrity verification); RLC layer functionality associated with the transfer of upper layer PDUs, error correction through ARQ, concatenation, segmentation, and reassembly of RLC SDUs, re-segmentation of RLC data PDUs, and reordering of RLC data PDUs; and MAC layer functionality associated with mapping between logical channels and transport channels, multiplexing of MAC SDUs onto transport blocks (TBs), demultiplexing of MAC SDUs from TBs, scheduling information reporting, error correction through hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ), priority handling, and logical channel prioritization.

[0095] Channel estimates derived by the channel estimator from a reference signal or feedback transmitted by the base station 304 may be used by the transmitter 314 to select the appropriate coding and modulation schemes, and to facilitate spatial processing. The spatial streams generated by the transmitter 314 may be provided to different antenna(s) 316. The transmitter 314 may modulate an RF carrier with a respective spatial stream for transmission.

[0096] The uplink transmission is processed at the base station 304 in a manner similar to that described in connection with the receiver function at the UE 302. The receiver 352 receives a signal through its respective antenna(s) 356. The receiver 352 recovers information modulated onto an RF carrier and provides the information to the one or more processors 384.

[0097] In the uplink, the one or more processors 384 provides demultiplexing between transport and logical channels, packet reassembly, deciphering, header decompression, control signal processing to recover IP packets from the UE 302. IP packets from the one or more processors 384 may be provided to the core network. The one or more processors 384 are also responsible for error detection.

[0098] For convenience, the UE 302, the base station 304, and / or the network entity 306 are shown in FIGS.3A, 3B, and 3C as including various components that may be configured according to the various examples described herein. It will be appreciated, however, that the illustrated components may have different functionality in different designs. In particular, various components in FIGS. 3A to 3C are optional in alternative configurations and the various aspects include configurations that may vary due to design choice, costs, use of the device, or other considerations. For example, in case of FIG.3A, a particular implementation of UE 302 may omit the WWAN transceiver(s) 310 (e.g., a wearable device or tablet computer or personal computer (PC) or laptop may have Wi-Fi 31 QC2307045WOQualcomm Ref. No.2307045WO and / or BLUETOOTH® capability without cellular capability), or may omit the short- range wireless transceiver(s) 320 (e.g., cellular-only, etc.), or may omit the satellite signal interface 330, or may omit the sensor(s) 344, and so on. In another example, in case of FIG. 3B, a particular implementation of the base station 304 may omit the WWAN transceiver(s) 350 (e.g., a Wi-Fi “hotspot” access point without cellular capability), or may omit the short-range wireless transceiver(s) 360 (e.g., cellular-only, etc.), or may omit the satellite signal interface 370, and so on. For brevity, illustration of the various alternative configurations is not provided herein, but would be readily understandable to one skilled in the art.

[0099] The various components of the UE 302, the base station 304, and the network entity 306 may be communicatively coupled to each other over data buses 308, 382, and 392, respectively. In an aspect, the data buses 308, 382, and 392 may form, or be part of, a communication interface of the UE 302, the base station 304, and the network entity 306, respectively. For example, where different logical entities are embodied in the same device (e.g., gNB and location server functionality incorporated into the same base station 304), the data buses 308, 382, and 392 may provide communication between them.

[0100] The components of FIGS.3A, 3B, and 3C may be implemented in various ways. In some implementations, the components of FIGS. 3A, 3B, and 3C may be implemented in one or more circuits such as, for example, one or more processors and / or one or more ASICs (which may include one or more processors). Here, each circuit may use and / or incorporate at least one memory component for storing information or executable code used by the circuit to provide this functionality. For example, some or all of the functionality represented by blocks 310 to 346 may be implemented by processor and memory component(s) of the UE 302 (e.g., by execution of appropriate code and / or by appropriate configuration of processor components). Similarly, some or all of the functionality represented by blocks 350 to 388 may be implemented by processor and memory component(s) of the base station 304 (e.g., by execution of appropriate code and / or by appropriate configuration of processor components). Also, some or all of the functionality represented by blocks 390 to 398 may be implemented by processor and memory component(s) of the network entity 306 (e.g., by execution of appropriate code and / or by appropriate configuration of processor components). For simplicity, various operations, acts, and / or functions are described herein as being performed “by a UE,” “by 32 QC2307045WOQualcomm Ref. No.2307045WO a base station,” “by a network entity,” etc. However, as will be appreciated, such operations, acts, and / or functions may actually be performed by specific components or combinations of components of the UE 302, base station 304, network entity 306, etc., such as the processors 342, 384, 394, the transceivers 310, 320, 350, and 360, the memories 340, 386, and 396, the sensing component 348, 388, and 398, etc.

[0101] In some designs, the network entity 306 may be implemented as a core network component. In other designs, the network entity 306 may be distinct from a network operator or operation of the cellular network infrastructure (e.g., NG RAN 220 and / or 5GC 210 / 260). For example, the network entity 306 may be a component of a private network that may be configured to communicate with the UE 302 via the base station 304 or independently from the base station 304 (e.g., over a non-cellular communication link, such as Wi-Fi).

[0102] Wireless communication signals (e.g., radio frequency (RF) signals configured to carry orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbols in accordance with a wireless communications standard, such as LTE, NR, etc.) transmitted between a UE and a base station can be used for environment sensing (also referred to as “RF sensing” or “radar”). Using wireless communication signals for environment sensing can be regarded as consumer-level radar with advanced detection capabilities that enable, among other things, touchless / device-free interaction with a device / system. The wireless communication signals may be cellular communication signals, such as LTE or NR signals, WLAN signals, such as Wi-Fi signals, etc. As a particular example, the wireless communication signals may be an OFDM waveform as utilized in LTE and NR. High- frequency communication signals, such as millimeter wave (mmW) RF signals, are especially beneficial to use as radar signals because the higher frequency provides, at least, more accurate range (distance) detection.

[0103] Possible use cases of RF sensing include health monitoring use cases, such as heartbeat detection, respiration rate monitoring, and the like, gesture recognition use cases, such as human activity recognition, keystroke detection, sign language recognition, and the like, contextual information acquisition use cases, such as location detection / tracking, direction finding, range estimation, and the like, and automotive radar use cases, such as smart cruise control, collision avoidance, and the like. 33 QC2307045WOQualcomm Ref. No.2307045WO

[0104] There are different types of sensing, including monostatic sensing (also referred to as “active sensing”) and bistatic sensing (also referred to as “passive sensing”). FIGS.4A and 4B illustrate these different types of sensing. Specifically, FIG.4A is a diagram 400 illustrating a monostatic sensing scenario and FIG. 4B is a diagram 430 illustrating a bistatic sensing scenario. In FIG. 4A, the transmitter (Tx) and receiver (Rx) are co- located in the same sensing device 404 (e.g., a UE). The sensing device 404 transmits one or more RF sensing signals 434 (e.g., uplink or sidelink positioning reference signals (PRS) where the sensing device 404 is a UE), and some of the RF sensing signals 434 reflect off a target object 406. Based on the channel estimate of the reflections 436 of the RF sensing signals 434, the sensing device 404 can measure various properties (e.g., times of arrival (ToAs), angles of arrival (AoAs), phase shift, Doppler, etc.) of the reflections 436 to determine characteristics of the target object 406 (e.g., size, shape, speed, motion state, etc.).

[0105] In FIG. 4B, the transmitter (Tx) and receiver (Rx) are not co-located, that is, they are separate devices (e.g., a UE and a base station). Note that while FIG.4B illustrates using a downlink RF signal as the RF sensing signal 432, uplink RF signals or sidelink RF signals can also be used as RF sensing signals 432. In a downlink scenario, as shown, the transmitter is a base station and the receiver is a UE, whereas in an uplink scenario, the transmitter is a UE and the receiver is a base station.

[0106] Referring to FIG. 4B in greater detail, the transmitter device 402 transmits RF sensing signals 432 and 434 (e.g., positioning reference signals (PRS)) to the sensing device 404, but some of the RF sensing signals 434 reflect off a target object 406. Based on the channel estimate of the RF sensing signals 432 received directly from the transmitter device and the reflections 436 of the RF sensing signals 434 reflected from the target object 406, the sensing device 404 can measure various properties (e.g., ToAs, AoAs, phase shift, Doppler, etc.) of the RF sensing signals 432 and the reflections 436 to determine characteristics of the target object 406 (e.g., size, shape, speed, motion state, etc.).

[0107] More specifically, as described above, a transmitter device (e.g., a base station) may transmit a single RF signal or multiple RF signals to a sensing device (e.g., a UE). However, the receiver may receive multiple RF signals corresponding to each transmitted RF signal due to the propagation characteristics of RF signals through multipath channels. 34 QC2307045WOQualcomm Ref. No.2307045WO Each path may be associated with a cluster of one or more channel taps. Generally, the time at which the receiver detects the first cluster of channel taps is considered the ToA of the RF signal on the line-of-site (LOS) path (i.e., the shortest path between the transmitter and the receiver). Later clusters of channel taps are considered to have reflected off objects between the transmitter and the receiver and therefore to have followed non-LOS (NLOS) paths between the transmitter and the receiver.

[0108] Thus, referring back to FIG. 4B, the RF sensing signals 432 followed the LOS path between the transmitter device 402 and the sensing device 404, and the RF sensing signals 434 followed an NLOS path between the transmitter device 402 and the sensing device 404 due to reflecting off the target object 406. The transmitter device 402 may have transmitted multiple RF sensing signals 432, 434, some of which followed the LOS path and others of which followed the NLOS path. Alternatively, the transmitter device 402 may have transmitted a single RF sensing signal in a broad enough beam that a portion of the RF sensing signal followed the LOS path (RF sensing signal 432) and a portion of the RF sensing signal followed the NLOS path (RF sensing signal 434).

[0109] Based on the ToA of the LOS path, the ToA of the NLOS path, and the speed of light, the sensing device 404 can determine the distance to the target object(s). For example, the sensing device 404 can calculate the distance to the target object as the difference between the ToA of the LOS path and the ToA of the NLOS path multiplied by the speed of light. In addition, if the sensing device 404 is capable of receive beamforming, the sensing device 404 may be able to determine the general direction to a target object as the direction (angle) of the receive beam on which the RF sensing signal following the NLOS path was received. That is, the sensing device 404 may determine the direction to the target object as the angle of arrival (AoA) of the RF sensing signal, which is the angle of the receive beam used to receive the RF sensing signal. The sensing device 404 may then optionally report this information to the transmitter device 402, its serving base station, an application server associated with the core network, an external client, a third-party application, or some other sensing entity. Alternatively, the sensing device 404 may report the ToA measurements to the transmitter device 402, or other sensing entity (e.g., if the sensing device 404 does not have the processing capability to perform the calculations itself), and the transmitter device 402 may determine the distance and, optionally, the direction to the target object 406. QC2307045WOQualcomm Ref. No.2307045WO

[0110] Note that if the RF sensing signals are uplink RF signals transmitted by a UE to a base station, the base station would perform object detection based on the uplink RF signals just like the UE does based on the downlink RF signals.

[0111] Wireless communication-based radar signal can be used to estimate the range (distance), velocity (Doppler), and angle (AoA) of a target object. However, the performance (e.g., resolution and maximum values of range, velocity, and angle) may depend on the design of the reference signal.

[0112] FIG. 5 is a graph 500 representing an example channel estimate of a multipath channel between a receiver device (e.g., any of the UEs or base stations described herein) and a transmitter device (e.g., any other of the UEs or base stations described herein), according to aspects of the disclosure. The channel estimate represents the intensity of a radio frequency (RF) signal (e.g., a positioning reference signal (PRS)) received through a multipath channel as a function of time delay, and may be referred to as the channel energy response (CER), channel impulse response (CIR), or power delay profile (PDP) of the channel. Thus, the horizontal axis represents time (e.g., milliseconds) and the vertical axis represents signal strength (e.g., decibels). Note that a multipath channel is a channel between a transmitter and a receiver over which an RF signal follows multiple paths, or multipaths, due to transmission of the RF signal on multiple beams and / or to the propagation characteristics of the RF signal (e.g., reflection, refraction, etc.).

[0113] In the example of FIG. 5, the receiver detects / measures multiple (four) channel taps of the RF signal. Each channel tap is a cluster of one or more rays and corresponds to a multipath that the RF signal followed between the transmitter and the receiver. Thus, a channel tap represents the time of arrival and signal strength of an RF signal over a multipath. There may be multiple channel taps due to the RF signal being transmitted on different transmit beams (and therefore at different angles), or because of the propagation characteristics of RF signals (e.g., potentially following different paths due to reflections), or both. Note that although FIG. 5 illustrates channel taps of two to five rays, as will be appreciated, the channel taps may have more or fewer than the illustrated number of rays.

[0114] In the example of FIG. 5, the channel tap detected at time T3 is composed of stronger rays than the channel tap detected at time T1. This may be due to an obstruction on the LOS path between the transmitter and the receiver. Alternatively or additionally, there 36 QC2307045WOQualcomm Ref. No.2307045WO may be a strong reflector along the NLOS path corresponding to the channel tap detected at time T3.

[0115] The maximum radio frequency (RF) exposure of electromagnetic waves on human tissue is typically limited by regulation. For example, in the United States, the Federal Communication Commission (FCC) limits RF exposure on human skin to 1 milliwatt (mW) per square centimeter (cm2) averaged over a surface of 4 cm2. There are two metrics that are commonly used to track compliance with the maximum permissible RF exposure, specifically, the specific absorption rate (SAR) and the maximum permissible exposure (MPE).

[0116] The SAR is generally used as a metric for RF exposure for sub-6 gigahertz (GHz) frequencies. The SAR is given in Watts per kilogram and measures the RF power absorbed by a certain volume of tissue. The SAR may also be measured in Watts per cubic centimeter (cm3). The MPE addresses exposure concerns with mmWave bands, which can heat human tissue. The metric for the MPE is power density (PD) in units of Watts per cm2. SAR and MPE / PD compliance are not treated independently. Rather, the sum of normalized SAR exposure and normalized MPE / PD exposure is capped according to the following equation:

[0117] MPE compliance is further complicated by the need to determine the proximity of human tissue. A UE typically includes a framework of sensors and algorithms to determine the proximity of human tissue. This is typically performed using inertial measurement unit (IMU) sensors and proximity sensors to determine whether the UE is “on” or “off” a body surface. The result is quantized and reported as a detection result index (DRI). The DRI determines how much PD exposure is considered acceptable. A DRI of 0 indicates that there is human tissue against the surface of the UE. When the DRI is equal to 0, the effective isotropic radiated power (EIRP) level is limited to 8 decibel milliwatts (dBm). That is, the maximum allowed EIRP when the distance to tissue is zero is 8 dBm. As the DRI increases (meaning the distance to human tissue increases) from 10 to 140 millimeters (mm), the EIRP can increase up to 34 dBm. Note that the EIRP is equal to4 .QC2307045WOQualcomm Ref. No.2307045WO

[0118] FIG.6 is a diagram 600 illustrating an example of a real-time SAR calculation, according to aspects of the disclosure. In the example of FIG. 6, each block represents the instantaneous transmit power for some period of time (e.g., 5 seconds). FIG. 6 also illustrates a reserve power level and a SAR limit, which is the minimum power level at which the SAR is violated for 100% duty cycle.

[0119] The real-time SAR calculation obtains power reports from all transmitters (e.g., NR, LTE, Wi-Fi, etc.) and the device state index (DSI) to determine human proximity. Using this information, it computes the power limit for the next time period (e.g., 5 seconds). As shown in FIG.6, transmission power varies over time; however, a certain reserve level of power is guaranteed at all times. As also shown in FIG. 6, the instantaneous power can exceed the SAR limit, but the average transmission power should stay below the SAR limit. Thus, for the current power level, the transmitter can borrow unused power from the past and power from future (while still ensuring the reserve power level) over some time window (e.g., 6 minutes). As such, the instantaneous transmit power can be optimized so that SAR compliance is achieved while transmit power is maximized to improve uplink coverage. Broadly, this may be referred to as “smart transmit.”

[0120] As discussed above, the uplink transmit power (from the UE) is typically reduced, as per the SAR compliance, to prevent any risk of bodily harm to the user. In particular, the uplink transmit power should be lower when the UE is located close to certain parts of the user’s body, such as the head or the heart. However, as long as the normalized RF exposure requirement is met, transmit power may be boosted on the mmWave frequency bands to improve uplink coverage, as mmWave is highly dependent on beamforming and power boosting to sustain uplink coverage.

[0121] Previous solutions for improving uplink coverage have primarily addressed optimizing the transmit power across both sub-6 GHz and mmWave frequency bands to boost uplink coverage. However, the use of other RF positioning and sensing measurements to measure directional SAR may additionally be considered as further described herein.

[0122] The above aspects can be addressed using positioning and / or sensing measurements in addition to IMU and proximity sensors. In some scenarios, it is assumed that the human being detected may be equipped with wearable devices, such as earphones / earbuds, a smart ring, a smartwatch, and / or the like. 38 QC2307045WOQualcomm Ref. No.2307045WO

[0123] The selection of an uplink transmit beam or characteristics thereof may be based on determining a body region of a user. The body region may be determined based on, for example, positioning measurements of multiple wearable devices obtained by a user’s smartphone.

[0124] FIG. 7 is a diagram 700 illustrating an example of determining a body region of a user based on the user having multiple wearable devices, according to aspects of the disclosure. In the example of FIG. 7, there is a single user equipped with a smartphone (denoted “P”) and three wearable devices 710-1, 710-2, and 710-3 (collectively wearable devices 710), for example, two earphones / earbuds and a smartwatch.

[0125] Consider the following workflow with reference to FIG. 7. First, the smartphone P (or other UE) measures the range and two-dimensional AoA (e.g., azimuth and elevation) associated with each of the wearable devices 710, denoted “r1” and “ 1,” “r2” and “ 2,”and “r3” and “ 3.” The smartphone P may determine the ranges and AoAs based onwireless signals (e.g., BLUETOOTH®, UWB, Wi-Fi, NR, etc.) transmitted to and received from the respective wearable devices 710, as is known in the art. The smartphone P may then estimate its own position relative to the wearable devices 710. These measurements may be performed using BLUETOOTH®, UWB, Wi-Fi, NR, and / or the like.

[0126] Second, the smartphone P determines a three-dimensional “body region” in which at least a portion of the user’s body may be present / located. This may be done using a priori assumptions about the shape of the human body. For example, the region below the area associated or surrounding the earphones may be treated as the body region. In this case, for example, the smartphone P may determine the region below the earphones based on knowing that the type of the two wearable devices 710-1 and 710-2 is “earphone” and the ranges and angles to the earphones and the smartwatch (e.g., “below” the earphones would be towards the smartwatch). The smartphone P may also determine the body region based on pose (e.g., standing, sleeping, walking) and / or orientation (e.g., with respect to the Earth’s magnetic field) information from the wearable devices 710. The smartphone P may also use visual input (e.g., from a front or rear facing camera) to determine the body region of the user. Processed audio picked up by a microphone of the smartphone P may also provide certain information that may be used to determine the body region of the user. 39 QC2307045WOQualcomm Ref. No.2307045WO

[0127] Third, given an ongoing mmWave communication session (with a successful grant for an uplink transmission), the smartphone P can select (1) one or more recipient TRPs that do not require an uplink transmit beam that intersects the determined body region(s) and / or one or more uplink transmit beams that do not intersect the determined body region(s) (in which case, the transmit power does not need to be capped) and / or (2) one or more recipient TRPs that require an uplink transmit beam that intersects the determined body region(s) and / or one or more uplink transmit beams that intersect the determined body region(s) (in which case, the smartphone P limits the transmit power for the beam(s) or modifies some other characteristic of the beam(s) to comply with the SAR limit). As will be appreciated, the former option is preferrable but may not always be possible.

[0128] Thus, a smartphone (or other UE) may receive one or more first wireless signals from each of two or more wearable devices (e.g., wearable devices 710) associated with a user of the smartphone. The smartphone (or other UE) may determine a body region of the user based at least in part on the one or more first wireless signals received from each of the two or more wearable devices. The body region of the user may indicate a three- dimensional space in which at least a portion of a body of the user is estimated to be present. The smartphone (or other UE) may then transmit one or more second wireless signals on at least one transmit beam in at least one direction or according to at least one characteristic (e.g., transmit power) that reduces / minimizes radio frequency exposure to the body region of the user. For example, the at least one direction may avoid or at least minimize the intersection of the at least one transmit beam with the determined body region of the user. Alternatively, if the determined body region cannot be avoided, the transmit power of the one or more second wireless signals may be reduced to comply with the SAR limit, thereby minimizing radio frequency exposure to the body region.

[0129] In some cases, the smartphone P may be located close to the user’s body (e.g., near the stomach) even if the position estimate suggests otherwise. This can occur when, for example, the wearable devices are in a very different plane compared to the plane of the body. FIG.8 is a diagram 800 illustrating an example of determining a body region of a user based on the plane in which the wearable devices are located, according to aspects of the disclosure. As in the example of FIG. 7, there is a single user equipped with a smartphone (denoted “P”) and three wearable devices (denoted A, B, and C), for example, two earphones and a smartwatch. 40 QC2307045WOQualcomm Ref. No.2307045WO

[0130] With reference to FIG. 8, it can be assumed that the smartphone P is at the origin (a relative frame of reference) of a spherical coordinate system. The smartphone P can estimate the unknown, and , , of thewearable devices A, B, and C, respectively, with the assumption of a planar array at the smartphone P (a two-dimensional planar array is needed to estimate both a horizontal (or azimuth) angle and a vertical (or zenith) angle, and thus a three-dimensional position). The smartphone P can then compute an equation for the plane ABC, and also the shortest distance to this plane (denoted d0). More specifically, a single plane can pass through three non-collinear points. Once an equation for such a plane is found (using known techniques in three-dimensional coordinate geometry), the shortest distance between the smartphone P and this plane can also be found (again using known techniques). The purpose of estimating the shortest distance between the smartphone P and some plane passing through the three wearable devices is to extrapolate that distance as an estimate of the distance between the smartphone P and the user’s body.

[0131] However, the plane ABC may not overlap substantially with the same plane as the user’s body, such as when the smartwatch (e.g., node C) is lifted or to the side of user’s body. In such cases, the angle between the plane ABC and the yz plane (assuming the user is standing upright) needs to be computed. Accordingly, the projections of the plane ABC onto three orthogonal planes (as shown in FIG. 9) can be determined. Then, the body region of the user may be determined as a function of the plane ABC and the projected planes.

[0132] FIG. 9 is a diagram 900 illustrating an example of three orthogonal planes determined based on the plane connecting three wearable devices, according to aspects of the disclosure. In the example of FIG.9, the plane ABC passing through the wearable devices is labeled “ABC plane.” The three projected / orthogonal planes, labeled “xy plane,” “yz plane,” and “xz plane,” pass through the earphones. The three-dimensional region encompassing all four planes may be treated as the body region of the user of smartphone P. For example, the three-dimensional region may correspond to a sphere centered at the intersection of the four planes.

[0133] Note that while the foregoing has generally described the user of the smartphone P having at least three wearable devices (e.g., two earphones and a smartwatch), the user may 41 QC2307045WOQualcomm Ref. No.2307045WO instead only have two wearable devices. In that case, the smartphone P may be used as the third point to determine the plane ABC.

[0134] The foregoing UE-based scheme measures directional SAR and identifies one or more body regions of a user using positioning / sensing measurements (among a group of UEs in the vicinity of a user). The UE-based scheme than selects an uplink beam for transmission (to meet SAR requirements) based on the identified body regoins. In the present disclosure, techniques are provided for using wide-area sub-6 GHz sensing measurements for uplink beam selection to meet SAR requirements for other users in the vicinity as well.

[0135] FIG.10 is a diagram 1000 illustrating an example of determining body regions of one or more users in the vicinity of a UE, according to aspects of the disclosure. In the example of FIG. 10, there are four users 1010 (individually, users 1010a, 1010b, 1010c, and 1010d), one of which is equipped with a smartphone (denoted “P”).

[0136] In the example of FIG. 10, three TRPs 1020 (individually, TRPs 1020a, 1020b, and 1020c) may perform sensing measurements with one another to identify a body region 1030 (individually, body regions 1030a, 1030b, 1030c, and 1030d) corresponding to each user 1010. The TRPs 1020 may report the measurements and / or the determined body regions 1030 to a core network entity (CNE), such as a sensing server. This information may then be provided to a UE (specifically, smartphone P) in the area.

[0137] Consider the following workflow. The smartphone P may request / receive a report from the CNE including (1) a list of beam IDs (and corresponding TRP IDs) to be used by the smartphone P on the uplink or (2) the one or more distinct body regions 1030 in the vicinity of the smartphone P. Where the report includes the list of beam IDs, the beam IDs are chosen by the CNE to avoid an intersection between the identified beams and the one or more distinct body regions 1030 that were identified using the sensing measurements obtained by the one or more TRPs 1020 in the vicinity of the smartphone P.

[0138] Where the report identifies the one or more distinct body regions 1030 in the vicinity of the smartphone P, given an ongoing mm-wave communication session (with a successful grant for an uplink transmission), the smartphone P may select (1) a recipient TRP that does not require an uplink beam that intersects a body region 1030 (in which case the transmit power does not need to be capped), or (2) a recipient TRP that requires an uplink 42 QC2307045WOQualcomm Ref. No.2307045WO beam that intersects a body region 1030, in which case the transmit power for the selected beam will need to be capped as per the applicable SAR limit.

[0139] FIG.11 illustrates an example signaling diagram 1100 for network-based uplink transmit beam selection, according to aspects of the disclosure.

[0140] At stage 1110, multiple base stations perform wide area sensing. The wide area sensing may be monostatic, bistatic, or multi-static sensing between the multiple base stations. Note that while the base stations are illustrated as gNBs, the base stations may be, or include, other types of access points, such as Wi-Fi access points, UWB access points, and the like, that can interface with the CNE.

[0141] At stage 1120, the base stations report the measurements to the CNE. At stage 1130, the CNE identifies one or more body regions (e.g., body regions 1030) in the vicinity of a given UE based on the measurements from the base stations. The CNE may also determine, for each of the base stations, a set of feasible gNB-UE beam pairs and a maximum transmit power constraint on the uplink for the UE. Alternatively, the base stations may identify the body regions and in turn the set of feasible beam pairs for a given UE.

[0142] At stage 1140, the CNE transmits assistance data to the serving base station of the given UE. The assistance data may include the set of feasible gNB-UE beam pairs and the maximum transmit power constraint for the UE. At stage 1150, the serving base station transmits an SRS configuration to the UE based on the assistance data received at stage 1140. The SRS configuration may include the set of feasible gNB-UE beam pairs and the maximum transmit power constraint on the uplink.

[0143] At stage 1160, the UE selects an uplink transmit beam using beam correspondence and transmits SRS or data over the physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH). Beam correspondence is a feature where the UE selects an uplink beam that is reciprocal to the strongest SSB beam (on the downlink). Alternatively, downlink control information (DCI) from the base station may include an SRS resource indicator (SRI) that provides an indication to the UE regarding the uplink beam pair to be used (for that base station). In the absence of such an SRI, the UE may select an uplink beam pair for PUSCH transmission on its own. The UE may also select a beam pair for physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) transmission (based on the assistance data received at stage 1150). 43 QC2307045WOQualcomm Ref. No.2307045WO

[0144] FIG.12 illustrates an example signaling diagram 1200 for network-based uplink transmit beam selection, according to aspects of the disclosure.

[0145] Stages 1210 to 1230 are the same as stages 1110 to 1130 of FIG.11, and are therefore not described again for the sake of brevity. At stage 1240, the CNE transmits assistance data to a given UE. At stage 1250, the UE’s serving base station provides the UE with an SRS configuration without indicating a specific downlink reference signal (DL-RS) or sidelink reference signal (SL-RS) for beam determination. When there is no downlink indication of a beam for spatial relation determination, as here, the UE may perform beam sweeping to identify the best beam for uplink transmission. The assistance data may help the UE to avoid certain beams as part of this process, as described further below. At stage 1260, the UE transmits SRS according to the determined beam(s).

[0146] FIG.13 illustrates an example signaling diagram 1300 for network-based uplink transmit beam selection, according to aspects of the disclosure.

[0147] Stages 1310 to 1340 are the same as stages 1110 to 1140 of FIG.11, and are therefore not described again for the sake of brevity. In the case of a picocell or femtocell (such as in an indoor scenario), downlink RF exposure over the mmWave bands may be of concern as well. As such, the base stations may utilize the assistance data received at stage 1340 to avoid transmitting over a set of beams that intersect with body regions in the vicinity. Accordingly, at stage 1350, the base station(s) transmit DL-PRS, tracking reference signals (TRS), channel state information reference signals (CSI-RS), physical downlink shared channels (PDSCHs), and / or the like using the “feasible” beams. At stage 1360, through beam correspondence, as an extension, the UE(s) would also be able to avoid harmful beams on the uplink.

[0148] Referring to the assistance data provided by the CNE in greater detail, the assistance data may include (1) a set of body regions in the vicinity of a given UE (which may be determined by the CNE or a base station), or (2) map-based beam avoidance areas (for a given frame of reference), such as the {x, y, z} or {latitude, longitude, altitude} coordinates of a bounding box for the body regions.

[0149] The assistance data may further include the reference signal configuration. The reference signal configuration may include (1) a list of SSBs, DL-RS, and / or SL-RS that the UE should avoid for the uplink beam determination (using beam correspondence), (2) a list of preferred and / or non-preferred reference signals to be used for spatial relation 44 QC2307045WOQualcomm Ref. No.2307045WO determination, and / or (3) a list of angles or zeniths of departure in a given coordinate system (e.g., a global coordinate system (GCS)) that should be avoided and / or that are preferred / non-preferred. Note that for the list of SSBs, DL-RS, and / or SL-RS, this list may be signaled via RRC. In this case, if the uplink / sidelink reference signal (e.g., SRS, SL-PRS, demodulation reference signal (DMRS), PUSCH) is not configured with an explicit reference signal for spatial relation determination, the UE is expected to avoid uplink beams that point towards the provided list.

[0150] The assistance data may further include the frequency of reporting. The foregoing reports may be sent to a UE in a periodic manner or in an on-demand manner (e.g., a UE could request such information from the CNE / gNB). Alternatively or additionally, the avoidance parameters may be broadcast (e.g., in one or more positioning system information blocks (posSIBs)).

[0151] The present disclosure further provides techniques for selecting an uplink or sidelink beam based on sensing measurements over PC5 / sidelinks. In the case of sensing, the body region(s) may be determined directly as a function of the channel impulse / energy response. FIG.14 is a diagram 1400 illustrating an example of determining body regions of one or more users using sidelink communication, according to aspects of the disclosure. In the example of FIG. 14, there are four users 1410 (individually, users 1410a, 1410b, 1410c, and 1410d), three of which are equipped with smartphones (denoted “P1,” “P2,” and “P3”).

[0152] Consider the following workflow. The smartphone P1 obtains sensing measurements to identify one or more distinct body regions 1420 (individually, body regions 1420a, 1420b, 1420c, and 1420d) in the vicinity. The smartphone P1 may perform monostatic sensing (e.g., using Wi-Fi, UWB, NR, or the like) or may participate in bistatic or multi-static sensing with other UEs (e.g., smartphones P2 and / or P3). The smartphone P1 may then determine the distinct body regions 1420 using a-priori assumptions about the shape of the human body and pattern-matching or machine learning-based methods for detecting a human body using the sensing measurements.

[0153] Given an ongoing mmWave communication session (with a successful grant for an uplink transmission), the smartphone P1 may select (1) a recipient TRP that does not require an uplink transmit beam that intersects with an identified body region 1420, in which case the transmit power does not need to be capped, or (2) a recipient TRP that requires an QC2307045WOQualcomm Ref. No.2307045WO uplink transmit beam that intersects with an identified body region 1420, in which case, the transmit power for the selected beam will need to be capped as per the SAR limit.

[0154] In some cases, a UE may also broadcast (or unicast or multicast to one or more other UEs) one or more messages that indicate (1) a set of body regions in the vicinity (which may have been identified by the transmitting UE) and / or (2) map-based beam avoidance information (for a given frame of reference), such as the {x, y, z} or {latitude, longitude, altitude} coordinates of a bounding box for the body regions.

[0155] In some cases, a SL-PRS configuration (from another UE or a network entity) may include a set of beam IDs to be used for (1) sidelink transmissions between UEs (which may be implicitly performed during beam-sweeping by not sweeping the beams that intersect with one or more body regions) and / or (2) uplink transmissions towards a given gNB.

[0156] FIG. 15 illustrates an example method 1500 of wireless communication, according to aspects of the disclosure. In an aspect, method 1500 may be performed by a UE (e.g., any of the UEs described herein).

[0157] At 1510, the UE receives, from a network node, assistance data for one or more transmit beams, wherein the assistance data includes information to enable the UE to transmit on the one or more transmit beams in at least one direction or according to at least one characteristic that reduces radio frequency exposure to one or more body regions of one or more users within a threshold distance of the UE, wherein each of the one or more body regions corresponds to a three-dimensional space in which at least a portion of a body of a user of the one or more users is estimated to be present. In an aspect, operation 1510 may be performed by the one or more WWAN transceivers 310, the one or more short-range wireless transceivers 320, the one or more processors 342, memory 340, and / or sensing component 348, any or all of which may be considered means for performing this operation.

[0158] At 1520, the UE transmits one or more reference signals on the one or more transmit beams in the at least one direction or according to the at least one characteristic. In an aspect, operation 1520 may be performed by the one or more WWAN transceivers 310, the one or more short-range wireless transceivers 320, the one or more processors 342, memory 340, and / or sensing component 348, any or all of which may be considered means for performing this operation. 46 QC2307045WOQualcomm Ref. No.2307045WO

[0159] FIG. 16 illustrates an example method 1600 of wireless communication, according to aspects of the disclosure. In an aspect, method 1600 may be performed by a network node (e.g., a UE, base station, or location server).

[0160] At 1610, the network node receives, from a UE (e.g., any of the UEs described herein), a request for assistance data for one or more transmit beams. In an aspect, where the network node is a UE, operation 1610 may be performed by the one or more WWAN transceivers 310, the one or more short-range wireless transceivers 320, the one or more processors 342, memory 340, and / or sensing component 348, any or all of which may be considered means for performing this operation. In an aspect, where the network node is a base station, operation 1610 may be performed by the one or more WWAN transceivers 350, the one or more short-range wireless transceivers 360, the one or more processors 384, memory 386, and / or sensing component 388, any or all of which may be considered means for performing this operation. In an aspect, where the network node is a location server or other network entity, operation 1610 may be performed by the one or more network transceivers 390, the one or more processors 394, memory 396, and / or sensing component 398, any or all of which may be considered means for performing this operation.

[0161] At 1620, the network node transmits, to the UE, the assistance data for the one or more transmit beams, wherein the assistance data includes information to enable the UE to transmit one or more reference signals on the one or more transmit beams in at least one direction or according to at least one characteristic that reduces radio frequency exposure to one or more body regions of one or more users within a threshold distance of the UE, wherein each of the one or more body regions corresponds to a three-dimensional space in which at least a portion of a body of a user of the one or more users is estimated to be present. In an aspect, where the network node is a UE, operation 1620 may be performed by the one or more WWAN transceivers 310, the one or more short-range wireless transceivers 320, the one or more processors 342, memory 340, and / or sensing component 348, any or all of which may be considered means for performing this operation. In an aspect, where the network node is a base station, operation 1620 may be performed by the one or more WWAN transceivers 350, the one or more short-range wireless transceivers 360, the one or more processors 384, memory 386, and / or sensing component 388, any or all of which may be considered means for performing this operation. In an QC2307045WOQualcomm Ref. No.2307045WO aspect, where the network node is a location server or other network entity, operation 1620 may be performed by the one or more network transceivers 390, the one or more processors 394, memory 396, and / or sensing component 398, any or all of which may be considered means for performing this operation.

[0162] As will be appreciated, a technical advantage of the methods 1500 and 1600 is beam- specific transmit power optimization and coverage enhancements while ensuring SAR compliance.

[0163] In the detailed description above it can be seen that different features are grouped together in examples. This manner of disclosure should not be understood as an intention that the example clauses have more features than are explicitly mentioned in each clause. Rather, the various aspects of the disclosure may include fewer than all features of an individual example clause disclosed. Therefore, the following clauses should hereby be deemed to be incorporated in the description, wherein each clause by itself can stand as a separate example. Although each dependent clause can refer in the clauses to a specific combination with one of the other clauses, the aspect(s) of that dependent clause are not limited to the specific combination. It will be appreciated that other example clauses can also include a combination of the dependent clause aspect(s) with the subject matter of any other dependent clause or independent clause or a combination of any feature with other dependent and independent clauses. The various aspects disclosed herein expressly include these combinations, unless it is explicitly expressed or can be readily inferred that a specific combination is not intended (e.g., contradictory aspects, such as defining an element as both an electrical insulator and an electrical conductor). Furthermore, it is also intended that aspects of a clause can be included in any other independent clause, even if the clause is not directly dependent on the independent clause.

[0164] Implementation examples are described in the following numbered clauses:

[0165] Clause 1. A method of wireless communication performed by a user equipment (UE), comprising: receiving, from a network node, assistance data for one or more transmit beams, wherein the assistance data includes information to enable the UE to transmit on the one or more transmit beams in at least one direction or according to at least one characteristic that reduces radio frequency exposure to one or more body regions of one or more users within a threshold distance of the UE, wherein each of the one or more body regions corresponds to a three-dimensional space in which at least a portion of a 48 QC2307045WOQualcomm Ref. No.2307045WO body of a user of the one or more users is estimated to be present; and transmitting one or more reference signals on the one or more transmit beams in the at least one direction or according to the at least one characteristic.

[0166] Clause 2. The method of clause 1, wherein the assistance data includes beam correspondence information between the one or more transmit beams and one or more transmit beams of one or more network nodes.

[0167] Clause 3. The method of clause 2, wherein the beam correspondence information includes identifiers of the one or more network nodes, identifiers of the one or more transmit beams of the one or more network nodes, or both.

[0168] Clause 4. The method of any of clauses 2 to 3, wherein: the one or more network nodes are one or more transmission-reception points (TRPs), and the beam correspondence information comprises one or more sounding reference signal (SRS) resource indicators (SRIs) indicating correspondence between the one or more transmit beams and the one or more transmit beams of the one or more network nodes.

[0169] Clause 5. The method of any of clauses 1 to 4, wherein the assistance data indicates one or more second reference signals transmitted by one or more network nodes on one or more second transmit beams corresponding to the one or more transmit beams.

[0170] Clause 6. The method of clause 5, wherein the one or more second reference signals comprise: one or more downlink positioning reference signals (DL-PRS), one or more sidelink positioning reference signals (SL-PRS), one or more tracking reference signals (TRS), one or more channel state information reference signals (CSI-RS), one or more physical downlink shared channels (PDSCHs), or any combination thereof.

[0171] Clause 7. The method of clause 1, wherein the assistance data does not include beam correspondence information for the one or more transmit beams.

[0172] Clause 8. The method of clause 7, further comprising: performing a beam sweep of a plurality of transmit beams; and selecting the one or more transmit beams based on the beam sweep.

[0173] Clause 9. The method of any of clauses 1 to 8, wherein the assistance data includes indications of the one or more body regions.

[0174] Clause 10. The method of clause 9, wherein the indications comprise: coordinates of bounding boxes around the one or more body regions, a list of angles that should not be used for the one or more transmit beams, a list of angles that may be used for the one or 49 QC2307045WOQualcomm Ref. No.2307045WO more transmit beams, a list of downlink reference signals transmitted by one or more TRPs that should not be used as spatial relations for the one or more transmit beams, a list of downlink reference signals transmitted by the one or more TRPs that may be used as spatial relations for the one or more transmit beams, or any combination thereof.

[0175] Clause 11. The method of any of clauses 1 to 10, wherein the assistance data includes the at least one characteristic.

[0176] Clause 12. The method of any of clauses 1 to 11, wherein: the assistance data is received periodically, the assistance data is received in broadcast information from the network node, or any combination thereof.

[0177] Clause 13. The method of any of clauses 1 to 12, further comprising: transmitting a request for the assistance data to the network node.

[0178] Clause 14. The method of any of clauses 1 to 13, wherein the network node is a second UE.

[0179] Clause 15. The method of clause 14, further comprising: performing one or more sensing operations with at least the second UE; and receiving sensing results of the one or more sensing operations from at least the second UE.

[0180] Clause 16. The method of clause 15, wherein the sensing results comprise: indications of the one or more body regions, sensing measurements obtained from the one or more sensing operations, or any combination thereof.

[0181] Clause 17. The method of any of clauses 15 to 16, further comprising: determining the one or more body regions based on the sensing results, wherein the one or more body regions are determined based on assumptions about human body shape, pattern matching, machine learning, or any combination thereof.

[0182] Clause 18. The method of any of clauses 1 to 17, wherein the one or more body regions indicated in the assistance data are determined based on sensing results of one or more sensing operations performed by one or more network nodes.

[0183] Clause 19. The method of clause 18, wherein the one or more sensing operations comprise: one or more monostatic sensing operations, one or more bistatic sensing operations, one or more multi-static sensing operations, or any combination thereof.

[0184] Clause 20. The method of any of clauses 18 to 19, wherein the one or more network nodes comprise: one or more TRPs, one or more UEs, one or more wireless local area network QC2307045WOQualcomm Ref. No.2307045WO (WLAN) access points, one or more ultra-wideband access points, one or more BLUETOOTH® beacons, or any combination thereof.

[0185] Clause 21. The method of any of clauses 1 to 20, wherein the at least one direction does not intersect the one or more body regions.

[0186] Clause 22. The method of any of clauses 1 to 21, wherein the at least one characteristic comprises a maximum transmit power of the one or more transmit beams.

[0187] Clause 23. The method of any of clauses 1 to 22, wherein the one or more transmit beams are: one or more uplink transmit beams, or one or more sidelink transmit beams.

[0188] Clause 24. The method of any of clauses 1 to 23, wherein the one or more transmit beams are one or more millimeter wave transmit beams.

[0189] Clause 25. The method of any of clauses 1 to 24, further comprising: performing one or more monostatic sensing operations; obtaining one or more sensing measurements based on the one or more monostatic sensing operations; and determining the one or more body regions based on the one or more sensing measurements.

[0190] Clause 26. A method of wireless communication performed by a network node, comprising: receiving, from a user equipment (UE), a request for assistance data for one or more transmit beams; and transmitting, to the UE, the assistance data for the one or more transmit beams, wherein the assistance data includes information to enable the UE to transmit one or more reference signals on the one or more transmit beams in at least one direction or according to at least one characteristic that reduces radio frequency exposure to one or more body regions of one or more users within a threshold distance of the UE, wherein each of the one or more body regions corresponds to a three-dimensional space in which at least a portion of a body of a user of the one or more users is estimated to be present.

[0191] Clause 27. The method of clause 26, wherein the assistance data includes beam correspondence information between the one or more transmit beams and one or more transmit beams of one or more network nodes.

[0192] Clause 28. The method of clause 27, wherein the beam correspondence information includes identifiers of the one or more network nodes, identifiers of the one or more transmit beams of the one or more network nodes, or both.

[0193] Clause 29. The method of any of clauses 27 to 28, wherein: the one or more network nodes are one or more transmission-reception points (TRPs), and the beam QC2307045WOQualcomm Ref. No.2307045WO correspondence information comprises one or more sounding reference signal (SRS) resource indicators (SRIs) indicating correspondence between the one or more transmit beams and the one or more transmit beams of the one or more network nodes.

[0194] Clause 30. The method of any of clauses 26 to 29, wherein the assistance data indicates one or more second reference signals transmitted by one or more network nodes on one or more second transmit beams corresponding to the one or more transmit beams.

[0195] Clause 31. The method of clause 30, wherein the one or more second reference signals comprise: one or more downlink positioning reference signals (DL-PRS), one or more sidelink positioning reference signals (SL-PRS), one or more tracking reference signals (TRS), one or more channel state information reference signals (CSI-RS), one or more physical downlink shared channels (PDSCHs), or any combination thereof.

[0196] Clause 32. The method of clause 26, wherein the assistance data does not include beam correspondence information for the one or more transmit beams.

[0197] Clause 33. The method of any of clauses 26 to 32, wherein the assistance data includes indications of the one or more body regions.

[0198] Clause 34. The method of clause 33, wherein the indications comprise: coordinates of bounding boxes around the one or more body regions, a list of angles that should not be used for the one or more transmit beams, a list of angles that may be used for the one or more transmit beams, a list of downlink reference signals transmitted by one or more TRPs that should not be used as spatial relations for the one or more transmit beams, a list of downlink reference signals transmitted by the one or more TRPs that may be used as spatial relations for the one or more transmit beams, or any combination thereof.

[0199] Clause 35. The method of any of clauses 26 to 34, wherein the assistance data includes the at least one characteristic.

[0200] Clause 36. The method of any of clauses 26 to 35, wherein: the assistance data is transmitted periodically, the assistance data is transmitted in broadcast information from the network node, or any combination thereof.

[0201] Clause 37. The method of any of clauses 26 to 36, wherein the network node is a second UE.

[0202] Clause 38. The method of clause 37, further comprising: performing one or more sensing operations with the UE; and transmitting sensing results of the one or more sensing operations to the UE. QC2307045WOQualcomm Ref. No.2307045WO

[0203] Clause 39. The method of clause 38, wherein the sensing results comprise: indications of the one or more body regions, sensing measurements obtained from the one or more sensing operations, or any combination thereof.

[0204] Clause 40. The method of any of clauses 38 to 39, further comprising: determining the one or more body regions based on the sensing results, wherein the one or more body regions are determined based on assumptions about human body shape, pattern matching, machine learning, or any combination thereof.

[0205] Clause 41. The method of any of clauses 38 to 40, wherein the one or more sensing operations comprise: one or more monostatic sensing operations, one or more bistatic sensing operations, one or more multi-static sensing operations, or any combination thereof.

[0206] Clause 42. The method of any of clauses 26 to 41, wherein the at least one direction does not intersect the one or more body regions.

[0207] Clause 43. The method of any of clauses 26 to 42, wherein the at least one characteristic comprises a maximum transmit power of the one or more transmit beams.

[0208] Clause 44. The method of any of clauses 26 to 43, wherein the one or more transmit beams are: one or more uplink transmit beams, or one or more sidelink transmit beams.

[0209] Clause 45. The method of any of clauses 26 to 44, wherein the one or more transmit beams are one or more millimeter wave transmit beams.

[0210] Clause 46. A user equipment (UE), comprising: one or more memories; one or more transceivers; and one or more processors communicatively coupled to the one or more memories and the one or more transceivers, the one or more processors, either alone or in combination, configured to: receive, via the one or more transceivers, from a network node, assistance data for one or more transmit beams, wherein the assistance data includes information to enable the UE to transmit on the one or more transmit beams in at least one direction or according to at least one characteristic that reduces radio frequency exposure to one or more body regions of one or more users within a threshold distance of the UE, wherein each of the one or more body regions corresponds to a three-dimensional space in which at least a portion of a body of a user of the one or more users is estimated to be present; and transmit, via the one or more transceivers, one or more reference signals on the one or more transmit beams in the at least one direction or according to the at least one characteristic. QC2307045WOQualcomm Ref. No.2307045WO

[0211] Clause 47. The UE of clause 46, wherein the assistance data includes beam correspondence information between the one or more transmit beams and one or more transmit beams of one or more network nodes.

[0212] Clause 48. The UE of clause 47, wherein the beam correspondence information includes identifiers of the one or more network nodes, identifiers of the one or more transmit beams of the one or more network nodes, or both.

[0213] Clause 49. The UE of any of clauses 47 to 48, wherein: the one or more network nodes are one or more transmission-reception points (TRPs), and the beam correspondence information comprises one or more sounding reference signal (SRS) resource indicators (SRIs) indicating correspondence between the one or more transmit beams and the one or more transmit beams of the one or more network nodes.

[0214] Clause 50. The UE of any of clauses 46 to 49, wherein the assistance data indicates one or more second reference signals transmitted by one or more network nodes on one or more second transmit beams corresponding to the one or more transmit beams.

[0215] Clause 51. The UE of clause 50, wherein the one or more second reference signals comprise: one or more downlink positioning reference signals (DL-PRS), one or more sidelink positioning reference signals (SL-PRS), one or more tracking reference signals (TRS), one or more channel state information reference signals (CSI-RS), one or more physical downlink shared channels (PDSCHs), or any combination thereof.

[0216] Clause 52. The UE of clause 46, wherein the assistance data does not include beam correspondence information for the one or more transmit beams.

[0217] Clause 53. The UE of clause 52, wherein the one or more processors, either alone or in combination, are further configured to: perform a beam sweep of a plurality of transmit beams; and select the one or more transmit beams based on the beam sweep.

[0218] Clause 54. The UE of any of clauses 46 to 53, wherein the assistance data includes indications of the one or more body regions.

[0219] Clause 55. The UE of clause 54, wherein the indications comprise: coordinates of bounding boxes around the one or more body regions, a list of angles that should not be used for the one or more transmit beams, a list of angles that may be used for the one or more transmit beams, a list of downlink reference signals transmitted by one or more TRPs that should not be used as spatial relations for the one or more transmit beams, a QC2307045WOQualcomm Ref. No.2307045WO list of downlink reference signals transmitted by the one or more TRPs that may be used as spatial relations for the one or more transmit beams, or any combination thereof.

[0220] Clause 56. The UE of any of clauses 46 to 55, wherein the assistance data includes the at least one characteristic.

[0221] Clause 57. The UE of any of clauses 46 to 56, wherein: the assistance data is received periodically, the assistance data is received in broadcast information from the network node, or any combination thereof.

[0222] Clause 58. The UE of any of clauses 46 to 57, wherein the one or more processors, either alone or in combination, are further configured to: transmit, via the one or more transceivers, a request for the assistance data to the network node.

[0223] Clause 59. The UE of any of clauses 46 to 58, wherein the network node is a second UE.

[0224] Clause 60. The UE of clause 59, wherein the one or more processors, either alone or in combination, are further configured to: perform one or more sensing operations with at least the second UE; and receive, via the one or more transceivers, sensing results of the one or more sensing operations from at least the second UE.

[0225] Clause 61. The UE of clause 60, wherein the sensing results comprise: indications of the one or more body regions, sensing measurements obtained from the one or more sensing operations, or any combination thereof.

[0226] Clause 62. The UE of any of clauses 60 to 61, wherein the one or more processors, either alone or in combination, are further configured to: determine the one or more body regions based on the sensing results, wherein the one or more body regions are determined based on assumptions about human body shape, pattern matching, machine learning, or any combination thereof.

[0227] Clause 63. The UE of any of clauses 46 to 62, wherein the one or more body regions indicated in the assistance data are determined based on sensing results of one or more sensing operations performed by one or more network nodes.

[0228] Clause 64. The UE of clause 63, wherein the one or more sensing operations comprise: one or more monostatic sensing operations, one or more bistatic sensing operations, one or more multi-static sensing operations, or any combination thereof.

[0229] Clause 65. The UE of any of clauses 63 to 64, wherein the one or more network nodes comprise: one or more TRPs, one or more UEs, one or more wireless local area network QC2307045WOQualcomm Ref. No.2307045WO (WLAN) access points, one or more ultra-wideband access points, one or more BLUETOOTH® beacons, or any combination thereof.

[0230] Clause 66. The UE of any of clauses 46 to 65, wherein the at least one direction does not intersect the one or more body regions.

[0231] Clause 67. The UE of any of clauses 46 to 66, wherein the at least one characteristic comprises a maximum transmit power of the one or more transmit beams.

[0232] Clause 68. The UE of any of clauses 46 to 67, wherein the one or more transmit beams are: one or more uplink transmit beams, or one or more sidelink transmit beams.

[0233] Clause 69. The UE of any of clauses 46 to 68, wherein the one or more transmit beams are one or more millimeter wave transmit beams.

[0234] Clause 70. The UE of any of clauses 46 to 69, wherein the one or more processors, either alone or in combination, are further configured to: perform one or more monostatic sensing operations; obtain one or more sensing measurements based on the one or more monostatic sensing operations; and determine the one or more body regions based on the one or more sensing measurements.

[0235] Clause 71. A network node, comprising: one or more memories; one or more transceivers; and one or more processors communicatively coupled to the one or more memories and the one or more transceivers, the one or more processors, either alone or in combination, configured to: receive, via the one or more transceivers, from a user equipment (UE), a request for assistance data for one or more transmit beams; and transmit, via the one or more transceivers, to the UE, the assistance data for the one or more transmit beams, wherein the assistance data includes information to enable the UE to transmit one or more reference signals on the one or more transmit beams in at least one direction or according to at least one characteristic that reduces radio frequency exposure to one or more body regions of one or more users within a threshold distance of the UE, wherein each of the one or more body regions corresponds to a three-dimensional space in which at least a portion of a body of a user of the one or more users is estimated to be present.

[0236] Clause 72. The network node of clause 71, wherein the assistance data includes beam correspondence information between the one or more transmit beams and one or more transmit beams of one or more network nodes. QC2307045WOQualcomm Ref. No.2307045WO

[0237] Clause 73. The network node of clause 72, wherein the beam correspondence information includes identifiers of the one or more network nodes, identifiers of the one or more transmit beams of the one or more network nodes, or both.

[0238] Clause 74. The network node of any of clauses 72 to 73, wherein: the one or more network nodes are one or more transmission-reception points (TRPs), and the beam correspondence information comprises one or more sounding reference signal (SRS) resource indicators (SRIs) indicating correspondence between the one or more transmit beams and the one or more transmit beams of the one or more network nodes.

[0239] Clause 75. The network node of any of clauses 71 to 74, wherein the assistance data indicates one or more second reference signals transmitted by one or more network nodes on one or more second transmit beams corresponding to the one or more transmit beams.

[0240] Clause 76. The network node of clause 75, wherein the one or more second reference signals comprise: one or more downlink positioning reference signals (DL-PRS), one or more sidelink positioning reference signals (SL-PRS), one or more tracking reference signals (TRS), one or more channel state information reference signals (CSI-RS), one or more physical downlink shared channels (PDSCHs), or any combination thereof.

[0241] Clause 77. The network node of clause 71, wherein the assistance data does not include beam correspondence information for the one or more transmit beams.

[0242] Clause 78. The network node of any of clauses 71 to 77, wherein the assistance data includes indications of the one or more body regions.

[0243] Clause 79. The network node of clause 78, wherein the indications comprise: coordinates of bounding boxes around the one or more body regions, a list of angles that should not be used for the one or more transmit beams, a list of angles that may be used for the one or more transmit beams, a list of downlink reference signals transmitted by one or more TRPs that should not be used as spatial relations for the one or more transmit beams, a list of downlink reference signals transmitted by the one or more TRPs that may be used as spatial relations for the one or more transmit beams, or any combination thereof.

[0244] Clause 80. The network node of any of clauses 71 to 79, wherein the assistance data includes the at least one characteristic.

[0245] Clause 81. The network node of any of clauses 71 to 80, wherein: the assistance data is transmitted periodically, the assistance data is transmitted in broadcast information from the network node, or any combination thereof. QC2307045WOQualcomm Ref. No.2307045WO

[0246] Clause 82. The network node of any of clauses 71 to 81, wherein the network node is a second UE.

[0247] Clause 83. The network node of clause 82, wherein the one or more processors, either alone or in combination, are further configured to: perform one or more sensing operations with the UE; and transmit, via the one or more transceivers, sensing results of the one or more sensing operations to the UE.

[0248] Clause 84. The network node of clause 83, wherein the sensing results comprise: indications of the one or more body regions, sensing measurements obtained from the one or more sensing operations, or any combination thereof.

[0249] Clause 85. The network node of any of clauses 83 to 84, wherein the one or more processors, either alone or in combination, are further configured to: determine the one or more body regions based on the sensing results, wherein the one or more body regions are determined based on assumptions about human body shape, pattern matching, machine learning, or any combination thereof.

[0250] Clause 86. The network node of any of clauses 83 to 85, wherein the one or more sensing operations comprise: one or more monostatic sensing operations, one or more bistatic sensing operations, one or more multi-static sensing operations, or any combination thereof.

[0251] Clause 87. The network node of any of clauses 71 to 86, wherein the at least one direction does not intersect the one or more body regions.

[0252] Clause 88. The network node of any of clauses 71 to 87, wherein the at least one characteristic comprises a maximum transmit power of the one or more transmit beams.

[0253] Clause 89. The network node of any of clauses 71 to 88, wherein the one or more transmit beams are: one or more uplink transmit beams, or one or more sidelink transmit beams.

[0254] Clause 90. The network node of any of clauses 71 to 89, wherein the one or more transmit beams are one or more millimeter wave transmit beams.

[0255] Clause 91. A user equipment (UE), comprising: means for receiving, from a network node, assistance data for one or more transmit beams, wherein the assistance data includes information to enable the UE to transmit on the one or more transmit beams in at least one direction or according to at least one characteristic that reduces radio frequency exposure to one or more body regions of one or more users within a threshold distance of the UE, wherein each of the one or more body regions corresponds to a three-dimensional QC2307045WOQualcomm Ref. No.2307045WO space in which at least a portion of a body of a user of the one or more users is estimated to be present; and means for transmitting one or more reference signals on the one or more transmit beams in the at least one direction or according to the at least one characteristic.

[0256] Clause 92. The UE of clause 91, wherein the assistance data includes beam correspondence information between the one or more transmit beams and one or more transmit beams of one or more network nodes.

[0257] Clause 93. The UE of clause 92, wherein the beam correspondence information includes identifiers of the one or more network nodes, identifiers of the one or more transmit beams of the one or more network nodes, or both.

[0258] Clause 94. The UE of any of clauses 92 to 93, wherein: the one or more network nodes are one or more transmission-reception points (TRPs), and the beam correspondence information comprises one or more sounding reference signal (SRS) resource indicators (SRIs) indicating correspondence between the one or more transmit beams and the one or more transmit beams of the one or more network nodes.

[0259] Clause 95. The UE of any of clauses 91 to 94, wherein the assistance data indicates one or more second reference signals transmitted by one or more network nodes on one or more second transmit beams corresponding to the one or more transmit beams.

[0260] Clause 96. The UE of clause 95, wherein the one or more second reference signals comprise: one or more downlink positioning reference signals (DL-PRS), one or more sidelink positioning reference signals (SL-PRS), one or more tracking reference signals (TRS), one or more channel state information reference signals (CSI-RS), one or more physical downlink shared channels (PDSCHs), or any combination thereof.

[0261] Clause 97. The UE of clause 91, wherein the assistance data does not include beam correspondence information for the one or more transmit beams.

[0262] Clause 98. The UE of clause 97, further comprising: means for performing a beam sweep of a plurality of transmit beams; and means for selecting the one or more transmit beams based on the beam sweep.

[0263] Clause 99. The UE of any of clauses 91 to 98, wherein the assistance data includes indications of the one or more body regions.

[0264] Clause 100. The UE of clause 99, wherein the indications comprise: coordinates of bounding boxes around the one or more body regions, a list of angles that should not be QC2307045WOQualcomm Ref. No.2307045WO used for the one or more transmit beams, a list of angles that may be used for the one or more transmit beams, a list of downlink reference signals transmitted by one or more TRPs that should not be used as spatial relations for the one or more transmit beams, a list of downlink reference signals transmitted by the one or more TRPs that may be used as spatial relations for the one or more transmit beams, or any combination thereof.

[0265] Clause 101. The UE of any of clauses 91 to 100, wherein the assistance data includes the at least one characteristic.

[0266] Clause 102. The UE of any of clauses 91 to 101, wherein: the assistance data is received periodically, the assistance data is received in broadcast information from the network node, or any combination thereof.

[0267] Clause 103. The UE of any of clauses 91 to 102, further comprising: means for transmitting a request for the assistance data to the network node.

[0268] Clause 104. The UE of any of clauses 91 to 103, wherein the network node is a second UE.

[0269] Clause 105. The UE of clause 104, further comprising: means for performing one or more sensing operations with at least the second UE; and means for receiving sensing results of the one or more sensing operations from at least the second UE.

[0270] Clause 106. The UE of clause 105, wherein the sensing results comprise: indications of the one or more body regions, sensing measurements obtained from the one or more sensing operations, or any combination thereof.

[0271] Clause 107. The UE of any of clauses 105 to 106, further comprising: means for determining the one or more body regions based on the sensing results, wherein the one or more body regions are determined based on assumptions about human body shape, pattern matching, machine learning, or any combination thereof.

[0272] Clause 108. The UE of any of clauses 91 to 107, wherein the one or more body regions indicated in the assistance data are determined based on sensing results of one or more sensing operations performed by one or more network nodes.

[0273] Clause 109. The UE of clause 108, wherein the one or more sensing operations comprise: one or more monostatic sensing operations, one or more bistatic sensing operations, one or more multi-static sensing operations, or any combination thereof.

[0274] Clause 110. The UE of any of clauses 108 to 109, wherein the one or more network nodes comprise: one or more TRPs, one or more UEs, one or more wireless local area network 60 QC2307045WOQualcomm Ref. No.2307045WO (WLAN) access points, one or more ultra-wideband access points, one or more BLUETOOTH® beacons, or any combination thereof.

[0275] Clause 111. The UE of any of clauses 91 to 110, wherein the at least one direction does not intersect the one or more body regions.

[0276] Clause 112. The UE of any of clauses 91 to 111, wherein the at least one characteristic comprises a maximum transmit power of the one or more transmit beams.

[0277] Clause 113. The UE of any of clauses 91 to 112, wherein the one or more transmit beams are: one or more uplink transmit beams, or one or more sidelink transmit beams.

[0278] Clause 114. The UE of any of clauses 91 to 113, wherein the one or more transmit beams are one or more millimeter wave transmit beams.

[0279] Clause 115. The UE of any of clauses 91 to 114, further comprising: means for performing one or more monostatic sensing operations; means for obtaining one or more sensing measurements based on the one or more monostatic sensing operations; and means for determining the one or more body regions based on the one or more sensing measurements.

[0280] Clause 116. A network node, comprising: means for receiving, from a user equipment (UE), a request for assistance data for one or more transmit beams; and means for transmitting, to the UE, the assistance data for the one or more transmit beams, wherein the assistance data includes information to enable the UE to transmit one or more reference signals on the one or more transmit beams in at least one direction or according to at least one characteristic that reduces radio frequency exposure to one or more body regions of one or more users within a threshold distance of the UE, wherein each of the one or more body regions corresponds to a three-dimensional space in which at least a portion of a body of a user of the one or more users is estimated to be present.

[0281] Clause 117. The network node of clause 116, wherein the assistance data includes beam correspondence information between the one or more transmit beams and one or more transmit beams of one or more network nodes.

[0282] Clause 118. The network node of clause 117, wherein the beam correspondence information includes identifiers of the one or more network nodes, identifiers of the one or more transmit beams of the one or more network nodes, or both.

[0283] Clause 119. The network node of any of clauses 117 to 118, wherein: the one or more network nodes are one or more transmission-reception points (TRPs), and the beam 61 QC2307045WOQualcomm Ref. No.2307045WO correspondence information comprises one or more sounding reference signal (SRS) resource indicators (SRIs) indicating correspondence between the one or more transmit beams and the one or more transmit beams of the one or more network nodes.

[0284] Clause 120. The network node of any of clauses 116 to 119, wherein the assistance data indicates one or more second reference signals transmitted by one or more network nodes on one or more second transmit beams corresponding to the one or more transmit beams.

[0285] Clause 121. The network node of clause 120, wherein the one or more second reference signals comprise: one or more downlink positioning reference signals (DL-PRS), one or more sidelink positioning reference signals (SL-PRS), one or more tracking reference signals (TRS), one or more channel state information reference signals (CSI-RS), one or more physical downlink shared channels (PDSCHs), or any combination thereof.

[0286] Clause 122. The network node of clause 116, wherein the assistance data does not include beam correspondence information for the one or more transmit beams.

[0287] Clause 123. The network node of any of clauses 116 to 122, wherein the assistance data includes indications of the one or more body regions.

[0288] Clause 124. The network node of clause 123, wherein the indications comprise: coordinates of bounding boxes around the one or more body regions, a list of angles that should not be used for the one or more transmit beams, a list of angles that may be used for the one or more transmit beams, a list of downlink reference signals transmitted by one or more TRPs that should not be used as spatial relations for the one or more transmit beams, a list of downlink reference signals transmitted by the one or more TRPs that may be used as spatial relations for the one or more transmit beams, or any combination thereof.

[0289] Clause 125. The network node of any of clauses 116 to 124, wherein the assistance data includes the at least one characteristic.

[0290] Clause 126. The network node of any of clauses 116 to 125, wherein: the assistance data is transmitted periodically, the assistance data is transmitted in broadcast information from the network node, or any combination thereof.

[0291] Clause 127. The network node of any of clauses 116 to 126, wherein the network node is a second UE. 62 QC2307045WOQualcomm Ref. No.2307045WO

[0292] Clause 128. The network node of clause 127, further comprising: means for performing one or more sensing operations with the UE; and means for transmitting sensing results of the one or more sensing operations to the UE.

[0293] Clause 129. The network node of clause 128, wherein the sensing results comprise: indications of the one or more body regions, sensing measurements obtained from the one or more sensing operations, or any combination thereof.

[0294] Clause 130. The network node of any of clauses 128 to 129, further comprising: means for determining the one or more body regions based on the sensing results, wherein the one or more body regions are determined based on assumptions about human body shape, pattern matching, machine learning, or any combination thereof.

[0295] Clause 131. The network node of any of clauses 128 to 130, wherein the one or more sensing operations comprise: one or more monostatic sensing operations, one or more bistatic sensing operations, one or more multi-static sensing operations, or any combination thereof.

[0296] Clause 132. The network node of any of clauses 116 to 131, wherein the at least one direction does not intersect the one or more body regions.

[0297] Clause 133. The network node of any of clauses 116 to 132, wherein the at least one characteristic comprises a maximum transmit power of the one or more transmit beams.

[0298] Clause 134. The network node of any of clauses 116 to 133, wherein the one or more transmit beams are: one or more uplink transmit beams, or one or more sidelink transmit beams.

[0299] Clause 135. The network node of any of clauses 116 to 134, wherein the one or more transmit beams are one or more millimeter wave transmit beams.

[0300] Clause 136. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer-executable instructions that, when executed by a user equipment (UE), cause the UE to: receive, from a network node, assistance data for one or more transmit beams, wherein the assistance data includes information to enable the UE to transmit on the one or more transmit beams in at least one direction or according to at least one characteristic that reduces radio frequency exposure to one or more body regions of one or more users within a threshold distance of the UE, wherein each of the one or more body regions corresponds to a three- dimensional space in which at least a portion of a body of a user of the one or more users 63 QC2307045WOQualcomm Ref. No.2307045WO is estimated to be present; and transmit one or more reference signals on the one or more transmit beams in the at least one direction or according to the at least one characteristic.

[0301] Clause 137. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of clause 136, wherein the assistance data includes beam correspondence information between the one or more transmit beams and one or more transmit beams of one or more network nodes.

[0302] Clause 138. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of clause 137, wherein the beam correspondence information includes identifiers of the one or more network nodes, identifiers of the one or more transmit beams of the one or more network nodes, or both.

[0303] Clause 139. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 137 to 138, wherein: the one or more network nodes are one or more transmission-reception points (TRPs), and the beam correspondence information comprises one or more sounding reference signal (SRS) resource indicators (SRIs) indicating correspondence between the one or more transmit beams and the one or more transmit beams of the one or more network nodes.

[0304] Clause 140. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 136 to 139, wherein the assistance data indicates one or more second reference signals transmitted by one or more network nodes on one or more second transmit beams corresponding to the one or more transmit beams.

[0305] Clause 141. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of clause 140, wherein the one or more second reference signals comprise: one or more downlink positioning reference signals (DL-PRS), one or more sidelink positioning reference signals (SL-PRS), one or more tracking reference signals (TRS), one or more channel state information reference signals (CSI-RS), one or more physical downlink shared channels (PDSCHs), or any combination thereof.

[0306] Clause 142. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of clause 136, wherein the assistance data does not include beam correspondence information for the one or more transmit beams.

[0307] Clause 143. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of clause 142, further comprising computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the UE, cause the UE to: perform a beam sweep of a plurality of transmit beams; and select the one or more transmit beams based on the beam sweep. 64 QC2307045WOQualcomm Ref. No.2307045WO

[0308] Clause 144. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 136 to 143, wherein the assistance data includes indications of the one or more body regions.

[0309] Clause 145. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of clause 144, wherein the indications comprise: coordinates of bounding boxes around the one or more body regions, a list of angles that should not be used for the one or more transmit beams, a list of angles that may be used for the one or more transmit beams, a list of downlink reference signals transmitted by one or more TRPs that should not be used as spatial relations for the one or more transmit beams, a list of downlink reference signals transmitted by the one or more TRPs that may be used as spatial relations for the one or more transmit beams, or any combination thereof.

[0310] Clause 146. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 136 to 145, wherein the assistance data includes the at least one characteristic.

[0311] Clause 147. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 136 to 146, wherein: the assistance data is received periodically, the assistance data is received in broadcast information from the network node, or any combination thereof.

[0312] Clause 148. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 136 to 147, further comprising computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the UE, cause the UE to: transmit a request for the assistance data to the network node.

[0313] Clause 149. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 136 to 148, wherein the network node is a second UE.

[0314] Clause 150. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of clause 149, further comprising computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the UE, cause the UE to: perform one or more sensing operations with at least the second UE; and receive sensing results of the one or more sensing operations from at least the second UE.

[0315] Clause 151. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of clause 150, wherein the sensing results comprise: indications of the one or more body regions, sensing measurements obtained from the one or more sensing operations, or any combination thereof.

[0316] Clause 152. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 150 to 151, further comprising computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the UE, cause the UE to: determine the one or more body regions based on the sensing results, QC2307045WOQualcomm Ref. No.2307045WO wherein the one or more body regions are determined based on assumptions about human body shape, pattern matching, machine learning, or any combination thereof.

[0317] Clause 153. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 136 to 152, wherein the one or more body regions indicated in the assistance data are determined based on sensing results of one or more sensing operations performed by one or more network nodes.

[0318] Clause 154. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of clause 153, wherein the one or more sensing operations comprise: one or more monostatic sensing operations, one or more bistatic sensing operations, one or more multi-static sensing operations, or any combination thereof.

[0319] Clause 155. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 153 to 154, wherein the one or more network nodes comprise: one or more TRPs, one or more UEs, one or more wireless local area network (WLAN) access points, one or more ultra- wideband access points, one or more BLUETOOTH® beacons, or any combination thereof.

[0320] Clause 156. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 136 to 155, wherein the at least one direction does not intersect the one or more body regions.

[0321] Clause 157. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 136 to 156, wherein the at least one characteristic comprises a maximum transmit power of the one or more transmit beams.

[0322] Clause 158. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 136 to 157, wherein the one or more transmit beams are: one or more uplink transmit beams, or one or more sidelink transmit beams.

[0323] Clause 159. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 136 to 158, wherein the one or more transmit beams are one or more millimeter wave transmit beams.

[0324] Clause 160. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 136 to 159, further comprising computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the UE, cause the UE to: perform one or more monostatic sensing operations; obtain one or more sensing measurements based on the one or more monostatic sensing operations; and determine the one or more body regions based on the one or more sensing measurements.

[0325] Clause 161. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer-executable instructions that, when executed by a network node, cause the network node to: receive, 66 QC2307045WOQualcomm Ref. No.2307045WO from a user equipment (UE), a request for assistance data for one or more transmit beams; and transmit, to the UE, the assistance data for the one or more transmit beams, wherein the assistance data includes information to enable the UE to transmit one or more reference signals on the one or more transmit beams in at least one direction or according to at least one characteristic that reduces radio frequency exposure to one or more body regions of one or more users within a threshold distance of the UE, wherein each of the one or more body regions corresponds to a three-dimensional space in which at least a portion of a body of a user of the one or more users is estimated to be present.

[0326] Clause 162. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of clause 161, wherein the assistance data includes beam correspondence information between the one or more transmit beams and one or more transmit beams of one or more network nodes.

[0327] Clause 163. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of clause 162, wherein the beam correspondence information includes identifiers of the one or more network nodes, identifiers of the one or more transmit beams of the one or more network nodes, or both.

[0328] Clause 164. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 162 to 163, wherein: the one or more network nodes are one or more transmission-reception points (TRPs), and the beam correspondence information comprises one or more sounding reference signal (SRS) resource indicators (SRIs) indicating correspondence between the one or more transmit beams and the one or more transmit beams of the one or more network nodes.

[0329] Clause 165. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 161 to 164, wherein the assistance data indicates one or more second reference signals transmitted by one or more network nodes on one or more second transmit beams corresponding to the one or more transmit beams.

[0330] Clause 166. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of clause 165, wherein the one or more second reference signals comprise: one or more downlink positioning reference signals (DL-PRS), one or more sidelink positioning reference signals (SL-PRS), one or more tracking reference signals (TRS), one or more channel state information reference signals (CSI-RS), one or more physical downlink shared channels (PDSCHs), or any combination thereof. QC2307045WOQualcomm Ref. No.2307045WO

[0331] Clause 167. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of clause 161, wherein the assistance data does not include beam correspondence information for the one or more transmit beams.

[0332] Clause 168. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 161 to 167, wherein the assistance data includes indications of the one or more body regions.

[0333] Clause 169. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of clause 168, wherein the indications comprise: coordinates of bounding boxes around the one or more body regions, a list of angles that should not be used for the one or more transmit beams, a list of angles that may be used for the one or more transmit beams, a list of downlink reference signals transmitted by one or more TRPs that should not be used as spatial relations for the one or more transmit beams, a list of downlink reference signals transmitted by the one or more TRPs that may be used as spatial relations for the one or more transmit beams, or any combination thereof.

[0334] Clause 170. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 161 to 169, wherein the assistance data includes the at least one characteristic.

[0335] Clause 171. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 161 to 170, wherein: the assistance data is transmitted periodically, the assistance data is transmitted in broadcast information from the network node, or any combination thereof.

[0336] Clause 172. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 161 to 171, wherein the network node is a second UE.

[0337] Clause 173. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of clause 172, further comprising computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the network node, cause the network node to: perform one or more sensing operations with the UE; and transmit sensing results of the one or more sensing operations to the UE.

[0338] Clause 174. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of clause 173, wherein the sensing results comprise: indications of the one or more body regions, sensing measurements obtained from the one or more sensing operations, or any combination thereof.

[0339] Clause 175. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 173 to 174, further comprising computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the network node, cause the network node to: determine the one or more body regions based on the sensing results, wherein the one or more body regions are determined based on 68 QC2307045WOQualcomm Ref. No.2307045WO assumptions about human body shape, pattern matching, machine learning, or any combination thereof.

[0340] Clause 176. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 173 to 175, wherein the one or more sensing operations comprise: one or more monostatic sensing operations, one or more bistatic sensing operations, one or more multi-static sensing operations, or any combination thereof.

[0341] Clause 177. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 161 to 176, wherein the at least one direction does not intersect the one or more body regions.

[0342] Clause 178. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 161 to 177, wherein the at least one characteristic comprises a maximum transmit power of the one or more transmit beams.

[0343] Clause 179. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 161 to 178, wherein the one or more transmit beams are: one or more uplink transmit beams, or one or more sidelink transmit beams.

[0344] Clause 180. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 161 to 179, wherein the one or more transmit beams are one or more millimeter wave transmit beams.

[0345] Those of skill in the art will appreciate that information and signals may be represented using any of a variety of different technologies and techniques. For example, data, instructions, commands, information, signals, bits, symbols, and chips that may be referenced throughout the above description may be represented by voltages, currents, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or particles, optical fields or particles, or any combination thereof.

[0346] Further, those of skill in the art will appreciate that the various illustrative logical blocks, modules, circuits, and algorithm steps described in connection with the aspects disclosed herein may be implemented as electronic hardware, computer software, or combinations of both. To clearly illustrate this interchangeability of hardware and software, various illustrative components, blocks, modules, circuits, and steps have been described above generally in terms of their functionality. Whether such functionality is implemented as hardware or software depends upon the particular application and design constraints imposed on the overall system. Skilled artisans may implement the described functionality in varying ways for each particular application, but such implementation 69 QC2307045WOQualcomm Ref. No.2307045WO decisions should not be interpreted as causing a departure from the scope of the present disclosure.

[0347] The various illustrative logical blocks, modules, and circuits described in connection with the aspects disclosed herein may be implemented or performed with a general purpose processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an ASIC, a field-programable gate array (FPGA), or other programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof designed to perform the functions described herein. A general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor, but in the alternative, the processor may be any conventional processor, controller, microcontroller, or state machine. A processor may also be implemented as a combination of computing devices, for example, a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, a plurality of microprocessors, one or more microprocessors in conjunction with a DSP core, or any other such configuration.

[0348] The methods, sequences and / or algorithms described in connection with the aspects disclosed herein may be embodied directly in hardware, in a software module executed by a processor, or in a combination of the two. A software module may reside in random access memory (RAM), flash memory, read-only memory (ROM), erasable programmable ROM (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable ROM (EEPROM), registers, hard disk, a removable disk, a CD-ROM, or any other form of storage medium known in the art. An example storage medium is coupled to the processor such that the processor can read information from, and write information to, the storage medium. In the alternative, the storage medium may be integral to the processor. The processor and the storage medium may reside in an ASIC. The ASIC may reside in a user terminal (e.g., UE). In the alternative, the processor and the storage medium may reside as discrete components in a user terminal.

[0349] In one or more example aspects, the functions described may be implemented in hardware, software, firmware, or any combination thereof. If implemented in software, the functions may be stored on or transmitted over as one or more instructions or code on a computer-readable medium. Computer-readable media includes both computer storage media and communication media including any medium that facilitates transfer of a computer program from one place to another. A storage media may be any available media that can be accessed by a computer. By way of example, and not limitation, such QC2307045WOQualcomm Ref. No.2307045WO computer-readable media can comprise RAM, ROM, EEPROM, CD-ROM or other optical disk storage, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium that can be used to carry or store desired program code in the form of instructions or data structures and that can be accessed by a computer. Also, any connection is properly termed a computer-readable medium. For example, if the software is transmitted from a website, server, or other remote source using a coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, digital subscriber line (DSL), or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio, and microwave, then the coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, DSL, or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio, and microwave are included in the definition of medium. Disk and disc, as used herein, includes compact disc (CD), laser disc, optical disc, digital versatile disc (DVD), floppy disk and Blu-ray disc where disks usually reproduce data magnetically, while discs reproduce data optically with lasers. Combinations of the above should also be included within the scope of computer-readable media.

[0350] While the foregoing disclosure shows illustrative aspects of the disclosure, it should be noted that various changes and modifications could be made herein without departing from the scope of the disclosure as defined by the appended claims. For example, the functions, steps and / or actions of the method claims in accordance with the aspects of the disclosure described herein need not be performed in any particular order. Further, no component, function, action, or instruction described or claimed herein should be construed as critical or essential unless explicitly described as such. Furthermore, as used herein, the terms “set,” “group,” and the like are intended to include one or more of the stated elements. Also, as used herein, the terms “has,” “have,” “having,” “comprises,” “comprising,” “includes,” “including,” and the like does not preclude the presence of one or more additional elements (e.g., an element “having” A may also have B). Further, the phrase “based on” is intended to mean “based, at least in part, on” unless explicitly stated otherwise. Also, as used herein, the term “or” is intended to be inclusive when used in a series and may be used interchangeably with “and / or,” unless explicitly stated otherwise (e.g., if used in combination with “either” or “only one of”) or the alternatives are mutually exclusive (e.g., “one or more” should not be interpreted as “one and more”). Furthermore, although components, functions, actions, and instructions may be described or claimed in the singular, the plural is contemplated unless limitation to the singular is QC2307045WOQualcomm Ref. No.2307045WO explicitly stated. Accordingly, as used herein, the articles “a,” “an,” “the,” and “said” are intended to include one or more of the stated elements. Additionally, as used herein, the terms “at least one” and “one or more” encompass “one” component, function, action, or instruction performing or capable of performing a described or claimed functionality and also “two or more” components, functions, actions, or instructions performing or capable of performing a described or claimed functionality in combination. QC2307045WO

Claims

Qualcomm Ref. No.2307045WO CLAIMS What is claimed is:

1. A user equipment (UE), comprising: one or more memories; one or more transceivers; and one or more processors communicatively coupled to the one or more memories and the one or more transceivers, the one or more processors, either alone or in combination, configured to: receive, via the one or more transceivers, from a network node, assistance data for one or more transmit beams, wherein the assistance data includes information to enable the UE to transmit on the one or more transmit beams in at least one direction or according to at least one characteristic that reduces radio frequency exposure to one or more body regions of one or more users within a threshold distance of the UE, wherein each of the one or more body regions corresponds to a three-dimensional space in which at least a portion of a body of a user of the one or more users is estimated to be present; and transmit, via the one or more transceivers, one or more reference signals on the one or more transmit beams in the at least one direction or according to the at least one characteristic.

2. The UE of claim 1, wherein the assistance data includes beam correspondence information between the one or more transmit beams and one or more transmit beams of one or more network nodes.

3. The UE of claim 2, wherein the beam correspondence information includes identifiers of the one or more network nodes, identifiers of the one or more transmit beams of the one or more network nodes, or both.

4. The UE of claim 2, wherein: the one or more network nodes are one or more transmission-reception points (TRPs), and QC2307045WOQualcomm Ref. No.2307045WO the beam correspondence information comprises one or more sounding reference signal (SRS) resource indicators (SRIs) indicating correspondence between the one or more transmit beams and the one or more transmit beams of the one or more network nodes.

5. The UE of claim 1, wherein the assistance data indicates one or more second reference signals transmitted by one or more network nodes on one or more second transmit beams corresponding to the one or more transmit beams.

6. The UE of claim 5, wherein the one or more second reference signals comprise: one or more downlink positioning reference signals (DL-PRS), one or more sidelink positioning reference signals (SL-PRS), one or more tracking reference signals (TRS), one or more channel state information reference signals (CSI-RS), one or more physical downlink shared channels (PDSCHs), or any combination thereof.

7. The UE of claim 1, wherein the assistance data does not include beam correspondence information for the one or more transmit beams.

8. The UE of claim 7, wherein the one or more processors, either alone or in combination, are further configured to: perform a beam sweep of a plurality of transmit beams; and select the one or more transmit beams based on the beam sweep.

9. The UE of claim 1, wherein the assistance data includes indications of the one or more body regions.

10. The UE of claim 9, wherein the indications comprise: coordinates of bounding boxes around the one or more body regions, a list of angles that should not be used for the one or more transmit beams, a list of angles that may be used for the one or more transmit beams, 74 QC2307045WOQualcomm Ref. No.2307045WO a list of downlink reference signals transmitted by one or more TRPs that should not be used as spatial relations for the one or more transmit beams, a list of downlink reference signals transmitted by the one or more TRPs that may be used as spatial relations for the one or more transmit beams, or any combination thereof.

11. The UE of claim 1, wherein the assistance data includes the at least one characteristic.

12. The UE of claim 1, wherein: the assistance data is received periodically, the assistance data is received in broadcast information from the network node, or any combination thereof.

13. The UE of claim 1, wherein the one or more processors, either alone or in combination, are further configured to: transmit, via the one or more transceivers, a request for the assistance data to the network node.

14. The UE of claim 1, wherein the network node is a second UE.

15. The UE of claim 14, wherein the one or more processors, either alone or in combination, are further configured to: perform one or more sensing operations with at least the second UE; and receive, via the one or more transceivers, sensing results of the one or more sensing operations from at least the second UE.

16. The UE of claim 15, wherein the sensing results comprise: indications of the one or more body regions, sensing measurements obtained from the one or more sensing operations, or any combination thereof. 75 QC2307045WOQualcomm Ref. No.2307045WO 17. The UE of claim 15, wherein the one or more processors, either alone or in combination, are further configured to: determine the one or more body regions based on the sensing results, wherein the one or more body regions are determined based on assumptions about human body shape, pattern matching, machine learning, or any combination thereof.

18. The UE of claim 1, wherein the one or more body regions indicated in the assistance data are determined based on sensing results of one or more sensing operations performed by one or more network nodes.

19. The UE of claim 18, wherein the one or more sensing operations comprise: one or more monostatic sensing operations, one or more bistatic sensing operations, one or more multi-static sensing operations, or any combination thereof.

20. The UE of claim 18, wherein the one or more network nodes comprise: one or more TRPs, one or more UEs, one or more wireless local area network (WLAN) access points, one or more ultra-wideband access points, one or more BLUETOOTH® beacons, or any combination thereof.

21. The UE of claim 1, wherein the at least one direction does not intersect the one or more body regions.

22. The UE of claim 1, wherein the at least one characteristic comprises a maximum transmit power of the one or more transmit beams.

23. The UE of claim 1, wherein the one or more transmit beams are: 76 QC2307045WOQualcomm Ref. No.2307045WO 77 one or more uplink transmit beams, or one or more sidelink transmit beams.

24. The UE of claim 1, wherein the one or more transmit beams are one or more millimeter wave transmit beams.

25. The UE of claim 1, wherein the one or more processors, either alone or in combination, are further configured to: perform one or more monostatic sensing operations; obtain one or more sensing measurements based on the one or more monostatic sensing operations; and determine the one or more body regions based on the one or more sensing measurements.

26. A network node, comprising: one or more memories; one or more transceivers; and one or more processors communicatively coupled to the one or more memories and the one or more transceivers, the one or more processors, either alone or in combination, configured to: receive, via the one or more transceivers, from a user equipment (UE), a request for assistance data for one or more transmit beams; and transmit, via the one or more transceivers, to the UE, the assistance data for the one or more transmit beams, wherein the assistance data includes information to enable the UE to transmit one or more reference signals on the one or more transmit beams in at least one direction or according to at least one characteristic that reduces radio frequency exposure to one or more body regions of one or more users within a threshold distance of the UE, wherein each of the one or more body regions corresponds to a three-dimensional space in which at least a portion of a body of a user of the one or more users is estimated to be present. QC2307045WOQualcomm Ref. No.2307045WO 27. The network node of claim 26, wherein the assistance data includes beam correspondence information between the one or more transmit beams and one or more transmit beams of one or more network nodes.

28. The network node of claim 26, wherein the assistance data does not include beam correspondence information for the one or more transmit beams.

29. A method of wireless communication performed by a user equipment (UE), comprising: receiving, from a network node, assistance data for one or more transmit beams, wherein the assistance data includes information to enable the UE to transmit on the one or more transmit beams in at least one direction or according to at least one characteristic that reduces radio frequency exposure to one or more body regions of one or more users within a threshold distance of the UE, wherein each of the one or more body regions corresponds to a three-dimensional space in which at least a portion of a body of a user of the one or more users is estimated to be present; and transmitting one or more reference signals on the one or more transmit beams in the at least one direction or according to the at least one characteristic.

30. A method of wireless communication performed by a network node, comprising: receiving, from a user equipment (UE), a request for assistance data for one or more transmit beams; and transmitting, to the UE, the assistance data for the one or more transmit beams, wherein the assistance data includes information to enable the UE to transmit one or more reference signals on the one or more transmit beams in at least one direction or according to at least one characteristic that reduces radio frequency exposure to one or more body regions of one or more users within a threshold distance of the UE, wherein each of the one or more body regions corresponds to a three-dimensional space in which at least a portion of a body of a user of the one or more users is estimated to be present. QC2307045WO

Images