Methods and apparatuses for interference measurements in ambient IoT systems

Abstract

Methods and apparatuses for interference measurements in Ambient Internet of Things (AIoT) systems are provided herein. A method performed by a reader includes receiving configuration information from a base station indicating parameters for a first measurement set and parameters for a second measurement set. The method includes performing a first measurement of a first reference signal during a first time period based on the parameters for the first measurement set and performing a second measurement of a second reference signal during a second time period based on the parameters for the second measurement set. The method includes sending a report to a base station including an indication of the first measurement and an indication of the second measurement.

Description

METHODS AND APPARATUSES FOR INTERFERENCE MEASUREMENTS IN AMBIENT IOT SYSTEMSCROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0001] This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No 63 / 679,309, filed August 5, 2024, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.BACKGROUND

[0002] The Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) has initiated a study item on ambient Internet of Things (AloT) in Release 19, stemming from the proliferation of loT deployments. In recent years, loT has attracted much attention in the wireless communication world. More ‘things’ are expected to be interconnected for improving productivity efficiency and increasing comforts of life. Further reduction of size, complexity, and power consumption of loT devices may enable the deployment of tens or even hundreds of billion loT devices for various applications and provide added value across the entire value chain. It is impossible to power all the loT devices by battery that needs to be replaced or recharged manually, which leads to high maintenance cost, serious environmental issues, and even safety hazards for some use cases (e.g., wireless sensor in electric power and petroleum industry).

[0003] Considering the limited size and complexity required by practical applications for batteryless devices with no energy storage capability or devices with limited energy storage that do not need to be replaced or recharged manually, the output power of energy harvester is typically from 1piW to a few hundreds of piW. Existing cellular devices may not work well with energy harvesting due to their peak power consumption of higher than 10mWSUMMARY

[0004] Methods and apparatuses for interference measurements in Ambient Internet of Things (AloT) systems are provided herein. A method performed by a reader includes receiving configuration information from a base station indicating parameters for a first measurement set and parameters for a second measurement set The method includes performing a first measurement of a first reference signal during a first time period based on the parameters for the first measurement set and performing a second measurement of a second reference signal during a second time period based on the parameters for the second measurement set. The method includes sending a report to a base station including an indication of the first measurement and an indication of the second measurement.BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0005] A more detailed understanding may be had from the following description, given by way of example in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein like reference numerals in the figures indicate like elements, and wherein:- 1 -9270328.1IDC-2024P00561WC

[0006] FIG. 1A is a system diagram illustrating an example communications system in which one or more disclosed embodiments may be implemented;

[0007] FIG. 1 B is a system diagram illustrating an example wireless transmit / receive unit (WTRU) that may be used within the communications system illustrated in FIG. 1A according to an embodiment;

[0008] FIG. 1C is a system diagram illustrating an example radio access network (RAN) and an example core network (CN) that may be used within the communications system illustrated in FIG. 1A according to an embodiment;

[0009] FIG. 1 D is a system diagram illustrating a further example RAN and a further example CN that may be used within the communications system illustrated in FIG. 1A according to an embodiment;

[0010] FIG. 2 is a diagram depicting co-channel and adjacent channel interference from a reader’s perspective; and

[0011] FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating alternating periods;

[0012] FIG. 4 is a flow diagram illustrating a procedure as may be performed by a reader, according to one example;

[0013] FIG. 5 is a flow diagram illustrating a procedure as may be performed by a reader, according to another example; and

[0014] FIG. 6 is a flow diagram illustrating a procedure as may be performed by a device, according to one example.DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0015] FIG. 1A is a diagram illustrating an example communications system 100 in which one or more disclosed embodiments may be implemented. The communications system 100 may be a multiple access system that provides content, such as voice, data, video, messaging, broadcast, etc., to multiple wireless users. The communications system 100 may enable multiple wireless users to access such content through the sharing of system resources, including wireless bandwidth. For example, the communications systems 100 may employ one or more channel access methods, such as code division multiple access (CDMA), time division multiple access (TDMA), frequency division multiple access (FDMA), orthogonal FDMA (OFDMA), single-carrier FDMA (SC-FDMA), zero-tail unique-word discrete Fourier transform Spread OFDM (ZT-UW-DFT-S-OFDM), unique word OFDM (UW-OFDM), resource block-filtered OFDM, filter bank multicarrier (FBMC), and the like.

[0016] As shown in FIG. 1A, the communications system 100 may include wireless transmit / receive units (WTRUs) 102a, 102b, 102c, 102d, a radio access network (RAN) 104, a core network (CN) 106, a public switched telephone network (PSTN) 108, the Internet 110, and other networks 112, though it will be appreciated that the disclosed embodiments contemplate any number of WTRUs, base stations, networks, and / or network elements. Each of the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, 102d may be any type of device configured to operate and / or communicate in a wireless environment. By way of example, the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, 102d, any of which may be referred to as a station (STA), may be configured to transmit and / or receive wireless signals and may include a user equipment (UE), a mobile station, a fixed or mobile subscriber unit, a subscription-based unit, a pager, a cellular telephone, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a smartphone, a laptop, a netbook, a personal computer, a wireless sensor, a hotspot or Mi-Fi device, an Internet of Things (loT) device, a watch or other wearable, a head-mounted display (HMD), a vehicle, a drone, a- 2 -9270328.1medical device and applications (e.g., remote surgery), an industrial device and applications (e.g. , a robot and / or other wireless devices operating in an industrial and / or an automated processing chain contexts), a consumer electronics device, a device operating on commercial and / or industrial wireless networks, and the like. Any of the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c and 102d may be interchangeably referred to as a UE.

[0017] The communications systems 100 may also include a base station 114a and / or a base station 114b. Each of the base stations 114a, 114b may be any type of device configured to wirelessly interface with at least one of the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, 102d to facilitate access to one or more communication networks, such as the CN 106, the Internet 110, and / or the other networks 112. By way of example, the base stations 114a, 114b may be a base transceiver station (BTS), a NodeB, an eNode B (eNB), a Home Node B, a Home eNode B, a next generation NodeB, such as a gNode B (gNB), a new radio (NR) NodeB, a site controller, an access point (AP), a wireless router, and the like. While the base stations 114a, 114b are each depicted as a single element, it will be appreciated that the base stations 114a, 114b may include any number of interconnected base stations and / or network elements.

[0018] The base station 114a may be part of the RAN 104, which may also include other base stations and / or network elements (not shown), such as a base station controller (BSC), a radio network controller (RNC), relay nodes, and the like. The base station 114a and / or the base station 114b may be configured to transmit and / or receive wireless signals on one or more carrier frequencies, which may be referred to as a cell (not shown). These frequencies may be in licensed spectrum, unlicensed spectrum, or a combination of licensed and unlicensed spectrum. A cell may provide coverage for a wireless service to a specific geographical area that may be relatively fixed or that may change over time. The cell may further be divided into cell sectors. For example, the cell associated with the base station 114a may be divided into three sectors. Thus, in one embodiment, the base station 114a may include three transceivers, i.e., one for each sector of the cell. In an embodiment, the base station 114a may employ multiple-input multiple output (MIMO) technology and may utilize multiple transceivers for each sector of the cell. For example, beamforming may be used to transmit and / or receive signals in desired spatial directions.

[0019] The base stations 114a, 114b may communicate with one or more of the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, 102d over an air interface 116, which may be any suitable wireless communication link (e.g., radio frequency (RF), microwave, centimeter wave, micrometer wave, infrared (IR), ultraviolet (UV), visible light, etc ). The air interface 116 may be established using any suitable radio access technology (RAT).

[0020] More specifically, as noted above, the communications system 100 may be a multiple access system and may employ one or more channel access schemes, such as CDMA, TDMA, FDMA, OFDMA, SC-FDMA, and the like. For example, the base station 114a in the RAN 104 and the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may implement a radio technology such as Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) Terrestrial Radio Access (UTRA), which may establish the air interface 116 using wideband CDMA (WCDMA). WCDMA may include communication protocols such as High- Speed Packet Access (HSPA) and / or Evolved HSPA (HSPA+). HSPA may include High-Speed Downlink (DL) Packet Access (HSDPA) and / or High-Speed Uplink (UL) Packet Access (HSUPA).

[0021] In an embodiment, the base station 114a and the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may implement a radio technology such as Evolved UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA), which may establish the air interface 116 using Long Term Evolution (LTE) and / or LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) and / or LTE-Advanced Pro (LTE-A Pro).- 3 -9270328.1

[0022] In an embodiment, the base station 114a and the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may implement a radio technology such as NR Radio Access , which may establish the air interface 116 using NR.

[0023] In an embodiment, the base station 114a and the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may implement multiple radio access technologies. For example, the base station 114a and the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may implement LTE radio access and NR radio access together, for instance using dual connectivity (DC) principles. Thus, the air interface utilized by WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may be characterized by multiple types of radio access technologies and / or transmissions sent to / from multiple types of base stations (e.g., an eNB and a gNB).

[0024] In other embodiments, the base station 114a and the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may implement radio technologies such as IEEE 802.11 (i.e , Wireless Fidelity (WiFi), IEEE 802.16 (i.e., Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX)), CDMA2000, CDMA2000 1X, CDMA2000 EV-DO, Interim Standard 2000 (IS-2000), Interim Standard 95 (IS-95), Interim Standard 856 (IS-856), Global System for Mobile communications (GSM), Enhanced Data rates for GSM Evolution (EDGE), GSM EDGE (GERAN), and the like.

[0025] The base station 114b in FIG. 1 A may be a wireless router, Home Node B, Home eNode B, or access point, for example, and may utilize any suitable RAT for facilitating wireless connectivity in a localized area, such as a place of business, a home, a vehicle, a campus, an industrial facility, an air corridor (e.g., for use by drones), a roadway, and the like. In one embodiment, the base station 114b and the WTRUs 102c, 102d may implement a radio technology such as IEEE 802.11 to establish a wireless local area network (WLAN). In an embodiment, the base station 114b and the WTRUs 102c, 102d may implement a radio technology such as IEEE 802.15 to establish a wireless personal area network (WPAN). In yet another embodiment, the base station 114b and the WTRUs 102c, 102d may utilize a cellularbased RAT (e.g., WCDMA, CDMA2000, GSM, LTE, LTE-A, LTE-A Pro, NR etc.) to establish a picocell or femtocell. As shown in FIG. 1A, the base station 114b may have a direct connection to the Internet 110. Thus, the base station 114b may not be required to access the Internet 110 via the CN 106.

[0026] The RAN 104 may be in communication with the CN 106, which may be any type of network configured to provide voice, data, applications, and / or voice over internet protocol (VoIP) services to one or more of the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, 102d. The data may have varying quality of service (QoS) requirements, such as differing throughput requirements, latency requirements, error tolerance requirements, reliability requirements, data throughput requirements, mobility requirements, and the like. The CN 106 may provide call control, billing services, mobile locationbased services, pre-paid calling, Internet connectivity, video distribution, etc., and / or perform high-level security functions, such as user authentication Although not shown in FIG. 1A, it will be appreciated that the RAN 104 and / or the CN 106 may be in direct or indirect communication with other RANs that employ the same RAT as the RAN 104 or a different RAT. For example, in addition to being connected to the RAN 104, which may be utilizing a NR radio technology, the CN 106 may also be in communication with another RAN (not shown) employing a GSM, UMTS, CDMA 2000, WiMAX, E-UTRA, or WiFi radio technology.

[0027] The CN 106 may also serve as a gateway for the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, 102d to access the PSTN 108, the Internet 110, and / or the other networks 112. The PSTN 108 may include circuit-switched telephone networks that provide plain old telephone service (POTS). The Internet 110 may include a global system of interconnected computer networks and devices that use common communication protocols, such as the transmission control protocol (TCP), user- 4 -9270328.1IDC-2024P00561WG datagram protocol (UDP) and / or the internet protocol (IP) in the TCP / IP internet protocol suite The networks 112 may include wired and / or wireless communications networks owned and / or operated by other service providers. For example, the networks 112 may include another CN connected to one or more RANs, which may employ the same RAT as the RAN 104 or a different RAT.

[0028] Some or all of the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, 102d in the communications system 100 may include multimode capabilities (e.g., the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, 102d may include multiple transceivers for communicating with different wireless networks over different wireless links). For example, the WTRU 102c shown in FIG. 1A may be configured to communicate with the base station 114a, which may employ a cellular-based radio technology, and with the base station 114b, which may employ an IEEE 802 radio technology.

[0029] FIG. 1 B is a system diagram illustrating an example WTRU 102. As shown in FIG. 1 B, the WTRU 102 may include a processor 118, a transceiver 120, a transmit / receive element 122, a speaker / microphone 124, a keypad 126, a display / touchpad 128, non-removable memory 130, removable memory 132, a power source 134, a global positioning system (GPS) chipset 136, and / or other peripherals 138, among others. It will be appreciated that the WTRU 102 may include any sub-combination of the foregoing elements while remaining consistent with an embodiment.

[0030] The processor 118 may be a general purpose processor, a special purpose processor, a conventional processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), a plurality of microprocessors, one or more microprocessors in association with a DSP core, a controller, a microcontroller, Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs), Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs), any other type of integrated circuit (IC), a state machine, and the like. The processor 118 may perform signal coding, data processing, power control, input / output processing, and / or any other functionality that enables the WTRU 102 to operate in a wireless environment. The processor 118 may be coupled to the transceiver 120, which may be coupled to the transmit / receive element 122. While FIG. 1B depicts the processor 118 and the transceiver 120 as separate components, it will be appreciated that the processor 118 and the transceiver 120 may be integrated together in an electronic package or chip

[0031] The transmit / receive element 122 may be configured to transmit signals to, or receive signals from, a base station (e.g., the base station 114a) over the air interface 116. For example, in one embodiment, the transmit / receive element 122 may be an antenna configured to transmit and / or receive RF signals. In an embodiment, the transmit / receive element 122 may be an emitter / detector configured to transmit and / or receive IR, UV, or visible light signals, for example. In yet another embodiment, the transmit / receive element 122 may be configured to transmit and / or receive both RF and light signals. It will be appreciated that the transmit / receive element 122 may be configured to transmit and / or receive any combination of wireless signals.

[0032] Although the transmit / receive element 122 is depicted in FIG. 1 B as a single element, the WTRU 102 may include any number of transmit / receive elements 122. More specifically, the WTRU 102 may employ MIMO technology. Thus, in one embodiment, the WTRU 102 may include two or more transmit / receive elements 122 (e.g., multiple antennas) for transmitting and receiving wireless signals over the air interface 116.

[0033] The transceiver 120 may be configured to modulate the signals that are to be transmitted by the transmit / receive element 122 and to demodulate the signals that are received by the transmit / receive element 122. As- 5 -9270328.1noted above, the WTRU 102 may have multi-mode capabilities. Thus, the transceiver 120 may include multiple transceivers for enabling the WTRU 102 to communicate via multiple RATs, such as NR and IEEE 802.11 , for example.

[0034] The processor 118 of the WTRU 102 may be coupled to, and may receive user input data from, the speaker / microphone 124, the keypad 126, and / or the display / touchpad 128 (e.g., a liquid crystal display (LCD) display unit or organic light-emitting diode (OLED) display unit) The processor 118 may also output user data to the speaker / microphone 124, the keypad 126, and / or the display / touchpad 128. In addition, the processor 118 may access information from, and store data in, any type of suitable memory, such as the non-removable memory 130 and / or the removable memory 132. The non-removable memory 130 may include random-access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), a hard disk, or any other type of memory storage device. The removable memory 132 may include a subscriber identity module (SIM) card, a memory stick, a secure digital (SD) memory card, and the like. In other embodiments, the processor 118 may access information from, and store data in, memory that is not physically located on the WTRU 102, such as on a server or a home computer (not shown).

[0035] The processor 118 may receive power from the power source 134, and may be configured to distribute and / or control the power to the other components in the WTRU 102. The power source 134 may be any suitable device for powering the WTRU 102. For example, the power source 134 may include one or more dry cell batteries (e g., nickelcadmium (NiCd), nickel-zinc (NiZn), nickel metal hydride (NiMH), lithium-ion (Li-ion), etc ), solar cells, fuel cells, and the like

[0036] The processor 118 may also be coupled to the GPS chipset 136, which may be configured to provide location information (e.g., longitude and latitude) regarding the current location of the WTRU 102. In addition to, or in lieu of, the information from the GPS chipset 136, the WTRU 102 may receive location information over the air interface 116 from a base station (e.g., base stations 114a, 114b) and / or determine its location based on the timing of the signals being received from two or more nearby base stations. It will be appreciated that the WTRU 102 may acquire location information by way of any suitable location-determination method while remaining consistent with an embodiment.

[0037] The processor 118 may further be coupled to other peripherals 138, which may include one or more software and / or hardware modules that provide additional features, functionality and / or wired or wireless connectivity. For example, the peripherals 138 may include an accelerometer, an e-compass, a satellite transceiver, a digital camera (for photographs and / or video), a universal serial bus (USB) port, a vibration device, a television transceiver, a hands free headset, a Bluetooth® module, a frequency modulated (FM) radio unit, a digital music player, a media player, a video game player module, an Internet browser, a Virtual Reality and / or Augmented Reality (VR / AR) device, an activity tracker, and the like. The peripherals 138 may include one or more sensors. The sensors may be one or more of a gyroscope, an accelerometer, a hall effect sensor, a magnetometer, an orientation sensor, a proximity sensor, a temperature sensor, a time sensor; a geolocation sensor, an altimeter, a light sensor, a touch sensor, a magnetometer, a barometer, a gesture sensor, a biometric sensor, a humidity sensor and the like.

[0038] The WTRU 102 may include a full duplex radio for which transmission and reception of some or all of the signals (e.g., associated with particular subframes for both the UL (e.g., for transmission) and DL (e g., for reception) may be concurrent and / or simultaneous. The full duplex radio may include an interference management unit to reduce and or substantially eliminate self-interference via either hardware (e.g , a choke) or signal processing via a processor- 6 -9270328.1IDC-2024P00561WC(e.g., a separate processor (not shown) or via processor 118). In an embodiment, the WTRU 102 may include a halfduplex radio for which transmission and reception of some or all of the signals (e.g., associated with particular subframes for either the UL (e.g., for transmission) or the DL (e.g., for reception)).

[0039] FIG. 1C is a system diagram illustrating the RAN 104 and the CN 106 according to an embodiment. As noted above, the RAN 104 may employ an E-UTRA radio technology to communicate with the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c over the air interface 116. The RAN 104 may also be in communication with the CN 106.

[0040] The RAN 104 may include eNode-Bs 160a, 160b, 160c, though it will be appreciated that the RAN 104 may include any number of eNode-Bs while remaining consistent with an embodiment The eNode-Bs 160a, 160b, 160c may each include one or more transceivers for communicating with the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c over the air interface 116. In one embodiment, the eNode-Bs 160a, 160b, 160c may implement MIMO technology. Thus, the eNode-B 160a, for example, may use multiple antennas to transmit wireless signals to, and / or receive wireless signals from, the WTRU 102a.

[0041] Each of the eNode-Bs 160a, 160b, 160c may be associated with a particular cell (not shown) and may be configured to handle radio resource management decisions, handover decisions, scheduling of users in the UL and / or DL, and the like. As shown in FIG. 10, the eNode-Bs 160a, 160b, 160c may communicate with one another over an X2 interface.

[0042] The CN 106 shown in FIG. 10 may include a mobility management entity (MME) 162, a serving gateway (SGW) 164, and a packet data network (PDN) gateway (PGW) 166. While the foregoing elements are depicted as part of the CN 106, it will be appreciated that any of these elements may be owned and / or operated by an entity other than the CN operator.

[0043] The MME 162 may be connected to each of the eNode-Bs 162a, 162b, 162c in the RAN 104 via an S1 interface and may serve as a control node. For example, the MME 162 may be responsible for authenticating users of the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, bearer activation / deactivation, selecting a particular serving gateway during an initial attach of the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, and the like. The MME 162 may provide a control plane function for switching between the RAN 104 and other RANs (not shown) that employ other radio technologies, such as GSM and / or WCDMA.

[0044] The SGW 164 may be connected to each of the eNode Bs 160a, 160b, 160c in the RAN 104 via the S1 interface. The SGW 164 may generally route and forward user data packets to / from the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c. The SGW 164 may perform other functions, such as anchoring user planes during inter-eNode B handovers, triggering paging when DL data is available for the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, managing and storing contexts of the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, and the like.

[0045] The SGW 164 may be connected to the PGW 166, which may provide the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c with access to packet-switched networks, such as the Internet 110, to facilitate communications between the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c and IP-enabled devices.

[0046] The CN 106 may facilitate communications with other networks. For example, the CN 106 may provide the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c with access to circuit-switched networks, such as the PSTN 108, to facilitate communications between the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c and traditional land-line communications devices. For example, the CN 106 may include, or may communicate with, an IP gateway (e.g., an IP multimedia subsystem (IMS) server) that serves as an- 7 -9270328.1interface between the CN 106 and the PSTN 108 In addition, the CN 106 may provide the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c with access to the other networks 112, which may include other wired and / or wireless networks that are owned and / or operated by other service providers.

[0047] Although the WTRU is described in FIGS. 1A-1D as a wireless terminal, it is contemplated that in certain representative embodiments that such a terminal may use (e.g., temporarily or permanently) wired communication interfaces with the communication network.

[0048] In representative embodiments, the other network 112 may be a WLAN.

[0049] A WLAN in Infrastructure Basic Service Set (BSS) mode may have an Access Point (AP) for the BSS and one or more stations (STAs) associated with the AP. The AP may have access or an interface to a Distribution System (DS) or another type of wired / wireless network that carries traffic in to and / or out of the BSS. Traffic to STAs that originates from outside the BSS may arrive through the AP and may be delivered to the STAs. Traffic originating from STAs to destinations outside the BSS may be sent to the AP to be delivered to respective destinations. Traffic between STAs within the BSS may be sent through the AP, for example, where the source STA may send traffic to the AP and the AP may deliver the traffic to the destination STA. The traffic between STAs within a BSS may be considered and / or referred to as peer-to-peer traffic. The peer-to-peer traffic may be sent between (e.g., directly between) the source and destination STAs with a direct link setup (DLS). In certain representative embodiments, the DLS may use an 802.11e DLS or an 802.11z tunneled DLS (TDLS). A WLAN using an Independent BSS (IBSS) mode may not have an AP, and the STAs (e.g., all of the STAs) within or using the IBSS may communicate directly with each other The IBSS mode of communication may sometimes be referred to herein as an “ad-hoc” mode of communication.

[0050] When using the 802.11 ac infrastructure mode of operation or a similar mode of operations, the AP may transmit a beacon on a fixed channel, such as a primary channel. The primary channel may be a fixed width (e.g., 20 MHz wide bandwidth) or a dynamically set width. The primary channel may be the operating channel of the BSS and may be used by the STAs to establish a connection with the AP. In certain representative embodiments, Carrier Sense Multiple Access with Collision Avoidance (CSMA / CA) may be implemented, for example in 802.11 systems. For CSMA / CA, the STAs (e.g., every STA), including the AP, may sense the primary channel. If the primary channel is sensed / detected and / or determined to be busy by a particular STA, the particular STA may back off. One STA (e.g , only one station) may transmit at any given time in a given BSS.

[0051] High Throughput (HT) STAs may use a 40 MHz wide channel for communication, for example, via a combination of the primary 20 MHz channel with an adjacent or nonadjacent 20 MHz channel to form a 40 MHz wide channel

[0052] Very High Throughput (VHT) STAs may support 20MHz, 40 MHz, 80 MHz, and / or 160 MHz wide channels. The 40 MHz, and / or 80 MHz, channels may be formed by combining contiguous 20 MHz channels. A 160 MHz channel may be formed by combining 8 contiguous 20 MHz channels, or by combining two non-contiguous 80 Hz channels, which may be referred to as an 80+80 configuration. For the 80+80 configuration, the data, after channel encoding, may be passed through a segment parser that may divide the data into two streams. Inverse Fast Fourier Transform (IFFT) processing, and time domain processing, may be done on each stream separately. The streams may be mapped on to the two 80 MHz channels, and the data may be transmitted by a transmitting STA. At the receiver of the receiving STA,- 8 -9270328.1the above described operation for the 80+80 configuration may be reversed, and the combined data may be sent to the Medium Access Control (MAC).

[0053] Sub 1 GHz modes of operation are supported by 802.11 af and 802.11 ah. The channel operating bandwidths, and carriers, are reduced in 802.11 af and 802.11 ah relative to those used in 802.11n, and 802.11ac. 802.11 af supports 5 MHz, 10 MHz, and 20 MHz bandwidths in the TV White Space (TVWS) spectrum, and 802.11ah supports 1 MHz, 2 MHz, 4 MHz, 8 MHz, and 16 MHz bandwidths using non-TVWS spectrum. According to a representative embodiment, 802.11ah may support Meter Type Control / Machine-Type Communications (MTC), such as MTC devices in a macro coverage area. MTC devices may have certain capabilities, for example, limited capabilities including support for (e.g , only support for) certain and / or limited bandwidths. The MTC devices may include a battery with a battery life above a threshold (e.g., to maintain a very long battery life).

[0054] WLAN systems, which may support multiple channels, and channel bandwidths, such as 802.11n, 802.11ac, 802.11 af, and 802.11 ah, include a channel which may be designated as the primary channel. The primary channel may have a bandwidth equal to the largest common operating bandwidth supported by all STAs in the BSS. The bandwidth of the primary channel may be set and / or limited by a STA, from among all STAs in operating in a BSS, which supports the smallest bandwidth operating mode. In the example of 802.11 ah, the primary channel may be 1 MHz wide for STAs (e.g., MTC type devices) that support (e g., only support) a 1 MHz mode, even if the AP, and other STAs in the BSS support 2 MHz, 4 MHz, 8 MHz, 16 MHz, and / or other channel bandwidth operating modes. Carrier sensing and / or Network Allocation Vector (NAV) settings may depend on the status of the primary channel. If the primary channel is busy, for example, due to a STA (which supports only a 1 MHz operating mode) transmitting to the AP, all available frequency bands may be considered busy even though a majority of the available frequency bands remains idle.

[0055] In the United States, the available frequency bands, which may be used by 802.11 ah, are from 902 MHz to 928 MHz. In Korea, the available frequency bands are from 917.5 MHz to 923.5 MHz. In Japan, the available frequency bands are from 916.5 MHz to 927.5 MHz The total bandwidth available for 802.11 ah is 6 MHz to 26 MHz depending on the country code.

[0056] FIG. 1 D is a system diagram illustrating the RAN 104 and the CN 106 according to an embodiment. As noted above, the RAN 104 may employ an NR radio technology to communicate with the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c over the air interface 116. The RAN 104 may also be in communication with the CN 106.

[0057] The RAN 104 may include gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c, though it will be appreciated that the RAN 104 may include any number of gNBs while remaining consistent with an embodiment The gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c may each include one or more transceivers for communicating with the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c over the air interface 116. In one embodiment, the gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c may implement MIMO technology. For example, gNBs 180a, 108b may utilize beamforming to transmit signals to and / or receive signals from the gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c. Thus, the gNB 180a, for example, may use multiple antennas to transmit wireless signals to, and / or receive wireless signals from, the WTRU 102a. In an embodiment, the gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c may implement carrier aggregation technology. For example, the gNB 180a may transmit multiple component carriers to the WTRU 102a (not shown). A subset of these component carriers may be on unlicensed spectrum while the remaining component carriers may be on licensed spectrum. In an- 9 -9270328.1IDC-2024P00561WC embodiment, the gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c may implement Coordinated Multi-Point (CoMP) technology. For example, WTRU 102a may receive coordinated transmissions from gNB 180a and gNB 180b (and / or gNB 180c).

[0058] The WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may communicate with gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c using transmissions associated with a scalable numerology. For example, the OFDM symbol spacing and / or OFDM subcarrier spacing may vary for different transmissions, different cells, and / or different portions of the wireless transmission spectrum. The WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may communicate with gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c using subframe or transmission time intervals (TTIs) of various or scalable lengths (e g., containing a varying number of OFDM symbols and / or lasting varying lengths of absolute time).

[0059] The gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c may be configured to communicate with the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c in a standalone configuration and / or a non-standalone configuration. In the standalone configuration, WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may communicate with gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c without also accessing other RANs (e.g., such as eNode-Bs 160a, 160b, 160c). In the standalone configuration, WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may utilize one or more of gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c as a mobility anchor point. In the standalone configuration, WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may communicate with gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c using signals in an unlicensed band. In a non-standalone configuration WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may communicate with / connect to gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c while also communicating with / connecting to another RAN such as eNode-Bs 160a, 160b, 160c. For example, WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may implement DC principles to communicate with one or more gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c and one or more eNode-Bs 160a, 160b, 160c substantially simultaneously In the non-standalone configuration, eNode-Bs 160a, 160b, 160c may serve as a mobility anchor for WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c and gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c may provide additional coverage and / or throughput for servicing WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c.

[0060] Each of the gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c may be associated with a particular cell (not shown) and may be configured to handle radio resource management decisions, handover decisions, scheduling of users in the UL and / or DL, support of network slicing, DC, interworking between NR and E-UTRA, routing of user plane data towards User Plane Function (UPF) 184a, 184b, routing of control plane information towards Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF) 182a, 182b and the like. As shown in FIG. 1 D, the gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c may communicate with one another over an Xn interface.

[0061] The CN 106 shown in FIG. 1 D may include at least one AMF 182a, 182b, at least one UPF 184a, 184b, at least one Session Management Function (SMF) 183a, 183b, and possibly a Data Network (DN) 185a, 185b. While the foregoing elements are depicted as part of the CN 106, it will be appreciated that any of these elements may be owned and / or operated by an entity other than the CN operator.

[0062] The AMF 182a, 182b may be connected to one or more of the gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c in the RAN 104 via an N2 interface and may serve as a control node. For example, the AMF 182a, 182b may be responsible for authenticating users of the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, support for network slicing (e.g., handling of different protocol data unit (PDU) sessions with different requirements), selecting a particular SMF 183a, 183b, management of the registration area, termination of non-access stratum (NAS) signaling, mobility management, and the like. Network slicing may be used by the AMF 182a, 182b in order to customize CN support for WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c based on the types of services being utilized WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c For example, different network slices may be established for- 10 -9270328.1IDC-2024P00561WQ different use cases such as services relying on ultra-reliable low latency (URLLC) access, services relying on enhanced massive mobile broadband (eMBB) access, services for MTC access, and the like. The AMF 182a, 182b may provide a control plane function for switching between the RAN 104 and other RANs (not shown) that employ other radio technologies, such as LTE, LTE-A, LTE-A Pro, and / or non-3GPP access technologies such as WiFi.

[0063] The SMF 183a, 183b may be connected to an AMF 182a, 182b in the CN 106 via an N11 interface. The SMF 183a, 183b may also be connected to a UPF 184a, 184b in the CN 106 via an N4 interface. The SMF 183a, 183b may select and control the UPF 184a, 184b and configure the routing of traffic through the UPF 184a, 184b. The SMF 183a, 183b may perform other functions, such as managing and allocating UE IP address, managing PDU sessions, controlling policy enforcement and QoS, providing DL data notifications, and the like. A PDU session type may be IPbased, non-IP based, Ethernet-based, and the like.

[0064] The UPF 184a, 184b may be connected to one or more of the gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c in the RAN 104 via an N3 interface, which may provide the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c with access to packet-switched networks, such as the Internet 110, to facilitate communications between the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c and IP-enabled devices. The UPF 184, 184b may perform other functions, such as routing and forwarding packets, enforcing user plane policies, supporting multi-homed PDU sessions, handling user plane QoS, buffering DL packets, providing mobility anchoring, and the like.

[0065] The CN 106 may facilitate communications with other networks. For example, the CN 106 may include, or may communicate with, an IP gateway (e.g., an IP multimedia subsystem (IMS) server) that serves as an interface between the CN 106 and the PSTN 108. In addition, the CN 106 may provide the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c with access to the other networks 112, which may include other wired and / or wireless networks that are owned and / or operated by other service providers. In one embodiment, the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may be connected to a local DN 185a, 185b through the UPF 184a, 184b via the N3 interface to the UPF 184a, 184b and an N6 interface between the UPF 184a, 184b and the DN 185a, 185b

[0066] In view of FIGs. 1A-1D, and the corresponding description of FIGs. 1A-1 D, one or more, or all, of the functions described herein with regard to one or more of: WTRU 102a-d, Base Station 114a-b, eNode-B 160a-c, MME 162, SGW 164, PGW 166, gNB 180a-c, AMF 182a-b, UPF 184a-b, SMF 183a-b, DN 185a-b, and / or any other device(s) described herein, may be performed by one or more emulation devices (not shown). The emulation devices may be one or more devices configured to emulate one or more, or all, of the functions described herein. For example, the emulation devices may be used to test other devices and / or to simulate network and / or WTRU functions.

[0067] The emulation devices may be designed to implement one or more tests of other devices in a lab environment and / or in an operator network environment For example, the one or more emulation devices may perform the one or more, or all, functions while being fully or partially implemented and / or deployed as part of a wired and / or wireless communication network in order to test other devices within the communication network. The one or more emulation devices may perform the one or more, or all, functions while being temporarily implemented / deployed as part of a wired and / or wireless communication network. The emulation device may be directly coupled to another device for purposes of testing and / or performing testing using over-the-air wireless communications.- 11 -9270328.1

[0068] The one or more emulation devices may perform the one or more, including all, functions while not being implemented / deployed as part of a wired and / or wireless communication network. For example, the emulation devices may be utilized in a testing scenario in a testing laboratory and / or a non-deployed (e.g., testing) wired and / or wireless communication network in order to implement testing of one or more components. The one or more emulation devices may be test equipment. Direct RF coupling and / or wireless communications via RF circuitry (e.g., which may include one or more antennas) may be used by the emulation devices to transmit and / or receive data.

[0069] A listing of acronyms as may be used in the following paragraphs is provided herein.

[0070] "Acknowledgement" may also be referred to herein by the acronym ACK. "Block Error Rate" may also be referred to herein by the acronym BLER. "Bandwidth Part" may also be referred to herein by the acronym BWP. "Carrier aggregation" may also be referred to herein by the acronym CA. "Channel Access Priority" may also be referred to herein by the acronym CAP. "Channel access priority class" may also be referred to herein by the acronym CAPC. "Clear Channel Assessment" may also be referred to herein by the acronym CCA. "Control Channel Element" may also be referred to herein by the acronym CCE. "Control Element" may also be referred to herein by the acronym CE. "Configured grant or cell group" may also be referred to herein by the acronym CG. "Conditional handover" may also be referred to herein by the acronym CHO. "Cyclic Prefix" may also be referred to herein by the acronym CP. "Conventional OFDM (relying on cyclic prefix)" may also be referred to herein by the acronym CP-OFDM. "Conditional PsCell addition" may also be referred to herein by the acronym CPA. "Conditional PsCell addition / change" may also be referred to herein by the acronym CPAC. "Conditional PsCell change" may also be referred to herein by the acronym CPC. "Channel Quality Indicator" may also be referred to herein by the acronym CQI. "Cyclic Redundancy Check" may also be referred to herein by the acronym CRC. "Channel State Information" may also be referred to herein by the acronym CSI. "Contention Window" may also be referred to herein by the acronym CW "Contention Window Size" may also be referred to herein by the acronym CWS. "Channel Occupancy" may also be referred to herein by the acronym CO. "Downlink Assignment Index" may also be referred to herein by the acronym DAI. "Dual connectivity" may also be referred to herein by the acronym DC. "Downlink Control Information" may also be referred to herein by the acronym DCI. "Downlink feedback information" may also be referred to herein by the acronym DFI "Dynamic grant" may also be referred to herein by the acronym DG. "Downlink" may also be referred to herein by the acronym DL. "Demodulation Reference Signal" may also be referred to herein by the acronym DM-RS. "Data Radio Bearer" may also be referred to herein by the acronym DRB. "Enhanced Licensed Assisted Access" may also be referred to herein by the acronym eLAA. "Further enhanced Licensed Assisted Access" may also be referred to herein by the acronym FeLAA. "Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request" may also be referred to herein by the acronym HARQ. "In sync" may also be referred to herein by the acronym IS. "License Assisted Access" may also be referred to herein by the acronym LAA. "Listen-Before-Talk" may also be referred to herein by the acronym LBT. "Long Term Evolution e.g. from 3GPP LTE R8 and up" may also be referred to herein by the acronym LTE. "L1 / 2 triggered mobility" may also be referred to herein by the acronym LTM. "Negative ACK" may also be referred to herein by the acronym NACK. "Master cell group" may also be referred to herein by the acronym MCG. "Medium access control" may also be referred to herein by the acronym MAC. "Modulation and Coding Scheme" may also be referred to herein by the acronym MCS. "Multiple Input Multiple Output" may also be referred to herein by the acronym MIMO "New Radio" may also be referred to herein by the acronym NR. "Orthogonal Frequency- Division Multiplexing" may also be referred to herein by the acronym OFDM. "Out of sync" may also be referred to herein- 12 -9270328.1IDC-2024P00561WC by the acronym OOS. "Primary cell" may also be referred to herein by the acronym PCell. "Physical cell identity" may also be referred to herein by the acronym PCI. "Physical Layer" may also be referred to herein by the acronym PHY. "Process ID" may also be referred to herein by the acronym PID. "Paging Occasion" may also be referred to herein by the acronym PO. "Physical Random Access Channel" may also be referred to herein by the acronym PRACH. "Primary SCG Cell" may also be referred to herein by the acronym PSCell. "Primary Synchronization Signal" may also be referred to herein by the acronym PSS. "Random Access (or procedure)" may also be referred to herein by the acronym RA. "Random Access Channel" may also be referred to herein by the acronym RACH. "Random Access Response" may also be referred to herein by the acronym RAR. "Radio access network Central Unit" may also be referred to herein by the acronym RCU. "Radio Front end" may also be referred to herein by the acronym RF. "Radio Link Control" may also be referred to herein by the acronym RLC "Radio Link Failure" may also be referred to herein by the acronym RLF. "Radio Link Monitoring" may also be referred to herein by the acronym RLM. "Radio Network Identifier" may also be referred to herein by the acronym RNTI. "RACH occasion" may also be referred to herein by the acronym RO "Radio Resource Control" may also be referred to herein by the acronym RRC. "Radio Resource Management" may also be referred to herein by the acronym RRM. "Reference Signal" may also be referred to herein by the acronym RS. "Reference Signal Received Power" may also be referred to herein by the acronym RSRP. "Received Signal Strength Indicator" may also be referred to herein by the acronym RSSI. "Secondary cell" may also be referred to herein by the acronym SCell. "Secondary cell group" may also be referred to herein by the acronym SCG. "Service Data Unit" may also be referred to herein by the acronym SDU. "System Information Broadcast" may also be referred to herein by the acronym SIB. "Special Cell" may also be referred to herein by the acronym SpCell. "Sounding Reference Signal" may also be referred to herein by the acronym SRS. "Synchronization Signal" may also be referred to herein by the acronym SS. "Secondary Synchronization Signal" may also be referred to herein by the acronym SSS. "Switching Gap (in a self- contained subframe)" may also be referred to herein by the acronym SWG. "Semi-persistent scheduling" may also be referred to herein by the acronym SPS. "Supplemental Uplink" may also be referred to herein by the acronym SUL. "Transport Block" may also be referred to herein by the acronym TB. "Transport Block Size" may also be referred to herein by the acronym TBS. "Transmission / Reception Point" may also be referred to herein by the acronym TRP. "Time-sensitive communications" may also be referred to herein by the acronym TSC "Time-sensitive networking" may also be referred to herein by the acronym TSN. "Time to trigger" may also be referred to herein by the acronym TTT. "Uncrewed Aerial Vehicle" may also be referred to herein by the acronym UAV. "Uplink" may also be referred to herein by the acronym UL. "Ultra-Reliable and Low Latency Communications" may also be referred to herein by the acronym URLLC. "Wide Bandwidth Part" may also be referred to herein by the acronym WBWP. "Wireless Local Area Networks and related technologies (IEEE 8O2.xx domain)'1may also be referred to herein by the acronym WLAN.

[0071] The term SpCell may refer to the PCell of the MCG or the PSCell of the SCG depending on whether the MAC entity is associated to the MCG or the SCG.

[0072] AloT topologies are described herein. One or more of the following topologies may be relevant to solutions described herein. In a first topology, Topology 1 , an Ambient loT device may directly and bidirectionally communicate with a base station. The communication between the base station and the ambient loT device may include Ambient loT data and / or signalling. This topology may provide for the possibility that the base station transmitting to the Ambient loT device is different from the base station that receives from the Ambient loT device.- 13 -9270328.1IDC-2024P00561WG

[0073] In accordance with a first topology, Topology 2, an Ambient loT device may communicate bidirectionally with an intermediate node between the device and base station. In this topology, the intermediate node may be a relay, IAB node, WTRU, repeater, or another network element which may be capable of communication with Ambient loT devices. The intermediate node may transfer Ambient loT data and / or signalling between the BS and the Ambient loT device.

[0074] Resource management in AloT systems is described herein. Devices in AloT systems may transmit by backscattering a signal transmitted by a reader or an external source. The signal may include a single tone or continuous wave (CW) or multiple tones, which may be transmitted simultaneously (e.g., using multi-carrier) or sequentially (e.g., using frequency hopping). A device may transmit information by reflecting or absorbing the signal.

[0075] Wireless communication systems may use frequency division multiplexing to support simultaneous transmissions of different communication links. This technique may be possible when transmissions have low overlap between their respective frequency spectra and when devices are equipped with transmit and / or receiver filters. In AloT systems, a deployment may include multiple readers and devices. However, frequency division multiplexing may be challenging to realize because the simplest devices are not equipped with tunable filters that can reject signals in adjacent channels. It still may be possible to frequency multiplex signals by utilizing different frequencies between different readers for the CW tone used for device-to-reader (D2R) communication if there is sufficient isolation between a reader and a (non-intended) device.

[0076] FIG. 2 is a diagram depicting co-channel and adjacent channel interference from a reader’s perspective. Specifically, FIG. 2 illustrates desired and interfering signals from the perspective of a reader 211 (R2) receiving a backscattered signal from a device 221 (D2) on frequency f2 while in the vicinity of another reader 212 (R1) communicating with another device 212 (D1) on frequency f1 . For Device-to-Reader (D2R) transmissions, Reader 211 (R2) may be subject to adjacent channel interference from transmissions on f1 that originate from reader 212 (R1) either directly or backscattered through the device 221 (D2). The adjacent channel interference occurs because of limited frequency selectivity at the transmitter side (i e, at the reader 212 (R1 )) and / or receiver side (i.e, at the receiver 211 (R2)). Reader 211 (R2) may also be subject to co-channel interference on f2 by the transmission originating from itself, which is backscattered through the device 222 (D1) (also referred to herein as "own-signal backscattering”). The cochannel interference may occur because device 222 (D1) may backscatter incoming signals within the ambient loT band of operation without selecting (or without being capable of selecting) frequency channels within that band. While adjacent channel interference may be mitigated by increasing frequency separation between f1 and f2, this strategy may not be possible for mitigating co-channel interference. For example, issues resulting from co-channel interference may need to be handled or resolved using other solutions such as assigning non-overlapping time resources.

[0077] In an ambient loT deployment that includes multiple readers and devices, proper assignment of time and frequency resources to each reader may be required to maximize coverage and minimize latency of typical procedures such as inventory. Resource assignment determinations are typically supported by (or based on) measurements performed by different entities in the system. In 3GPP New Radio (NR) systems, for example, these measurements may include or may be a received signal received power (RSRP), received signal received quality (RSRQ), received signal strength indicator (RSSI) and the like. An entity performing resource assignment may be, for example, a base station or gNB (e.g., in case a reader is a WTRU in Topology 2). Alternatively, or additionally, the entity may be a reader. In the following paragraphs, such entity may be referred to interchangeably as a “resource management entity”.- 14 -9270328.1

[0078] One or more problems addressed herein are described below. Interference management in ambient loT systems present specific challenges. For example, measurements may be available (or may be performed) only at the reader side due to limitations (e.g., limitations in complexity) at the device side. Co-channel interference caused by backscattering of signals (e.g., the device’s own signal) may not be captured by the measurements. Furthermore, a large proportion of device transmissions may occur as part of contention-based procedures, which may mean that the transmission timing of a specific device may be unpredictable, especially when many devices are present.

[0079] A summary of some solutions as presented herein is provided in the following paragraphs. One or more of the following solutions may be used together to address the challenges explained above.

[0080] Some solutions involve an interference differentiation procedure. In such procedures, a reader may perform a measurement procedure including determining two sets of measurements A first set of measurements may be taken during period(s) during which the reader also transmits a signal (e.g., a first signal). A second set of measurements may be taken during period(s) in which the reader does not transmit (or transmits a second signal).

[0081] As a technical benefit, these procedures may allow a resource management entity to compare interference levels with and without co-channel interference caused by own-signal backscattering and thus determine whether it may be beneficial to assign a different frequency to the reader. For example, if the interference level including co-channel interference is significantly higher than the interference level without co-channel interference, this may indicate that the dominant source of interference is co-channel interference, and that the reader should utilize resources that are not overlapping in time domain with resources of a neighboring reader. Conversely, if the interference level including cochannel interference is the same or not significantly higher than the interference level without co-channel interference, this may indicate that the dominant source of interference is adjacent-channel interference, and that the reader can utilize same resources as a neighboring reader in the time domain.

[0082] Device sounding procedures are described herein In some procedures, a reader may initiate a procedure wherein a set of devices simultaneously transmit (e.g. using backscattering) a device-specific and / or reader-specific signal.

[0083] A technical benefit of such procedures may be that any interference originating from a signal transmitted from a reader, including backscattered signals from devices communicating with this reader, may be measured with a short (e.g., minimal) latency. A resource management entity may instruct a first reader to trigger this device sounding procedure and a second reader to initiate an interference differentiation procedure with same time-domain configurations to determine whether to assign non-overlapping time resources between the readers.

[0084] In the above-referenced procedures, a reader may receive configurations or configuration information for measurement sets and signals to transmit. The configuration or configuration information may be received from a resource management entity and the reader may reports the measurement results to this entity.

[0085] A summary of one or more examples is provided herein.

[0086] In some examples, a reader (i.e. a measuring reader), receives configurations (or configuration information) from a base station (e.g., a gNB). The configurations or configuration information may include or indicate time periods and frequencies of first and second measurement sets, properties of signal(s) to transmit during a first measurement set (e.g. transmission power, frequency, sequence), and / or properties of signal(s) to transmit (if any) during a second- 15 -9270328.1measurement set. During a first time period, the reader may perform measurement(s) (e.g. RSSI or other types of measurements as described substantially in paragraphs above) while transmitting signals) according to configured properties for the first measurement set. During a second time period, the reader may perform measurement(s) (e.g. RSSI or other types of measurements) while transmitting signal(s) according to configured properties for the second measurement set. The reader may report an average measurement (e.g., an average RSSI) over the first time period and an average measurement (e.g., an average RSSI) over the second time period.

[0087] In some examples, a reader (i.e. sounding reader) receives configuration information from a base station (e.g., a gNB) including or indicating time periods for the transmission of sounding signals from the sounding reader and devices, properties of sounding signals (e.g. sequences, waveforms, subcarriers used by the reader and sequences used by devices). The reader may transmit control information addressing a set of devices as per device indication. For example, the control information may be directed to any device receiving the control information, devices that have successfully completed procedure(s) with the sounding reader, or devices matching identity indication. The control information may indicate properties for the transmission of sounding signals by these devices.

[0088] In some examples, a device (i.e. a sounding device) receives control information from a reader. The control information may request transmission (e.g. backscattering) of sounding signal(s) for an indicated time period using indicated properties, and device indication If the device matches (or meets) conditions for transmission of sounding signal(s) as per the device indication, the device may perform transmission of sounding signal(s) for the indicated time period according to the indicated properties.

[0089] A detailed description of solutions proposed herein is provided in paragraphs below. Aspects common to all solutions are described in the paragraphs that immediately follow.

[0090] Device terminology is explained in the following paragraphs. Herein, the terms device, AloT WTRU, TAG may be used interchangeably to refer to an AloT device that is being inventoried / queried by the reader.

[0091] The term reader may refer to an entity that queries the AloT device, either directly, or via an intermediate WTRU (e.g., in topology 2). The term reader in topology 2 may also refer to the intermediate WTRU. As a result, the term reader may refer to a network node or a WTRU, depending on the context and / or the topology. Herein, the terms reader, network, intermediate WTRU, may be used interchangeably to refer to a reader.

[0092] Terminology relating to occasions is discussed herein. Herein, the term occasion may refer to an opportunity for device transmission that may be delimited by the transmission of a query rep message (or similar). Specifically, a device may perform transmission in an occasion by performing a AloT transmission in a defined time following the query rep associated with that transmission. Alternatively, or additionally, an occasion may consist of, include, or be defined by a time aspect and / or a frequency aspect. Specifically, a device may determine an occasion as a transmission following a specific query rep. A device may determine an occasion by transmitting on one of a number of frequencies (e.g., FDM). In the description provided herein, where solutions indicate or refer to the selection of an occasion, they may apply equivalently to the selection of only a time component and / or selection of a frequency component.

[0093] Time references are discussed herein. Herein, depending on the solution or description, any reference to time may be associated with an absolute time measurement (e g., seconds, slots, frames, etc.). Alternatively, or additionally, a reference to time may refer to a number of executions of a procedure, possibly triggered by a reader (e.g.,- 16 -9270328.1IDC-2024P00561WD number of inventory procedures, number of accesses or RACH procedures, etc.). Alternatively, or additionally, a reference to time may refer to a number of messages, possibly of a specific type, or containing specific information, as described herein, received or transmitted.

[0094] Configuration terminology is discussed herein A configuration or pre-configuration may refer to any configuration received by a message (e.g., an RRC message, a MAC CE, a PHY layer signal, a data PDU, a control PDU associated with any or a new protocol layer, etc.) received from either a network node, or from another device or WTRU.

[0095] A device as referred to herein may be configured by the reader, whereby the reader may be a network node or a WTRU (e.g., intermediate WTRU in topology 2). In the case where the reader is a WTRU, the WTRU may derive the device configuration itself, or it may receive the device configuration from the network, in which case, the device configuration may be relayed from the network to the device by the WTRU. On the other hand, a WTRU configuration (in the case of a WTRU in topology 2) may be received from a network node (e.g., the gNB).

[0096] Detailed components of one or more solutions are described herein.

[0097] Time configuration aspects are discussed in the following paragraphs. A reader (i.e., a measuring reader) may be configured to perform measurements in at least one period of time. Each such period of time may be referred to as a measurement period in the following paragraphs. Within a measurement period, the reader may apply a same configuration for the transmission of signal for backscattering (i.e., a signal that is to be backscattered by other devices), a same configuration for the measurement type, and / or the same configuration for other parameters.

[0098] A reader (i.e. a sounding reader) may be configured to perform transmission of sounding signals in at least one period of time. Each such period of time may be referred to as a sounding period in the following paragraphs. During a sounding period, the reader may apply a same configuration for the transmission of signals for backscattering (i.e., for the transmission of signals that are to be backscattered), for the set of devices instructed to backscatter a signal, and / or the same configuration for other parameters.

[0099] At least one of a measurement period and / or a sounding period may include at least one time segment. A time segment may be a continuous period from a start time to an end time. A time segment may be disjoint. In some examples, a disjoint time segment may refer to a time segment that is non-continuous (or non-contiguous) with one or more other time segments.

[0100] A reader may determine a measurement period or a sounding period from at least one parameter, as described in the following paragraphs. The term “period” may be used to generally refer to either a measurement period or a sounding period.

[0101] In some examples, a reader may determine a measurement period or a sounding period from a start time, an end time, a duration applicable to the period, and / or a duration that is applicable to the set of periods and / or to each time segment of the period.

[0102] In some examples, a reader may determine a measurement period or a sounding period from a time difference between the start times (or end times) of consecutive time segments of a same period (e.g., time segments within a same Tc or cycle periodicity) or of any period (Ts or segment duration).- 17 -9270328.1IDC-2024P00561WC

[0103] In some examples, a reader may determine a measurement period or a sounding period from an order or sequence for a set of periods (i.e., a sequence of periods within a set).

[0104] In some examples, a reader may determine a measurement period or a sounding period from a total number of periods.

[0105] In some examples, a reader may determine a measurement period or a sounding period from a total number of time segments for a given period or for all periods.

[0106] In some examples, a reader may determine a measurement period or a sounding period from an time offset applicable to a period.

[0107] In some examples, a reader may determine that a set of sounding or measurement periods is periodically recurring. For example, a reader may determine that each set of measurement periods includes 2 measurement periods with 10 segments each, where each segment may have a duration of 1 ms. The reader may further determine that such set of measurement periods recurs with a periodicity of 200 ms.

[0108] Further with respect to the terminology used in the above paragraphs, the start time, end time, duration, cycle periodicity, segment duration, offset and the like may be expressed in terms of time units or time references utilized within a wireless system such as 3GPP New Radio (NR). This may be beneficial in case the reader is a WTRU connected or camped to a NR serving cell since it is already synchronized to the cell. For example, such time units may include, or be, a system frame number, a subframe number, a slot number, a symbol number, and the like, any of which may applicable or specific to a serving cell of the WTRU. A reference time may additionally (or alternatively) depend on the reception time of a transmission that triggers the measurement or sounding procedure such as the reception time of a last symbol of a PDCCH containing an indication to trigger the procedure, or the transmission time of a HARQ-ACK transmission acknowledging a MAC control element containing an indication to trigger the procedure The reader may determine a starting time, tO, based on such reference time and possibly additional offset indicated as part of the indication to trigger the procedure

[0109] Alternatively, or additionally, some or all of the above parameters may be expressed in terms of time units utilized within an ambient loT system. Such time units may include, for example, a chip duration or a symbol duration.

[0110] Alternatively, or additionally, some or all of the above parameters may be expressed in terms of absolute time units (such as milliseconds (ms)).

[0111] FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating alternating periods. In FIG. 3, an example of a configuration 300 of periods (which may be measurement or sounding periods, or other types of periods) is shown. In this example, periods #1 and #2 each include time segments of a duration Ts where time segments of a given period occur in every other time segment. A configuration, such as the configuration 300 shown in FIG. 3, may include (or specify) at least one of a start time tO, a duration of a time segment Ts, a number of periods (e g. 2), or a total number of time segments N.

[0112] If the measuring reader or sounding reader is a WTRU connected to a serving cell, the reader may obtain at least one parameter of the configuration from RRC signaling, MAC signaling (e.g., a MAC control element (MAC-CE)), and / or control information such as downlink control information (DCI) Alternatively, or additionally, if the measuring reader supports sidelink operation, the reader may obtain at least parameter from a sidelink transmission.

[0113] Transmitted signal configuration aspects are described herein.- 18 -9270328.1IDC-2024P00561WC

[0114] A measuring reader may be configured to perform transmission of a signal during a measurement period. The measuring reader may set properties of the transmitted signal as a function of the measurement period. If, for example, a set of measurement periods is periodically recurring, the properties may be a function of both the measurement period and a time parameter

[0115] A sounding reader may be configured to perform transmission of a signal during a sounding procedure. The sounding reader may set properties of the transmitted signal as a function of the sounding period. If a set of sounding periods is periodically recurring, the properties may be a function of both the sounding period and a time parameter.

[0116] At least one of the following properties of the transmission may be configured for a given measurement period or sounding period. The properties may include, for example, at least one carrier frequency; a transmission power, including zero power (no transmission); a transmission scheme, such as OFDM or a continuous wave (CW) transmission; a modulation scheme, such as BPSK, QPSK, or On-Off keying; a symbol duration or a chip duration; a set of subcarriers and / or resource blocks; a chip sequence for the generation of a signal with a frequency shift with respect to carrier frequency; a hopping sequence for the carrier frequency, subcarrier(s) and / or resource block(s); or a sequence such as a pseudo-random sequence or a cyclic sequence used for the modulation.

[0117] A measuring reader or a sounding reader may determine a carrier frequency as the sum of a reference carrier frequency and an offset. The reference carrier frequency may correspond to the center or to an edge of an operating bandwidth for AloT. At least one of the carrier frequency, reference carrier frequency and offset may be expressed in absolute units (e.g. kHz, MHz). Alternatively, it may be expressed in units of subcarrier index and / or resource block of a bandwidth part (e.g. active bandwidth part or initial bandwidth part) of a serving cell of the WTRU at least if the reader is a WTRU. If a reader is configured to transmit over a set of subcarriers or resource blocks (e.g. if it is configured with OFDM transmission scheme), the set of subcarriers or resource blocks may be indicated in terms of the numerology of a bandwidth part or carrier of a serving cell of the WTRU.

[0118] A reader may determine a transmission power as the sum (in dB units) of a reference transmission power and a power offset. The reference transmission power may correspond to a transmission power for reader-to-device communication or for device-to-reader communication.

[0119] A reader may determine a sequence for modulating the transmission as a pseudo-random sequence (such as a Gold or Zadoff-Chu sequence) or a cyclic sequence, and / or a value for initializing the sequence.

[0120] A reader may determine a symbol duration or a chip duration based on time units used for the connection to a serving cell or based on AloT transmissions as described earlier.

[0121] If the measuring reader or sounding reader is a WTRU connected to a serving cell, the reader may obtain at least one of the above-mentioned parameters from RRC signaling, MAC signaling (e.g., a MAC control element), and / or control information such as downlink control information (DCI). Alternatively, or additionally, if the measuring reader supports sidelink operation, the reader may obtain at least parameter from a sidelink transmission.

[0122] Measurement types are described herein. A reader may perform at least one of the following measurements in a measurement period. A reader may measure an average (e.g linear average) of the total received power within a time segment and within a frequency range (measurement bandwidth). Such measurement type may be referred to as a received signal strength indicator (RSSI).- 19 -9270328.1

[0123] A reader may measure the received power from (or based upon) contributions from a reference signal with specific properties within a time segment and measurement bandwidth. Such measurement type may be referred to as a reference signal received power (RSRP). For example, such properties may include a sequence of modulated symbols, a set of resource elements or subcarriers, and the like. The sequence may be determined in the same way as described in previous paragraphs. A reader may be configured to perform such measurement for one or more separately configured reference signals The set of measurement signals may be separately configured for each measurement period.

[0124] The reader may determine the measurement bandwidth as one or more of the following: an operating bandwidth for ambient loT communications; and / or the frequency range of a channel of ambient loT. The channel may correspond to a channel on which the reader is currently configured to operate for reader-to-device or device-to-reader transmission Alternatively, the channel may be explicitly configured for the measurement period.

[0125] Reporting quantities are described herein. A reader may report at least one of the quantities described in the following paragraphs to a resource management entity

[0126] In some examples, a reader may report, for at least one measurement period and at least one measurement type, measurement results for each time segment.

[0127] In some examples, a reader may report, for at least one measurement period and at least one measurement type, at least one statistic over the set of time segments of the measurement period. The statistics may include an average, a standard deviation, a variance, a median, a percentile (e.g., an Nth percentile), and / or other types of statistics . The reader may perform averaging in linear or dB units.

[0128] In some examples, a reader may report, for at least one measurement type, a difference between measurement results taken over a first measurement period and a second measurement period. The reader may determine an association between each time segment of a first measurement period and a time segment of a second measurement period. For example, the association may be that a time segment of a first period is associated with the time segment of the second period that immediately follows it. The reader may determine a difference for each time segment and determine at least one statistic over the set of time segments such as statistics mentioned in above paragraph Alternatively, or additionally, the reader may first average results over all segments of a first (second) measurement period and then determine the difference between the average results. The difference may be calculated from results in dB or dBm units.

[0129] Reporting procedures are described herein.

[0130] In some examples, a reader (e.g. a WTRU) may report at least one measurement result if it received an indication from a resource management entity (e.g. a base station, or network node such as a gNB) to report the at least one result. Such indication may be the same indication that indicated or triggered a set of measurement periods as described earlier.

[0131] In some examples, a reader may report at least one measurement result periodically. For example, the reader may report measurement results after each periodically recurring set of measurement periods. Alternatively, or additionally, the reader may report measurement results according to a configured periodicity or in configured reporting occasions.- 20 -9270328.1

[0132] In some examples, a reader may report at least one measurement result if a condition is satisfied. For example, the reader may receive signaling indicating sets of measurement periods that are periodically recurring. The reader may perform measurements for each set of measurement periods, and determine if it reports results for this set of measurement period if a condition is satisfied For example, one or more the following conditions may be configured. One condition may be that a measurement result is above or becomes above a first threshold. One condition may be that a measurement result is below or becomes below a second threshold.

[0133] In some examples, a reader may be configured to report measurement results if it determines that the difference of a measurement (e.g., RSS I) is between a first and a second measurement period is above a threshold.

[0134] In some examples, a reader may be configured to report a measurement (e.g., RSRP) of a reference signal if it determines that the measurement (e.g., RSRP) of this reference signal is above a threshold. The reader may report the value of the measurement (e.g., RSRP) and the identity of the reference signal.

[0135] The report may be included in an RRC message, a MAC signaling (e.g., a MAC control element) or as uplink control information in PUCCH or PUSCH. The reporting periodicity, reporting occasions, thresholds and / or the types of measurements for conditional reporting may be configured or indicated by RRC, MAC signaling (e.g., MAC control element), control information such as downlink control information, or other logically equivalent signaling.

[0136] Further details regarding sounding aspects, and particularly reader operation, are described herein.

[0137] In some examples, a sounding reader may be configured to perform transmission of a sounding reference signal without indication of backscattering to devices during at least one time segment of a sounding period.

[0138] In some examples, a sounding reader may be configured to indicate to at least one device to perform a transmission (such as a backscattering transmission) during at least one time segment of a sounding period. The sounding reader may transmit a signal for at least the purpose of backscattering by the at least one device during the at least one segment. The indication may include a reader-to-device (R2D) transmission (or be included in an R2D transmission). The indication may include at least one of the following information.

[0139] The indication may include a time indication for the device-to-reader (D2R) transmission, such as a duration and at least one start time. The indication may include an indication that the transmission is for D2R sounding reference signal. The indication may include at least one property for the D2R sounding reference signal, such as described in the above (e.g. chip sequence, chip duration, sequence). The indication may include an indication whether to apply power boosting to the backscattered signal, if device is capable. The indication may include an indication of applicable device(s). The indication may include an indication of a maximum value for the random selection of a time and / or frequency occasion or sequence.

[0140] The sounding reader may transmit the R2D indication with a timing such that the D2R sounding reference signal starts at the beginning of a configured time segment for sounding. Alternatively, or additionally, the sounding reader may transmit the R2D indication at the beginning of a configured time segment for sounding

[0141] Device(s) that transmit a D2R sounding reference signal may include at least one of following sets of devices: any device receiving the control information; devices that have successfully completed a procedure with the sounding reader; and / or devices matching an identity indication.- 21 -9270328.1

[0142] The sounding reader may indicate in the R2D indication one or a combination of the above options and at least one identity indication. An identity indication may include a subset of bits of an identity parameter of a device. A device may be included if the subset of bits of the identity indication matches the corresponding subset of bits of its identity.

[0143] The sounding reader may indicate a maximum value for the random selection of a resource (e.g. in time and / or frequency) by a device. The sounding reader may set this parameter to a small value, or even zero (0), such that most or all devices receiving the indication transmit at the same time. If the parameter indicates a resource in the frequency domain, such as a small frequency shift, the sounding reader may set this parameter to the number of available frequency resources such that all such resources are utilized with equal probability.

[0144] The sounding reader may receive signaling from a resource management entity (e.g. a base station or a network node, such as a gNB) containing configurations for applicable types of sounding reference signal and devices (if any) for each sounding period. For example, the sounding reader may be configured to perform transmission of a sounding reference signal without device backscattering in a first period and to trigger transmission of D2R sounding reference signals in a second period for all devices or a configured subset thereof. The sounding reader may receive additional parameters of the configuration for each sounding period, including any parameter or property mentioned in the above (signal duration, sequence, power boosting, applicable devices, etc.). Alternatively, or additionally, some parameters may be pre-defined.

[0145] A benefit of this approach is that it may allow a resource management entity to distinguish interference sources (e.g., to distinguish reader from devices) if sounding periods are set up to overlap with respective measurement periods of a neighboring measuring reader that may be subject to the interference.

[0146] A sounding reader may initiate a sounding procedure if it received an indication from a resource management entity (e.g. a base station or a network node such as a gNB) to initiate sounding A sounding reader may perform a sounding procedure periodically. The time occasions at which a sounding procedure is initiated and the periodicity may be indicated by a resource management entity such as a base station, or a network node such as a gNB. For example, such occasions may be indicated using solutions described in the above for the time segments and periods.

[0147] If the sounding reader is a WTRU connected to a serving cell, the reader may obtain at least one of the above-mentioned parameters from RRC signaling, MAC control element and / or downlink control information (DCI). Alternatively, if the sounding reader supports sidelink operation, the reader may obtain at least parameter from asidelink transmission

[0148] Further details regarding sounding aspects, and particularly device operation, are described herein.

[0149] In some examples, a device may receive an indication in a R2D message for the transmission (e g. by backscattering or from autonomous signal generation) of a D2R sounding reference signal.

[0150] A device may first determine whether it should respond to the indication and transmit the D2R sounding reference signal. A device may respond if one or a combination of conditions is met. A condition may be that the indication is for transmission of a D2R sounding reference signal. A condition may be that the R2D message indicates that any device performs transmission of the D2R sounding reference signal. A condition may be that the device is associated with the reader transmitting the indication, e.g. the device may have already successfully completed a- 22 -9270328.1contention-based access procedure with this reader. A condition may be that the R2D message indicates that any device associated to the reader performs transmission of the D2R sounding reference signal, and this device is associated to the reader. A condition may be that the R2D message contains an identity parameter and the identity of the device matches a condition derived from the identity parameter. For example, the identity parameter may consist of (or include) a subset of bits and the condition may be that this subset of bits matches corresponding subset of bits of the identity of the device

[0151] A device may perform transmission of a D2R sounding reference signal. In some examples, the device may transmit the D2R sounding reference signal by backscattering the signal from the reader without any modification (e.g. by always reflecting the signal, or by only reflecting the signal without modification) In some examples, the device may transmit a signal with properties mentioned in previous paragraphs, where at least one property may be indicated in the R2D message.

[0152] In some examples, the device may apply modulation (e.g OOK) to the signal using a sequence. Such sequence may include subcarrier modulation sequence for small frequency shift. The device may apply a sequence explicitly indicated in the R2D message. Alternatively, the device may randomly select a sequence from a pre-defined or configured set. The number of sequences to select from may be indicated in the R2D message.

[0153] In some examples, at least one of the start time and duration of the D2R sounding reference signal may be determined from an indication in the R2D message. Alternatively, or additionally, the duration or start time may be predefined. The device may randomly select a start time from a set of possible start times indicated by the R2D message. For example, the R2D message may indicate that the device randomly selects from N possible start times, where the nth start time is (n-1) x D where D is the duration of the D2R sounding reference signal.

[0154] FIG. 4 is a flow diagram illustrating a procedure as may be performed by a reader, according to one example. As shown in FIG. 4, at step 401 , a reader (e.g., a measuring reader) receives configuration information (e.g., from a nodeB such as a gNB). The configuration information may indicate time periods and / or frequencies for first and second measurement sets. The configuration information may indicate properties of a signal to transmit during a time period associated with the first measurement set (e.g transmission power, frequency, sequence). The configuration information may indicate properties of a signal to transmit (if any) during a time period associated with the second measurement set. As shown at step 402, during a first time period, the reader may perform measurement(s) (e.g. RSSI) while transmitting signal(s) according to the properties associated with the first measurement set. As shown at step 403, during a second time period, the reader may perform measurement(s) (e.g. RSSI) while transmitting signal(s) according to configured properties associated with the second measurement set. As shown at step 404, the reader may report an average measurement (e.g., an average RSSI) over the first time period and an average measurement (e.g., an average RSSI) over the second time period.

[0155] FIG. 5 is a flow diagram illustrating a procedure as may be performed by a reader, according to one example. As shown at step 501 , a reader (e.g., a sounding reader) may receive configuration information (e.g., from a nodeB such as a gNB). The configuration information may indicate time periods for the transmission of sounding signals from (or by) the sounding reader and one or more devices. The configuration information may indicate properties of sounding signals (e.g. sequence(s), waveform(s), and / or subcarrier(s) used by the reader and sequence(s) used byone or more devices).- 23 -9270328.1

[0156] As shown at step 502, the reader may transmit control information to, or addressing, a set of devices. The control information may address devices on a per-device basis. For example, the control information may be read by or may be applicable to any device receiving the control information, devices that have successfully completed procedure with the sounding reader, or devices matching identity indication. Based on the received configuration information, the control information may indicate properties for the transmission of sounding signals by these devices In some examples, the reader may subsequently receive signals (e.g., sounding signals) transmitted by one or more devices from the set of devices.

[0157] FIG. 6 is a flow diagram illustrating a procedure as may be performed by a device, according to one example. As shown at step 601, a device (e.g., a sounding device) may receive control information from a reader requesting transmission (e.g. backscattering) of sounding signal(s) for an indicated time period using indicated properties. The control information may include a device indication If the device matches (or meets) conditions for transmission of sounding signal as per device indication, it may perform transmission of sounding signal for the indicated time period according to the indicated properties.

[0158] Although features and elements are described above in particular combinations, one of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that each feature or element can be used alone or in any combination with the other features and elements. In addition, the methods described herein may be implemented in a computer program, software, or firmware incorporated in a computer-readable medium for execution by a computer or processor. Examples of computer-readable media include electronic signals (transmitted over wired or wireless connections) and computer-readable storage media. Examples of computer-readable storage media include, but are not limited to, a read only memory (ROM), a random access memory (RAM), a register, cache memory, semiconductor memory devices, magnetic media such as internal hard disks and removable disks, magneto-optical media, and optical media such as CD-ROM disks, and digital versatile disks (DVDs). A processor in association with software may be used to implement a radio frequency transceiver for use in a WTRU, UE, terminal, base station, RNC, or any host computer.- 24 -9270328.1

Claims

CLAIMSWhat is Claimed:1 A method performed by a reader comprising: receiving configuration information from a base station indicating parameters for a first measurement set and parameters for a second measurement set; performing a first measurement of a first reference signal during a first time period based on the parameters for the first measurement set; performing a second measurement of a second reference signal during a second time period based on the parameters for the second measurement set; and sending a report to a base station including an indication of the first measurement and an indication of the second measurement.2 The method of claim 1 further comprising transmitting the first reference signal during the first time period.3 The method of claim 2, wherein performing the first measurement of the first reference signal comprises receiving a backscattered transmission of the first reference signal.4 The method of claim 1 further comprising transmitting a reader-to-device (R2D) indication to at least one other device including an indication to transmit the first reference signal5 The method of claim 1 further comprising not transmitting during the second time period.6 The method of claim 1 , wherein the parameters for the first measurement set include first timing parameters associated with the first time period and second timing parameters associated with the second time period.7 The method of claim 1 , wherein performing the first measurement and performing the second measurement respectively include measuring a first RSSI and measuring a second RSSI.8 The method of claim 1 , wherein the indication of the first measurement and the indication of the second measurement respectively include indications of an average received signal strength indicator (RSSI) during the first time period and an average RSSI during the second time period9 The method of claim 1, wherein the configuration information includes an indication of at least one device that is to backscatter one or more of the first reference signal or the second reference signal.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the configuration information indicates one or more conditions for sending the report to the base station.

11. A reader comprising: a processor; and a transceiver;- 25 -9270328.1the processor and the transceiver configured to receive configuration information from a base station indicating parameters for a first measurement set and parameters for a second measurement set; the processor and the transceiver configured to perform a first measurement of a first reference signal during a first time period based on the parameters for the first measurement set; the processor and the transceiver configured to perform a second measurement of a second reference signal during a second time period based on the parameters for the second measurement set; and the processor and the transceiver configured to send a report to a base station including an indication of the first measurement and an indication of the second measurement.

12. The reader of claim 11 , the processor and the transceiver further configured to transmit the first reference signal during the first time period13. The reader of claim 12, the processor and the transceiver further configured to perform the first measurement of the first reference signal by receiving a backscattered transmission of the first reference signal.

14. The reader of claim 11, the processor and the transceiver further configured to transmit a reader-to- device (R2D) indication to at least one other device including an indication to transmit the first reference signal.

15. The reader of claim 11 , the processor and the transceiver further configured to not transmit during the second time period.

16. The reader of claim 11, wherein the parameters for the first measurement set include first timing parameters associated with the first time period and second timing parameters associated with the second time period.

17. The reader of claim 11 , the processor and the transceiver further configured to perform the first measurement and perform the second measurement respectively by measuring a first RSSI and measuring a second RSSI.

18. The reader of claim 11 , wherein the indication of the first measurement and the indication of the second measurement respectively include indications of an average received signal strength indicator (RSSI) during the first time period and an average RSSI during the second time period.

19. The reader of claim 11 , wherein the configuration information includes an indication of at least one device that is to backscatter one or more of the first reference signal or the second reference signal.

20. The reader of claim 11 , wherein the configuration information indicates one or more conditions for sending the report to the base station.- 26 -9270328.1

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