Resource allocation for ambient link
The wireless communications system addresses resource allocation challenges for ambient IoT devices by employing unified resource allocation modes with separate resource pools, improving connectivity and reducing interference among low-power devices.
Patent Information
- Application Number
- PCT/CN2024/077218
- Authority / Receiving Office
- WO · WO
- Patent Type
- Applications
- Current Assignee / Owner
- Filing Date
- 2024-02-15
- Publication Date
- 2025-08-21
AI Technical Summary
Existing wireless communication systems face challenges in efficiently allocating resources for ambient Internet of Things (IoT) communications, particularly when a large number of low-power devices are present, leading to interference and resource allocation difficulties.
A wireless communications system supports unified resource allocation modes, including network entity configuration, autonomous resource selection by devices, and mixed modes, using separate resource pools for ambient link communications that are independent of uplink or sidelink resources, with power and control signaling adjustments.
This approach enables efficient and interference-free resource allocation for ambient IoT devices, supporting low-power communication and reducing interference, thereby enhancing system performance and device connectivity.
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Figure CN2024077218_21082025_PF_FP_ABST
Abstract
Description
RESOURCE ALLOCATION FOR AMBIENT LINK
[0001] INTRODUCTION
[0002] The following relates to wireless communications, including a resource allocation for ambient link. Wireless communications systems are widely deployed to provide various types of communication content such as voice, video, packet data, messaging, broadcast, and so on. These systems may be capable of supporting communication with multiple users by sharing the available system resources (e.g., time, frequency, and power) . Examples of such multiple-access systems include fourth generation (4G) systems such as Long Term Evolution (LTE) systems, LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) systems, or LTE-A Pro systems, and fifth generation (5G) systems which may be referred to as New Radio (NR) systems. These systems may employ technologies such as code division multiple access (CDMA) , time division multiple access (TDMA) , frequency division multiple access (FDMA) , orthogonal FDMA (OFDMA) , or discrete Fourier transform spread orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (DFT-S-OFDM) . A wireless multiple-access communications system may include one or more base stations, each supporting wireless communication for communication devices, which may be known as user equipment (UE) .SUMMARY
[0003] The described techniques relate to improved methods, systems, devices, and apparatuses that support resource allocation for an ambient link. For example, the described techniques provide for unified resource allocation in a wireless communications system that includes ambient internet of things (IoT) communications. In some aspects, the wireless communications system may support different resource allocation modes that may define how resources may be allocated to devices within the system. For a first mode, a network entity may transmit an indication of one or more resource pools that are configured for ambient link communications between a first device (e.g., a reader device such as a network entity or a user equipment (UE) ) and one or more second devices (e.g., UEs or tags) . In some aspects, the one or more resource pools include first resources for ambient link communications that are separate from other resources configured for uplink or sidelink communications. For a second mode, the first device may autonomously select the ambient link resources based on resource sensing. For a third mode (e.g., a mixed mode including the first and second mode) , the first device may configure the one or more resource pools for each of the second devices, and may also dynamically configure whether to let the second devices select the ambient resources based on sensing.
[0004] A method of wireless communication performed by a first device is described. The method may include receiving, from a network entity, an indication of one or more resource pools configured for communication between the first device and one or more second devices and communicating one or more messages with the one or more second devices via first resources of the one or more resource pools, where the one or more resource pools are independent of second resources configured for uplink or downlink communications with the network entity, sidelink communications, or both.
[0005] A first device for wireless communication is described. The first device may include a processing system configured to receive, from a network entity, an indication of one or more resource pools configured for communication between the first device and one or more second devices and communicate one or more messages with the one or more second devices via first resources of the one or more resource pools, where the one or more resource pools are independent of second resources configured for uplink or downlink communications with the network entity, sidelink communications, or both.
[0006] Another first device for wireless communication is described. The first device may include means for receiving, from a network entity, an indication of one or more resource pools configured for communication between the first device and one or more second devices and means for communicating one or more messages with the one or more second devices via first resources of the one or more resource pools, where the one or more resource pools are independent of second resources configured for uplink or downlink communications with the network entity, sidelink communications, or both.
[0007] A non-transitory computer-readable medium having code stored thereon for wireless communication is described. The code may be configured to, when executed by a first device, cause the first device to receive, from a network entity, an indication of one or more resource pools configured for communication between the first device and one or more second devices and communicate one or more messages with the one or more second devices via first resources of the one or more resource pools, where the one or more resource pools are independent of second resources configured for uplink or downlink communications with the network entity, sidelink communications, or both.
[0008] In some aspects of the method, first devices, and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein, the one or more resource pools may be configured on an uplink frequency division duplexing (FDD) spectrum, a downlink FDD spectrum, or a time division duplexing (TDD) spectrum.
[0009] In some aspects of the method, first devices, and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein, use of the uplink FDD spectrum, the downlink FDD spectrum, or the TDD spectrum may be based on a device type associated with the first device, a device type associated with the one or more second devices, a set of communication links between the first device and the one or more second devices, one or more capabilities of the network entity, or any combination thereof.
[0010] In some aspects of the method, first devices, and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein, communicating the one or more messages with the one or more second devices may include operations, features, means, or instructions for transmitting, in association with the virtual first device, a continuous wave via the first resources of the one or more resource pools and receiving, from the one or more second devices, one or more backscattered communications using the continuous wave via the first resources of the one or more resource pools.
[0011] In some aspects of the method, first devices, and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein, a first transmission power may be associated with a forward link communication, a backward link communication, or a backscatter link and the continuous wave may be independent from second transmission powers associated with a downlink transmission by the network entity via a physical downlink channel.
[0012] In some aspects of the method, first devices, and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein, communicating the one or more messages with the one or more second devices may include operations, features, means, or instructions for receiving, from the one or more second devices, one or more backward link communications via the first resources of the one or more resource pools.
[0013] In some aspects of the method, first devices, and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein, communicating the one or more messages with the one or more second devices may include operations, features, means, or instructions for transmitting a forward link via the first resources of the one or more resource pools, where transmission via the forward link may be in association with the virtual first device.
[0014] In some aspects of the method, first devices, and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein, the first device may be associated with an identifier that indicates that the first device may be capable of participation in forward link communication, backward link communication, backscatter link communication, continuous wave communication, or any combination thereof.
[0015] In some aspects of the method, first devices, and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein, the one or more resource pools may be for communication via a forward link, a backward link, a backscatter link, a continuous wave, or any combination thereof and the one or more resource pools may be configured for the first device.
[0016] In some aspects of the method, first devices, and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein, the indication of the one or more resource pools may be received via radio resource control signaling, a medium-access control-control element (MAC-CE) which activates or deactivates the one or more resource pools, downlink control information (DCI) that dynamically switches on or off the one or more resource pools, or any combination thereof.
[0017] In some aspects of the method, first devices, and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein, the MAC-CE may be received via a unicast physical downlink shared channel.
[0018] In some aspects of the method, first devices, and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein, the DCI may be received via an uplink DCI format that may be associated with forward link communication or continuous wave communication via a radio network temporary identifier (RNTI) or via a size of the uplink DCI format.
[0019] In some aspects of the method, first devices, and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein, a transmission power associated with the forward link, the backward link, the backscatter link, and the continuous wave may be independent from an uplink transmission power of the first device.
[0020] In some aspects of the method, first devices, and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein, the one or more resource pools for the communication between the first device and the one or more second devices include resources that may be non-overlapping in time.
[0021] In some aspects of the method, first devices, and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein, the one or more resource pools include a set of time domain discontinuous reception (DRX) resources for the communication between the first device and the one or more second devices.
[0022] In some aspects of the method, first devices, and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein, the set of time domain DRX resources for the communication between the first device and the one or more second devices may be associated with discontinuous transmission or reception resources for uplink or downlink communications.
[0023] In some aspects of the method, first devices, and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein, the one or more resource pools include one or more bandwidth parts (BWPs) , one or more frequency sub-bands, or both, for the communication between the first device and the one or more second devices.
[0024] In some aspects of the method, first devices, and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein, the one or more BWPs, one or more frequency sub-bands, or both, for the communication between the first device and the one or more second devices may be associated with respective BWPs configured for uplink communications or downlink communications.
[0025] In some aspects of the method, first devices, and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein, the one or more resource pools include one or more spatial parameters, one or more beams, one or more transmission configuration indicator states, or any combination thereof, that may be configured for the communication between the first device and the one or more second devices.
[0026] In some aspects of the method, first devices, and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein, the one or more resource pools may be configured for the communication between the first device and the one or more second devices in accordance with a transmission power of the first device.
[0027] In some aspects of the method, first devices, and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein, respective transmission powers associated with a forward link, a backward link, a backscatter link, and a continuous wave may be separately configured.
[0028] Some aspects of the method, first devices, and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein may further include operations, features, means, or instructions for receiving a message that requests relative location information, mobility information, reference signal receive power measurements, or a combination thereof, from the first device and receiving, via a radio resource control message, information that pertains to a transmit power configuration for the communication between the first device and the one or more second devices based on the relative location information, mobility information, reference signal receive power measurements, or a combination thereof.
[0029] Some aspects of the method, first devices, and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein may further include operations, features, means, or instructions for receiving, via a downlink control information message, a medium access control-control element, or both, that indicates to adjust a transmit power of the first device for the communication between the first device and the one or more second devices.
[0030] In some aspects of the method, first devices, and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein, the one or more resource pools include a set of shared resources configured for a group of devices including the first device.
[0031] In some aspects of the method, first devices, and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein, the indication may be received via radio resource control signaling and the method, apparatuses, and non-transitory computer-readable medium may include further operations, features, means, or instructions for monitoring for resource availability for the one or more resource pools in one or more wireless frequency spectrum bands based on the indication.
[0032] Some aspects of the method, first devices, and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein may further include operations, features, means, or instructions for selecting the first resources for the communication between the first device and the one or more second devices based on the resource availability and based on whether the one or more resource pools may be independently configured for the first device.
[0033] Some aspects of the method, first devices, and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein may further include operations, features, means, or instructions for receiving, via one or more resources at an anchor sub-band, a synchronization signal to perform initial access to establish a link for the communication between the first device and the one or more second devices.
[0034] In some aspects of the method, first devices, and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein, the one or more resource pools include resources for forward link communications, backward link communications, backscatter link communications, continuous wave communications, or any combination thereof, that may be configured in one or more anchor sub-bands based on one or more functionalities of the communication and one or more capabilities of the first device, or the one or more second devices, or both.
[0035] In some aspects of the method, first devices, and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein, the one or more resource pools include resources for forward link communications, backward link communications, backscatter link communication, continuous wave communications, or both, that may be configured in one or more anchor sub-bands or one or more non-anchor sub-bands based on one or more functionalities of the communication and one or more capabilities of the first device or the one or more second devices, or both.
[0036] In some aspects of the method, first devices, and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein, the first device includes a reader device and the one or more second devices include one or more energy harvesting capable devices configured for ambient IoT communications.
[0037] A method of wireless communication performed by a first device is described. The method may include monitoring for resource availability in one or more wireless frequency spectrum bands associated with communication between the first device and one or more second devices, selecting first resources for the communication based on resource availability, and communicating one or more messages with the one or more second devices via first resources, where the first resources are independent of second resources configured for uplink communications or downlink communications with a network entity, sidelink communications, or both.
[0038] A first device for wireless communications is described. The first device may include a processing system configured to monitor for resource availability in one or more wireless frequency spectrum bands associated with communication between the first device and one or more second devices, select first resources for the communication based on resource availability, and communicate one or more messages with the one or more second devices via first resources, where the first resources are independent of second resources configured for uplink communications or downlink communications with a network entity, sidelink communications, or both.
[0039] Another first device for wireless communications is described. The first device may include means for monitoring for resource availability in one or more wireless frequency spectrum bands associated with communication between the first device and one or more second devices, means for selecting first resources for the communication based on resource availability, and means for communicating one or more messages with the one or more second devices via first resources, where the first resources are independent of second resources configured for uplink communications or downlink communications with a network entity, sidelink communications, or both.
[0040] A non-transitory computer-readable medium having code stored thereon for wireless communication is described. The code may be configured to, when executed by a first device, cause the first device to monitor for resource availability in one or more wireless frequency spectrum bands associated with communication between the first device and one or more second devices, select first resources for the communication based on resource availability, and communicate one or more messages with the one or more second devices via first resources, where the first resources are independent of second resources configured for uplink communications or downlink communications with a network entity, sidelink communications, or both.
[0041] In some aspects of the method, first devices, and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein, selecting the first resources for the communication may include operations, features, means, or instructions for selecting the first resources for backscatter link communications, backward link communications, forward link communications, continuous wave communications, or any combination thereof, based on the resource availability in a FDD uplink spectrum band of the one or more wireless frequency spectrum bands.
[0042] In some aspects of the method, first devices, and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein, selecting the first resources for the communication may include operations, features, means, or instructions for selecting the first resources for forward link communications, backward link communications, backscatter link communications, continuous wave communications, or any combination thereof, based on the resource availability.
[0043] In some aspects of the method, first devices, and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein, monitoring for the resource availability in the one or more wireless frequency spectrum bands may include operations, features, means, or instructions for performing, at a preamble portion of a continuous wave, a forward link, or both, one or more measurements of one or more reference signal metrics, where selection of the first resources may be based on the one or more measurements satisfying a threshold.
[0044] Some aspects of the method, first devices, and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein may further include operations, features, means, or instructions for receiving, via one or more resources at an anchor sub-band, a synchronization signal to perform initial access to establish a link for the communication, where the communication includes ambient IoT communication.
[0045] In some aspects of the method, first devices, and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein, the first resources include resources for forward link communications, backward link communications, backscatter link communications, continuous wave communications, or any combination thereof, that may be configured in one or more anchor sub-bands based on one or more device characteristics of the first device.
[0046] In some aspects of the method, first devices, and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein, the first resources include resources for uplink communications, downlink communications, or both, that may be configured in one or more anchor sub-bands or one or more non-anchor sub-bands based on one or more device characteristics of the first device.
[0047] In some aspects of the method, first devices, and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein, the first resources may be configured on an uplink FDD spectrum, a downlink FDD spectrum, or TDD spectrum.
[0048] A method of wireless communication performed by a first device is described. The method may include configuring one or more resource pools for communications, the one or more resource pools including first resources for communication between one or more second devices and one or more third devices, where the first resources are independent of second resources configured for uplink communications, downlink communications, sidelink communications, or any combination thereof and transmitting, to the one or more second devices, an indication of the one or more resource pools for the communication between the one or more second devices and the one or more third devices, where the indication includes a resource allocation configuration, a resource sensing configuration, or both.
[0049] A first device for wireless communication is described. The first device may include a processing system configured to configure one or more resource pools for communications, the one or more resource pools including first resources for communication between one or more second devices and one or more third devices, where the first resources are independent of second resources configured for uplink communications, downlink communications, sidelink communications, or any combination thereof and transmit, to the one or more second devices, an indication of the one or more resource pools for the communication between the one or more second devices and the one or more third devices, where the indication includes a resource allocation configuration, a resource sensing configuration, or both.
[0050] Another first device for wireless communication is described. The first device may include means for configuring one or more resource pools for communications, the one or more resource pools including first resources for communication between one or more second devices and one or more third devices, where the first resources are independent of second resources configured for uplink communications, downlink communications, sidelink communications, or any combination thereof and means for transmitting, to the one or more second devices, an indication of the one or more resource pools for the communication between the one or more second devices and the one or more third devices, where the indication includes a resource allocation configuration, a resource sensing configuration, or both.
[0051] A non-transitory computer-readable medium having code stored thereon for wireless communication is described. The code may, when executed by a first device, cause the first device to configure one or more resource pools for communications, the one or more resource pools including first resources for communication between one or more second devices and one or more third devices, where the first resources are independent of second resources configured for uplink communications, downlink communications, sidelink communications, or any combination thereof and transmit, to the one or more second devices, an indication of the one or more resource pools for the communication between the one or more second devices and the one or more third devices, where the indication includes a resource allocation configuration, a resource sensing configuration, or both.BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0052] FIGs. 1, 2, and 3 shows examples of wireless communications systems that support resource allocation for ambient link in accordance with one or more aspects of the present disclosure.
[0053] FIG. 4 shows example resource allocation configurations that support resource allocation for ambient link in accordance with one or more aspects of the present disclosure.
[0054] FIGs. 5 and 6 shows examples of wireless communications systems that support resource allocation for ambient link in accordance with one or more aspects of the present disclosure.
[0055] FIG. 7 shows an example of a resource allocation configuration that supports resource allocation for ambient link in accordance with one or more aspects of the present disclosure.
[0056] FIG. 8 shows an example of a process flow that supports resource allocation for ambient link in accordance with one or more aspects of the present disclosure.
[0057] FIGs. 9 and 10 show block diagrams of devices that support resource allocation for ambient link in accordance with one or more aspects of the present disclosure.
[0058] FIG. 11 shows a block diagram of a communications manager that supports resource allocation for ambient link in accordance with one or more aspects of the present disclosure.
[0059] FIG. 12 shows a diagram of a system including a device that supports resource allocation for ambient link in accordance with one or more aspects of the present disclosure.
[0060] FIGs. 13 and 14 show block diagrams of devices that support resource allocation for ambient link in accordance with one or more aspects of the present disclosure.
[0061] FIG. 15 shows a block diagram of a communications manager that supports resource allocation for ambient link in accordance with one or more aspects of the present disclosure.
[0062] FIG. 16 shows a diagram of a system including a device that supports resource allocation for ambient link in accordance with one or more aspects of the present disclosure.
[0063] FIGs. 17 through 19 show flowcharts illustrating methods that support resource allocation for ambient link in accordance with one or more aspects of the present disclosure.DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0064] Some wireless communications systems may support ambient internet of things (IoT) signaling, where low-power devices may communicate with one another using techniques that support low-cost device design and low power signaling. In some systems, different time and frequency resources may be reserved for ambient IoT signaling separate from resources used for traditional uplink and downlink communications. For example, some ambient IoT systems may support resource allocation in accordance with different topologies. In a first topology (e.g., topology 1) , a network entity is designated as a “reader” device and can directly reserve resources for ambient link communications between ambient IoT devices and other devices in the network. In a second topology (e.g., topology 2) , an ambient IoT device (such a user equipment (UE) ) is designated as the reader, and can perform ambient IoT communication using designated resources. In some deployments, however, a relatively large number of ambient IoT devices may be present within a cell, which may introduce interference among other challenges for resource allocation between devices.
[0065] To support unified resource allocation in ambient IoT systems, a wireless communications system may support various different resource allocation modes that define how resources may be allocated to devices within the system. For a first mode (e.g., mode 1) , a network entity may configure ambient link resources for each UE (or for a virtual UE that is co-located with the network entity) that are different from the other resources for uplink or sidelink (e.g., Uu link or sidelink resources) . For a second mode (e.g., mode 2) , a UE (or a virtual UE that is co-located with the network entity) may autonomously select the ambient link resources based on resource sensing. For a third mode (e.g., a mixed mode including modes 1 and 2) , the network entity may still configure the ambient link resources for each UE or virtual UE, and may also dynamically configure whether to let the UE autonomously select the ambient resources based on sensing.
[0066] For communications using topology 1, the network entity may assign resources to the virtual UE, which is configured to send a continuous wave to other UEs in a frequency division duplexing (FDD) uplink system, and collect backward communication and backscatter communications in the system. That is, the network entity may communicate in the uplink TDD spectrum via the virtual UE. In addition, for communications using topology 2, the network entity may configure separate ambient link resources on a per-UE basis. The network entity may allocate resources using different kinds of control signaling (e.g., via radio resource control signaling (RRC) , downlink control information (DCI) , medium access control-control element (MAC-CE) , or any combination thereof) . The ambient link resource allocations may also be subject to different power control considerations, and may be configured in both (or either) time or frequency domains.
[0067] Aspects of the disclosure are initially described in the context of wireless communications systems. Aspects of the disclosure are further illustrated by and described with reference to resource allocation configurations, a process flow, apparatus diagrams, system diagrams, and flowcharts that relate to resource allocation for ambient link.
[0068] FIG. 1 shows an example of a wireless communications system 100 that supports resource allocation for ambient link in accordance with one or more aspects of the present disclosure. The wireless communications system 100 may include one or more devices, such as one or more network devices (e.g., network entities 105) , one or more UEs 115, and a core network 130. In some aspects, the wireless communications system 100 may be a Long Term Evolution (LTE) network, an LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) network, an LTE-A Pro network, a New Radio (NR) network, or a network operating in accordance with other systems and radio technologies, including future systems and radio technologies not explicitly mentioned herein.
[0069] The network entities 105 may be dispersed throughout a geographic area to form the wireless communications system 100 and may include devices in different forms or having different capabilities. In various examples, a network entity 105 may be referred to as a network element, a mobility element, a radio access network (RAN) node, or network equipment, among other nomenclature. In some aspects, network entities 105 and UEs 115 may wirelessly communicate via communication link (s) 125 (e.g., a radio frequency (RF) access link) . For example, a network entity 105 may support a coverage area 110 (e.g., a geographic coverage area) over which the UEs 115 and the network entity 105 may establish the communication link (s) 125. The coverage area 110 may be an example of a geographic area over which a network entity 105 and a UE 115 may support the communication of signals according to one or more radio access technologies (RATs) .
[0070] The UEs 115 may be dispersed throughout a coverage area 110 of the wireless communications system 100, and each UE 115 may be stationary, or mobile, or both at different times. The UEs 115 may be devices in different forms or having different capabilities. Some example UEs 115 are illustrated in FIG. 1. The UEs 115 described herein may be capable of supporting communications with various types of devices in the wireless communications system 100 (e.g., other wireless communication devices, including UEs 115 or network entities 105) , as shown in FIG. 1.
[0071] As described herein, a node of the wireless communications system 100, which may be referred to as a network node, or a wireless node, may be a network entity 105 (e.g., any network entity described herein) , a UE 115 (e.g., any UE described herein) , a network controller, an apparatus, a device, a computing system, one or more components, or another suitable processing entity configured to perform any of the techniques described herein. For example, a node may be a UE 115. As another example, a node may be a network entity 105. As another example, a first node may be configured to communicate with a second node or a third node. In one aspect of this example, the first node may be a UE 115, the second node may be a network entity 105, and the third node may be a UE 115. In another aspect of this example, the first node may be a UE 115, the second node may be a network entity 105, and the third node may be a network entity 105. In yet other aspects of this example, the first, second, and third nodes may be different relative to these examples. Similarly, reference to a UE 115, network entity 105, apparatus, device, computing system, or the like may include disclosure of the UE 115, network entity 105, apparatus, device, computing system, or the like being a node. For example, disclosure that a UE 115 is configured to receive information from a network entity 105 also discloses that a first node is configured to receive information from a second node.
[0072] In some aspects, network entities 105 may communicate with a core network 130, or with one another, or both. For example, network entities 105 may communicate with the core network 130 via backhaul communication link (s) 120 (e.g., in accordance with an S1, N2, N3, or other interface protocol) . In some aspects, network entities 105 may communicate with one another via backhaul communication link (s) 120 (e.g., in accordance with an X2, Xn, or other interface protocol) either directly (e.g., directly between network entities 105) or indirectly (e.g., via the core network 130) . In some aspects, network entities 105 may communicate with one another via a midhaul communication link 162 (e.g., in accordance with a midhaul interface protocol) or a fronthaul communication link 168 (e.g., in accordance with a fronthaul interface protocol) , or any combination thereof. The backhaul communication link (s) 120, midhaul communication links 162, or fronthaul communication links 168 may be or include one or more wired links (e.g., an electrical link, an optical fiber link) or one or more wireless links (e.g., a radio link, a wireless optical link) , among other examples or various combinations thereof. A UE 115 may communicate with the core network 130 via a communication link 155.
[0073] One or more of the network entities 105 or network equipment described herein may include or may be referred to as a base station 140 (e.g., a base transceiver station, a radio base station, an NR base station, an access point, a radio transceiver, a NodeB, an eNodeB (eNB) , a next-generation NodeB or giga-NodeB (either of which may be referred to as a gNB) , a 5G NB, a next-generation eNB (ng-eNB) , a Home NodeB, a Home eNodeB, or other suitable terminology) . In some aspects, a network entity 105 (e.g., a base station 140) may be implemented in an aggregated (e.g., monolithic, standalone) base station architecture, which may be configured to utilize a protocol stack that is physically or logically integrated within one network entity (e.g., a network entity 105 or a single RAN node, such as a base station 140) .
[0074] As described herein, a network entity (which may alternatively be referred to as an entity, a node, a network node, or a wireless entity) may be, be similar to, include, or be included in (e.g., be a component of) a base station (e.g., any base station described herein, including a disaggregated base station) , a UE (e.g., any UE described herein) , a reduced capability (RedCap) device, an enhanced reduced capability (eRedCap) device, an ambient internet-of-things (IoT) device, an energy harvesting (EH) -capable device, a network controller, an apparatus, a device, a computing system, an integrated access and backhauling (IAB) node, a distributed unit (DU) , a central unit (CU) , a remote / radio unit (RU) (which may also be referred to as a remote radio unit (RRU) ) , and / or another processing entity configured to perform any of the techniques described herein. For example, a network entity may be a UE. As another example, a network entity may be a base station. As used herein, “network entity” may refer to an entity that is configured to operate in a network, such as the network 105. For example, a “network entity” is not limited to an entity that is currently located in and / or currently operating in the network. Rather, a network entity may be any entity that is capable of communicating and / or operating in the network.
[0075] The adjectives “first, ” “second, ” “third, ” and so on are used for contextual distinction between two or more of the modified noun in connection with a discussion and are not meant to be absolute modifiers that apply only to a certain respective entity throughout the entire document. For example, a network entity may be referred to as a “first network entity” in connection with one discussion and may be referred to as a “second network entity” in connection with another discussion, or vice versa. As an example, a first network entity may be configured to communicate with a second network entity or a third network entity. In one aspect of this example, the first network entity may be a UE, the second network entity may be a base station, and the third network entity may be a UE. In another aspect of this example, the first network entity may be a UE, the second network entity may be a base station, and the third network entity may be a base station. In yet other aspects of this example, the first, second, and third network entities may be different relative to these examples.
[0076] Similarly, reference to a UE, base station, apparatus, device, computing system, or the like may include disclosure of the UE, base station, apparatus, device, computing system, or the like being a network entity. For example, disclosure that a UE is configured to receive information from a base station also discloses that a first network entity is configured to receive information from a second network entity. Consistent with this disclosure, once a specific example is broadened in accordance with this disclosure (e.g., a UE is configured to receive information from a base station also discloses that a first network entity is configured to receive information from a second network entity) , the broader example of the narrower example may be interpreted in the reverse, but in a broad open-ended way. In the example above where a UE is configured to receive information from a base station also discloses that a first network entity is configured to receive information from a second network entity, the first network entity may refer to a first UE, a first base station, a first apparatus, a first device, a first computing system, a first set of one or more one or more components, a first processing entity, or the like configured to receive the information; and the second network entity may refer to a second UE, a second base station, a second apparatus, a second device, a second computing system, a second set of one or more components, a second processing entity, or the like.
[0077] As described herein, communication of information (e.g., any information, signal, or the like) may be described in various aspects using different terminology. Disclosure of one communication term includes disclosure of other communication terms. For example, a first network entity may be described as being configured to transmit information to a second network entity. In this example and consistent with this disclosure, disclosure that the first network entity is configured to transmit information to the second network entity includes disclosure that the first network entity is configured to provide, send, output, communicate, or transmit information to the second network entity. Similarly, in this example and consistent with this disclosure, disclosure that the first network entity is configured to transmit information to the second network entity includes disclosure that the second network entity is configured to receive, obtain, or decode the information that is provided, sent, output, communicated, or transmitted by the first network entity.
[0078] As shown, the network entity (e.g., network entity 105) may include a processing system 106. Similarly, the network entity (e.g., UE 115) may include a processing system 112. A processing system may include one or more components (or subcomponents) , such as one or more components described herein. For example, a respective component of the one or more components may be, be similar to, include, or be included in at least one memory, at least one communication interface, or at least one processor. For example, a processing system may include one or more components. In such an example, the one or more components may include a first component, a second component, and a third component. In this example, the first component may be coupled to a second component and a third component. In this example, the first component may be at least one processor, the second component may be a communication interface, and the third component may be at least one memory. A processing system may generally be a system one or more components that may perform one or more functions, such as any function or combination of functions described herein. For example, one or more components may receive input information (e.g., any information that is an input, such as a signal, any digital information, or any other information) , one or more components may process the input information to generate output information (e.g., any information that is an output, such as a signal or any other information) , one or more components may perform any function as described herein, or any combination thereof. As described herein, an “input” and “input information” may be used interchangeably. Similarly, as described herein, an “output” and “output information” may be used interchangeably. Any information generated by any component may be provided to one or more other systems or components of, for example, a network entity described herein) . For example, a processing system may include a first component configured to receive or obtain information, a second component configured to process the information to generate output information, and / or a third component configured to provide the output information to other systems or components. In this example, the first component may be a communication interface (e.g., a first communication interface) , the second component may be at least one processor (e.g., that is coupled to the communication interface and / or at least one memory) , and the third component may be a communication interface (e.g., the first communication interface or a second communication interface) . For example, a processing system may include at least one memory, at least one communication interface, and / or at least one processor, where the at least one processor may, for example, be coupled to the at least one memory and the at least one communication interface.
[0079] A processing system of a network entity described herein may interface with one or more other components of the network entity, may process information received from one or more other components (such as input information) , or may output information to one or more other components. For example, a processing system may include a first component configured to interface with one or more other components of the network entity to receive or obtain information, a second component configured to process the information to generate one or more outputs, and / or a third component configured to output the one or more outputs to one or more other components. In this example, the first component may be a communication interface (e.g., a first communication interface) , the second component may be at least one processor (e.g., that is coupled to the communication interface and / or at least one memory) , and the third component may be a communication interface (e.g., the first communication interface or a second communication interface) . For example, a chip or modem of the network entity may include a processing system. The processing system may include a first communication interface to receive or obtain information, and a second communication interface to output, transmit, or provide information. In some aspects, the first communication interface may be an interface configured to receive input information, and the information may be provided to the processing system. In some aspects, the second system interface may be configured to transmit information output from the chip or modem. The second communication interface may also obtain or receive input information, and the first communication interface may also output, transmit, or provide information.
[0080] In some aspects, a network entity 105 may be implemented in a disaggregated architecture (e.g., a disaggregated base station architecture, a disaggregated RAN architecture) , which may be configured to utilize a protocol stack that is physically or logically distributed among multiple network entities (e.g., network entities 105) , such as an integrated access and backhaul (IAB) network, an open RAN (O-RAN) (e.g., a network configuration sponsored by the O-RAN Alliance) , or a virtualized RAN (vRAN) (e.g., a cloud RAN (C-RAN) ) . For example, a network entity 105 may include one or more of a CU, such as a CU 160, a DU, such as a DU 165, an RU, such as an RU 170, a RAN Intelligent Controller (RIC) , such as an RIC 175 (e.g., a Near-Real Time RIC (Near-RT RIC) , a Non-Real Time RIC (Non-RT RIC) ) , a Service Management and Orchestration (SMO) system, such as an SMO system 180, or any combination thereof. An RU 170 may also be referred to as a radio head, a smart radio head, a remote radio head (RRH) , an RRU, or a transmission reception point (TRP) . One or more components of the network entities 105 in a disaggregated RAN architecture may be co-located, or one or more components of the network entities 105 may be located in distributed locations (e.g., separate physical locations) . In some aspects, one or more of the network entities 105 of a disaggregated RAN architecture may be implemented as virtual units (e.g., a virtual CU (VCU) , a virtual DU (VDU) , a virtual RU (VRU) ) .
[0081] The split of functionality between a CU 160, a DU 165, and an RU 170 is flexible and may support different functionalities depending on which functions (e.g., network layer functions, protocol layer functions, baseband functions, RF functions, or any combinations thereof) are performed at a CU 160, a DU 165, or an RU 170. For example, a functional split of a protocol stack may be employed between a CU 160 and a DU 165 such that the CU 160 may support one or more layers of the protocol stack and the DU 165 may support one or more different layers of the protocol stack. In some aspects, the CU 160 may host upper protocol layer (e.g., layer 3 (L3) , layer 2 (L2) ) functionality and signaling (e.g., Radio Resource Control (RRC) , service data adaption protocol (SDAP) , Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) ) . The CU 160 (e.g., one or more CUs) may be connected to a DU 165 (e.g., one or more DUs) or an RU 170 (e.g., one or more RUs) , or some combination thereof, and the DUs 165, RUs 170, or both may host lower protocol layers, such as layer 1 (L1) (e.g., physical (PHY) layer) or L2 (e.g., radio link control (RLC) layer, medium access control (MAC) layer) functionality and signaling, and may each be at least partially controlled by the CU 160. Additionally, or alternatively, a functional split of the protocol stack may be employed between a DU 165 and an RU 170 such that the DU 165 may support one or more layers of the protocol stack and the RU 170 may support one or more different layers of the protocol stack. The DU 165 may support one or multiple different cells (e.g., via one or multiple different RUs, such as an RU 170) . In some cases, a functional split between a CU 160 and a DU 165 or between a DU 165 and an RU 170 may be within a protocol layer (e.g., some functions for a protocol layer may be performed by one of a CU 160, a DU 165, or an RU 170, while other functions of the protocol layer are performed by a different one of the CU 160, the DU 165, or the RU 170) . A CU 160 may be functionally split further into CU control plane (CU-CP) and CU user plane (CU-UP) functions. A CU 160 may be connected to a DU 165 via a midhaul communication link 162 (e.g., F1, F1-c, F1-u) , and a DU 165 may be connected to an RU 170 via a fronthaul communication link 168 (e.g., open fronthaul (FH) interface) . In some aspects, a midhaul communication link 162 or a fronthaul communication link 168 may be implemented in accordance with an interface (e.g., a channel) between layers of a protocol stack supported by respective network entities (e.g., one or more of the network entities 105) that are in communication via such communication links.
[0082] In some wireless communications systems (e.g., the wireless communications system 100) , infrastructure and spectral resources for radio access may support wireless backhaul link capabilities to supplement wired backhaul connections, providing an IAB network architecture (e.g., to a core network 130) . In some cases, in an IAB network, one or more of the network entities 105 (e.g., network entities 105 or IAB node (s) 104) may be partially controlled by each other. The IAB node (s) 104 may be referred to as a donor entity or an IAB donor. A DU 165 or an RU 170 may be partially controlled by a CU 160 associated with a network entity 105 or base station 140 (such as a donor network entity or a donor base station) . The one or more donor entities (e.g., IAB donors) may be in communication with one or more additional devices (e.g., IAB node (s) 104) via supported access and backhaul links (e.g., backhaul communication link (s) 120) . IAB node (s) 104 may include an IAB mobile termination (IAB-MT) controlled (e.g., scheduled) by one or more DUs (e.g., DUs 165) of a coupled IAB donor. An IAB-MT may be equipped with an independent set of antennas for relay of communications with UEs 115 or may share the same antennas (e.g., of an RU 170) of IAB node (s) 104 used for access via the DU 165 of the IAB node (s) 104 (e.g., referred to as virtual IAB-MT (vIAB-MT) ) . In some aspects, the IAB node (s) 104 may include one or more DUs (e.g., DUs 165) that support communication links with additional entities (e.g., IAB node (s) 104, UEs 115) within the relay chain or configuration of the access network (e.g., downstream) . In such cases, one or more components of the disaggregated RAN architecture (e.g., the IAB node (s) 104 or components of the IAB node (s) 104) may be configured to operate according to the techniques described herein.
[0083] In the case of the techniques described herein applied in the context of a disaggregated RAN architecture, one or more components of the disaggregated RAN architecture may be configured to support test as described herein. For example, some operations described as being performed by a UE 115 or a network entity 105 (e.g., a base station 140) may additionally, or alternatively, be performed by one or more components of the disaggregated RAN architecture (e.g., components such as an IAB node, a DU 165, a CU 160, an RU 170, an RIC 175, an SMO system 180) .
[0084] A UE 115 may include or may be referred to as a mobile device, a wireless device, a remote device, a handheld device, or a subscriber device, or some other suitable terminology, where the “device” may also be referred to as a unit, a station, a terminal, or a client, among other examples. A UE 115 may also include or may be referred to as a personal electronic device such as a cellular phone, a personal digital assistant (PDA) , a tablet computer, a laptop computer, or a personal computer. In some aspects, a UE 115 may include or be referred to as a wireless local loop (WLL) station, an Internet of Things (IoT) device, an Internet of Everything (IoE) device, or a machine type communications (MTC) device, among other examples, which may be implemented in various objects such as appliances, vehicles, or meters, among other examples.
[0085] The UEs 115 described herein may be able to communicate with various types of devices, such as UEs 115 that may sometimes operate as relays, as well as the network entities 105 and the network equipment including macro eNBs or gNBs, small cell eNBs or gNBs, or relay base stations, among other examples, as shown in FIG. 1.
[0086] The UEs 115 and the network entities 105 may wirelessly communicate with one another via the communication link (s) 125 (e.g., one or more access links) using resources associated with one or more carriers. The term “carrier” may refer to a set of RF spectrum resources having a defined PHY layer structure for supporting the communication link (s) 125. For example, a carrier used for the communication link (s) 125 may include a portion of an RF spectrum band (e.g., a bandwidth part (BWP) ) that is operated according to one or more PHY layer channels for a given RAT (e.g., LTE, LTE-A, LTE-A Pro, NR) . Each PHY layer channel may carry acquisition signaling (e.g., synchronization signals, system information) , control signaling that coordinates operation for the carrier, user data, or other signaling. The wireless communications system 100 may support communication with a UE 115 using carrier aggregation or multi-carrier operation. A UE 115 may be configured with multiple downlink component carriers and one or more uplink component carriers according to a carrier aggregation configuration. Carrier aggregation may be used with both frequency division duplexing (FDD) and time division duplexing (TDD) component carriers. Communication between a network entity 105 and other devices may refer to communication between the devices and any portion (e.g., entity, sub-entity) of a network entity 105. For example, the terms “transmitting, ” “receiving, ” or “communicating, ” when referring to a network entity 105, may refer to any portion of a network entity 105 (e.g., a base station 140, a CU 160, a DU 165, a RU 170) of a RAN communicating with another device (e.g., directly or via one or more other network entities, such as one or more of the network entities 105) .
[0087] The communication link (s) 125 of the wireless communications system 100 may include downlink transmissions (e.g., forward link transmissions) from a network entity 105 to a UE 115, uplink transmissions (e.g., return link transmissions) from a UE 115 to a network entity 105, or both, among other configurations of transmissions. Carriers may carry downlink or uplink communications (e.g., in an FDD mode) or may be configured to carry downlink and uplink communications (e.g., in a TDD mode) .
[0088] A carrier may be associated with a particular bandwidth of the RF spectrum and, in some aspects, the carrier bandwidth may be referred to as a “system bandwidth” of the carrier or the wireless communications system 100. For example, the carrier bandwidth may be one of a set of bandwidths for carriers of a particular RAT (e.g., 1.4, 3, 5, 10, 15, 20, 40, or 80 megahertz (MHz) ) . Devices of the wireless communications system 100 (e.g., the network entities 105, the UEs 115, or both) may have hardware configurations that support communications using a particular carrier bandwidth or may be configurable to support communications using one of a set of carrier bandwidths. In some aspects, the wireless communications system 100 may include network entities 105 or UEs 115 that support concurrent communications using carriers associated with multiple carrier bandwidths. In some aspects, each served UE 115 may be configured for operating using portions (e.g., a sub-band, a BWP) or all of a carrier bandwidth.
[0089] Signal waveforms transmitted via a carrier may be made up of multiple subcarriers (e.g., using multi-carrier modulation (MCM) techniques such as orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) or discrete Fourier transform spread OFDM (DFT-S-OFDM) ) . In a system employing MCM techniques, a resource element may refer to resources of one symbol period (e.g., a duration of one modulation symbol) and one subcarrier, in which case the symbol period and subcarrier spacing may be inversely related. The quantity of bits carried by each resource element may depend on the modulation scheme (e.g., the order of the modulation scheme, the coding rate of the modulation scheme, or both) , such that a relatively higher quantity of resource elements (e.g., in a transmission duration) and a relatively higher order of a modulation scheme may correspond to a relatively higher rate of communication. A wireless communications resource may refer to a combination of an RF spectrum resource, a time resource, and a spatial resource (e.g., a spatial layer, a beam) , and the use of multiple spatial resources may increase the data rate or data integrity for communications with a UE 115.
[0090] One or more numerologies for a carrier may be supported, and a numerology may include a subcarrier spacing (Δf) and a cyclic prefix. A carrier may be divided into one or more BWPs having the same or different numerologies. In some aspects, a UE 115 may be configured with multiple BWPs. In some aspects, a single BWP for a carrier may be active at a given time and communications for the UE 115 may be restricted to one or more active BWPs.
[0091] The time intervals for the network entities 105 or the UEs 115 may be expressed in multiples of a basic time unit which may, for example, refer to a sampling period of Ts=1 / (Δfmax·Nf) seconds, for which Δfmax may represent a supported subcarrier spacing, and Nf may represent a supported discrete Fourier transform (DFT) size. Time intervals of a communications resource may be organized according to radio frames each having a specified duration (e.g., 10 milliseconds (ms) ) . Each radio frame may be identified by a system frame number (SFN) (e.g., ranging from 0 to 1023) .
[0092] Each frame may include multiple consecutively-numbered subframes or slots, and each subframe or slot may have the same duration. In some aspects, a frame may be divided (e.g., in the time domain) into subframes, and each subframe may be further divided into a quantity of slots. Alternatively, each frame may include a variable quantity of slots, and the quantity of slots may depend on subcarrier spacing. Each slot may include a quantity of symbol periods (e.g., depending on the length of the cyclic prefix prepended to each symbol period) . In some wireless communications systems, such as the wireless communications system 100, a slot may further be divided into multiple mini-slots associated with one or more symbols. Excluding the cyclic prefix, each symbol period may be associated with one or more (e.g., Nf) sampling periods. The duration of a symbol period may depend on the subcarrier spacing or frequency band of operation.
[0093] A subframe, a slot, a mini-slot, or a symbol may be the smallest scheduling unit (e.g., in the time domain) of the wireless communications system 100 and may be referred to as a transmission time interval (TTI) . In some aspects, the TTI duration (e.g., a quantity of symbol periods in a TTI) may be variable. Additionally, or alternatively, the smallest scheduling unit of the wireless communications system 100 may be dynamically selected (e.g., in bursts of shortened TTIs (sTTIs) ) .
[0094] Physical channels may be multiplexed for communication using a carrier according to various techniques. A physical control channel and a physical data channel may be multiplexed for signaling via a downlink carrier, for example, using one or more of time division multiplexing (TDM) techniques, frequency division multiplexing (FDM) techniques, or hybrid TDM-FDM techniques. A control region (e.g., a control resource set (CORESET) ) for a physical control channel may be defined by a set of symbol periods and may extend across the system bandwidth or a subset of the system bandwidth of the carrier. One or more control regions (e.g., CORESETs) may be configured for a set of the UEs 115. For example, one or more of the UEs 115 may monitor or search control regions for control information according to one or more search space sets, and each search space set may include one or multiple control channel candidates in one or more aggregation levels arranged in a cascaded manner. An aggregation level for a control channel candidate may refer to an amount of control channel resources (e.g., control channel elements (CCEs) ) associated with encoded information for a control information format having a given payload size. Search space sets may include common search space sets configured for sending control information to UEs 115 (e.g., one or more UEs) or may include UE-specific search space sets for sending control information to a UE 115 (e.g., a specific UE) .
[0095] A macro cell generally covers a relatively large geographic area (e.g., several kilometers in radius) and may allow unrestricted access by the UEs 115 with service subscriptions with the network provider supporting the macro cell. A small cell may be associated with a network entity 105 operating with lower power (e.g., a base station 140 operating with lower power) relative to a macro cell, and a small cell may operate using the same or different (e.g., licensed, unlicensed) frequency bands as macro cells. Small cells may provide unrestricted access to the UEs 115 with service subscriptions with the network provider or may provide restricted access to the UEs 115 having an association with the small cell (e.g., the UEs 115 in a closed subscriber group (CSG) , the UEs 115 associated with users in a home or office) . A network entity 105 may support one or more cells and may also support communications via the one or more cells using one or multiple component carriers.
[0096] In some aspects, a carrier may support multiple cells, and different cells may be configured according to different protocol types (e.g., MTC, narrowband IoT (NB-IoT) , enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB) ) that may provide access for different types of devices.
[0097] In some aspects, a network entity 105 (e.g., a base station 140, an RU 170) may be movable and therefore provide communication coverage for a moving coverage area, such as the coverage area 110. In some aspects, coverage areas 110 (e.g., different coverage areas) associated with different technologies may overlap, but the coverage areas 110 (e.g., different coverage areas) may be supported by the same network entity (e.g., a network entity 105) . In some other examples, overlapping coverage areas, such as a coverage area 110, associated with different technologies may be supported by different network entities (e.g., the network entities 105) . The wireless communications system 100 may include, for example, a heterogeneous network in which different types of the network entities 105 support communications for coverage areas 110 (e.g., different coverage areas) using the same or different RATs.
[0098] Some UEs 115, such as MTC or IoT devices, may be relatively low cost or low complexity devices and may provide for automated communication between machines (e.g., via Machine-to-Machine (M2M) communication) . M2M communication or MTC may refer to data communication technologies that allow devices to communicate with one another or a network entity 105 (e.g., a base station 140) without human intervention. In some aspects, M2M communication or MTC may include communications from devices that integrate sensors or meters to measure or capture information and relay such information to a central server or application program that uses the information or presents the information to humans interacting with the application program. Some UEs 115 may be designed to collect information or enable automated behavior of machines or other devices. Examples of applications for MTC devices include smart metering, inventory monitoring, water level monitoring, equipment monitoring, healthcare monitoring, wildlife monitoring, weather and geological event monitoring, fleet management and tracking, remote security sensing, physical access control, and transaction-based business charging.
[0099] The wireless communications system 100 may be configured to support ultra-reliable communications or low-latency communications, or various combinations thereof. For example, the wireless communications system 100 may be configured to support ultra- reliable low-latency communications (URLLC) . The UEs 115 may be designed to support ultra-reliable, low-latency, or critical functions. Ultra-reliable communications may include private communication or group communication and may be supported by one or more services such as push-to-talk, video, or data. Support for ultra-reliable, low-latency functions may include prioritization of services, and such services may be used for public safety or general commercial applications. The terms ultra-reliable, low-latency, and ultra-reliable low-latency may be used interchangeably herein.
[0100] In some aspects, a UE 115 may be configured to support communicating directly with other UEs (e.g., one or more of the UEs 115) via a device-to-device (D2D) communication link, such as a D2D communication link 135 (e.g., in accordance with a peer-to-peer (P2P) , D2D, or sidelink protocol) . In some aspects, one or more UEs 115 of a group that are performing D2D communications may be within the coverage area 110 of a network entity 105 (e.g., a base station 140, an RU 170) , which may support aspects of such D2D communications being configured by (e.g., scheduled by) the network entity 105. In some aspects, one or more UEs 115 of such a group may be outside the coverage area 110 of a network entity 105 or may be otherwise unable to or not configured to receive transmissions from a network entity 105. In some aspects, groups of the UEs 115 communicating via D2D communications may support a one-to-many (1: M) system in which each UE 115 transmits to one or more of the UEs 115 in the group. In some aspects, a network entity 105 may facilitate the scheduling of resources for D2D communications. In some other examples, D2D communications may be carried out between the UEs 115 without an involvement of a network entity 105.
[0101] The core network 130 may provide user authentication, access authorization, tracking, Internet Protocol (IP) connectivity, and other access, routing, or mobility functions. The core network 130 may be an evolved packet core (EPC) or 5G core (5GC) , which may include at least one control plane entity that manages access and mobility (e.g., a mobility management entity (MME) , an access and mobility management function (AMF) ) and at least one user plane entity that routes packets or interconnects to external networks (e.g., a serving gateway (S-GW) , a Packet Data Network (PDN) gateway (P-GW) , or a user plane function (UPF) ) . The control plane entity may manage non-access stratum (NAS) functions such as mobility, authentication, and bearer management for the UEs 115 served by the network entities 105 (e.g., base stations 140) associated with the core network 130. User IP packets may be transferred through the user plane entity, which may provide IP address allocation as well as other functions. The user plane entity may be connected to IP services 150 for one or more network operators. The IP services 150 may include access to the Internet, Intranet (s) , an IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) , or a Packet-Switched Streaming Service.
[0102] The wireless communications system 100 may operate using one or more frequency bands, which may be in the range of 300 megahertz (MHz) to 300 gigahertz (GHz) . Generally, the region from 300 MHz to 3 GHz is known as the ultra-high frequency (UHF) region or decimeter band because the wavelengths range from approximately one decimeter to one meter in length. UHF waves may be blocked or redirected by buildings and environmental features, which may be referred to as clusters, but the waves may penetrate structures sufficiently for a macro cell to provide service to the UEs 115 located indoors. Communications using UHF waves may be associated with smaller antennas and shorter ranges (e.g., less than one hundred kilometers) compared to communications using the smaller frequencies and longer waves of the high frequency (HF) or very high frequency (VHF) portion of the spectrum below 300 MHz.
[0103] The wireless communications system 100 may utilize both licensed and unlicensed RF spectrum bands. For example, the wireless communications system 100 may employ License Assisted Access (LAA) , LTE-Unlicensed (LTE-U) RAT, or NR technology using an unlicensed band such as the 5 GHz industrial, scientific, and medical (ISM) band. While operating using unlicensed RF spectrum bands, devices such as the network entities 105 and the UEs 115 may employ carrier sensing for collision detection and avoidance. In some aspects, operations using unlicensed bands may be based on a carrier aggregation configuration in conjunction with component carriers operating using a licensed band (e.g., LAA) . Operations using unlicensed spectrum may include downlink transmissions, uplink transmissions, P2P transmissions, or D2D transmissions, among other examples.
[0104] A network entity 105 (e.g., a base station 140, an RU 170) or a UE 115 may be equipped with multiple antennas, which may be used to employ techniques such as transmit diversity, receive diversity, multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) communications, or beamforming. The antennas of a network entity 105 or a UE 115 may be located within one or more antenna arrays or antenna panels, which may support MIMO operations or transmit or receive beamforming. For example, one or more base station antennas or antenna arrays may be co-located at an antenna assembly, such as an antenna tower. In some aspects, antennas or antenna arrays associated with a network entity 105 may be located at diverse geographic locations. A network entity 105 may include an antenna array with a set of rows and columns of antenna ports that the network entity 105 may use to support beamforming of communications with a UE 115. Likewise, a UE 115 may include one or more antenna arrays that may support various MIMO or beamforming operations. Additionally, or alternatively, an antenna panel may support RF beamforming for a signal transmitted via an antenna port.
[0105] The network entities 105 or the UEs 115 may use MIMO communications to exploit multipath signal propagation and increase spectral efficiency by transmitting or receiving multiple signals via different spatial layers. Such techniques may be referred to as spatial multiplexing. The multiple signals may, for example, be transmitted by the transmitting device via different antennas or different combinations of antennas. Likewise, the multiple signals may be received by the receiving device via different antennas or different combinations of antennas. Each of the multiple signals may be referred to as a separate spatial stream and may carry information associated with the same data stream (e.g., the same codeword) or different data streams (e.g., different codewords) . Different spatial layers may be associated with different antenna ports used for channel measurement and reporting. MIMO techniques include single-user MIMO (SU-MIMO) , for which multiple spatial layers are transmitted to the same receiving device, and multiple-user MIMO (MU-MIMO) , for which multiple spatial layers are transmitted to multiple devices.
[0106] Beamforming, which may also be referred to as spatial filtering, directional transmission, or directional reception, is a signal processing technique that may be used at a transmitting device or a receiving device (e.g., a network entity 105, a UE 115) to shape or steer an antenna beam (e.g., a transmit beam, a receive beam) along a spatial path between the transmitting device and the receiving device. Beamforming may be achieved by combining the signals communicated via antenna elements of an antenna array such that some signals propagating along particular orientations with respect to an antenna array experience constructive interference while others experience destructive interference. The adjustment of signals communicated via the antenna elements may include a transmitting device or a receiving device applying amplitude offsets, phase offsets, or both to signals carried via the antenna elements associated with the device. The adjustments associated with each of the antenna elements may be defined by a beamforming weight set associated with a particular orientation (e.g., with respect to the antenna array of the transmitting device or receiving device, or with respect to some other orientation) .
[0107] In some implementations, the wireless communications system 100 may include one or more ambient devices or passive devices. Ambient devices may include, but are not limited to, RFID tags, passive IoT devices or ambient IoT devices, hybrid devices including passive and active components, passive components of otherwise active / querying devices (e.g., passive components of a UE 115) , or any combination thereof. For example, in some implementations, a UE 115 of the wireless communications system 100 may serve as a passive device or an ambient device, or may function as a reader device. A passive RFID tag may harvest energy over the air and may power transmission and reception circuitry at the device using the harvested energy. The transmitted signal by the passive RFID may be backscatter modulated. In some aspects, the wireless communications system 100 may include one or more semi-passive or active RFID devices, which may include a battery, but may be relatively more costly than ambient devices.
[0108] The wireless communications system 100 may support ambient IoT devices communications for different types of wireless communications (e.g., different industrial verticals, including URLLC, MTC, reduced capability devices such as devices with reduced processing capabilities, lower power capabilities, among other capabilities, and other use cases) . However, some systems may not efficiently support RFID-type sensors, including ambient IoT devices for use cases including asset management, logistics, warehousing, and manufacturing, among other examples. Techniques for managing and communicating with ambient IoT devices may be beneficial. For example, a network entity 105 may read or write information stored on an ambient IoT device, may provide energy to the ambient IoT devices, may receive one or more reflected information bearing signals, and may decode information transmitted by ambient IoT devices by reading the reflected signals.
[0109] The wireless communications system 100 may use wireless power transfer for various scenarios. For example, the wireless communications system may support, or include aspects of, a wireless power transfer-based wireless sensor network, in which devices may not need manual battery replacement due to devices being powered by one or more different energy sources (e.g., solar power, ambient radio frequency power, etc. ) . Additionally, a wireless power transfer-based wireless sensor network may have a longer lifetime than a solely battery-based sensor network. The wireless communications system 100 may support, or include aspects of, wireless power transfer-based active RFID, which may provide increased range for RFID signaling, and where energy can be gathered over a relatively longer duration than information transfer. In some aspects, the wireless communications system 100 may support, or include aspects of, wireless power transfer-enabled devices, which may harvest energy from hybrid energy sources, or harvesting energy from two or more energy sources.
[0110] Different types of IoT devices or ambient-IoT devices may have different energy harvesting capabilities. For example, a first energy harvesting device may support energy harvesting using a solar-based energy source, a thermal-based energy source, a wireless power transfer source, or other energy collection source. It may be beneficial for a network entity 105 to be aware of the capabilities of different energy harvesting devices for the network entity 105 to perform efficient scheduling and communication. In some aspects, the network entity 105 may need to know whether to provide energy to the device or not. For example, if an energy harvesting source of an energy harvesting device is solar based, the network entity 105 may avoid scheduling communication with the energy harvesting device at night.
[0111] In some aspects, ambient IoT devices may support relatively short range communications (e.g., less than 10 meters) based on link budget considerations and reduced device capabilities. In addition, the wireless communications system 100 may support different types of IoT devices or RFID tags, which may be configured as passive or ambient devices, semi-passive or semi-ambient devices, or active devices. For example, one type of tag may be a passive or ambient tag (e.g., RFID proximity cards, among other devices) , which may receive power through RF energy harvesting, may support response-only communications with a maximum communications distance range of 10 meters, may be relatively low cost (e.g., the lowest cost out of passive, semi-passive and active devices) . In some aspects, passive tags may remain dormant until they receive a radio signal from an RFID reader. The tag then may use the energy from the reader signal to power on the tag and to reflect an information-carrying signal back to the reader.
[0112] One other example tag type may be a semi-passive tag (e.g., electronic toll devices, pallet tracking device, among other devices) , which may contain a battery, but may not transmit a periodic signal like active RFID tags. Instead, the battery of the semi-passive tag may be turned on when a signal is received, which allows the energy from the reader signal to be reflected back. A semi-passive device may support response-only communications at distance of up to 100 meters or more. Semi-passive devices may be relatively more costly than passive devices.
[0113] One other example tag type may be an active tag (e.g., large-asset tracking devices, livestock tracking devices, among other devices) , which may receive power using an in-device battery. An active tag may respond to or initiate communications for up to 100 meters or greater distances. Because active tags may be the costliest type of RFID tag, they may be used to track high-value assets, such as equipment in the construction, automobile or healthcare industries.
[0114] In some aspects, the wireless communications system 100 may have a harmonized air interface design to support communications from ambient IoT-based devices and other wireless devices. In some implementations, an ambient IoT device may support a peak power consumption of up to ~1 μW, may support on-device energy storage, an initial sampling frequency offset (SFO) of up to 10X ppm (where X may be a dynamic value or set value) , with neither downlink or uplink amplification in the device. For such devices, uplink transmissions may be backscattered with a frequency shift relative to a carrier wave (e.g., a continuous wave) provided internally by the reader or externally by an energy node separate from the reader. In some implementations, am ambient IoT device may support a peak power consumption of up to a few hundred μW, may have on-device energy storage, an initial SFO of up to 10X ppm (where X may be a dynamic value or a set value) , with both downlink and uplink amplification in the device. In some such devices, uplink transmission may be generated internally by the device, or may be backscattered with a frequency shift relative to a carrier wave (e.g., a continuous wave) provided internally by the reader or externally by an energy node separate from the reader. Some such device may support a coverage or signaling range of 10–50 meters in an indoor setting, and may communicate at least in the uplink spectrum.
[0115] In some aspects, the wireless communications system 100 may support different topologies or micro-cell deployment scenarios, which may or may not support RRC states, mobility functionalities (e.g., cell selection and re-selection functionalities) , and HARQ feedback. In a first topology (e.g., Topology 1) an ambient IoT device may communicate directly and bidirectionally with a network entity 105 or other reader device. In a second topology (e.g., Topology 2) , the ambient IoT device may communicate bidirectionally with an intermediate node between the ambient IoT device and the network entity 105 or reader device. In such examples, the intermediate node may be a device located indoors, a relay device, an IAB node, a UE, a repeater or reflector, or another device that may support ambient IoT communications.
[0116] In some implementations, the ambient IoT devices may communicate in a first frequency range (FR1) licensed spectrum for frequency division duplexing (FDD) . In some cases, the devices may support spectrum deployment in-band (e.g., NR communications) , in guard-band (e.g., LTE or NR communications) , in standalone band (s) , or a combination thereof. In some cases, the wireless communications system 100 may support ambient IoT communications for different traffic types such as device-originated (DO) DTT traffic and DT traffic with rUC1 (indoor inventory) and rUC4 (indoor command) . For example, an ambient IoT device may support paging, random access procedures, data transmission including RRC aspect, and various interactions with upper layers.
[0117] In some aspects, time and frequency resources may be reserved for ambient IoT signaling separate from resources used for traditional uplink and downlink communications. For example, some ambient IoT systems such as wireless communications system 100 may support resource allocation in accordance with different topologies. In a first topology (e.g., topology 1) , a network entity is designated as a “reader” device and can directly reserve resources for ambient link communications between ambient IoT devices and other devices in the network. In a second topology (e.g., topology 2) , an ambient IoT device such as a UE 115 is designated as the reader, and can perform ambient IoT communication using designated resources. In some deployments, however, the presence of a relatively large quantity of ambient IoT devices may introduce interference among other challenges for resource allocation between devices.
[0118] To support unified resource allocation in ambient IoT systems, the wireless communications system 100 may support various different resource allocation modes. For a first mode (e.g., mode 1) , a network entity 105 may configure ambient link resources for each UE 115 (or for a virtual UE that is co-located with the network entity) that are different from the other resources for downlink, uplink, or sidelink communications. For a second mode (e.g., mode 2) , a UE 115 (or a virtual UE that is co-located with the network entity) may autonomously select the ambient link resources based on resource sensing. For a third mode (e.g., a mixed mode including modes 1 and 2) , the network entity 105 may still configure the ambient link resources for each UE 115 or virtual UE, and may also dynamically configure whether to let the UE 115 autonomously select the ambient resources based on sensing.
[0119] For communications using topology 1, the network entity 105 may assign resources to the virtual UE for a node collocated or non-collocated with the network entity 105, which is configured to send a continuous wave to tags 215 in an FDD uplink system, and is configured to collect backscatter communications from the tags 215 in the system in an FDD uplink system and transferred to the network entity 105 if the virtual UE is a node non-collocated from the network entity 105. Additionally or alternatively, the network entity 105 may assign resources to the virtual UE that is collocated or non-collocated from the network entity 105, which may be configured to send a continuous wave to tags 215 in an FDD uplink system. The network entity 105 may then collect backscatter communications from the tags 215 in the system. That is, the network entity 105 may communicate in the uplink TDD spectrum via the virtual UE to send a continuous wave and collect backscattering communications (internally or collocated with the network entity) , or the network entity 105 may communicate via separate node (e.g., the virtual UE) to send the continuous wave externally from the network entity, and then receive the backscatter communications in the FDD uplink system.
[0120] In addition, for communications using topology 2, the network entity 105 may configure separate ambient link resources on a per-UE basis. In communications using topology 2, the network entity 105 may assign resources to the UE 115, which is configured to send a continuous wave to tags 215 in an FDD uplink system, and collect backscatter communications from the tags 215 in the system. Additionally or alternatively, the network entity 105 may assign resources to a node that is collocated or non-collocated from the UE 115, which is configured to send a continuous wave to tags 215 in an FDD downlink system, and the UE 115 collect backscatter communications from the tags 215 in the system in an FDD downlink system. In some other examples, the network entity 105 may assign resources to an external node that is collocated or non-collocated with the network entity 105, and the external node may transmit the continuous wave using the assigned resources. In some such examples, the network entity 105 (acting as a reader device or another reader device in the system) may collect the backscatter communications via the continuous wave.
[0121] FIG. 2 shows an example of a wireless communications system 200 that supports resource allocation for ambient link in accordance with one or more aspects of the present disclosure. The wireless communications system 200 may implement aspects of the wireless communications system 100. The wireless communications system 200 may include a network entity 210, one or more wireless devices (e.g., one or more UE 205) , and one or more tags 215. The network entity 210 may be an example of a network entity 105 as described with reference to FIG. 1. In some aspects, the network entity 210 may be an example of an energy transfer device or a reader device such as an RFID reader device. In some other examples, a UE 205 may be an example of the wireless power transfer device or the RFID reader. The wireless device may be an example of a UE 115 as described with reference to FIG. 1, or a reader device. In some aspects, the wireless device 205 may be an example of an ambient IoT device such as a passive IoT device, a semi-passive IoT device, an active IoT device, a tag, or any combination thereof. The one or more tags 215 may be examples of RFID tags, passive IoT devices, , or any combination thereof.
[0122] The wireless communications system 200 may support ambient IoT communications in which wireless devices may communicate with one another using various low-power techniques that enable the deployment of low-cost, low-complexity devices. Some ambient IoT systems, such as the wireless communications system 200, may support resource allocation in accordance with different network topologies. For example, in a first topology (e.g., topology 1) , a network entity 210 or a UE 205 may be designated as a “reader” device that can directly reserve resources for ambient link communications between ambient IoT devices and network devices in the system. In such topology 1 deployments, a forward link (e.g., an ambient link between one or more tags 215 and the network entity as reader device) may be communicated in a frequency division duplex (FDD) downlink spectrum (FDD downlink forward link 230) or an FDD uplink spectrum (FDD uplink forward link 220) . Additionally or alternatively, a backward link, backscattering link, a continuous wave, or a combination thereof, may be communicated in FDD uplink spectrum or in FDD downlink spectrum (backward link 225) .
[0123] In a second topology (e.g., topology 2) , an ambient IoT device (such as a UE 205) , may be designated as a reader, and may perform ambient IoT communication on designated or reserved resources. For example, the network entity 210 may reserve a set of resources for the UE 205 to use for an ambient link between the UE 205 and the tags 215. In such deployments, a forward link (e.g., an ambient link between one or more tags 215 and the UE 205 as the reader device) may be communicated in the FDD uplink spectrum (FDD uplink forward link 220) . Additionally or alternatively, a backward link, a backscattering link, or a continuous wave, or any combination thereof, may be communicated in FDD uplink spectrum or in FDD downlink spectrum (backward link 225) .
[0124] In some cases, the wireless communications system 200 may support a relatively large quantity of ambient IoT devices (e.g., one or more tags 215, UEs 205, a node for carrier wave transmission, reader devices) within a serving cell 110-a, which may operate using one or both topologies. In such cases, however, the relatively dense configuration of devices may introduce a correspondingly large quantity of ambient links, which may be subject to signaling interference. To reduce interference and increase coordination between the devices, the wireless communications system 200 may support techniques for unified resource allocation in FDD uplink and FDD downlink for topology 1 and topology 2 scenarios.
[0125] For communications in an FFD uplink spectrum, ambient link resources or resource pools for ambient IoT communications may be allocated in accordance with various different resource allocation modes. For example, in a first mode (e.g., mode 1, where the UE 205 is in an RRC connected state) , the network entity 210 may configure ambient link resources for each UE 205 or one or more tags 215. In some aspects, the ambient link resources may be configured separately from other resources (e.g., legacy resources) for uplink (e.g., Uu uplink) or sidelink communications. For a second mode (e.g., mode 2, where the UE 205 is in an RRC connected state or an RRC idle state) , a UE 205 (or a virtual UE that is co-located with the network entity 210) may autonomously select the ambient link resources based on resource sensing. For example, a UE 205 may perform resource sensing of a set of ambient link resources to determine whether the resources are available for communication, and may autonomously select one or more sets of resources for ambient IoT communications based on the sensing. For a third mode (e.g., a mixed mode, mode 1 / mode 2) , the network entity 210 may configure the ambient link resources for each UE (e.g., separate from Uu uplink and sidelink resources) , and may also dynamically configure whether to allow each UE to autonomously select the ambient resources or resource pools based on resource sensing.
[0126] For communications using topology 1, the wireless communications system 200 may include the network entity 210 as a reader device, in addition to a virtual UE 235, which may be a UE that is co-located with the network entity 210. The virtual UE 235 may be configured to transmit a continuous wave to other tags 215 in the FDD uplink spectrum, and may collect backscatter communications from the tags 215. In such examples the network entity 210 may perform uplink transmissions in the FDD uplink spectrum via the virtual UE 235. In some aspects, the virtual UE ID or reader ID (that is separate from the cell ID) may be configured for the transmission of forward link communications (e.g., downlink ambient link) , carrier wave or continuous wave communications, or backscattering link or backward link (e.g., uplink ambient link) communications.
[0127] In some aspects, the ambient link resources for a forward link between the virtual UE 235 and the UEs 205 (or one or more tags 215) may be configured in FDD downlink spectrum or FDD uplink spectrum, based on the capabilities of the network entity 210. In such aspects, the transmission power of the forward link and continuous wave may be configured separate from the transmission power of the network entity 210 for synchronization signal block (SSB) transmissions or other downlink physical channel communications. For example, the transmission power configured for the forward ambient link may be different from the transmission power configured for other downlink signals.
[0128] For communications using topology 2, the ambient link resources for forward link communications, continuous wave, and backscattering link communications may be configured on a per-UE basis, and the transmission power of the forward link, the continuous wave, and the backscattering link may be configured separate from that of the UE transmission power for other uplink physical channels. Additionally or alternatively, the UE ID or reader ID may be configured for the transmission of the forward link, carrier wave or continuous wave, and reception of backward link, or backscattering link based on a carrier wave, separate from UE radio network temporary identifier (RNTI) . In some aspects, the ambient link resources for the forward link / continuous wave, and backward link / backscattering link, may be non-overlapping in the time domain for half-duplex capable tag devices. Within the allocated ambient link resources for topology 1 and topology 2, each UE or virtual UE may allocate and share the resources for ambient links for the accessed ambient IoT device.
[0129] FIG. 3 shows an example of a wireless communications system 300 that supports resource allocation for ambient link in accordance with one or more aspects of the present disclosure. The wireless communications system 300 may implement aspects of the wireless communications system 100 and 200. The wireless communications system 300 may include a network entity 310, one or more wireless devices (e.g., UEs 305) , and one or more tags 315. The network entity 310 may be an example of a network entity 105 as described with reference to FIGs. 1 and 2. In some aspects, the network entity 310 may be an example of an energy transfer device or a reader device such as an RFID reader device. In some other examples, a UE 305 may be an example of the wireless power transfer device or the RFID reader. The UE 305 may be an example of a UE 115 as described with reference to FIG. 1, or may be an example of a reader device. In some aspects, the UE 305 may be an example of an ambient IoT device such as a passive IoT device, a semi-passive IoT device, an active IoT device, or a tag, or any combination thereof. The one or more tags 315 may be examples of RFID tags, passive IoT devices, or any combination thereof.
[0130] The wireless communications system 300 may operate in an FDD uplink spectrum under a first mode of operation (e.g., mode 1) in which the network entity 310 configures ambient link resources for each UE 305, for a virtual UE 320 that is co-located with the network entity 310, or both. For example, for the first mode and a first topology (e.g., mode 1, topology 1) , the network entity 310 may configure a set of ambient link resources for transmission of a continuous wave or for transmission of a forward link from the virtual UE 320 in the FDD uplink spectrum. In such examples, the network entity 310 may allocate resources for itself via the virtual UE 320, and may further transmit in the FDD uplink spectrum via the virtual UE 320. In some other examples, for the first mode and a second topology (e.g., mode 1, topology 2) , the network entity 310 may configure separate sets of resources for each UE 305 for the communication of forward links, continuous wave, backward links, and backscattering links for the ambient IoT communications.
[0131] In some aspects, the network entity 310 may provide service within one or more coverage areas (e.g., coverage area 325-a, coverage area 325-b, coverage area 325-c, and coverage area 325-d) , and the different UEs within each of the different coverage areas may be configured to share a same set of configured ambient link resources based on scheduling by the network entity 310. In some aspects, the network entity 310 may configure different sets of ambient link resources for different UEs located within the different coverage areas.
[0132] In some aspects, the network entity 310 may provide signaling to indicate an activation or deactivation of the ambient link resources per UE. For example, the network entity 310 may transmit downlink unicast RRC signaling to configure the ambient link resources, and then may send an activation or deactivation trigger via a MAC-CE to activate or deactivate the ambient link resources. For example, the network entity 310 may transmit a MAC-CE via a unicast physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) which may be defined to activate or deactivate one or multiple ambient link resources including forward link resources, backward link resources, continuous wave resources, backscattering link resources, or any combination thereof. In some other aspects, the MAC-CE may be defined to activate one or more resources and also deactivate one or more resources.
[0133] Additionally or alternatively, the network entity 310 may dynamically activate or deactivate the configured ambient link resources via an indication in DCI sent to the UEs 305. For example, the DCI may be used to allow or disallow the UE 305 to trigger dynamic transmission or semi-persistent scheduled (SPS) transmission of the forward links, continuous waves, or to monitor and detect the backward links or backscattering links based on contiguous waves, corresponding to the configured ambient link resources. In some aspects, the DCI may be associated with an uplink DCI format with a radio network temporary identifier (RNTI) that is specific to the ambient link resources. For example, the uplink DCI format may be associated with an ambient link RNTI or an ambient link SPS RNTI. In such examples, the DCI may have a same size as other uplink unicast DCI communicated in the system. In some aspects, the DCI may be associated with an uplink DCI format with a UE-specific cell-RNTI (C-RNTI) or cell-specific RNTI (CS-RNTI) that corresponds to the ambient link resources. In such examples, the DCI may have a different DCI size as other uplink unicast DCI communicated in the system.
[0134] FIG. 4 shows an example of resource allocation configurations 401, 402, 403, and 404 that support resource allocation for ambient link in accordance with one or more aspects of the present disclosure. For example, the resource allocation configurations 401, 402, 403, and 404 may implement or be implemented by aspects of wireless communications systems 100, 200, and 300, described with reference to FIGs. 1, 2, and 3. For example, the resource allocation configurations 401, 402, 403, and 404 may implement or be implemented by one or more network entities, UEs, tags, or other wireless communications devices.
[0135] The resource allocation configuration 401 illustrates an example of a time domain resource allocation for one or more devices in a wireless communications system. For example, a network entity or reader device may configure a first set of ambient link resources for a first UE (e.g., UE1) in the time domain, and may configure a second set of ambient link resources for a second UE (e.g., UE2) in the time domain. The network entity may configure the different sets of resources to be separated in time by one or more guard times or guard periods. In some aspects, the network entity may configure periodic resources such as ambient link discontinuous reception (DRX) resources for ambient links (or time slots for ambient links) . In some such examples, the ambient link DRX configuration may be configured for a UE or for a group of UEs such that the ambient link DRX occurs within a unicast DRX “on” duration. The unicast communications and ambient IoT communications may be supported at the same time (e.g., concurrently) and the dynamic control of the timing of ambient link communications may be allowed by using unicast PDCCH, unicast PDSCH, or both. In some such examples, the ambient link DRX configuration may be configured for a UE or for a group of UEs such that the ambient link DRX occurs according to ambient IoT communications, independent from a unicast DRX. The unicast communications and ambient IoT communications may be not supported at same time (e.g., concurrently) if the DRX on duration is non-overlapping. Additionally or alternatively, a UE may extend its assigned DRX “on” duration or de-activate DRX, or both, based on the ambient link time domain configuration. In such cases, the UE may extend or deactivate DRX to allow for dynamic control of the timing of ambient link communications.
[0136] The resource allocation configuration 402 illustrates an example of a frequency domain resource allocation for one or more devices in a wireless communications system. For example, a network entity or reader device may configure a first set of ambient link resources for a first UE (e.g., UE1) in the frequency domain, and may configure a second set of ambient link resources for a second UE (e.g., UE2) in the frequency domain. The network entity may configure the different sets of resources to be separated in frequency by one or more guard bands. In some aspects of the frequency domain allocation, the network entity may configure one or more bandwidth parts (BWP) for ambient links or one or more frequency sub-bands for ambient links. In such examples, the one or more BWPs, the one or more frequency sub-bands, or both, may be configured within a unicast uplink BWP for a UE or for a group of UEs in uplink spectrum or within a unicast downlink BWP for a UE or for a group of UEs in downlink spectrum. In some cases, the one or more sub-bands for the ambient IoT communications may be active if the associated BWP part is active, and may be inactive if the associated BWP is inactive. The unicast communications and ambient IoT communications may be supported in the same active BWP, and the dynamic control of the timing of ambient link communications can be allowed by using unicast PDCCH, unicast PDSCH, or both. In such examples, the one or more BWPs, the one or more frequency sub-bands, or both, may be configured independent from a unicast BWP for a UE or for a group of UEs. The unicast communications and ambient IoT communications may be not supported in the same active BWP and the dynamic control of the timing of ambient link communications cannot be allowed by using unicast PDCCH, unicast PDSCH, or both.
[0137] The resource allocation configuration 403 illustrates an example of a spatial domain resource allocation for one or more devices in a wireless communications system. For example, a network entity or reader device may configure a set of ambient links for a first UE (e.g., UE1) and for a second UE (e.g., UE2) in the spatial domain. For example, the network entity may configure one or more beams, one or more transmission configuration indicator (TCI) states, or other spatial parameters for ambient links for a UE or for a group of UEs. For example, a network entity may configure a first beam or TCI state for an ambient link for UE1, and may configure a second beam or TCI state for an ambient link for UE2. In such examples, the one or more TCI states for an ambient link may be configured within the TCI-state pool of a unicast link for a UE or for a group of UEs. In some cases, the one or more TCI states for the ambient IoT communications may be active if the associated TCI states are active, and may be inactive if the associated TCI states is inactive. The unicast communications and ambient IoT communications may be supported using the same set of active TCI states and the dynamic control of the timing of ambient link communications can be allowed by using the TCI states for unicast PDCCH, unicast PDSCH, or both. In such examples, the one or more TCI states may be configured independent from the TCI-state pool of a unicast link for a UE or for a group of UEs. The unicast communications and ambient IoT communications may be not supported in the same active TCI-state pool and the dynamic control of the timing of ambient link communications may be disallowed by using the TCI states for unicast PDCCH, unicast PDSCH, or both.
[0138] The resource allocation configuration 404 illustrates an example of a power domain resource allocation for one or more devices in a wireless communications system. For example, a network entity or reader device may configure a set of ambient links for a first UE (e.g., UE1) and for a second UE (e.g., UE2) based on different transmission powers for ambient links. The transmission powers for forward links, continuous waves for backscattering, and continuous waves for energy harvesting may be separately configured, which may be dependent on different transmission bandwidths for the different respective links, waveform and the power restriction based on transmission resources, or power restriction based on UE location area. In some aspects of the power domain allocation, the network entity may configure the UE transmission power for the ambient links per UE, for example, when a group of UEs share the same time resources, frequency resources, or spatial resources. In such examples, the network entity may configure a first UE transmit power for the UE1 and a second transmit power for the UE2. In some aspects, for example in dense scenarios with a relatively large quantity of UEs and other ambient IoT devices, the network entity may allocate overlapping time resources, frequency resources, spatial resources, or a combination thereof, per UE. In some aspects, the overlapping resources may be due to a guard time, a timing error, a guard band due to frequency offset error, or based on the multiple input multiple output (MIMO) beamforming capabilities of the UEs.
[0139] FIG. 5 shows an example of a wireless communications system 500 that supports resource allocation for ambient link in accordance with one or more aspects of the present disclosure. The wireless communications system 500 may implement aspects of the wireless communications systems 100, 200, and 300. The wireless communications system 500 may include a network entity 510, one or more wireless devices (e.g., one or more UEs 505) , and one or more tags 515. The network entity 510 may be an example of a network entity as described with reference to FIGs. 1, 2, and 3. In some aspects, the network entity 510 may be an example of an energy transfer device or a reader device such as an RFID reader device. In some other examples, a UE may be an example of the wireless power transfer device or the RFID reader. The UE 505 may be an example of a UE 115 as described with reference to FIG. 1, or may be a reader device. In some aspects, the UE 505 may be an example of an ambient IoT device such as a passive IoT device, a semi-passive IoT device, an active IoT device, or a tag, or any combination thereof. The one or more tags 515 may be examples of RFID tags, passive IoT devices, or any combination thereof.
[0140] The wireless communications system 500 may support ambient IoT communications between the network entity 510, the UE 505, and the one or more tags 515. In some aspects, the network entity 510 may request the UE 505 (or another UE that is different from the virtual UE 520 that is co-located with the network entity 510) to report mobility information 525 associated with the UE 505. For example, the mobility information 525 may include location information associated with the UE 505 (e.g., geographical location information, location relative to other devices in the system, coordinate information, or other relative location information) , mobility information associated with the UE 505 (e.g., relative speed or velocity information, speed relative to one or more other network devices, or other mobility information) , or both. Additionally or alternatively, the network entity (or one or more other source UEs) may transmit one or more reference signals to the UE 505, and the UE 505 may measure and report one or more reference signal receive power (RSRP) measurements or other reference signal metrics. Based on the one or more RSRP measurements or other reference signal metrics, the network entity 510 may determine the distance of the UE 505 relative to network entity 510, or the relative distance between the UE 505 and one or more other UEs or tags. In some aspects, the cross link interference (CLI) measurement in the FDD uplink or downlink spectrum may be configured for the UE 505 and the reader device (e.g., the network entity 510 or another UE) . In such examples, however, the path loss between the network entity 510 and the UE 505 or the path loss between the UE 505 and one or more other UEs may be insufficient for determining the transmit power for the ambient links.
[0141] In some aspects, the network entity 510 may configure the UE transmit power for the forward link, the continuous wave for backscattering, and the continuous wave for energy harvesting, based on the reported location of the UE 505 or the mobility information 525 reported by the UE 505. For example, the network entity 510 may configure the UE transmit power for the forward link, the continuous wave, the backward or backscattering link, or any combination of the ambient links by unicast RRC signaling (e.g., via transmit power configuration 530) . In such cases, the unicast RRC signaling for configuring the ambient links may be different from RRC signaling used to configure other uplink communications at the UE 505. Additionally or alternatively, the network entity 510 may dynamically adjust the UE transmit power for the ambient link by using DCI or MAC-CE based signaling.
[0142] In some aspects, the network entity 510 may transmit one or more DCI messages (e.g., DCI format 2_2, or other group power control DCI formats) that includes an RNTI indicative of the ambient links. For example, the network entity may include different RNTI for the forward link, and the backscattering link transmitted from the UE 505. In such cases, the RNTI for the different ambient links may differentiate the ambient links from other uplink communications (e.g., the ambient link RNTI may be different from transmit power control (TPC) RNTI such as TPC_PUSCH_RNTI and TPC_PUCCH_RNTI for uplink transmission) . In some other examples, the network entity 510 may indicate a zero-power UE transmit power for the ambient link via DCI, such that the DCI instructs the UE 505 to disable the transmission from the UE 505 via the ambient link.
[0143] In some aspects, the network entity 510 may use a MAC-CE to activate or deactivate the ambient link communications at the UE 505. Additionally or alternatively, the network entity 510 may use the MAC-CE for power control of the UE power for ambient links (e.g., the network entity 510 switch the UE transmit power on and off for the ambient links via the MAC-CE) . In such cases, if the UE transmit power is deactivated, the corresponding resources or resource pools may be released for the ambient link.
[0144] FIG. 6 shows an example of a wireless communications system 600 that supports resource allocation for ambient link in accordance with one or more aspects of the present disclosure. The wireless communications system 600 may implement aspects of the wireless communications systems 100, 200, 300, and 500. The wireless communications system 600 may include a network entity 610, one or more wireless devices (e.g., UEs 605) , and one or more tags 615. The network entity 610 may be an example of a network entity as described with reference to FIGs. 1, 2, 3, and 5. In some aspects, the network entity 610 may be an example of an energy transfer device or a reader device such as an RFID reader device. In some other examples, a UE 605 may be an example of the wireless power transfer device or the RFID reader. The UE 605 may be an example of a UE 115 as described with reference to FIGs 1, 2, 3, and 5, or may be an example of a reader device. In some aspects, the UE 605 may be an example of an ambient IoT device such as a passive IoT device, a semi-passive IoT device, an active IoT device, or a tag, or any combination thereof. The one or more tags 615 may be examples of RFID tags, passive IoT devices, or any combination thereof.
[0145] The wireless communications system 600 may support ambient IoT communications between the wireless devices, tags, and the network entity. In some cases, the wireless communications system may support a second mode of resource allocation for ambient IoT communications resources (e.g., mode 2) . For example, one or more sets of ambient IoT communications resources (or ambient IoT resource pools) may be shared between a group of UEs.
[0146] In some aspects, each UE 605 (or a virtual UE 620 that is co-located with the network entity 610) may autonomously select ambient link resources (e.g., forward link resources, continuous wave resources, backward link or backscattering link resources) based on UE sensing. For example, the UE 605 or the virtual UE 620 may sense a set of configured resources or resource pools to determine whether the resources are available for ambient IoT communications. If the UE 605 or the virtual UE 620 determines that the resources are available, the UE 605 or the virtual UE 620 may select or allocate the resources for ambient IoT communications. In accordance with a first topology (e.g., topology 1) , the virtual UE 620 may configure the ambient link resources for the continuous wave, the backscattering link, the backward link, the forward link, or any combination thereof, based on sensing in the FDD uplink spectrum. In some aspects, the network entity 610 may configure the ambient link resources in the FDD uplink spectrum via the virtual UE 620. In accordance with a second topology (e.g., topology 2) , the UE 605 may separately configure or jointly configure the ambient link resources for the continuous wave, the backscattering link, the backward link, the forward link, or any combination thereof, based on sensing in the FDD uplink spectrum.
[0147] To sense the ambient link resources, the UE 605 or the virtual UE 620 may perform one or more received power measurements for resources (e.g., RSRP, reference signal receive quality (RSRQ) , received signal strength indicator (RSSI) ) by monitoring the candidate resources allocated for the forward link, the backward link, the backscattering link, or the continuous wave in the system. In some aspects, the UE 605 or the virtual UE 620 may perform the resource sensing based on a preamble of the forward link, the backward or backscattering link, the backward link, or the continuous wave.
[0148] In cases that the UE 605 or the virtual UE 620 determines that the measured received power measurements (e.g., RSRP, RSRQ, RSSI) have a value that is below a threshold, then the UE 605 or the virtual UE 620 may determine that the sensed resources are available. The received power threshold for the ambient links may be configured or preconfigured separate from a received power threshold for other sidelink transmissions in the system. Additionally or alternatively, the UE 605 or the virtual UE 620 may determine whether a resource set is available or unavailable by monitoring the resources allocated for the continuous wave, the forward link, backward link or the backscattered link. In some aspects, the detected communications may indicate different communications priority of the ambient link communications of the forward link, the continuous wave, backward link or the backscattered link based on control signaling or different preambles. In some aspects, the UE 605 or the virtual UE 620 may refrain from utilizing resources that are occupied by communications that exceed a threshold priority.
[0149] In some aspects, the wireless communications system 600 may support mixed mode communications, where the UE 605 or the virtual UE 620 may be allocated a set of resources or resource pools for ambient link communications, and the network entity 610 may configure whether to allow the UE 605 or the virtual UE 620 to perform resource sensing. For example, the network entity 610 may configure one or more sets of common time resources, frequency resources, spatial resources, or any combination thereof, as ambient link resources for one or more UEs. If the network entity 610 is unaware of the relative location of the UEs, however, the network entity may implement one or more interference management techniques to coordinate the ambient link communications. For example, the network entity 610 may determine potential interference between proximal UEs based on CLI measurements, and the network entity may transmit one or more control messages (e.g., via RRC, DCI, or MAC-CE) to enable or disable UE resource sensing for interference management and spectrum sharing, For example, if the ambient link resources are turned on and overlapping with those of other readers in the system, or one or more new readers join to use the same AL-resources, the network entity 610 may instruct the UE 605 to perform sensing to determine whether the allocated resources are available.
[0150] Additionally or alternatively, the network entity 610 may configure each UE separately to perform sensing for the ambient link resources for the forward link, the backward link, the backscattering link, and the continuous wave (e.g., if the ambient link resources for the forward link, the backward link, the backscattering link, and the continuous wave are independently configured) . In some aspects, the network entity may configure the UE 605 in a default state that disallows the UE from autonomously selecting resources, but may dynamically configure the UE 605 to autonomously select the ambient link resources based on control signaling (e.g., RRC, DCI, MAC-CE) .
[0151] FIG. 7 shows an example of a resource allocation configuration 700 that supports resource allocation for ambient link in accordance with one or more aspects of the present disclosure. The resource allocation configuration 700 may implement or be implemented by
[0152] aspects of the devices described with reference to FIGs. 1–6. For example, the resource allocation configuration 700 may be implemented at or by one or more network entities, wireless devices, UEs, virtual UEs, tags, or other devices supporting ambient IoT communications.
[0153] The resource allocation configuration 700 may support ambient IoT signaling between different ambient IoT devices or other low-powered wireless devices. Some different device types may have different capabilities, such as different peak power budget, different energy storage capabilities, different initial and ongoing symbol frequency offset (SFO) , different amplification capabilities, different mechanisms of uplink transmission, different local oscillator (LO) configurations, and different supported frequencies. Some possible example devices are illustrated in table 1 and continued in table 2:
[0154] Each device (e.g., all of devices 1, 2a, and 2b. among other types of devices) may perform an initial access procedure to access ambient IoT resources. For example, a device may receive one or more synchronization signals and perform initial access using resources on the anchor sub-band 705. In some aspects, the anchor sub-band 705 may be configured or predefined to reduce latency associated with the initial access, and to reduce the quantity of sub-bands that the device searches to perform initial access. The configuration of resources for initial access on the anchor sub-band 705 may reduce complexity for the different ambient IoT devices. After performing initial access, the ambient IoT device may determine one or more sets of ambient link resources (e.g., ambient link resources for downlink or forward link, and continuous wave, backward link, backscattering link, or uplink) .
[0155] In some aspects, downlink resources (e.g., forward link ambient link resources, or continuous wave) , uplink resources (e.g., backward link or backscattering link based on continuous wave ambient link resources) , or both, for devices 1 and 2a may be configured at the anchor sub-band 705. Additionally or alternatively, the ambient resources for device 1 and 2a may be configured in the anchor sub-band 705 and may be dynamically activated or
[0156] deactivated via signaling from a network entity or other reader device. In some aspects, downlink (e.g., forward link) resources for the devices 1 and 2a may be configured in the anchor sub-band 705 of FDD downlink when operating in accordance with topology 1 described herein, or in FDD uplink when operating in accordance with topology 2 described herein. In some aspects, continuous wave, backward link, or backscattering link resources for the devices 1 and 2a may be configured in the anchor sub-band 705 of FDD uplink when operating in accordance with topology 1 and topology 2 as described herein, or in FDD downlink when operating in accordance with topology 1 as described herein.
[0157] In some aspects, downlink resources (e.g., forward link ambient link resources, or continuous wave) , uplink resources (e.g., backward link or backscattering link based on continuous wave ambient link resources) , or both, for a device 2b may be configured at the non-anchor sub-band 710. Additionally or alternatively, the ambient resources for the device 2b may be configured in the non-anchor sub-band 710 and may be dynamically activated or deactivated via signaling from a network entity or other reader device. In some aspects, downlink (e.g., forward link) resources for the device 2b may be configured in the non-anchor sub-band 710 or the anchor sub-band 705 of FDD downlink when operating in accordance with topology 2 described herein. In some aspects, uplink resources for the device 2b may be configured in the anchor sub-band 705 or the non-anchor sub-band 710 of FDD uplink when operating in accordance with topology 1 and topology 2 as described herein, or in FDD downlink when operating in accordance with topology 1 as described herein.
[0158] FIG. 8 shows an example of a process flow 800 that supports resource allocation for ambient link in accordance with one or more aspects of the present disclosure. The process flow 800 may implement or be implemented by aspects of the wireless communications systems 100, 200, 300, 500, and 600. The process flow 800 may include a network entity 810, a first device 805 (e.g., UEs, reader devices) , and one or more second devices 815 (e.g., energy harvesting capable devices, UEs, tags) . The network entity 810 may be an example of a network entity as described with reference to FIGs. 1, 2, 3, 5, and 6. In some aspects, the network entity 810 may be an example of an energy transfer device or a reader device such as an RFID reader device. In some other examples, the first device 805 may be an example of the wireless power transfer device or the RFID reader. In some aspects, the first device 805 or the one or more second devices 815 may be an example of an ambient IoT device such as a passive IoT device, a semi-passive IoT device, an active IoT device, or a tag, or any combination thereof. The process flow 800 may also include a virtual UE 820, which may be a virtual UE that is co-located with the network entity 810, as described herein.
[0159] In the following description of process flow 800, the operations may be performed in a different order than the order shown, or other operations may be added or removed from the process flow 800. For example, some operations may also be left out of process flow 800, may be performed in different orders or at different times, or other operations may be added to process flow 800. Although communications of the process flow 800 are shown occurring between a network entity 810, a first device 805 (e.g., a reader device, a UE) , and other wireless devices, some aspects of some operations may also be performed by one or more other wireless devices, network devices, or network functions.
[0160] At 825, the first device 805 (e.g., a reader device, a UE) may receive, from the network entity 810, an indication of one or more resource pools configured for communication between the first device 805 and one or more second devices 815. In some aspects, the indication of the one or more resource pools may be received via RRC signaling. In some aspects, a MAC-CE may activate or deactivate the one or more resource pools, and one or more DCI messages may switch the one or more resource pools on or off. In some aspects, a combination of RRC, MAC-CE, and DCI signaling may be used to indicate the one or more resource pools. In some aspects, the indication may be received via unicast PDSCH. In some aspects, the DCI may have a DCI format that is indicative of the communication between the first device 805 and the one or more second devices 815 based on an RNTI of the DCI format or a size of the DCI format.
[0161] At 830, the first device 805 may identify first resources within the one or more resource pools to use for ambient IoT communications. In some aspects, the one or more resource pools may be non-overlapping in time, and may include one or more BWPs, one or more frequency sub-bands, or both, that are allocated for ambient IoT communications. In some aspects, the first resources may include a set of time domain DRX resources. In some aspects, the one or more resource pools include a set of shared resources configured for a group of devices that includes at least the first device 805.
[0162] In some cases, the first device 805 may identify the first resources by monitoring for resource availability for the one or more resource pools, and may select the first resources for the communication between the first device 805 and the one or more second devices 815 based on the resource availability and based on whether the one or more resource pools are independently configured for the first device 805. For example, the resource monitoring may include performing one or more measurements of one or more reference signal metrics (e.g., RSRP, RSRQ, RSSI) , and determining whether the resources are available based on the one or more measurements satisfying a threshold.
[0163] At 835, the first device 805 may communicate one or more messages with the one or more second devices 815 via the first resources of the one or more resource pools, where the one or more resource pools are independent of second resources configured for uplink or downlink communications with the network entity 810, sidelink communications, or both. In some aspects, the one or more resource pools are configured on an uplink FDD spectrum, a downlink FDD spectrum, or a TDD spectrum. For example, use of the uplink FDD spectrum, the downlink FDD spectrum, or the TDD spectrum may be based on a variety of different factors including, but not limited to, a device type associated with the first device 805, a device type associated with the one or more second devices 815, a set of communication links between the first device 805 and the one or more second devices 815, one or more capabilities of the network entity 810, or any combination thereof.
[0164] In some aspects, the network entity 810 may be associated with a virtual first device (e.g., the virtual UE 820) that is co-located with the network entity 810. In some aspects, the network entity 810 may transmit, via the virtual UE 820, a continuous wave via the first resources of the one or more resource pools, and corresponding receive (from the one or more second devices 815) one or more backscattered communications using the continuous wave via the first resources of the one or more resource pools. In such examples, a first transmission power is associated with a forward link communication, a backward link communication, or a backscatter link, where the continuous wave is independent from second transmission powers associated with a downlink transmission by the network entity 810 via a physical downlink channel. In such examples, the first transmission power may be different from an uplink transmission power of the first device 805. In some aspects, the first device 805 may receive explicit instructions (e.g., via RRC, MAC-CE, or DCI) to adjust its transmission power for the one or more messages. In some other examples, the network entity 810 may receive, via the virtual UE 820, one or more backward link communications via the first resources of the one or more resource pools. In some other examples, the network entity 810 may transmit, via the virtual UE 820, a forward link via the first resources of the one or more resource pools.
[0165] In some aspects, the first device 805 may be associated with an identifier (e.g., an ID) that indicates that the first device 805 is capable of participation in forward link communication, backward link communication, backscatter link communication, continuous wave communication, or any combination thereof. In some aspects, the one or more resource pools may be configured for the first device 805 for communication via a forward link, a backward link, a backscatter link, a continuous wave, or any combination thereof. In some aspects, the one or more resource pools may include one or more spatial parameters, one or more beams, one or more TCI states, or any combination thereof, that are configured for the communication between the first device 805 and the one or more second devices 815.
[0166] In some aspects, the network entity 810 may transmit a message that requests relative location information, mobility information, reference signal receive power measurements, or a combination thereof, from the first device 805. The first device 805 may report the relative location information or mobility information to the network entity 810, and may receive, via an RRC message, information that pertains to a transmit power configuration for the communication between the first device 805 and the one or more second devices 815 based on the relative location information, mobility information, reference signal receive power measurements, or a combination thereof.
[0167] In some aspects, the first device 805 may communicate in a set of anchor sub-bands or a set of non-anchor sub-bands that include the one or more resource pools. For example, the first device 805 may receive, via one or more resources at an anchor sub-band, a synchronization signal to perform initial access to establish a link for the communication between the first device 805 and the one or more second devices 815. In some aspects, the one or more resource pools include resources for forward link communications, backward link communications, backscatter link communication, continuous wave communications, or both, that are configured in one or more anchor sub-bands or one or more non-anchor sub-bands based on one or more functionalities of the communication and one or more capabilities of the first device 805 or the one or more second devices 815, or both.
[0168] FIG. 9 shows a block diagram 900 of a device 905 that supports resource allocation for ambient link in accordance with one or more aspects of the present disclosure. The device 905 may be an example of aspects of a UE 115 as described herein. The device 905 may include a receiver 910, a transmitter 915, and a communications manager 920. The device 905, or one or more components of the device 905 (e.g., the receiver 910, the transmitter 915, the communications manager 920) , may include at least one processor, which may be coupled with at least one memory, to, individually or collectively, support or enable the described techniques. Each of these components may be in communication with one another (e.g., via one or more buses) .
[0169] The receiver 910 may provide a means for receiving information such as packets, user data, control information, or any combination thereof associated with various information channels (e.g., control channels, data channels, information channels related to resource allocation for ambient link) . Information may be passed on to other components of the device 905. The receiver 910 may utilize a single antenna or a set of multiple antennas.
[0170] The transmitter 915 may provide a means for transmitting signals generated by other components of the device 905. For example, the transmitter 915 may transmit information such as packets, user data, control information, or any combination thereof associated with various information channels (e.g., control channels, data channels, information channels related to resource allocation for ambient link) . In some aspects, the transmitter 915 may be co-located with a receiver 910 in a transceiver module. The transmitter 915 may utilize a single antenna or a set of multiple antennas.
[0171] The communications manager 920, the receiver 910, the transmitter 915, or various combinations or components thereof may be examples of means for performing various aspects of resource allocation for ambient link as described herein. For example, the communications manager 920, the receiver 910, the transmitter 915, or various combinations or components thereof may be capable of performing one or more of the functions described herein.
[0172] In some aspects, the communications manager 920, the receiver 910, the transmitter 915, or various combinations or components thereof may be implemented in hardware (e.g., in communications management circuitry) . The hardware may include at least one of a processor, a digital signal processor (DSP) , a central processing unit (CPU) , an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) , a field-programmable gate array (FPGA) or other programmable logic device, a microcontroller, discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof configured as or otherwise supporting, individually or collectively, a means for performing the functions described in the present disclosure. In some aspects, at least one processor and at least one memory coupled with the at least one processor may be configured to perform one or more of the functions described herein (e.g., by one or more processors, individually or collectively, executing instructions stored in the at least one memory) .
[0173] Additionally, or alternatively, the communications manager 920, the receiver 910, the transmitter 915, or various combinations or components thereof may be implemented in code (e.g., as communications management software or firmware) executed by at least one processor (e.g., referred to as a processor-executable code) . If implemented in code executed by at least one processor, the functions of the communications manager 920, the receiver 910, the transmitter 915, or various combinations or components thereof may be performed by a general-purpose processor, a DSP, a CPU, an ASIC, an FPGA, a microcontroller, or any combination of these or other programmable logic devices (e.g., configured as or otherwise supporting, individually or collectively, a means for performing the functions described in the present disclosure) .
[0174] In some aspects, the communications manager 920 may be configured to perform various operations (e.g., receiving, obtaining, monitoring, outputting, transmitting) using or otherwise in cooperation with the receiver 910, the transmitter 915, or both. For example, the communications manager 920 may receive information from the receiver 910, send information to the transmitter 915, or be integrated in combination with the receiver 910, the transmitter 915, or both to obtain information, output information, or perform various other operations as described herein.
[0175] The communications manager 920 may support wireless communication in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. For example, the communications manager 920 is capable of, configured to, or operable to support a means for receiving, from a network entity, an indication of one or more resource pools configured for communication between the first device and one or more second devices. The communications manager 920 is capable of, configured to, or operable to support a means for communicating one or more messages with the one or more second devices via first resources of the one or more resource pools, where the one or more resource pools are independent of second resources configured for uplink or downlink communications with the network entity, sidelink communications, or both.
[0176] Additionally, or alternatively, the communications manager 920 may support wireless communications in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. For example, the communications manager 920 is capable of, configured to, or operable to support a means for monitoring for resource availability in one or more wireless frequency spectrum bands associated with communication between the first device and one or more second devices. The communications manager 920 is capable of, configured to, or operable to support a means for selecting first resources for the communication based on resource availability. The communications manager 920 is capable of, configured to, or operable to support a means for communicating one or more messages with the one or more second devices via first resources, where the first resources are independent of second resources configured for uplink communications or downlink communications with a network entity, sidelink communications, or both.
[0177] By including or configuring the communications manager 920 in accordance with examples as described herein, the device 905 (e.g., at least one processor controlling or otherwise coupled with the receiver 910, the transmitter 915, the communications manager 920, or a combination thereof) may support techniques for reduced power consumption, more efficient utilization of communication resources, unified resource allocation between uplink, downlink, sidelink, and low-power ambient IoT communications, efficient power control for ambient IoT communications, among other benefits.
[0178] FIG. 10 shows a block diagram 1000 of a device 1005 that supports resource allocation for ambient link in accordance with one or more aspects of the present disclosure. The device 1005 may be an example of aspects of a device 905 or a UE 115 as described herein. The device 1005 may include a receiver 1010, a transmitter 1015, and a communications manager 1020. The device 1005, or one of more components of the device 1005 (e.g., the receiver 1010, the transmitter 1015, the communications manager 1020) , may include at least one processor, which may be coupled with at least one memory, to support the described techniques. Each of these components may be in communication with one another (e.g., via one or more buses) .
[0179] The receiver 1010 may provide a means for receiving information such as packets, user data, control information, or any combination thereof associated with various information channels (e.g., control channels, data channels, information channels related to resource allocation for ambient link) . Information may be passed on to other components of the device 1005. The receiver 1010 may utilize a single antenna or a set of multiple antennas.
[0180] The transmitter 1015 may provide a means for transmitting signals generated by other components of the device 1005. For example, the transmitter 1015 may transmit information such as packets, user data, control information, or any combination thereof associated with various information channels (e.g., control channels, data channels, information channels related to resource allocation for ambient link) . In some aspects, the transmitter 1015 may be co-located with a receiver 1010 in a transceiver module. The transmitter 1015 may utilize a single antenna or a set of multiple antennas.
[0181] The device 1005, or various components thereof, may be an example of means for performing various aspects of resource allocation for ambient link as described herein. For example, the communications manager 1020 may include a resource configuration signaling component 1025, an ambient link communications component 1030, a resource monitoring component 1035, or any combination thereof. The communications manager 1020 may be an example of aspects of a communications manager 920 as described herein. In some aspects, the communications manager 1020, or various components thereof, may be configured to perform various operations (e.g., receiving, obtaining, monitoring, outputting, transmitting) using or otherwise in cooperation with the receiver 1010, the transmitter 1015, or both. For example, the communications manager 1020 may receive information from the receiver 1010, send information to the transmitter 1015, or be integrated in combination with the receiver 1010, the transmitter 1015, or both to obtain information, output information, or perform various other operations as described herein.
[0182] The communications manager 1020 may support wireless communication in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. The resource configuration signaling component 1025 is capable of, configured to, or operable to support a means for receiving, from a network entity, an indication of one or more resource pools configured for communication between the first device and one or more second devices. The ambient link communications component 1030 is capable of, configured to, or operable to support a means for communicating one or more messages with the one or more second devices via first resources of the one or more resource pools, where the one or more resource pools are independent of second resources configured for uplink or downlink communications with the network entity, sidelink communications, or both.
[0183] Additionally, or alternatively, the communications manager 1020 may support wireless communications in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. The resource monitoring component 1035 is capable of, configured to, or operable to support a means for monitoring for resource availability in one or more wireless frequency spectrum bands associated with communication between the first device and one or more second devices. The resource monitoring component 1035 is capable of, configured to, or operable to support a means for selecting first resources for the communication based on resource availability. The ambient link communications component 1030 is capable of, configured to, or operable to support a means for communicating one or more messages with the one or more second devices via first resources, where the first resources are independent of second resources configured for uplink communications or downlink communications with a network entity, sidelink communications, or both.
[0184] FIG. 11 shows a block diagram 1100 of a communications manager 1120 that supports resource allocation for ambient link in accordance with one or more aspects of the present disclosure. The communications manager 1120 may be an example of aspects of a communications manager 920, a communications manager 1020, or both, as described herein. The communications manager 1120, or various components thereof, may be an example of means for performing various aspects of resource allocation for ambient link as described herein. For example, the communications manager 1120 may include a resource configuration signaling component 1125, an ambient link communications component 1130, a resource monitoring component 1135, a continuous wave communications component 1140, a mobility measurement component 1145, a transmit power management component 1150, or any combination thereof. Each of these components, or components or subcomponents thereof (e.g., one or more processors, one or more memories) , may communicate, directly or indirectly, with one another (e.g., via one or more buses) .
[0185] The communications manager 1120 may support wireless communication in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. The resource configuration signaling component 1125 is capable of, configured to, or operable to support a means for receiving, from a network entity, an indication of one or more resource pools configured for communication between the first device and one or more second devices. The ambient link communications component 1130 is capable of, configured to, or operable to support a means for communicating one or more messages with the one or more second devices via first resources of the one or more resource pools, where the one or more resource pools are independent of second resources configured for uplink or downlink communications with the network entity, sidelink communications, or both.
[0186] In some aspects, the one or more resource pools are configured on an uplink frequency division duplexing spectrum, a downlink frequency division duplexing spectrum, or a time division duplexing spectrum.
[0187] In some aspects, use of the uplink frequency division duplexing spectrum, the downlink frequency division duplexing spectrum, or the time division duplexing spectrum is based on a device type associated with the first device, a device type associated with the one or more second devices, a set of communication links between the first device and the one or more second devices, one or more capabilities of the network entity, or any combination thereof.
[0188] In some aspects, to support communicating the one or more messages with the one or more second devices, the continuous wave communications component 1140 is capable of, configured to, or operable to support a means for transmitting, in association with the virtual first device, a continuous wave via the first resources of the one or more resource pools. In some aspects, to support communicating the one or more messages with the one or more second devices, the ambient link communications component 1130 is capable of, configured to, or operable to support a means for receiving, from the one or more second devices, one or more backscattered communications using the continuous wave via the first resources of the one or more resource pools.
[0189] In some aspects, a first transmission power is associated with a forward link communication, a backward link communication, or a backscatter link. In some aspects, the continuous wave is independent from second transmission powers associated with a downlink transmission by the network entity via a physical downlink channel.
[0190] In some aspects, to support communicating the one or more messages with the one or more second devices, the ambient link communications component 1130 is capable of, configured to, or operable to support a means for receiving, from the one or more second devices, one or more backward link communications via the first resources of the one or more resource pools.
[0191] In some aspects, to support communicating the one or more messages with the one or more second devices, the ambient link communications component 1130 is capable of, configured to, or operable to support a means for transmitting a forward link via the first resources of the one or more resource pools, where transmission via the forward link is in association with the virtual first device.
[0192] In some aspects, the first device is associated with an identifier that indicates that the first device is capable of participation in forward link communication, backward link communication, backscatter link communication, continuous wave communication, or any combination thereof.
[0193] In some aspects, the one or more resource pools are for communication via a forward link, a backward link, a backscatter link, a continuous wave, or any combination thereof. In some aspects, the one or more resource pools are configured for the first device.
[0194] In some aspects, the indication of the one or more resource pools is received via radio resource control signaling, a medium-access control-control element (MAC-CE) which activates or deactivates the one or more resource pools, DCI that dynamically switches on or off the one or more resource pools, or any combination thereof.
[0195] In some aspects, the MAC-CE is received via a unicast physical downlink shared channel. In some aspects, the DCI is received via an uplink DCI format that is associated with forward link communication or continuous wave communication via a radio network temporary identifier or via a size of the uplink DCI format.
[0196] In some aspects, a transmission power associated with the forward link, the backward link, the backscatter link, and the continuous wave is independent from an uplink transmission power of the first device. In some aspects, the one or more resource pools for the communication between the first device and the one or more second devices include resources that are non-overlapping in time. In some aspects, the one or more resource pools include a set of time domain discontinuous reception resources for the communication between the first device and the one or more second devices.
[0197] In some aspects, the set of time domain discontinuous reception resources for the communication between the first device and the one or more second devices is associated with discontinuous transmission or reception resources for uplink or downlink communications. In some aspects, the one or more resource pools include one or more bandwidth parts, one or more frequency sub-bands, or both, for the communication between the first device and the one or more second devices. In some aspects, the one or more bandwidth parts, one or more frequency sub-bands, or both, for the communication between the first device and the one or more second devices are associated with respective bandwidth parts configured for uplink communications or downlink communications.
[0198] In some aspects, the one or more resource pools include one or more spatial parameters, one or more beams, one or more transmission configuration indicator states, or any combination thereof, that are configured for the communication between the first device and the one or more second devices.
[0199] In some aspects, the one or more resource pools are configured for the communication between the first device and the one or more second devices in accordance with a transmission power of the first device.
[0200] In some aspects, respective transmission powers associated with a forward link, a backward link, a backscatter link, and a continuous wave are separately configured.
[0201] In some aspects, the mobility measurement component 1145 is capable of, configured to, or operable to support a means for receiving a message that requests relative location information, mobility information, reference signal receive power measurements, or a combination thereof, from the first device. In some aspects, the transmit power management component 1150 is capable of, configured to, or operable to support a means for receiving, via a radio resource control message, information that pertains to a transmit power configuration for the communication between the first device and the one or more second devices based on the relative location information, mobility information, reference signal receive power measurements, or a combination thereof.
[0202] In some aspects, the transmit power management component 1150 is capable of, configured to, or operable to support a means for receiving, via a downlink control information message, a medium access control-control element, or both, that indicates to adjust a transmit power of the first device for the communication between the first device and the one or more second devices. In some aspects, the one or more resource pools include a set of shared resources configured for a group of devices including the first device.
[0203] In some aspects, the indication is received via radio resource control signaling, and the resource monitoring component 1135 is capable of, configured to, or operable to support a means for monitoring for resource availability for the one or more resource pools in one or more wireless frequency spectrum bands based on the indication. In some aspects, the resource monitoring component 1135 is capable of, configured to, or operable to support a means for selecting the first resources for the communication between the first device and the one or more second devices based on the resource availability and based on whether the one or more resource pools are independently configured for the first device.
[0204] In some aspects, the ambient link communications component 1130 is capable of, configured to, or operable to support a means for receiving, via one or more resources at an anchor sub-band, a synchronization signal to perform initial access to establish a link for the communication between the first device and the one or more second devices.
[0205] In some aspects, the one or more resource pools include resources for forward link communications, backward link communications, backscatter link communications, continuous wave communications, or any combination thereof, that are configured in one or more anchor sub-bands based on one or more functionalities of the communication and one or more capabilities of the first device, or the one or more second devices, or both.
[0206] In some aspects, the one or more resource pools include resources for forward link communications, backward link communications, backscatter link communication, continuous wave communications, or both, that are configured in one or more anchor sub-bands or one or more non-anchor sub-bands based on one or more functionalities of the communication and one or more capabilities of the first device or the one or more second devices, or both.
[0207] In some aspects, the first device includes a reader device and the one or more second devices include one or more energy harvesting capable devices configured for ambient internet of things (IoT) communications.
[0208] Additionally, or alternatively, the communications manager 1120 may support wireless communications in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. The resource monitoring component 1135 is capable of, configured to, or operable to support a means for monitoring for resource availability in one or more wireless frequency spectrum bands associated with communication between the first device and one or more second devices. In some aspects, the resource monitoring component 1135 is capable of, configured to, or operable to support a means for selecting first resources for the communication based on resource availability. In some aspects, the ambient link communications component 1130 is capable of, configured to, or operable to support a means for communicating one or more messages with the one or more second devices via first resources, where the first resources are independent of second resources configured for uplink communications or downlink communications with a network entity, sidelink communications, or both.
[0209] In some aspects, to support selecting the first resources for the communication, the resource monitoring component 1135 is capable of, configured to, or operable to support a means for selecting the first resources for backscatter link communications, backward link communications, forward link communications, continuous wave communications, or any combination thereof, based on the resource availability in a frequency division duplexing uplink spectrum band of the one or more wireless frequency spectrum bands.
[0210] In some aspects, to support selecting the first resources for the communication, the resource monitoring component 1135 is capable of, configured to, or operable to support a means for selecting the first resources for forward link communications, backward link communications, backscatter link communications, continuous wave communications, or any combination thereof, based on the resource availability.
[0211] In some aspects, to support monitoring for the resource availability in the one or more wireless frequency spectrum bands, the resource monitoring component 1135 is capable of, configured to, or operable to support a means for performing, at a preamble portion of a continuous wave, a forward link, or both, one or more measurements of one or more reference signal metrics, where selection of the first resources is based on the one or more measurements satisfying a threshold.
[0212] In some aspects, the ambient link communications component 1130 is capable of, configured to, or operable to support a means for receiving, via one or more resources at an anchor sub-band, a synchronization signal to perform initial access to establish a link for the communication, where the communication includes ambient internet of things (IoT) communication.
[0213] In some aspects, the first resources include resources for forward link communications, backward link communications, backscatter link communications, continuous wave communications, or any combination thereof, that are configured in one or more anchor sub-bands based on one or more device characteristics of the first device.
[0214] In some aspects, the first resources include resources for uplink communications, downlink communications, or both, that are configured in one or more anchor sub-bands or one or more non-anchor sub-bands based on one or more device characteristics of the first device.
[0215] In some aspects, the first resources are configured on an uplink frequency division duplexing spectrum, a downlink frequency division duplexing spectrum, or time division duplexing spectrum.
[0216] FIG. 12 shows a diagram of a system 1200 including a device 1205 that supports resource allocation for ambient link in accordance with one or more aspects of the present disclosure. The device 1205 may be an example of or include components of a device 905, a device 1005, or a UE 115 as described herein. The device 1205 may communicate (e.g., wirelessly) with one or more other devices (e.g., network entities 105, UEs 115, or a combination thereof) . The device 1205 may include components for bi-directional voice and data communications including components for transmitting and receiving communications, such as a communications manager 1220, an input / output (I / O) controller, such as an I / O controller 1210, a transceiver 1215, one or more antennas 1225, at least one memory 1230, code 1235, and at least one processor 1240. These components may be in electronic communication or otherwise coupled (e.g., operatively, communicatively, functionally, electronically, electrically) via one or more buses (e.g., a bus 1245) .
[0217] The I / O controller 1210 may manage input and output signals for the device 1205. The I / O controller 1210 may also manage peripherals not integrated into the device 1205. In some cases, the I / O controller 1210 may represent a physical connection or port to an external peripheral. In some cases, the I / O controller 1210 may utilize an operating system such as or another known operating system. Additionally, or alternatively, the I / O controller 1210 may represent or interact with a modem, a keyboard, a mouse, a touchscreen, or a similar device. In some cases, the I / O controller 1210 may be implemented as part of one or more processors, such as the at least one processor 1240. In some cases, a user may interact with the device 1205 via the I / O controller 1210 or via hardware components controlled by the I / O controller 1210.
[0218] In some cases, the device 1205 may include a single antenna. However, in some other cases, the device 1205 may have more than one antenna, which may be capable of concurrently transmitting or receiving multiple wireless transmissions. The transceiver 1215 may communicate bi-directionally via the one or more antennas 1225 using wired or wireless links as described herein. For example, the transceiver 1215 may represent a wireless transceiver and may communicate bi-directionally with another wireless transceiver. The transceiver 1215 may also include a modem to modulate the packets, to provide the modulated packets to one or more antennas 1225 for transmission, and to demodulate packets received from the one or more antennas 1225. The transceiver 1215, or the transceiver 1215 and one or more antennas 1225, may be an example of a transmitter 915, a transmitter 1015, a receiver 910, a receiver 1010, or any combination thereof or component thereof, as described herein.
[0219] The at least one memory 1230 may include random access memory (RAM) and read-only memory (ROM) . The at least one memory 1230 may store computer-readable, computer-executable, or processor-executable code, such as the code 1235. The code 1235 may include instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor 1240, cause the device 1205 to perform various functions described herein. The code 1235 may be stored in a non-transitory computer-readable medium such as system memory or another type of memory. In some cases, the code 1235 may not be directly executable by the at least one processor 1240 but may cause a computer (e.g., when compiled and executed) to perform functions described herein. In some cases, the at least one memory 1230 may include, among other things, a basic I / O system (BIOS) which may control basic hardware or software operation such as the interaction with peripheral components or devices.
[0220] The at least one processor 1240 may include one or more intelligent hardware devices (e.g., one or more general-purpose processors, one or more DSPs, one or more central processing units (CPUs) , one or more graphics processing units (GPUs) , one or more neural processing units (NPUs) (also referred to as neural network processors or deep learning processors (DLPs) ) , one or more microcontrollers, one or more ASICs, one or more FPGAs, one or more programmable logic devices, discrete gate or transistor logic, one or more discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof) . In some cases, the at least one processor 1240 may be configured to operate a memory array using a memory controller. In some other cases, a memory controller may be integrated into the at least one processor 1240. The at least one processor 1240 may be configured to execute computer-readable instructions stored in a memory (e.g., the at least one memory 1230) to cause the device 1205 to perform various functions (e.g., functions or tasks supporting resource allocation for ambient link) . For example, the device 1205 or a component of the device 1205 may include at least one processor 1240 and at least one memory 1230 coupled with or to the at least one processor 1240, the at least one processor 1240 and the at least one memory 1230 configured to perform various functions described herein. In some aspects, the at least one processor 1240 may include multiple processors and the at least one memory 1230 may include multiple memories. One or more of the multiple processors may be coupled with one or more of the multiple memories, which may, individually or collectively, be configured to perform various functions described herein. In some aspects, the at least one processor 1240 may be a component of a processing system, which may refer to a system (such as a series) of machines, circuitry (including, for example, one or both of processor circuitry (which may include the at least one processor 1240) and memory circuitry (which may include the at least one memory 1230) ) , or components, that receives or obtains inputs and processes the inputs to produce, generate, or obtain a set of outputs. The processing system may be configured to perform one or more of the functions described herein. For example, the at least one processor 1240 or a processing system including the at least one processor 1240 may be configured to, configurable to, or operable to cause the device 1205 to perform one or more of the functions described herein. Further, as described herein, being “configured to, ” being “configurable to, ” and being “operable to” may be used interchangeably and may be associated with a capability, when executing code 1235 (e.g., processor-executable code) stored in the at least one memory 1230 or otherwise, to perform one or more of the functions described herein.
[0221] The communications manager 1220 may support wireless communication in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. For example, the communications manager 1220 is capable of, configured to, or operable to support a means for receiving, from a network entity, an indication of one or more resource pools configured for communication between the first device and one or more second devices. The communications manager 1220 is capable of, configured to, or operable to support a means for communicating one or more messages with the one or more second devices via first resources of the one or more resource pools, where the one or more resource pools are independent of second resources configured for uplink or downlink communications with the network entity, sidelink communications, or both.
[0222] Additionally, or alternatively, the communications manager 1220 may support wireless communications in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. For example, the communications manager 1220 is capable of, configured to, or operable to support a means for monitoring for resource availability in one or more wireless frequency spectrum bands associated with communication between the first device and one or more second devices. The communications manager 1220 is capable of, configured to, or operable to support a means for selecting first resources for the communication based on resource availability. The communications manager 1220 is capable of, configured to, or operable to support a means for communicating one or more messages with the one or more second devices via first resources, where the first resources are independent of second resources configured for uplink communications or downlink communications with a network entity, sidelink communications, or both.
[0223] By including or configuring the communications manager 1220 in accordance with examples as described herein, the device 1205 may support techniques for improved communication reliability, reduced power consumption, more efficient utilization of communication resources in both frequency domain and time domain, improved coordination between devices, unified resource allocation between uplink, downlink, sidelink, and low-power ambient IoT communications, efficient power control for ambient IoT communications, reduced interference for systems including large quantities of wireless devices, among other benefits.
[0224] In some aspects, the communications manager 1220 may be configured to perform various operations (e.g., receiving, monitoring, transmitting) using or otherwise in cooperation with the transceiver 1215, the one or more antennas 1225, or any combination thereof. Although the communications manager 1220 is illustrated as a separate component, in some aspects, one or more functions described with reference to the communications manager 1220 may be supported by or performed by the at least one processor 1240, the at least one memory 1230, the code 1235, or any combination thereof. For example, the code 1235 may include instructions executable by the at least one processor 1240 to cause the device 1205 to perform various aspects of resource allocation for ambient link as described herein, or the at least one processor 1240 and the at least one memory 1230 may be otherwise configured to, individually or collectively, perform or support such operations.
[0225] FIG. 13 shows a block diagram 1300 of a device 1305 that supports resource allocation for ambient link in accordance with one or more aspects of the present disclosure. The device 1305 may be an example of aspects of a network entity 105 as described herein. The device 1305 may include a receiver 1310, a transmitter 1315, and a communications manager 1320. The device 1305, or one or more components of the device 1305 (e.g., the receiver 1310, the transmitter 1315, the communications manager 1320) , may include at least one processor, which may be coupled with at least one memory, to, individually or collectively, support or enable the described techniques. Each of these components may be in communication with one another (e.g., via one or more buses) .
[0226] The receiver 1310 may provide a means for obtaining (e.g., receiving, determining, identifying) information such as user data, control information, or any combination thereof (e.g., I / Q samples, symbols, packets, protocol data units, service data units) associated with various channels (e.g., control channels, data channels, information channels, channels associated with a protocol stack) . Information may be passed on to other components of the device 1305. In some aspects, the receiver 1310 may support obtaining information by receiving signals via one or more antennas. Additionally, or alternatively, the receiver 1310 may support obtaining information by receiving signals via one or more wired (e.g., electrical, fiber optic) interfaces, wireless interfaces, or any combination thereof.
[0227] The transmitter 1315 may provide a means for outputting (e.g., transmitting, providing, conveying, sending) information generated by other components of the device 1305. For example, the transmitter 1315 may output information such as user data, control information, or any combination thereof (e.g., I / Q samples, symbols, packets, protocol data units, service data units) associated with various channels (e.g., control channels, data channels, information channels, channels associated with a protocol stack) . In some aspects, the transmitter 1315 may support outputting information by transmitting signals via one or more antennas. Additionally, or alternatively, the transmitter 1315 may support outputting information by transmitting signals via one or more wired (e.g., electrical, fiber optic) interfaces, wireless interfaces, or any combination thereof. In some aspects, the transmitter 1315 and the receiver 1310 may be co-located in a transceiver, which may include or be coupled with a modem.
[0228] The communications manager 1320, the receiver 1310, the transmitter 1315, or various combinations or components thereof may be examples of means for performing various aspects of resource allocation for ambient link as described herein. For example, the communications manager 1320, the receiver 1310, the transmitter 1315, or various combinations or components thereof may be capable of performing one or more of the functions described herein.
[0229] In some aspects, the communications manager 1320, the receiver 1310, the transmitter 1315, or various combinations or components thereof may be implemented in hardware (e.g., in communications management circuitry) . The hardware may include at least one of a processor, a DSP, a CPU, an ASIC, an FPGA or other programmable logic device, a microcontroller, discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof configured as or otherwise supporting, individually or collectively, a means for performing the functions described in the present disclosure. In some aspects, at least one processor and at least one memory coupled with the at least one processor may be configured to perform one or more of the functions described herein (e.g., by one or more processors, individually or collectively, executing instructions stored in the at least one memory) .
[0230] Additionally, or alternatively, the communications manager 1320, the receiver 1310, the transmitter 1315, or various combinations or components thereof may be implemented in code (e.g., as communications management software or firmware) executed by at least one processor (e.g., referred to as a processor-executable code) . If implemented in code executed by at least one processor, the functions of the communications manager 1320, the receiver 1310, the transmitter 1315, or various combinations or components thereof may be performed by a general-purpose processor, a DSP, a CPU, an ASIC, an FPGA, a microcontroller, or any combination of these or other programmable logic devices (e.g., configured as or otherwise supporting, individually or collectively, a means for performing the functions described in the present disclosure) .
[0231] In some aspects, the communications manager 1320 may be configured to perform various operations (e.g., receiving, obtaining, monitoring, outputting, transmitting) using or otherwise in cooperation with the receiver 1310, the transmitter 1315, or both. For example, the communications manager 1320 may receive information from the receiver 1310, send information to the transmitter 1315, or be integrated in combination with the receiver 1310, the transmitter 1315, or both to obtain information, output information, or perform various other operations as described herein.
[0232] The communications manager 1320 may support wireless communication in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. For example, the communications manager 1320 is capable of, configured to, or operable to support a means for configuring one or more resource pools for communications, the one or more resource pools including first resources for communication between one or more second devices and one or more third devices, where the first resources are independent of second resources configured for uplink communications, downlink communications, sidelink communications, or any combination thereof. The communications manager 1320 is capable of, configured to, or operable to support a means for transmitting, to the one or more second devices, an indication of the one or more resource pools for the communication between the one or more second devices and the one or more third devices, where the indication includes a resource allocation configuration, a resource sensing configuration, or both.
[0233] By including or configuring the communications manager 1320 in accordance with examples as described herein, the device 1305 (e.g., at least one processor controlling or otherwise coupled with the receiver 1310, the transmitter 1315, the communications manager 1320, or a combination thereof) may support techniques for reduced power consumption, more efficient utilization of communication resources, unified resource allocation between uplink, downlink, sidelink, and low-power ambient IoT communications, efficient power control for ambient IoT communications, among other benefits.
[0234] FIG. 14 shows a block diagram 1400 of a device 1405 that supports resource allocation for ambient link in accordance with one or more aspects of the present disclosure. The device 1405 may be an example of aspects of a device 1305 or a network entity 105 as described herein. The device 1405 may include a receiver 1410, a transmitter 1415, and a communications manager 1420. The device 1405, or one of more components of the device 1405 (e.g., the receiver 1410, the transmitter 1415, the communications manager 1420) , may include at least one processor, which may be coupled with at least one memory, to support the described techniques. Each of these components may be in communication with one another (e.g., via one or more buses) .
[0235] The receiver 1410 may provide a means for obtaining (e.g., receiving, determining, identifying) information such as user data, control information, or any combination thereof (e.g., I / Q samples, symbols, packets, protocol data units, service data units) associated with various channels (e.g., control channels, data channels, information channels, channels associated with a protocol stack) . Information may be passed on to other components of the device 1405. In some aspects, the receiver 1410 may support obtaining information by receiving signals via one or more antennas. Additionally, or alternatively, the receiver 1410 may support obtaining information by receiving signals via one or more wired (e.g., electrical, fiber optic) interfaces, wireless interfaces, or any combination thereof.
[0236] The transmitter 1415 may provide a means for outputting (e.g., transmitting, providing, conveying, sending) information generated by other components of the device 1405. For example, the transmitter 1415 may output information such as user data, control information, or any combination thereof (e.g., I / Q samples, symbols, packets, protocol data units, service data units) associated with various channels (e.g., control channels, data channels, information channels, channels associated with a protocol stack) . In some aspects, the transmitter 1415 may support outputting information by transmitting signals via one or more antennas. Additionally, or alternatively, the transmitter 1415 may support outputting information by transmitting signals via one or more wired (e.g., electrical, fiber optic) interfaces, wireless interfaces, or any combination thereof. In some aspects, the transmitter 1415 and the receiver 1410 may be co-located in a transceiver, which may include or be coupled with a modem.
[0237] The device 1405, or various components thereof, may be an example of means for performing various aspects of resource allocation for ambient link as described herein. For example, the communications manager 1420 may include a resource configuration component 1425 a resource configuration allocation component 1430, or any combination thereof. The communications manager 1420 may be an example of aspects of a communications manager 1320 as described herein. In some aspects, the communications manager 1420, or various components thereof, may be configured to perform various operations (e.g., receiving, obtaining, monitoring, outputting, transmitting) using or otherwise in cooperation with the receiver 1410, the transmitter 1415, or both. For example, the communications manager 1420 may receive information from the receiver 1410, send information to the transmitter 1415, or be integrated in combination with the receiver 1410, the transmitter 1415, or both to obtain information, output information, or perform various other operations as described herein.
[0238] The communications manager 1420 may support wireless communication in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. The resource configuration component 1425 is capable of, configured to, or operable to support a means for configuring one or more resource pools for communications, the one or more resource pools including first resources for communication between one or more second devices and one or more third devices, where the first resources are independent of second resources configured for uplink communications, downlink communications, sidelink communications, or any combination thereof. The resource configuration allocation component 1430 is capable of, configured to, or operable to support a means for transmitting, to the one or more second devices, an indication of the one or more resource pools for the communication between the one or more second devices and the one or more third devices, where the indication includes a resource allocation configuration, a resource sensing configuration, or both.
[0239] FIG. 15 shows a block diagram 1500 of a communications manager 1520 that supports resource allocation for ambient link in accordance with one or more aspects of the present disclosure. The communications manager 1520 may be an example of aspects of a communications manager 1320, a communications manager 1420, or both, as described herein. The communications manager 1520, or various components thereof, may be an example of means for performing various aspects of resource allocation for ambient link as described herein. For example, the communications manager 1520 may include a resource configuration component 1525 a resource configuration allocation component 1530, or any combination thereof. Each of these components, or components or subcomponents thereof (e.g., one or more processors, one or more memories) , may communicate, directly or indirectly, with one another (e.g., via one or more buses) . The communications may include communications within a protocol layer of a protocol stack, communications associated with a logical channel of a protocol stack (e.g., between protocol layers of a protocol stack, within a device, component, or virtualized component associated with a network entity 105, between devices, components, or virtualized components associated with a network entity 105) , or any combination thereof.
[0240] The communications manager 1520 may support wireless communication in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. The resource configuration component 1525 is capable of, configured to, or operable to support a means for configuring one or more resource pools for communications, the one or more resource pools including first resources for communication between one or more second devices and one or more third devices, where the first resources are independent of second resources configured for uplink communications, downlink communications, sidelink communications, or any combination thereof. The resource configuration allocation component 1530 is capable of, configured to, or operable to support a means for transmitting, to the one or more second devices, an indication of the one or more resource pools for the communication between the one or more second devices and the one or more third devices, where the indication includes a resource allocation configuration, a resource sensing configuration, or both.
[0241] FIG. 16 shows a diagram of a system 1600 including a device 1605 that supports resource allocation for ambient link in accordance with one or more aspects of the present disclosure. The device 1605 may be an example of or include components of a device 1305, a device 1405, or a network entity 105 as described herein. The device 1605 may communicate with other network devices or network equipment such as one or more of the network entities 105, UEs 115, or any combination thereof. The communications may include communications over one or more wired interfaces, over one or more wireless interfaces, or any combination thereof. The device 1605 may include components that support outputting and obtaining communications, such as a communications manager 1620, a transceiver 1610, one or more antennas 1615, at least one memory 1625, code 1630, and at least one processor 1635. These components may be in electronic communication or otherwise coupled (e.g., operatively, communicatively, functionally, electronically, electrically) via one or more buses (e.g., a bus 1640) .
[0242] The transceiver 1610 may support bi-directional communications via wired links, wireless links, or both as described herein. In some aspects, the transceiver 1610 may include a wired transceiver and may communicate bi-directionally with another wired transceiver. Additionally, or alternatively, in some aspects, the transceiver 1610 may include a wireless transceiver and may communicate bi-directionally with another wireless transceiver. In some aspects, the device 1605 may include one or more antennas 1615, which may be capable of transmitting or receiving wireless transmissions (e.g., concurrently) . The transceiver 1610 may also include a modem to modulate signals, to provide the modulated signals for transmission (e.g., by one or more antennas 1615, by a wired transmitter) , to receive modulated signals (e.g., from one or more antennas 1615, from a wired receiver) , and to demodulate signals. In some implementations, the transceiver 1610 may include one or more interfaces, such as one or more interfaces coupled with the one or more antennas 1615 that are configured to support various receiving or obtaining operations, or one or more interfaces coupled with the one or more antennas 1615 that are configured to support various transmitting or outputting operations, or a combination thereof. In some implementations, the transceiver 1610 may include or be configured for coupling with one or more processors or one or more memory components that are operable to perform or support operations based on received or obtained information or signals, or to generate information or other signals for transmission or other outputting, or any combination thereof. In some implementations, the transceiver 1610, or the transceiver 1610 and the one or more antennas 1615, or the transceiver 1610 and the one or more antennas 1615 and one or more processors or one or more memory components (e.g., the at least one processor 1635, the at least one memory 1625, or both) , may be included in a chip or chip assembly that is installed in the device 1605. In some aspects, the transceiver 1610 may be operable to support communications via one or more communications links (e.g., communication link (s) 125, backhaul communication link (s) 120, a midhaul communication link 162, a fronthaul communication link 168) .
[0243] The at least one memory 1625 may include RAM, ROM, or any combination thereof. The at least one memory 1625 may store computer-readable, computer-executable, or processor-executable code, such as the code 1630. The code 1630 may include instructions that, when executed by one or more of the at least one processor 1635, cause the device 1605 to perform various functions described herein. The code 1630 may be stored in a non-transitory computer-readable medium such as system memory or another type of memory. In some cases, the code 1630 may not be directly executable by a processor of the at least one processor 1635 but may cause a computer (e.g., when compiled and executed) to perform functions described herein. In some cases, the at least one memory 1625 may include, among other things, a BIOS which may control basic hardware or software operation such as the interaction with peripheral components or devices. In some aspects, the at least one processor 1635 may include multiple processors and the at least one memory 1625 may include multiple memories. One or more of the multiple processors may be coupled with one or more of the multiple memories which may, individually or collectively, be configured to perform various functions herein (for example, as part of a processing system) .
[0244] The at least one processor 1635 may include one or more intelligent hardware devices (e.g., one or more general-purpose processors, one or more DSPs, one or more central processing units (CPUs) , one or more graphics processing units (GPUs) , one or more neural processing units (NPUs) (also referred to as neural network processors or deep learning processors (DLPs) ) , one or more microcontrollers, one or more ASICs, one or more FPGAs, one or more programmable logic devices, discrete gate or transistor logic, one or more discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof) . In some cases, the at least one processor 1635 may be configured to operate a memory array using a memory controller. In some other cases, a memory controller may be integrated into one or more of the at least one processor 1635. The at least one processor 1635 may be configured to execute computer-readable instructions stored in a memory (e.g., one or more of the at least one memory 1625) to cause the device 1605 to perform various functions (e.g., functions or tasks supporting resource allocation for ambient link) . For example, the device 1605 or a component of the device 1605 may include at least one processor 1635 and at least one memory 1625 coupled with one or more of the at least one processor 1635, the at least one processor 1635 and the at least one memory 1625 configured to perform various functions described herein. The at least one processor 1635 may be an example of a cloud-computing platform (e.g., one or more physical nodes and supporting software such as operating systems, virtual machines, or container instances) that may host the functions (e.g., by executing code 1630) to perform the functions of the device 1605. The at least one processor 1635 may be any one or more suitable processors capable of executing scripts or instructions of one or more software programs stored in the device 1605 (such as within one or more of the at least one memory 1625) . In some aspects, the at least one processor 1635 may include multiple processors and the at least one memory 1625 may include multiple memories. One or more of the multiple processors may be coupled with one or more of the multiple memories, which may, individually or collectively, be configured to perform various functions herein. In some aspects, the at least one processor 1635 may be a component of a processing system, which may refer to a system (such as a series) of machines, circuitry (including, for example, one or both of processor circuitry (which may include the at least one processor 1635) and memory circuitry (which may include the at least one memory 1625) ) , or components, that receives or obtains inputs and processes the inputs to produce, generate, or obtain a set of outputs. The processing system may be configured to perform one or more of the functions described herein. For example, the at least one processor 1635 or a processing system including the at least one processor 1635 may be configured to, configurable to, or operable to cause the device 1605 to perform one or more of the functions described herein. Further, as described herein, being “configured to, ” being “configurable to, ” and being “operable to” may be used interchangeably and may be associated with a capability, when executing code stored in the at least one memory 1625 or otherwise, to perform one or more of the functions described herein.
[0245] In some aspects, a bus 1640 may support communications of (e.g., within) a protocol layer of a protocol stack. In some aspects, a bus 1640 may support communications associated with a logical channel of a protocol stack (e.g., between protocol layers of a protocol stack) , which may include communications performed within a component of the device 1605, or between different components of the device 1605 that may be co-located or located in different locations (e.g., where the device 1605 may refer to a system in which one or more of the communications manager 1620, the transceiver 1610, the at least one memory 1625, the code 1630, and the at least one processor 1635 may be located in one of the different components or divided between different components) .
[0246] In some aspects, the communications manager 1620 may manage aspects of communications with a core network 130 (e.g., via one or more wired or wireless backhaul links) . For example, the communications manager 1620 may manage the transfer of data communications for client devices, such as one or more UEs 115. In some aspects, the communications manager 1620 may manage communications with one or more other network devices 105, and may include a controller or scheduler for controlling communications with UEs 115 (e.g., in cooperation with the one or more other network devices) . In some aspects, the communications manager 1620 may support an X2 interface within an LTE / LTE-A wireless communications network technology to provide communication between network entities 105.
[0247] The communications manager 1620 may support wireless communication in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. For example, the communications manager 1620 is capable of, configured to, or operable to support a means for configuring one or more resource pools for communications, the one or more resource pools including first resources for communication between one or more second devices and one or more third devices, where the first resources are independent of second resources configured for uplink communications, downlink communications, sidelink communications, or any combination thereof. The communications manager 1620 is capable of, configured to, or operable to support a means for transmitting, to the one or more second devices, an indication of the one or more resource pools for the communication between the one or more second devices and the one or more third devices, where the indication includes a resource allocation configuration, a resource sensing configuration, or both.
[0248] By including or configuring the communications manager 1620 in accordance with examples as described herein, the device 1605 may support techniques for improved communication reliability, reduced power consumption, more efficient utilization of communication resources in both frequency domain and time domain, improved coordination between devices, unified resource allocation between uplink, downlink, sidelink, and low-power ambient IoT communications, efficient power control for ambient IoT communications, reduced interference for systems including large quantities of wireless devices, among other benefits.
[0249] In some aspects, the communications manager 1620 may be configured to perform various operations (e.g., receiving, obtaining, monitoring, outputting, transmitting) using or otherwise in cooperation with the transceiver 1610, the one or more antennas 1615 (e.g., where applicable) , or any combination thereof. Although the communications manager 1620 is illustrated as a separate component, in some aspects, one or more functions described with reference to the communications manager 1620 may be supported by or performed by the transceiver 1610, one or more of the at least one processor 1635, one or more of the at least one memory 1625, the code 1630, or any combination thereof (for example, by a processing system including at least a portion of the at least one processor 1635, the at least one memory 1625, the code 1630, or any combination thereof) . For example, the code 1630 may include instructions executable by one or more of the at least one processor 1635 to cause the device 1605 to perform various aspects of resource allocation for ambient link as described herein, or the at least one processor 1635 and the at least one memory 1625 may be otherwise configured to, individually or collectively, perform or support such operations.
[0250] FIG. 17 shows a flowchart illustrating a method 1700 that supports resource allocation for ambient link in accordance with one or more aspects of the present disclosure. The operations of the method 1700 may be implemented by a UE or its components as described herein. For example, the operations of the method 1700 may be performed by a UE 115 as described with reference to FIGs. 1 through 12. In some aspects, a UE may execute a set of instructions to control the functional elements of the UE to perform the described functions. Additionally, or alternatively, the UE may perform aspects of the described functions using special-purpose hardware.
[0251] At 1705, the method may include receiving, from a network entity, an indication of one or more resource pools configured for communication between the first device and one or more second devices. The operations of 1705 may be performed in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. In some aspects, aspects of the operations of 1705 may be performed by a resource configuration signaling component 1125 as described with reference to FIG. 11.
[0252] At 1710, the method may include communicating one or more messages with the one or more second devices via first resources of the one or more resource pools, where the one or more resource pools are independent of second resources configured for uplink or downlink communications with the network entity, sidelink communications, or both. The operations of 1710 may be performed in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. In some aspects, aspects of the operations of 1710 may be performed by an ambient link communications component 1130 as described with reference to FIG. 11.
[0253] FIG. 18 shows a flowchart illustrating a method 1800 that supports resource allocation for ambient link in accordance with one or more aspects of the present disclosure. The operations of the method 1800 may be implemented by a UE or its components as described herein. For example, the operations of the method 1800 may be performed by a UE 115 as described with reference to FIGs. 1 through 12. In some aspects, a UE may execute a set of instructions to control the functional elements of the UE to perform the described functions. Additionally, or alternatively, the UE may perform aspects of the described functions using special-purpose hardware.
[0254] At 1805, the method may include monitoring for resource availability in one or more wireless frequency spectrum bands associated with communication between the first device and one or more second devices. The operations of 1805 may be performed in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. In some aspects, aspects of the operations of 1805 may be performed by a resource monitoring component 1135 as described with reference to FIG. 11.
[0255] At 1810, the method may include selecting first resources for the communication based on resource availability. The operations of 1810 may be performed in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. In some aspects, aspects of the operations of 1810 may be performed by a resource monitoring component 1135 as described with reference to FIG. 11.
[0256] At 1815, the method may include communicating one or more messages with the one or more second devices via first resources, where the first resources are independent of second resources configured for uplink communications or downlink communications with a network entity, sidelink communications, or both. The operations of 1815 may be performed in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. In some aspects, aspects of the operations of 1815 may be performed by an ambient link communications component 1130 as described with reference to FIG. 11.
[0257] FIG. 19 shows a flowchart illustrating a method 1900 that supports resource allocation for ambient link in accordance with one or more aspects of the present disclosure. The operations of the method 1900 may be implemented by a network entity or its components as described herein. For example, the operations of the method 1900 may be performed by a network entity as described with reference to FIGs. 1 through 8 and 13 through 16. In some aspects, a network entity may execute a set of instructions to control the functional elements of the network entity to perform the described functions. Additionally, or alternatively, the network entity may perform aspects of the described functions using special-purpose hardware.
[0258] At 1905, the method may include configuring one or more resource pools for communications, the one or more resource pools including first resources for communication between one or more second devices and one or more third devices, where the first resources are independent of second resources configured for uplink communications, downlink communications, sidelink communications, or any combination thereof. The operations of 1905 may be performed in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. In some aspects, aspects of the operations of 1905 may be performed by a resource configuration component 1525 as described with reference to FIG. 15.
[0259] At 1910, the method may include transmitting, to the one or more second devices, an indication of the one or more resource pools for the communication between the one or more second devices and the one or more third devices, where the indication includes a resource allocation configuration, a resource sensing configuration, or both. The operations of 1910 may be performed in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. In some aspects, aspects of the operations of 1910 may be performed by a resource configuration allocation component 1530 as described with reference to FIG. 15.
[0260] The following provides an overview of aspects of the present disclosure:
[0261] Aspect 1: A method of wireless communication performed by a first device, comprising: receiving, from a network entity, an indication of one or more resource pools configured for communication between the first device and one or more second devices; and communicating one or more messages with the one or more second devices via first resources of the one or more resource pools, wherein the one or more resource pools are independent of second resources configured for uplink or downlink communications with the network entity, sidelink communications, or both.
[0262] Aspect 2: The method of aspect 1, wherein the one or more resource pools are configured on an uplink FDD spectrum, a downlink FDD spectrum, or a TDD spectrum.
[0263] Aspect 3: The method of aspect 2, wherein use of the uplink FDD spectrum, the downlink FDD spectrum, or the TDD spectrum is based on a device type associated with the first device, a device type associated with the one or more second devices, a set of communication links between the first device and the one or more second devices, one or more capabilities of the network entity, or any combination thereof.
[0264] Aspect 4: The method of any of aspects 1 through 3, wherein the network entity is associated with a virtual first device that is co-located with the network entity, and wherein communicating the one or more messages with the one or more second devices comprises: transmitting, in association with the virtual first device, a continuous wave via the first resources of the one or more resource pools; and receiving, from the one or more second devices, one or more backscattered communications using the continuous wave via the first resources of the one or more resource pools.
[0265] Aspect 5: The method of aspect 4, wherein a first transmission power is associated with a forward link communication, a backward link communication, or a backscatter link, and the continuous wave is independent from second transmission powers associated with a downlink transmission by the network entity via a physical downlink channel.
[0266] Aspect 6: The method of any of aspects 1 through 5, wherein the network entity is associated with a virtual first device that is co-located with the network entity, and wherein communicating the one or more messages with the one or more second devices comprises: receiving, from the one or more second devices, one or more backward link communications via the first resources of the one or more resource pools.
[0267] Aspect 7: The method of any of aspects 1 through 6, wherein the network entity is associated with a virtual first device that is co-located with the network entity, and wherein communicating the one or more messages with the one or more second devices comprises: transmitting a forward link via the first resources of the one or more resource pools, wherein transmission via the forward link is in association with the virtual first device.
[0268] Aspect 8: The method of any of aspects 1 through 7, wherein the first device is associated with an identifier that indicates that the first device is capable of participation in forward link communication, backward link communication, backscatter link communication, continuous wave communication, or any combination thereof.
[0269] Aspect 9: The method of any of aspects 1 through 8, wherein the one or more resource pools are for communication via a forward link, a backward link, a backscatter link, a continuous wave, or any combination thereof, the one or more resource pools are configured for the first device.
[0270] Aspect 10: The method of aspect 9, wherein the indication of the one or more resource pools is received via RRC signaling, a MAC-CE which activates or deactivates the one or more resource pools, DCI that dynamically switches on or off the one or more resource pools, or any combination thereof.
[0271] Aspect 11: The method of aspect 10, wherein the MAC-CE is received via a unicast physical downlink shared channel.
[0272] Aspect 12: The method of any of aspects 10 through 11, wherein the DCI is received via an uplink DCI format that is associated with forward link communication or continuous wave communication via a radio network temporary identifier or via a size of the uplink DCI format.
[0273] Aspect 13: The method of any of aspects 9 through 12, wherein a transmission power associated with the forward link, the backward link, the backscatter link, and the continuous wave is independent from an uplink transmission power of the first device.
[0274] Aspect 14: The method of any of aspects 9 through 13, wherein the one or more resource pools for the communication between the first device and the one or more second devices include resources that are non-overlapping in time.
[0275] Aspect 15: The method of any of aspects 1 through 14, wherein the one or more resource pools include a set of time domain DRX resources for the communication between the first device and the one or more second devices.
[0276] Aspect 16: The method of aspect 15, wherein the set of time domain DRX resources for the communication between the first device and the one or more second devices is associated with DTX or reception resources for uplink or downlink communications.
[0277] Aspect 17: The method of any of aspects 1 through 16, wherein the one or more resource pools include one or more BWPs, one or more frequency sub-bands, or both, for the communication between the first device and the one or more second devices.
[0278] Aspect 18: The method of aspect 17, wherein the one or more BWPs, one or more frequency sub-bands, or both, for the communication between the first device and the one or more second devices are associated with respective BWPs configured for uplink communications or downlink communications.
[0279] Aspect 19: The method of any of aspects 1 through 18, wherein the one or more resource pools include one or more spatial parameters, one or more beams, one or more TCI states, or any combination thereof, that are configured for the communication between the first device and the one or more second devices.
[0280] Aspect 20: The method of any of aspects 1 through 19, wherein the one or more resource pools are configured for the communication between the first device and the one or more second devices in accordance with a transmission power of the first device.
[0281] Aspect 21: The method of aspect 20, wherein respective transmission powers associated with a forward link, a backward link, a backscatter link, and a continuous wave are separately configured.
[0282] Aspect 22: The method of any of aspects 1 through 21, further comprising: receiving a message that requests relative location information, mobility information, reference signal receive power measurements, or a combination thereof, from the first device; and receiving, via a RRC message, information that pertains to a transmit power configuration for the communication between the first device and the one or more second devices based on the relative location information, mobility information, reference signal receive power measurements, or a combination thereof.
[0283] Aspect 23: The method of any of aspects 1 through 22, further comprising: receiving, via a downlink control information message, a medium access control-control element, or both, that indicates to adjust a transmit power of the first device for the communication between the first device and the one or more second devices.
[0284] Aspect 24: The method of any of aspects 1 through 23, wherein the one or more resource pools include a set of shared resources configured for a group of devices including the first device.
[0285] Aspect 25: The method of any of aspects 1 through 24, wherein the indication is received via RRC signaling, a downlink control information message, a medium access control-control element, or any combination thereof, and wherein the method further comprises: monitoring for resource availability for the one or more resource pools in one or more wireless frequency spectrum bands based at least in part on the indication.
[0286] Aspect 26: The method of aspect 25, further comprising: selecting the first resources for the communication between the first device and the one or more second devices based on the resource availability and based on whether the one or more resource pools are independently configured for the first device.
[0287] Aspect 27: The method of any of aspects 1 through 26, further comprising: receiving, via one or more resources at an anchor sub-band, a synchronization signal to perform initial access to establish a link for the communication between the first device and the one or more second devices.
[0288] Aspect 28: The method of any of aspects 1 through 27, wherein the one or more resource pools include resources for forward link communications, backward link communications, backscatter link communications, continuous wave communications, or any combination thereof, that are configured in one or more anchor sub-bands based on one or more functionalities of the communication and one or more capabilities of the first device, or the one or more second devices, or both.
[0289] Aspect 29: The method of any of aspects 1 through 28, wherein the one or more resource pools include resources for forward link communications, backward link communications, backscatter link communication, continuous wave communications, or both, that are configured in one or more anchor sub-bands or one or more non-anchor sub-bands based on one or more functionalities of the communication and one or more capabilities of the first device or the one or more second devices, or both.
[0290] Aspect 30: The method of any of aspects 1 through 29, wherein the first device comprises a reader device and the one or more second devices comprise one or more energy harvesting capable devices configured for ambient IoT communications.
[0291] Aspect 31: A method of wireless communication performed by a first device, comprising: monitoring for resource availability in one or more wireless frequency spectrum bands associated with communication between the first device and one or more second devices; selecting first resources for the communication based on resource availability; and communicating one or more messages with the one or more second devices via first resources, wherein the first resources are independent of second resources configured for uplink communications or downlink communications with a network entity, sidelink communications, or both.
[0292] Aspect 32: The method of aspect 31, wherein the first device is a virtual first device that is co-located with the network entity, and wherein selecting the first resources for the communication comprises: selecting the first resources for backscatter link communications, backward link communications, forward link communications, continuous wave communications, or any combination thereof, based on the resource availability in a FDD uplink spectrum band of the one or more wireless frequency spectrum bands.
[0293] Aspect 33: The method of any of aspects 31 through 32, wherein selecting the first resources for the communication comprises: selecting the first resources for forward link communications, backward link communications, backscatter link communications, continuous wave communications, or any combination thereof, based on the resource availability.
[0294] Aspect 34: The method of any of aspects 31 through 33, wherein monitoring for the resource availability in the one or more wireless frequency spectrum bands further comprises: performing, at a preamble portion of a continuous wave, a forward link, or both, one or more measurements of one or more reference signal metrics, wherein selection of the first resources is based on the one or more measurements satisfying a threshold.
[0295] Aspect 35: The method of any of aspects 31 through 34, further comprising: receiving, via one or more resources at an anchor sub-band, a synchronization signal to perform initial access to establish a link for the communication, wherein the communication comprises ambient IoT communication.
[0296] Aspect 36: The method of any of aspects 31 through 35, wherein the first resources comprise resources for forward link communications, backward link communications, backscatter link communications, continuous wave communications, or any combination thereof, that are configured in one or more anchor sub-bands based on one or more device characteristics of the first device.
[0297] Aspect 37: The method of any of aspects 31 through 36, wherein the first resources comprise resources for uplink communications, downlink communications, or both, that are configured in one or more anchor sub-bands or one or more non-anchor sub-bands based on one or more device characteristics of the first device.
[0298] Aspect 38: The method of any of aspects 31 through 37, wherein the first resources are configured on an uplink FDD spectrum, a downlink FDD spectrum, or TDD spectrum.
[0299] Aspect 39: A method of wireless communication performed by a first device, comprising: configuring one or more resource pools for communications, the one or more resource pools comprising first resources for communication between one or more second devices and one or more third devices, wherein the first resources are independent of second resources configured for uplink communications, downlink communications, sidelink communications, or any combination thereof; and transmitting, to the one or more second devices, an indication of the one or more resource pools for the communication between the one or more second devices and the one or more third devices, wherein the indication comprises a resource allocation configuration, a resource sensing configuration, or both.
[0300] Aspect 40: A first device for wireless communication, comprising a processing system that is configured to perform a method of any of aspects 1 through 30.
[0301] Aspect 41: A first device for wireless communication, comprising at least one means for performing a method of any of aspects 1 through 30.
[0302] Aspect 42: A non-transitory computer-readable medium having code for wireless communication stored thereon that, when executed by a first device, causes the first device to perform a method of any of aspects 1 through 30.
[0303] Aspect 43: A first device for wireless communications, comprising a processing system that is configured to perform a method of any of aspects 31 through 38.
[0304] Aspect 44: A first device for wireless communications, comprising at least one means for performing a method of any of aspects 31 through 38.
[0305] Aspect 45: A non-transitory computer-readable medium having code for wireless communication stored thereon that, when executed by a first device, causes the first device to perform a method of any of aspects 31 through 38.
[0306] Aspect 46: A first device for wireless communication, comprising a processing system that is configured to perform a method of aspect 39.
[0307] Aspect 47: A first device for wireless communication, comprising at least one means for performing a method of aspect 39.
[0308] Aspect 48: A non-transitory computer-readable medium having code for wireless communication stored thereon that, when executed by a first device, causes the first device to perform a method of aspect 39.
[0309] The methods described herein describe possible implementations, and the operations and the steps may be rearranged or otherwise modified and other implementations are possible. Further, aspects from two or more of the methods may be combined.
[0310] Although aspects of an LTE, LTE-A, LTE-A Pro, or NR system may be described for purposes of example, and LTE, LTE-A, LTE-A Pro, or NR terminology may be used in much of the description, the techniques described herein are applicable beyond LTE, LTE-A, LTE-A Pro, or NR networks. For example, the described techniques may be applicable to various other wireless communications systems such as Ultra Mobile Broadband (UMB) , Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 (Wi-Fi) , IEEE 802.16 (WiMAX) , IEEE 802.20, Flash-OFDM, as well as other systems and radio technologies not explicitly mentioned herein.
[0311] Information and signals described herein 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 description may be represented by voltages, currents, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or particles, optical fields or particles, or any combination thereof.
[0312] The various illustrative blocks and components described in connection with the disclosure herein may be implemented or performed using a general-purpose processor, a DSP, an ASIC, a CPU, a graphics processing unit (GPU) , a neural processing unit (NPU) , an 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 processor, controller, microcontroller, or state machine. A processor may also be implemented as a combination of computing devices (e.g., a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, multiple microprocessors, one or more microprocessors in conjunction with a DSP core, or any other such configuration) . Any functions or operations described herein as being capable of being performed by a processor may be performed by multiple processors that, individually or collectively, are capable of performing the described functions or operations.
[0313] The functions described herein may be implemented using hardware, software executed by a processor, firmware, or any combination thereof. If implemented using software executed by a processor, the functions may be stored as or transmitted using one or more instructions or code of a computer-readable medium. Other examples and implementations are within the scope of the disclosure and claims. For example, due to the nature of software, functions described herein may be implemented using software executed by a processor, hardware, firmware, hardwiring, or combinations of any of these. Features implementing functions may also be physically located at various positions, including being distributed such that portions of functions are implemented at different physical locations.
[0314] Computer-readable media includes both non-transitory computer storage media and communication media including any medium that facilitates transfer of a computer program from one location to another. A non-transitory storage medium may be any available medium that may be accessed by a general-purpose or special-purpose computer. By way of example, and not limitation, non-transitory computer-readable media may include RAM, ROM, electrically erasable programmable ROM (EEPROM) , flash memory, compact disk (CD) ROM or other optical disk storage, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other non-transitory medium that may be used to carry or store desired program code means in the form of instructions or data structures and that may be accessed by a general-purpose or special-purpose computer or a general-purpose or special-purpose processor. 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 computer-readable medium. Disk and disc, as used herein, include CD, laser disc, optical disc, digital versatile disc (DVD) , floppy disk, and Blu-ray disc. Disks may reproduce data magnetically, and discs may reproduce data optically using lasers. Combinations of the above are also included within the scope of computer-readable media. Any functions or operations described herein as being capable of being performed by a memory may be performed by multiple memories that, individually or collectively, are capable of performing the described functions or operations.
[0315] As used herein, the term “or” is an inclusive “or” unless limiting language is used relative to the alternatives listed. For example, reference to “X being based on A or B” shall be construed as including within its scope X being based on A, X being based on B, and X being based on A and B. In this regard, reference to “X being based on A or B” refers to “at least one of A or B” or “one or more of A or B” due to “or” being inclusive. Similarly, reference to “X being based on A, B, or C” shall be construed as including within its scope X being based on A, X being based on B, X being based on C, X being based on A and B, X being based on A and C, X being based on B and C, and X being based on A, B, and C. In this regard, reference to “X being based on A, B, or C” refers to “at least one of A, B, or C” or “one or more of A, B, or C” due to “or” being inclusive. As an example of limiting language, reference to “X being based on only one of A or B” shall be construed as including within its scope X being based on A as well as X being based on B, but not X being based on A and B. Also, as used herein, the phrase “based on” shall not be construed as a reference to a closed set of information, one or more conditions, one or more factors, or the like. In other words, the phrase “based on A” (where “A” may be information, a condition, a factor, or the like) shall be construed as “based at least on A” unless specifically recited differently. Also, as used herein, the phrase “a set” shall be construed as including the possibility of a set with one member. That is, the phrase “a set” shall be construed in the same manner as “one or more” or “at least one of. ”
[0316] As used herein, including in the claims, the article “a” before a noun is open-ended and understood to refer to “at least one” of those nouns or “one or more” of those nouns. Thus, the terms “a, ” “at least one, ” “one or more, ” and “at least one of one or more” may be interchangeable. For example, if a claim recites “a component” that performs one or more functions, each of the individual functions may be performed by a single component or by any combination of multiple components. Thus, the term “a component” having characteristics or performing functions may refer to “at least one of one or more components” having a particular characteristic or performing a particular function. Subsequent reference to a component introduced with the article “a” using the terms “the” or “said” may refer to any or all of the one or more components. For example, a component introduced with the article “a” may be understood to mean “one or more components, ” and referring to “the component” subsequently in the claims may be understood to be equivalent to referring to “at least one of the one or more components. ” Similarly, subsequent reference to a component introduced as “one or more components” using the terms “the” or “said” may refer to any or all of the one or more components. For example, referring to “the one or more components” subsequently in the claims may be understood to be equivalent to referring to “at least one of the one or more components. ”
[0317] The term “determine” or “determining” encompasses a variety of actions and, therefore, “determining” can include calculating, computing, processing, deriving, investigating, looking up (such as via looking up in a table, a database, or another data structure) , ascertaining, and the like. Also, “determining” can include receiving (e.g., receiving information) , accessing (e.g., accessing data stored in memory) , and the like. Also, “determining” can include resolving, obtaining, selecting, choosing, establishing, and other such similar actions.
[0318] In the figures, similar components or features may have the same reference label. Further, various components of the same type may be distinguished by following the reference label by a dash and a second label that distinguishes among the similar components. If just the first reference label is used in the specification, the description is applicable to any one of the similar components having the same first reference label irrespective of the second reference label or other subsequent reference label.
[0319] The description set forth herein, in connection with the drawings, describes example configurations and does not represent all the examples that may be implemented or that are within the scope of the claims. The term “aspect” or “example” used herein means “serving as an aspect, example, instance, or illustration” and not “preferred” or “advantageous over other aspects. ” The detailed description includes specific details for the purpose of providing an understanding of the described techniques. These techniques, however, may be practiced without these specific details. In some figures, structures and devices are shown in block diagram form in order to avoid obscuring the concepts of the described examples.
[0320] The description herein is provided to enable a person having ordinary skill in the art to make or use the disclosure. Various modifications to the disclosure will be apparent to a person having ordinary skill in the art, and the generic principles defined herein may be applied to other variations without departing from the scope of the disclosure. Thus, the disclosure is not limited to the examples and designs described herein but is to be accorded the broadest scope consistent with the principles and novel features disclosed herein.
Claims
1.A first device for wireless communication, comprising:a processing system configured to:receive, from a network entity, an indication of one or more resource pools configured for communication between the first device and one or more second devices; andcommunicate one or more messages with the one or more second devices via first resources of the one or more resource pools, wherein the one or more resource pools are independent of second resources configured for uplink or downlink communications with the network entity, sidelink communications, or both.2.The first device of claim 1, wherein the one or more resource pools are configured on an uplink frequency division duplexing spectrum, a downlink frequency division duplexing spectrum, or a time division duplexing spectrum.3.The first device of claim 2, wherein use of the uplink frequency division duplexing spectrum, the downlink frequency division duplexing spectrum, or the time division duplexing spectrum is based on a device type associated with the first device, a device type associated with the one or more second devices, a set of communication links between the first device and the one or more second devices, one or more capabilities of the network entity, or any combination thereof.4.The first device of claim 1, wherein the network entity is associated with a virtual first device that is co-located with the network entity, and wherein, to communicate the one or more messages with the one or more second devices, the processing system is configured to:transmit, in association with the virtual first device, a continuous wave via the first resources of the one or more resource pools; andreceive, from the one or more second devices, one or more backscattered communications using the continuous wave via the first resources of the one or more resource pools.5.The first device of claim 4, wherein a first transmission power is associated with a forward link communication, a backward link communication, or a backscatter link, and wherein the continuous wave is independent from second transmission powers associated with a downlink transmission by the network entity via a physical downlink channel.6.The first device of claim 1, wherein the network entity is associated with a virtual first device that is co-located with the network entity, and wherein, to communicate the one or more messages with the one or more second devices, the processing system is configured to:receive, from the one or more second devices, one or more backward link communications via the first resources of the one or more resource pools.7.The first device of claim 1, wherein the network entity is associated with a virtual first device that is co-located with the network entity, and wherein, to communicate the one or more messages with the one or more second devices, the processing system is configured to:transmit a forward link via the first resources of the one or more resource pools, wherein transmission via the forward link is in association with the virtual first device.8.The first device of claim 1, wherein the first device is associated with an identifier that indicates that the first device is capable of participation in forward link communication, backward link communication, backscatter link communication, continuous wave communication, or any combination thereof.9.The first device of claim 1, wherein the one or more resource pools are for communication via a forward link, a backward link, a backscatter link, a continuous wave, or any combination thereof, wherein the one or more resource pools are configured for the first device, and wherein the indication of the one or more resource pools is received via radio resource control signaling, a medium-access control-control element (MAC-CE) which activates or deactivates the one or more resource pools, downlink control information (DCI) that dynamically switches on or off the one or more resource pools, or any combination thereof.10.The first device of claim 1, wherein the one or more resource pools include a set of time domain discontinuous reception resources for the communication between the first device and the one or more second devices, and wherein the set of time domain discontinuous reception resources for the communication between the first device and the one or more second devices is associated with discontinuous transmission or reception resources for uplink or downlink communications.11.The first device of claim 1, wherein the one or more resource pools include one or more bandwidth parts, one or more frequency sub-bands, or both, for the communication between the first device and the one or more second devices, and wherein the one or more bandwidth parts, one or more frequency sub-bands, or both, for the communication between the first device and the one or more second devices are associated with respective bandwidth parts configured for uplink communications or downlink communications.12.The first device of claim 1, wherein the one or more resource pools include one or more spatial parameters, one or more beams, one or more transmission configuration indicator states, or any combination thereof, that are configured for the communication between the first device and the one or more second devices.13.The first device of claim 1, wherein the one or more resource pools are configured for the communication between the first device and the one or more second devices in accordance with a transmission power of the first device, wherein respective transmission powers associated with a forward link, a backward link, a backscatter link, and a continuous wave are separately configured.14.The first device of claim 1, wherein the processing system is configured to:receive a message that requests relative location information, mobility information, reference signal receive power measurements, or a combination thereof, from the first device; andreceive, via a radio resource control message, a medium access control-control element, or a downlink control information message, information that pertains to a transmit power configuration for the communication between the first device and the one or more second devices based on the relative location information, mobility information, reference signal receive power measurements, or a combination thereof.15.The first device of claim 1, wherein the indication is received via radio resource control signaling, a downlink control information message, a medium access control-control element, or any combination thereof, and wherein the processing system is configured to:monitor for resource availability for the one or more resource pools in one or more wireless frequency spectrum bands based at least in part on the indication; andselect the first resources for the communication between the first device and the one or more second devices based on the resource availability and based on whether the one or more resource pools are independently configured for the first device.16.The first device of claim 1, wherein the one or more resource pools include resources for forward link communications, backward link communications, backscatter link communications, continuous wave communications, or any combination thereof, that are configured in one or more anchor sub-bands or one or more non-anchor sub-bands based on one or more functionalities of the communication and one or more capabilities of the first device, or the one or more second devices, or both.17.The first device of claim 1, wherein the first device comprises a reader device and the one or more second devices comprise one or more energy harvesting capable devices configured for ambient internet of things (IoT) communications.18.A first device for wireless communication, comprising:a processing system configured to:monitor for resource availability in one or more wireless frequency spectrum bands associated with communication between the first device and one or more second devices;select first resources for the communication based on resource availability; andcommunicate one or more messages with the one or more second devices via first resources, wherein the first resources are independent of second resources configured for uplink communications or downlink communications with a network entity, sidelink communications, or both.19.The first device of claim 18, wherein the first device is a virtual first device that is co-located with the network entity, and wherein, to select the first resources for the communication, the processing system is configured to:perform, at a preamble portion of a continuous wave, a forward link, or both, one or more measurements of one or more reference signal metrics, wherein selection of the first resources is based on the one or more measurements satisfying a threshold; andselect the first resources for backscatter link communications, backward link communications, forward link communications, continuous wave communications, or any combination thereof, based on the resource availability in a frequency division duplexing uplink spectrum band of the one or more wireless frequency spectrum bands.20.A first device for wireless communication, comprising:a processing system configured to:configure one or more resource pools for communications, the one or more resource pools comprising first resources for communication between one or more second devices and one or more third devices, wherein the first resources are independent of second resources configured for uplink communications, downlink communications, sidelink communications, or any combination thereof; andtransmit, to the one or more second devices, an indication of the one or more resource pools for the communication between the one or more second devices and the one or more third devices, wherein the indication comprises a resource allocation configuration, a resource sensing configuration, or both.
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