Methods, architectures, apparatuses and systems for association of sensor streams and coordination of sensor operations for synchronous sensor fusion

Abstract

Procedures, methods, architectures, apparatuses, systems, devices, and computer program products for the association of multi-modal sensor streams for synchronous sensor fusion are described. One method may include receiving, by a WTRU, fusion association configuration information associated with a sensing and / or fusion task, determining, based on the fusion association configuration information, whether to be associated with the sensing and / or fusion task, sending a message indicating whether the WTRU accepts or rejects being associated with the sensing and / or fusion task, and if the WTRU accepts being associated with the sensing and / or fusion task, performing the sensing and / or fusion task and sending information indicating data resulting from the sensing and / or fusion task to a network node.

Description

METHODS, ARCHITECTURES, APPARATUSES AND SYSTEMS FOR ASSOCIATION OF SENSOR STREAMS AND COORDINATION OF SENSOR OPERATIONS FOR SYNCHRONOUS SENSOR FUSIONCROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0001] This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 63 / 562,423, filed March 7, 2024. The contents of this earlier filed application is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.FIELD

[0002] The present disclosure is generally directed to the fields of communications, software and encoding, including, for example, to methods, architectures, apparatuses, systems related to integrated sensing and communication and / or sensor communication.BACKGROUND

[0003] Sensing may refer to the use of radio signals to detect and determine characteristics of objects in a certain environment. For example, by integrating sensing into a communications network, the network can use its radio signals to sense and understand the environment in which it operates. For instance, this may allow the network to collect data on the position, velocity, orientation, size, etc. of devices and objects. The sensing measurement data collected by the network may then be used to enhance the network’ s operations, to improve existing services and / or to enable new services.SUMMARY

[0004] Certain embodiments may include a method, which may be implemented by a wireless transmit / receive unit (WTRU). The method may include receiving fusion association configuration information associated with a sensing task, determining, based on the fusion association configuration information, whether to be associated with the sensing task, sending a message indicating whether the WTRU accepts or rejects being associated with the sensing task, and on condition that the WTRU accepts being associated with the sensing task (e.g., based on the WTRU accepting the association with the sensing task), performing the sensing task and sending information indicating data resulting from the sensing task to a network node.

[0005] Certain embodiments may be directed to a wireless transmit / receive unit (WTRU) that includes circuitry, such as a processor, memory, transmitter and / or receiver, configured to receive fusion association configuration information associated with a sensing task, determine, based onthe fusion association configuration information, whether to be associated with the sensing task, send a message indicating whether the WTRU accepts or rejects being associated with the sensing task and, on condition that the WTRU accepts being associated with the sensing task, perform the sensing task and send information indicating data resulting from the sensing task to a network node.

[0006] Certain embodiments may be directed to a method, which may be implemented by a network element or node. The method may include receiving first information indicating that a radio access network (RAN) node supports sensor fusion and / or indicating sensor fusion capabilities associated with the RAN node, determining that a sensing task can be performed using multiple sensor nodes, and sending second information associated with the sensor nodes. The second information may include any of sensor node information, sensing capabilities, a sensor association identifier, sensing target information, and / or an area to be sensed. The method may include determining to use at least two of the multiple sensor nodes for the sensing task, determining, based on the first information, whether sensor fusion capable RAN nodes should be used for the sensing task, and sending, to any of the RAN node and / or the at least two of the multiple sensor nodes, third information indicating fusion association configuration information associated with the sensing task.

[0007] Certain embodiments may include a network element or node including circuitry, such as a processor, memory, transmitter and / or receiver. The network element or node may be configured to receive first information indicating that a radio access network (RAN) node supports sensor fusion and sensor fusion capabilities associated with the RAN node, determine that a sensing task can be performed using multiple sensor nodes, and send second information associated with the sensor nodes, where the second information comprises any of sensor node information, sensing capabilities, a sensor association identifier, sensing target information, and / or an area to be sensed. The network element or node may be configured to determine to use at least two of the multiple sensor nodes for the sensing task, determine, based on the first information, whether sensor fusion capable RAN nodes should be used for the sensing task, and send, to any of the RAN node and / or the at least two of the multiple sensor nodes, third information indicating fusion association configuration information associated with the sensing task.BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0008] A more detailed understanding may be had from the detailed description below, given by way of example in conjunction with drawings appended hereto. Figures in such drawings, like the detailed description, are examples. As such, the Figures (FIGs.) and the detailed description arenot to be considered limiting, and other equally effective examples are possible and likely. Furthermore, like reference numerals ("ref.") in the FIGs. indicate like elements, and wherein:

[0009] FIG. 1 A is a system diagram illustrating an example communications system;

[0010] FIG. IB is a system diagram illustrating an example wireless transmit / receive unit (WTRU) that may be used within the communications system illustrated in FIG. 1 A;

[0011] FIG. 1C is a system diagram illustrating an example radio access network (RAN) and an example core network (CN) that may be used within the communications system illustrated in FIG. 1A;

[0012] FIG. ID is a system diagram illustrating a further example RAN and a further example CN that may be used within the communications system illustrated in FIG. 1 A;

[0013] FIG. 2 illustrates an example reference model of a potential architecture of a 5G or NextGen network;

[0014] FIG. 3 A illustrates an example scenario in which pedestrian and / or animal intrusion onto a roadway may be detected;

[0015] FIG. 3B illustrates an example in which an intruder may be detected in the surroundings of a smart home;

[0016] FIG. 4A illustrates an example of monostatic sensing;

[0017] FIG. 4B illustrates an example of bi-static sensing;

[0018] FIG. 5 illustrates an example depicting sensor fusion classifications based on the data source, according to an embodiment;

[0019] FIGs. 6A and 6B illustrate an example of sensor fusion classifications based on the architecture;

[0020] FIG. 7 illustrates an example of the sensor fusion classifications based on type of intermediate steps;

[0021] FIG. 8A illustrates a scenario where the partial sensor results are gathered and also fused at the network;

[0022] FIG. 8B illustrates a scenario where sensor fusion is performed at the sensor 1 before sending the final fused result to the network;

[0023] FIG. 9 illustrates an example signaling diagram, according to an embodiment;

[0024] FIG. 10 illustrates an example flow diagram of a method, according to an embodiment; and

[0025] FIG. 11 illustrates an example flow diagram of a method, according to an embodiment.DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0026] In the following detailed description, numerous specific details are set forth to provide a thorough understanding of embodiments and / or examples disclosed herein. However, it will be understood that such embodiments and examples may be practiced without some or all of the specific details set forth herein. In other instances, well-known methods, procedures, components and circuits have not been described in detail, so as not to obscure the following description. Further, embodiments and examples not specifically described herein may be practiced in lieu of, or in combination with, the embodiments and other examples described, disclosed or otherwise provided explicitly, implicitly and / or inherently (collectively "provided") herein. Although various embodiments are described and / or claimed herein in which an apparatus, system, device, etc. and / or any element thereof carries out an operation, process, algorithm, function, etc. and / or any portion thereof, it is to be understood that any embodiments described and / or claimed herein assume that any apparatus, system, device, etc. and / or any element thereof is configured to carry out any operation, process, algorithm, function, etc. and / or any portion thereof.

[0027] The methods, apparatuses and systems provided herein are well-suited for communications involving both wired and wireless networks. An overview of various types of wireless devices and infrastructure is provided with respect to FIGs. 1A-1D, where various elements of the network may utilize, perform, be arranged in accordance with and / or be adapted and / or configured for the methods, apparatuses and systems provided herein.

[0028] FIG. 1A is a system diagram illustrating an example communications system 100 in which one or more disclosed embodiments may be implemented. The communications system 100 may be a multiple access system that provides content, such as voice, data, video, messaging, broadcast, etc., to multiple wireless users. The communications system 100 may enable multiple wireless users to access such content through the sharing of system resources, including wireless bandwidth. For example, the communications systems 100 may employ one or more channel access methods, such as code division multiple access (CDMA), time division multiple access (TDMA), frequency division multiple access (FDMA), orthogonal FDMA (OFDMA), singlecarrier FDMA (SC-FDMA), zero-tail (ZT) unique-word (UW) discreet Fourier transform (DFT) spread OFDM (ZT UW DTS-s OFDM), unique word OFDM (UW-OFDM), resource block- filtered OFDM, filter bank multicarrier (FBMC), and the like.

[0029] As shown in FIG. 1A, the communications system 100 may include wireless transmit / receive units (WTRUs) 102a, 102b, 102c, 102d, a radio access network (RAN) 104 / 113, a core network (CN) 106 / 115, a public switched telephone network (PSTN) 108, the Internet 110, and other networks 112, though it will be appreciated that the disclosed embodiments contemplateany number of WTRUs, base stations, networks, and / or network elements. Each of the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, 102d may be any type of device configured to operate and / or communicate in a wireless environment. By way of example, the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, 102d, any of which may be referred to as a "station" and / or a "STA", may be configured to transmit and / or receive wireless signals and may include (or be) a user equipment (UE), a mobile station, a fixed or mobile subscriber unit, a subscription-based unit, a pager, a cellular telephone, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a smartphone, a laptop, a netbook, a personal computer, a wireless sensor, a hotspot or Mi- Fi device, an Internet of Things (loT) device, a watch or other wearable, a head-mounted display (HMD), a vehicle, a drone, a medical device and applications (e.g., remote surgery), an industrial device and applications (e.g., a robot and / or other wireless devices operating in an industrial and / or an automated processing chain contexts), a consumer electronics device, a device operating on commercial and / or industrial wireless networks, and the like. Any of the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c and 102d, or any other WTRU mentioned or described herein, may be interchangeably referred to as a UE.

[0030] The communications systems 100 may also include a base station 114a and / or a base station 114b. Each of the base stations 114a, 114b may be any type of device configured to wirelessly interface with at least one of the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, 102d, e.g., to facilitate access to one or more communication networks, such as the CN 106 / 115, the Internet 110, and / or the networks 112. By way of example, the base stations 114a, 114b may be any of a base transceiver station (BTS), a Node-B (NB), an eNode-B (eNB), a Home Node-B (HNB), a Home eNode-B (HeNB), a gNode-B (gNB), a NR Node-B (NR NB), a site controller, an access point (AP), a wireless router, and the like. While the base stations 114a, 114b are each depicted as a single element, it will be appreciated that the base stations 114a, 114b may include any number of interconnected base stations and / or network elements.

[0031] The base station 114a may be part of the RAN 104 / 113, which may also include other base stations and / or network elements (not shown), such as a base station controller (BSC), a radio network controller (RNC), relay nodes, etc. The base station 114a and / or the base station 114b may be configured to transmit and / or receive wireless signals on one or more carrier frequencies, which may be referred to as a cell (not shown). These frequencies may be in licensed spectrum, unlicensed spectrum, or a combination of licensed and unlicensed spectrum. A cell may provide coverage for a wireless service to a specific geographical area that may be relatively fixed or that may change over time. The cell may further be divided into cell sectors. For example, the cell associated with the base station 114a may be divided into three sectors. Thus, in an embodiment, the base station 114a may include three transceivers, i.e., one for each sector of the cell. In an embodiment, the base station 114a may employ multiple-input multiple output (MIMO)technology and may utilize multiple transceivers for each or any sector of the cell. For example, beamforming may be used to transmit and / or receive signals in desired spatial directions.

[0032] The base stations 114a, 114b may communicate with one or more of the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, 102d over an air interface 116, which may be any suitable wireless communication link (e.g., radio frequency (RF), microwave, centimeter wave, micrometer wave, infrared (IR), ultraviolet (UV), visible light, etc.). The air interface 116 may be established using any suitable radio access technology (RAT).

[0033] More specifically, as noted above, the communications system 100 may be a multiple access system and may employ one or more channel access schemes, such as CDMA, TDMA, FDMA, OFDMA, SC-FDMA, and the like. For example, the base station 114a in the RAN 104 / 113 and the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may implement a radio technology such as Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) Terrestrial Radio Access (UTRA), which may establish the air interface 116 using wideband CDMA (WCDMA). WCDMA may include communication protocols such as High-Speed Packet Access (HSPA) and / or Evolved HSPA (HSPA+). HSPA may include High-Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA) and / or High-Speed Uplink Packet Access (HSUPA).

[0034] In an embodiment, the base station 114a and the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may implement a radio technology such as Evolved UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA), which may establish the air interface 116 using Long Term Evolution (LTE) and / or LTE- Advanced (LTE-A) and / or LTE-Advanced Pro (LTE-A Pro).

[0035] In an embodiment, the base station 114a and the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may implement a radio technology such as NR Radio Access, which may establish the air interface 116 using New Radio (NR).

[0036] In an embodiment, the base station 114a and the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may implement multiple radio access technologies. For example, the base station 114a and the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may implement LTE radio access and NR radio access together, for instance using dual connectivity (DC) principles. Thus, the air interface utilized by WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may be characterized by multiple types of radio access technologies and / or transmissions sent to / from multiple types of base stations (e.g., an eNB and a gNB).

[0037] In an embodiment, the base station 114a and the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may implement radio technologies such as IEEE 802.11 (i.e., Wireless Fidelity (Wi-Fi), IEEE 802.16 (i.e., Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX)), CDMA2000, CDMA2000 IX, CDMA2000 EV-DO, Interim Standard 2000 (IS-2000), Interim Standard 95 (IS-95), Interim Standard 856 (IS-856), Global System for Mobile communications (GSM), Enhanced Data rates for GSM Evolution (EDGE), GSM EDGE (GERAN), and the like.

[0038] The base station 114b in FIG. 1 A may be a wireless router, Home Node-B, Home eNode- B, or access point, for example, and may utilize any suitable RAT for facilitating wireless connectivity in a localized area, such as a place of business, a home, a vehicle, a campus, an industrial facility, an air corridor (e.g., for use by drones), a roadway, and the like. In an embodiment, the base station 114b and the WTRUs 102c, 102d may implement a radio technology such as IEEE 802.11 to establish a wireless local area network (WLAN). In an embodiment, the base station 114b and the WTRUs 102c, 102d may implement a radio technology such as IEEE 802.15 to establish a wireless personal area network (WPAN). In an embodiment, the base station 114b and the WTRUs 102c, 102d may utilize a cellular-based RAT (e.g., WCDMA, CDMA2000, GSM, LTE, LTE-A, LTE-A Pro, NR, etc.) to establish any of a small cell, picocell or femtocell. As shown in FIG. 1 A, the base station 114b may have a direct connection to the Internet 110. Thus, the base station 114b may not be required to access the Internet 110 via the CN 106 / 115.

[0039] The RAN 104 / 113 may be in communication with the CN 106 / 115, which may be any type of network configured to provide voice, data, applications, and / or voice over internet protocol (VoIP) services to one or more of the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, 102d. The data may have varying quality of service (QoS) requirements, such as differing throughput requirements, latency requirements, error tolerance requirements, reliability requirements, data throughput requirements, mobility requirements, and the like. The CN 106 / 115 may provide call control, billing services, mobile location-based services, pre-paid calling, Internet connectivity, video distribution, etc., and / or perform high-level security functions, such as user authentication. Although not shown in FIG. 1 A, it will be appreciated that the RAN 104 / 113 and / or the CN 106 / 115 may be in direct or indirect communication with other RANs that employ the same RAT as the RAN 104 / 113 or a different RAT. For example, in addition to being connected to the RAN 104 / 113, which may be utilizing an NR radio technology, the CN 106 / 115 may also be in communication with another RAN (not shown) employing any of a GSM, UMTS, CDMA 2000, WiMAX, E-UTRA, or Wi-Fi radio technology.

[0040] The CN 106 / 115 may also serve as a gateway for the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, 102d to access the PSTN 108, the Internet 110, and / or other networks 112. The PSTN 108 may include circuit-switched telephone networks that provide plain old telephone service (POTS). The Internet 110 may include a global system of interconnected computer networks and devices that use common communication protocols, such as the transmission control protocol (TCP), user datagram protocol (UDP) and / or the internet protocol (IP) in the TCP / IP internet protocol suite. The networks 112 may include wired and / or wireless communications networks owned and / or operated by other service providers. For example, the networks 112 may include another CNconnected to one or more RANs, which may employ the same RAT as the RAN 104 / 114 or a different RAT.

[0041] Some or all of the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, 102d in the communications system 100 may include multi-mode capabilities (e.g., the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, 102d may include multiple transceivers for communicating with different wireless networks over different wireless links). For example, the WTRU 102c shown in FIG. 1A may be configured to communicate with the base station 114a, which may employ a cellular-based radio technology, and with the base station 114b, which may employ an IEEE 802 radio technology.

[0042] FIG. IB is a system diagram illustrating an example WTRU 102. As shown in FIG. IB, the WTRU 102 may include a processor 118, a transceiver 120, a transmit / receive element 122, a speaker / microphone 124, a keypad 126, a display / touchpad 128, non-removable memory 130, removable memory 132, a power source 134, a global positioning system (GPS) chipset 136, and / or other elements / peripherals 138, among others. It will be appreciated that the WTRU 102 may include any sub-combination of the foregoing elements while remaining consistent with an embodiment.

[0043] The processor 118 may be a general purpose processor, a special purpose processor, a conventional processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), a plurality of microprocessors, one or more microprocessors in association with a DSP core, a controller, a microcontroller, Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs), Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs) circuits, any other type of integrated circuit (IC), a state machine, and the like. The processor 118 may perform signal coding, data processing, power control, input / output processing, and / or any other functionality that enables the WTRU 102 to operate in a wireless environment. The processor 118 may be coupled to the transceiver 120, which may be coupled to the transmit / receive element 122. While FIG. IB depicts the processor 118 and the transceiver 120 as separate components, it will be appreciated that the processor 118 and the transceiver 120 may be integrated together, e.g., in an electronic package or chip.

[0044] The transmit / receive element 122 may be configured to transmit signals to, or receive signals from, a base station (e.g., the base station 114a) over the air interface 116. For example, in an embodiment, the transmit / receive element 122 may be an antenna configured to transmit and / or receive RF signals. In an embodiment, the transmit / receive element 122 may be an emitter / detector configured to transmit and / or receive IR, UV, or visible light signals, for example. In an embodiment, the transmit / receive element 122 may be configured to transmit and / or receive both RF and light signals. It will be appreciated that the transmit / receive element 122 may be configured to transmit and / or receive any combination of wireless signals.

[0045] Although the transmit / receive element 122 is depicted in FIG. IB as a single element, the WTRU 102 may include any number of transmit / receive elements 122. For example, the WTRU 102 may employ MIMO technology. Thus, in an embodiment, the WTRU 102 may include two or more transmit / receive elements 122 (e.g., multiple antennas) for transmitting and receiving wireless signals over the air interface 116.

[0046] The transceiver 120 may be configured to modulate the signals that are to be transmitted by the transmit / receive element 122 and to demodulate the signals that are received by the transmit / receive element 122. As noted above, the WTRU 102 may have multi-mode capabilities. Thus, the transceiver 120 may include multiple transceivers for enabling the WTRU 102 to communicate via multiple RATs, such as NR and IEEE 802.11, for example.

[0047] The processor 118 of the WTRU 102 may be coupled to, and may receive user input data from, the speaker / microphone 124, the keypad 126, and / or the display / touchpad 128 (e.g., a liquid crystal display (LCD) display unit or organic light-emitting diode (OLED) display unit). The processor 118 may also output user data to the speaker / microphone 124, the keypad 126, and / or the display / touchpad 128. In addition, the processor 118 may access information from, and store data in, any type of suitable memory, such as the non-removable memory 130 and / or the removable memory 132. The non-removable memory 130 may include random-access memory (RAM), readonly memory (ROM), a hard disk, or any other type of memory storage device. The removable memory 132 may include a subscriber identity module (SIM) card, a memory stick, a secure digital (SD) memory card, and the like. In other embodiments, the processor 118 may access information from, and store data in, memory that is not physically located on the WTRU 102, such as on a server or a home computer (not shown).

[0048] The processor 118 may receive power from the power source 134, and may be configured to distribute and / or control the power to the other components in the WTRU 102. The power source 134 may be any suitable device for powering the WTRU 102. For example, the power source 134 may include one or more dry cell batteries (e.g., nickel-cadmium (NiCd), nickel-zinc (NiZn), nickel metal hydride (NiMH), lithium-ion (Li-ion), etc.), solar cells, fuel cells, and the like.

[0049] The processor 118 may also be coupled to the GPS chipset 136, which may be configured to provide location information (e.g., longitude and latitude) regarding the current location of the WTRU 102. In addition to, or in lieu of, the information from the GPS chipset 136, the WTRU 102 may receive location information over the air interface 116 from a base station (e.g., base stations 114a, 114b) and / or determine its location based on the timing of the signals being received from two or more nearby base stations. It will be appreciated that the WTRU 102 may acquire location information by way of any suitable location-determination method while remaining consistent with an embodiment.

[0050] The processor 118 may further be coupled to other elements / peripherals 138, which may include one or more software and / or hardware modules / units that provide additional features, functionality and / or wired or wireless connectivity. For example, the elements / peripherals 138 may include an accelerometer, an e-compass, a satellite transceiver, a digital camera (e.g., for photographs and / or video), a universal serial bus (USB) port, a vibration device, a television transceiver, a hands free headset, a Bluetooth® module, a frequency modulated (FM) radio unit, a digital music player, a media player, a video game player module, an Internet browser, a virtual reality and / or augmented reality (VR / AR) device, an activity tracker, and the like. The elements / peripherals 138 may include one or more sensors, the sensors may be one or more of a gyroscope, an accelerometer, a hall effect sensor, a magnetometer, an orientation sensor, a proximity sensor, a temperature sensor, a time sensor; a geolocation sensor; an altimeter, a light sensor, a touch sensor, a magnetometer, a barometer, a gesture sensor, a biometric sensor, and / or a humidity sensor.

[0051] The WTRU 102 may include a full duplex radio for which transmission and reception of some or all of the signals (e.g., associated with particular subframes for both the uplink (e.g., for transmission) and downlink (e.g., for reception) may be concurrent and / or simultaneous. The full duplex radio may include an interference management unit to reduce and or substantially eliminate self-interference via either hardware (e.g., a choke) or signal processing via a processor (e.g., a separate processor (not shown) or via processor 118). In an embodiment, the WTRU 102 may include a half-duplex radio for which transmission and reception of some or all of the signals (e.g., associated with particular subframes for either the uplink (e.g., for transmission) or the downlink (e.g., for reception)).

[0052] FIG. 1C is a system diagram illustrating the RAN 104 and the CN 106 according to an embodiment. As noted above, the RAN 104 may employ an E-UTRA radio technology to communicate with the WTRUs 102a, 102b, and 102c over the air interface 116. The RAN 104 may also be in communication with the CN 106.

[0053] The RAN 104 may include eNode-Bs 160a, 160b, 160c, though it will be appreciated that the RAN 104 may include any number of eNode-Bs while remaining consistent with an embodiment. The eNode-Bs 160a, 160b, 160c may each include one or more transceivers for communicating with the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c over the air interface 116. In an embodiment, the eNode-Bs 160a, 160b, 160c may implement MIMO technology. Thus, the eNode-B 160a, for example, may use multiple antennas to transmit wireless signals to, and receive wireless signals from, the WTRU 102a.

[0054] Each of the eNode-Bs 160a, 160b, and 160c may be associated with a particular cell (not shown) and may be configured to handle radio resource management decisions, handoverdecisions, scheduling of users in the uplink (UL) and / or downlink (DL), and the like. As shown in FIG. 1C, the eNode-Bs 160a, 160b, 160c may communicate with one another over an X2 interface.

[0055] The CN 106 shown in FIG. 1C may include a mobility management entity (MME) 162, a serving gateway (SGW) 164, and a packet data network (PDN) gateway (PGW) 166. While each of the foregoing elements are depicted as part of the CN 106, it will be appreciated that any one of these elements may be owned and / or operated by an entity other than the CN operator.

[0056] The MME 162 may be connected to each of the eNode-Bs 160a, 160b, and 160c in the RAN 104 via an SI interface and may serve as a control node. For example, the MME 162 may be responsible for authenticating users of the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, bearer activation / deactivation, selecting a particular serving gateway during an initial attach of the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, and the like. The MME 162 may provide a control plane function for switching between the RAN 104 and other RANs (not shown) that employ other radio technologies, such as GSM and / or WCDMA.

[0057] The SGW 164 may be connected to each of the eNode-Bs 160a, 160b, 160c in the RAN 104 via the SI interface. The SGW 164 may generally route and forward user data packets to / from the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c. The SGW 164 may perform other functions, such as anchoring user planes during inter-eNode-B handovers, triggering paging when DL data is available for the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, managing and storing contexts of the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, and the like.

[0058] The SGW 164 may be connected to the PGW 166, which may provide the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c with access to packet-switched networks, such as the Internet 110, to facilitate communications between the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c and IP-enabled devices.

[0059] The CN 106 may facilitate communications with other networks. For example, the CN 106 may provide the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c with access to circuit-switched networks, such as the PSTN 108, to facilitate communications between the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c and traditional land-line communications devices. For example, the CN 106 may include, or may communicate with, an IP gateway (e.g., an IP multimedia subsystem (IMS) server) that serves as an interface between the CN 106 and the PSTN 108. In addition, the CN 106 may provide the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c with access to the other networks 112, which may include other wired and / or wireless networks that are owned and / or operated by other service providers.

[0060] Although the WTRU is described in FIGs. 1A-1D as a wireless terminal, it is contemplated that in certain representative embodiments that such a terminal may use (e.g., temporarily or permanently) wired communication interfaces with the communication network.

[0061] In representative embodiments, the other network 112 may be a WLAN.

[0062] A WLAN in infrastructure basic service set (BSS) mode may have an access point (AP) for the BSS and one or more stations (STAs) associated with the AP. The AP may have an access or an interface to a distribution system (DS) or another type of wired / wireless network that carries traffic into and / or out of the BSS. Traffic to STAs that originates from outside the BSS may arrive through the AP and may be delivered to the STAs. Traffic originating from STAs to destinations outside the BSS may be sent to the AP to be delivered to respective destinations. Traffic between STAs within the BSS may be sent through the AP, for example, where the source STA may send traffic to the AP and the AP may deliver the traffic to the destination STA. The traffic between STAs within a BSS may be considered and / or referred to as peer-to-peer traffic. The peer-to-peer traffic may be sent between (e.g., directly between) the source and destination STAs with a direct link setup (DLS). In certain representative embodiments, the DLS may use an 802. l ie DLS or an 802.1 Iz tunneled DLS (TDLS). A WLAN using an Independent BSS (IBSS) mode may not have an AP, and the STAs (e.g., all of the STAs) within or using the IBSS may communicate directly with each other. The IBSS mode of communication may sometimes be referred to herein as an "ad-hoc" mode of communication.

[0063] When using the 802.1 lac infrastructure mode of operation or a similar mode of operations, the AP may transmit a beacon on a fixed channel, such as a primary channel. The primary channel may be a fixed width (e.g., 20 MHz wide bandwidth) or a dynamically set width via signaling. The primary channel may be the operating channel of the BSS and may be used by the STAs to establish a connection with the AP. In certain representative embodiments, Carrier sense multiple access with collision avoidance (CSMA / CA) may be implemented, for example in in 802.11 systems. For CSMA / CA, the STAs (e.g., every STA), including the AP, may sense the primary channel. If the primary channel is sensed / detected and / or determined to be busy by a particular STA, the particular STA may back off. One STA (e.g., only one station) may transmit at any given time in a given BSS.

[0064] High throughput (HT) STAs may use a 40 MHz wide channel for communication, for example, via a combination of the primary 20 MHz channel with an adjacent or nonadj acent 20 MHz channel to form a 40 MHz wide channel.

[0065] Very high throughput (VHT) STAs may support 20 MHz, 40 MHz, 80 MHz, and / or 160 MHz wide channels. The 40 MHz, and / or 80 MHz, channels may be formed by combining contiguous 20 MHz channels. A 160 MHz channel may be formed by combining 8 contiguous 20 MHz channels, or by combining two non-contiguous 80 MHz channels, which may be referred to as an 80+80 configuration. For the 80+80 configuration, the data, after channel encoding, may be passed through a segment parser that may divide the data into two streams. Inverse fast fourier transform (IFFT) processing, and time domain processing, may be done on each stream separately.The streams may be mapped on to the two 80 MHz channels, and the data may be transmitted by a transmitting STA. At the receiver of the receiving STA, the above-described operation for the 80+80 configuration may be reversed, and the combined data may be sent to a medium access control (MAC) layer, entity, etc.

[0066] Sub 1 GHz modes of operation are supported by 802.1 laf and 802.11 ah. The channel operating bandwidths, and carriers, are reduced in 802.1 laf and 802.1 lah relative to those used in802.1 In, and 802.1 lac. 802.1 laf supports 5 MHz, 10 MHz and 20 MHz bandwidths in the TV white space (TVWS) spectrum, and 802.1 lah supports 1 MHz, 2 MHz, 4 MHz, 8 MHz, and 16 MHz bandwidths using non-TVWS spectrum. According to a representative embodiment,802.1 lah may support meter type control / machine-type communications (MTC), such as MTC devices in a macro coverage area. MTC devices may have certain capabilities, for example, limited capabilities including support for (e.g., only support for) certain and / or limited bandwidths. The MTC devices may include a battery with a battery life above a threshold (e.g., to maintain a very long battery life).

[0067] WLAN systems, which may support multiple channels, and channel bandwidths, such as802.1 In, 802.1 lac, 802.1 laf, and 802.1 lah, include a channel which may be designated as the primary channel. The primary channel may have a bandwidth equal to the largest common operating bandwidth supported by all STAs in the BSS. The bandwidth of the primary channel may be set and / or limited by a STA, from among all STAs in operating in a BSS, which supports the smallest bandwidth operating mode. In the example of 802.1 lah, the primary channel may be 1 MHz wide for STAs (e.g., MTC type devices) that support (e.g., only support) a 1 MHz mode, even if the AP, and other STAs in the BSS support 2 MHz, 4 MHz, 8 MHz, 16 MHz, and / or other channel bandwidth operating modes. Carrier sensing and / or network allocation vector (NAV) settings may depend on the status of the primary channel. If the primary channel is busy, for example, due to a STA (which supports only a 1 MHz operating mode), transmitting to the AP, the entire available frequency bands may be considered busy even though a majority of the frequency bands remains idle and may be available.

[0068] In the United States, the available frequency bands, which may be used by 802.1 lah, are from 902 MHz to 928 MHz. In Korea, the available frequency bands are from 917.5 MHz to 923.5 MHz. In Japan, the available frequency bands are from 916.5 MHz to 927.5 MHz. The total bandwidth available for 802.1 lah is 6 MHz to 26 MHz depending on the country code.

[0069] FIG. ID is a system diagram illustrating the RAN 113 and the CN 115 according to an embodiment. As noted above, the RAN 113 may employ an NR radio technology to communicate with the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c over the air interface 116. The RAN 113 may also be in communication with the CN 115.

[0070] The RAN 113 may include gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c, though it will be appreciated that the RAN 113 may include any number of gNBs while remaining consistent with an embodiment. The gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c may each include one or more transceivers for communicating with the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c over the air interface 116. In an embodiment, the gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c may implement MIMO technology. For example, gNBs 180a, 180b may utilize beamforming to transmit signals to and / or receive signals from the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c. Thus, the gNB 180a, for example, may use multiple antennas to transmit wireless signals to, and / or receive wireless signals from, the WTRU 102a. In an embodiment, the gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c may implement carrier aggregation technology. For example, the gNB 180a may transmit multiple component carriers to the WTRU 102a (not shown). A subset of these component carriers may be on unlicensed spectrum while the remaining component carriers may be on licensed spectrum. In an embodiment, the gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c may implement Coordinated Multi-Point (CoMP) technology. For example, WTRU 102a may receive coordinated transmissions from gNB 180a and gNB 180b (and / or gNB 180c).

[0071] The WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may communicate with gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c using transmissions associated with a scalable numerology. For example, OFDM symbol spacing and / or OFDM subcarrier spacing may vary for different transmissions, different cells, and / or different portions of the wireless transmission spectrum. The WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may communicate with gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c using subframe or transmission time intervals (TTIs) of various or scalable lengths (e.g., including a varying number of OFDM symbols and / or lasting varying lengths of absolute time).

[0072] The gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c may be configured to communicate with the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c in a standalone configuration and / or a non-standalone configuration. In the standalone configuration, WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may communicate with gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c without also accessing other RANs (e.g., such as eNode-Bs 160a, 160b, 160c). In the standalone configuration, WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may utilize one or more of gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c as a mobility anchor point. In the standalone configuration, WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may communicate with gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c using signals in an unlicensed band. In a non-standalone configuration WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may communicate with / connect to gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c while also communicating with / connecting to another RAN such as eNode-Bs 160a, 160b, 160c. For example, WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may implement DC principles to communicate with one or more gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c and one or more eNode-Bs 160a, 160b, 160c substantially simultaneously. In the non-standalone configuration, eNode-Bs 160a, 160b, 160c may serve as a mobility anchor for WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c and gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c may provide additional coverage and / or throughput for servicing WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c.

[0073] Each of the gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c may be associated with a particular cell (not shown) and may be configured to handle radio resource management decisions, handover decisions, scheduling of users in the UL and / or DL, support of network slicing, dual connectivity, interworking between NR and E-UTRA, routing of user plane data towards user plane functions (UPFs) 184a, 184b, routing of control plane information towards access and mobility management functions (AMFs) 182a, 182b, and the like. As shown in FIG. ID, the gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c may communicate with one another over an Xn interface.

[0074] The CN 115 shown in FIG. ID may include at least one AMF 182a, 182b, at least one UPF 184a, 184b, at least one session management function (SMF) 183a, 183b, and at least one Data Network (DN) 185a, 185b. While each of the foregoing elements are depicted as part of the CN 115, it will be appreciated that any of these elements may be owned and / or operated by an entity other than the CN operator.

[0075] The AMF 182a, 182b may be connected to one or more of the gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c in the RAN 113 via an N2 interface and may serve as a control node. For example, the AMF 182a, 182b may be responsible for authenticating users of the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, support for network slicing (e.g., handling of different protocol data unit (PDU) sessions with different requirements), selecting a particular SMF 183a, 183b, management of the registration area, termination of NAS signaling, mobility management, and the like. Network slicing may be used by the AMF 182a, 182b, e.g., to customize CN support for WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c based on the types of services being utilized WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c. For example, different network slices may be established for different use cases such as services relying on ultra-reliable low latency (URLLC) access, services relying on enhanced massive mobile broadband (eMBB) access, services for MTC access, and / or the like. The AMF 162 may provide a control plane function for switching between the RAN 113 and other RANs (not shown) that employ other radio technologies, such as LTE, LTE-A, LTE-A Pro, and / or non-3GPP access technologies such as WiFi.

[0076] The SMF 183a, 183b may be connected to an AMF 182a, 182b in the CN 115 via an N11 interface. The SMF 183a, 183b may also be connected to a UPF 184a, 184b in the CN 115 via an N4 interface. The SMF 183a, 183b may select and control the UPF 184a, 184b and configure the routing of traffic through the UPF 184a, 184b. The SMF 183a, 183b may perform other functions, such as managing and allocating UE IP address, managing PDU sessions, controlling policy enforcement and QoS, providing downlink data notifications, and the like. A PDU session type may be IP -based, non-IP based, Ethernet-based, and the like.

[0077] The UPF 184a, 184b may be connected to one or more of the gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c in the RAN 113 via an N3 interface, which may provide the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c with accessto packet-switched networks, such as the Internet 110, e.g., to facilitate communications between the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c and IP-enabled devices. The UPF 184, 184b may perform other functions, such as routing and forwarding packets, enforcing user plane policies, supporting multihomed PDU sessions, handling user plane QoS, buffering downlink packets, providing mobility anchoring, and the like.

[0078] The CN 115 may facilitate communications with other networks. For example, the CN 115 may include, or may communicate with, an IP gateway (e.g., an IP multimedia subsystem (IMS) server) that serves as an interface between the CN 115 and the PSTN 108. In addition, the CN 115 may provide the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c with access to the other networks 112, which may include other wired and / or wireless networks that are owned and / or operated by other service providers. In an embodiment, the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may be connected to a local Data Network (DN) 185a, 185b through the UPF 184a, 184b via the N3 interface to the UPF 184a, 184b and an N6 interface between the UPF 184a, 184b and the DN 185a, 185b.

[0079] In view of FIGs. 1 A-1D, and the corresponding description of FIGs. 1 A-1D, one or more, or all, of the functions described herein with regard to any of: WTRUs 102a-d, base stations 114a- b, eNode-Bs 160a-c, MME 162, SGW 164, PGW 166, gNBs 180a-c, AMFs 182a-b, UPFs 184a- b, SMFs 183a-b, DNs 185a-b, and / or any other element(s) / device(s) described herein, may be performed by one or more emulation elements / devices (not shown). The emulation devices may be one or more devices configured to emulate one or more, or all, of the functions described herein. For example, the emulation devices may be used to test other devices and / or to simulate network and / or WTRU functions.

[0080] The emulation devices may be designed to implement one or more tests of other devices in a lab environment and / or in an operator network environment. For example, the one or more emulation devices may perform the one or more, or all, functions while being fully or partially implemented and / or deployed as part of a wired and / or wireless communication network in order to test other devices within the communication network. The one or more emulation devices may perform the one or more, or all, functions while being temporarily implemented / deployed as part of a wired and / or wireless communication network. The emulation device may be directly coupled to another device for purposes of testing and / or may performing testing using over-the-air wireless communications.

[0081] The one or more emulation devices may perform the one or more, including all, functions while not being implemented / deployed as part of a wired and / or wireless communication network. For example, the emulation devices may be utilized in a testing scenario in a testing laboratory and / or a non-deployed (e.g., testing) wired and / or wireless communication network in order to implement testing of one or more components. The one or more emulation devices may be testequipment. Direct RF coupling and / or wireless communications via RF circuitry (e.g., which may include one or more antennas) may be used by the emulation devices to transmit and / or receive data.

[0082] Embodiments disclosed herein are representative and do not limit the applicability of the apparatus, procedures, functions and / or methods to any particular wireless technology, any particular communication technology and / or other technologies. The term network in this disclosure may generally refer to one or more base stations or gNBs or other network entity which in turn may be associated with one or more Transmission / Reception Points (TRPs), or to any other node in the radio access network.

[0083] It is noted that, throughout example embodiments described herein, the terms “base station”, “seving base station”, “RAN,” “RAN node,” “Access Network,” “NG-RAN,” “gNodeB,” and / or “gNB” may be used interchangeably to designate any network element such as, e.g., a network element acting as a serving base station. It should be understood that embodiments described herein are not limited to gNBs and are applicable to any other types of base stations.

[0084] FIG. 2 depicts an example reference model of a potential architecture of a 5G or NextGen network. In the example of FIG. 2, RAN may refer to a radio access network based on the 5G RAT or Evolved E-UTRA that connects to the NextGen core network. The Access Control and Mobility Management Function (AMF) may include or provide at least the following functionalities: Registration management, Connection management, Reachability management, Mobility Management, etc. The Session Management Function (SMF) may include or provide at least the following functionalities: session management (e.g., including session establishment, modify and release), UE IP address allocation, selection, and control of UP function, etc. The User plane function (UPF) may include or provide at least the following functionalities: packet routing & forwarding, packet inspection, traffic usage reporting, etc.

[0085] 3GPP is studying integrated sensing use cases and potential requirements for enhancements in the 5G system (e.g., [5] TS 22.837 vl9.0.0: Study on Integrated Sensing and Communication). Such enhancements may provide sensing services addressing different target verticals / applications (e.g., autonomous / assisted driving, V2X, UAVs, 3D map, smart city, smart home, factories, healthcare, maritime sector).

[0086] For integrated sensing, there will be a process of collecting sensing measurement data which is data collected about radio / wireless signals impacted (e.g., reflected, refracted, diffracted) by an object or environment of interest for sensing purposes, and for deriving sensing results from processing sensing measurement data. There is an area defined for sensing, sensing service area location, which is an area location whether with or without obstacle, the 5G system can provide sensing service with certain quality.

[0087] The study also considers other N3GPP entities. The sensing measurement data is considered as transparent to 5GS such that the data are communicated using a standard protocol to an interface defined by the 5GS.

[0088] One of use case for integrated sensing includes obj ect detection, such as pedestrian / animal intrusion detection on a highway (e.g., see FIG. 3A), or intruder detection (e.g., see FIG. 3B) in surroundings of smart home. In particular, FIG. 3 A illustrates an example scenario in which pedestrian and / or animal intrusion onto a roadway may be detected. FIG. 3B illustrates an example in which an intruder may be detected in the surroundings of a smart home, for example.

[0089] For example, in at least the scenarios depicted in FIG. 3A and 3B, the RAN node / BS or WTRU can detect the intrusion on the sensing area of a base station by itself or in collaboration between a WTRU and BS. Sensing measurements are then transferred to the network and further processed into the sensing result.

[0090] Another use case for integrated sensing is transparent sensing in which sensing data is captured by the WTRU and communicated so that 5GS is aware of the sensing information. In this scenario, a user terminal may acquire sense signals from many 3GPP and non-3GPP devices. The 5GC may determine various available sensing services by processing collated sensing data.

[0091] There are various modes of sensing (e.g., as described in [6] Liu, A., Huang, Z., Li, M., Wan, Y., Li, W., Han, T. X., ... & Chetty, K. (2022). A survey on fundamental limits of integrated sensing and communication. IEEE Communications Surveys & Tutorials, 24(2), 994-1034). For example, the two most discussed modes include monostatic sensing and bi-static sensing. FIG. 4A illustrates an example of monostatic sensing and FIG. 4B illustrates an example of bi-static sensing. In particular, FIG. 4A illustrates an example of multiple access channel with mono-static BS sensing. In monostatic sensing, a sensing signal sender and the receiver are the same node. FIG. 4B illustrates an example of multiple access channel with bi-static mobile sensing. In bi-static sensing, a sensing signal sender and sensing signal receiver are two different nodes.

[0092] Some example embodiments may relate to fusion classifications based on the data source. For example, one categorization of sensor fusion techniques is based on how sensor data sources are used for the fusion of data (e.g., as described in [7] H. F. Durrant- Whyte, “Sensor models and multisensor integration,” International Journal of Robotics Research, vol. 7, o. 6, pp. 97-113, 1988). FIG. 5 illustrates an example depicting sensor fusion classifications based on the data source, according to an embodiment. In the example of FIG. 5, complementary fusion refers to a scenario when the information provided by the input sources SI, S2 represents different parts of the scene and could thus be used to obtain more complete global information. Redundant fusion refers to a scenario when two or more input sources S2, S3 provide information about the same target and could thus be fused to increment the confidence. Cooperative fusion refers to a scenariowhen the provided information C, C’ is combined into new information that is typically more complex than the original information. For example, multi-modal (audio and video) data fusion is considered cooperative.

[0093] Some example embodiments may relate to sensor fusion types that are classified based on architecture. For example, another classification of sensor fusion techniques may be based on the architecture used in a distributed system (e.g., as described in [7] H. F. Durrant- Whyte, “Sensor models and multisensor integration,” International Journal of Robotics Research, vol. 7, o. 6, pp. 97-113, 1988). FIGs. 6A and 6B illustrates an example of sensor fusion classifications based on the architecture. In the example of FIGs. 6 A and 6B, decentralized fusion may refer to a scenario in which each node has its own processing capabilities and there is no single point of data fusion. Distributed architecture may refer to a scenario where measurements from each source node are processed independently before the information is sent to the fusion node. Hierarchical architecture may refer to a scenario where other architectures comprise a combination of decentralized and distributed nodes, generating hierarchical schemes in which the data fusion process is performed at different levels in the hierarchy.

[0094] Some example embodiments may relate to sensor fusion types that are classified based on the type of intermediate steps. For example, another classification of sensor fusion techniques differentiates based on the intermediate steps at various levels used when generating the fusion result (e.g., as described in [8] Schmitt, M., & Zhu, X. X. (2016). Data fusion and remote sensing: An ever-growing relationship. IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Magazine, 4(4), 6-23). FIG. 7 illustrates an example of the sensor fusion classifications based on type of intermediate steps. As depicted in the example of FIG. 7, the sensor fusion classifications may include observation-level fusion, feature-level fusion, and decision-level fusion.

[0095] It is noted that header fields may be associated with a PDU set. For example, the PDU set sequence number (PSSN) may be a header field that encodes the sequence number of the PDU set that the current PDU belongs to, which acts as a 10-bit numerical identifier for the PDU set (e.g., as described in [3] S4-231026, pCR to TS 26.522 on PDU set HE study on architecture enhancement for XR and media services phase 2., Nokia Corporation).

[0096] Multiple data sources and / or sensors may be used for sensing the same environment. However, data from these sensors needs to be combined (e.g., fused) in some way to be able to make sensing results intelligible. For example, in complementary sensor fusion, each sensor node may sense a partial view (e.g., only a partial view) of the whole scene, containing different features. In another example, cooperative fusion may combine different modes of sensing data into new information that is typically more complex than the original information. However, to be able to consistently combine different streams into one fused result, the sensing processes, components,and / or procedures should be synchronized to be able to correctly and efficiently identify interrelated (e.g., temporally) data from different sensor streams. However, the current 3 GPP system does not enable on-device sensor fusion and procedures for synchronization. In other words, current systems do not facilitate synchronous on-device sensor fusion.

[0097] To be able to synchronize sensor streams, the streams that need to be synchronized together may need to be identifiable as inter-related to one or more other streams, e.g., for the purpose of synchronization. Moreover, the state of the associations is to be kept consistent in the network, in the WTRU and in the traffic that carries sensing data, as synchronization related procedures may be performed at any of the UE, the sensing data consumer or anywhere in between. However, such association, provisioning and / or updating of the association information cannot be achieved in the current 3GPP system. Hence, current systems do not enable the creation and maintenance of the state of association of inter-related sensing streams, e.g., to be able to identify streams that need to be synchronized.

[0098] In view of the above-noted issues, a problem arises as to how to enable procedures to associate one or more sensor streams for synchronization.

[0099] Sensing capabilities allow to sense various properties (e.g., location, velocity, direction) of physical objects or the environment, using various sensors independently. Starting from Release 19, 3GPP is expected to work on adding these new functionalities into the 5G system.

[0100] As discussed herein, an entity with local sensing capabilities may be referred to as any of a sensing node, sensing entity, a sensor and / or a WTRU or UE (e.g., when a sensor is associated with a WTRU or UE).

[0101] Sensor fusion tackles limitations in conventional sensing mechanisms (e.g., hardware and software / algorithms), such as limited coverage (i.e., each sensing node has its coverage limitations), single dimensionality / modality (i.e., a sensor may sense using only a single modality at a given time - e.g., video, audio), limited confidence improvements (i.e., confidence level of a result a sensor has produced is limited to its own data), basic level of information or incomplete / limited information of the sensed object (e.g., one sensor isn’t able sense all properties of an object with high confidence).

[0102] Procedures provided by example embodiments described herein may address at least these limitations, for example, by allowing to combine (i.e., fuse) data from multiple varying (e.g., varying in capabilities) sensors, towards ultimately generating a more complete sensing result.

[0103] As will be described in more detail in the following, some example embodiments may provide procedures directed to the association of multi-modal sensor streams for synchronous sensor fusion.

[0104] According to an embodiment, a method or procedure may be implemented by a network node or network element, such as an integrated sensing function (ISF) or node. In example embodiments, an ISF or node may be configured to provide a new functionality in the 5GS that assists in managing and coordinating sensing operations.

[0105] In one embodiment, an ISF (or similar network node or function) may be configured to receive a message that may include a notification, from a RAN node, indicating that the RAN node supports sensing and sensor fusion. This message may include RAN nodes sensor fusion capabilities. According to an embodiment, the ISF may be configured to determine that a sensing task can be performed using a group of sensing nodes. The ISF may be configured to provide stream association information, which may include for example any of a sensor association ID, sensing target information (e.g., geographical location of an object), and / or an area to be sensed. The ISF may be configured to determine to use multiple sensing nodes for sensing a target and / or to determine if sensing / fusion capable RAN nodes should be used for the sensing task. Additionally or alternatively, the ISF may be configured to determine if a fuser node could be used. It is noted that a “fuser node” or “fuser,” as used herein, may refer to any node or element, e.g., a WTRU, UE or RAN node, that is capable of fusing or processing multiple sensor streams into a single data stream. The ISF may then be configured to send a fusion association configuration message to the RAN node.

[0106] According to an embodiment, a method or procedure may be implemented by a WTRU (e.g., WTRU 102 depicted in FIGs. 1A-1D), a UE, a sensor, and / or a fuser, for example. In one embodiment, the sensor may be configured to receive a fusion association configuration message. The sensor may be configured to decide or determine whether to be associated with the sensing or fusion task. For example, a sensor may decide not to associate (e.g., even if agreeing at the discovery and group association stages) itself with the new sensing task request if its already involved in a sensing or fusion task. The sensor may be configured to send a response message to an ISF with its decision to accept or reject or still be part of the group of sensor nodes and the sensing / fusion task.

[0107] FIGs. 8A and 8B illustrate scenarios where multiple sensing nodes have been used for sensing a target object. The properties, such as direction, orientation, location, and sensing capabilities (e.g., sensing frequency) available at each sensor node, and the features (e.g., shape, distance) of the data being gathered for each of the target objects differs. Therefore, to obtain a complete result of the target object, it is advantageous for the data gathered from the sensor nodesto be fused (e.g., processing multiple sensor streams). FIG. 8A illustrates a scenario where partial sensor results (e.g., all partial sensor results), for each sensor node, are gathered at the network, and also fused at the network. In other words, FIG. 8A illustrates an example in which the network may process multiple (possibly partial) sensor streams or results to produce a single data stream or result. FIG. 8B illustrates a scenario where sensor fusion is performed at the sensor 1 before sending the final fused result to the network. In other words, FIG. 8B illustrates an example in which sensor 1 may process multiple streams or results to produce a single data stream or result that is then sent to the network.

[0108] Sensing features may refer to the physical features or properties of the sensing target (e.g., object and / or environment) that are reflected in the sensing data. The features and the properties sensed by a sensor node may change depending on various factors, in relation to the same sensing target. For example, the location of a sensor node in relation to the sensing target will determine which part of the sensed object is visible to the sensor and which parts of the sensed object is hidden. Therefore, it is possible or likely that only some features of the object may be detected by the sensor.

[0109] The features that are reflected in the sensing data may also differ based on the sensing capabilities of the sensor node. For example, two sensor nodes may be placed in identical locations, in relation to the target object, but sensor 1 may be a radio sensor that may accurately sense the materials used on the surface of the target object, while sensor 2 may be a lidar sensor that may accurately sense the relative distance between sensor 2 and the target object.

[0110] It is noted that the nodes that are using their local sensing capabilities for sensing may be referred to as sensing nodes, sensing UEs and / or sensing RAN nodes throughout this disclosure. These nodes may be WTRUs or UEs, for example. These nodes may also be RAN nodes (e.g., base stations or gNBs), or a combination of UEs and RAN nodes. As used herein, a fuser may be a node that is capable of fusing or processing multiple sensor streams into (e.g., to produce) a single data stream, such as a sensing node, a WTRU, UE and / or a RAN node.[OHl] Some example embodiments may provide a new functionality in the 5GS, which can assist in managing and / or coordinating sensing operations. A logical function, which may be referred to as an Integrated Sensing Function (ISF) herein, is a collection of functionalities that may be implemented collocated in a single function or may be implemented as separate functions. For example, an ISF maybe collocated with any of NEF, AMF, SMF or RAN (or similar nodes). In scenarios where the ISF is not trusted by the 5GS, it may communicate with the CN functions through the NEF and may be akin to an AF or an AS.

[0112] According to an embodiment, an ISF is capable of receiving or storing service requirements, and identifying sensing capabilities in the 5GS, in the UEs (sensing nodes), or non-3GPP sensing capabilities, that satisfy those requirements. Based on the capabilities needed, the ISF may communicate with other network functions. Various capabilities of the ISF are discussed in the following.

[0113] Some example embodiments may include procedures for an ISF, AF and / or NF triggered association of multiple sensor streams with a sensing task. FIG. 9 illustrates a signaling diagram depicting an example procedure for associating multiple sensor streams with a complementary fusion task, according to an embodiment. The steps depicted in the example of FIG. 9 relate to the provisioning of stream association information to the nodes that are part of the same sensing task. It may be assumed that the discovery and forming of such a group of nodes has already been performed and this information is available to ISF or AF / NF.

[0114] As illustrated in the example of FIG. 9, at 900, a WTRU or a sensor node may send a sensing request to an ISF, via AMF. In one example, this request may be a NAS message. In some examples, the sending of the request at 900 may be optional and, for example, may be used in scenarios where the sensing and / or fusion task is triggered by a WTRU or a sensor node. In some examples, the sensing request may be sent as part of step 907 and / or after step 906.

[0115] In some examples, the sensor nodes and the AF may exchange information, e.g., over the user plane / application layer, which is related to the sensing task. For example, step 902 may be triggered after application layer communication between the AF and the sensor nodes.

[0116] In the example of FIG. 9, at 901, the RAN node may send a message to the ISF indicating that the RAN node supports sensing and sensor fusion. For example, fusion of sensing data may be performed at the RAN and the fused result may be consumed at the RAN for optimizing RAN resources (e.g., beam management). In another example, sensor fusion may be carried out in the RAN node for combining multiple related sensor streams. As introduced above, fusion may refer to the processing of multiple sensor streams (e.g., data or information) into a single data stream or result.

[0117] In some examples, the message 901 may include an indication of the sensor fusion capabilities of the RAN node. For example, this indication may specify that the RAN node is capable of (e.g., only capable of) combining multiple sensing streams into a single stream (e.g., a single data stream or result). In another example, this message may specify that the RAN node can perform complementary sensor fusion using radio sensing capabilities in the RAN and data received from the sensor nodes.

[0118] According to one example, the message 901 may be triggered by any of a sensor node registration, PDU session establishment messages, need for sensing / fusion results at the RAN, and / or a sensing / fusion request from a WTRU or another sensing node. This message may be associated with a preconfigured time value. As an example, this message might be triggered whencertain sensors become available within the coverage of a RAN node. For example, the RAN node may discover them through broadcast messages. In one example, the message 901 may be sent over the N2 interface, via the AMF.

[0119] As illustrated in the example of FIG. 9, at 902a, an AF or a NF may be triggered to perform a sensing task with multiple sensing nodes. For example, a user may request an object to be detected via sensing capabilities through an application. In another example, a NF (e.g., ISF) may determine that an object needs to be detected, e.g., to be used for interference management procedures.

[0120] In an embodiment, the AF / NF may determine that the sensing task can be performed using multiple sensing nodes and may determine and / or provide potential sensing nodes that could be used for, and therefore associated with, the task. Such association information (e.g., information associating the sensing nodes with one or more tasks) may include any one or more of sensor node information (e.g., WTRU identification), sensing capabilities (e.g., radio sensing frequency, monostatic, bistatic, capabilities), sensor association ID, sensing target information (e.g., geographical location of an object) and / or an area to be sensed. For example, as shown at 902b, the AF / NF may provide (e.g., invoke NEF API) the association information to the NEF. As an example, as shown at 902c, the NEF may provide or send coordinated fusion task information, which may include the association information, to the ISF. It is noted that, in case the AF / NF is not a trusted entity of the 5G system, it may communicate with the ISF through the NEF. If the AF / NF is a trusted entity of the 5G system, then it may communicate with the ISF directly (e.g., the AF / NF may provide the association information directly to the ISF and step 902b may be skipped).

[0121] As illustrated in the example of FIG. 9, at 903, the ISF may determine to use multiple sensing nodes for sensing a target. For example, the ISF may select multiple sensor nodes, e.g., which may include UEs and / or RAN nodes. The ISF may use information received from RAN to determine if sensing / fusion capable RAN nodes should be used for the sensing task. The ISF may use the information received at 902c from the AF / NF to determine any of the suggested sensor nodes that could be used for the sensing task. In one example, the ISF may determine if a fuser node (e.g., a node or element, such as a WTRU, UE or RAN node, that is capable of fusing or processing multiple sensor streams into a single data stream) could be used.

[0122] In the example of FIG. 9, as shown at 904a, the ISF may send a fusion association configuration message to the RAN node. In some examples, the ISF may also send, as shown at 904b, a fusion association configuration message to the sensor / fuser nodes selected for the task. In some examples, the fusion association configuration message may include the association information.

[0123] Additionally, according to certain example embodiments, the configuration message sent to the RAN and / or the sensor node may include any one or more of the following information: sensor data markings, information of the sensor streams for fusion, indication of whether the RAN node should perform sensor fusion and / or the type of sensor fusion to be performed (e.g., complementary fusion, cooperative fusion, etc.), indication of whether the received sensing data at the fuser are already fully or partially fused and / or whether any further processing is needed, an indication of whether sensor fusion is performed by a nearby node and / or the information of the sensor fuser, synchronization requirements, and / or the period of time and / or frequency the fusion task needs to take place.

[0124] With respect to sensor data markings, in some scenarios the data (e.g., all data) sent from the sensor nodes may not be used for fusion. In such scenarios, the configuration message may specify how the data that are relevant to the sensor fusion task may be marked. For example, it may specify that PDU headers of relevant sensor data may include an IE specifying the sensor association ID or a sensor task ID. Therefore, the sensor fuser node (e.g., fuser WTRU or fuser RAN node) may use (e.g., only use) marked PDUs for sensor fusion. Alternatively, it may mark PDU set headers (for specifying a group of related sensor data) or packet levels (for specifying related packets).

[0125] In some examples, the information of the sensor streams for fusion may be specified at the UE, PDU session (PDU session ID), QoS flow, data stream and / or SDF levels. For example, this information may specify that the data (e.g., all data) that is coming from Sensor 1 and Sensor 2 must be fused for generating the fused result, before sending to ISF.

[0126] In some examples, the configuration message may include an indication if the RAN node must perform sensor fusion and the type of sensor fusion to be performed (e.g., complementary fusion, cooperative fusion). As an example, this may indicate that the RAN node must combine data in 4 QoS flows into a single QoS flow.

[0127] In some examples, the configuration message may include an indication if the received sensing data at the fuser are already fully or partially fused, and / or if any further processing is needed.

[0128] In some examples, the configuration message may include an indication if sensor fusion is performed by a nearby node, and the information associated with the sensor fuser. For example, this may specify that sensor fusion is performed by a nearby WTRU and may include its layer 2 Sidelink / ProSe address, e.g., to be used for communicating sensing data.

[0129] In some examples, the configuration message may include an indication of synchronization requirements. For example, this may specify the required precision of timing datain the sensor data. In another example, the configuration message may include an indication of the period of time and / or frequency the fusion task needs to take place.

[0130] As illustrated in the example of FIG. 9, at 905, the sensor node may decide whether to be associated with the sensor / fusion task. For example, a sensor node may decide not to associate itself (e.g., even if it agreed at the discovery and group association stages) with the new sensing task request if its already involved in a sensing or fusion task. Optionally, at 906, the sensor node may respond to the ISF with its decision to accept or reject the sensing and / or fusion task. In case it is a rejection, the sensor node may specify the reason for the rejection. In turn, the ISF may store the received availability information of the sensor node.

[0131] In the example of FIG. 9, at 907, the configured sensing entities may perform the sensing task. At 908, the sensor node may communicate sensor and / or fusion data with the ISF, AF or NF. For instance, this data may include the association information (e.g., markings in data which specify the group of data a single data chunk belong to). As an example, the association information may be included in a PDU header IE.

[0132] In view of the foregoing, in certain embodiments, an ISF, or other node configured to assist in managing and coordinating sensing operations, may be configured to receive a notification from a RAN node indicating that the RAN node supports sensing and / or sensor fusion. This message may include the RAN node’s sensor fusion capabilities, as discussed above. In an embodiment, the ISF or similar node may be configured to determine that the sensing task can be performed using a group of sensing nodes, and to provide stream association information. The association information may include any of a sensor association ID, sensing target information (e.g., geographical location of an object), and / or an area to be sensed, for example.

[0133] In an embodiment, the ISF or similar node may be configured to determine to use multiple sensing nodes for sensing a target, to determine if sensing and / or fusion capable RAN nodes should be used for the sensing task. In addition, the ISF (or similar node) may determine if a fuser node could be used. In an embodiment, the ISF (or similar node) may send a fusion association configuration message to the RAN node.

[0134] According to certain embodiments, a node (e.g., a UE, WTRU (e.g., WTRU 102), sensor, sensor node, fuser or the like) may be configured to receive a fusion association configuration message (e.g., a configuration message indicating a fusion association), as discussed above. In an embodiment, the node may be configured to decide or determine whether to be associated with the sensor and / or fusion task associated with (e.g., indicated by) the fusion association configuration message. For example, the node might decide not to associate itself (e.g., even if previously agreeing at the discovery and group association stages) with the new sensing task request if its already involved in a sensing or fusion task. In an embodiment, the node may be configured tosend a response message to the ISF. The response message may indicate the node’s decision as to whether it accepts or rejects or is still part of the group of sensor nodes and the sensing and / or fusion task. In an embodiment, the node may be configured to communicate sensor and / or fusion data with the ISF. This data may include the association information, as discussed above. For example, the association information may be included in a PDU header IE.

[0135] FIG. 10 illustrates an example of a method 1000 for the association of multi-modal sensor streams for synchronous sensor fusion, according to some example embodiments. In an embodiment, the method 1000 may be performed by a network node, such as an ISF or other node configured to assist in managing and coordinating sensing operations. For instance, as one example, the method 1000 may be implemented or executed by the ISF illustrated in the example of FIG. 9. Thus, the method 1000 of FIG. 10 may alternatively or additionally include one or more of the steps or operations illustrated in the example of FIG. 9 or any other figure or embodiment described herein.

[0136] As illustrated in the example of FIG. 10, the method 1000 may include, at 1010, receiving a message including information indicating that a RAN node supports sensing and / or sensor fusion. For example, the message may include the RAN node’s sensor fusion capabilities (e.g., the sensor fusion capabilities associated with the RAN node), as discussed above. According to an embodiment, the message may include information which indicates that the RAN node is capable of performing fusion of sensing data and / or that a result of the fusion can be consumed at the RAN node, e.g., to improve RAN resource utilization. In an embodiment, the message may include information indicating that sensor fusion can be carried out in the RAN node for combining multiple related sensor streams. According to an embodiment, the sensor fusion capabilities may indicate any one or more of: that the RAN node is capable of combining multiple sensing streams into a single stream, or that the RAN node is capable of performing complementary sensor fusion using sensing capabilities in the RAN and data received from sensor nodes. In an embodiment, the receiving 1010 of the message may be triggered by any one or more of: sensor node registration, protocol data unit (PDU) session establishment messages, a need for sensing and / or fusion results at the RAN, and / or a sensing or fusion request from a sensor node. According to some embodiments, the message may be received over a N2 interface via an AMF, for example.

[0137] In an embodiment, the method 1000 may include, at 1020, determining that a sensing task can be performed using multiple sensor nodes (e.g., a group of sensing nodes). According to an embodiment, the method 1000 may include, at 1030, sending information (e.g., stream association information) associated with the sensor nodes. For example, the information associated with the sensor nodes (e.g., stream association information) may include any one or more of the following: sensor node information, sensing capabilities, a sensor association identifier, sensing targetinformation, and / or an area to be sensed. According to an embodiment, the method 1000 may include, at 1040, determining to use more than one of (e.g., at least two of) the multiple sensor nodes for performing the sensing task and / or sensing a target and / or sensing a task.

[0138] As further illustrated in the example of FIG. 10, the method 1000 may include, at 1050, determining that or determining whether, e.g., based on the message indicating the RAN node’s sensor fusion capabilities, sensing and / or sensor fusion capable RAN nodes should be used for the sensing task. In an embodiment, although not explicitly shown in the example of FIG. 10, the method 1000 may optionally include determining whether a fuser node (e.g., a node capable of processing multiple sensor streams into a single data stream or result) can be used for the sensing task.

[0139] In an embodiment, the method 1000 may then include, at 1060, sending, to any of the RAN node (e.g., if it is determined to use the sensing and sensor fusion capable RAN nodes) and / or to the determined more than one of (e.g., at least two of) the multiple sensor nodes, information that includes or indicates fusion association configuration information. For example, the fusion association configuration information may include or indicate any one or more of: sensor data markings, information associated with sensing streams for fusion, an indication of whether the RAN node is to perform sensor fusion, an indication of whether sensing data received at the RAN node or sensor nodes is fully or partially fused, an indication of whether sensor fusion is performed by a nearby node, synchronization requirements, and / or a period of time or frequency associated with the sensing task.

[0140] FIG. 10 is provided as one example of a method, according to certain embodiments. It should be noted that the method depicted in FIG. 10 may be modified according to other embodiments discussed herein. For example, one or more of the steps of FIG. 10 may be omitted or executed in a different order. Additionally, one or more steps may be added, for example, according to the example provided in the signaling diagram of FIG. 9 or any other diagrams discussed herein.

[0141] FIG. 11 illustrates an example of a method 1100 for the association of multi-modal sensor streams for synchronous sensor fusion, according to some example embodiments. In an embodiment, the method 1100 may be performed by a UE, WTRU, sensor, sensing node, fuser or similar node (e.g., that is capable of processing multiple streams to produce a single stream or result). For instance, as one example, the method 1100 may be implemented or executed by the sensor node and / or RAN node illustrated in the example of FIG. 9. Thus, the method 1100 of FIG. 11 may alternatively or additionally include one or more of the steps or operations illustrated in the example of FIG. 9 or any other figure or embodiment described herein.

[0142] As illustrated in the example of FIG. 11, the method 1100 may include, at 1110, receiving fusion association configuration information associated with a sensing task and / or fusion task. In certain example embodiments, the fusion association configuration information may include any one or more of: sensor data markings, information associated with sensing streams for fusion, an indication of whether the RAN node is to perform sensor fusion, an indication of whether sensing data received at the RAN node or sensor nodes is fully or partially fused, an indication of whether sensor fusion is performed by a nearby node, synchronization requirements, and / or a period of time or frequency associated with the sensing task.

[0143] In the example of FIG. 11, the method 1100 may include, at 1120, determining, e.g., based on the fusion association configuration information, whether to be associated with the sensing and / or fusion task. The method 1100 may include, at 1130, sending a message indicating whether the WTRU accepts or rejects being associated with the sensing and / or fusion task. On condition that the WTRU accepts being associated with the sensing and / or fusion task, the method 1100 may include, at 1140, performing the sensing and / or fusion task and sending information indicating data resulting from the sensing and / or fusion task to a network node (e.g., an ISF, AF, NF or similar node). For example, the data resulting from the sensing and / or fusion task (e.g., the result of the sensing / fusion task) may include or may indicate association information which indicates which group of data a single data chunk belongs to. For example, the association information may be included in a PDU header IE.

[0144] FIG. 11 is provided as one example of a method, according to certain embodiments. It should be noted that the method depicted in FIG. 11 may be modified according to other embodiments discussed herein. For example, one or more of the steps of FIG. 11 may be omitted or executed in a different order. Additionally, one or more steps may be added, for example, according to the example provided in the signaling diagram of FIG. 9 or any other diagrams discussed herein.

[0145] Although features and elements are provided above in particular combinations, one of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that each feature or element can be used alone or in any combination with the other features and elements. The present disclosure is not to be limited in terms of the particular embodiments described in this application, which are intended as illustrations of various aspects. Many modifications and variations may be made without departing from its spirit and scope, as will be apparent to those skilled in the art. No element, act, or instruction used in the description of the present application should be construed as critical or essential to the invention unless explicitly provided as such. Functionally equivalent methods and apparatuses within the scope of the disclosure, in addition to those enumerated herein, will be apparent to those skilled in the art from the foregoing descriptions. Such modifications andvariations are intended to fall within the scope of the appended claims. The present disclosure is to be limited only by the terms of the appended claims, along with the full scope of equivalents to which such claims are entitled. It is to be understood that this disclosure is not limited to particular methods or systems.

[0146] In some example embodiments described herein, (e.g., configuration) information may be described as received by a WTRU from the network, for example, through system information or via any kind of protocol message. Although not explicitly mentioned throughout embodiments described herein, the same (e.g., configuration) information may be pre-configured in the WTRU (e.g., via any kind of pre-configuration methods such as e.g., via factory settings), such that this (e.g., configuration) information may be used by the WTRU without being received from the network.

[0147] Any characteristic, variant or embodiment described for a method is compatible with an apparatus device comprising means for processing the disclosed method, such as with a device comprising a processor configured to process the disclosed method, a computer program product comprising program code instructions and a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing program instructions.

[0148] The foregoing embodiments are discussed, for simplicity, with regard to the terminology and structure of infrared capable devices, i.e., infrared emitters and receivers. However, the embodiments discussed are not limited to these systems but may be applied to other systems that use other forms of electromagnetic waves or non-electromagnetic waves such as acoustic waves.

[0149] It is also to be understood that the terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only, and is not intended to be limiting. As used herein, the term "video" or the term "imagery" may mean any of a snapshot, single image and / or multiple images displayed over a time basis. As another example, when referred to herein, the terms "user equipment" and its abbreviation "UE", the term "remote" and / or the terms "head mounted display" or its abbreviation "HMD" may mean or include (i) a wireless transmit and / or receive unit (WTRU); (ii) any of a number of embodiments of a WTRU; (iii) a wireless-capable and / or wired-capable (e.g., tetherable) device configured with, inter alia, some or all structures and functionality of a WTRU; (iii) a wireless-capable and / or wired-capable device configured with less than all structures and functionality of a WTRU; or (iv) the like. Details of an example WTRU, which may be representative of any WTRU recited herein, are provided herein with respect to FIGs. 1 A-1D. As another example, various disclosed embodiments herein supra and infra are described as utilizing a head mounted display. Those skilled in the art will recognize that a device other than the head mounted display may be utilized and some or all of the disclosure and various disclosed embodiments can be modified accordingly without undue experimentation. Examples of suchother device may include a drone or other device configured to stream information for providing the adapted reality experience.

[0150] In addition, the methods provided herein may be implemented in a computer program, software, or firmware incorporated in a computer-readable medium for execution by a computer or processor. Examples of computer-readable media include electronic signals (transmitted over wired or wireless connections) and computer-readable storage media. Examples of computer- readable storage media include, but are not limited to, a read only memory (ROM), a random access memory (RAM), a register, cache memory, semiconductor memory devices, magnetic media such as internal hard disks and removable disks, magneto-optical media, and optical media such as CD-ROM disks, and digital versatile disks (DVDs). A processor in association with software may be used to implement a radio frequency transceiver for use in a WTRU, UE, terminal, base station, RNC, or any host computer.

[0151] Variations of the method, apparatus and system provided above are possible without departing from the scope of the invention. In view of the wide variety of embodiments that can be applied, it should be understood that the illustrated embodiments are examples only, and should not be taken as limiting the scope of the following claims. For instance, the embodiments provided herein include handheld devices, which may include or be utilized with any appropriate voltage source, such as a battery and the like, providing any appropriate voltage.

[0152] Moreover, in the embodiments provided above, processing platforms, computing systems, controllers, and other devices that include processors are noted. These devices may include at least one Central Processing Unit ("CPU") and memory. In accordance with the practices of persons skilled in the art of computer programming, reference to acts and symbolic representations of operations or instructions may be performed by the various CPUs and memories. Such acts and operations or instructions may be referred to as being "executed," "computer executed" or "CPU executed."

[0153] One of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the acts and symbolically represented operations or instructions include the manipulation of electrical signals by the CPU. An electrical system represents data bits that can cause a resulting transformation or reduction of the electrical signals and the maintenance of data bits at memory locations in a memory system to thereby reconfigure or otherwise alter the CPU's operation, as well as other processing of signals. The memory locations where data bits are maintained are physical locations that have particular electrical, magnetic, optical, or organic properties corresponding to or representative of the data bits. It should be understood that the embodiments are not limited to the above-mentioned platforms or CPUs and that other platforms and CPUs may support the provided methods.

[0154] The data bits may also be maintained on a computer readable medium including magnetic disks, optical disks, and any other volatile (e.g., Random Access Memory (RAM)) or non-volatile (e.g., Read-Only Memory (ROM)) mass storage system readable by the CPU. The computer readable medium may include cooperating or interconnected computer readable medium, which exist exclusively on the processing system or are distributed among multiple interconnected processing systems that may be local or remote to the processing system. It should be understood that the embodiments are not limited to the above-mentioned memories and that other platforms and memories may support the provided methods.

[0155] In an illustrative embodiment, any of the operations, processes, etc. described herein may be implemented as computer-readable instructions stored on a computer-readable medium. The computer-readable instructions may be executed by a processor of a mobile unit, a network element, and / or any other computing device.

[0156] There is little distinction left between hardware and software implementations of aspects of systems. The use of hardware or software is generally (but not always, in that in certain contexts the choice between hardware and software may become significant) a design choice representing cost versus efficiency tradeoffs. There may be various vehicles by which processes and / or systems and / or other technologies described herein may be effected (e.g., hardware, software, and / or firmware), and the preferred vehicle may vary with the context in which the processes and / or systems and / or other technologies are deployed. For example, if an implementer determines that speed and accuracy are paramount, the implementer may opt for a mainly hardware and / or firmware vehicle. If flexibility is paramount, the implementer may opt for a mainly software implementation. Alternatively, the implementer may opt for some combination of hardware, software, and / or firmware.

[0157] The foregoing detailed description has set forth various embodiments of the devices and / or processes via the use of block diagrams, flowcharts, and / or examples. Insofar as such block diagrams, flowcharts, and / or examples include one or more functions and / or operations, it will be understood by those within the art that each function and / or operation within such block diagrams, flowcharts, or examples may be implemented, individually and / or collectively, by a wide range of hardware, software, firmware, or virtually any combination thereof. In an embodiment, several portions of the subject matter described herein may be implemented via Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs), Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs), digital signal processors (DSPs), and / or other integrated formats. However, those skilled in the art will recognize that some aspects of the embodiments disclosed herein, in whole or in part, may be equivalently implemented in integrated circuits, as one or more computer programs running on one or more computers (e.g., as one or more programs running on one or more computer systems), as one or more programsrunning on one or more processors (e.g., as one or more programs running on one or more microprocessors), as firmware, or as virtually any combination thereof, and that designing the circuitry and / or writing the code for the software and or firmware would be well within the skill of one of skill in the art in light of this disclosure. In addition, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the mechanisms of the subject matter described herein may be distributed as a program product in a variety of forms, and that an illustrative embodiment of the subject matter described herein applies regardless of the particular type of signal bearing medium used to actually carry out the distribution. Examples of a signal bearing medium include, but are not limited to, the following: a recordable type medium such as a floppy disk, a hard disk drive, a CD, a DVD, a digital tape, a computer memory, etc., and a transmission type medium such as a digital and / or an analog communication medium (e.g., a fiber optic cable, a waveguide, a wired communications link, a wireless communication link, etc.).

[0158] Those skilled in the art will recognize that it is common within the art to describe devices and / or processes in the fashion set forth herein, and thereafter use engineering practices to integrate such described devices and / or processes into data processing systems. That is, at least a portion of the devices and / or processes described herein may be integrated into a data processing system via a reasonable amount of experimentation. Those having skill in the art will recognize that a typical data processing system may generally include one or more of a system unit housing, a video display device, a memory such as volatile and non-volatile memory, processors such as microprocessors and digital signal processors, computational entities such as operating systems, drivers, graphical user interfaces, and applications programs, one or more interaction devices, such as a touch pad or screen, and / or control systems including feedback loops and control motors (e.g., feedback for sensing position and / or velocity, control motors for moving and / or adjusting components and / or quantities). A typical data processing system may be implemented utilizing any suitable commercially available components, such as those typically found in data computing / communication and / or network computing / communication systems.

[0159] The herein described subject matter sometimes illustrates different components included within, or connected with, different other components. It is to be understood that such depicted architectures are merely examples, and that in fact many other architectures may be implemented which achieve the same functionality. In a conceptual sense, any arrangement of components to achieve the same functionality is effectively "associated" such that the desired functionality may be achieved. Hence, any two components herein combined to achieve a particular functionality may be seen as "associated with" each other such that the desired functionality is achieved, irrespective of architectures or intermedial components. Likewise, any two components so associated may also be viewed as being "operably connected", or "operably coupled", to each otherto achieve the desired functionality, and any two components capable of being so associated may also be viewed as being "operably couplable" to each other to achieve the desired functionality. Specific examples of operably couplable include but are not limited to physically mateable and / or physically interacting components and / or wirelessly interactable and / or wirelessly interacting components and / or logically interacting and / or logically interactable components.

[0160] With respect to the use of substantially any plural and / or singular terms herein, those having skill in the art can translate from the plural to the singular and / or from the singular to the plural as is appropriate to the context and / or application. The various singular / plural permutations may be expressly set forth herein for sake of clarity.

[0161] It will be understood by those within the art that, in general, terms used herein, and especially in the appended claims (e.g., bodies of the appended claims) are generally intended as "open" terms (e.g., the term "including" should be interpreted as "including but not limited to," the term "having" should be interpreted as "having at least," the term "includes" should be interpreted as "includes but is not limited to," etc.). It will be further understood by those within the art that if a specific number of an introduced claim recitation is intended, such an intent will be explicitly recited in the claim, and in the absence of such recitation no such intent is present. For example, where only one item is intended, the term "single" or similar language may be used. As an aid to understanding, the following appended claims and / or the descriptions herein may include usage of the introductory phrases "at least one" and "one or more" to introduce claim recitations. However, the use of such phrases should not be construed to imply that the introduction of a claim recitation by the indefinite articles "a" or "an" limits any particular claim including such introduced claim recitation to embodiments including only one such recitation, even when the same claim includes the introductory phrases "one or more" or "at least one" and indefinite articles such as "a" or "an" (e.g., "a" and / or "an" should be interpreted to mean "at least one" or "one or more"). The same holds true for the use of definite articles used to introduce claim recitations. In addition, even if a specific number of an introduced claim recitation is explicitly recited, those skilled in the art will recognize that such recitation should be interpreted to mean at least the recited number (e.g., the bare recitation of "two recitations," without other modifiers, means at least two recitations, or two or more recitations). Furthermore, in those instances where a convention analogous to "at least one of A, B, and C, etc." is used, in general such a construction is intended in the sense one having skill in the art would understand the convention (e.g., "a system having at least one of A, B, and C" would include but not be limited to systems that have A alone, B alone, C alone, A and B together, A and C together, B and C together, and / or A, B, and C together, etc.). In those instances where a convention analogous to "at least one of A, B, or C, etc." is used, in general such a construction is intended in the sense one having skill in the art would understand the convention(e.g., "a system having at least one of A, B, or C" would include but not be limited to systems that have A alone, B alone, C alone, A and B together, A and C together, B and C together, and / or A, B, and C together, etc.). It will be further understood by those within the art that virtually any disjunctive word and / or phrase presenting two or more alternative terms, whether in the description, claims, or drawings, should be understood to contemplate the possibilities of including one of the terms, either of the terms, or both terms. For example, the phrase "A or B" will be understood to include the possibilities of "A" or "B" or "A and B." Further, the terms "any of' followed by a listing of a plurality of items and / or a plurality of categories of items, as used herein, are intended to include "any of," "any combination of," "any multiple of," and / or "any combination of multiples of the items and / or the categories of items, individually or in conjunction with other items and / or other categories of items. Moreover, as used herein, the term "set" is intended to include any number of items, including zero. Additionally, as used herein, the term "number" is intended to include any number, including zero. And the term "multiple", as used herein, is intended to be synonymous with "a plurality".

[0162] In addition, where features or aspects of the disclosure are described in terms of Markush groups, those skilled in the art will recognize that the disclosure is also thereby described in terms of any individual member or subgroup of members of the Markush group.

[0163] As will be understood by one skilled in the art, for any and all purposes, such as in terms of providing a written description, all ranges disclosed herein also encompass any and all possible subranges and combinations of subranges thereof. Any listed range can be easily recognized as sufficiently describing and enabling the same range being broken down into at least equal halves, thirds, quarters, fifths, tenths, etc. As a non-limiting example, each range discussed herein may be readily broken down into a lower third, middle third and upper third, etc. As will also be understood by one skilled in the art all language such as "up to," "at least," "greater than," "less than," and the like includes the number recited and refers to ranges which can be subsequently broken down into subranges as discussed above. Finally, as will be understood by one skilled in the art, a range includes each individual member. Thus, for example, a group having 1-3 cells refers to groups having 1, 2, or 3 cells. Similarly, a group having 1-5 cells refers to groups having 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5 cells, and so forth.

[0164] Moreover, the claims should not be read as limited to the provided order or elements unless stated to that effect. In addition, use of the terms "means for" in any claim is intended to invoke 35 U.S.C. §112, 6 or means-plus-function claim format, and any claim without the terms "means for" is not so intended.

[0165] Although various embodiments have been described in terms of communication systems, it is contemplated that the systems may be implemented in software on microprocessors / generalpurpose computers (not shown). In certain embodiments, one or more of the functions of the various components may be implemented in software that controls a general-purpose computer.

[0166] In addition, although some example embodiments are illustrated and described herein, the invention is not intended to just be limited to the details shown. Rather, various modifications and variations may be made in the details within the scope and range of equivalents of the claims and without departing from the spirit or scope invention.REFERENCES

[0167] The following references may have been referred to hereinabove, each of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

[0168] [1] 3GPP TS 23.501, System Architecture for the 5G System, Stage 2, Release 18, vl8.1.0

[0169] [2] 3GPP TS 23.502, Procedures for the 5G System (5GS), V18.1.0

[0170] [3] S4-231026, pCR to TS 26.522 on PDU set HE study on architecture enhancement for XR and media services phase 2., Nokia Corporation.

[0171] [4] TS 23.304, Proximity based Services (ProSe) in the 5G System (5GS) (Release 17);V17.3.0

[0172] [5] TS 22.837 vl9.0.0: Study on Integrated Sensing and Communication

[0173] [6] Liu, A., Huang, Z., Li, M., Wan, Y., Li, W., Han, T. X., ... & Chetty, K. (2022). A survey on fundamental limits of integrated sensing and communication. IEEE Communications Surveys & Tutorials, 24(2), 994-1034.

[0174] [7] H. F. Durrant-Whyte, “Sensor models and multisensor integration,” International Journal of Robotics Research, vol. 7, o. 6, pp. 97-113, 1988.

[0175] [8] Schmitt, M., & Zhu, X. X. (2016). Data fusion and remote sensing: An ever-growing relationship. IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Magazine, 4(4), 6-23.ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS

[0176] 5GSM 5G Session Management

[0177] ACK Acknowledgement

[0178] AF Application Function

[0179] AS Application Server

[0180] AMF Access and Mobility Management Function

[0181] AN Access Network

[0182] BS Base Station

[0183] CDRX Connected Mode Discontinuous Reception

[0184] CL Classifier

[0185] CM Connection Management

[0186] DN Data Network

[0187] DNAI Data Network Access Identifier

[0188] EoB End of Burst

[0189] PCC Policy and Charging Control

[0190] PDU Protocol Data Unit

[0191] PSA PDU Session Anchor

[0192] QoE Quality of Experience

[0193] QoS Quality of Service

[0194] RAN Radio Access Network

[0195] SMF Session Management Function

[0196] SDF Service Data Flow

[0197] SSC Session and Service Continuity

[0198] SSCMSP SSC mode selection policy

[0199] TSC Time-sensitive communications

[0200] TSN Time-sensitive networking

[0201] TTL Time To Live

[0202] UL Uplink

[0203] UPF User Plane Function

[0204] UE User Equipment

[0205] URLLC Ultra-Reliable and Low Latency Communications

[0206] ISF Integrated Sensing Function.

Claims

CLAIMSWhat is claimed is:

1. A method, implemented by a wireless transmit / receive unit (WTRU), the method comprising: receiving fusion association configuration information associated with a sensing task; determining, based on the fusion association configuration information, whether to be associated with the sensing task; sending a message indicating whether the WTRU accepts or rejects being associated with the sensing task; and on condition that the WTRU accepts being associated with the sensing task, performing the sensing task and sending information indicating data resulting from the sensing task to a network node.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the fusion association configuration information comprises any of: sensor data markings, information associated with sensing streams for fusion, an indication of whether a radio access network (RAN) node is to perform sensor fusion, an indication of whether sensing data received at the radio access network (RAN) node or sensor nodes is fully or partially fused, an indication of whether sensor fusion is performed by a nearby node, synchronization requirements, and a period of time or frequency associated with the sensing task.

3. The method of any of claims 1-2, wherein the data comprises association information indicating which group of data a single data chunk belongs to.

4. The method of any of claims 1-3, wherein the network node comprises any of: an integrated sensing function (ISF), an application function (AF), or a network function (NF).

5. The method of any of claims 1-4, wherein the sensing taks comprises or is associated with a sensor fusion task.

6. A wireless transmit / receive unit (WTRU), comprising: circuitry, including any of a processor, memory, transmitter and receiver, configured to receive fusion association configuration information associated with a sensing task; determine, based on the fusion association configuration information, whether to be associated with the sensing task;send a message indicating whether the WTRU accepts or rejects being associated with the sensing task; and on condition that the WTRU accepts being associated with the sensing task, perform the sensing task and send information indicating data resulting from the sensing task to a network node.

7. The WTRU of claim 6, wherein the fusion association configuration information comprises any of sensor data markings, information associated with sensing streams for fusion, an indication of whether a radio access network (RAN) node is to perform sensor fusion, an indication of whether sensing data received at the radio access network (RAN) node or sensor nodes is fully or partially fused, an indication of whether sensor fusion is performed by a nearby node, synchronization requirements, and a period of time or frequency associated with the sensing task.

8. The WTRU of any of claims 6-7, wherein the data comprises association information indicating which group of data a single data chunk belongs to.

9. The WTRU of any of claims 6-8, wherein the network node comprises any of an integrated sensing function (ISF), an application function (AF), or a network function (NF).

10. The WTRU of any of claims 6-9, wherein the sensing taks comprises or is associated with a sensor fusion task.

11. A network element, comprising: circuitry, including any of a processor, memory, transmitter and receiver, configured to receive first information indicating that a radio access network (RAN) node supports sensor fusion, wherein the first information further indicates sensor fusion capabilities associated with the RAN node; determine that a sensing task can be performed using multiple sensor nodes; send second information associated with the sensor nodes, wherein the second information comprises any of sensor node information, sensing capabilities, a sensor association identifier, sensing target information, and an area to be sensed; determine to use at least two of the multiple sensor nodes for the sensing task; determine, based on the first information, whether sensor fusion capable RAN nodes should be used for the sensing task; andsend, to any of the RAN node and the at least two of the multiple sensor nodes, third information indicating fusion association configuration information associated with the sensing task.

12. The network element of claim 11, wherein the fusion association configuration information comprises any of: sensor data markings, information associated with sensing streams for fusion, an indication of whether the RAN node is to perform sensor fusion, an indication of whether sensing data received at the RAN node or sensor nodes is fully or partially fused, an indication of whether sensor fusion is performed by a nearby node, synchronization requirements, and a period of time or frequency associated with the sensing task.

13. The network element of any of claims 11-12, wherein the first information indicates that the RAN node is capable of performing fusion of sensing data / or that a result of the fusion can be consumed at the RAN node to improve RAN resource utilization.

14. The network element of any of claims 11-13, wherein the first information indicates that sensor fusion can be carried out in the RAN node for combining multiple related sensor streams.

15. The network element of any of claims 11-14, wherein the sensor fusion capabilities indicate any of: that the RAN node is capable of combining multiple sensing streams into a single stream, and that the RAN node is capable of performing complementary sensor fusion using sensing capabilities in the RAN and data received from sensor nodes.

16. The network element of any of claims 11-15, wherein the receiving of the first information is triggered by any of: sensor node registration, protocol data unit (PDU) session establishment messages, a need for sensing or fusion results at the RAN, and a sensing or fusion request from a sensor node.

17. The network element of any of claims 11-16, wherein the first information is received over a N2 interface via an access and mobility management function (AMF).

18. The network element of any of claims 11-17, configured to determine whether a fuser node can be used for the sensing task.

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