Sensing entity for providing information about one or more objects

Abstract

The disclosure relates to a sensing entity (420) of a mobile communication network (100), the sensing entity (420) being configured to: receive a sensing request (411) from a sensing request entity (410), the sensing request (411) being configured to advise the sensing entity (420) to provide information for one or more objects (131); obtain information for one or more objects (131); and transmit a sensing response (421) in response to the sensing request (411) to the sensing request entity (410), the sensing response (421) comprises for each detected object (131) a respective object identifier (622) that is identifying the object (131) and / or information for the one or more detected objects. The disclosure further relates to a corresponding sensing request entity.

Description

[0001] Sensing entity for providing information about one or more objects

[0002] TECHNICAL FIELD

[0003] The disclosure relates to the field of radio access networks, in particular next generation radio access networks, with radio nodes acting as sensing devices. The disclosure relates to a sensing entity for providing information about one or more objects, specifically objects that passively interact with radio signals, and a corresponding sensing request entity. In particular, the disclosure relates to an Object-Oriented Sensing Service in Mobile Cellular Network.

[0004] BACKGROUND

[0005] Nowadays radio access networks are deployed mainly for communications, where radio signals are used to convey information from one node to the other. As radio signals interact with objects in the environment while propagating through the space, they may also be utilized to extract information about these objects. However, such functionality is not yet exploited. For sensing service, the sensing information of sensing targets are to be exposed based on the sensing data collected from the radio nodes. Unlike in location service where the target UE participating the measurements by transmitting or receiving radio signals, the sensing targets interact with the radio signals passively via reflection, diffusion, diffraction, etc. These targets cannot be identified unless detected.

[0006] SUMMARY

[0007] This disclosure provides a mechanism for sensing service invocation and exposure, aiming to enable diverse types of object- oriented sensing tasks by providing sensing information to another network entity based on a sensing request.

[0008] The foregoing and other objects are achieved by the features of the independent claims. Further implementation forms are apparent from the dependent claims, the description and the figures.

[0009] An appropriate sensing service exposure mechanism according to the disclosure, on one hand allows a service client to obtain desired sensing information with respect to a specified sensing object, on the other hand enables the sensing service entity to support diverse types of sensing service efficiently. A sensing object according to this disclosure is referred to as a physical entity which passively interacts with the radio signals via e.g. reflection, diffraction and diffusion.

[0010] According to the disclosure, radio nodes of next generation radio access networks may be seen as sensing devices comprising a joint sensing and communication network. These radio nodes include base stations, user devices, as well as any type of device that transmits and / or receives radio signals. The sensing data collected from the radio nodes throughout the mobile radio network may be utilized to obtain sensing information about the environment. This leads to a new type of service and enables diverse types of use cases for various application domains, such as intruder detection in smart home, pedestrian / animal intrusion detection on a highway, Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) intrusion detection, flight trajectory tracing and many others.

[0011] Embodiments described in this disclosure support the following two categories of sensing use cases, namely location-oriented event detection and object-oriented state estimation.

[0012] For location-oriented event detection, a specified type of event within a given sensing area may be detected. Examples of this category include intruder detection in smart home, on a high way, on railway tracks, around smart grid infrastructures, motion monitoring such us rainfalls, sleeping patterns and occupation detection at, for example, parking slot. This step may refer to a scanning or discovery stage of sensing service, where objects of interest in the environment are detected. For object-oriented state estimation, more detailed sensing information may be extracted for a specified object. The sensing information may consist of but not limited to position, velocity, shape and classification of a given object. Examples of this category include Automated Guided Vehicles (AGVs) tracking in factories, UAV flight trajectory tracing, vulnerable pedestrian detection and many others. For this case, the state information of a specified object is to be extracted and provided to the service clients.

[0013] The disclosure presents a new mechanism to invoke sensing service and to provide sensing results to a service consumer in order to support the two above-mentioned categories of use cases in a mobile radio network.

[0014] In order to describe the disclosure in detail, the following terms and notations will be used.

[0015] Radio Access Network RAN

[0016] Region of Interest ROI

[0017] User Equipment UE

[0018] Transmit and Receive Point TRP

[0019] Unmanned Aerial Vehicle UAV

[0020] Automated Guided Vehicle AGV

[0021] Location Management Function LMF

[0022] Network Function NF

[0023] Application Function AF

[0024] Road Side Unit RSU

[0025] Position Reference Unit PRU

[0026] Two-Dimension / Three-Dimension 2D / 3D

[0027] A sensing entity according to the disclosure can be seen as a network entity which computes sensing information based on the sensing data.

[0028] Sensing information according to the disclosure represents processed sensing data required by a sensing service.

[0029] Sensing data according to the disclosure represents data derived from the sensing signals impacted (e.g., reflected, refracted, diffracted) by an object or environment of interest.

[0030] A radio node according to the disclosure can be any node in RAN which is capable of transmitting and / or receiving radio signals. Radio nodes act as sensing nodes in an integrated sensing and communication network.

[0031] A sensing signal according to the disclosure can be a radio signal to be measured at a radio node so that the sensing data may be obtained.

[0032] An object according to the disclosure can be represented as a physical entity which interacts with the radio signal propagation via e.g. reflection, diffraction and diffusion.

[0033] According to a first aspect, the disclosure relates to a sensing entity of a mobile communication network, the sensing entity being configured to: receive a sensing request from a sensing request entity, the sensing request being configured to advise the sensing entity to provide information for one or more objects; obtain information for one or more objects; and transmit a sensing response in response to the sensing request to the sensing request entity, the sensing response comprises for each detected object a respective object identifier that is identifying the object and / or information for the one or more detected objects.

[0034] Such a sensing entity provides a mechanism for sensing service invocation and exposure, enabling diverse types of object- oriented sensing tasks by providing sensing information to another network entity based on a sensing request.

[0035] The identity of a detected object (i.e. , object identifier) allows object information management after object detection. A detected object may be identified so that its a-priori information may be stored or extracted to facilitate a subsequent sensing task.

[0036] In an exemplary implementation of the sensing entity, the sensing entity is configured to: obtain sensing data based on the sensing request; and extract information from the sensing data about the detected objects. The sensing data is derived from the sensing signals impacted (e.g., reflected, refracted, diffracted) by one or more objects.

[0037] Thus, the sensing entity may determine the source and / or type of sensing data to be obtained based on the sensing request so that the requested information about the detected objects may be extracted.

[0038] The sensing request may contain an object identity, then only information for object with this identity is provided. The sensing entity determines an object identity if an object is detected and an identity of which is not provided in the sensing request.

[0039] In an exemplary implementation of the sensing entity, the sensing data comprises at least one or more of the following: distance, range or time delay, angle of departure and / or angle of arrival, receive power of sensing signals from which the sensing data is derived, one or multiple Doppler frequency shifts, point cloud.

[0040] The sensing entity thus may determine which types of sensing data are required based on the sensing request.

[0041] In an exemplary implementation of the sensing entity, the sensing request comprises information about a region of interest in which the sensing entity is advised to provide information for the one or more objects.

[0042] The sensing entity thus allows for location-oriented sensing service. The sensing entity is requested to provide sensing service within a specified geographical region.

[0043] In an exemplary implementation of the sensing entity, the sensing request comprises one or more object identifiers identifying the one or more detected objects, the sensing request being configured to advise the sensing entity to provide information for the one or more detected objects.

[0044] This allows implementation of different scenarios. The sensing entity may determine the object identifiers on its own or derive it from the detected objects or it may receive the object identifiers in the sensing request as in the above implementation. The sensing entity determines an object identity if an object is detected and an identity of which is not provided in the sensing request.

[0045] In an exemplary implementation of the sensing entity, the information for one or more detected objects further comprises at least one of: one or more states of the one or more detected objects, the sensing data associated with the one or more detected objects, time of capture. The sensing entity thus provides different types of sensing information to be contained in the sensing response and implicitly indicates the type of sensing service.

[0046] In an exemplary implementation of the sensing entity, the states of the detected object comprise one or more of the following states: position of the detected object absolute or relative to a sensing reference; kinematic state of the detected object; spatial extent of the detected object; classified type of the detected object.

[0047] The position of an object allows object localization, tracking and prediction. The kinematic state allows velocity control, monitoring and prediction. The spatial extend allows shape and size estimation and reconstruction. The class (i.e. classified type) allows object classification.

[0048] In an exemplary implementation of the sensing entity, the sensing request indicates a sensing task and / or one or more input parameters for the sensing task; and the sensing response comprises one or more output parameters of the sensing task which are associated with the sensing task.

[0049] This allows for explicit indication of diverse types of sensing service.

[0050] In an exemplary implementation of the sensing entity, the sensing request indicates a requested sensing service wherein the sensing service can be decomposed into multiple sensing tasks performed by the sensing entity.

[0051] This allows to perform multiple sensing tasks in one sensing request.

[0052] In an exemplary implementation of the sensing entity, the requested sensing service comprises at least one of: inquiry on the number of detected objects, inquiry on the new detected objects, and / or inquiry on the information of the detected objects.

[0053] This allows flexibly supporting different types of sensing service.

[0054] In an exemplary implementation of the sensing entity, the sensing task comprises at least one of the following functionalities: detection of one or more objects in a given region of interest; localization of an object with a specified object identifier; classification of an object with a specified object identifier; data acquisition to obtain sensing data associated to an object with a specified object identifier.

[0055] This allows for an object-oriented sensing service. The sensing entity may extract a-priori information of a previously detected object based on the object identifier and exploit it for the subsequent sensing tasks.

[0056] In an exemplary implementation of the sensing entity, the sensing entity comprises: a service interface to a service management entity, the service interface being configured to receive information about a sensing task, the sensing task comprising a functionality for extracting sensing information based on the sensing data.

[0057] The sensing entity can thus be allowed to be configured by a service management entity to support diverse types of sensing service.

[0058] In an exemplary implementation of the sensing entity, the sensing entity comprises: a database interface to a database, the database interface being configured to transmit information about each object detected by the sensing entity to the database, wherein the information comprises the object identifier that is identifying the object. This allows for object-oriented sensing service where object information may be stored and updated.

[0059] In an exemplary implementation of the sensing entity, the sensing entity is configured to obtain information about one or more objects identified by the object identifier from the database.

[0060] This allows the sensing entity to obtain a-priori information from the database about the one or more objects. The sensing entity may exploit the a-priori information of a previously detected object for the subsequent sensing tasks.

[0061] In an exemplary implementation of the sensing entity, the sensing entity is configured to manage the database by inserting newly detected objects, deleting disappeared objects, updating information about one or more states of a detected object, updating the sensing data associated with a detected object.

[0062] This allows for management of object information once they are detected; facilitating subsequent sensing tasks when object information is extracted and exploited as prior knowledge. This leads to improved sensing accuracy and response time.

[0063] In an exemplary implementation of the sensing entity, at least one of the sensing entity, the service management entity or the database are implemented in a network entity of the mobile communication network or in a radio access network.

[0064] This allows flexibility in implementation. The sensing entity, the service management entity and the database can be implemented in one network entity or in a distributed manner in different network entities.

[0065] In an exemplary implementation of the sensing entity, at least one of the sensing entity, the service management entity or the database are implemented on a User Equipment.

[0066] This provides flexibility since the sensing entity and other entities can be implemented on a E but also in a network entity.

[0067] According to a second aspect, the disclosure relates to a sensing request entity the sensing request entity being configured to: transmit a sensing request to a sensing entity, the sensing request being configured to advise the sensing entity to provide information for one or more objects; and receive a sensing response from the sensing entity in response to the sensing request, the sensing response comprising for each object detected by the sensing entity a respective object identifier that is identifying the object and / or information for the one or more detected objects.

[0068] Such a sensing request entity provides a mechanism for sensing service invocation and exposure, enabling diverse types of object-oriented sensing tasks by providing sensing information to another network entity based on a sensing request.

[0069] The identity of a detected object (i.e. , object identifier) allows object information management after object detection. A detected object may be identified so that the a-priori sensing information may be extracted to facilitate a subsequent sensing task.

[0070] In an exemplary implementation of the sensing request entity, the sensing request entity is configured to advise the sensing entity by the transmission of the sensing request to: obtain sensing data based on the sensing request; extract information from the sensing data about detected objects.

[0071] This allows the sensing request entity to invoke different sensing service by advising different information to be extracted from sensing data. Based on the sensing request, the sensing entity may determine which types of sensing data is to be obtained. In an exemplary implementation of the sensing request entity, the sensing request comprises information about a region of interest in which the sensing entity is advised to provide information for the one or more objects.

[0072] The sensing entity thus allows for location-oriented sensing service. The sensing entity is requested to provide sensing service within a specified geographical region.

[0073] In an exemplary implementation of the sensing request entity, the sensing request entity is configured to advise the sensing entity by the transmission of the sensing request to invoke a sensing service provided by the sensing entity in the mobile communication network.

[0074] The sensing request entity thus provides information to the sensing entity by which different types of sensing services can be implemented.

[0075] In an exemplary implementation of the sensing request entity as well as in an exemplary implementation of the sensing entity, the sensing request indicates one or more of the following information: conditions on states of the one or more objects; quality of the sensing; time information of the sensing.

[0076] By indicating the quality and time information of the sensing service the sensing entity can configure sensing procedure based on the required sensing quality and time information.

[0077] In an exemplary implementation of the sensing request entity as well as in an exemplary implementation of the sensing entity, the conditions on states of the one or more objects comprises a classified type of the one or more objects.

[0078] This allows to flexibly support diverse types of sensing service. In particular, only information of the objects with the given classified type are to be extracted.

[0079] In an exemplary implementation of the sensing request entity as well as in an exemplary implementation of the sensing entity, the time information of the sensing indicates when and / or how often sensing should be performed.

[0080] This allows indicating specific requirements of the sensing service. In particular, sensing data is to be obtained at a specified time or periodically, allowing to capture the dynamics of the objects.

[0081] In an exemplary implementation of the sensing request entity as well as in an exemplary implementation of the sensing entity, the information about the region of interest comprises one or more of the following: geographical coordinates and radius and / or shape information describing a relative vicinity of a sensing reference; radio coverage of one or multiple radio access nodes; proximity of a User Equipment.

[0082] This allows to support location-oriented sensing service in various scenarios. Thus, the sensing area may be specified in the network perspective with radio nodes as the reference or in the global coordinate system.

[0083] In an exemplary implementation of the sensing request entity as well as in an exemplary implementation of the sensing entity, the sensing request comprises information that triggers the sensing entity to transmit the sensing response as periodic sensing response or as an event-based sensing response. This allows indicating the requirement on the service response.

[0084] In an exemplary implementation of the sensing request entity, the sensing request entity is implemented on another network entity of the mobile communication network, or as an external application.

[0085] This allows flexible implementation of the sensing request entity for supporting service clients in and / or out of the mobile communication network.

[0086] According to a third aspect, the disclosure relates to a method for requesting sensing of one or more objects in a mobile communication network by a sensing request entity, the method comprising: transmitting a sensing request from the sensing request entity to a sensing entity, the sensing request being configured to advise the sensing entity to provide information for one or more objects; and receiving by the sensing request entity a sensing response from the sensing entity in response to the sensing request, the sensing response comprising for each object detected by the sensing entity a respective object identifier that is identifying the object and / or information for the one or more detected objects.

[0087] Such a method for requesting sensing provides a mechanism for sensing service invocation and exposure, enabling diverse types of object-oriented sensing tasks by providing sensing information to another network entity based on a sensing request.

[0088] According to a fourth aspect, the disclosure relates to a method for sensing one or more objects in a mobile communication network by a sensing entity, the method comprising: receiving, by the sensing entity, a sensing request from a sensing request entity, the sensing request being configured to advise the sensing entity to provide information for one or more objects; obtaining, by the sensing entity information for one or more objects; and transmitting a sensing response in response to the sensing request to the sensing request entity, the sensing response comprising for each detected object a respective object identifier that is identifying the object and / or information for the one or more detected objects.

[0089] Such a method for sensing provides a mechanism for sensing service invocation and exposure, enabling diverse types of object- oriented sensing tasks by providing sensing information to another network entity based on a sensing request.

[0090] According to a fifth aspect, the disclosure relates to a computer program product including computer executable code or computer executable instructions that, when executed, causes at least one computer to execute the method according to the third or fourth aspect.

[0091] Such a computer program allows to efficiently implement the above-described methods.

[0092] BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0093] Further embodiments of the disclosure will be described with respect to the following figures, in which:

[0094] Figure 1 shows a schematic diagram illustrating a mobile radio network 100 which radio nodes 110 can be used for providing a sensing service;

[0095] Figure 2 shows a schematic diagram illustrating a mobile radio network 200 which radio nodes 110 can be used for providing a sensing service related to unknown objects 141;

[0096] Figure 3 shows a schematic diagram illustrating exemplary states of a 2-dimensional object 300;

[0097] Figure 4 shows a schematic diagram illustrating the procedure 400 for sensing service invocation and sensing information exposure between a sensing entity 420 and a sensing request entity 410 according to the disclosure;

[0098] Figure 5 shows a schematic diagram illustrating sensing functionality initialization and configuration 500 according to the disclosure; Figure 6 shows a schematic diagram illustrating maintenance of object information 600 according to the disclosure;

[0099] Figure 7 shows a schematic diagram illustrating an exemplary state machine 700 for object information maintenance at the sensing entity according to the disclosure;

[0100] Figure 8 shows an exemplary system architecture 800 enabling object-oriented sensing service according to an embodiment; Figure 9 shows an exemplary system architecture 900 enabling object-oriented sensing service according to an embodiment; Figure 10 shows an exemplary UE-based system architecture 1000 enabling object-oriented sensing service according to an embodiment;

[0101] Figure I la shows a schematic diagram illustrating an exemplary process flow 1100 of object detection according to a first embodiment;

[0102] Figure 11b shows a schematic diagram illustrating an exemplary signaling for object detection according to the first embodiment;

[0103] Figure 12a shows a schematic diagram illustrating an exemplary process flow 1200 of object localization according to a second embodiment;

[0104] Figure 12b shows a schematic diagram illustrating an exemplary signaling for object localization according to the second embodiment;

[0105] Figure 13a shows a schematic diagram illustrating an exemplary process flow 1300 of object classification according to a third embodiment;

[0106] Figure 13b shows a schematic diagram illustrating an exemplary signaling for object classification according to the third embodiment;

[0107] Figure 14a shows a schematic diagram illustrating an exemplary process flow 1400 of object sensing data acquisition according to a fourth embodiment;

[0108] Figure 14b shows a schematic diagram illustrating an exemplary signaling for object sensing data acquisition according to the fourth embodiment;

[0109] Figure 15a shows a schematic diagram illustrating an exemplary process flow 1400 of object detection and state estimation according to a fifth embodiment;

[0110] Figure 15b shows a schematic diagram illustrating an exemplary signaling for object detection and state estimation according to the fifth embodiment; and

[0111] Figure 16 shows a schematic diagram illustrating an exemplary signaling 1600 for detecting an object of a classified type and environment monitoring according to a sixth embodiment.

[0112] DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

[0113] In the following detailed description, reference is made to the accompanying drawings, which form a part thereof, and in which is shown by way of illustration specific aspects in which the disclosure may be practiced. It is understood that other aspects may be utilized and structural or logical changes may be made without departing from the scope of the disclosure. The following detailed description, therefore, is not to be taken in a limiting sense, and the scope of the disclosure is defined by the appended claims.

[0114] It is understood that comments made in connection with a described method may also hold true for a corresponding device or system configured to perform the method and vice versa. For example, if a specific method step is described, a corresponding device may include a unit to perform the described method step, even if such unit is not explicitly described or illustrated in the figures. Further, it is understood that the features of the various exemplary aspects described herein may be combined with each other, unless specifically noted otherwise.

[0115] Figure 1 shows a schematic diagram illustrating a mobile radio network 100 which radio nodes 110 can be used for providing a sensing service. This scenario shown in Figure 1 may be used for example for intrusion detection. Sensing information can be obtained using radio signals transmitted and / or received from radio nodes 110 in a mobile radio network 100.

[0116] A network entity providing a sensing service, e.g. radio node 110, extracts sensing information based on the radio signals and provides this sensing information to the service consumers. The radio node 110 may, for example, sense information within a sensing region of interest (ROI) or sensing area 130 as shown in Figure 1.

[0117] Based on this scenario shown in Figure 1, new services and use cases can be enabled for various industries based on the coverage of the cellular network 100.

[0118] Different sensing use cases can be provided such as location-oriented event detection and object-oriented state estimation and tracking.

[0119] Location-oriented event detection may include intrusion detection, e.g. on a highway, on a smart grid, at a factory or at home, monitoring, e.g., rainfall, health, etc., occupation, e.g. of a parking slot, etc.

[0120] Object-oriented state estimation and tracking may include position, velocity, trajectory of pedestrian 134 or animal, vehicles 131, 132, 133, AGV, UAV 121, etc.

[0121] Figure 2 shows a schematic diagram illustrating a mobile radio network 200 which radio nodes 110 can be used for providing a sensing service related to unknown objects 141, 151, 153, 152.

[0122] The disclosure provides solutions how to define a sensing request which can be applied for diverse types of sensing tasks and how to manage the sensing information of the obj ects 141, 151, 153, 152 in the network 200.

[0123] This solution described hereinafter can be applied for sensing in general and particularly for advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS).

[0124] Figure 3 shows a schematic diagram illustrating exemplary states of a 2-dimensional object 300.

[0125] A network entity in a mobile radio network, referred to as the sensing entity hereinafter, provides sensing results to another network entity or an application based on a service request. The sensing results consist of one or multiple states of one or multiple objects and / or the sensing data associated to the one or multiple objects. These states of an object may consist of one or more of the following (see Figure 3): - Position 301 : 2D / 3D coordinates, absolute or relative to a sensing reference; - Kinematic state: velocity 302, acceleration, heading, rotation direction and speed; - Spatial extent: parameters relate to shape and / or size, orientation 303 of the shape, e.g. length 305, width 304, height, bounding box / ellipse in 2D / 3D, parameters for characterizing a surface or spatial occupancy; - Classified type: car, pedestrian, drone, cyclist, etc., or labels corresponding to the specified classes; - Time of capture or other time information for characterizing an object’s dynamics over time. Each of the states may be provided with a quality metric such as confidence level, accuracy, etc.

[0126] Examples of the sensing data associated to an object may comprise: - Distance, range or time delay; - Angle of departure and / or angle of arrival; - receive power of the sensing signals; - One or multiple Doppler frequency shifts; - - Point cloud.

[0127] The sensing entity assigns an identity to an object once detected. Figure 3 depicts exemplary state information of 2D objects 300.

[0128] Figure 4 shows a schematic diagram illustrating the procedure 400 for sensing service invocation and sensing information exposure between a sensing entity 420 and a sensing request entity 410 according to the disclosure.

[0129] The sensing entity 420 may be a sensing entity 420 of a mobile communication network 100, e.g. as shown in the upper picture of Figure 4 or in Figure 1.

[0130] The sensing entity 420 is configured to receive a sensing request 411 from a sensing request entity 410. The sensing request 411 is configured to advise the sensing entity 420 to provide information for one or more objects 131, e.g. vehicles or pedestrians or other objects as shown in the upper picture of Figure 4.

[0131] The sensing entity 420 is configured to obtain information for one or more objects 131.

[0132] The sensing entity 420 is configured to transmit a sensing response 421 in response to the sensing request 411 to the sensing request entity 410. The sensing response 421 comprises for each detected object 131 a respective object identifier 622, e.g. as shown in Figure 6, that is identifying the object 131 and / or information for the one or more detected objects.

[0133] The sensing entity 420 may be configured to: obtain sensing data based on the sensing request 411; and extract information from the sensing data about the detected objects 131.

[0134] The sensing data may comprise, for example, at least one or more of the following: distance, range or time delay, angle of departure and / or angle of arrival, receive power of the sensing signals, one or multiple Doppler frequency shifts, point cloud.

[0135] The sensing request 411 may comprise one or more object identifiers 622 identifying the one or more detected objects. The sensing entity 420 is advised to provide information for the one or more identified objects.

[0136] The sensing request 411 may comprise information about a region of interest 130 (as shown in the upper picture of Figure 4 as an example) in which the sensing entity 420 is advised to provide information for the one or more objects 131.

[0137] The information for one or more detected objects may further comprise, for example, at least one of: one or more states 301, 302, 303, 304, 305 of the detected objects 131, the sensing data 621 associated with the one or more detected objects 131, time of capture. The states of the detected object 131 may comprise for a detected object 131 information about one or more of the following states, for example (see Figure 3): position 301 of the detected object 131 absolute or relative to a sensing reference, e.g., mobile node; kinematic state 302 of the detected object 131; spatial extent 303, 304, 305 of the detected object 131; classified type 623 (see Figure 6) ofthe detected object 131.

[0138] The sensing request 411 may indicate a sensing task and / or one or more input parameters for the sensing task; and the sensing response 421 may comprise one or more output parameters of the sensing task which are associated with the sensing task.

[0139] The sensing request 411 may indicate a requested sensing service wherein the sensing service can be decomposed into multiple sensing tasks performed by the sensing entity.

[0140] The requested sensing service may comprise at least one of: inquiry on the number of detected objects, inquiry on the new detected objects, and / or inquiry on the information of the detected objects.

[0141] The sensing task may comprise, for example, at least one of the following functionalities: detection of one or more objects 131 in a given region of interest 130 as exemplary shown in the upper picture of Figure 4 or in Figure 1; localization of an object 131 with a specified object identifier 622 (see Figure 6); classification of an object 131 with a specified object identifier 622; data acquisition to obtain sensing data 621 associated to an object 131 with a specified object identifier 622.

[0142] The sensing entity 420 may comprise a service interface 511 (see Figure 5) to a service management entity 810 (see Figure 8, for example). The service interface 511 may be configured to receive information about a sensing task. The sensing task may comprise a functionality for extracting sensing information based on the sensing data 621 (see Figure 6).

[0143] The sensing entity 420 may comprise a database interface 831 to a database 610 as exemplary shown in Figures 6 and 8. The database interface 831 may be configured to transmit information about each object 131 detected by the sensing entity 420 to the database 610. This information may comprise the object identifier 622 that is identifying the object 131.

[0144] The sensing entity 420 may be configured to manage the database 610 by: inserting newly detected objects 131, deleting disappeared objects 131, updating information about one or more states of a detected object 131, updating the sensing data 621 associated with a detected obj ect 131.

[0145] At least one ofthe sensing entity 420, the service management entity 810 or the database 610 may be implemented in a network entity of the mobile communication network 100 or in a radio access network.

[0146] At least one of the sensing entity 420, the service management entity 810 or the database 610 may be implemented on a User Equipment 850.

[0147] Figure 4 also shows a sensing request entity 410.

[0148] The sensing request entity 410 is configured to: transmit a sensing request 411 to a sensing entity 420. The sensing request 411 is configured to advise the sensing entity 420 to provide information for one or more objects 131.

[0149] The sensing request entity 410 is configured to: receive a sensing response 421 from the sensing entity 420 in response to the sensing request 411. The sensing response 421 comprises for each object 131 detected by the sensing entity 420 a respective object identifier 622 that is identifying the object 131 and / or information for the one or more detected objects. The sensing request entity 410 may be configured to advise the sensing entity 420 by the transmission of the sensing request 411 to: obtain sensing data 621 based on the sensing request 411; and extract information from the sensing data 621 about detected objects 131.

[0150] The sensing request 411 may comprise information about a region of interest 130 in which the sensing entity 420 is advised to provide information for the one or more objects 131. However, such information is optional, the sensing entity 420 may know this information in advance or may have a predetermined ROI in which to sense.

[0151] The sensing request entity 410 may be configured to advise the sensing entity 420 by the transmission of the sensing request 411 to invoke a sensing service provided by the sensing entity 420 in the mobile communication network 100.

[0152] The sensing request 411 may indicate one or more of the following information: conditions on states of the one or more objects 131; quality of the sensing; time information of the sensing.

[0153] The conditions on states of the one or more objects 131 may comprise a classified type of the one or more objects 131.

[0154] The time information of the sensing may indicate when and / or how often sensing should be performed.

[0155] The information about the region of interest 130 may comprise, for example, one or more of the following: geographical coordinates and radius and / or shape information describing a relative vicinity of a sensing reference, e.g. mobile node; radio coverage of one or multiple radio access nodes 110; proximity of a User Equipment 850 (see Figure 8).

[0156] The sensing request 411 may comprise information that triggers the sensing entity 420 to transmit the sensing response 421 as periodic sensing response 421 or as an event-based sensing response 421.

[0157] The sensing request entity 410 may be implemented, for example, on another network entity of the mobile communication network, or as an external application.

[0158] The sensing request 411 as described above may be used to invoke sensing service provided by the sensing entity 420 in the mobile radio network 100. The sensing request 411 may indicate one or multiple states information of one or multiple objects of interest to be acquired. In addition, a sensing request 411 may also indicate: - Type of the requested sensing service, such as object detection, object state estimation, object classification, or object sensing data acquisition. - Conditions on a state information so that a subset of the detected objects may be included in the sensing results. For instance, the sensing entity may be requested to detect objects with a velocity greater than x km / h. - Required quality of the state information, such as quality of service indicator, accuracy, confidence level, resolution. For example, the sensing entity may be requested to provide object detection service with a specified probability of miss detection or false alarm. - Required time of capture, such as time stamps. - Sensing ROI. This may be indicated explicitly using geographical coordinates in

[0159] 2D / 3D and radius or shape information to describe the relative vicinity of a sensing reference. It may also be indicated implicitly, for instance, as coverage of one or multiple radio access nodes, proximity of a UE, etc. A sensing request 411 as described above may be used to trigger either a periodic sensing response 421 or an event-based response 421. For a periodic sensing response 421 , parameters such as start time, periodicity may be provided in the sensing request 411. For an event-based sensing response 421, the sensing request 411 may contain the type of events, threshold, or other parameters which triggers the sensing response 421. For instance, a sensing response 421 may only be provided when an object is detected with a certain confidence. The sensing request 411 may also indicate requirements on the sensing response time, e.g. latency.

[0160] The consumer of the sensing service may be another network entity, namely another network function, or an external application. The procedure enables sensing service invocation and result exposure as shown in Figure 4.

[0161] The sensing entity 420 may comprise a processor 423 and a communication interface 422 for performing the above-described tasks of the sensing entity 420.

[0162] The sensing request entity 410 may comprise a processor 413 and a communication interface 412 for performing the abovedescribed tasks of the sensing request entity 410.

[0163] F igure 4 also depicts a method for sensing one or more obj ects 131 in a mobile communication network 100 by a sensing entity 420.

[0164] Such a method comprises: receiving, by the sensing entity 420, a sensing request 411 from a sensing request entity 410, the sensing request 411 being configured to advise the sensing entity 420 to provide information for one or more objects 131, e.g. as described above with respect to the sensing entity 420.

[0165] The method further comprises obtaining, by the sensing entity 420 information for one or more objects 131, e.g. as described above with respect to the sensing entity 420.

[0166] The method further comprises transmitting a sensing response 421 in response to the sensing request 411 to the sensing request entity 410, the sensing response 421 comprising for each detected object 131 a respective object identifier 622 that is identifying the object 131 and / or information for the one or more detected objects, e.g. as described above with respect to the sensing entity 420.

[0167] Figure 4 also depicts a method for requesting sensing of one or more objects 131 in a mobile communication network 100 by a sensing request entity 410.

[0168] Such a method comprises: transmitting a sensing request 411 from the sensing request entity 410 to a sensing entity 420, the sensing request 411 being configured to advise the sensing entity 420 to provide information for one or more objects 131, e.g. as described above with respect to the sensing request entity 410.

[0169] The method further comprises: receiving by the sensing request entity 410 a sensing response 421 from the sensing entity 420 in response to the sensing request 411, the sensing response 421 comprising for each object 131 detected by the sensing entity 420 a respective object identifier 622 that is identifying the object 131 and / or information for the one or more detected objects, e.g. as described above with respect to the sensing request entity 410. The solution described in this disclosure also includes a computer program product including computer executable code or computer executable instructions that, when executed, causes at least one computer to execute the method for sensing one or more objects or the method for requesting sensing of one or more objects as described above.

[0170] Figure 5 shows a schematic diagram illustrating sensing functionality initialization and configuration 500 according to the disclosure.

[0171] The sensing entity 420 may be initialized with methods for supporting a variety of sensing tasks as depicted in Figure 5.

[0172] A sensing task may be implemented as a functionality for extracting sensing information of interest based on the sensing data. Each sensing task may be defined with specific input parameters to be included in a service request and output parameters in a service response.

[0173] Multiple sensing tasks may be combined and requested by a single sensing request. The sensing entity 420 may comprise an intelligent agent that decomposes a sensing request into multiple sensing tasks and provides the sensing results to the client in a batched manner.

[0174] Examples of basic sensing tasks may include object detection, localization or classification etc. Each sensing task may be referred to as a specific service operation provided by the sensing entity. The implementation may refer to an algorithm or an inference model.

[0175] Table 1 provides examples of the sensing tasks and their input and output parameters.

[0176] Table 1. Sensing task examples

[0177] Figure 6 shows a schematic diagram illustrating maintenance of object information 600 according to the disclosure.

[0178] The sensing entity 420 may maintain a database 610 of the detected objects (e.g. 131 shown in Figure 4) where for each of the detected object at least one of the following is stored: one or multiple of the state information sensing data 621 associated to the object

[0179] The state information may include, for example: position 301, velocity 302, length 305, width 304, class 623, etc. In one example, the sensing data 621 and / or the state information 301, 302, 305, 304, 623 can be stored in a table 620 as shown in the bottom picture of Figure 6.

[0180] The stored state information and / or the sensing data may be exploited as the a-priori information for the subsequent sensing tasks. The sensing entity 420 can manage the database 610 by retrieval 611 and update 612 procedures, for instance, - Inserting newly detected objects; - Deleting disappeared objects; - Updating the one or multiple of the state information; - Updating the associated sensing data.

[0181] The signaling procedure for object information database maintenance and an exemplary table structure 620 is given in the bottom picture of Figure 6.

[0182] Figure 7 shows a schematic diagram illustrating an exemplary state machine 700 for object information maintenance at the sensing entity according to the disclosure.

[0183] The sensing entity 420 may be configured to acquire the environment information. The environment information may comprise a number of objects as well as a basic set of object information, e.g. identity, 2D position and / or parameters to characterize its spatial extension, e.g. variance in 2D or 3D. The sensing entity 420 may be configured to update the environment information and / or the associated sensing data periodically or once it is triggered by a certain event. Such environment information may be used as the context information to assist subsequent sensing tasks or even communications.

[0184] The maintenance functionalities of the sensing entity can be depicted as a state machine as illustrated in Figure 7.

[0185] In an Initialize state 710 the library can be built up for supporting multiple sensing tasks, e.g. detect, track or classify as described above.

[0186] Then, in a Monitor state 720, objects can be updated, deleted or inserted 721. The Monitor state 720 can be a permanent state as shown in Figure 7.

[0187] Figure 8 shows an exemplary system architecture 800 enabling object-oriented sensing service according to an embodiment.

[0188] The sensing entity 420 may be implemented as a network function, i.e. sensing function 820, and may provide a sensing service 510 to another network function or application function implemented by the sensing request entity 410. The sensing entity 420 may be initialized with methods for supporting different types of sensing service 510. The methods may be provided by another network function for service management, e.g. implemented on a service management entity 810 as shown in Figure 8.

[0189] The sensing entity 420 can manage a database 610 for object sensing information. This database 610 may be implemented in another network function for data management. Based on the sensing request 411 received, the sensing entity 420 may configure the sensing nodes e.g. Transmit and Receive Points (TRPs) in RAN 840 and UE 850, in order to obtain the sensing data 621 based on which the sensing results can be produced and provided in a sensing response 421 to the sensing request entity 410.

[0190] Figure 9 shows an exemplary system architecture 900 enabling object-oriented sensing service according to an embodiment. Alternatively, the sensing methods initialization and / or the object information maintenance may be implemented as part of the sensing function 820, as illustrated in Figure 9.

[0191] The sensing function 820 may be implemented in the next generation core network or in a distributed manner deployed in RAN. The sensing function 820 may also be implemented as an application running on any form of computing platform such as a cloud or edge server.

[0192] Figure 10 shows an exemplary UE-based system architecture 1000 enabling object-oriented sensing service according to an embodiment.

[0193] In particular when sensing data 621 collected from one UE 850 as shown in Figure 10 is sufficient to derive the required sensing results, the sensing entity 420 may be implemented in the UE 850 and configured to extract sensing information based on the sensing data 621 locally available and provide the sensing response 421 to the service client, i.e., the sensing request entity 410.

[0194] The solution described in this disclosure may be applied to the network entities where a sensing entity 420 may be implemented. The sensing entity 420 can extract object-oriented sensing information from the collected sensing data 621 and provide to another network entity.

[0195] The sensing entity 420 may be implemented as one or multiple functional entities to compute sensing information based on the sensing data 621. The functional entity may be implemented as a network function in the core network, in the RAN, or as a service provided by a computing platform such as cloud, edge, etc.

[0196] Alternatively, the functional entity may be implemented in a distributed manner in a device with a UE role, such as UE, RSU, PRU, etc.

[0197] For sensing service invocation and exposure, the interactions between the service client and the sensing entity should be specified so that devices manufactured by different vendors may function jointly.

[0198] Figure I la shows a schematic diagram illustrating an exemplary process flow 1100 of object detection according to a first embodiment and Figure 1 lb shows a schematic diagram illustrating an exemplary signaling for object detection according to the first embodiment.

[0199] The sensing entity 420 may support object detection within a specified ROI, e.g., 130 as shown in Figure 1. This may be invoked using a sensing request 411 which comprises of the location information of the ROI. The sensing entity 420 initiates environment scanning to detect a new object by associating a subset of the obtained sensing data to a potential object of interest and / or obtaining a set of state information of the detected object, e.g. position, velocity, size etc.

[0200] The sensing entity 420 may assign an object identity, e.g. X, to the detected object. In addition, the sensing entity 420 may be configured to check the detected objects in the database and associate the newly detected object to a previously detected object in the ROI. If an association between the detected object X and an existing object M is succeeded, object M is returned as the sensing result, otherwise, the newly detected object X is returned.

[0201] In Figure 1 la, the processing flow of object detection is provided. The flow 1100 starts with “Detect object in ROI” 1101. Then environment scanning 1102 is performed. If an object is detected in block 1103, assign ID=X. In parallel to blocks 1102 and 1103, block 1104 is performed to “obtain object list in ROI from database”. After blocks 1103 or 1104, block 1105 is performed to check whether “Object X is associated with a listed object” In case of Yes, in block 1106 object X is associated to the existing object M and in following block 1107 object M is returned. In case of No (block 1105), object X is returned in block 1108.

[0202] The signaling procedure for object detection is shown in Figure 1 lb.

[0203] The sensing request entity 410, e.g., a network function or application function, sends a sensing request with region of interest for detection (detect: ROI) message 411 to the sensing entity 420. The sensing entity 420 provides sensing information 421 with corresponding object identifier and state information (object ID, state info) to the sending request entity 410.

[0204] Object detection may be utilized for object database initialization and update prior to a specific sensing task is requested.

[0205] Figure 12a shows a schematic diagram illustrating an exemplary process flow 1200 of object localization according to a second embodiment and Figure 12b shows a schematic diagram illustrating an exemplary signaling for object localization according to the second embodiment.

[0206] The sensing entity 420 may support localization and tracking of one or multiple objects or other application where one or multiple of object state information is to be acquired. This may be invoked using a sensing request 411 which comprises of one or multiple identities of the obj ects of interests. The sensing request 411 may also indicate the state information to be obtained. If object tracking is required, the time duration information should be provided in the sensing request 411 as well.

[0207] Figure 12a provides a processing flow for object localization, starting with a sensing request 411 for estimating object X’s location state 1201 over time duration T. The sensing entity 420 first verifies 1202 whether an object with identity X exists in the database. If yes, the sensing entity 420 obtains previously obtained sensing data and / or the relevant state information of the object X 1205 and based on which estimates the object’s state of the current time instance. Otherwise, the sensing entity 420 estimates 1204 object X’s location based on the sensing data available. The estimated object location is returned 1206 as the sensing result. In case that object tracking is requested for a time duration T, the sensing entity updates object X’s location in the database for the subsequent T time interval. The sensing results may be provided to the service client (sensing request entity 410) for T consecutive time instance. Alternatively, the location estimation over T time instances may be provided to the service client in a batch manner. If the object with identity X cannot be found in the database, the sensing entity 420 may conclude the requested operation is failed 1207 and return the conclusion to the sensing client 410.

[0208] Similar to object localization where the position state is estimated, same procedure can be applied for the other state information estimation, e.g. velocity, acceleration, heading, etc. of one or more objects for a given time duration.

[0209] An exemplary signaling procedure of object localization is provided in Figure 12b.

[0210] The object-oriented sensing information maintenance allows the sensing entity 420 to exploit the a-priori sensing information for the subsequent sensing tasks.

[0211] Figure 13a shows a schematic diagram illustrating an exemplary process flow 1300 of object classification according to a third embodiment and Figure 13b shows a schematic diagram illustrating an exemplary signaling for object classification according to the third embodiment. Another typical sensing task to be supported by the sensing entity 420 is object classification and recognition. The sensing request 411 invokes object classification or recognition of one or multiple objects with the identity X, Y, Z ...

[0212] As shown in Figures 13a and 13b, a sensing request 411 carrying an object identity Y invokes object classification 1301. The sensing entity 420 verifies 1302 whether an object with identity Y exists in the database. If not, the sensing entity 420 responds fail 1306 to the sensing client 410; If yes, the sensing data associated to the object identity Y is extracted 1303. The sensing entity 420 classifies 1304 the object based on the associated sensing data and returns 1305 the classified object type. The sensing entity 420 stores the classified object type as object Y’s state information.

[0213] Alternatively, the sensing entity 410 may extract the state information of the object identity Y in addition to the sensing data, such as position, velocity etc. This state information is utilized to assist the classification and / or recognition of the specified object.

[0214] The service invocation and exposure procedure for object classification is provided in Figure 13b.

[0215] Figure 14a shows a schematic diagram illustrating an exemplary process flow 1400 of object sensing data acquisition according to a fourth embodiment and Figure 14b shows a schematic diagram illustrating an exemplary signaling for object sensing data acquisition according to the fourth embodiment.

[0216] As shown in Figure 8, the sensing entity 420 obtains sensing data 621 from the radio sensing nodes, e.g. TRPs in the radio access network 840 or user devices 850, and provides sensing results (in the sensing response 421) based on the sensing data 621. The sensing data 621 contains all kinds of interaction between the transmitted sensing signals and the environment. One of the tasks of the sensing entity 420 is to fuse the sensing data 621 from a number of sensing nodes and / or associate a subset of the acquired sensing data to the potential objects of interest. For instance, the sensing data 621 may be segmented as measurements data generated from a moving target object, from an environmental object in the background and clutter generated from the land, the sea or the atmosphere, etc.

[0217] Such an operation may be triggered using a sensing request 411 for sensing data associated to a specific object. As shown in Figures 14a and 14b, a sensing request 411 for object Y’s point cloud is received 1401. The sensing request 411 may indicate the required quality of the sensing data, i.e. the point cloud’s resolution and accuracy, as well as the information on the time of capture. The sensing entity 420 verifies 1402 whether the object identity Y as well as the corresponding point cloud exists in the database. If yes, the sensing entity extracts 1403 this information from the database and checks if the sensing data is up-to- date 1404 based on the information on the time of capture and if the quality meets the requirements; if not, the sensing entity triggers the sensing nodes to acquire new sensing data 1405 of the object Y; otherwise, the sensing data associated to the object Y is extracted from the database and provided as the sensing results 1406. In case that an object with identity Y cannot be found in the database, the sensing entity returns failure 1407 to the service client.

[0218] Figure 14b provides the service invocation and exposure procedure for object sensing data acquisition. Here, the sensing data is referred to point cloud of an object with identity Y.

[0219] Figure 15a shows a schematic diagram illustrating an exemplary process flow 1400 of object detection and state estimation according to a fifth embodiment and Figure 15b shows a schematic diagram illustrating an exemplary signaling for object detection and state estimation according to the fifth embodiment. A service request may trigger a complex sensing task which combines the basic sensing tasks elaborated as embodiment 1 to 4 described above. For instance, a sensing request may initiate environment scanning to detect any new object with its state information of a required quality included in the sensing response. An intelligent agent may be deployed in the sensing entity to autonomously decompose a complex sensing task into simple actions.

[0220] As shown in Figures 15a and 15b, a sensing request 411 for detecting objects’ trajectories within a ROI is received 1501. For sensing request to acquire object trajectory, the state information, i.e. position, of an object is to be estimated. The sensing entity 420 (here sensing function 820) checks 1502 the object identity contained in the sensing request 411. If there is no object identity carried in the sensing request, object detection task 1503 is performed as described above with respect to Figures 1 la and 1 lb for the first embodiment, otherwise, object state acquisition task 1504 is performed as described above with respect to Figures 12a and 12b for the second embodiment.

[0221] Figure 15b provides the service invocation and exposure procedure for object detection and tracking. Here, the sensing request 411 may contain the ROI for detection and a time duration T for object tracking. The sensing response 421 (i.e., sensing information) provides the detected objects together with their state information, e.g. positions.

[0222] The sensing entity 420, 820 may support any combination of simple sensing tasks, allowing for diverse types of sensing service by adapting the input parameters in the sensing request 411.

[0223] Figure 16 shows a schematic diagram illustrating an exemplary signaling 1600 for detecting an object of a classified type and environment monitoring according to a sixth embodiment.

[0224] One of the typical use cases for sensing service is to detect any object of a specified type for a given ROI. For instance, a traffic control application may request to detect any car with a velocity greater than x km / h. The application (i.e., sensing request entity 410) may send a sensing request 411 to the sensing entity 420 (or sensing function 820) to detect objects with type CAR and to estimate their velocity. The sensing entity 420, 820 receives the sensing request 411 and determines the sensing tasks based on its own functionality and the sensing request.

[0225] As an example, detect objects with type CAR and to estimate their velocity may be implemented using multiple sensing tasks to extract a list of detected objects and update the state information for classification: a) detect an unknown number of objects within the ROI b) based on the classification functionality of the sensing entity, e.g. point cloud-based, size-based, etc., the sensing entity acquires the sensing information of the detected objects, e.g. measurement data (point cloud), estimated spatial extension e.g. length, width, height etc. c) based on the obtained sensing information and / or measurement data, classify the objects and obtain the corresponding confidence level. d) obtains the requested state information of the detected object of the specified type.

[0226] Figure 16 provides the signaling procedure for sensing service invocation and exposure. The sensing entity 420, 820 may comprise an intelligent agent to interpret complex sensing task and determine for the corresponding actions. Given the management functionality, the sensing entity may maintain a list of dominant objects in the ROI and update their state information regularly. These objects may be considered as environmental objects whose state information is to be exploited as prior knowledge to facilitate other sensing and / or communication tasks. The solution described above provides the following advantages:

[0227] A network entity provides sensing information related to one or multiple objects based on a sensing request. This allows for sensing service invocation and exposure.

[0228] The sensing request may indicate sensing task to be performed, (detect, track, classify, sensing data association). This allows for explicit indication of diverse types of sensing service.

[0229] The sensing request may imply one or multiple state information of one or multiple of objects of interest to be acquired. This allows indicating the sensing information to be contained in the sensing response; and implicitly indicating the type of sensing service.

[0230] The sensing request may indicate a region of interest where the sensing information to be acquired. This allows for location- oriented sensing service.

[0231] The sensing request may indicate the identity of one or multiple objects. This allows for object-oriented sensing service. The sensing entity may extract a-priori information of a previously detected object and exploit it for the subsequent sensing tasks.

[0232] The sensing request may indicate the required quality of sensing information. This allows for indicating the quality of sensing service so that the sensing entity configures sensing procedure based on the required sensing quality.

[0233] The sensing request may indicate the sensing response mode, e.g. periodic or event triggered and / or parameters e.g. on the required response time, latency, periodicity, triggering event. This allows for indicating the requirement on the service response.

[0234] The sensing information relates to the one or multiple state information of one or multiple objects and / or the sensing data associated to the one or multiple objects. This enables providing any subset of sensing information in the sensing response; flexibly supporting diverse types of sensing service.

[0235] The state information can be: Object identity, Position, Kinematic state, Extent state, Class. This allows for supporting a variety of parameters. Identity: unknown object detection, object information management, a-priori knowledge extraction. Position: object localization, tracking and prediction. Kinematic state: velocity control, monitoring and prediction. Extent state: shape / size estimation, reconstruction. Class: object classification.

[0236] The network entity may be initialized with methods for supporting a variety of sensing tasks, e.g. detection, tracking, classification or sensing data association. This allows the sensing entity to support diverse types of sensing service.

[0237] The network entity may maintain a database of detected objects by storing one or multiple of: the identity of the one or multiple objects, the state information and / or the associated sensing data. This allows for management of object information once they are detected; facilitating subsequent sensing tasks when object information is extracted and exploited as prior knowledge. Leading to improved sensing accuracy and response time.

[0238] The state information may consist of at least one of: Position, Kinematic state, Extent state, Class. This allows for flexible parameters: Position: object localization, tracking and prediction; Kinematic state: velocity control, monitoring and prediction; Extent state: shape / size estimation, reconstruction; Class: object classification. Extract the state information of the objects and apply as a-priori information allows to improve sensing accuracy and response time.

[0239] Update the number of the objects, and / or their state information allows the sensing entity to maintain an environment map comprising of the detected objects. This information may be extracted and provided as a sensing service.

[0240] The procedure for database maintenance and query allows for object information update and extraction.

[0241] While a particular feature or aspect of the disclosure may have been disclosed with respect to only one of several implementations, such feature or aspect may be combined with one or more other features or aspects of the other implementations as may be desired and advantageous for any given or particular application. Furthermore, to the extent that the terms "include", "have", "with", or other variants thereof are used in either the detailed description or the claims, such terms are intended to be inclusive in a manner similar to the term "comprise". Also, the terms "exemplary", "for example" and "e.g." are merely meant as an example, rather than the best or optimal. The terms “coupled” and “connected”, along with derivatives may have been used. It should be understood that these terms may have been used to indicate that two elements cooperate or interact with each other regardless whether they are in direct physical or electrical contact, or they are not in direct contact with each other.

[0242] Although specific aspects have been illustrated and described herein, it will be appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art that a variety of alternate and / or equivalent implementations may be substituted for the specific aspects shown and described without departing from the scope of the disclosure. This application is intended to cover any adaptations or variations of the specific aspects discussed herein.

[0243] Although the elements in the following claims are recited in a particular sequence with corresponding labeling, unless the claim recitations otherwise imply a particular sequence for implementing some or all of those elements, those elements are not necessarily intended to be limited to being implemented in that particular sequence.

[0244] Many alternatives, modifications, and variations will be apparent to those skilled in the art in light of the above teachings. Of course, those skilled in the art readily recognize that there are numerous applications of the disclosure beyond those described herein. While the disclosure has been described with reference to one or more particular embodiments, those skilled in the art recognize that many changes may be made thereto without departing from the scope of the disclosure. It is therefore to be understood that within the scope of the appended claims and their equivalents, the disclosure may be practiced otherwise than as specifically described herein.

Claims

CLAIMS:

1. A sensing entity (420) of a mobile communication network (100), the sensing entity (420) being configured to: receive a sensing request (411) from a sensing request entity (410), the sensing request (411) being configured to advise the sensing entity (420) to provide information for one or more objects (131); obtain information for one or more objects (131); and transmit a sensing response (421) in response to the sensing request (411) to the sensing request entity (410), the sensing response (421) comprises for each detected object (131) a respective object identifier (622) that is identifying the object (131) and / or information for the one or more detected objects.

2. The sensing entity (420) of claim 1 , configured to: obtain sensing data based on the sensing request (621 ); and extract information from the sensing data (621) about the detected objects (131).

3. The sensing entity (420) of claim 2, wherein the sensing data (621) comprises at least one or more of the following: distance, range or time delay, angle of departure and / or angle of arrival, receive power of sensing signals from which the sensing data is derived, one or multiple Doppler frequency shifts, point cloud.

4. The sensing entity (420) of any of the preceding claims, wherein the sensing request (411) comprises one or more object identifiers (622) identifying the one or more detected objects, the sensing request (411) being configured to advise the sensing entity (420) to provide information for the one or more detected objects.

5. The sensing entity (420) of any of the preceding claims, wherein the information for one or more detected objects further comprises at least one of: one or more states of the one or more detected objects (131), the sensing data (621) associated with the one or more detected objects (131), time of capture.

6. The sensing entity (420) of claim 5, wherein the states of the detected object (131) comprise one or more of the following states: position (301) of the detected object (131) absolute or relative to a sensing reference (110); kinematic state (302) of the detected object (131); spatial extent (303, 304, 305) of the detected object (131); classified type (623) of the detected object (131).

7. The sensing entity (420) of any of the preceding claims, wherein the sensing request (411) comprises information about a region of interest (130) in which the sensing entity (420) is advised to provide information for the one or more objects (131).

228. The sensing entity (420) of any of the preceding claims, wherein the sensing request (411) indicates a sensing task and / or one or more input parameters for the sensing task; and wherein the sensing response (421) comprises one or more output parameters of the sensing task which are associated with the sensing task.

9. The sensing entity (420) of claim 8, wherein the sensing request (411) indicates a requested sensing service wherein the sensing service can be decomposed into multiple sensing tasks performed by the sensing entity.

10. The sensing entity (420) of claim 9, wherein the requested sensing service comprises at least one of: inquiry on the number of detected objects, inquiry on the new detected objects, and / or inquiry on the information of the detected objects.

11. The sensing entity (420) of any of claims 8 to 10, wherein the sensing task comprises at least one of the following functionalities: detection of one or more objects (131 ) in a given region of interest (130); localization of an object (131) with a specified object identifier (622); classification of an object (131) with a specified object identifier (622); data acquisition to obtain sensing data associated to an object (131) with a specified object identifier (622).

12. The sensing entity (420) of any of claims 8 to 11, comprising: a service interface (511) to a service management entity (810), the service interface (511) being configured to receive information about a sensing task, the sensing task comprising a functionality for extracting sensing information based on the sensing data (621).

13. The sensing entity (420) of any of the preceding claims, comprising: a database interface (831) to a database (610), the database interface (831) being configured to transmit information about each object (131) detected by the sensing entity (420) to the database (610), wherein the information comprises the object identifier (622) that is identifying the object (131).

14. The sensing entity (420) of claim 13, wherein the sensing entity (420) is configured to obtain information about one or more objects identified by the object identifier (622) from the database (610).

15. The sensing entity (420) of claim 13 or 14, wherein the sensing entity (420) is configured to manage the database (610) by: inserting newly detected objects (131), deleting disappeared objects (131), updating information about one or more states of a detected object (131), updating the sensing data (621) associated with a detected object (131).

16. The sensing entity (420) of any of claims 13 to 15, wherein at least one of the sensing entity (420), the service management entity (810) or the database (610) are implemented in a network entity of the mobile communication network (100) or in a radio access network.

17. The sensing entity (420) of any of claims 13 to 16, wherein at least one of the sensing entity (420), the service management entity (810) or the database (610) are implemented on a User Equipment (850).

18. The sensing entity (420) of any of the preceding claims, wherein the sensing request (411) indicates one or more of the following information: conditions on states of the one or more objects (131); quality of the sensing; time information of the sensing.

19. The sensing entity (420) of claim 18, wherein the conditions on states of the one or more objects (131) comprises a classified type of the one or more objects (131).

20. The sensing entity (420) of claim 18 or 19, wherein the time information of the sensing indicates when and / or how often sensing should be performed.

21. The sensing entity (420) of claim 7, wherein the information about the region of interest (130) comprises one or more of the following: geographical coordinates and radius and / or shape information describing a relative vicinity of a sensing reference (110); radio coverage of one or multiple radio access nodes (110); proximity of a User Equipment (850).

22. The sensing entity (420) of any of the preceding claims, wherein the sensing request (411) comprises information that triggers the sensing entity (420) to transmit the sensing response (421) as periodic sensing response (421) or as an event-based sensing response (421).

23. A sensing request entity (410) the sensing request entity (410) being configured to: transmit a sensing request (411) to a sensing entity (420), the sensing request (411) being configured to advise the sensing entity (420) to provide information for one or more objects (131); and receive a sensing response (421 ) from the sensing entity (420) in response to the sensing request (411 ), the sensing response (421) comprising for each object (131) detected by the sensing entity (420) a respective object identifier (622) that is identifying the object (131) and / or information for the one or more detected objects.

24. The sensing request entity (410) of claim 23, configured to advise the sensing entity (420) by the transmission of the sensing request (411 ) to: obtain sensing data based on the sensing request (621); extract information from the sensing data (621) about detected objects (131).

25. The sensing request entity (410) of any of claims 23 to 24, wherein the sensing request (411) comprises information about a region of interest (130) in which the sensing entity (420) is advised to provide information for the one or more objects (131).

26. The sensing request entity (410) of any of claims 23 to 24, configured to advise the sensing entity (420) by the transmission of the sensing request (411 ) to invoke a sensing service provided by the sensing entity (420) in the mobile communication network (100).

27. The sensing request entity (410) of claim 26, wherein the sensing request (411) indicates one or more of the following information: conditions on states of the one or more objects (131); quality of the sensing; time information of the sensing.

28. The sensing request entity (410) of claim 27, wherein the conditions on states of the one or more objects (131) comprises a classified type of the one or more objects (131).

29. The sensing request entity (410) of claim 27 or 28, wherein the time information of the sensing indicates when and / or how often sensing should be performed.

30. The sensing request entity (410) of claim 25, wherein the information about the region of interest (130) comprises one or more of the following: geographical coordinates and radius and / or shape information describing a relative vicinity of a sensing reference (110); radio coverage of one or multiple radio access nodes (110); proximity of a User Equipment (850).

31. The sensing request entity (410) of any of claims 23 to 30, wherein the sensing request (411) comprises information that triggers the sensing entity (420) to transmit the sensing response (421) as periodic sensing response (421) or as an event-based sensing response (421).

32. The sensing request entity (410) of any of claims 23 to 31, wherein the sensing request entity (410) is implemented on another network entity of the mobile communication network, or as an external application.

33. A method for requesting sensing of one or more objects (131) in a mobile communication network (100) by a sensing request entity (410), the method comprising: transmitting a sensing request (411) from the sensing request entity (410) to a sensing entity (420), the sensing request (411) being configured to advise the sensing entity (420) to provide information for one or more objects (131); and receiving by the sensing request entity (410) a sensing response (421) from the sensing entity (420) in response to the sensing request (411), the sensing response (421) comprising for each object (131) detected by the sensing entity (420) a respective object identifier (622) that is identifying the object (131) and / or information for the one or more detected objects.

34. A method for sensing one or more objects (131) in a mobile communication network (100) by a sensing entity (420), the method comprising: receiving, by the sensing entity (420), a sensing request (411) from a sensing request entity (410), the sensing request (411) being configured to advise the sensing entity (420) to provide information for one or more objects (131); obtaining, by the sensing entity (420) information for one or more objects (131); andtransmitting a sensing response (421) in response to the sensing request (411) to the sensing request entity (410), the sensing response (421) comprising for each detected object (131) a respective object identifier (622) that is identifying the object (131) and / or information for the one or more detected objects.

35. A computer program product including computer executable code or computer executable instructions that, when executed, causes at least one computer to execute the method according to claim 33 or 34.

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