Integrated sensing and communication using assistance nodes

Abstract

Techniques are provided for performing integrated sensing and communication (ISAC) operations with one or more assistance nodes. An example method for performing integrated sensing and communication operations with an assistance node includes detecting a trigger condition associated with the integrated sensing and communication operations, transmitting an assistance node aid request to a network server in response to detecting the trigger condition, receiving assistance node information from the network server, and performing the integrated sensing and communication operations based at least in part on the assistance node information.

Description

INTEGRATED SENSING AND COMMUNICATION USING ASSISTANCENODESCROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

[0001] This application claims the benefit of Greek Patent Application No. 20240100381, filed May 21, 2024, entitled “INTEGRATED SENSING AND COMMUNICATION USING ASSISTANCE NODES,” which is assigned to the assignee hereof, and the entire contents of which are hereby incorporated herein by reference for all purposes.BACKGROUND

[0002] Wireless communication systems have developed through various generations, including a first-generation analog wireless phone service (1G), a second-generation (2G) digital wireless phone service (including interim 2.5G and 2.75G networks), a third-generation (3G) high speed data, Internet-capable wireless service, a fourthgeneration (4G) service (e.g., Long Term Evolution (LTE) or WiMax®), a fifthgeneration (5G) service (e.g., 5G New Radio (NR)), etc., with a sixth-generation (6G) service in development. There are presently many different types of wireless communication systems in use, including Cellular and Personal Communications Service (PCS) systems. Examples of known cellular systems include the cellular Analog Advanced Mobile Phone System (AMPS), and digital cellular systems based on Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA), Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA), Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA), the Global System for Mobile access (GSM) variation of TDMA, etc.

[0003] A fifth generation (5G) mobile standard calls for higher data transfer speeds, greater numbers of connections, and better coverage, among other improvements. The 5G standard, according to the Next Generation Mobile Networks Alliance, is designed to provide data rates of several tens of megabits per second to each of tens of thousands of users, with 1 gigabit per second to tens of workers on an office floor. Several hundreds of thousands of simultaneous connections should be supported in order to support large sensor deployments. Consequently, the spectral efficiency of 5G mobile communications should be significantly enhanced compared to the current 4G standard.Furthermore, signaling efficiencies should be enhanced and latency should be substantially reduced compared to current standards.

[0004] 5G enables the utilization of radio frequency (RF) signals for wireless communication between network nodes, such as base stations, user equipment (UEs), vehicles, factory automation machinery, and the like. However, the RF signals may also be used for RF sensing applications such as autonomous driving, intruder detection, gesture recognition, object detection and tracking, beam management, and other macro and micro sensing applications. Wireless local area networks may also be configured to perform RF sensing operations. RF sensing may include monostatic and bistatic implementation. Bistatic operations may require additional signaling overhead to coordinate detection and tacking operations.SUMMARY

[0005] An example method for performing integrated sensing and communication operations with an assistance node according to the disclosure includes detecting a trigger condition associated with the integrated sensing and communication operations, transmitting an assistance node aid request to a network server in response to detecting the trigger condition, receiving assistance node information from the network server, and performing the integrated sensing and communication operations based at least in part on the assistance node information.

[0006] An example method for providing assistance node information to a wireless node according to the disclosure includes receiving an assistance node request for integrated sensing and communication operations from the wireless node, generating the assistance node information based at least in part on the assistance node request, and sending the assistance node information to the wireless node.

[0007] Items and / or techniques described herein may provide one or more of the following capabilities, as well as other capabilities not mentioned. A wireless node in a communication network may be configured to perform integrated sensing and communication (ISAC) operations. An assistance node, such as a reconfigurable intelligent surface (RIS), may be utilize to improve the coupling between the communication and sensing signals. The wireless node may request assistance node information from a controller. The controller may be communicatively coupled to the wireless node, the assistance node, and a receiving station via wired or wireless networkconnections. The controller may generate the assistance node information based on operational parameters associated with the wireless node, the assistance node and the receiver. The assistance node information may be updated based on ISAC measurement sessions performed by the wireless node. Machine learning models may be used to generate the assistance node information. The performance of ISAC operations may be increased. Sensing target detection accuracy and tracking performance may be improved. Quality of service requirements for network communications may be maintained during sensing operations. Other capabilities may be provided and not every implementation according to the disclosure must provide any, let alone all, of the capabilities discussed.BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0008] FIG. 1 is a simplified diagram of an example wireless communications system.

[0009] FIG. 2 is a block diagram of components of an example user equipment shown in FIG. 1.

[0010] FIG. 3 is a block diagram of components of an example transmission / reception point.

[0011] FIG. 4 is a block diagram of components of a server.

[0012] FIG. 5A is a simplified diagram of a wireless communication environment including Reconfigurable Intelligent Surfaces (RISs).

[0013] FIG. 5B is a system diagram of an example RIS controller.

[0014] FIG. 6A illustrates an example monostatic RF sensing system.

[0015] FIG. 6B illustrates an example bistatic RF sensing system.

[0016] FIG. 7 is an example graph showing a RF channel response over time.

[0017] FIG. 8 is a block diagram of an orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) transmitter and an OFDM receiver for performing RF sensing.

[0018] FIG. 9 is a use case diagram including examples of weak and tight coupling between sensing and communication channels.

[0019] FIG. 10 is a block diagram an example control system for assistance node (AN) aided integrated sensing and communication (ISAC) operations.

[0020] FIG. 11 is an example message flow for enabling AN aided ISAC operations.

[0021] FIG. 12 is an example machine learning (ML) based AN configuration module.

[0022] FIG. 13 is a flow diagram of an example method of performing ISAC operations with an assistance node.

[0023] FIG. 14 is a flow diagram of an example method of providing assistance node information to a wireless node.DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0024] Techniques are disclosed herein for performing integrated sensing and communication (ISAC) operations with one or more assistance nodes. Configurations other than those specifically described and illustrated may be used. ISAC operation is a component of 5G Advanced / 6G and for next-generation automotive applications. In automotive use cases, for example, radar sensing may be utilized by Advanced Driving Assistance Systems (ADAS) to improve safe vehicle operations. During ISAC operations, such radar sensing operations may be performed currently with high-rate communications. In user equipment (UE) use cases (e.g., when the UE is the transmitting station), a UE may be configured to sense surrounding objects associated with pedestrian and automotive applications. 3GPP-based ISAC may be implemented to supplement other sensors for automotive and pedestrian use cases.

[0025] In operation, the performance of ISAC operations may depend on a level of coupling between communication and sensing channels. An ISAC system may have different levels of coupling which may determine performance trade-offs for respective sensing and communication performance. In an example, the communication and sensing channels may be perfectly coupled in that the same transmit beam for sensing and communication may be used. Perfect coupling may lead to improved performance for both communication and sensing as compared to moderately coupled or uncoupled use cases. An adaptive cruise control system may be perfectly coupled when the communication receiver is also utilized for receiving RF sensing signals reflected from a target. In contrast, in a no coupling use case, independent transmissions for sensing and communications signals may be in orthogonal directions. No coupling use cases may lead to a poor performance trade-off between communication and sensing operations. In an example, a no coupling use case may occur when a radar target is located in front of a vehicle and communication signals are received orthogonally on the side of the vehicle. In moderately coupled use cases, there may be a partial correlationbetween sensing and communication channels and the transmit beam for communication reception and sensing target detection is close-by. The performance of moderately coupled sensing and communication channels may be a trade-off between the perfectly coupled and no coupled use cases.

[0026] The techniques provided herein may utilize an assistance node (AN) to improve the coupling between sensing and communication channels to enhance ISAC operations performance trade-offs. An assistance node (AN), such as a reconfigurable intelligent surface (RIS) or other wireless node, may be configured to improve ISAC operation performance trade-offs by increasing the coupling between the sensing and communication operations. For example, a communication receiver and sensing field of view (FoV) may be quite different. A proper choice of an AN (e.g., RIS) may be used to decrease a difference between the beam directions for the sensing and communication channel, and thus enable a better coupling between the channels to improve ISAC operation performance trade-offs. The techniques provided herein utilize over-the-air and network signaling to enhance ISAC operation performance trade-offs using assistance nodes. In an example, the signaling may enable network coordination for selecting ANs (e.g., RIS) and providing operating parameters associated with the ANs for both sensing and communication (e.g., when a communication reception node and a sensing target for detection are located in different locations and not in the same direction). A sensing node (e.g., transmitting wireless node) may request aid of assistance nodes to a central controller (e.g., network server) with performance criteria (e.g., allowable communication Quality of Server (QoS) degradation, racket error rate, packet delay budget, range, angle etc.). The central controller may be configured to determine a set of assistance nodes, sensing target directions, beam directions and other information (e.g., obtained through an iterative process of causing nodes to scan and receive measurement reports). In an example, artificial intelligence (Al) / machine learning (ML) models may be configured to determine the set of assistance nodes and / or configuration parameters based at least in part on the performance criteria. The central controller may be configured to provide configuration parameters to the sensing node (e.g., transmitting wireless node) for choosing and configuring assistance nodes (including beam direction).

[0027] Particular aspects of the subject matter described in the disclosure may be implemented to realize one or more of the following potential advantages. Theperformance of integrated RF sensing and communication operations may be increased. RF sensing target detection accuracy and tracking performance may be improved. Quality of service requirements for network communications may be maintained during RF sensing operations. AFML models may be configured to select and configure assistance nodes for improved ISAC operations. These techniques and configurations are examples, and other techniques and configurations may be used.

[0028] The description herein may refer to sequences of actions to be performed, for example, by elements of a computing device. Various actions described herein can be performed by specific circuits (e.g., an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC)), by program instructions being executed by one or more processors, or by a combination of both. Sequences of actions described herein may be embodied within a non- transitory computer-readable medium having stored thereon a corresponding set of computer instructions that upon execution would cause an associated processor to perform the functionality described herein. Thus, the various examples described herein may be embodied in a number of different forms, all of which are within the scope of the disclosure, including claimed subject matter.

[0029] As used herein, the terms "user equipment" (UE) and "base station" are not specific to or otherwise limited to any particular Radio Access Technology (RAT), unless otherwise noted. In general, a UE may be any wireless communication device (e.g., a mobile phone, router, tablet computer, laptop computer, consumer asset tracking device, Internet of Things (loT) device, automobile, etc.) used to communicate over a wireless communications network. A UE may be mobile or may (e.g., at certain times) be stationary, and may communicate with a Radio Access Network (RAN). As used herein, the term "UE" may be referred to interchangeably as an "access terminal" or "AT," a "client device," a "wireless device," a "subscriber device," a "subscriber terminal," a "subscriber station," a "user terminal" or UT, a "mobile terminal," a "mobile station," a "mobile device," or variations thereof. Generally, UEs can communicate with a core network via a RAN, and through the core network the UEs can be connected with external networks such as the Internet and with other UEs. Of course, other mechanisms of connecting to the core network and / or the Internet are also possible for the UEs, such as over wired access networks, WiFi® networks (e.g., based on IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) 802.11, etc.) and so on. Two or moreUEs may communicate directly in addition to or instead of passing information to each other through a network.

[0030] A base station may operate according to one of several RATs in communication with UEs depending on the network in which it is deployed. Examples of a base station include an Access Point (AP), a Network Node, a NodeB, an evolved NodeB (eNB), or a general Node B (gNodeB, gNB). In addition, in some systems a base station may provide purely edge node signaling functions while in other systems it may provide additional control and / or network management functions.

[0031] UEs may be embodied by any of a number of types of devices including but not limited to printed circuit (PC) cards, compact flash devices, external or internal modems, wireless or wireline phones, smartphones, tablets, consumer asset tracking devices, asset tags, and so on. A communication link through which UEs can send signals to a RAN is called an uplink channel (e.g., a reverse traffic channel, a reverse control channel, an access channel, etc.). A communication link through which the RAN can send signals to UEs is called a downlink or forward link channel (e.g., a paging channel, a control channel, a broadcast channel, a forward traffic channel, etc.). As used herein the term traffic channel (TCH) can refer to either an uplink / reverse or downlink / forward traffic channel.

[0032] As used herein, the term "cell" or "sector" may correspond to one of a plurality of cells of a base station, or to the base station itself, depending on the context. The term "cell" may refer to a logical communication entity used for communication with a base station (for example, over a carrier), and may be associated with an identifier for distinguishing neighboring cells (for example, a physical cell identifier (PCID), a virtual cell identifier (VCID)) operating via the same or a different carrier. In some examples, a carrier may support multiple cells, and different cells may be configured according to different protocol types (for example, machine-type communication (MTC), narrowband Intemet-of-Things (NB-loT), enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB), or others) that may provide access for different types of devices. In some examples, the term "cell" may refer to a portion of a geographic coverage area (for example, a sector) over which the logical entity operates.

[0033] Referring to FIG. 1 , an example of a communication system 100 includes a UE 105, a UE 106, a Radio Access Network (RAN), here a Fifth Generation (5G) Next Generation (NG) RAN (NG-RAN) 135, a 5G Core Network (5GC) 140, and a server150. The UE 105 and / or the UE 106 may be, e.g., an loT device, a location tracker device, a cellular telephone, a vehicle (e.g., a car, a truck, a bus, a boat, etc.), or another device. A 5G network may also be referred to as a New Radio (NR) network; NG-RAN 135 may be referred to as a 5G RAN or as an NR RAN; and 5GC 140 may be referred to as an NG Core network (NGC). Standardization of an NG-RAN and 5GC is ongoing in the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP). Accordingly, the NG-RAN 135 and the 5GC 140 may conform to current or future standards for 5G support from 3GPP. The NG-RAN 135 may be another type of RAN, e.g., a 3G RAN, a 4G Long Term Evolution (LTE) RAN, etc. The UE 106 may be configured and coupled similarly to the UE 105 to send and / or receive signals to / from similar other entities in the system 100, but such signaling is not indicated in FIG. 1 for the sake of simplicity of the figure. Similarly, the discussion focuses on the UE 105 for the sake of simplicity. The communication system 100 may utilize information from a constellation 185 of satellite vehicles (SVs) 190, 191, 192, 193 for a Satellite Positioning System (SPS) (e.g., a Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS)) like the Global Positioning System (GPS), the Global Navigation Satellite System (GLONASS), Galileo, or Beidou or some other local or regional SPS such as the Indian Regional Navigational Satellite System (IRNSS), the European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service (EGNOS), or the Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS). Additional components of the communication system 100 are described below. The communication system 100 may include additional or alternative components.

[0034] As shown in FIG. 1, the NG-RAN 135 includes NR nodeBs (gNBs) 110a, 110b, and a next generation eNodeB (ng-eNB) 114, and the 5GC 140 includes an Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF) 115, a Session Management Function (SMF) 117, a Location Management Function (LMF) 120, and a Gateway Mobile Location Center (GMLC) 125. The gNBs 110a, 110b and the ng-eNB 114 are communicatively coupled to each other, are each configured to bi-directionally wirelessly communicate with the UE 105, and are each communicatively coupled to, and configured to bidirectionally communicate with, the AMF 115. The gNBs 110a, 110b, and the ng-eNB 114 may be referred to as base stations (BSs). The AMF 115, the SMF 117, the LMF 120, and the GMLC 125 are communicatively coupled to each other, and the GMLC is communicatively coupled to an external client 130. The SMF 117 may serve as an initial contact point of a Service Control Function (SCF) (not shown) to create, control,and delete media sessions. Base stations such as the gNBs 110a, 110b and / or the ng- eNB 114 may be a macro cell (e.g., a high-power cellular base station), or a small cell (e.g., a low-power cellular base station), or an access point (e.g., a short-range base station configured to communicate with short-range technology such as WiFi®, WiFi®- Direct (WiFi®-D), Bluetooth®, Bluetooth®-low energy (BLE), Zigbee®, etc. One or more base stations, e.g., one or more of the gNBs 110a, 1 10b and / or the ng-eNB 114 may be configured to communicate with the UE 105 via multiple carriers. Each of the gNBs 110a, 110b and / or the ng-eNB 114 may provide communication coverage for a respective geographic region, e.g., a cell. Each cell may be partitioned into multiple sectors as a function of the base station antennas.

[0035] FIG. 1 provides a generalized illustration of various components, any or all of which may be utilized as appropriate, and each of which may be duplicated or omitted as necessary. Specifically, although one UE 105 is illustrated, many UEs (e.g., hundreds, thousands, millions, etc.) may be utilized in the communication system 100. Similarly, the communication system 100 may include a larger (or smaller) number of SVs (i.e., more or fewer than the four SVs 190-193 shown), gNBs 110a, 110b, ng-eNBs 114, AMFs 115, external clients 130, and / or other components. The illustrated connections that connect the various components in the communication system 100 include data and signaling connections which may include additional (intermediary) components, direct or indirect physical and / or wireless connections, and / or additional networks. Furthermore, components may be rearranged, combined, separated, substituted, and / or omitted, depending on desired functionality.

[0036] While FIG. 1 illustrates a 5G-based network, similar network implementations and configurations may be used for other communication technologies, such as 3G, Long Term Evolution (LTE), etc. Implementations described herein (be they for 5G technology and / or for one or more other communication technologies and / or protocols) may be used to transmit (or broadcast) directional synchronization signals, receive and measure directional signals at UEs (e.g., the UE 105) and / or provide location assistance to the UE 105 (via the GMLC 125 or other location server) and / or compute a location for the UE 105 at a location-capable device such as the UE 105, the gNB 110a, 110b, or the LMF 120 based on measurement quantities received at the UE 105 for such directionally-transmitted signals. The gateway mobile location center (GMLC) 125, the location management function (LMF) 120, the access and mobility managementfimction (AMF) 115, the SMF 1 17, the ng-eNB (eNodeB) 114 and the gNBs (gNodeBs) 110a, 110b are examples and may be replaced by or include various other location server functionality and / or base station functionality respectively.

[0037] The system 100 is capable of wireless communication in that components of the system 100 can communicate with one another (at least some times using wireless connections) directly or indirectly, e.g., via the gNBs 110a, 110b, the ng-eNB 114, and / or the 5GC 140 (and / or one or more other devices not shown, such as one or more other base transceiver stations). For indirect communications, the communications may be altered during transmission from one entity to another, e.g., to alter header information of data packets, to change format, etc. The UE 105 may include multiple UEs and may be a mobile wireless communication device, but may communicate wirelessly and via wired connections. The UE 105 may be any of a variety of devices, e.g., a smartphone, a tablet computer, a vehicle-based device, etc., but these are examples as the UE 105 is not required to be any of these configurations, and other configurations of UEs may be used. Other UEs may include wearable devices (e.g., smart watches, smart jewelry, smart glasses or headsets, etc.). Still other UEs may be used, whether currently existing or developed in the future. Further, other wireless devices (whether mobile or not) may be implemented within the system 100 and may communicate with each other and / or with the UE 105, the gNBs 110a, 110b, the ng- eNB 114, the 5GC 140, and / or the external client 130. For example, such other devices may include internet of thing (loT) devices, medical devices, home entertainment and / or automation devices, etc. The 5GC 140 may communicate with the external client 130 (e.g., a computer system), e.g., to allow the external client 130 to request and / or receive location information regarding the UE 105 (e.g., via the GMLC 125).

[0038] The UE 105 or other devices may be configured to communicate in various networks and / or for various purposes and / or using various technologies (e.g., 5G, WiFi® communication, multiple frequencies of Wi-Fi® communication, satellite positioning, one or more types of communications (e.g., GSM (Global System for Mobiles), CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access), LTE (Long Term Evolution), V2X (Vehicle-to-Everything, e.g., V2P (Vehicle-to-Pedestrian), V2I (Vehicle-to- Infrastructure), V2V (Vehicle-to-Vehicle), etc.), IEEE 802.1 Ip, etc.). V2X communications may be cellular (Cellular-V2X (C-V2X)) and / or WiFi® (e.g., DSRC (Dedicated Short-Range Connection)). The system 100 may support operation onmultiple carriers (waveform signals of different frequencies). Multi-carrier transmitters can transmit modulated signals simultaneously on the multiple carriers. Each modulated signal may be a Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) signal, a Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) signal, an Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA) signal, a Single-Carrier Frequency Division Multiple Access (SC- FDMA) signal, etc. Each modulated signal may be sent on a different carrier and may carry pilot, overhead information, data, etc. The UEs 105, 106 may communicate with each other through UE-to-UE sidelink (SL) communications by transmitting over one or more sidelink channels such as a physical sidelink synchronization channel (PSSCH), a physical sidelink broadcast channel (PSBCH), or a physical sidelink control channel (PSCCH). Direct wireless-device-to-wireless-device communications without going through a network may be referred to generally as sidelink communications without limiting the communications to a particular protocol.

[0039] The UE 105 may comprise and / or may be referred to as a device, a mobile device, a wireless device, a mobile terminal, a terminal, a mobile station (MS), a Secure User Plane Location (SUPL) Enabled Terminal (SET), or by some other name.Moreover, the UE 105 may correspond to a cellphone, smartphone, laptop, tablet, PDA, consumer asset tracking device, navigation device, Internet of Things (loT) device, health monitors, security systems, smart city sensors, smart meters, wearable trackers, or some other portable or moveable device. Typically, though not necessarily, the UE 105 may support wireless communication using one or more Radio Access Technologies (RATs) such as Global System for Mobile communication (GSM), Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), Wideband CDMA (WCDMA), LTE, High Rate Packet Data (HRPD), IEEE 802.11 WiFi® (also referred to as Wi-Fi®), Bluetooth® (BT), Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMax®), 5G new radio (NR) (e.g., using the NG-RAN 135 and the 5GC 140), etc. The UE 105 may support wireless communication using a Wireless Local Area Network (WEAN) which may connect to other networks (e.g., the Internet) using a Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) or packet cable, for example. The use of one or more of these RATs may allow the UE 105 to communicate with the external client 130 (e.g., via elements of the 5GC 140 not shown in FIG. 1, or possibly via the GMLC 125) and / or allow the external client 130 to receive location information regarding the UE 105 (e.g., via the GMLC 125).

[0040] The UE 105 may include a single entity or may include multiple entities such as in a personal area network where a user may employ audio, video and / or data I / O (input / output) devices and / or body sensors and a separate wireline or wireless modem. An estimate of a location of the UE 105 may be referred to as a location, location estimate, location fix, fix, position, position estimate, or position fix, and may be geographic, thus providing location coordinates for the UE 105 (e.g., latitude and longitude) which may or may not include an altitude component (e.g., height above sea level, height above or depth below ground level, floor level, or basement level). Alternatively, a location of the UE 105 may be expressed as a civic location (e.g., as a postal address or the designation of some point or small area in a building such as a particular room or floor). A location of the UE 105 may be expressed as an area or volume (defined either geographically or in civic form) within which the UE 105 is expected to be located with some probability or confidence level (e.g., 67%, 95%, etc.). A location of the UE 105 may be expressed as a relative location comprising, for example, a distance and direction from a known location. The relative location may be expressed as relative coordinates (e.g., X, Y (and Z) coordinates) defined relative to some origin at a known location which may be defined, e.g., geographically, in civic terms, or by reference to a point, area, or volume, e.g., indicated on a map, floor plan, or building plan. In the description contained herein, the use of the term location may comprise any of these variants unless indicated otherwise. When computing the location of a UE, it is common to solve for local x, y, and possibly z coordinates and then, if desired, convert the local coordinates into absolute coordinates (e.g., for latitude, longitude, and altitude above or below mean sea level).

[0041] The UE 105 may be configured to communicate with other entities using one or more of a variety of technologies. The UE 105 may be configured to connect indirectly to one or more communication networks via one or more device-to-device (D2D) peer- to-peer (P2P) links. The D2D P2P links may be supported with any appropriate D2D radio access technology (RAT), such as LTE Direct (LTE-D), WiFi® Direct (WiFi®- D), Bluetooth®, and so on. One or more of a group of UEs utilizing D2D communications may be within a geographic coverage area of a Transmission / Reception Point (TRP) such as one or more of the gNBs 110a, 110b, and / or the ng-eNB 1 14. Other UEs in such a group may be outside such geographic coverage areas, or may be otherwise unable to receive transmissions from a base station.Groups of UEs communicating via D2D communications may utilize a one-to-many (1 :M) system in which each UE may transmit to other UEs in the group. A TRP may facilitate scheduling of resources for D2D communications. In other cases, D2D communications may be carried out between UEs without the involvement of a TRP. One or more of a group of UEs utilizing D2D communications may be within a geographic coverage area of a TRP. Other UEs in such a group may be outside such geographic coverage areas, or be otherwise unable to receive transmissions from a base station. Groups of UEs communicating via D2D communications may utilize a one-to- many ( 1 :M) system in which each UE may transmit to other UEs in the group. A TRP may facilitate scheduling of resources for D2D communications. In other cases, D2D communications may be carried out between UEs without the involvement of a TRP.

[0042] Base stations (BSs) in the NG-RAN 135 shown in FIG. 1 include NR Node Bs, referred to as the gNBs 110a and 110b. Pairs of the gNBs 110a, 110b in the NG-RAN 135 may be connected to one another via one or more other gNBs. Access to the 5G network is provided to the UE 105 via wireless communication between the UE 105 and one or more of the gNBs 110a, 110b, which may provide wireless communications access to the 5GC 140 on behalf of the UE 105 using 5G. In FIG. 1, the serving gNB for the UE 105 is assumed to be the gNB 110a, although another gNB (e.g., the gNB 110b) may act as a serving gNB if the UE 105 moves to another location or may act as a secondary gNB to provide additional throughput and bandwidth to the UE 105.

[0043] Base stations (BSs) in the NG-RAN 135 shown in FIG. 1 may include the ng- eNB 114, also referred to as a next generation evolved Node B. The ng-eNB 114 may be connected to one or more of the gNBs 110a, 110b in the NG-RAN 135, possibly via one or more other gNBs and / or one or more other ng-eNBs. The ng-eNB 114 may provide LTE wireless access and / or evolved LTE (cLTE) wireless access to the UE 105. One or more of the gNBs 110a, 110b and / or the ng-eNB 114 may be configured to function as positioning-only beacons which may transmit signals to assist with determining the position of the UE 105 but may not receive signals from the UE 105 or from other UEs.

[0044] The gNBs 110a, 110b and / or the ng-eNB 114 may each comprise one or more TRPs. For example, each sector within a cell of a BS may comprise a TRP, although multiple TRPs may share one or more components (e.g., share a processor but have separate antennas). The system 100 may include macro TRPs exclusively or the system100 may have TRPs of different types, e.g., macro, pico, and / or femto TRPs, etc. A macro TRP may cover a relatively large geographic area (e.g., several kilometers in radius) and may allow unrestricted access by terminals with service subscription. A pico TRP may cover a relatively small geographic area (e.g., a pico cell) and may allow unrestricted access by terminals with service subscription. A femto or home TRP may cover a relatively small geographic area (e.g., a femto cell) and may allow restricted access by terminals having association with the femto cell (e.g., terminals for users in a home).

[0045] Each of the gNBs 110a, 110b and / or the ng-eNB 114 may include a radio unit (RU), a distributed unit (DU), and a central unit (CU). For example, the gNB 110b includes an RU 111, a DU 112, and a CU 113. The RU 111, DU 112, and CU 113 divide functionality of the gNB 110b. While the gNB 110b is shown with a single RU, a single DU, and a single CU, a gNB may include one or more RUs, one or more DUs, and / or one or more CUs. An interface between the CU 113 and the DU 112 is referred to as an F 1 interface. The RU I l l is configured to perform digital front end (DFE) functions (e.g., analog-to-digital conversion, filtering, power amplification, transmission / reception) and digital beamforming, and includes a portion of the physical (PHY) layer. The RU 111 may perform the DFE using massive multiple input / multiple output (MIMO) and may be integrated with one or more antennas of the gNB 110b.The DU 112 hosts the Radio Link Control (RLC), Medium Access Control (MAC), and physical layers of the gNB 110b. One DU can support one or more cells, and each cell is supported by a single DU. The operation of the DU 112 is controlled by the CU 113. The CU 113 is configured to perform functions for transferring user data, mobility control, radio access network sharing, positioning, session management, etc. although some functions arc allocated exclusively to the DU 112. The CU 113 hosts the Radio Resource Control (RRC), Service Data Adaptation Protocol (SDAP), and Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) protocols of the gNB 110b. The UE 105 may communicate with the CU 1 13 via RRC, SDAP, and PDCP layers, with the DU 112 via the RLC, MAC, and PHY layers, and with the RU 111 via the PHY layer.

[0046] As noted, while FIG. 1 depicts nodes configured to communicate according to 5G communication protocols, nodes configured to communicate according to other communication protocols, such as, for example, an LTE protocol or IEEE 802.1 lx protocol, may be used. For example, in an Evolved Packet System (EPS) providingLTE wireless access to the UE 105, a RAN may comprise an Evolved Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) Terrestrial Radio Access Network (E-UTRAN) which may comprise base stations comprising evolved Node Bs (eNBs). A core network for EPS may comprise an Evolved Packet Core (EPC). An EPS may comprise an E-UTRAN plus EPC, where the E-UTRAN corresponds to the NG-RAN 135 and the EPC corresponds to the 5GC 140 in FIG. 1.

[0047] The gNBs 110a, 110b and the ng-eNB 114 may communicate with the AMF 115, which, for positioning functionality, communicates with the LMF 120. The AMF 115 may support mobility of the UE 105, including cell change and handover and may participate in supporting a signaling connection to the UE 105 and possibly data and voice bearers for the UE 105. The LMF 120 may communicate directly with the UE 105, e.g., through wireless communications, or directly with the gNBs 110a, 110b and / or the ng-eNB 114. The LMF 120 may support positioning of the UE 105 when the UE 105 accesses the NG-RAN 135 and may support position procedures / methods such as Assisted GNSS (A-GNSS), Observed Time Difference of Arrival (OTDOA) (e.g., Downlink (DL) OTDOA or Uplink (UL) OTDOA), Round Trip Time (RTT), MultiCell RTT, Real Time Kinematic (RTK), Precise Point Positioning (PPP), Differential GNSS (DGNSS), Enhanced Cell ID (E-CID), angle of arrival (AoA), angle of departure (AoD), and / or other position methods. The LMF 120 may process location services requests for the UE 105, e.g., received from the AMF 115 or from the GMLC 125. The LMF 120 may be connected to the AMF 115 and / or to the GMLC 125. The LMF 120 may be referred to by other names such as a Location Manager (LM), Location Function (LF), commercial LMF (CLMF), or value added LMF (VLMF). A node / system that implements the LMF 120 may additionally or alternatively implement other types of location-support modules, such as an Enhanced Serving Mobile Location Center (E-SMLC) or a Secure User Plane Location (SUPL) Location Platfomi (SLP). At least part of the positioning functionality (including derivation of the location of the UE 105) may be performed at the UE 105 (e.g., using signal measurements obtained by the UE 105 for signals transmitted by wireless nodes such as the gNBs 110a, 110b and / or the ng-eNB 114, and / or assistance data provided to the UE 105, e.g., by the LMF 120). The AMF 115 may serve as a control node that processes signaling between the UE 105 and the 5GC 140, and may provide QoS (Quality of Service) flow and sessionmanagement. The AMF 115 may support mobility of the UE 105 including cell change and handover and may participate in supporting signaling connection to the UE 105.

[0048] The server 150, e.g., a cloud server, is configured to obtain and provide location estimates of the UE 105 to the external client 130. The server 150 may, for example, be configured to run a microservice / service that obtains the location estimate of the UE 105. The server 150 may, for example, pull the location estimate from (e.g., by sending a location request to) the UE 105, one or more of the gNBs 110a, 110b (e.g., via the RU 111, the DU 112, and the CU 113) and / or the ng-eNB 114, and / or the LMF 120. As another example, the UE 105, one or more of the gNBs 110a, 110b (e.g., via the RU 111, the DU 112, and the CU 113), and / or the LMF 120 may push the location estimate of the UE 105 to the server 150.

[0049] The GMLC 125 may support a location request for the UE 105 received from the external client 130 via the server 150 and may forward such a location request to the AMF 1 15 for forwarding by the AMF 115 to the LMF 120 or may forward the location request directly to the LMF 120. A location response from the LMF 120 (e.g., containing a location estimate for the UE 105) may be returned to the GMLC 125 either directly or via the AMF 115 and the GMLC 125 may then return the location response (e.g., containing the location estimate) to the external client 130 via the server 150. The GMLC 125 is shown connected to both the AMF 115 and LMF 120, though may not be connected to the AMF 115 or the LMF 120 in some implementations.

[0050] As further illustrated in FIG. 1, the LMF 120 may communicate with the gNBs 110a, 110b and / or the ng-eNB 114 using a New Radio Position Protocol A (which may be referred to as NPPa or NRPPa), which may be defined in 3GPP Technical Specification (TS) 38.455. NRPPa may be the same as, similar to, or an extension of the LTE Positioning Protocol A (LPPa) defined in 3GPP TS 36.455, with NRPPa messages being transferred between the gNB 110a (or the gNB 110b) and the LMF 120, and / or between the ng-eNB 114 and the LMF 120, via the AMF 115. As further illustrated in FIG. 1, the LMF 120 and the UE 105 may communicate using an LTE Positioning Protocol (LPP), which may be defined in 3GPP TS 36.355. The LMF 120 and the UE 105 may also or instead communicate using a New Radio Positioning Protocol (which may be referred to as NPP or NRPP), which may be the same as, similar to, or an extension of LPP. Here, LPP and / or NPP messages may be transferred between the UE 105 and the LMF 120 via the AMF 115 and the serving gNB 110a,110b or the serving ng-eNB 114 for the UE 105. For example, LPP and / or NPP messages may be transferred between the LMF 120 and the AMF 115 using a 5G Location Services Application Protocol (LCS AP) and may be transferred between the AMF 115 and the UE 105 using a 5G Non-Access Stratum (NAS) protocol. The LPP and / or NPP protocol may be used to support positioning of the UE 105 using UE- assisted and / or UE -based position methods such as A-GNSS, RTK, OTDOA and / or E- CID. The NRPPa protocol may be used to support positioning of the UE 105 using network-based position methods such as E-CID (e.g., when used with measurements obtained by the gNB 110a, 110b or the ng-eNB 114) and / or may be used by the LMF 120 to obtain location related information from the gNBs 110a, 1 10b and / or the ng-eNB 114, such as parameters defining directional SS or PRS transmissions from the gNBs 110a, 110b, and / or the ng-eNB 114. The LMF 120 may be co-located or integrated with a gNB or a TRP, or may be disposed remote from the gNB and / or the TRP and configured to communicate directly or indirectly with the gNB and / or the TRP.

[0051] With a UE-assisted position method, the UE 105 may obtain location measurements and send the measurements to a location server (e.g., the LMF 120) for computation of a location estimate for the UE 105. For example, the location measurements may include one or more of a Received Signal Strength Indication (RSSI), Round Trip signal propagation Time (RTT), Reference Signal Time Difference (RSTD), Reference Signal Received Power (RSRP) and / or Reference Signal Received Quality (RSRQ) for the gNBs 110a, 110b, the ng-eNB 114, and / or a WLAN AP. The location measurements may also or instead include measurements of GNSS pseudorange, code phase, and / or carrier phase for the SVs 190-193.

[0052] With a UE-based position method, the UE 105 may obtain location measurements (e.g., which may be the same as or similar to location measurements for a UE-assisted position method) and may compute a location of the UE 105 (e.g., with the help of assistance data received from a location server such as the LMF 120 or broadcast by the gNBs 1 10a, 110b, the ng-eNB 114, or other base stations or APs).

[0053] With a network-based position method, one or more base stations (e.g., the gNBs 110a, 110b, and / or the ng-eNB 114) or APs may obtain location measurements (e.g., measurements of RSSI, RTT, RSRP, RSRQ or Time of Arrival (ToA) for signals transmitted by the UE 105) and / or may receive measurements obtained by the UE 105.The one or more base stations or APs may send the measurements to a location server (e.g., the LMF 120) for computation of a location estimate for the UE 105.

[0054] Information provided by the gNBs 110a, 110b, and / or the ng-eNB 114 to the LMF 120 using NRPPa may include timing and configuration information for directional SS or PRS transmissions and location coordinates. The LMF 120 may provide some or all of this information to the UE 105 as assistance data in an LPP and / or NPP message via the NG-RAN 135 and the 5GC 140.

[0055] An LPP or NPP message sent from the LMF 120 to the UE 105 may instruct the UE 105 to do any of a variety of things depending on desired functionality. For example, the LPP or NPP message could contain an instruction for the UE 105 to obtain measurements for GNSS (or A-GNSS), WLAN, E-CID, and / or OTDOA (or some other position method). In the case of E-CID, the LPP or NPP message may instruct the UE 105 to obtain one or more measurement quantities (e.g., beam ID, beam width, mean angle, RSRP, RSRQ measurements) of directional signals transmitted within particular cells supported by one or more of the gNBs 110a, 110b, and / or the ng-eNB 114 (or supported by some other type of base station such as an eNB or WiFi® AP). The UE 105 may send the measurement quantities back to the LMF 120 in an LPP or NPP message (e.g., inside a 5G NAS message) via the serving gNB 110a (or the serving ng- eNB 114) and the AMF 115.

[0056] As noted, while the communication system 100 is described in relation to 5G technology, the communication system 100 may be implemented to support other communication technologies, such as GSM, WCDMA, LTE, etc., that are used for supporting and interacting with mobile devices such as the UE 105 (e.g., to implement voice, data, positioning, and other functionalities). In some such implementations, the 5GC 140 may be configured to control different air interfaces. For example, the 5GC 140 may be connected to a WLAN using a Non-3GPP InterWorking Function (N3IWF, not shown FIG. 1) in the 5GC 140. For example, the WLAN may support IEEE 802. 11 WiFi® access for the UE 105 and may comprise one or more WiFi® APs. Here, the N3IWF may connect to the WLAN and to other elements in the 5GC 140 such as the AMF 115. In some examples, both the NG-RAN 135 and the 5GC 140 may be replaced by one or more other RANs and one or more other core networks. For example, in an EPS, the NG-RAN 135 may be replaced by an E-UTRAN containing eNBs and the 5GC 140 may be replaced by an EPC containing a Mobility Management Entity (MME)in place of the AMF 115, an E-SMLC in place of the LMF 120, and a GMLC that may be similar to the GMLC 125. In such an EPS, the E-SMLC may use LPPa in place of NRPPa to send and receive location information to and from the eNBs in the E-UTRAN and may use LPP to support positioning of the UE 105. In these other examples, positioning of the UE 105 using directional PRSs may be supported in an analogous manner to that described herein for a 5G network with the difference that functions and procedures described herein for the gNBs 110a, 110b, the ng-eNB 114, the AMF 115, and the LMF 120 may, in some cases, apply instead to other network elements such eNBs, WiFi® APs, an MME, and an E-SMLC.

[0057] As noted, in some examples, positioning functionality may be implemented, at least in part, using the directional SS or PRS beams, sent by base stations (such as the gNBs 110a, 110b, and / or the ng-eNB 114) that are within range of the UE whose position is to be determined (e.g., the UE 105 of FIG. 1). The UE may, in some instances, use the directional SS or PRS beams from a plurality of base stations (such as the gNBs 110a, 110b, the ng-eNB 114, etc.) to compute the position of the UE.

[0058] Referring also to FIG. 2, a UE 200 may be an example of one of the UEs 105, 106 and may comprise a computing platform including a processor 210, memory 211 including software (SW) 212, one or more sensors 213, a transceiver interface 214 for a transceiver 215 (that includes a wireless transceiver 240 and a wired transceiver 250), a user interface 216, a Satellite Positioning System (SPS) receiver 217, a camera 218, and a position device (PD) 219. The processor 210, the memory 211, the sensor(s) 213, the transceiver interface 214, the user interface 216, the SPS receiver 217, the camera 218, and the position device 219 may be communicatively coupled to each other by a bus 220 (which may be configured, e.g., for optical and / or electrical communication). One or more of the shown apparatus (e.g., the camera 218, the position device 219, and / or one or more of the sensor(s) 213, etc.) may be omitted from the UE 200. The processor 210 may include one or more hardware devices, e.g., a central processing unit (CPU), a microcontroller, an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), etc. The processor 210 may comprise multiple processors including a general-purpose / application processor 230, a Digital Signal Processor (DSP) 231, a modem processor 232, a video processor 233, and / or a sensor processor 234. One or more of the processors 230-234 may comprise multiple devices (e.g., multiple processors). For example, the sensor processor 234 may comprise, e.g., processors for RF (radio frequency) sensing (withone or more (cellular) wireless signals transmitted and reflection(s) used to identify, map, and / or track an object), and / or ultrasound, etc. The modem processor 232 may support dual SIM / dual connectivity (or even more SIMs). For example, a SIM (Subscriber Identity Module or Subscriber Identification Module) may be used by an Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM), and another SIM may be used by an end user of the UE 200 for connectivity. The memory 211 may be a non-transitory, processor- readable storage medium that may include random access memory (RAM), flash memory, disc memory, and / or read-only memory (ROM), etc. The memory 211 may store the software 212 which may be processor-readable, processor-executable software code containing instructions that may be configured to, when executed, cause the processor 210 to perform various functions described herein. Alternatively, the software 212 may not be directly executable by the processor 210 but may be configured to cause the processor 210, e.g., when compiled and executed, to perform the functions. The description herein may refer to the processor 210 performing a function, but this includes other implementations such as where the processor 210 executes instructions of software and / or firmware. The description herein may refer to the processor 210 performing a function as shorthand for one or more of the processors 230-234 performing the function. The description herein may refer to the UE 200 performing a function as shorthand for one or more appropriate components of the UE 200 performing the function. The processor 210 may include a memory with stored instructions in addition to and / or instead of the memory 211. Functionality of the processor 210 is discussed more fully below.

[0059] The configuration of the UE 200 shown in FIG. 2 is an example and not limiting of the disclosure, including the claims, and other configurations may be used. For example, an example configuration of the UE may include one or more of the processors 230-234 of the processor 210, the memory 211, and the wireless transceiver 240. Other example configurations may include one or more of the processors 230-234 of the processor 210, the memory 211 , a wireless transceiver, and one or more of the sensor(s) 213, the user interface 216, the SPS receiver 217, the camera 218, the PD 219, and / or a wired transceiver.

[0060] The UE 200 may comprise the modem processor 232 that may be capable of performing baseband processing of signals received and down-converted by the transceiver 215 and / or the SPS receiver 217. The modem processor 232 may performbaseband processing of signals to be upconverted for transmission by the transceiver 215. Also or alternatively, baseband processing may be performed by the general- purpose / application processor 230 and / or the DSP 231. Other configurations, however, may be used to perform baseband processing.

[0061] The UE 200 may include the sensor(s) 213 that may include, for example, an Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU), one or more magnetometers, and / or one or more environment sensors, etc. The IMU may comprise, for example, one or more accelerometers (e.g., collectively responding to acceleration of the UE 200 in three dimensions) and / or one or more gyroscopes (e.g., three-dimensional gyroscope(s)). The sensor(s) 213 may include the one or more magnetometers (e.g., three-dimensional magnetometer(s)) to determine orientation (e.g., relative to magnetic north and / or true north) that may be used for any of a variety of purposes, e.g., to support one or more compass applications. The environment sensor(s) may comprise, for example, one or more temperature sensors, one or more barometric pressure sensors, one or more ambient light sensors, one or more camera imagers, and / or one or more microphones, etc. The sensor(s) 213 may generate analog and / or digital signals indications of which may be stored in the memory 211 and processed by the DSP 231 and / or the general- purpose / application processor 230 in support of one or more applications such as, for example, applications directed to positioning and / or navigation operations. The sensor(s) 213 may comprise one or more of other various types of sensors such as one or more optical sensors, one or more weight sensors, and / or one or more radio frequency (RF) sensors, etc.

[0062] The sensor(s) 213 may be used in relative location measurements, relative location determination, motion determination, etc. Information detected by the scnsor(s) 213 may be used for motion detection, relative displacement, dead reckoning, sensor-based location determination, and / or sensor-assisted location determination. The sensor(s) 213 may be useful to determine whether the UE 200 is fixed (stationary) or mobile and / or whether to report certain useful information to the LMF 120 regarding the mobility of the UE 200. For example, based on the information obtained / measured by the sensor(s) 213, the UE 200 may notify / report to the LMF 120 that the UE 200 has detected movements or that the UE 200 has moved, and may report the relative displacement / distance (e.g., via dead reckoning, or sensor-based location determination, or sensor-assisted location determination enabled by the sensor(s) 213). In anotherexample, for relative positioning information, the sensors / IMU may be used to determine the angle and / or orientation of the other device with respect to the UE 200, etc.

[0063] The IMU may be configured to provide measurements about a direction of motion and / or a speed of motion of the UE 200, which may be used in relative location determination. For example, the one or more accelerometers and / or the one or more gyroscopes of the IMU may detect, respectively, a linear acceleration and a speed of rotation of the UE 200. The linear acceleration and speed of rotation measurements of the UE 200 may be integrated over time to determine an instantaneous direction of motion as well as a displacement of the UE 200. The instantaneous direction of motion and the displacement may be integrated to track a location of the UE 200. For example, a reference location of the UE 200 may be determined, e.g., using the SPS receiver 217 (and / or by some other means) for a moment in time and measurements from the accelerometer! s) and the gyroscope(s) taken after this moment in time may be used in dead reckoning to determine present location of the UE 200 based on movement (direction and distance) of the UE 200 relative to the reference location.

[0064] The magnetometer(s) may determine magnetic field strengths in different directions which may be used to determine orientation of the UE 200. For example, the orientation may be used to provide a digital compass for the UE 200. The magnetometer(s) may include a two-dimensional magnetometer configured to detect and provide indications of magnetic field strength in two orthogonal dimensions. The magnetometer(s) may include a three-dimensional magnetometer configured to detect and provide indications of magnetic field strength in three orthogonal dimensions. The magnetometer(s) may provide means for sensing a magnetic field and providing indications of the magnetic field, e.g., to the processor 210.

[0065] The transceiver 215 may include a wireless transceiver 240 and a wired transceiver 250 configured to communicate with other devices through wireless connections and wired connections, respectively. For example, the wireless transceiver 240 may include a wireless transmitter 242 and a wireless receiver 244 coupled to an antenna 246 for transmitting (e.g., on one or more uplink channels and / or one or more sidelink channels) and / or receiving (e.g., on one or more downlink channels and / or one or more sidelink channels) wireless signals 248 and transducing signals from the wireless signals 248 to guided (e.g., wired electrical and / or optical) signals and fromguided (e.g., wired electrical and / or optical) signals to the wireless signals 248. The wireless transmitter 242 includes appropriate components (e.g., a power amplifier and a digital-to-analog converter). The wireless receiver 244 includes appropriate components (e.g., one or more amplifiers, one or more frequency filters, and an analog- to-digital converter). The wireless transmitter 242 may include multiple transmitters that may be discrete components or combined / integrated components, and / or the wireless receiver 244 may include multiple receivers that may be discrete components or combined / integrated components. The wireless transceiver 240 may be configured to communicate signals (e.g., with TRPs and / or one or more other devices) according to a variety of radio access technologies (RATs) such as 5G New Radio (NR), GSM (Global System for Mobiles), UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System), AMPS (Advanced Mobile Phone System), CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access), WCDMA (Wideband CDMA), LTE (Long Term Evolution), LTE Direct (LTE-D), 3GPP LTE- V2X (PC5), IEEE 802.11 (including IEEE 802.1 Ip), WiFi®, WiFi® Direct (WiFi®-D), Bluetooth®, Zigbee®, etc. New Radio may use mm-wave frequencies and / or sub- 6GHz frequencies. The wired transceiver 250 may include a wired transmitter 252 and a wired receiver 254 configured for wired communication, e.g., a network interface that may be utilized to communicate with the NG-RAN 135 to send communications to, and receive communications from, the NG-RAN 135. The wired transmitter 252 may include multiple transmitters that may be discrete components or combined / integrated components, and / or the wired receiver 254 may include multiple receivers that may be discrete components or combined / integrated components. The wired transceiver 250 may be configured, e.g., for optical communication and / or electrical communication. The transceiver 215 may be communicatively coupled to the transceiver interface 214, e.g., by optical and / or electrical connection. The transceiver interface 214 may be at least partially integrated with the transceiver 215. The wireless transmitter 242, the wireless receiver 244, and / or the antenna 246 may include multiple transmitters, multiple receivers, and / or multiple antennas, respectively, for sending and / or receiving, respectively, appropriate signals.

[0066] The user interface 216 may comprise one or more of several devices such as, for example, a speaker, microphone, display device, vibration device, keyboard, touch screen, etc. The user interface 216 may include more than one of any of these devices. The user interface 216 may be configured to enable a user to interact with one or moreapplications hosted by the UE 200. For example, the user interface 216 may store indications of analog and / or digital signals in the memory 211 to be processed by DSP 231 and / or the general-purpose / application processor 230 in response to action from a user. Similarly, applications hosted on the UE 200 may store indications of analog and / or digital signals in the memory 211 to present an output signal to a user. The user interface 216 may include an audio input / output (I / O) device comprising, for example, a speaker, a microphone, digital-to-analog circuitiy, analog-to-digital circuitry, an amplifier and / or gain control circuitry (including more than one of any of these devices). Other configurations of an audio TO device may be used. Also or alternatively, the user interface 216 may comprise one or more touch sensors responsive to touching and / or pressure, e.g., on a keyboard and / or touch screen of the user interface 216.

[0067] The SPS receiver 217 (e.g., a Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver) may be capable of receiving and acquiring SPS signals 260 via an SPS antenna 262. The SPS antenna 262 is configured to transduce the SPS signals 260 from wireless signals to guided signals, e.g., wired electrical or optical signals, and may be integrated with the antenna 246. The SPS receiver 217 may be configured to process, in whole or in part, the acquired SPS signals 260 for estimating a location of the UE 200. For example, the SPS receiver 217 may be configured to determine location of the UE 200 by trilateration using the SPS signals 260. The general-purpose / application processor 230, the memory 211, the DSP 231 and / or one or more specialized processors (not shown) may be utilized to process acquired SPS signals, in whole or in part, and / or to calculate an estimated location of the UE 200, in conjunction with the SPS receiver 217. The memory 211 may store indications (e.g., measurements) of the SPS signals 260 and / or other signals (e.g., signals acquired from the wireless transceiver 240) for use in performing positioning operations. The general-purpose / application processor 230, the DSP 231, and / or one or more specialized processors, and / or the memory 211 may provide or support a location engine for use in processing measurements to estimate a location of the UE 200.

[0068] The UE 200 may include the camera 218 for capturing still or moving imagery. The camera 218 may comprise, for example, an imaging sensor (e.g., a charge coupled device or a CMOS (Complementary Metal-Oxide Semiconductor) imager), a lens, analog-to-digital circuitry, frame buffers, etc. Additional processing, conditioning,encoding, and / or compression of signals representing captured images may be performed by the general-purpose / application processor 230 and / or the DSP 231. Also or alternatively, the video processor 233 may perform conditioning, encoding, compression, and / or manipulation of signals representing captured images. The video processor 233 may decode / decompress stored image data for presentation on a display device (not shown), e.g., of the user interface 216.

[0069] The position device (PD) 219 may be configured to determine a position of the UE 200, motion of the UE 200, and / or relative position of the UE 200, and / or time. For example, the PD 219 may communicate with, and / or include some or all of, the SPS receiver 217. The PD 219 may work in conjunction with the processor 210 and the memory 211 as appropriate to perform at least a portion of one or more positioning methods, although the description herein may refer to the PD 219 being configured to perform, or performing, in accordance with the positioning method(s). The PD 219 may also or alternatively be configured to determine location of the UE 200 using terrestrialbased signals (e.g., at least some of the wireless signals 248) for trilateration, for assistance with obtaining and using the SPS signals 260, or both. The PD 219 may be configured to determine location of the UE 200 based on a cell of a serving base station (e.g., a cell center) and / or another technique such as E-CID. The PD 219 may be configured to use one or more images from the camera 218 and image recognition combined with known locations of landmarks (e.g., natural landmarks such as mountains and / or artificial landmarks such as buildings, bridges, streets, etc.) to determine location of the UE 200. The PD 219 may be configured to use one or more other techniques (e.g., relying on the UE’s self-reported location (e.g., part of the UE’s position beacon)) for determining the location of the UE 200, and may use a combination of techniques (e.g., SPS and terrestrial positioning signals) to determine the location of the UE 200. The PD 219 may include one or more of the sensors 213 (e.g., gyroscope(s), accelerometer(s), magnetometer(s), etc.) that may sense orientation and / or motion of the UE 200 and provide indications thereof that the processor 210 (e.g., the general-purpose / application processor 230 and / or the DSP 231) may be configured to use to determine motion (e.g., a velocity vector and / or an acceleration vector) of the UE 200. The PD 219 may be configured to provide indications of uncertainty and / or error in the determined position and / or motion. Functionality of the PD 219 may be provided in a variety of manners and / or configurations, e.g., by the general-purpose / applicationprocessor 230, the transceiver 215, the SPS receiver 217, and / or another component of the UE 200, and may be provided by hardware, software, firmware, or various combinations thereof.

[0070] Referring also to FIG. 3, an example of a TRP 300 of the gNBs 110a, 110b and / or the ng-eNB 114 may comprise a computing platform including a processor 310, memory 311 including software (SW) 312, and a transceiver 315. Even if referred to in the singular, the processor 310 may include one or more processors, the transceiver 315 may include one or more transceivers (e.g., one or more transmitters and / or one or more receivers), and the memory 31 1 may include one or more memories. The processor 310, the memory 311, and the transceiver 315 may be communicatively coupled to each other by a bus 320 (which may be configured, e.g., for optical and / or electrical communication). One or more of the shown apparatus may be omitted from the TRP 300. The processor 310 may include one or more hardware devices, e.g., a central processing unit (CPU), a microcontroller, an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), etc. The processor 310 may comprise multiple processors (e.g., including a general -purpose / application processor, a DSP, a modem processor, a video processor, and / or a sensor processor as shown in FIG. 2). The memory 311 may be a non- transitory storage medium that may include random access memory (RAM)), flash memory, disc memory, and / or read-only memory (ROM), etc. The memory 311 may store the software 312 which may be processor-readable, processor-executable software code containing instructions that are configured to, when executed, cause the processor 310 to perform various functions described herein. Alternatively, the software 332 may not be directly executable by the processor 310 but may be configured to cause the processor 310, e.g., when compiled and executed, to perform the functions.

[0071] The description herein may refer to the processor 310 performing a function, but this includes other implementations such as where the processor 310 executes software and / or firmware. The description herein may refer to the processor 310 performing a function as shorthand for one or more of the processors contained in the processor 310 performing the function. The description herein may refer to the TRP 300 performing a function as shorthand for one or more appropriate components (e.g., the processor 310 and the memory 311) of the TRP 300 (and thus of one of the gNBs 110a, 110b and / or the ng-eNB 114) performing the function. The processor 310 may include a memorywith stored instructions in addition to and / or instead of the memory 311. Functionality of the processor 310 is discussed more fully below.

[0072] The transceiver 315 may include a wireless transceiver 340 and / or a wired transceiver 350 configured to communicate with other devices through wireless connections and wired connections, respectively. For example, the wireless transceiver 340 may include a wireless transmitter 342 and a wireless receiver 344 coupled to one or more antennas 346 for transmitting (e.g., on one or more uplink channels and / or one or more downlink channels) and / or receiving (e.g., on one or more downlink channels and / or one or more uplink channels) wireless signals 348 and transducing signals from the wireless signals 348 to guided (e.g., wired electrical and / or optical) signals and from guided (e.g., wired electrical and / or optical) signals to the wireless signals 348. Thus, the wireless transmitter 342 may include multiple transmitters that may be discrete components or combined / integrated components, and / or the wireless receiver 344 may include multiple receivers that may be discrete components or combined / integrated components. The wireless transceiver 340 may be configured to communicate signals (e.g., with the UE 200, one or more other UEs, and / or one or more other devices) according to a variety of radio access technologies (RATs) such as 5G New Radio (NR), GSM (Global System for Mobiles), UMTS (Universal MobileTelecommunications System), AMPS (Advanced Mobile Phone System), CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access), WCDMA (Wideband CDMA), LTE (Long TermEvolution), LTE Direct (LTE-D), 3GPP LTE-V2X (PC5), IEEE 802.11 (including IEEE 802.1 Ip), WiFi®, WiFi® Direct (WiFi®-D), Bluetooth®, Zigbee®, etc. The wired transceiver 350 may include a wired transmitter 352 and a wired receiver 354 configured for wired communication, e.g., a network interface that may be utilized to communicate with the NG-RAN 135 to send communications to, and receive communications from, the LMF 120, for example, and / or one or more other network entities. The wired transmitter 352 may include multiple transmitters that may be discrete components or combined / integrated components, and / or the wired receiver 354 may include multiple receivers that may be discrete components or combined / integrated components. The wired transceiver 350 may be configured, e.g., for optical communication and / or electrical communication.

[0073] The configuration of the TRP 300 shown in FIG. 3 is an example and not limiting of the disclosure, including the claims, and other configurations may be used.For example, the description herein discusses that the TRP 300 may be configured to perform or performs several functions, but one or more of these functions may be performed by the LMF 120 and / or the UE 200 (i.e. , the LMF 120 and / or the UE 200 may be configured to perform one or more of these functions).

[0074] Referring also to FIG. 4, a server 400, of which the LMF 120 may be an example, may comprise a computing platform including a processor 410, memory 411 including software (SW) 412, and a transceiver 415. Even if referred to in the singular, the processor 410 may include one or more processors, the transceiver 415 may include one or more transceivers (e.g., one or more transmitters and / or one or more receivers), and the memory 411 may include one or more memories. The processor 410, the memory 411, and the transceiver 415 may be communicatively coupled to each other by a bus 420 (which may be configured, e.g., for optical and / or electrical communication). One or more of the shown apparatus (e.g., a wireless transceiver) may be omitted from the server 400. The processor 410 may include one or more hardware devices, e.g., a central processing unit (CPU), a microcontroller, an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), etc. The processor 410 may comprise multiple processors (e.g., including a general-purpose / application processor, a DSP, a modem processor, a video processor, and / or a sensor processor as shown in FIG. 2). The memory 411 may be a non-transitory storage medium that may include random access memory (RAM)), flash memory, disc memory, and / or read-only memoiy (ROM), etc. The memory 411 may store the software 412 which may be processor-readable, processor-executable software code containing instructions that are configured to, when executed, cause the processor 410 to perform various functions described herein. Alternatively, the software 412 may not be directly executable by the processor 410 but may be configured to cause the processor 410, e.g., when compiled and executed, to perform the functions. The description herein may refer to the processor 410 performing a function, but this includes other implementations such as where the processor 410 executes software and / or firmware. The description herein may refer to the processor 410 performing a function as shorthand for one or more of the processors contained in the processor 410 performing the function. The description herein may refer to the server 400 performing a function as shorthand for one or more appropriate components of the server 400 performing the function. The processor 410 may include a memory with storedinstructions in addition to and / or instead of the memory 411. Functionality of the processor 410 is discussed more fully below.

[0075] The transceiver 415 may include a wireless transceiver 440 and / or a wired transceiver 450 configured to communicate with other devices through wireless connections and wired connections, respectively. For example, the wireless transceiver 440 may include a wireless transmitter 442 and a wireless receiver 444 coupled to one or more antennas 446 for transmitting (e.g., on one or more downlink channels) and / or receiving (e.g., on one or more uplink channels) wireless signals 448 and transducing signals from the wireless signals 448 to guided (e.g., wired electrical andzor optical) signals and from guided (e.g., wired electrical and / or optical) signals to the wireless signals 448. Thus, the wireless transmitter 442 may include multiple transmitters that may be discrete components or combined / integrated components, and / or the wireless receiver 444 may include multiple receivers that may be discrete components or combined / integrated components. The wireless transceiver 440 may be configured to communicate signals (e.g., with the UE 200, one or more other UEs, and / or one or more other devices) according to a variety of radio access technologies (RATs) such as 5G New Radio (NR), GSM (Global System for Mobiles), UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System), AMPS (Advanced Mobile Phone System), CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access), WCDMA (Wideband CDMA), ETE (Long TermEvolution), LTE Direct (LTE-D), 3GPP LTE-V2X (PC5), IEEE 802.11 (including IEEE 802.1 Ip), WiFi®, WiFi® Direct (WiFi®-D), Bluetooth®, Zigbee®, etc. The wired transceiver 450 may include a wired transmitter 452 and a wired receiver 454 configured for wired communication, e.g., a network interface that may be utilized to communicate with the NG-RAN 135 to send communications to, and receive communications from, the TRP 300, for example, and / or one or more other network entities. The wired transmitter 452 may include multiple transmitters that may be discrete components or combined / integrated components, and / or the wired receiver 454 may include multiple receivers that may be discrete components or combined / integrated components. The wired transceiver 450 may be configured, e.g., for optical communication and / or electrical communication.

[0076] The description herein may refer to the processor 410 performing a function, but this includes other implementations such as where the processor 410 executes software (stored in the memory 411) and / or firmware. The description herein may refer to theserver 400 performing a function as shorthand for one or more appropriate components (e.g., the processor 410 and the memory 411) of the server 400 performing the function.

[0077] The configuration of the server 400 shown in FIG. 4 is an example and not limiting of the disclosure, including the claims, and other configurations may be used. For example, the wireless transceiver 440 may be omitted. Also or alternatively, the description herein discusses that the server 400 is configured to perform or performs several functions, but one or more of these functions may be performed by the TRP 300 and / or the UE 200 (i.e., the TRP 300 and / or the UE 200 may be configured to perform one or more of these functions).

[0078] Referring to FIG. 5A, a wireless communication environment 500 includes a server 505, TRPs 510, 511, reconfigurable intelligent surfaces (RISes) 520, 521, UEs 530, 531, 532 and an obstacle 540 (e.g., a building or other object that inhibits / blocks RF signals). The server 505 may be an example of the server 400, the TRPs 510, 511 may be examples of the TRP 300, and the UEs 530, 531 may be examples of the UE 200 or examples of other UEs discussed herein. The TRPs 510, 511 are configured to communicate (transmit and / or receive wireless signals) with at least antenna beams 551, 552, 553, 554, 558, 561, 562, 563, 564, respectively. The RISes 520, 521 are artificial structures with engineered electromagnetic (EM) properties. The RISes 520, 521 are configured to receive wireless signals from a transmitter (e.g., a base station or UE) and passively beamform and retransmit (e.g., without power amplification) the received signals via one or more beams, with the retransmitted signals referred to as reflected signals, toward a receiver (e.g., a base station or UE). A RIS can be configured to reflect an impinging signal to a desired direction. For example, each of the RISes 520, 521 may be dynamically configured to transmit the respective reflected signals toward one or more receivers such as one or more of the UEs 530-532. The RIS 520 is configured, in this example, to use antenna beams 571, 572, 573, 574 to transmit and / or receive wireless signals. As described herein, each of the RISes 520, 521 are examples of an assistance node (AN).

[0079] In the example i 11 ustrated in FIG. 5A, the TRP 510 is connected to, and configured to control, the RISes 520, 521 to control the direction(s) of the reflected signals from the RISes 520, 521. As shown, the TRP 510 is unable to communicate directly with the UE 531 due to the obstacle 540 being disposed along the line of sight (LOS) direction between the TRP 510 and the UE 531 (e.g., the beam 552 from the TRP510 to the UE 531). The UE 531 is disposed behind the obstacle 540 relative to the TRP 510 and thus unable to receive an LOS beam (the beam 552) from the TRP 510. The TRP 510 may be aware that the obstacle 540 creates a coverage hole, i.e., a geographic area in which signals from the TRP 510 cannot directly reach or may reach but be attenuated enough to make detection of the signal difficult or impossible by a UE within the coverage hole. In this scenario, the TRP 510 may bounce a signal off of one or more RISes into the coverage hole to provide coverage to devices in the coverage hole, including devices about which the TRP 510 is not currently aware. For example, the TRP 510 may use the beam 551 to transmit a signal 556 to the RIS 520, and control the RIS 520 to reflect the incoming signal into the beam 573 to transmit a reflected signal 576 toward the UE 531, thereby communicating with the UE 531 around the obstacle 540. The TRP 510 may configure the RIS 520 to reflect UL signals from the UE 531 into the beam 571 to the TRP 510. In another example illustrated in FIG. 5A, the TRP 510 may transmit a signal 557 to the RIS 521 , and control the RIS 521 to reflect the incoming signal 557 toward the UE 531, thereby communicating with the UE 531 around the obstacle 540.

[0080] The environment may be used to help with signal exchange between one or more TRPs and one or more low-tier (e.g., low-power, low-bandwidth, low-antenna- count, low baseband processing capability) UEs, such as an "NR light" UE or a reduced-capability UE (i.e., an "NR RedCap" UE), which may not have the capability to hear or detect a PRS transmitted from a non-serving TRP, especially from a TRP that is far from the UE. Likewise, an SRS measurement by a non-serving TRP of an SRS from a low-tier UE may be of lower quality than an SRS measurement from a UE that is not a low-tier UE. The use of one or more of the RISes 520, 521 may enable the exchange of one or more additional signals between the TRP 510 and the UE 531. The use of the RISes 520, 521 from a single TRP, here the TRP 510, may reduce or eliminate synchronization errors that may occur with multiple signals from multiple TRPs, which may help improve, for example, positioning accuracy based on signal exchange between the TRP 510 and the UE 531.

[0081] One or more of the UEs 530-532 may be within a coverage area of a TRP, e.g., the TRP 510, only without RIS signal reflection (e.g., the UE 530), only with RIS signal reflection (e.g., the UE 531), with or without RIS signal reflection (e.g., the UE 532), or not within the coverage area of the TRP (although not shown in FIG. 5A). Due tomobility of the UEs 530-532, any of the UEs 530-532 may be in one coverage situation (e.g., only without RIS reflection) at one time and another coverage situation (e.g., only with RIS reflection) at another time. Also, a UE may not be able to receive and measure signals from both the TRP 510 directly and from the RIS 520 at the same time / location due to the beam directions of the signals from the TRP 510 and the RIS 520, respectively. For example, the UE 531 may attempt to measure a synchronization signal (e.g., an SSB (Synchronization Signal Block)) transmitted by the TRP 510 in each of the beams 551-554 and be unable to measure the synchronization signal from any of the beams 551-554, but be able to measure the synchronization signal sent in the beam 551 and reflected in the beam 573 from the RIS 520 using a beam 581 of the UE 531. The UE 531 may not be able to measure a signal in the beam 573 adequately using a beam 582 directed in an LOS direction toward the TRP 510.

[0082] Referring to FIG. 5B, a system diagram of an example RIS controller 590 is shown. The controller 590 is an example of a control circuit configured to control the reflection coefficients in the RIS 520, 521. In an example, the controller 590 may be communicatively coupled to the server 505 and one of the RIS 520, 521 (e.g., the RIS 521). The controller 590 may be included within the server 505, the RIS 521, the TRP 510, or other entities in the communication environment 500 for configuring the reflections from the RIS 520, 521. A control unit 591 may include one or more microcontrollers and may be configured to receive control signals from the server 505. hi an example, the control signals may be conveyed via a Xn interface from the server 505 via a gNB or other network entity. Other control plane protocols may also be used. The control unit 591 may utilize a digital-to-analog converter (DAC) 592 to generate an analog voltage signal representing the desired phase and amplitude of a signal to be reflected by the RIS 521. In an example, the control unit 591 may include one or more code books (e.g., look-up-tables or other data structures) to correlate the phase and amplitude information with desired reflection performance. A RF switch matrix 593 may be configured to receive the analog voltage signal and control the phase and amplitude of the signal reflected by elements in the RIS 521. In an example, the RF switch matrix 593 may include low-noise amplifiers (LNAs) 594, variable attenuators 595, and phase shifters 596 operably coupled to the elements of the RIS 521. The control unit 591 may be configured to monitor the performance of the RIS 521 and adjust the reflection coefficients of each element to realize the desired reflected beamquality. In an example, machine learning algorithms may be used to improve the code books to adapt the configuration of the RF switch matrix 593 based on network conditions and the desired coverage area.

[0083] Wireless communication signals (e.g., RF signals configured to carry OFDM symbols) transmitted between a UE, a base station, and / or an assistance node (e.g., the RISes 520, 521) may be reused for environment sensing (also referred to as “RF sensing” or “radar”). Using wireless communication signals for environment sensing can be regarded as consumer-level radar with advanced detection capabilities that enable, among other things, touchless / device-free interaction with a device / system. The wireless communication signals may be cellular communication signals, such as LTE or NR signals, WLAN signals, etc. As a particular example, the wireless communication signals may be an OFDM waveform as utilized in LTE and NR. High-frequency communication signals, such as mmW RF signals, are especially beneficial to use as radar signals because the higher frequency provides, at least, more accurate range (distance) detection.

[0084] hi general, there are different types of RF sensing, and in particular, monostatic and bistatic (e.g., multistatic) RF sensing. FIGS. 6A and 6B illustrate two of these various types of RF sensing. Specifically, FIG. 6A is a diagram 600 illustrating a monostatic RF sensing scenario, and FIG. 6B is a diagram 630 illustrating a bistatic RF sensing scenario. The concepts of the bistatic RF sensing scenario in FIG. 6B may be extended to multiple stations for multistatic RF sensing. In FIG. 6A, a base station 602 may be configured for full duplex operation and thus the transmitter (Tx) and receiver (Rx) are co-located. For example, a transmitted radio frequency (RF) signal 606 may be reflected off of a target object, such as a building 604, and the receiver on the base station 602 is configured to receive and measure a reflected beam 608. This is a typical use case for traditional, or conventional, RF sensing. In an example, monostatic RF sensing may be realized with half duplex operation such that a transceiver may be configured to transmit a RF sensing signal at a first time, and then receive a reflected signal at a second time. In FIG. 6B, a base station 605 may be configured as a transmitter (Tx) and a UE 632 may be configured as a receiver (Rx). In this example, the transmitter and the receiver are not co-located, that is, they are separated. The base station 605 may be configured to transmit a beam, such as an omnidirectional downlink RF signal which may be received by the UE 632. A portion of the RF signal 606 maybe reflected or refracted by the building 604 and the UE 632 may receive this reflected signal 634. This is the typical use case for wireless communication-based (e.g., WiFibased, LTE -based, NR-based) RF sensing. Note that while FIG. 6B illustrates using a downlink RF signal 606 as a RF sensing signal, uplink RF signals can also be used as RF sensing signals. In a downlink scenario, as shown, the transmitter is the base station 605 and the receiver is the UE 632, whereas in an uplink scenario, the transmitter is a UE 632 and the receiver is a base station.

[0085] Referring to FIG. 6B in greater detail, the base station 605 transmits RF sensing signals (e.g., OFDM reference signals or other waveforms) to the UE 632, but some of the RF sensing signals reflect off a target object such as the building 604. The UE 632 can measure the ToAs of the RF signal 606 received directly from the base station, and the ToAs of the reflected signal 634 which is reflected from the target object (e.g., the building 604).

[0086] The base station 605 may be configured to transmit the single RF signal 606 or multiple RF signals to a receiver (e.g., the UE 632). However, the UE 632 may receive multiple RF signals corresponding to each transmitted RF signal due to the propagation characteristics of RF signals through multipath channels. Each path may be associated with a cluster of one or more channel taps. Generally, the time at which the receiver detects the first cluster of channel taps is considered the ToA of the RF signal on the line-of-site (LOS) path (i.e., the shortest path between the transmitter and the receiver). Later clusters of channel taps are considered to have reflected off objects between the transmitter and the receiver and therefore to have followed non-LOS (NLOS) paths between the transmitter and the receiver.

[0087] Thus, referring back to FIG. 6B, the RF signal 606 follows a LOS path between the base station 605 and the UE 632, and the reflected signal 634 represents the RF sensing signals that followed a NLOS path between the base station 605 and the UE 632 due to reflecting off the building 604 (or another target object). The base station 605 may have transmitted multiple RF sensing signals (not shown in FIG. 6B), some of which followed the LOS path and others of which followed the NLOS path. Alternatively, the base station 605 may have transmitted a single RF sensing signal in a broad enough beam that a portion of the RF sensing signal followed the LOS path and a portion of the RF sensing signal followed the NLOS path.

[0088] Based on the difference between the ToA of the LOS path, the ToA of the NLOS path, and the speed of light, the UE 632 can determine the distance to the building 604. In addition, if the UE 632 is capable of receive -beam forming, the UE 632 may be able to determine the general direction to the building 604 as the direction of the reflected signal 634, which is the RF sensing signal following the NLOS path as received. The UE 632 may then optionally report this information to the transmitting base station 605, an application server associated with the core network, an external client, a third-party application, or some other entity. Alternatively, the UE 632 may report the ToA measurements to the base station 605, or other entity, and the base station 605 may determine the distance and, optionally, the direction to the target object.

[0089] Note that if the RF sensing signals are uplink RF signals transmitted by the UE 632 to the base station 605, the base station 605 may be configured to perform object detection based on the uplink RF signals just like the UE 632 does based on the downlink RF signals.

[0090] Referring to FIG. 7, an example graph 700 showing an RF channel response at a receiver (e.g., any of the UEs or base stations described herein) over time is shown. In the example of FIG. 7, the receiver receives multiple (four) clusters of channel taps. Each channel tap represents a multipath that an RF signal followed between the transmitter (e.g., any of the UEs or base stations described herein) and the receiver.That is, a channel tap represents the arrival of an RF signal on a multipath. Each cluster of channel taps indicates that the corresponding multipaths followed essentially the same path. There may be different clusters due to the RF signal being transmitted on different transmit beams (and therefore at different angles), or because of the propagation characteristics of RF signals (potentially following widely different paths due to reflections), or both.

[0091] Under the channel illustrated in FIG. 7, the receiver receives a first cluster of two RF signals on channel taps at time Tl, a second cluster of five RF signals on channel taps at time T2, a third cluster of five RF signals on channel taps at time T3, and a fourth cluster of four RF signals on channel taps at time T4. In the example of FIG. 7, because the first cluster of RF signals at time Tl arrives first, it is presumed to be the LOS data stream (i.e., the data stream arriving over the LOS or the shortest path), and may correspond to the LOS path illustrated in FIG. 6B (e.g., the RF signal 606). The third cluster at time T3 is comprised of the strongest RF signals, and maycorrespond to the NLOS path illustrated in FIG. 6B (e.g., the reflected signal 634). Note that although FIG. 7 illustrates clusters of two to five channel taps, as will be appreciated, the clusters may have more or fewer than the illustrated number of channel taps.

[0092] Referring to FIG. 8, an OFDM transmitter 800 and an OFDM receiver 804 are shown. FIG. 8 is an example of an ISAC capable OFDM transmitter 800 and receiver 804 that may be employed by the example wireless communication nodes described herein. The OFDM transmitter 800 is configured to transmit OFDM signals which may be used for communications and RF sensing operations. OFDM symbols may be generated via Inverse Fast Fourier Transform (IFFT) and shifted into the RF band via quadrature modulation and transmitted over the channel, which may include one or more objects 802. The receiver 804 may receive reflected signals and remove the cyclic prefix (CP) from the quadrature demodulated signal. Complex modulation symbols may be obtained via the FFT. The received waveform may be demodulated based on spectral division, which cancels out the transmitted complex modulation symbols by elementwise multiplication. This 2D-FFT processing enables distance-velocity RF sensing that is similar to frequency modulated continuous wave (FMCW) based radar systems. In an example, the transmitter 800 and the receiver 804 may be in the same wireless node and may be configured for monostatic RF sensing. The transmitter 800 and the receiver 804 may be in different wireless nodes and may be utilized for bistatic RF sensing operations.

[0093] Referring to FIG. 9, a use case diagram 900 including examples of weak and tight coupling between sensing and communication channels is shown. The diagram includes a communications receiver 902, such as a gNB, an ISAC transmitting station 904, such as an RSU, and an assistance node (AN) 906, such as a RIS. Other wireless devices such as UEs, base stations, AP, etc. may be configured as the receiver 902, the transmitting station 904, and the AN 906. In an example, the receiver 902, the transmitting station 904 and the AN 906 may be communicatively coupled to a server 914 via wired or wireless communication technologies. In operation, the AN 906 may be selected and configured to improve the coupling between sensing and communication channels to enhance ISAC performance. The communication and sensing channels may be tightly coupled when the transmit beams for sensing and communication are geometrically close to one another. Tight coupling may lead toimproved performance for both communication and sensing as compared to weakly coupled use cases. Weak coupling may occur when independent transmission for sensing and communications signals are used (e.g., when the transmissions are in orthogonal directions). Weak coupling use cases may lead to a poor performance tradeoff between communication and sensing operations.

[0094] In operation, in an example, the transmitting station 904 may be configured to transmit a first communication signal 910a to the receiver 902 and a first RF sensing signal 910a towards a target 908. Reflections of the first RF sensing signal 910a caused by the target 908 may be received by the receiver 902 and / or other stations in the network (not shown in FIG. 9). The first communication signal 910a and the first RF sensing signal 910b are examples of weakly coupled signals because of their geometric orientation (e.g., transmitted in different directions which may have different channel properties). The server 914 may be configured to select and configure the AN 906 to improve the coupling of the communication and RF sensing transmissions based at least in part on the relative locations of the receiver 902, the transmitting station 904 and the target 908. In an example, transmitting station 904 may transmit a RF signal 912 towards the AN 906, and the AN 906 may be configured to reflect a second communication signal 912a and a second RF sensing signal 912b. In an example, the second communication signal 912a and the second RF sensing signal 912b may be the same signal reflected from the AN 906. In this example, the second communication signal 912a and the second RF sensing signal 912b are tightly coupled due to the narrow angle between them and the likely similarities in the respective channels. The configurations of the wireless nodes and target in FIG. 9 are examples, and not limitations. One or more network resources, such as the server 914, may be configured to select and configure one or more ANs to improve the coupling between communication and sensing channels.

[0095] Referring to FIG. 10, a block diagram 1000 of an example control system for AN aided ISAC operations is shown. The diagram 1000 includes a sensing management function (Sn-MF) 1002, an assistance node management function (AN MF) 1004, and a NG RAN 1006. The NG RAN 1006 may include some or all of the components of the NG RAN 135, and the Sn-MF 1002 and / or the AN MF 1004 may be included in the 5G Core 140. In an example, the Sn-MF 1002 and / or the AN MF 1004 may be edge computing devices, such as an external server 150, configured to utilizeAN-aided ISAC operations. The AN MF 1004 may be communicatively coupled to one or more ANs 1008a, 1008b, . . ., 1008k via wired or wireless communication technologies. The one or more ANs 1008a-k may be RIS, UE, RSU, base stations, or other active or passive wireless nodes located and configured to increase the coupling in ISAC operations as described in FIG. 9. In an example, the AN MF 1004 may be a server 400 configured to receive inputs from the Sn-MF 1002 and the NG-RAN 1006 to determine which of the one or more ANs 1008a-k to utilized in ISAC operations. The AN MF 1004 may provide an indication of the selected AN (or ANs) and the corresponding parameters for aiding ISAC operation. Other network resources (e.g., servers) may be configured to select and configure ANs.

[0096] In an example, a ISAC transmitting station (e.g., the transmitting station 904) may be configure to trigger an AN-aid request from the AN MF 1004 (or from another network resource). The trigger may be based on one or more of allowable communication QoS degradation factors (e.g., packet error rate, packet delay budget), allowable sensing QoS degradation factors (e.g., range, angle, velocity, accuracy / resolution, max range / velocity / angle, false alarm and misdetection probabilities), and / or desired sensing area(s) (e.g., range of directions and distances). AN-aid request triggers may be based on other parameters, such as a communication receiver node identity or location, coherent processing interval (CPI) and update time for sensing, latency for communication, and priority information for sensing and communication operations. In an example, the ISAC transmitting station may dynamically trigger the AN-aid request when the communication QoS and / or sensing QoS are below respective threshold values. The threshold values may be provided to the ISAC transmitting station from a network resource, or they may be based on internal parameters configured on the ISAC transmitting station.

[0097] In response to an AN-aid request, the AN MF 1004 may be configured to determine and indicate a set of AN-i, sensing target directions, communication beam direction, and sensing receiving node(s) for meeting sensing and communication requests. In an example, an initial determination may be based on geographical locations of the ANs, ISAC transmitting station, the receiver, and a sensing target area. The station selection process may iterate to refine the AN selection set and transmit configuration parameters based on measurements obtained during one or more ISAC measurement sessions. In an example, a set of scan transmit and receive beamdirections along with beamwidth and beamforming gains may be indicated for different times within a coherent processing interval for a given AN-i. The beam and station configuration information may be provided to the AN-i, ISAC transmitting station, communication receiver, and sensing receiver.

[0098] In operation, a scan stage for sensing may be performed simultaneously with communication measurement sessions to check link quality and for communication beam management. Sensing target detection may also aid in communication beam management to identify suitable transmit / receive beam pairs. The communication and RF sensing receivers may be configured to send measurement reports with observed sensing and communication QoS information. In a use case, the communication and sensing receivers may be configured to indicate whether the selected AN-i is / are suitable or unsuitable based on sensing / communication QoS information (e.g., based on parameter received from the AN MF or other network resource). The measurement session may utilize reference signals for both sensing and communication operations.

[0099] The AN MF (or other network resource) may be configured to provide communication and / or RF sensing parameters to the ISAC transmitter based on an AN measurement session. For example, the parameters may include indications of the chosen AN parameters, such as distance, direction, mobility, and type of assistance node (e.g., indications that the AN is a RIS (and possibly whether the RIS is active or passive) and the associated RIS parameters), coherent processing interval (CPI) information, a set of beam directions along with beamforming gain and beam width in those directions within the CPI to direct signals to a RIS, indications of when to use respective beams in a given CPI, ISAC waveform parameters, indications on when to use data and when to use a reference signal (RS), and indications of which RS to utilize and corresponding time information. An AN (whether a RIS or another form of AN) may be implemented using an active or passive approach. The AN MF (or other network resource) may also be configured to provide parameters on an AN (e.g., a RIS) based on the AN measurement session. For example, the parameters provided to a RIS may include CPI information, communication beam directions (e.g., beamforming gain and beamwidth) within the CPI, possible beam sets for a measurement session, timing information to indicate when to use a communication beam (e.g., in TDM based use cases), a set of sensing beam directions along with beamforming gain and beam width to scan or track within a refined sensing field of view (FoV) within the CPI, indicationsof when to use each sensing beam in a given CPI, and waveform configuration / signature information. For example, a RIS may be configured to employ a phase-coded signature on the signal received from the ISAC transmitting station to indicate a non-line of sight (NLoS) signal received from the RIS. In an example, the AN MF (or other network resource) may be configured to provide configuration information to the RF sensing and / or communication receivers. For example, the configuration information may be assistance data including a set of transmit beam directions during a CPI from the ISAC transmitting station, a set of transmit beam directions during a CPI from the AN (e.g., RIS), location and mobility information for the ISAC transmitting station and the AN, and indications of the type(s) of ISAC waveforms (e.g., data or which type of RS) used and the corresponding waveform parameters.

[0100] Referring to FIG. 11, an example message flow 1100 for enabling AN aided ISAC operations is shown. The message flow 1100 includes an ISAC transmitting station 1102, a controller 1104, and one or more ANs 1106. The ISAC transmitting station 1102 may be a UE 200, a TRP 300, or other wireless node configured for ISAC operations. The controller 1104 may be a server 400, such as the AN MF 1004, configured to communicate with network stations, and the one or more ANs 1106 may include a RIS or other station configured to increase the coupling between sensing and communication signals. Other stations, such as the receiving stations (e.g., the receiver 902) may be included in the message flow 1100.

[0101] At stage 110, the ISAC transmitting station 1102 sends an AN-aid request message 1110 to the controller 1104. For example, at stage 1108, the ISAC transmitting station 1102 may be configured to determine ISAC performance requirements and send the AN-aid request message 1110 to the controller 1104 based at least in part on the requirements. For example, the ISAC performance requirements may be a trigger for sending the AN-aid request message 1110. The ISAC perfomiance requirements may be based on one or more of allowable communication QoS degradation factors (e.g., packet error rate, packet delay budget), allowable sensing QoS degradation factors (e.g., range, angle, velocity, accuracy / resolution, max range / velocity / angle, false alarm and misdetection probabilities), and / or desired sensing area(s) (e.g., range of directions and distances). The ISAC performance determined at stage 1108 may be based on other parameters, such as a communication receiver node identity or location, CPI and update time for sensing, latency for communication, and priority information for sensing andcommunication operations. The ISAC transmitting station 1102 may transmit the AN- aid request message 1110 when the communication QoS and / or sensing QoS are below respective threshold values. The threshold values may be provided to the ISAC transmitting station 1102 from the controller 1104, or they may be based on internal parameters configured on the ISAC transmitting station.

[0102] At stage 1112, the controller 1 104 is configured to determine a set of ANs and associated communication and RF sensing configuration information based at least in part on the AN-aid request message 1110. For example, the controller 1104 may be configured to determine one or more AN(s) to utilize, sensing target directions, communication beam direction, and sensing receiving node(s) for meeting a desired sensing and communication performance. An initial determination may be based on the geographical / relative locations of the ANs, the ISAC transmitting station 1102, the receiver, and a sensing target area. The controller 1104 is configured to send one or more AN configuration information messages 1 114 to the ISAC transmitting station 1102 and the AN(s) 1106 including respective configuration information for ISAC operations. In an example, the controller 1104 may provide the configuration information to the communication and / or RF sensing receivers (not shown in FIG. 11). The AN configuration information messages 1114 may include scan transmit and receive beam directions, beamwidth and beamforming gain information, coherent processing interval information, and other configuration information to enable ISAC operations.

[0103] At stage 1116, the ISAC transmitting station 1102, the AN(s) 1106 and receiving stations are configured to perform one or more measurement sessions. For example, referring to FIG. 9, the transmitting station 904 may be configured to transmit the RF signal 912 to the AN 906. The tightly coupled communication and RF sensing signals 912a, 912b may be received by the receiver 902 (or other wireless nodes in a network). The receiver 902 is configured to report the beam measurement results to the server 914 (e.g., the controller 1104). The AN selection and configuration process may iterate with multiple measurement sessions to refine the AN selection set, and the controller may be configured to transmit ISAC parameter updates 1118a and AN parameter updates 1118b to the respective transmitters, receivers and ANs based on the measurement sessions. The messages and stages in the flow 1100 are examples, and notlimitations, as other messaging and processing may be used to enable AN aided ISAC operations.

[0104] Referring to FIG. 12, an example machine learning (ML) based AN configuration module 1200 is shown. A ML based AN configuration model 1202 may be trained to learn relationships between ISAC information, and other input parameters to predict AN parameters. Additional data may also be used with the model 1202. For example, a data set 1204 may also include station geographic location information, beam configuration, link quality infomiation, station capabilities, etc. Such information may be added to the data set 1204 as training data that may be used to train (or re-train) the ML -based AN configuration model 1202. In an example, the AN configuration model 1202 may be a neural network (NN) using the data set 1204, and the model parameters (e.g., weights and the like) for the trained model may be shared with wireless nodes in a network. The wireless nodes may then use the trained NN to predict AN configurations based on the ISAC information, and other inputs.

[0105] In an example, the AN configuration model 1202 may be trained using supervised learning techniques in which an input data set of ISAC information, such as allowable QoS degradation, sensing area, communication receiver ID, and other parameters may be used to train the machine learning model to select an AN and generate the corresponding AN parameters. The AN configuration model 1202 may be based on other machine learning algorithms and training methods. For example, supervised learning algorithms, unsupcrvised learning algorithms, reinforcement learning algorithms, deep learning algorithms, artificial neural network algorithms, or other type of machine learning algorithms may be used. For example, the machine learning may be performed using a deep convolutional network (DCN). DCNs are networks of convolutional networks, configured with additional pooling and normalization layers. DCNs have achieved state-of-the-art performance on many tasks. DCNs may be trained using supervised learning in which both the input and output targets are known for many examples and are used to modify the weights of the network by use of gradient descent methods. DCNs may be feed-forward networks. In addition, as described above, the connections from a neuron in a first layer of a DCN to a group of neurons in the next higher layer are shared across the neurons in the first layer. The feed-forward and shared connections of DCNs may be exploited for fast processing.The computational burden of a DCN may be much less, for example, than that of a similarly sized neural network that comprises recurrent or feedback connections.

[0106] Referring to FIG. 13, with further reference to FIGS. 1-12, a method 1300 for performing ISAC operations with an assistance node includes the stages shown. The method 1300 is, however, an example and not limiting. The method 1300 may be altered, e.g., by having stages added, removed, rearranged, combined, performed concurrently, and / or having single stages split into multiple stages. For example, reporting sensing measurements at stage 1310 is optional.

[0107] At stage 1302, the method includes detecting a trigger condition associated with integrated sensing and communication (ISAC) operations. A UE 200, including the processors 210 and the transceiver 215, is a means for detecting the trigger condition. In an example, the UE 200 may be an ISAC transmitting station (e.g., the transmitting station 904) and configure to detect one or more trigger conditions. Other wireless nodes (e.g., AP, RSU, TRP, etc.) may be configured as an ISAC transmitting station. The trigger conditions may be based on one or more network operating parameters associated with the communication system 100. For example, the trigger condition may be based on one or more allowable communication QoS degradation factors (e.g., packet error rate, packet delay budget), allowable sensing QoS degradation factors (e.g., target range, target angle, target velocity, accuracy / resolution, max range / velocity / angle, false alarm and misdetection probabilities), and / or desired sensing area(s) (e.g., range of directions and distances). The trigger conditions may be based on other parameters, such as a communication receiver node identity / location, CPI and update time for sensing, latency for communication, and priority information for sensing and communication operations.

[0108] At stage 1304, the method includes transmitting an assistance node aid request to a network server in response to detecting the trigger condition. The UE 200, including the processors 210 and the transceiver 215, is a means for transmitting the AN-aid request. In an example, referring to FIG. 11, the ISAC transmitting station 1102 may transmit an AN-aid request message 1110 to the controller 1104 when the communication QoS and / or sensing QoS are below respective threshold values. The threshold values may be provided to the ISAC transmitting station 1102 by the controller 1104 (or other network server). In an example, the threshold values may be based on internal parameters configured on the ISAC transmitting station 1102. In anexample, transmitting the AN-aid request may include sending the request via known signaling protocols such as LPP, NRPP, RCE and / or other known messaging techniques.

[0109] At stage 1306, the method includes receiving assistance node information from the network server. The UE 200, including the processors 210 and the transceiver 215, is a means for receiving the AN information. The network server (e.g., the controller 1104) may be configured to determine a set of ANs and associated communication and RF sensing configuration information in response to receiving the AN-aid request at stage 1304. In an example, the network server may be configured to determine one or more AN(s) to utilize, sensing target directions, communication beam direction, and sensing receiving node(s) for meeting a desired sensing and communication performance requirement. An initial determination may be based on the geographical / relative locations of the ANs, the ISAC transmitting station, the receiver, and a sensing target area. The network server may be configured to send one or more AN configuration information messages 1114 to the ISAC transmitting station 1102 and the AN(s) 1106 including respective configuration information for ISAC operations. The AN information may include AN identification (e.g., location) information, scan transmit and receive beam directions, beamwidth and beamforming gain information, coherent processing interval information, and other configuration information to enable ISAC operations.

[0110] At stage 1308, the method includes performing integrated sensing an communication operations based at least in part on the assistance node information. The UE 200, including the processors 210 and the transceiver 215, is a means for performing ISAC operations. In an example, an ISAC transmitting station, one or more the AN(s), and one more receiving stations may be configured to perform one or more measurement sessions. The ISAC transmitting station may utilize the AN, beam and signal information provided in the AN information received at stage 1306. For example, referring to FIG. 9, the transmitting station 904 may be configured to transmit the RF signal 912 to the AN 906. The tightly coupled communication and RF sensing signals 912a, 912b may be received by the receiver 902 (or other wireless node in a network).

[0111] At stage 1310, the method may optionally include reporting sensing measurements to the network server. The UE 200, including the processors 210 and thetransceiver 215, is a means for reporting sensing measurements to the network server, hi an example, a sensing receiver (e.g., the receiver 902) may be configured to report the beam measurement results back to the ISAC transmitting station. In an example, the sensing receiver may be a UE and may be configured to transmit sensing measurements back to the ISAC transmitting station via a sidelink (e.g., D2D, NR SL, etc.) or other wireless channels. The ISAC transmitting station may be configured to transmit the measurements to the network server 914 (e.g., the controller 1104). The AN selection and configuration process may iterate with multiple measurement sessions to refine the AN selection set, and the network server may be configured to transmit ISAC parameter updates 1118a and AN parameter updates 1118b to the respective transmitters, receivers and ANs based on the measurement sessions. Thus, the method 1300 may iterate back to 1306 to receive the updated AN information and to stage 1308 to perform the ISAC operations based on the updated AN information.

[0112] Referring to FIG. 14, with further reference to FIGS. 1-12, a method 1400 for providing assistance node information to a wireless node includes the stages shown. The method 1400 is, however, an example and not limiting. The method 1400 may be altered, e.g., by having stages added, removed, rearranged, combined, performed concurrently, and / or having single stages split into multiple stages. For example, receiving measurements, generating and sending ISAC information at stages 1408, 1410 and 1412 are optional.

[0113] At stage 1402, the method includes receiving an assistance node request for integrated sensing and communication operations from a wireless node. A server 400, such as the controller 1104, including a processor 410 and a transceiver 415, is a means for receiving an AN request. The wireless node may be an ISAC transmitting station configured to send the AN request. In an example, the AN request may include indications of ISAC performance requirements such as allowable communication QoS degradation factors (e.g., packet error rate, packet delay budget), allowable sensing QoS degradation factors (e.g., range, angle, velocity, accuracy / resolution, max range / velocity / angle, false alarm and misdetection probabilities), and / or desired sensing area(s) (e.g., range of directions and distances). The AN request may include other indications, such as potential communication receiver nodes identities or locations, CPI and update time for sensing, latency for communication, and priority information for sensing and communication operations. The ISAC transmitting station may transmit anAN request periodically, or based on trigger conditions, such as when the communication QoS and / or sensing QoS are below respective threshold values. In an example, the controller 1104 may be configured to detect the trigger condition based on the indications in the AN request.

[0114] At stage 1404, the method includes generating assistance node information based at least in part on the assistance node request. The server 400, including the processor 410 and the transceiver 415, is a means for generating the AN information. In an example, the server 400 may be configured to determine AN information, such as a set of ANs and associated communication and RF sensing configuration information, based at least in part on the received AN request message. The AN information may include, for example, the identities and / or locations of one or more AN(s) to utilize for ISAC operations, sensing target directions, communication beam directions, and sensing receiving node(s). The server 400 may be configured to generate initial AN information based on the geographical / relative locations of the ANs, the wireless node, a receiver, and a sensing target area. The AN information may include ISAC waveform configuration information. Other network parameters may be used to generate the AN information to enable the wireless node to perform ISAC operations with tightly coupled communication and sensing signals. In an example, the ML based AN configuration model 1202 may be utilized to generate the assistance node information.

[0115] At stage 1406, the method includes sending the assistance node information to the wireless node. The server 400, including the processor 410 and the transceiver 415, is a means for sending the AN information. The server 400 may be configured to send the AN information to the wireless node as one or more AN configuration information messages 1114. The server 400 may also provide the AN information to other network stations such as one or more ANs and receiving stations (c.g., the communication and / or RF sensing receivers). The AN information may include scan transmit and receive beam directions, beamwidth and beamforming gain information, coherent processing interval information, and other configuration information to enable ISAC operations.

[0116] At stage 1408, the method optionally includes receiving signal measurements from one or more receiving stations. The server 400, including the processor 410 and the transceiver 415, is a means for receiving the signal measurements. For example, referring to FIG. 9, the transmitting station 904 may be configured to transmit the RF signal 912 to the AN 906. The tightly coupled communication and RF sensing signals912a, 912b may be received by the receiver 902 (or other wireless nodes in a network). The receiver 902 may be configured to report the beam measurement results to the the server 914 (e.g., the controller 1104).

[0117] At stage 1410, the method optionally includes generating integrated sensing and communication information based at least in part on the signal measurements. The server 400, including the processor 410 and the transceiver 415, is a means for generating the ISAC information. As described in FIG. 11 , the AN information may iterate with multiple measurement sessions to refine the AN selection set. For example, the server 400 may be configured to generate updated AN information based at least in part on the signal measurements received at stage 1408 in combination with the geographical / relative locations of the ANs, the wireless node, the receiver, and signal measurements based on the sensing target. The signal measurements may be used as an input to the ML based AN configuration model 1202 to generate the ISAC information (e.g., AN parameters).

[0118] At stage 1412, the method includes sending the integrated sensing and communication information to the wireless node. The server 400, including the processor 410 and the transceiver 415, is a means for sending the ISAC information. In an example, referring to FIG. 11 , the server 400 may be configured to transmit ISAC parameter updates 1118a and AN parameter updates 11 18b to the respective transmitters, receivers and ANs.

[0119] Other examples and implementations are within the scope of the disclosure and appended claims. For example, due to the nature of software and computers, functions described above can be implemented using software executed by a processor, hardware, firmware, hardwiring, or a combination of any of these. Features implementing functions may also be physically located at various positions, including being distributed such that portions of functions are implemented at different physical locations.

[0120] As used herein, the singular forms “a,” “an,” and “the” include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. Thus, reference to a device in the singular (e.g., “a device,” “the device”), including in the claims, includes at least one, i.e. , one or more, of such devices (e.g., “a processor” includes at least one processor (e.g., one processor, two processors, etc.), “the processor” includes at least one processor, “a memory” includes at least one memoiy, “the memory” includes atleast one memory, etc.). The phrases “at least one” and “one or more” are used interchangeably and such that “at least one” referred-to object and “one or more” referred-to objects include implementations that have one rcfcrrcd-to object and implementations that have multiple referred-to objects. For example, “at least one processor” and “one or more processors” each includes implementations that have one processor and implementations that have multiple processors. Also, a “set” as used herein includes one or more members, and a “subset” contains fewer than all members of the set to which the subset refers.

[0121] The terms “comprises,” “comprising,” “includes,” and / or “including,” as used herein, specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and / or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and / or groups thereof.

[0122] Also, as used herein, “or” as used in a list of items (possibly prefaced by “at least one of’ or prefaced by “one or more of’) indicates a disjunctive list such that, for example, a list of “at least one of A, B, or C,” or a list of “one or more of A, B, or C” or a list of “A or B or C” means A, or B, or C, or AB (A and B), or AC (A and C), or BC (B and C), or ABC (i.e., A and B and C), or combinations with more than one feature (e.g., AA, AAB, ABBC, etc.). Thus, a recitation that an item, e.g., a processor, is configured to perform a function regarding at least one of A or B, or a recitation that an item is configured to perform a function A or a function B, means that the item may be configured to perform the function regarding A, or may be configured to perform the function regarding B, or may be configured to perform the function regarding A and B. For example, a phrase of “a processor configured to measure at least one of A or B” or “a processor configured to measure A or measure B” means that the processor may be configured to measure A (and may or may not be configured to measure B), or may be configured to measure B (and may or may not be configured to measure A), or may be configured to measure A and measure B (and may be configured to select which, or both, of A and B to measure). Similarly, a recitation of a means for measuring at least one of A or B includes means for measuring A (which may or may not be able to measure B), or means for measuring B (and may or may not be configured to measure A), or means for measuring A and B (which may be able to select which, or both, of A and B to measure). As another example, a recitation that an item, e.g., a processor, is configured to at least one of perform function X or perform function Y means that theitem may be configured to perform the function X, or may be configured to perform the function Y, or may be configured to perform the function X and to perform the function Y. For example, a phrase of “a processor configured to at least one of measure X or measure Y” means that the processor may be configured to measure X (and may or may not be configured to measure Y), or may be configured to measure Y (and may or may not be configured to measure X), or may be configured to measure X and to measure Y (and may be configured to select which, or both, of X and Y to measure).

[0123] As used herein, unless otherwise stated, a statement that a function or operation is “based on” an item or condition means that the function or operation is based on the stated item or condition and may be based on one or more items and / or conditions in addition to the stated item or condition.

[0124] Substantial variations may be made in accordance with specific requirements. For example, customized hardware might also be used, and / or particular elements might be implemented in hardware, software (including portable software, such as applets, etc.) executed by a processor, or both. Further, connection to other computing devices such as network input / output devices may be employed. Components, functional or otherwise, shown in the figures and / or discussed herein as being connected or communicating with each other are communicatively coupled unless otherwise noted. That is, they may be directly or indirectly connected to enable communication between them.

[0125] The systems and devices discussed above are examples. Various configurations may omit, substitute, or add various procedures or components as appropriate. For instance, features described with respect to certain configurations may be combined in various other configurations. Different aspects and elements of the configurations may be combined in a similar manner. Also, technology evolves and, thus, many of the elements are examples and do not limit the scope of the disclosure or claims.

[0126] A wireless communication system is one in which communications are conveyed wirelessly, i.e., by electromagnetic and / or acoustic waves propagating through atmospheric space rather than through a wire or other physical connection, between wireless communication devices. A wireless communication system (also called a wireless communications system, a wireless communication network, or a wireless communications network) may not have all communications transmittedwirelessly, but is configured to have at least some communications transmitted wirelessly. Further, the term “wireless communication device,” or similar term, does not require that the functionality of the device is exclusively, or even primarily, for communication, or that communication using the wireless communication device is exclusively, or even primarily, wireless, or that the device be a mobile device, but indicates that the device includes wireless communication capability (one-way or two- way), e.g., includes at least one radio (each radio being part of a transmitter, receiver, or transceiver) for wireless communication.

[0127] Specific details are given in the description herein to provide a thorough understanding of example configurations (including implementations). However, configurations may be practiced without these specific details. For example, well- known circuits, processes, algorithms, structures, and techniques have been shown without unnecessary detail in order to avoid obscuring the configurations. The description herein provides example configurations, and does not limit the scope, applicability, or configurations of the claims. Rather, the preceding description of the configurations provides a description for implementing described techniques. Various changes may be made in the function and arrangement of elements.

[0128] The terms “processor-readable medium,” “machine-readable medium,” and “computer-readable medium,” as used herein, refer to any medium that participates in providing data that causes a machine to operate in a specific fashion. Using a computing platform, various processor-readable media might be involved in providing instructions / code to processor(s) for execution and / or might be used to store and / or carry such instructions / code (e.g., as signals). In many implementations, a processor- readable medium is a physical and / or tangible storage medium. Such a medium may take many forms, including but not limited to, non-volatile media and volatile media. Non-volatile media include, for example, optical and / or magnetic disks. Volatile media include, without limitation, dynamic memory.

[0129] Having described several example configurations, various modifications, alternative constructions, and equivalents may be used. For example, the above elements may be components of a larger system, wherein other rules may take precedence over or otherwise modify the application of the disclosure. Also, a number of operations may be undertaken before, during, or after the above elements are considered. Accordingly, the above description does not bound the scope of the claims.

[0130] Unless otherwise indicated, “about” and / or “approximately” as used herein when referring to a measurable value such as an amount, a temporal duration, and the like, encompasses variations of ±20% or ±10%, ±5%, or ±0. 1% from the specified value, as appropriate in the context of the systems, devices, circuits, methods, and other implementations described herein. Unless otherwise indicated, “substantially” as used herein when referring to a measurable value such as an amount, a temporal duration, a physical attribute (such as frequency), and the like, also encompasses variations of ±20% or ± 10%, ±5%, or ±0.1 % from the specified value, as appropriate in the context of the systems, devices, circuits, methods, and other implementations described herein.

[0131] A statement that a value exceeds (or is more than or above) a first threshold value is equivalent to a statement that the value meets or exceeds a second threshold value that is slightly greater than the first threshold value, e.g., the second threshold value being one value higher than the first threshold value in the resolution of a computing system. A statement that a value is less than (or is within or below) a first threshold value is equivalent to a statement that the value is less than or equal to a second threshold value that is slightly lower than the first threshold value, e.g., the second threshold value being one value lower than the first threshold value in the resolution of a computing system.

[0132] Implementation examples are described in the following numbered clauses:

[0133] Clause 1. A method for performing integrated sensing and communication operations with an assistance node, comprising: detecting a trigger condition associated with the integrated sensing and communication operations; transmitting an assistance node aid request to a network server in response to detecting the trigger condition; receiving assistance node information from the network server; and performing the integrated sensing and communication operations based at least in part on the assistance node information.

[0134] Clause 2. The method of clause 1, wherein the assistance node is a reconfigurable intelligent surface.

[0135] Clause 3. The method of clause 1, wherein the trigger condition is a communication quality of service degradation factor comprising at least one of a packet error rate and a packet delay budget.

[0136] Clause 4. The method of clause 1 , wherein the trigger condition is a sensing quality of service degradation factor comprising at least one of a target range, a target angle, and a target velocity.

[0137] Clause 5. The method of clause 1, wherein the trigger condition is a desired sensing area.

[0138] Clause 6. The method of clause 1, wherein the assistance node information comprises assistance node location information, scan transmit and receive beam directions, beamwidth and beamforming gain information, coherent processing interval information, or combinations thereof.

[0139] Clause 7. The method of clause 1, wherein performing the integrated sensing and communication operations comprising transmitting one or more radio frequency signals towards the assistance node.

[0140] Clause 8. The method of clause 1, further comprising: receiving sensing measurements from a sensing receiver; and reporting the sensing measurements to the network server.

[0141] Clause 9. The method of clause 8, wherein the sensing receiver is a user equipment.

[0142] Clause 10. An apparatus, for performing integrated sensing and communication operations with an assistance node, comprising: at least one memory; at least one transceiver; and at least one processor, communicatively coupled to the at least one memory and the at least one transceiver, configured to: detect a trigger condition associated with the integrated sensing and communication operations; transmit, via the at least one transceiver, an assistance node aid request to a network server in response to detecting the trigger condition; receive, via the at least one transceiver, assistance node information from the network server; and perform the integrated sensing and communication operations based at least in part on the assistance node information.

[0143] Clause 11. The apparatus of clause 10, wherein the assistance node is a reconfigurable intelligent surface.

[0144] Clause 12. The apparatus of clause 10, wherein the trigger condition is a communication quality of service degradation factor comprising at least one of a packet error rate and a packet delay budget.

[0145] Clause 13. The apparatus of clause 10, wherein the trigger condition is a sensing quality of service degradation factor comprising at least one of a target range, a target angle, and a target velocity.

[0146] Clause 14. The apparatus of clause 10, wherein the trigger condition is a desired sensing area.

[0147] Clause 15. The apparatus of clause 10, wherein the assistance node information comprises assistance node location information, scan transmit and receive beam directions, beamwidth and beamforming gain information, coherent processing interval information, or combinations thereof.

[0148] Clause 16. The apparatus of clause 10, wherein to perform the integrated sensing and communication operations the at least one processor is configured to transmit one or more radio frequency signals towards the assistance node.

[0149] Clause 17. The apparatus of clause 10, wherein the at least one processor is configured to: receive, via the at least one transceiver, sensing measurements from a sensing receiver; and report, via the at least one transceiver, the sensing measurements to the network server.

[0150] Clause 18. The apparatus of clause 17, wherein the sensing receiver is a user equipment.

[0151] Clause 19. An apparatus, for performing integrated sensing and communication operations with an assistance node, comprising: means for detecting a trigger condition associated with the integrated sensing and communication operations; means for transmitting an assistance node aid request to a network server in response to detecting the trigger condition; means for receiving assistance node information from the network server; and means for performing the integrated sensing and communication operations based at least in part on the assistance node information.

[0152] Clause 20. The apparatus of clause 19, wherein the assistance node is a reconfigurable intelligent surface.

[0153] Clause 21. The apparatus of clause 19, wherein the trigger condition is a communication quality of service degradation factor comprising at least one of a packet error rate and a packet delay budget.

[0154] Clause 22. The apparatus of clause 19, wherein the trigger condition is a sensing quality of service degradation factor comprising at least one of a target range, a target angle, and a target velocity.

[0155] Clause 23. The apparatus of clause 19, wherein the trigger condition is a desired sensing area.

[0156] Clause 24. The apparatus of clause 19, wherein the assistance node information comprises assistance node location information, scan transmit and receive beam directions, beamwidth and beamforming gain information, coherent processing interval information, or combinations thereof.

[0157] Clause 25. The apparatus of clause 19, wherein the means for performing the integrated sensing and communication operations comprise means for transmitting one or more radio frequency signals towards the assistance node.

[0158] Clause 26. The apparatus of clause 19, further comprising: means for receiving sensing measurements from a sensing receiver; and means for reporting the sensing measurements to the network server.

[0159] Clause 27. The apparatus of clause 26, wherein the sensing receiver is a user equipment.

[0160] Clause 28. A non-transitory, processor-readable storage medium comprising processor-readable instructions to cause at least one processor, for performing integrated sensing and communication operations with an assistance node, to: detect a trigger condition associated with the integrated sensing and communication operations; transmit an assistance node aid request to a network server in response to detecting the trigger condition; receive assistance node information from the network server; and perform the integrated sensing and communication operations based at least in part on the assistance node information.

[0161] Clause 29. The non-transitory, processor-readable storage medium of clause 28, wherein the assistance node is a reconfigurable intelligent surface.

[0162] Clause 30. The non-transitory, processor-readable storage medium of clause 28, wherein the trigger condition is a communication quality of service degradation factor comprising at least one of a packet error rate and a packet delay budget.

[0163] Clause 31. The non-transitory, processor-readable storage medium of clause 28, wherein the trigger condition is a sensing quality of service degradation factor comprising at least one of a target range, a target angle, and a target velocity.

[0164] Clause 32. The non-transitory, processor-readable storage medium of clause 28, wherein the trigger condition is a desired sensing area.

[0165] Clause 33. The non-transitory, processor-readable storage medium of clause 28, wherein the assistance node information comprises assistance node location information, scan transmit and receive beam directions, beamwidth and beamforming gain information, coherent processing interval information, or combinations thereof.

[0166] Clause 34. The non-transitory, processor-readable storage medium of clause 28, wherein the processor-readable instructions to cause the at least one processor to perform the integrated sensing and communication operations comprise processor- readable instructions to cause the at least one processor to transmit one or more radio frequency signals towards the assistance node.

[0167] Clause 35. The non-transitory, processor-readable storage medium of clause 28, further comprising processor-readable instructions to cause the at least one processor to: receive sensing measurements from a sensing receiver; and report the sensing measurements to the network server.

[0168] Clause 36. The non-transitory, processor-readable storage medium of clause 35, wherein the sensing receiver is a user equipment.

[0169] Clause 37. A method for providing assistance node information to a wireless node, comprising: receiving an assistance node request for integrated sensing and communication operations from the wireless node; generating the assistance node information based at least in part on the assistance node request; and sending the assistance node information to the wireless node.

[0170] Clause 38. The method of clause 37, wherein the assistance node request includes a communication quality of service degradation factor comprising at least one of a packet error rate and a packet delay budget.

[0171] Clause 39. The method of clause 37, wherein the assistance node request includes a sensing quality of service degradation factor comprising at least one of a target range, a target angle, and a target velocity.

[0172] Clause 40. The method of clause 37, wherein the assistance node request includes a desired sensing area.

[0173] Clause 41. The method of clause 37, wherein the assistance node request includes at least one of a communication receiver node identity, a communication receiver node location, a coherent processing interval, an indication of an update time for sensing, a latency value for communication, priority information for sensing operations, and priority information for communication operations.

[0174] Clause 42. The method of clause 37, wherein the assistance node information includes an indication of a reconfigurable intelligent surface.

[0175] Clause 43. The method of clause 37, wherein the assistance node information comprises assistance node location information, scan transmit and receive beam directions, beamwidth and beamforming gain information, coherent processing interval information, or combinations thereof.

[0176] Clause 44. The method of clause 37, wherein the assistance node information includes integrated sensing and communication waveform information.

[0177] Clause 45. The method of clause 37, further comprising sending the assistance node information to an assistance node.

[0178] Clause 46. The method of clause 45, wherein the assistance node is a rcconfigurablc intelligent surface.

[0179] Clause 47. The method of clause 37, further comprising: receiving signal measurements from one or more receiving stations; generating integrated sensing and communication information based at least in part on the signal measurements; and sending the integrated sensing and communication information to the wireless node.

[0180] Clause 48. The method of clause 47, further comprising sending the integrated sensing and communication information to an assistance node.

[0181] Clause 49. An apparatus, for providing assistance node information to a wireless node, comprising: at least one memory; at least one transceiver; and at least one processor, communicatively coupled to the at least one memory and the at least one transceiver, configured to: receive, via the at least one transceiver, an assistance node request for integrated sensing and communication operations from the wireless node; generate the assistance node information based at least in part on the assistance node request; and send, via the at least one transceiver, the assistance node information to the wireless node.

[0182] Clause 50. The apparatus of clause 49, wherein the assistance node request includes a communication quality of service degradation factor comprising at least one of a packet error rate and a packet delay budget.

[0183] Clause 51. The apparatus of clause 49, wherein the assistance node request includes a sensing quality of service degradation factor comprising at least one of a target range, a target angle, and a target velocity.

[0184] Clause 52. The apparatus of clause 49, wherein the assistance node request includes a desired sensing area.

[0185] Clause 53. The apparatus of clause 49, wherein the assistance node request includes at least one of a communication receiver node identity, a communication receiver node location, a coherent processing interval, an indication of an update time for sensing, a latency value for communication, priority information for sensing operations, and priority information for communication operations.

[0186] Clause 54. The apparatus of clause 49, wherein the assistance node information includes an indication of a reconfigurable intelligent surface.

[0187] Clause 55. The apparatus of clause 49, wherein the assistance node information comprises assistance node location information, scan transmit and receive beam directions, beamwidth and beamforming gain information, coherent processing interval information, or combinations thereof.

[0188] Clause 56. The apparatus of clause 49, wherein the assistance node information includes integrated sensing and communication waveform information.

[0189] Clause 57. The apparatus of clause 49, wherein the at least one processor is configured to send, via the at least one transceiver, the assistance node information to an assistance node.

[0190] Clause 58. The apparatus of clause 57, wherein the assistance node is a reconfigurable intelligent surface.

[0191] Clause 59. The apparatus of clause 49, wherein the at least one processor is configured to: receive, via the at least one transceiver, signal measurements from one or more receiving stations; generate integrated sensing and communication information based at least in part on the signal measurements; and send, via the at least one transceiver, the integrated sensing and communication information to the wireless node.

[0192] Clause 60. The apparatus of clause 59, wherein the at least one processor is configured to send, via the at least one transceiver, the integrated sensing and communication information to an assistance node.

[0193] Clause 61. An apparatus, for providing assistance node information to a wireless node, comprising: means for receiving an assistance node request for integrated sensing and communication operations from the wireless node; means for generating the assistance node information based at least in part on the assistance node request; and means for sending the assistance node information to the wireless node.

[0194] Clause 62. The apparatus of clause 61, wherein the assistance node request includes a communication quality of service degradation factor comprising at least one of a packet error rate and a packet delay budget.

[0195] Clause 63. The apparatus of clause 61, wherein the assistance node request includes a sensing quality of service degradation factor comprising at least one of a target range, a target angle, and a target velocity.

[0196] Clause 64. The apparatus of clause 61, wherein the assistance node request includes a desired sensing area.

[0197] Clause 65. The apparatus of clause 61, wherein the assistance node request includes at least one of a communication receiver node identity, a communicationreceiver node location, a coherent processing interval, an indication of an update time for sensing, a latency value for communication, priority information for sensing operations, and priority information for communication operations.

[0198] Clause 66. The apparatus of clause 61, wherein the assistance node information includes an indication of a reconfigurable intelligent surface.

[0199] Clause 67. The apparatus of clause 61, wherein the assistance node information comprises assistance node location information, scan transmit and receive beam directions, beamwidth and beamforming gain infomiation, coherent processing interval information, or combinations thereof.

[0200] Clause 68. The apparatus of clause 61, wherein the assistance node information includes integrated sensing and communication waveform information.

[0201] Clause 69. The apparatus of clause 61, further comprising means for sending the assistance node information to an assistance node.

[0202] Clause 70. The apparatus of clause 69, wherein the assistance node is a reconfigurable intelligent surface.

[0203] Clause 71. The apparatus of clause 61, further comprising: means for receiving signal measurements from one or more receiving stations; means for generating integrated sensing and communication information based at least in part on the signal measurements; and means for sending the integrated sensing and communication information to the wireless node.

[0204] Clause 72. The apparatus of clause 71, further comprising means for sending the integrated sensing and communication information to an assistance node.

[0205] Clause 73. A non-transitory, processor-readable storage medium comprising processor-readable instructions to cause at least one processor, for providing assistance node infomiation to a wireless node, to: receive an assistance node request for integrated sensing and communication operations from the wireless node; generate the assistance node information based at least in part on the assistance node request; and send the assistance node infomiation to the wireless node.

[0206] Clause 74. The non-transitory, processor-readable storage medium of clause 73, wherein the assistance node request includes a communication quality of servicedegradation factor comprising at least one of a packet error rate and a packet delay budget.

[0207] Clause 75. The non-transitory, processor-readable storage medium of clause 73, wherein the assistance node request includes a sensing quality of service degradation factor comprising at least one of a target range, a target angle, and a target velocity.

[0208] Clause 76. The non-transitory, processor-readable storage medium of clause 73, wherein the assistance node request includes a desired sensing area.

[0209] Clause 77. The non-transitory, processor-readable storage medium of clause 73, wherein the assistance node request includes at least one of a communication receiver node identity, a communication receiver node location, a coherent processing interval, an indication of an update time for sensing, a latency value for communication, priority information for sensing operations, and priority information for communication operations.

[0210] Clause 78. The non-transitory, processor-readable storage medium of clause 73, wherein the assistance node information includes an indication of a reconfigurable intelligent surface.

[0211] Clause 79. The non-transitory, processor-readable storage medium of clause 73, wherein the assistance node information comprises assistance node location information, scan transmit and receive beam directions, beamwidth and beamforming gain information, coherent processing interval information, or combinations thereof.

[0212] Clause 80. The non-transitory, processor-readable storage medium of clause 73, wherein the assistance node information includes integrated sensing and communication waveform information.

[0213] Clause 81. The non-transitory, processor-readable storage medium of clause 73, further comprising processor-readable instructions to cause the at least one processor to send the assistance node information to an assistance node.

[0214] Clause 82. The non-transitory, processor-readable storage medium of clause 81, wherein the assistance node is a reconfigurable intelligent surface.

[0215] Clause 83. The non-transitory, processor-readable storage medium of clause 73, further comprising processor-readable instructions to cause the at least one processor to: receive signal measurements from one or more receiving stations;generate integrated sensing and communication information based at least in part on the signal measurements; and send the integrated sensing and communication information to the wireless node.

[0216] Clause 84. The non-transitory, processor-readable storage medium of clause 83, further comprising processor-readable instructions to cause the at least one processor to send the integrated sensing and communication information to an assistance node.

Claims

CLAIMS:What is claimed is:

1. A method for performing integrated sensing and communication operations with an assistance node, comprising: detecting a trigger condition associated with the integrated sensing and communication operations; transmitting an assistance node aid request to a network server in response to detecting the trigger condition; receiving assistance node information from the network server; and performing the integrated sensing and communication operations based at least in part on the assistance node information.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the assistance node is a reconfigurable intelligent surface.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the trigger condition is a communication quality of service degradation factor comprising at least one of a packet error rate and a packet delay budget.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the trigger condition is a sensing quality of service degradation factor comprising at least one of a target range, a target angle, and a target velocity.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the trigger condition is a desired sensing area.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the assistance node information comprises assistance node location information, scan transmit and receive beam directions, beamwidth and beamforming gain information, coherent processing interval information, or combinations thereof.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein performing the integrated sensing and communication operations comprising transmitting one or more radio frequency signals towards the assistance node.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising: receiving sensing measurements from a sensing receiver; and reporting the sensing measurements to the network server.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the sensing receiver is a user equipment.

10. An apparatus, for performing integrated sensing and communication operations with an assistance node, comprising: at least one memory; at least one transceiver; and at least one processor, communicatively coupled to the at least one memory and the at least one transceiver, configured to: detect a trigger condition associated with the integrated sensing and communication operations; transmit, via the at least one transceiver, an assistance node aid request to a network server in response to detecting the trigger condition; receive, via the at least one transceiver, assistance node information from the network server; and perform the integrated sensing and communication operations based at least in part on the assistance node information.

11. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the assistance node is a reconfigurable intelligent surface.

12. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the trigger condition is a communication quality of service degradation factor comprising at least one of a packet error rate and a packet delay budget.

13. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the trigger condition is a sensing quality of service degradation factor comprising at least one of a target range, a target angle, and a target velocity.

14. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the trigger condition is a desired sensing area.

15. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the assistance node information comprises assistance node location information, scan transmit and receive beam directions, beamwidth and beamforming gain information, coherent processing interval information, or combinations thereof.

16. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein to perform the integrated sensing and communication operations the at least one processor is configured to transmit one or more radio frequency signals towards the assistance node.

17. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the at least one processor is configured to: receive, via the at least one transceiver, sensing measurements from a sensing receiver; and report, via the at least one transceiver, the sensing measurements to the network server.

18. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the sensing receiver is a user equipment.

19. A method for providing assistance node information to a wireless node, comprising: receiving an assistance node request for integrated sensing and communication operations from the wireless node; generating the assistance node information based at least in part on the assistance node request; and sending the assistance node information to the wireless node.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein the assistance node request includes a communication quality of service degradation factor comprising at least one of a packet error rate and a packet delay budget.

21. The method of claim 19, wherein the assistance node request includes a sensing quality of service degradation factor comprising at least one of a target range, a target angle, and a target velocity.

22. The method of claim 19, wherein the assistance node request includes a desired sensing area.

23. The method of claim 9, wherein the assistance node request includes at least one of a communication receiver node identity, a communication receiver node location, a coherent processing interval, an indication of an update time for sensing, a latency value for communication, priority information for sensing operations, and priority information for communication operations.

24. The method of claim 19, wherein the assistance node information includes an indication of a reconfigurable intelligent surface.

25. The method of claim 19, wherein the assistance node information comprises assistance node location information, scan transmit and receive beam directions, beamwidth and beamforming gain information, coherent processing interval information, or combinations thereof.

26. The method of claim 19, wherein the assistance node information includes integrated sensing and communication waveform information.

27. The method of claim 19, further comprising sending the assistance node information to an assistance node.

28. The method of claim 27, wherein the assistance node is a reconfigurable intelligent surface.

29. The method of claim 19, further comprising: receiving signal measurements from one or more receiving stations; generating integrated sensing and communication information based at least in part on the signal measurements; and sending the integrated sensing and communication information to the wireless node.

30. An apparatus, for providing assistance node information to a wireless node, comprising: at least one memory; at least one transceiver; and at least one processor, communicatively coupled to the at least one memory and the at least one transceiver, configured to: receive, via the at least one transceiver, an assistance node request for integrated sensing and communication operations from the wireless node; generate the assistance node information based at least in part on the assistance node request; and send, via the at least one transceiver, the assistance node information to the wireless node.

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