Termination of measurement of sensing reference signals

Abstract

A method of wireless sensing performed by a sensing node comprises receiving, from a network node, one or more messages comprising a sensing configuration, wherein the sensing configuration indicates, one or more sensing reference signals (RSs), a sensing window comprising transmission occasions for transmission of the one or more sensing RSs, and one or more criteria for stopping measuring. The sensing node measures the one or more sensing RSs during a first subset of the transmission occasions. The sensing node stops the measuring based on the one or more criteria.

Description

Qualcomm Ref. No. 2406855WO1 / 92TERMINATION OF MEASUREMENT OF SENSING REFERENCE SIGNALSTECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] Aspects of the disclosure relate generally to wireless technologies.BACKGROUND

[0002] Wireless communication systems have developed through various generations, including a first-generation analog wireless phone service (1G), a second-generation (2G) digital wireless phone service (including interim 2.5G and 2.75G networks), a third-generation (3G) high speed data, Internet-capable wireless service and a fourth-generation (4G) service (e.g., Long Term Evolution (LTE) or WiMax). There are presently many different types of wireless communication systems in use, including cellular and personal communications service (PCS) systems. Examples of known cellular systems include the cellular analog advanced mobile phone system (AMPS), and digital cellular systems based on code division multiple access (CDMA), frequency division multiple access (FDMA), time division multiple access (TDMA), the Global System for Mobile communications (GSM), etc.

[0003] A fifth generation (5G) wireless standard, referred to as New Radio (NR), enables higher data transfer speeds, greater numbers of connections, and better coverage, among other improvements. The 5G standard, according to the Next Generation Mobile Networks Alliance, is designed to provide higher data rates as compared to previous standards, more accurate positioning (e.g., based on reference signals for positioning (RS-P), such as downlink, uplink, or sidelink positioning reference signals (PRS)), RF sensing, and other technical enhancements. These enhancements, as well as the use of higher frequency bands, enable improved RF sensing and 5G-based positioning.SUMMARY

[0004] The following presents a simplified summary relating to one or more aspects disclosed herein. Thus, the following summary should not be considered an extensive overview relating to all contemplated aspects, nor should the following summary be considered to identify key or critical elements relating to all contemplated aspects or to delineate the scope associated with any particular aspect. Accordingly, the following summary has the sole purpose to present certain concepts relating to one or more aspects relating to theQC2406855WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2406855WO2 / 92 mechanisms disclosed herein in a simplified form to precede the detailed description presented below.

[0005] In an aspect, a method of wireless sensing performed by a node includes receiving, from a network node, one or more messages comprising a sensing configuration, wherein the sensing configuration indicates one or more sensing reference signals (RSs), a sensing window comprising transmission occasions for transmission of the one or more sensing RSs, and one or more criteria for stopping measuring, measuring the one or more sensing RSs during a first subset of the transmission occasions, and stopping the measuring based on the one or more criteria.

[0006] In an aspect, a method of wireless sensing performed by a sensing node includes receiving one or more messages comprising a sensing configuration, wherein the sensing configuration indicates: one or more sensing reference signals (RSs); and a sensing window comprising transmission occasions for transmission of the one or more sensing RSs; measuring the one or more sensing RSs during a first subset of the transmission occasions; and transmitting, to a network node, a measurement termination indication indicating that the sensing node stops measuring the one or more sensing RSs during the sensing window.

[0007] In an aspect, a method of wireless sensing performed by a sensing node includes receiving, from a network node, one or more messages comprising a sensing configuration, wherein the sensing configuration indicates: one or more sensing reference signals (RSs); and a sensing window comprising transmission occasions for transmission of the one or more sensing RSs; measuring the one or more sensing RSs during a first subset of the transmission occasions; receiving a measurement skipping indication indicating that the sensing node stops measuring the one or more sensing RSs during the sensing window; and stopping the measuring based on the receiving the measurement skipping indication.

[0008] In an aspect, a method of wireless sensing performed by a network node includes transmitting, to a first sensing node, a second sensing node, or any combination thereof, one or more sensing configurations indicating: one or more sensing reference signals (RSs); and a sensing window comprising transmission occasions for transmission of the one or more sensing RSs; receiving, from the first sensing node, a measurement termination indication indicating that the first sensing node stops measuring the one or more sensing RSs during the sensing window; and transmitting, to the second sensingQC2406855WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2406855WO3 / 92 node, a measurement skipping indication indicating that the second sensing node stops measuring the one or more sensing RSs during the sensing window, based on the receiving the measurement termination indication.

[0009] In an aspect, a sensing node includes one or more memories; one or more transceivers; and one or more processors communicatively coupled to the one or more memories and the one or more transceivers, the one or more processors, either alone or in combination, configured to: receive, via the one or more transceivers, from a network node, one or more messages comprising a sensing configuration, wherein the sensing configuration indicates: one or more sensing reference signals (RSs); a sensing window comprising transmission occasions for transmission of the one or more sensing RSs; and one or more criteria for stopping measuring; measure the one or more sensing RSs during a first subset of the transmission occasions; and stop the measuring based on the one or more criteria.

[0010] In an aspect, a sensing node includes one or more memories; one or more transceivers; and one or more processors communicatively coupled to the one or more memories and the one or more transceivers, the one or more processors, either alone or in combination, configured to: receive, via the one or more transceivers, one or more messages comprising a sensing configuration, wherein the sensing configuration indicates: one or more sensing reference signals (RSs); and a sensing window comprising transmission occasions for transmission of the one or more sensing RSs; measure the one or more sensing RSs during a first subset of the transmission occasions; and transmit, via the one or more transceivers, to a network node, a measurement termination indication indicating that the sensing node stops measuring the one or more sensing RSs during the sensing window.

[0011] In an aspect, a sensing node includes one or more memories; one or more transceivers; and one or more processors communicatively coupled to the one or more memories and the one or more transceivers, the one or more processors, either alone or in combination, configured to: receive, via the one or more transceivers, from a network node, one or more messages comprising a sensing configuration, wherein the sensing configuration indicates: one or more sensing reference signals (RSs); and a sensing window comprising transmission occasions for transmission of the one or more sensing RSs; measure the one or more sensing RSs during a first subset of the transmission occasions; receive, via the one or more transceivers, a measurement skipping indication indicating that the sensing node stops measuring the one or more sensing RSs during the sensing window; and stop the measuring based on the receiving the measurement skipping indication.QC2406855WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2406855WO4 / 92

[0012] In an aspect, a network node includes one or more memories; one or more transceivers; and one or more processors communicatively coupled to the one or more memories and the one or more transceivers, the one or more processors, either alone or in combination, configured to: transmit, via the one or more transceivers, to a first sensing node, a second sensing node, or any combination thereof, one or more sensing configurations indicating: one or more sensing reference signals (RSs); and a sensing window comprising transmission occasions for transmission of the one or more sensing RSs; receive, via the one or more transceivers, from the first sensing node, a measurement termination indication indicating that the first sensing node stops measuring the one or more sensing RSs during the sensing window; and transmit, via the one or more transceivers, to the second sensing node, a measurement skipping indication indicating that the second sensing node stops measuring the one or more sensing RSs during the sensing window, based on the receiving the measurement termination indication.

[0013] In an aspect, a sensing node includes means for receiving, from a network node, one or more messages comprising a sensing configuration, wherein the sensing configuration indicates: one or more sensing reference signals (RSs); a sensing window comprising transmission occasions for transmission of the one or more sensing RSs; and one or more criteria for stopping measuring; means for measuring the one or more sensing RSs during a first subset of the transmission occasions; and means for stopping the measuring based on the one or more criteria.

[0014] In an aspect, a sensing node includes means for receiving one or more messages comprising a sensing configuration, wherein the sensing configuration indicates: one or more sensing reference signals (RSs); and a sensing window comprising transmission occasions for transmission of the one or more sensing RSs; means for measuring the one or more sensing RSs during a first subset of the transmission occasions; and means for transmitting, to a network node, a measurement termination indication indicating that the sensing node stops measuring the one or more sensing RSs during the sensing window.

[0015] In an aspect, a sensing node includes means for receiving, from a network node, one or more messages comprising a sensing configuration, wherein the sensing configuration indicates: one or more sensing reference signals (RSs); and a sensing window comprising transmission occasions for transmission of the one or more sensing RSs; means for measuring the one or more sensing RSs during a first subset of the transmission occasions; means for receiving a measurement skipping indication indicating that the sensing nodeQC2406855WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2406855WO5 / 92 stops measuring the one or more sensing RSs during the sensing window; and means for stopping the measuring based on the receiving the measurement skipping indication.

[0016] In an aspect, a network node includes means for transmitting, to a first sensing node, a second sensing node, or any combination thereof, one or more sensing configurations indicating: one or more sensing reference signals (RSs); and a sensing window comprising transmission occasions for transmission of the one or more sensing RSs; means for receiving, from the first sensing node, a measurement termination indication indicating that the first sensing node stops measuring the one or more sensing RSs during the sensing window; and means for transmitting, to the second sensing node, a measurement skipping indication indicating that the second sensing node stops measuring the one or more sensing RSs during the sensing window, based on the receiving the measurement termination indication.

[0017] In an aspect, a non-transitory computer-readable medium stores computer-executable instructions that, when executed by a sensing node, cause the sensing node to: receive, from a network node, one or more messages comprising a sensing configuration, wherein the sensing configuration indicates: one or more sensing reference signals (RSs); a sensing window comprising transmission occasions for transmission of the one or more sensing RSs; and one or more criteria for stopping measuring; measure the one or more sensing RSs during a first subset of the transmission occasions; and stop the measuring based on the one or more criteria.

[0018] In an aspect, a non-transitory computer-readable medium stores computer-executable instructions that, when executed by a sensing node, cause the sensing node to: receive one or more messages comprising a sensing configuration, wherein the sensing configuration indicates: one or more sensing reference signals (RSs); and a sensing window comprising transmission occasions for transmission of the one or more sensing RSs; measure the one or more sensing RSs during a first subset of the transmission occasions; and transmit, to a network node, a measurement termination indication indicating that the sensing node stops measuring the one or more sensing RSs during the sensing window.

[0019] In an aspect, a non-transitory computer-readable medium stores computer-executable instructions that, when executed by a sensing node, cause the sensing node to: receive, from a network node, one or more messages comprising a sensing configuration, wherein the sensing configuration indicates: one or more sensing reference signals (RSs); and a sensing window comprising transmission occasions for transmission of the one or moreQC2406855WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2406855WO6 / 92 sensing RSs; measure the one or more sensing RSs during a first subset of the transmission occasions; receive a measurement skipping indication indicating that the sensing node stops measuring the one or more sensing RSs during the sensing window; and stop the measuring based on the receiving the measurement skipping indication.

[0020] In an aspect, a non-transitory computer-readable medium stores computer-executable instructions that, when executed by a network node, cause the network node to: transmit, to a first sensing node, a second sensing node, or any combination thereof, one or more sensing configurations indicating: one or more sensing reference signals (RSs); and a sensing window comprising transmission occasions for transmission of the one or more sensing RSs; receive, from the first sensing node, a measurement termination indication indicating that the first sensing node stops measuring the one or more sensing RSs during the sensing window; and transmit, to the second sensing node, a measurement skipping indication indicating that the second sensing node stops measuring the one or more sensing RSs during the sensing window, based on the receiving the measurement termination indication.

[0021] Other obj ects and advantages associated with the aspects disclosed herein will be apparent to those skilled in the art based on the accompanying drawings and detailed description.BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0022] The accompanying drawings are presented to aid in the description of various aspects of the disclosure and are provided solely for illustration of the aspects and not limitation thereof.

[0023] FIG. 1 illustrates an example wireless communications system, according to aspects of the disclosure.

[0024] FIGS. 2 A, 2B, and 2C illustrate example wireless network structures, according to aspects of the disclosure.

[0025] FIGS. 3A, 3B, and 3C are simplified block diagrams of several sample aspects of components that may be employed in a user equipment (UE), a base station, and a network entity, respectively, and configured to support communications as taught herein.

[0026] FIGS. 4 A and 4B illustrate different types of wireless sensing, according to aspects of the disclosure.QC2406855WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2406855WO7 / 92

[0027] FIG. 5 illustrates an example call flow for a New Radio (NR)-based sensing procedure in which the network configures the sensing parameters, according to aspects of the disclosure.

[0028] FIG. 6A illustrates an example of a sensing scenario, in accordance with aspects of the disclosure.

[0029] FIG. 6B illustrates an example of a measurement stoppage, in accordance with aspects of the disclosure.

[0030] FIG. 7 illustrates an example flow diagram for implementing a measurement stoppage, in accordance with aspects of the disclosure.

[0031] FIG. 8A illustrates an example flow diagram for sending a measurement skipping indication, in accordance with aspects of the disclosure.

[0032] FIG. 8B illustrates an example flow diagram for skipping a session, in accordance with aspects of the disclosure.

[0033] FIG. 8C illustrates an example flow diagram for configuring or reconfiguring a session, in accordance with aspects of the disclosure.

[0034] FIG. 9A illustrates an example of a measurement stoppage or continuation decision, in accordance with aspects of the disclosure.

[0035] FIG. 9B illustrates an example of receiving a measurement skipping indication, in accordance with aspects of the disclosure, in accordance with aspects of the disclosure.

[0036] FIGS. 10-13 illustrate example methods of wireless sensing, according to aspects of the disclosure.DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0037] Aspects of the disclosure are provided in the following description and related drawings directed to various examples provided for illustration purposes. Alternate aspects may be devised without departing from the scope of the disclosure. Additionally, well-known elements of the disclosure will not be described in detail or will be omitted so as not to obscure the relevant details of the disclosure.

[0038] Various aspects relate generally to wireless sensing. Some aspects more specifically relate to stopping measurement of one or more sensing reference signals (RSs). In some examples, a sensing node (e.g., a user equipment (UE) or transmission-reception point (TRP)) is configured with one or more criteria for stopping measurement of sensing RSs. In some examples, the one or more criteria are related to the efficacy of the measurements.QC2406855WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2406855WO8 / 92In some examples, the sensing node measures the sensing RSs during a subset of transmission occasions in a sensing window. In some examples, the sensing node stops the measuring based on the one or more criteria. In some examples, the sensing node transmits a measurement termination indication indicating stoppage of the measurements.

[0039] Particular aspects of the subject matter described in this disclosure can be implemented to realize one or more of the following potential advantages. In some examples, by stopping the measurements, the described techniques can be used to conserve power which would otherwise be used to measure the sensing RSs, process the measurements, and / or send a measurement report. In some examples, by notifying a network of the stoppage, the described techniques can be used to stop other measurements, or a sensing session, thereby conserving resources in the network. Additionally or alternatively, the network can reconfigure the sensing session (or a later sensing session) to achieve better results. In some examples, the network node can notify other sensing nodes associated with the sensing session to stop measurements, thereby conserving resources of the other sensing nodes. As sensing is further deployed, and accuracy requirements rise, the number and length of sessions will increase, highlighting the need for conservation and efficiency.

[0040] The words “exemplary” and / or “example” are used herein to mean “serving as an example, instance, or illustration.” Any aspect described herein as “exemplary” and / or “example” is not necessarily to be construed as preferred or advantageous over other aspects. Likewise, the term “aspects of the disclosure” does not require that all aspects of the disclosure include the discussed feature, advantage or mode of operation.

[0041] Those of skill in the art will appreciate that the information and signals described below may be represented using any of a variety of different technologies and techniques. For example, data, instructions, commands, information, signals, bits, symbols, and chips that may be referenced throughout the description below may be represented by voltages, currents, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or particles, optical fields or particles, or any combination thereof, depending in part on the particular application, in part on the desired design, in part on the corresponding technology, etc.

[0042] Further, many aspects are described in terms of sequences of actions to be performed by, for example, elements of a computing device. It will be recognized that various actions described herein can be performed by specific circuits (e.g., application specific integrated circuits (ASICs)), by program instructions being executed by one or more processors, or by a combination of both. Additionally, the sequence(s) of actionsQC2406855WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2406855WO9 / 92 described herein can be considered to be embodied entirely within any form of non- transitory computer-readable storage medium having stored therein a corresponding set of computer instructions that, upon execution, would cause or instruct an associated processor of a device to perform the functionality described herein. Thus, the various aspects of the disclosure may be embodied in a number of different forms, all of which have been contemplated to be within the scope of the claimed subject matter. In addition, for each of the aspects described herein, the corresponding form of any such aspects may be described herein as, for example, “logic configured to” perform the described action.

[0043] As used herein, the terms “user equipment” (UE) and “base station” are not intended to be specific or otherwise limited to any particular radio access technology (RAT), unless otherwise noted. In general, a UE may be any wireless communication device (e.g., a mobile phone, router, tablet computer, laptop computer, consumer asset locating device, wearable (e.g., smartwatch, glasses, augmented reality (AR) / virtual reality (VR) headset, etc.), vehicle (e.g., automobile, motorcycle, bicycle, etc.), Internet of Things (loT) device, etc.) used by a user to communicate over a wireless communications network. A UE may be mobile or may (e.g., at certain times) be stationary, and may communicate with a radio access network (RAN). As used herein, the term “UE” may be referred to interchangeably as an “access terminal” or “AT,” a “client device,” a “wireless device,” a “subscriber device,” a “subscriber terminal,” a “subscriber station,” a “user terminal” or “UT,” a “mobile device,” a “mobile terminal,” a “mobile station,” or variations thereof. Generally, UEs can communicate with a core network via a RAN, and through the core network the UEs can be connected with external networks such as the Internet and with other UEs. Of course, other mechanisms of connecting to the core network and / or the Internet are also possible for the UEs, such as over wired access networks, wireless local area network (WLAN) networks (e.g., based on the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 specification, etc.) and so on.

[0044] A base station may operate according to one of several RATs in communication with UEs depending on the network in which it is deployed, and may be alternatively referred to as an access point (AP), a network node, a NodeB, an evolved NodeB (eNB), a next generation eNB (ng-eNB), a New Radio (NR) Node B (also referred to as a gNB or gNodeB), etc. A base station may be used primarily to support wireless access by UEs, including supporting data, voice, and / or signaling connections for the supported UEs. In some systems a base station may provide purely edge node signaling functions while inQC2406855WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2406855WO10 / 92 other systems it may provide additional control and / or network management functions. A communication link through which UEs can send signals to a base station is called an uplink (UL) channel (e.g., a reverse traffic channel, a reverse control channel, an access channel, etc.). A communication link through which the base station can send signals to UEs is called a downlink (DL) or forward link channel (e.g., a paging channel, a control channel, a broadcast channel, a forward traffic channel, etc.). As used herein the term traffic channel (TCH) can refer to either an uplink / reverse or downlink / forward traffic channel.

[0045] The term “base station” may refer to a single physical transmission-reception point (TRP) or to multiple physical TRPs that may or may not be co-located. For example, where the term “base station” refers to a single physical TRP, the physical TRP may be an antenna of the base station corresponding to a cell (or several cell sectors) of the base station. Where the term “base station” refers to multiple co-located physical TRPs, the physical TRPs may be an array of antennas (e.g., as in a multiple-input multiple-output (MEMO) system or where the base station employs beamforming) of the base station. Where the term “base station” refers to multiple non-co-located physical TRPs, the physical TRPs may be a distributed antenna system (DAS) (a network of spatially separated antennas connected to a common source via a transport medium) or a remote radio head (RRH) (a remote base station connected to a serving base station). Alternatively, the non-co-located physical TRPs may be the serving base station receiving the measurement report from the UE and a neighbor base station whose reference radio frequency (RF) signals the UE is measuring. Because a TRP is the point from which a base station transmits and receives wireless signals, as used herein, references to transmission from or reception at a base station are to be understood as referring to a particular TRP of the base station.

[0046] In some implementations that support positioning of UEs, a base station may not support wireless access by UEs (e.g., may not support data, voice, and / or signaling connections for UEs), but may instead transmit reference signals to UEs to be measured by the UEs, and / or may receive and measure signals transmitted by the UEs. Such a base station may be referred to as a positioning beacon (e.g., when transmitting signals to UEs) and / or as a location measurement unit (e.g., when receiving and measuring signals from UEs).

[0047] An “RF signal” comprises an electromagnetic wave of a given frequency that transports information through the space between a transmitter and a receiver. As used herein, a transmitter may transmit a single “RF signal” or multiple “RF signals” to a receiver.QC2406855WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2406855WO11 / 92However, the receiver may receive multiple “RF signals” corresponding to each transmitted RF signal due to the propagation characteristics of RF signals through multipath channels. The same transmitted RF signal on different paths between the transmitter and receiver may be referred to as a “multipath” RF signal. As used herein, an RF signal may also be referred to as a “wireless signal” or simply a “signal” where it is clear from the context that the term “signal” refers to a wireless signal or an RF signal.

[0048] FIG. 1 illustrates an example wireless communications system 100, according to aspects of the disclosure. The wireless communications system 100 (which may also be referred to as a wireless wide area network (WWAN)) may include various base stations 102 (labeled “BS”) and various UEs 104. The base stations 102 may include macro cell base stations (high power cellular base stations) and / or small cell base stations (low power cellular base stations). In an aspect, the macro cell base stations may include eNBs and / or ng-eNBs where the wireless communications system 100 corresponds to an LTE network, or gNBs where the wireless communications system 100 corresponds to a NR network, or a combination of both, and the small cell base stations may include femtocells, picocells, microcells, etc.

[0049] The base stations 102 may collectively form a RAN and interface with a core network 170 (e.g., an evolved packet core (EPC) or a 5G core (5GC)) through backhaul links 122, and through the core network 170 to one or more location servers 172 (e.g., a location management function (LMF) or a secure user plane location (SUPL) location platform (SLP)). The location server(s) 172 may be part of core network 170 or may be external to core network 170. A location server 172 may be integrated with a base station 102. A UE 104 may communicate with a location server 172 directly or indirectly. For example, a UE 104 may communicate with a location server 172 via the base station 102 that is currently serving that UE 104. A UE 104 may also communicate with a location server 172 through another path, such as via an application server (not shown), via another network, such as via a wireless local area network (WLAN) access point (AP) (e.g., AP 150 described below), and so on. For signaling purposes, communication between a UE 104 and a location server 172 may be represented as an indirect connection (e.g., through the core network 170, etc.) or a direct connection (e.g., as shown via direct connection 128), with the intervening nodes (if any) omitted from a signaling diagram for clarity.

[0050] In addition to other functions, the base stations 102 may perform functions that relate to one or more of transferring user data, radio channel ciphering and deciphering, integrityQC2406855WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2406855WO12 / 92 protection, header compression, mobility control functions (e.g., handover, dual connectivity), inter-cell interference coordination, connection setup and release, load balancing, distribution for non-access stratum (NAS) messages, NAS node selection, synchronization, RAN sharing, multimedia broadcast multicast service (MBMS), subscriber and equipment trace, RAN information management (RIM), paging, positioning, and delivery of warning messages. The base stations 102 may communicate with each other directly or indirectly (e.g., through the EPC / 5GC) over backhaul links 134, which may be wired or wireless.

[0051] The base stations 102 may wirelessly communicate with the UEs 104. Each of the base stations 102 may provide communication coverage for a respective geographic coverage area 110. In an aspect, one or more cells may be supported by a base station 102 in each geographic coverage area 110. A “cell” is a logical communication entity used for communication with a base station (e.g., over some frequency resource, referred to as a carrier frequency, component carrier, carrier, band, or the like), and may be associated with an identifier (e.g., a physical cell identifier (PCI), an enhanced cell identifier (ECI), a virtual cell identifier (VCI), a cell global identifier (CGI), etc.) for distinguishing cells operating via the same or a different carrier frequency. In some cases, different cells may be configured according to different protocol types (e.g., machine-type communication (MTC), narrowband loT (NB-IoT), enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB), or others) that may provide access for different types of UEs. Because a cell is supported by a specific base station, the term “cell” may refer to either or both of the logical communication entity and the base station that supports it, depending on the context. In addition, because a TRP is typically the physical transmission point of a cell, the terms “cell” and “TRP” may be used interchangeably. In some cases, the term “cell” may also refer to a geographic coverage area of a base station (e.g., a sector), insofar as a carrier frequency can be detected and used for communication within some portion of geographic coverage areas 110.

[0052] While neighboring macro cell base station 102 geographic coverage areas 110 may partially overlap (e.g., in a handover region), some of the geographic coverage areas 110 may be substantially overlapped by a larger geographic coverage area 110. For example, a small cell base station 102' (labeled “SC” for “small cell”) may have a geographic coverage area 110' that substantially overlaps with the geographic coverage area 110 of one or more macro cell base stations 102. A network that includes both small cell andQC2406855WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2406855WO13 / 92 macro cell base stations may be known as a heterogeneous network. A heterogeneous network may also include home eNBs (HeNBs), which may provide service to a restricted group known as a closed subscriber group (CSG).

[0053] The communication links 120 between the base stations 102 and the UEs 104 may include uplink (also referred to as reverse link) transmissions from a UE 104 to a base station 102 and / or downlink (DL) (also referred to as forward link) transmissions from a base station 102 to a UE 104. The communication links 120 may use MIMO antenna technology, including spatial multiplexing, beamforming, and / or transmit diversity. The communication links 120 may be through one or more carrier frequencies. Allocation of carriers may be asymmetric with respect to downlink and uplink (e.g., more or less carriers may be allocated for downlink than for uplink).

[0054] The wireless communications system 100 may further include a wireless local area network (WLAN) access point (AP) 150 in communication with WLAN stations (STAs) 152 via communication links 154 in an unlicensed frequency spectrum (e.g., 5 GHz). When communicating in an unlicensed frequency spectrum, the WLAN STAs 152 and / or the WLAN AP 150 may perform a clear channel assessment (CCA) or listen before talk (LBT) procedure prior to communicating in order to determine whether the channel is available.

[0055] The small cell base station 102' may operate in a licensed and / or an unlicensed frequency spectrum. When operating in an unlicensed frequency spectrum, the small cell base station 102' may employ LTE or NR technology and use the same 5 GHz unlicensed frequency spectrum as used by the WLAN AP 150. The small cell base station 102', employing LTE / 5G in an unlicensed frequency spectrum, may boost coverage to and / or increase capacity of the access network. NR in unlicensed spectrum may be referred to as NR-U. LTE in an unlicensed spectrum may be referred to as LTE-U, licensed assisted access (LAA), or MULTEFIRE®.

[0056] The wireless communications system 100 may further include a millimeter wave (mmW) base station 180 that may operate in mmW frequencies and / or near mmW frequencies in communication with a UE 182. Extremely high frequency (EHF) is part of the RF in the electromagnetic spectrum. EHF has a range of 30 GHz to 300 GHz and a wavelength between 1 millimeter and 10 millimeters. Radio waves in this band may be referred to as a millimeter wave. Near mmW may extend down to a frequency of 3 GHz with a wavelength of 100 millimeters. The super high frequency (SHF) band extends between 3QC2406855WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2406855WO14 / 92GHz and 30 GHz, also referred to as centimeter wave. Communications using the mmW / near mmW radio frequency band have high path loss and a relatively short range. The mmW base station 180 and the UE 182 may utilize beamforming (transmit and / or receive) over a mmW communication link 184 to compensate for the extremely high path loss and short range. Further, it will be appreciated that in alternative configurations, one or more base stations 102 may also transmit using mmW or near mmW and beamforming. Accordingly, it will be appreciated that the foregoing illustrations are merely examples and should not be construed to limit the various aspects disclosed herein.

[0057] Transmit beamforming is a technique for focusing an RF signal in a specific direction. Traditionally, when a network node (e.g., a base station) broadcasts an RF signal, it broadcasts the signal in all directions (omni-directionally). With transmit beamforming, the network node determines where a given target device (e.g., a UE) is located (relative to the transmitting network node) and projects a stronger downlink RF signal in that specific direction, thereby providing a faster (in terms of data rate) and stronger RF signal for the receiving device(s). To change the directionality of the RF signal when transmitting, a network node can control the phase and relative amplitude of the RF signal at each of the one or more transmitters that are broadcasting the RF signal. For example, a network node may use an array of antennas (referred to as a “phased array” or an “antenna array”) that creates a beam of RF waves that can be “steered” to point in different directions, without actually moving the antennas. Specifically, the RF current from the transmitter is fed to the individual antennas with the correct phase relationship so that the radio waves from the separate antennas add together to increase the radiation in a desired direction, while cancelling to suppress radiation in undesired directions.

[0058] Transmit beams may be quasi-co-located, meaning that they appear to the receiver (e.g., a UE) as having the same parameters, regardless of whether or not the transmitting antennas of the network node themselves are physically co-located. In NR, there are four types of quasi-co-location (QCL) relations. Specifically, a QCL relation of a given type means that certain parameters about a second reference RF signal on a second beam can be derived from information about a source reference RF signal on a source beam. Thus, if the source reference RF signal is QCL Type A, the receiver can use the source reference RF signal to estimate the Doppler shift, Doppler spread, average delay, and delay spread of a second reference RF signal transmitted on the same channel. If the source reference RF signal is QCL Type B, the receiver can use the source reference RF signal to estimateQC2406855WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2406855WO15 / 92 the Doppler shift and Doppler spread of a second reference RF signal transmitted on the same channel. If the source reference RF signal is QCL Type C, the receiver can use the source reference RF signal to estimate the Doppler shift and average delay of a second reference RF signal transmitted on the same channel. If the source reference RF signal is QCL Type D, the receiver can use the source reference RF signal to estimate the spatial receive parameter of a second reference RF signal transmitted on the same channel.

[0059] In receive beamforming, the receiver uses a receive beam to amplify RF signals detected on a given channel. For example, the receiver can increase the gain setting and / or adjust the phase setting of an array of antennas in a particular direction to amplify (e.g., to increase the gain level of) the RF signals received from that direction. Thus, when a receiver is said to beamform in a certain direction, it means the beam gain in that direction is high relative to the beam gain along other directions, or the beam gain in that direction is the highest compared to the beam gain in that direction of all other receive beams available to the receiver. This results in a stronger received signal strength (e.g., reference signal received power (RSRP), reference signal received quality (RSRQ), signal-to- interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR), etc.) of the RF signals received from that direction.

[0060] Transmit and receive beams may be spatially related. A spatial relation means that parameters for a second beam (e.g., a transmit or receive beam) for a second reference signal can be derived from information about a first beam (e.g., a receive beam or a transmit beam) for a first reference signal. For example, a UE may use a particular receive beam to receive a reference downlink reference signal (e.g., synchronization signal block (SSB)) from a base station. The UE can then form a transmit beam for sending an uplink reference signal (e.g., sounding reference signal (SRS)) to that base station based on the parameters of the receive beam.

[0061] Note that a “downlink” beam may be either a transmit beam or a receive beam, depending on the entity forming it. For example, if a base station is forming the downlink beam to transmit a reference signal to a UE, the downlink beam is a transmit beam. If the UE is forming the downlink beam, however, it is a receive beam to receive the downlink reference signal. Similarly, an “uplink” beam may be either a transmit beam or a receive beam, depending on the entity forming it. For example, if a base station is forming the uplink beam, it is an uplink receive beam, and if a UE is forming the uplink beam, it is an uplink transmit beam.QC2406855WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2406855WO16 / 92

[0062] The electromagnetic spectrum is often subdivided, based on frequency / wavelength, into various classes, bands, channels, etc. In 5G NR two initial operating bands have been identified as frequency range designations FR1 (410 MHz - 7.125 GHz) and FR2 (24.25 GHz - 52.6 GHz). It should be understood that although a portion of FR1 is greater than 6 GHz, FR1 is often referred to (interchangeably) as a “Sub-6 GHz” band in various documents and articles. A similar nomenclature issue sometimes occurs with regard to FR2, which is often referred to (interchangeably) as a “millimeter wave” band in documents and articles, despite being different from the extremely high frequency (EHF) band (30 GHz - 300 GHz) which is identified by the INTERNATIONAL TELECOMMUNICATION UNION® as a “millimeter wave” band.

[0063] The frequencies between FR1 and FR2 are often referred to as mid-band frequencies. Recent 5G NR studies have identified an operating band for these mid-band frequencies as frequency range designation FR3 (7.125 GHz - 24.25 GHz). Frequency bands falling within FR3 may inherit FR1 characteristics and / or FR2 characteristics, and thus may effectively extend features of FR1 and / or FR2 into mid-band frequencies. In addition, higher frequency bands are currently being explored to extend 5G NR operation beyond 52.6 GHz. For example, three higher operating bands have been identified as frequency range designations FR4a or FR4-1 (52.6 GHz - 71 GHz), FR4 (52.6 GHz - 114.25 GHz), and FR5 (114.25 GHz - 300 GHz). Each of these higher frequency bands falls within the EHF band.

[0064] With the above aspects in mind, unless specifically stated otherwise, it should be understood that the term “sub-6 GHz” or the like if used herein may broadly represent frequencies that may be less than 6 GHz, may be within FR1, or may include mid-band frequencies. Further, unless specifically stated otherwise, it should be understood that the term “millimeter wave” or the like if used herein may broadly represent frequencies that may include mid-band frequencies, may be within FR2, FR4, FR4-a or FR4-1, and / or FR5, or may be within the EHF band.

[0065] In a multi-carrier system, such as 5G, one of the carrier frequencies is referred to as the “primary carrier” or “anchor carrier” or “primary serving cell” or “PCell,” and the remaining carrier frequencies are referred to as “secondary carriers” or “secondary serving cells” or “SCells.” In carrier aggregation, the anchor carrier is the carrier operating on the primary frequency (e.g., FR1) utilized by a UE 104 / 182 and the cell in which the UE 104 / 182 either performs the initial radio resource control (RRC) connectionQC2406855WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2406855WO17 / 92 establishment procedure or initiates the RRC connection re-establishment procedure. The primary carrier carries all common and UE-specific control channels, and may be a carrier in a licensed frequency (however, this is not always the case). A secondary carrier is a carrier operating on a second frequency (e.g., FR2) that may be configured once the RRC connection is established between the UE 104 and the anchor carrier and that may be used to provide additional radio resources. In some cases, the secondary carrier may be a carrier in an unlicensed frequency. The secondary carrier may contain only necessary signaling information and signals, for example, those that are UE-specific may not be present in the secondary carrier, since both primary uplink and downlink carriers are typically UE- specific. This means that different UEs 104 / 182 in a cell may have different downlink primary carriers. The same is true for the uplink primary carriers. The network is able to change the primary carrier of any UE 104 / 182 at any time. This is done, for example, to balance the load on different carriers. Because a “serving cell” (whether a PCell or an SCell) corresponds to a carrier frequency / component carrier over which some base station is communicating, the term “cell,” “serving cell,” “component carrier,” “carrier frequency,” and the like can be used interchangeably.

[0066] For example, still referring to FIG. 1, one of the frequencies utilized by the macro cell base stations 102 may be an anchor carrier (or “PCell”) and other frequencies utilized by the macro cell base stations 102 and / or the mmW base station 180 may be secondary carriers (“SCells”). The simultaneous transmission and / or reception of multiple carriers enables the UE 104 / 182 to significantly increase its data transmission and / or reception rates. For example, two 20 MHz aggregated carriers in a multi-carrier system would theoretically lead to a two-fold increase in data rate (i.e., 40 MHz), compared to that attained by a single 20 MHz carrier.

[0067] The wireless communications system 100 may further include a UE 164 that may communicate with a macro cell base station 102 over a communication link 120 and / or the mmW base station 180 over a mmW communication link 184. For example, the macro cell base station 102 may support a PCell and one or more SCells for the UE 164 and the mmW base station 180 may support one or more SCells for the UE 164.

[0068] In some cases, the UE 164 and the UE 182 may be capable of sidelink communication. Sidelink-capable UEs (SL-UEs) may communicate with base stations 102 over communication links 120 using the Uu interface (i.e., the air interface between a UE and a base station). SL-UEs (e.g., UE 164, UE 182) may also communicate directly with eachQC2406855WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2406855WO18 / 92 other over a wireless sidelink 160 using the PC5 interface (i.e., the air interface between sidelink-capable UEs). A wireless sidelink (or just “sidelink”) is an adaptation of the core cellular (e.g., LTE, NR) standard that allows direct communication between two or more UEs without the communication needing to go through a base station. Sidelink communication may be unicast or multicast, and may be used for device-to-device (D2D) media-sharing, vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communication, vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communication (e.g., cellular V2X (cV2X) communication, enhanced V2X (eV2X) communication, etc.), emergency rescue applications, etc. One or more of a group of SL- UEs utilizing sidelink communications may be within the geographic coverage area 110 of a base station 102. Other SL-UEs in such a group may be outside the geographic coverage area 110 of a base station 102 or be otherwise unable to receive transmissions from a base station 102. In some cases, groups of SL-UEs communicating via sidelink communications may utilize a one-to-many (1 :M) system in which each SL-UE transmits to every other SL-UE in the group. In some cases, a base station 102 facilitates the scheduling of resources for sidelink communications. In other cases, sidelink communications are carried out between SL-UEs without the involvement of a base station 102.

[0069] In an aspect, the sidelink 160 may operate over a wireless communication medium of interest, which may be shared with other wireless communications between other vehicles and / or infrastructure access points, as well as other RATs. A “medium” may be composed of one or more time, frequency, and / or space communication resources (e.g., encompassing one or more channels across one or more carriers) associated with wireless communication between one or more transmitter / receiver pairs. In an aspect, the medium of interest may correspond to at least a portion of an unlicensed frequency band shared among various RATs. Although different licensed frequency bands have been reserved for certain communication systems (e.g., by a government entity such as the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in the United States), these systems, in particular those employing small cell access points, have recently extended operation into unlicensed frequency bands such as the Unlicensed National Information Infrastructure (U-NII) band used by wireless local area network (WLAN) technologies, most notably IEEE 802.1 lx WLAN technologies generally referred to as “Wi-Fi.” Example systems of this type include different variants of CDMA systems, TDMA systems, FDMA systems,QC2406855WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2406855WO19 / 92 orthogonal FDMA (OFDMA) systems, single-carrier FDMA (SC-FDMA) systems, and so on.

[0070] Note that although FIG. 1 only illustrates two of the UEs as SL-UEs (i.e., UEs 164 and 182), any of the illustrated UEs may be SL-UEs. Further, although only UE 182 was described as being capable of beamforming, any of the illustrated UEs, including UE 164, may be capable of beamforming. Where SL-UEs are capable of beamforming, they may beamform towards each other (i.e., towards other SL-UEs), towards other UEs (e.g., UEs 104), towards base stations (e.g., base stations 102, 180, small cell 102’, access point 150), etc. Thus, in some cases, UEs 164 and 182 may utilize beamforming over sidelink 160.

[0071] In the example of FIG. 1, any of the illustrated UEs (shown in FIG. 1 as a single UE 104 for simplicity) may receive signals 124 from one or more Earth orbiting space vehicles (SVs) 112 (e.g., satellites). In an aspect, the SVs 112 may be part of a satellite positioning system that a UE 104 can use as an independent source of location information. A satellite positioning system typically includes a system of transmitters (e.g., SVs 112) positioned to enable receivers (e.g., UEs 104) to determine their location on or above the Earth based, at least in part, on positioning signals (e.g., signals 124) received from the transmitters. Such a transmitter typically transmits a signal marked with a repeating pseudo-random noise (PN) code of a set number of chips. While typically located in SVs 112, transmitters may sometimes be located on ground-based control stations, base stations 102, and / or other UEs 104. A UE 104 may include one or more dedicated receivers specifically designed to receive signals 124 for deriving geo location information from the SVs 112.

[0072] In a satellite positioning system, the use of signals 124 can be augmented by various satellite-based augmentation systems (SB AS) that may be associated with or otherwise enabled for use with one or more global and / or regional navigation satellite systems. For example an SBAS may include an augmentation system(s) that provides integrity information, differential corrections, etc., such as the Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS), the European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service (EGNOS), the Multifunctional Satellite Augmentation System (MSAS), the Global Positioning System (GPS) Aided Geo Augmented Navigation or GPS and Geo Augmented Navigation system (GAGAN), and / or the like. Thus, as used herein, a satellite positioning system may include any combination of one or more global and / or regional navigation satellites associated with such one or more satellite positioning systems.QC2406855WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2406855WO20 / 92

[0073] In an aspect, SVs 112 may additionally or alternatively be part of one or more nonterrestrial networks (NTNs). In an NTN, an SV 112 is connected to an earth station (also referred to as a ground station, NTN gateway, or gateway), which in turn is connected to an element in a 5G network, such as a modified base station 102 (without a terrestrial antenna) or a network node in a 5GC. This element would in turn provide access to other elements in the 5G network and ultimately to entities external to the 5G network, such as Internet web servers and other user devices. In that way, a UE 104 may receive communication signals (e.g., signals 124) from an SV 112 instead of, or in addition to, communication signals from a terrestrial base station 102.

[0074] The wireless communications system 100 may further include one or more UEs, such as UE 190, that connects indirectly to one or more communication networks via one or more device-to-device (D2D) peer-to-peer (P2P) links (referred to as “sidelinks”). In the example of FIG. 1, UE 190 has a D2D P2P link 192 with one of the UEs 104 connected to one of the base stations 102 (e.g., through which UE 190 may indirectly obtain cellular connectivity) and a D2D P2P link 194 with WLAN STA 152 connected to the WLAN AP 150 (through which UE 190 may indirectly obtain WLAN-based Internet connectivity). In an example, the D2D P2P links 192 and 194 may be supported with any well-known D2D RAT, such as LTE Direct (LTE-D), WI-FI DIRECT®, BLUETOOTH®, and so on.

[0075] FIG. 2A illustrates an example wireless network structure 200. For example, a 5GC 210 (also referred to as a Next Generation Core (NGC)) can be viewed functionally as control plane (C-plane) functions 214 (e.g., UE registration, authentication, network access, gateway selection, etc.) and user plane (U-plane) functions 212, (e.g., UE gateway function, access to data networks, IP routing, etc.) which operate cooperatively to form the core network. User plane interface (NG-U) 213 and control plane interface (NG-C) 215 connect the gNB 222 to the 5GC 210 and specifically to the user plane functions 212 and control plane functions 214, respectively. In an additional configuration, an ng-eNB 224 may also be connected to the 5GC 210 via NG-C 215 to the control plane functions 214 and NG-U 213 to user plane functions 212. Further, ng-eNB 224 may directly communicate with gNB 222 via a backhaul connection 223. In some configurations, a Next Generation RAN (NG-RAN) 220 may have one or more gNBs 222, while other configurations include one or more of both ng-eNBs 224 and gNBs 222. Either (or both)QC2406855WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2406855WO21 / 92 gNB 222 or ng-eNB 224 may communicate with one or more UEs 204 (e.g., any of the UEs described herein).

[0076] Another optional aspect may include a location server 230, which may be in communication with the 5GC 210 to provide location assistance for UE(s) 204. The location server 230 can be implemented as a plurality of separate servers (e.g., physically separate servers, different software modules on a single server, different software modules spread across multiple physical servers, etc.), or alternately may each correspond to a single server. The location server 230 can be configured to support one or more location services for UEs 204 that can connect to the location server 230 via the core network, 5GC 210, and / or via the Internet (not illustrated). Further, the location server 230 may be integrated into a component of the core network, or alternatively may be external to the core network (e.g., a third party server, such as an original equipment manufacturer (OEM) server or service server).

[0077] FIG. 2B illustrates another example wireless network structure 240. A 5GC 260 (which may correspond to 5GC 210 in FIG. 2A) can be viewed functionally as control plane functions, provided by an access and mobility management function (AMF) 264, and user plane functions, provided by a user plane function (UPF) 262, which operate cooperatively to form the core network (i.e., 5GC 260). The functions of the AMF 264 include registration management, connection management, reachability management, mobility management, lawful interception, transport for session management (SM) messages between one or more UEs 204 (e.g., any of the UEs described herein) and a session management function (SMF) 266, transparent proxy services for routing SM messages, access authentication and access authorization, transport for short message service (SMS) messages between the UE 204 and the short message service function (SMSF) (not shown), and security anchor functionality (SEAF). The AMF 264 also interacts with an authentication server function (AUSF) (not shown) and the UE 204, and receives the intermediate key that was established as a result of the UE 204 authentication process. In the case of authentication based on a UMTS (universal mobile telecommunications system) subscriber identity module (USIM), the AMF 264 retrieves the security material from the AUSF. The functions of the AMF 264 also include security context management (SCM). The SCM receives a key from the SEAF that it uses to derive access-network specific keys. The functionality of the AMF 264 also includes location services management for regulatory services, transport for location services messagesQC2406855WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2406855WO22 / 92 between the UE 204 and a location management function (LMF) 270 (which acts as a location server 230), transport for location services messages between the NG-RAN 220 and the LMF 270, evolved packet system (EPS) bearer identifier allocation for interworking with the EPS, and LE 204 mobility event notification. In addition, the AMF 264 also supports functionalities for non-3GPP® (Third Generation Partnership Project) access networks.

[0078] Functions of the UPF 262 include acting as an anchor point for intra / inter-RAT mobility (when applicable), acting as an external protocol data unit (PDU) session point of interconnect to a data network (not shown), providing packet routing and forwarding, packet inspection, user plane policy rule enforcement (e.g., gating, redirection, traffic steering), lawful interception (user plane collection), traffic usage reporting, quality of service (QoS) handling for the user plane (e.g., uplink / downlink rate enforcement, reflective QoS marking in the downlink), uplink traffic verification (service data flow (SDF) to QoS flow mapping), transport level packet marking in the uplink and downlink, downlink packet buffering and downlink data notification triggering, and sending and forwarding of one or more “end markers” to the source RAN node. The UPF 262 may also support transfer of location services messages over a user plane between the UE 204 and a location server, such as an SLP 272.

[0079] The functions of the SMF 266 include session management, UE Internet protocol (IP) address allocation and management, selection and control of user plane functions, configuration of traffic steering at the UPF 262 to route traffic to the proper destination, control of part of policy enforcement and QoS, and downlink data notification. The interface over which the SMF 266 communicates with the AMF 264 is referred to as the Ni l interface.

[0080] Another optional aspect may include an LMF 270, which may be in communication with the 5GC 260 to provide location assistance for UEs 204. The LMF 270 can be implemented as a plurality of separate servers (e.g., physically separate servers, different software modules on a single server, different software modules spread across multiple physical servers, etc.), or alternately may each correspond to a single server. The LMF 270 can be configured to support one or more location services for UEs 204 that can connect to the LMF 270 via the core network, 5GC 260, and / or via the Internet (not illustrated). The SLP 272 may support similar functions to the LMF 270, but whereas the LMF 270 may communicate with the AMF 264, NG-RAN 220, and UEs 204 over aQC2406855WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2406855WO23 / 92 control plane (e.g., using interfaces and protocols intended to convey signaling messages and not voice or data), the SLP 272 may communicate with UEs 204 and external clients (e.g., third-party server 274) over a user plane (e.g., using protocols intended to carry voice and / or data like the transmission control protocol (TCP) and / or IP).

[0081] Yet another optional aspect may include a third-party server 274, which may be in communication with the LMF 270, the SLP 272, the 5GC 260 (e.g., via the AMF 264 and / or the UPF 262), the NG-RAN 220, and / or the UE 204 to obtain location information (e.g., a location estimate) for the UE 204. As such, in some cases, the third-party server 274 may be referred to as a location services (LCS) client or an external client. The third- party server 274 can be implemented as a plurality of separate servers (e.g., physically separate servers, different software modules on a single server, different software modules spread across multiple physical servers, etc.), or alternately may each correspond to a single server.

[0082] User plane interface 263 and control plane interface 265 connect the 5GC 260, and specifically the UPF 262 and AMF 264, respectively, to one or more gNBs 222 and / or ng-eNBs 224 in the NG-RAN 220. The interface between gNB(s) 222 and / or ng-eNB(s) 224 and the AMF 264 is referred to as the “N2” interface, and the interface between gNB(s) 222 and / or ng-eNB(s) 224 and the UPF 262 is referred to as the “N3” interface. The gNB(s) 222 and / or ng-eNB(s) 224 of the NG-RAN 220 may communicate directly with each other via backhaul connections 223, referred to as the “Xn-C” interface. One or more of gNBs 222 and / or ng-eNBs 224 may communicate with one or more UEs 204 over a wireless interface, referred to as the “Uu” interface.

[0083] The functionality of a gNB 222 may be divided between a gNB central unit (gNB-CU) 226, one or more gNB distributed units (gNB-DUs) 228, and one or more gNB radio units (gNB-RUs) 229. A gNB-CU 226 is a logical node that includes the base station functions of transferring user data, mobility control, radio access network sharing, positioning, session management, and the like, except for those functions allocated exclusively to the gNB-DU(s) 228. More specifically, the gNB-CU 226 generally host the radio resource control (RRC), service data adaptation protocol (SDAP), and packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) protocols of the gNB 222. A gNB-DU 228 is a logical node that generally hosts the radio link control (RLC) and medium access control (MAC) layer of the gNB 222. Its operation is controlled by the gNB-CU 226. One gNB-DU 228 can support one or more cells, and one cell is supported by only one gNB-DU 228. TheQC2406855WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2406855WO24 / 92 interface 232 between the gNB-CU 226 and the one or more gNB-DUs 228 is referred to as the “Fl” interface. The physical (PHY) layer functionality of a gNB 222 is generally hosted by one or more standalone gNB-RUs 229 that perform functions such as power amplification and signal transmission / reception. The interface between a gNB-DU 228 and a gNB-RU 229 is referred to as the “Fx” interface. Thus, a UE 204 communicates with the gNB-CU 226 via the RRC, SDAP, and PDCP layers, with a gNB-DU 228 via the RLC and MAC layers, and with a gNB-RU 229 via the PHY layer.

[0084] Deployment of communication systems, such as 5G NR systems, may be arranged in multiple manners with various components or constituent parts. In a 5G NR system, or network, a network node, a network entity, a mobility element of a network, a RAN node, a core network node, a network element, or a network equipment, such as a base station, or one or more units (or one or more components) performing base station functionality, may be implemented in an aggregated or disaggregated architecture. For example, a base station (such as a Node B (NB), evolved NB (eNB), NR base station, 5G NB, AP, TRP, cell, etc.) may be implemented as an aggregated base station (also known as a standalone base station or a monolithic base station) or a disaggregated base station.

[0085] An aggregated base station may be configured to utilize a radio protocol stack that is physically or logically integrated within a single RAN node. A disaggregated base station may be configured to utilize a protocol stack that is physically or logically distributed among two or more units (such as one or more central or centralized units (CUs), one or more distributed units (DUs), or one or more radio units (RUs)). In some aspects, a CU may be implemented within a RAN node, and one or more DUs may be co-located with the CU, or alternatively, may be geographically or virtually distributed throughout one or multiple other RAN nodes. The DUs may be implemented to communicate with one or more RUs. Each of the CU, DU and RU also can be implemented as virtual units, i.e., a virtual central unit (VCU), a virtual distributed unit (VDU), or a virtual radio unit (VRU).

[0086] Base station-type operation or network design may consider aggregation characteristics of base station functionality. For example, disaggregated base stations may be utilized in an integrated access backhaul (IAB) network, an open radio access network (0-RAN (such as the network configuration sponsored by the 0-RAN ALLIANCE®)), or a virtualized radio access network (vRAN, also known as a cloud radio access network (C- RAN)). Disaggregation may include distributing functionality across two or more units at various physical locations, as well as distributing functionality for at least one unitQC2406855WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2406855WO25 / 92 virtually, which can enable flexibility in network design. The various units of the disaggregated base station, or disaggregated RAN architecture, can be configured for wired or wireless communication with at least one other unit.

[0087] FIG. 2C illustrates an example disaggregated base station architecture 250, according to aspects of the disclosure. The disaggregated base station architecture 250 may include one or more central units (CUs) 280 (e.g., gNB-CU 226) that can communicate directly with a core network 267 (e.g., 5GC 210, 5GC 260) via a backhaul link, or indirectly with the core network 267 through one or more disaggregated base station units (such as a Near-Real Time (Near-RT) RAN Intelligent Controller (RIC) 259 via an E2 link, or a Non-Real Time (Non-RT) RIC 257 associated with a Service Management and Orchestration (SMO) Framework 255, or both). A CU 280 may communicate with one or more DUs 285 (e.g., gNB-DUs 228) via respective midhaul links, such as an Fl interface. The DUs 285 may communicate with one or more radio units (RUs) 287 (e.g., gNB-RUs 229) via respective fronthaul links. The RUs 287 may communicate with respective UEs 204 via one or more radio frequency (RF) access links. In some implementations, the UE 204 may be simultaneously served by multiple RUs 287.

[0088] Each of the units, i.e., the CUs 280, the DUs 285, the RUs 287, as well as the Near-RT RICs 259, the Non-RT RICs 257 and the SMO Framework 255, may include one or more interfaces or be coupled to one or more interfaces configured to receive or transmit signals, data, or information (collectively, signals) via a wired or wireless transmission medium. Each of the units, or an associated processor or controller providing instructions to the communication interfaces of the units, can be configured to communicate with one or more of the other units via the transmission medium. For example, the units can include a wired interface configured to receive or transmit signals over a wired transmission medium to one or more of the other units. Additionally, the units can include a wireless interface, which may include a receiver, a transmitter or transceiver (such as a RF transceiver), configured to receive or transmit signals, or both, over a wireless transmission medium to one or more of the other units.

[0089] In some aspects, the CU 280 may host one or more higher layer control functions. Such control functions can include RRC, PDCP, service data adaptation protocol (SDAP), or the like. Each control function can be implemented with an interface configured to communicate signals with other control functions hosted by the CU 280. The CU 280 may be configured to handle user plane functionality (i.e., Central Unit - User Plane (CU-QC2406855WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2406855WO26 / 92UP)), control plane functionality (i.e., Central Unit - Control Plane (CU-CP)), or a combination thereof. In some implementations, the CU 280 can be logically split into one or more CU-UP units and one or more CU-CP units. The CU-UP unit can communicate bidirectionally with the CU-CP unit via an interface, such as the El interface when implemented in an O-RAN configuration. The CU 280 can be implemented to communicate with the DU 285, as necessary, for network control and signaling.

[0090] The DU 285 may correspond to a logical unit that includes one or more base station functions to control the operation of one or more RUs 287. In some aspects, the DU 285 may host one or more of a RLC layer, a MAC layer, and one or more high PHY layers (such as modules for forward error correction (FEC) encoding and decoding, scrambling, modulation and demodulation, or the like) depending, at least in part, on a functional split, such as those defined by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP®). In some aspects, the DU 285 may further host one or more low PHY layers. Each layer (or module) can be implemented with an interface configured to communicate signals with other layers (and modules) hosted by the DU 285, or with the control functions hosted by the CU 280.

[0091] Lower-layer functionality can be implemented by one or more RUs 287. In some deployments, an RU 287, controlled by a DU 285, may correspond to a logical node that hosts RF processing functions, or low-PHY layer functions (such as performing fast Fourier transform (FFT), inverse FFT (iFFT), digital beamforming, physical random access channel (PRACH) extraction and filtering, or the like), or both, based at least in part on the functional split, such as a lower layer functional split. In such an architecture, the RU(s) 287 can be implemented to handle over the air (OTA) communication with one or more UEs 204. In some implementations, real-time and non-real-time aspects of control and user plane communication with the RU(s) 287 can be controlled by the corresponding DU 285. In some scenarios, this configuration can enable the DU(s) 285 and the CU 280 to be implemented in a cloud-based RAN architecture, such as a vRAN architecture.

[0092] The SMO Framework 255 may be configured to support RAN deployment and provisioning of non-virtualized and virtualized network elements. For non-virtualized network elements, the SMO Framework 255 may be configured to support the deployment of dedicated physical resources for RAN coverage requirements which may be managed via an operations and maintenance interface (such as an 01 interface). ForQC2406855WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2406855WO27 / 92 virtualized network elements, the SMO Framework 255 may be configured to interact with a cloud computing platform (such as an open cloud (O-Cloud) 269) to perform network element life cycle management (such as to instantiate virtualized network elements) via a cloud computing platform interface (such as an 02 interface). Such virtualized network elements can include, but are not limited to, CUs 280, DUs 285, RUs 287 and Near-RT RICs 259. In some implementations, the SMO Framework 255 can communicate with a hardware aspect of a 4G RAN, such as an open eNB (O-eNB) 261, via an 01 interface. Additionally, in some implementations, the SMO Framework 255 can communicate directly with one or more RUs 287 via an 01 interface. The SMO Framework 255 also may include a Non-RT RIC 257 configured to support functionality of the SMO Framework 255.

[0093] The Non-RT RIC 257 may be configured to include a logical function that enables non- real-time control and optimization of RAN elements and resources, artificial intelligence / machine learning (AI / ML) workflows including model training and updates, or policy-based guidance of applications / features in the Near-RT RIC 259. The Non-RT RIC 257 may be coupled to or communicate with (such as via an Al interface) the Near- RT RIC 259. The Near-RT RIC 259 may be configured to include a logical function that enables near-real-time control and optimization of RAN elements and resources via data collection and actions over an interface (such as via an E2 interface) connecting one or more CUs 280, one or more DUs 285, or both, as well as an O-eNB, with the Near-RT RIC 259.

[0094] In some implementations, to generate AI / ML models to be deployed in the Near-RT RIC 259, the Non-RT RIC 257 may receive parameters or external enrichment information from external servers. Such information may be utilized by the Near-RT RIC 259 and may be received at the SMO Framework 255 or the Non-RT RIC 257 from non-network data sources or from network functions. In some examples, the Non-RT RIC 257 or the Near-RT RIC 259 may be configured to tune RAN behavior or performance. For example, the Non-RT RIC 257 may monitor long-term trends and patterns for performance and employ AI / ML models to perform corrective actions through the SMO Framework 255 (such as reconfiguration via 01) or via creation of RAN management policies (such as Al policies).

[0095] FIGS. 3A, 3B, and 3C illustrate several example components (represented by corresponding blocks) that may be incorporated into a UE 302 (which may correspond toQC2406855WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2406855WO28 / 92 any of the UEs described herein), a base station 304 (which may correspond to any of the base stations described herein), and a network entity 306 (which may correspond to or embody any of the network functions described herein, including the location server 230 and the LMF 270, or alternatively may be independent from the NG-RAN 220 and / or 5GC 210 / 260 infrastructure depicted in FIGS. 2A and 2B, such as a private network) to support the operations described herein. It will be appreciated that these components may be implemented in different types of apparatuses in different implementations (e.g., in an ASIC, in a system-on-chip (SoC), etc.). The illustrated components may also be incorporated into other apparatuses in a communication system. For example, other apparatuses in a system may include components similar to those described to provide similar functionality. Also, a given apparatus may contain one or more of the components. For example, an apparatus may include multiple transceiver components that enable the apparatus to operate on multiple carriers and / or communicate via different technologies.

[0096] The UE 302 and the base station 304 each include one or more wireless wide area network (WWAN) transceivers 310 and 350, respectively, providing means for communicating (e.g., means for transmitting, means for receiving, means for measuring, means fortuning, means for refraining from transmitting, etc.) via one or more wireless communication networks (not shown), such as an NR network, an LTE network, a GSM network, and / or the like. The WWAN transceivers 310 and 350 may each be connected to one or more antennas 316 and 356, respectively, for communicating with other network nodes, such as other UEs, access points, base stations (e.g., eNBs, gNBs), etc., via at least one designated RAT (e.g., NR, LTE, GSM, etc.) over a wireless communication medium of interest (e.g., some set of time / frequency resources in a particular frequency spectrum). The WWAN transceivers 310 and 350 may be variously configured for transmitting and encoding signals 318 and 358 (e.g., messages, indications, information, and so on), respectively, and, conversely, for receiving and decoding signals 318 and 358 (e.g., messages, indications, information, pilots, and so on), respectively, in accordance with the designated RAT. Specifically, the WWAN transceivers 310 and 350 include one or more transmitters 314 and 354, respectively, for transmitting and encoding signals 318 and 358, respectively, and one or more receivers 312 and 352, respectively, for receiving and decoding signals 318 and 358, respectively.

[0097] The UE 302 and the base station 304 each also include, at least in some cases, one or more short-range wireless transceivers 320 and 360, respectively. The short-rangeQC2406855WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2406855WO29 / 92 wireless transceivers 320 and 360 may be connected to one or more antennas 326 and 366, respectively, and provide means for communicating (e.g., means for transmitting, means for receiving, means for measuring, means for tuning, means for refraining from transmitting, etc.) with other network nodes, such as other UEs, access points, base stations, etc., via at least one designated RAT (e.g., Wi-Fi, LTE Direct, BLUETOOTH®, ZIGBEE®, Z-WAVE®, PC5, dedicated short-range communications (DSRC), wireless access for vehicular environments (WAVE), near-field communication (NFC), ultra- wideband (UWB), etc.) over a wireless communication medium of interest. The short- range wireless transceivers 320 and 360 may be variously configured for transmitting and encoding signals 328 and 368 (e.g., messages, indications, information, and so on), respectively, and, conversely, for receiving and decoding signals 328 and 368 (e.g., messages, indications, information, pilots, and so on), respectively, in accordance with the designated RAT. Specifically, the short-range wireless transceivers 320 and 360 include one or more transmitters 324 and 364, respectively, for transmitting and encoding signals 328 and 368, respectively, and one or more receivers 322 and 362, respectively, for receiving and decoding signals 328 and 368, respectively. As specific examples, the short-range wireless transceivers 320 and 360 may be Wi-Fi transceivers, BLUETOOTH® transceivers, ZIGBEE® and / or Z-WAVE® transceivers, NFC transceivers, UWB transceivers, or vehi cl e-to- vehicle (V2V) and / or vehicle-to- everything (V2X) transceivers.

[0098] The UE 302 and the base station 304 also include, at least in some cases, satellite signal interfaces 330 and 370, which each include one or more satellite signal receivers 332 and 372, respectively, and may optionally include one or more satellite signal transmitters 334 and 374, respectively. In some cases, the base station 304 may be a terrestrial base station that may communicate with space vehicles (e.g., space vehicles 112) via the satellite signal interface 370. In other cases, the base station 304 may be a space vehicle (or other non-terrestrial entity) that uses the satellite signal interface 370 to communicate with terrestrial networks and / or other space vehicles.

[0099] The satellite signal receivers 332 and 372 may be connected to one or more antennas 336 and 376, respectively, and may provide means for receiving and / or measuring satellite positioning / communication signals 338 and 378, respectively. Where the satellite signal receiver(s) 332 and 372 are satellite positioning system receivers, the satellite positioning / communication signals 338 and 378 may be global positioning system (GPS)QC2406855WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2406855WO30 / 92 signals, global navigation satellite system (GLONASS) signals, Galileo signals, Beidou signals, Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (NAVIC), Quasi-Zenith Satellite System (QZSS) signals, etc. Where the satellite signal receiver(s) 332 and 372 are nonterrestrial network (NTN) receivers, the satellite positioning / communication signals 338 and 378 may be communication signals (e.g., carrying control and / or user data) originating from a 5G network. The satellite signal receiver(s) 332 and 372 may comprise any suitable hardware and / or software for receiving and processing satellite positioning / communication signals 338 and 378, respectively. The satellite signal receiver(s) 332 and 372 may request information and operations as appropriate from the other systems, and, at least in some cases, perform calculations to determine locations of the UE 302 and the base station 304, respectively, using measurements obtained by any suitable satellite positioning system algorithm.

[0100] The optional satellite signal transmitter(s) 334 and 374, when present, may be connected to the one or more antennas 336 and 376, respectively, and may provide means for transmitting satellite positioning / communication signals 338 and 378, respectively. Where the satellite signal transmitter(s) 374 are satellite positioning system transmitters, the satellite positioning / communication signals 378 may be GPS signals, GLONASS® signals, Galileo signals, Beidou signals, NAVIC, QZSS signals, etc. Where the satellite signal transmitter(s) 334 and 374 are NTN transmitters, the satellite positioning / communication signals 338 and 378 may be communication signals (e.g., carrying control and / or user data) originating from a 5G network. The satellite signal transmitter(s) 334 and 374 may comprise any suitable hardware and / or software for transmitting satellite positioning / communication signals 338 and 378, respectively. The satellite signal transmitter(s) 334 and 374 may request information and operations as appropriate from the other systems.

[0101] The base station 304 and the network entity 306 each include one or more network transceivers 380 and 390, respectively, providing means for communicating (e.g., means for transmitting, means for receiving, etc.) with other network entities (e.g., other base stations 304, other network entities 306). For example, the base station 304 may employ the one or more network transceivers 380 to communicate with other base stations 304 or network entities 306 over one or more wired or wireless backhaul links. As another example, the network entity 306 may employ the one or more network transceivers 390 to communicate with one or more base station 304 over one or more wired or wirelessQC2406855WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2406855WO31 / 92 backhaul links, or with other network entities 306 over one or more wired or wireless core network interfaces.

[0102] A transceiver may be configured to communicate over a wired or wireless link. A transceiver (whether a wired transceiver or a wireless transceiver) includes transmitter circuitry (e.g., transmitters 314, 324, 354, 364) and receiver circuitry (e.g., receivers 312, 322, 352, 362). A transceiver may be an integrated device (e.g., embodying transmitter circuitry and receiver circuitry in a single device) in some implementations, may comprise separate transmitter circuitry and separate receiver circuitry in some implementations, or may be embodied in other ways in other implementations. The transmitter circuitry and receiver circuitry of a wired transceiver (e.g., network transceivers 380 and 390 in some implementations) may be coupled to one or more wired network interface ports. Wireless transmitter circuitry (e.g., transmitters 314, 324, 354, 364) may include or be coupled to a plurality of antennas (e.g., antennas 316, 326, 356, 366), such as an antenna array, that permits the respective apparatus (e.g., UE 302, base station 304) to perform transmit “beamforming,” as described herein. Similarly, wireless receiver circuitry (e.g., receivers 312, 322, 352, 362) may include or be coupled to a plurality of antennas (e.g., antennas 316, 326, 356, 366), such as an antenna array, that permits the respective apparatus (e.g., UE 302, base station 304) to perform receive beamforming, as described herein. In an aspect, the transmitter circuitry and receiver circuitry may share the same plurality of antennas (e.g., antennas 316, 326, 356, 366), such that the respective apparatus can only receive or transmit at a given time, not both at the same time. A wireless transceiver (e.g., WWAN transceivers 310 and 350, short-range wireless transceivers 320 and 360) may also include a network listen module (NUM) or the like for performing various measurements.

[0103] As used herein, the various wireless transceivers (e.g., transceivers 310, 320, 350, and 360, and network transceivers 380 and 390 in some implementations) and wired transceivers (e.g., network transceivers 380 and 390 in some implementations) may generally be characterized as “a transceiver,” “at least one transceiver,” or “one or more transceivers.” As such, whether a particular transceiver is a wired or wireless transceiver may be inferred from the type of communication performed. For example, backhaul communication between network devices or servers will generally relate to signaling via a wired transceiver, whereas wireless communication between a UE (e.g., UE 302) and aQC2406855WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2406855WO32 / 92 base station (e.g., base station 304) will generally relate to signaling via a wireless transceiver.

[0104] The UE 302, the base station 304, and the network entity 306 also include other components that may be used in conjunction with the operations as disclosed herein. The UE 302, the base station 304, and the network entity 306 include one or more processors 342, 384, and 394, respectively, for providing functionality relating to, for example, wireless communication, and for providing other processing functionality. The processors 342, 384, and 394 may therefore provide means for processing, such as means for determining, means for calculating, means for receiving, means for transmitting, means for indicating, etc. In an aspect, the processors 342, 384, and 394 may include, for example, one or more general purpose processors, multi-core processors, central processing units (CPUs), ASICs, digital signal processors (DSPs), field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), other programmable logic devices or processing circuitry, or various combinations thereof.

[0105] The UE 302, the base station 304, and the network entity 306 include memory circuitry implementing memories 340, 386, and 396 (e.g., each including a memory device), respectively, for maintaining information (e.g., information indicative of reserved resources, thresholds, parameters, and so on). The memories 340, 386, and 396 may therefore provide means for storing, means for retrieving, means for maintaining, etc. In some cases, the UE 302, the base station 304, and the network entity 306 may include sensing component 348, 388, and 398, respectively. The sensing component 348, 388, and 398 may be hardware circuits that are part of or coupled to the processors 342, 384, and 394, respectively, that, when executed, cause the UE 302, the base station 304, and the network entity 306 to perform the functionality described herein. In other aspects, the sensing component 348, 388, and 398 may be external to the processors 342, 384, and 394 (e.g., part of a modem processing system, integrated with another processing system, etc.). Alternatively, the sensing component 348, 388, and 398 may be memory modules stored in the memories 340, 386, and 396, respectively, that, when executed by the processors 342, 384, and 394 (or a modem processing system, another processing system, etc.), cause the UE 302, the base station 304, and the network entity 306 to perform the functionality described herein. FIG. 3A illustrates possible locations of the sensing component 348, which may be, for example, part of the one or more WWAN transceivers 310, the memory 340, the one or more processors 342, or any combination thereof, orQC2406855WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2406855WO33 / 92 may be a standalone component. FIG. 3B illustrates possible locations of the sensing component 388, which may be, for example, part of the one or more WWAN transceivers 350, the memory 386, the one or more processors 384, or any combination thereof, or may be a standalone component. FIG. 3C illustrates possible locations of the sensing component 398, which may be, for example, part of the one or more network transceivers 390, the memory 396, the one or more processors 394, or any combination thereof, or may be a standalone component.

[0106] The UE 302 may include one or more sensors 344 coupled to the one or more processors 342 to provide means for sensing or detecting movement and / or orientation information that is independent of motion data derived from signals received by the one or more WWAN transceivers 310, the one or more short-range wireless transceivers 320, and / or the satellite signal interface 330. By way of example, the sensor(s) 344 may include an accelerometer (e.g., a micro-electrical mechanical systems (MEMS) device), a gyroscope, a geomagnetic sensor (e.g., a compass), an altimeter (e.g., a barometric pressure altimeter), and / or any other type of movement detection sensor. Moreover, the sensor(s) 344 may include a plurality of different types of devices and combine their outputs in order to provide motion information. For example, the sensor(s) 344 may use a combination of a multi-axis accelerometer and orientation sensors to provide the ability to compute positions in two-dimensional (2D) and / or three-dimensional (3D) coordinate systems.

[0107] In addition, the UE 302 includes a user interface 346 providing means for providing indications (e.g., audible and / or visual indications) to a user and / or for receiving user input (e.g., upon user actuation of a sensing device such a keypad, a touch screen, a microphone, and so on). Although not shown, the base station 304 and the network entity 306 may also include user interfaces.

[0108] Referring to the one or more processors 384 in more detail, in the downlink, IP packets from the network entity 306 may be provided to the processor 384. The one or more processors 384 may implement functionality for an RRC layer, a packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) layer, a radio link control (RLC) layer, and a medium access control (MAC) layer. The one or more processors 384 may provide RRC layer functionality associated with broadcasting of system information (e.g., master information block (MIB), system information blocks (SIBs)), RRC connection control (e.g., RRC connection paging, RRC connection establishment, RRC connection modification, andQC2406855WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2406855WO34 / 92RRC connection release), inter-RAT mobility, and measurement configuration for UE measurement reporting; PDCP layer functionality associated with header compression / decompression, security (ciphering, deciphering, integrity protection, integrity verification), and handover support functions; RLC layer functionality associated with the transfer of upper layer PDUs, error correction through automatic repeat request (ARQ), concatenation, segmentation, and reassembly of RLC service data units (SDUs), re-segmentation of RLC data PDUs, and reordering of RLC data PDUs; and MAC layer functionality associated with mapping between logical channels and transport channels, scheduling information reporting, error correction, priority handling, and logical channel prioritization.

[0109] The transmitter 354 and the receiver 352 may implement Layer- 1 (LI) functionality associated with various signal processing functions. Layer- 1, which includes a physical (PHY) layer, may include error detection on the transport channels, forward error correction (FEC) coding / decoding of the transport channels, interleaving, rate matching, mapping onto physical channels, modulation / demodulation of physical channels, and MIMO antenna processing. The transmitter 354 handles mapping to signal constellations based on various modulation schemes (e.g., binary phase-shift keying (BPSK), quadrature phase-shift keying (QPSK), M-phase-shift keying (M-PSK), M-quadrature amplitude modulation (M-QAM)). The coded and modulated symbols may then be split into parallel streams. Each stream may then be mapped to an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) subcarrier, multiplexed with a reference signal (e.g., pilot) in the time and / or frequency domain, and then combined together using an inverse fast Fourier transform (IFFT) to produce a physical channel carrying a time domain OFDM symbol stream. The OFDM symbol stream is spatially precoded to produce multiple spatial streams. Channel estimates from a channel estimator may be used to determine the coding and modulation scheme, as well as for spatial processing. The channel estimate may be derived from a reference signal and / or channel condition feedback transmitted by the UE 302. Each spatial stream may then be provided to one or more different antennas 356. The transmitter 354 may modulate an RF carrier with a respective spatial stream for transmission.

[0110] At the UE 302, the receiver 312 receives a signal through its respective antenna(s) 316. The receiver 312 recovers information modulated onto an RF carrier and provides the information to the one or more processors 342. The transmitter 314 and the receiver 312QC2406855WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2406855WO35 / 92 implement Layer- 1 functionality associated with various signal processing functions. The receiver 312 may perform spatial processing on the information to recover any spatial streams destined for the UE 302. If multiple spatial streams are destined for the UE 302, they may be combined by the receiver 312 into a single OFDM symbol stream. The receiver 312 then converts the OFDM symbol stream from the time-domain to the frequency domain using a fast Fourier transform (FFT). The frequency domain signal comprises a separate OFDM symbol stream for each subcarrier of the OFDM signal. The symbols on each subcarrier, and the reference signal, are recovered and demodulated by determining the most likely signal constellation points transmitted by the base station 304. These soft decisions may be based on channel estimates computed by a channel estimator. The soft decisions are then decoded and de-interleaved to recover the data and control signals that were originally transmitted by the base station 304 on the physical channel. The data and control signals are then provided to the one or more processors 342, which implements Layer-3 (L3) and Layer-2 (L2) functionality.

[0111] In the downlink, the one or more processors 342 provides demultiplexing between transport and logical channels, packet reassembly, deciphering, header decompression, and control signal processing to recover IP packets from the core network. The one or more processors 342 are also responsible for error detection.

[0112] Similar to the functionality described in connection with the downlink transmission by the base station 304, the one or more processors 342 provides RRC layer functionality associated with system information (e.g., MIB, SIBs) acquisition, RRC connections, and measurement reporting; PDCP layer functionality associated with header compression / decompression, and security (ciphering, deciphering, integrity protection, integrity verification); RLC layer functionality associated with the transfer of upper layer PDUs, error correction through ARQ, concatenation, segmentation, and reassembly of RLC SDUs, re-segmentation of RLC data PDUs, and reordering of RLC data PDUs; and MAC layer functionality associated with mapping between logical channels and transport channels, multiplexing of MAC SDUs onto transport blocks (TBs), demultiplexing of MAC SDUs from TBs, scheduling information reporting, error correction through hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ), priority handling, and logical channel prioritization.

[0113] Channel estimates derived by the channel estimator from a reference signal or feedback transmitted by the base station 304 may be used by the transmitter 314 to select the appropriate coding and modulation schemes, and to facilitate spatial processing. TheQC2406855WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2406855WO36 / 92 spatial streams generated by the transmitter 314 may be provided to different antenna(s) 316. The transmitter 314 may modulate an RF carrier with a respective spatial stream for transmission.

[0114] The uplink transmission is processed at the base station 304 in a manner similar to that described in connection with the receiver function at the UE 302. The receiver 352 receives a signal through its respective antenna(s) 356. The receiver 352 recovers information modulated onto an RF carrier and provides the information to the one or more processors 384.

[0115] In the uplink, the one or more processors 384 provides demultiplexing between transport and logical channels, packet reassembly, deciphering, header decompression, control signal processing to recover IP packets from the UE 302. IP packets from the one or more processors 384 may be provided to the core network. The one or more processors 384 are also responsible for error detection.

[0116] For convenience, the UE 302, the base station 304, and / or the network entity 306 are shown in FIGS. 3 A, 3B, and 3C as including various components that may be configured according to the various examples described herein. It will be appreciated, however, that the illustrated components may have different functionality in different designs. In particular, various components in FIGS. 3A to 3C are optional in alternative configurations and the various aspects include configurations that may vary due to design choice, costs, use of the device, or other considerations. For example, in case of FIG. 3 A, a particular implementation of UE 302 may omit the WWAN transceiver(s) 310 (e.g., a wearable device or tablet computer or personal computer (PC) or laptop may have Wi-Fi and / or BLUETOOTH® capability without cellular capability), or may omit the short- range wireless transceiver(s) 320 (e.g., cellular-only, etc.), or may omit the satellite signal interface 330, or may omit the sensor(s) 344, and so on. In another example, in case of FIG. 3B, a particular implementation of the base station 304 may omit the WWAN transceiver(s) 350 (e.g., a Wi-Fi “hotspot” access point without cellular capability), or may omit the short-range wireless transceiver(s) 360 (e.g., cellular-only, etc.), or may omit the satellite signal interface 370, and so on. For brevity, illustration of the various alternative configurations is not provided herein, but would be readily understandable to one skilled in the art.

[0117] The various components of the UE 302, the base station 304, and the network entity 306 may be communicatively coupled to each other over data buses 308, 382, and 392,QC2406855WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2406855WO37 / 92 respectively. In an aspect, the data buses 308, 382, and 392 may form, or be part of, a communication interface of the UE 302, the base station 304, and the network entity 306, respectively. For example, where different logical entities are embodied in the same device (e.g., gNB and location server functionality incorporated into the same base station 304), the data buses 308, 382, and 392 may provide communication between them.

[0118] The components of FIGS. 3A, 3B, and 3C may be implemented in various ways. In some implementations, the components of FIGS. 3 A, 3B, and 3C may be implemented in one or more circuits such as, for example, one or more processors and / or one or more ASICs (which may include one or more processors). Here, each circuit may use and / or incorporate at least one memory component for storing information or executable code used by the circuit to provide this functionality. For example, some or all of the functionality represented by blocks 310 to 346 may be implemented by processor and memory component(s) of the UE 302 (e.g., by execution of appropriate code and / or by appropriate configuration of processor components). Similarly, some or all of the functionality represented by blocks 350 to 388 may be implemented by processor and memory component(s) of the base station 304 (e.g., by execution of appropriate code and / or by appropriate configuration of processor components). Also, some or all of the functionality represented by blocks 390 to 398 may be implemented by processor and memory component(s) of the network entity 306 (e.g., by execution of appropriate code and / or by appropriate configuration of processor components). For simplicity, various operations, acts, and / or functions are described herein as being performed “by a UE,” “by a base station,” “by a network entity,” etc. However, as will be appreciated, such operations, acts, and / or functions may actually be performed by specific components or combinations of components of the UE 302, base station 304, network entity 306, etc., such as the processors 342, 384, 394, the transceivers 310, 320, 350, and 360, the memories 340, 386, and 396, the sensing component 348, 388, and 398, etc.

[0119] In some designs, the network entity 306 may be implemented as a core network component. In other designs, the network entity 306 may be distinct from a network operator or operation of the cellular network infrastructure (e.g., NG RAN 220 and / or 5GC 210 / 260). For example, the network entity 306 may be a component of a private network that may be configured to communicate with the UE 302 via the base station 304 or independently from the base station 304 (e.g., over a non-cellular communication link, such as Wi-Fi).QC2406855WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2406855WO38 / 92

[0120] FIGS. 4 A and 4B illustrate different types of wireless sensing, according to aspects of the disclosure.

[0121] Wireless communication signals (e.g., radio frequency (RF) signals configured to carry orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbols in accordance with a wireless communications standard, such as LTE, NR, etc.) transmitted between a UE and a base station can be used for environment sensing (also referred to as “RF sensing” or “wireless sensing”). Using wireless communication signals for environment sensing can be regarded as consumer-level wireless sensing with advanced detection capabilities that enable, among other things, touchless / device-free interaction with a device / system. The wireless communication signals may be cellular communication signals, such as LTE or NR signals, WLAN signals, such as Wi-Fi signals, etc. As a particular example, the wireless communication signals may be an OFDM waveform as utilized in LTE and NR. High-frequency communication signals, such as millimeter wave (mmW) RF signals, are especially beneficial to use as sensing signals because the higher frequency provides, at least, more accurate range (distance) detection.

[0122] Possible use cases of RF sensing include health monitoring use cases, such as heartbeat detection, respiration rate monitoring, and the like, gesture recognition use cases, such as human activity recognition, keystroke detection, sign language recognition, and the like, contextual information acquisition use cases, such as location detection / tracking, direction finding, range estimation, and the like, and automotive sensing use cases, such as smart cruise control, collision avoidance, and the like.

[0123] There are different types of sensing, including monostatic sensing (also referred to as “active sensing”) and bistatic sensing (also referred to as “passive sensing”). FIGS. 4A and 4B illustrate these different types of sensing. Specifically, FIG. 4A is a diagram 400 illustrating a monostatic sensing scenario and FIG. 4B is a diagram 430 illustrating a bistatic sensing scenario. In FIG. 4A, the transmitter (Tx) and receiver (Rx) are co-located in the same sensing device 404 (e.g., a UE). The sensing device 404 transmits one or more RF sensing signals 434 (e.g., uplink or sidelink positioning reference signals (PRS) where the sensing device 404 is a UE), and some of the RF sensing signals 434 reflect off a target object 406 (e.g., an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV)). The sensing device 404 can measure various properties (e.g., times of arrival (ToAs), angles of arrival (AoAs), phase shift, etc.) of the reflections 436 of the RF sensing signals 434 to determine characteristics of the target object 406 (e.g., size, shape, speed, motion state, etc.).QC2406855WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2406855WO39 / 92

[0124] In FIG. 4B, the transmitter (Tx) and receiver (Rx) are not co-located, that is, they are separate devices (e.g., a UE and a base station). Note that while FIG. 4B illustrates using a downlink RF signal as the RF sensing signal 432, uplink RF signals or sidelink RF signals can also be used as RF sensing signals 432. In a downlink scenario, as shown, the transmitter device 402 is a base station (e.g., a gNB) and the receiver device 408 is a UE (e.g., a mobile phone, a V2X-capable vehicle, a roadside unit (RSU), etc.), whereas in an uplink scenario, the transmitter device 402 is a UE and the receiver device 408 is a base station. Where the transmitter device 402 is a base station and the receiver device 408 a UE, the sensing is referred to as UE-assisted sensing. In UE-assisted sensing, the position of receiver device 408 should be known by the network (e.g., by GPS or other UE positioning method).

[0125] Referring to FIG. 4B in greater detail, the transmitter device 402 transmits RF sensing signals 432 and 434 (e.g., positioning reference signals (PRS)) to the receiver device 408, but some of the RF sensing signals 434 reflect off a target object 406. The receiver device 408 (also referred to as the “sensing device”) can measure the times of arrival (ToAs) of the RF sensing signals 432 received directly from the transmitter device 402 and the ToAs of the reflections 436 of the RF sensing signals 434 reflected from the target object 406.

[0126] More specifically, as described above, a transmitter device (e.g., a base station) may transmit a single RF signal or multiple RF signals to a receiver device (e.g., a UE). However, the receiver may receive multiple RF signals corresponding to each transmitted RF signal due to the propagation characteristics of RF signals through multipath channels. Each path may be associated with a cluster of one or more channel taps. Generally, the time at which the receiver detects the first cluster of channel taps is considered the ToA of the RF signal on the line-of-sight (LOS) path (i.e., the shortest path between the transmitter and the receiver). Later clusters of channel taps are considered to have reflected off objects between the transmitter and the receiver and therefore to have followed non-LOS (NLOS) paths between the transmitter and the receiver.

[0127] Thus, referring back to FIG. 4B, the RF sensing signals 432 followed the LOS path between the transmitter device 402 and the receiver device 408, and the RF sensing signals 434 followed an NLOS path between the transmitter device 402 and the receiver device 408 due to reflecting off the target object 406. The transmitter device 402 may have transmitted multiple RF sensing signals 432, 434, some of which followed the LOS path and others of which followed the NLOS path. Alternatively, the transmitter deviceQC2406855WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2406855WO40 / 92402 may have transmitted a single RF sensing signal in a broad enough beam that a portion of the RF sensing signal followed the LOS path (RF sensing signal 432) and a portion of the RF sensing signal followed the NLOS path (RF sensing signal 434).

[0128] Based on the ToA of the LOS path, the ToA of the NLOS path, and the speed of light, the receiver device 408 can determine the distance to the target object(s). For example, the receiver device 408 can calculate the distance to the target object as the difference between the ToA of the LOS path and the ToA of the NLOS path multiplied by the speed of light. In addition, if the receiver device 408 is capable of receive beamforming, the receiver device 408 may be able to determine the general direction to a target object 406 as the direction (angle) of the receive beam on which the RF sensing signal following the NLOS path was received. That is, the receiver device 408 may determine the direction to the target obj ect 406 as the AoA of the RF sensing signal, which is the angle of the receive beam used to receive the RF sensing signal. The receiver device 408 may then optionally report this information to the transmitter device 402, its serving base station, an application server associated with the core network, an external client, a third-party application, or some other sensing entity. Alternatively, the receiver device 408 may report the ToA measurements to the transmitter device 402, or other sensing entity (e.g., if the receiver device 408 does not have the processing capability to perform the calculations itself), and the transmitter device 402 may determine the distance and, optionally, the direction to the target object 406.

[0129] Note that if the RF sensing signals are uplink RF signals transmitted by a UE to a base station, the base station would perform object detection based on the uplink RF signals just like the UE does based on the downlink RF signals.

[0130] Like conventional wireless sensing, wireless communication-based sensing signals can be used to estimate the range (distance), velocity (Doppler), and angle (AoA) of a target object. However, the performance (e.g., resolution and maximum values of range, velocity, and angle) may depend on the design of the reference signal.

[0131] FIG. 5 illustrates an example call flow 500 for an NR-based sensing procedure (e.g., a bistatic sensing procedure) in which the network configures the sensing parameters, according to aspects of the disclosure. Although FIG. 5 illustrates a network-coordinated sensing procedure, the sensing procedure could be coordinated over sidelink channels.

[0132] At stage 505, a sensing server 570 (e.g., inside or outside the core network) sends a request for network (NW) information to a gNB 522 (e.g., the serving gNB of a UE 504). TheQC2406855WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2406855WO41 / 92 request may be for a list of the UE’s 504 serving cell and any neighboring cells. At stage 510, the gNB 522 sends the requested information to the sensing server 570. At stage 515, the sensing server 570 sends a request for sensing capabilities to the UE 504. At stage 520, the UE 504 provides its sensing capabilities to the sensing server 570.

[0133] At stage 525, the sensing server 570 sends a configuration to the UE 504 indicating one or more reference signal (RS) resources that will be transmitted for sensing. The reference signal resources may be transmitted by the serving and / or neighboring cells identified at stage 510. In some cases, the NR-based sensing procedure illustrated in FIG. 5 may be a sensing-only procedure or a joint communication and sensing (JCS) procedure. In the case of a sensing-only procedure, the reference signal resources may be reference signal resources specifically configured for sensing purposes. In the case of a JCS procedure, the reference signal resources may be reference signal resources for communication that can also be used for sensing purposes. Alternatively, the reference signal resources for sensing may be multiplexed (e.g., time-division multiplexed) with reference signal resources for communication. For example, the reference signal resources for communication may be an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) waveform, while the reference signal resources for sensing may be a frequency modulation continuous wave (FMCW) waveform.

[0134] At stage 530, the sensing server 570 sends a request for sensing information to the UE 504. The UE 504 then measures the transmitted reference signals and, at stage 535, sends the measurements, or any sensing results determined from the measurements, to the sensing server 570.

[0135] In an aspect, the communication between the UE 504 and the sensing server 570 may be via the LTE positioning protocol (LPP). The communication between the sensing server 570 and the gNB may be via NR positioning protocol type A (NRPPa).

[0136] FIG. 6A illustrates an example of a sensing scenario, in accordance with aspects of the disclosure. In this example scenario, there are three transmission-reception points (TRPs), including one transmitting TRP, illustrated as TRP Tx 600, and two receiving TRPs, illustrated as TRP Rxl 601 and TRP_Rx2 602. It will be understood that the TRPs in FIG. 6A, and throughout the present disclosure, represent sensing nodes generally, which may comprise TRPs, user equipment (UEs), or other suitable devices. A sensing node may be any node that participates in sensing (e.g., in a sensing session), whether as a transmitter of a reference signal, receiver of the reference signal, or both. The sensingQC2406855WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2406855WO42 / 92 functionalities may be deployed within a communication network, for example, within the context of integrated sensing and communication (ISAC).

[0137] The TRPs may participate in a sensing session that enables a network to sense a target 603. For example, the network may configure the TRP Tx 600 to transmit, and for the TRP Rxl 601 and TRP_Rx2 602 to receive, one or more reference signals (RSs). The one or more RSs may comprise one or more sensing RSs. The one or more RSs may comprise, for example, one or more positioning reference signals (PRSs), one or more sounding reference signals (SRSs), or any other suitable signals. RS transmission (by TRP Tx 600) and RS reception and / or measurement (by TRP Rxl 601 and / or TRP_Rx2 602) may occur during a sensing window, having a start time, a stop time, and a duration (which may also be referred to as an integration time window, a sensing signal transmission window, or a coherent processing interval (CPI)).

[0138] After the TRP Tx 600 transmits the RS (e.g., during the sensing window), the RS may be reflected by the target 603. If the reflected RS is received and / or measured by one or more sensing nodes, and measurement results from one or more sensing nodes are provided to the network, then the network can detect the object and potentially determine its position, velocity, and / or direction.

[0139] Some use cases for sensing (e.g., autonomous driving) require high reliability and accuracy. Network performance may be judged according to key performance indicators (KPIs). Consider, for example, the KPI of velocity resolution. For sensing based on orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM), velocity resolution Av may be considered as proportional to 2 divided by 2Tfrm, where 2 is an operating frequency and 2Tfrm is a length of the sensing window.

[0140] For example, in a scenario assuming 28GHz operations, to achieve a KPI of Av being less than 2 meters per second, a sensing window having a duration of 2.675 milliseconds is required. For a sub-carrier spacing of 120kHz (a slot duration of 0.125 milliseconds), the sensing window must span 21.4 slots. In a scenario assuming 6GHz operations, to achieve a KPI of Av being less than 0.5 meters per second, a sensing window having a duration of 50 milliseconds is required. For a sub-carrier spacing of 30kHz (a slot duration of 0.5 milliseconds), the sensing window must span 100 slots.

[0141] As will be understood from the foregoing, one challenge of meeting KPIs is that a long sensing window may be required. Over the course of a long sensing window, transmitting RSs over a long sensing window may be costly to TRP Tx 600 and / or the overall networkQC2406855WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2406855WO43 / 92 in terms of energy, processing power, and radio resources. Moreover, obtaining measurements, processing results, and transmitting a measurement report may be costly to TRP Rxl 601, TRP_Rx2 602, and / or the overall network.

[0142] As shown in FIG. 6A, a reflected RS will not necessarily be reflected in every direction. Accordingly, the reflected RS may be weakly received, or not received at all, by some sensing nodes. In the illustrated example, TRP_Rx2 602 is able to obtain a meaningful measurement of the reflected RS, but TRP Rxl 601 is not. The inability of TRP Rxl 601 to obtain a meaningful measurement may be caused by geometrical considerations, scattering behavior of the target 603, or other factors.

[0143] FIG. 6B illustrates an example of a measurement stoppage, in accordance with aspects of the disclosure. The illustration includes timing diagrams for each of the TRPs introduced in FIG. 6 A (TRP Tx 600, TRP Rxl 601, and TRP_Rx2 602).

[0144] In accordance with aspects of the disclosure, a sensing node may apply one or more criteria for determining whether to performing sensing for an entire duration of a sensing window. The sensing node may set the criteria on its own, or the criteria may be configured by the network (e.g., as part of a sensing configuration). The sensing node may obtain (or attempt to obtain) measurements during the sensing window. The sensing node may evaluate the sensing (e.g., measurement results) based on the criteria, and determine whether to stop measurements. A sensing node that stops measurements (e.g., before the end of the sensing window) may conserve resources which would otherwise have been expended throughout the entire duration of the sensing window. In accordance with aspects of the disclosure, one possible reason to stop sensing is that the measurement results are unlikely to be useful for deriving a sensing result. Another possible reason to stop sensing is that useful sensing results are already obtained (e.g., early in the sensing window), and further measurements are not needed to derive the sensing result.

[0145] The timing diagram at the top of FIG. 6B pertains to TRP Tx 600. A sensing window 610 spans a plurality of transmission occasions. The TRP Tx 600 may transmit one or more RSs in each of the plurality of transmission occasions. The RSs may be reflected by a target, such as target 603, and received by one or more sensing nodes.

[0146] The timing diagrams at the bottom of FIG. 6B pertain to TRP Rxl 601 and TRP_Rx2 602. During a first subset 611 of the transmission occasions, the TRP Rxl 601 performs, or attempts to perform, measurements of the one or more RSs transmitted by TRP Tx 600. During the first subset 611 of the transmission occasions, or a portion thereof,QC2406855WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2406855WO44 / 92TRP Rxl 601 performs a criteria evaluation 641. During a second subset 612 of the transmission occasions, TRP Rxl 601 does not perform RS measurements. For TRP Rxl 601, a measurement stoppage 651 occurs after the criteria evaluation 641. The measurement stoppage 651 separates first subset 611 from second subset 612.

[0147] During the first subset 611 of the transmission occasions, the TRP_Rx2 602 performs measurements of the one or more RSs transmitted by TRP Tx 600. During the first subset 611 of the transmission occasions, or a portion thereof, TRP_Rx2 602 performs a criteria evaluation 642. During a second subset 612 of the transmission occasions, TRP_Rx2 602 continues to perform RS measurements. For TRP_Rx2 602, a measurement continuation 652 occurs after the criteria evaluation 641.

[0148] During criteria evaluation 641 and criteria evaluation 642, TRP Rxl 601 and TRP_Rx2 602 may evaluate one or more criteria. Based on the one or more criteria and / or one or more measurement results, TRP Rxl 601 and TRP_Rx2 602 may determine to continue measurements (e.g., if the measurement results are determined to be of high quality) or stop measurements (e.g., if the measurement results are determined to be of low quality).

[0149] In an example, based on measurement stoppage 651, TRP Rxl 601 may stop processing measurement results, and may not transmit a measurement report. By contrast, based on measurement continuation 652, TRP_Rx2 602 may continue to process measurement results, and may transmit a measurement report (e.g., after an end time of the sensing window).

[0150] FIG. 7 illustrates an example flow diagram for implementing a measurement stoppage, in accordance with aspects of the disclosure. Similar to FIGS. 6A-6B, FIG. 7 illustrates a Tx node 700, an Rx node 701, and an Rx node 702. The Tx node 700, Rx node 701, and Rx node 702 may correspond to, for example, TRP Tx 600, TRP Rxl 601, and TRP_Rx2 602. In addition, FIG. 7 illustrates a network node 705 and a sensing configuration entity 708.

[0151] As shown in FIG. 7, sensing configuration entity 708 may send capability indication requests to one or more sensing nodes. In the illustrated example, sensing configuration entity 708 sends (e.g., via network node 705) a capability indication request 711 to Tx node 700, a capability indication request 712 to Rx node 701, and a capability indication request 713 to Rx node 702.

[0152] Upon receiving a capability indication request, a sensing node may report one or more capabilities of the sensing node to the network. Additionally or alternatively, the sensingQC2406855WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2406855WO45 / 92 node may determine to report its capabilities without being prompted. In the illustrated example, sensing configuration entity 708 receives (e.g., via network node 705) a capabilities indication 721 from Tx node 700, a capabilities indication 722 from Rx node 701, and a capabilities indication 723 from Rx node 702.

[0153] As an example, each of the sensing nodes may indicate support for participation in a sensing session. As an example, each of the sensing nodes may indicate support for transmission of RSs (e.g., support for transmission of sensing RSs, support for transmission of one or more particular sensing RSs, etc.), reception of RSs (e.g., support for reception of sensing RSs, support for reception of one or more particular sensing RSs, etc.), measurement of RSs, processing of RSs, reporting of measurement results, etc.

[0154] As an example, each of the sensing nodes may indicate support for measurement termination (e.g., support for evaluating one or more criteria for determining to stop measurements during a sensing window, support for stopping measurements during the sensing window, support for sending a measurement termination indication, etc.).

[0155] At 730, sensing configuration entity 708 determines a sensing configuration. The sensing configuration may be associated with a sensing session. The sensing configuration entity 708 may use the sensing configuration to configure one or more sensing nodes to participate in sensing (e.g., configure a sensing session). The sensing configuration entity 708 may configure a sensing node for participating in sensing by sending the sensing configuration to the sensing node via one or more messages. A sensing configuration may be used to configure any node that participates in sensing (e.g., in a sensing session), whether as a transmitter of a reference signal, receiver of the reference signal, or both.

[0156] Whether and how a sensing node is configured for sensing may be based on the capabilities indication received from the sensing node. For example, if a sensing node indicates support for measurement termination, then the sensing configuration entity 708 can consider whether to include one or more criteria for evaluating measurements in the sensing configuration.

[0157] The sensing configuration may indicate (e.g., comprise one or more fields indicating) one or more of the following: one or more RSs (e.g., sensing RSs) that are transmitted by a sensing node; one or more RSs (e.g., sensing RSs) that are transmitted or received by a sensing node; one or more transmission powers and / or one or more periodicities associated with all and / or a subset of the one or more RSs; one or more resources associated with all and / or a subset of the one or more RSs; one or more orthogonalQC2406855WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2406855WO46 / 92 frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) resource sets, resources, and / or symbols associated with all and / or a subset of the one or more resources.

[0158] The sensing configuration may indicate (e.g., comprise one or more fields indicating) a sensing window (e.g., a start time of the sensing window, an end time of the sensing window, a duration of the sensing window, a periodicity of the sensing window, or any combination thereof).

[0159] The sensing configuration may indicate (e.g., comprise one or more fields indicating) one or more criteria. The one or more criteria may be used by a sensing node (e.g., Rx node701 and / or Rx node 702) to determine whether to stop measurements (e.g., measurements of the one or more RSs associated with the sensing configuration, measurements within the sensing window associated with the sensing configuration, etc.). The one or more criteria associated with the determining at 730 are described in greater detail below.

[0160] As shown in FIG. 7, sensing configuration entity 708 may send sensing configurations to the sensing nodes. In the illustrated example, sensing configuration entity 708 sends a sensing configuration 731 to Tx node 700, a sensing configuration 732 to Rx node 701, and a sensing configuration 733 to Rx node 702.

[0161] In the illustrated example, Tx node 700 is configured to participate in sensing by transmitting one or more RSs during a sensing window 710. At 740, Tx node 700 starts RS transmission. In the example of FIG. 7, RS transmission continues for the duration of sensing window 710, which has been configured by sensing configuration entity 708 in the sensing configuration.

[0162] In the illustrated example, Rx node 701 and Rx node 702 are configured to participate in sensing by receiving the one or more RSs during the sensing window 710. At 741, Rx node 701 starts RS measurement at the start of sensing window 710, and at 742, Rx node702 starts RS measurement at the start of sensing window 710.

[0163] At 743, Rx node 701 evaluates one or more measurements and / or one or more criteria, and at 744, Rx node 702 evaluates one or more measurements and / or one or more criteria. The one or more measurements may be evaluated based on the one or more criteria. The one or more criteria may be preconfigured to the sensing node, determined by the sensing node according to node-specific implementation, received from the sensing configuration entity 708 in the sensing configuration, or any combination thereof.

[0164] In some implementations, the one or more criteria may be used to evaluate all of the RSs configured in the sensing configuration. For example, if the overall received power acrossQC2406855WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2406855WO47 / 92 all RSs (total power, average power, etc.) is below the minimum received power, then the criteria indicates failure.

[0165] In other implementations, the one or more criteria may be used to evaluate a particular subset, component, or feature of the one or more RSs indicated by the sensing configuration. For example, the sensing configuration may indicate a plurality of RSs, a plurality of orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) resource sets, a plurality of OFDM resources, a plurality of OFDM symbols, or any combination thereof. Rather than evaluate, for example, every OFDM symbol of every OFDM resource of every configured RS, the sensing node may select a subset, component, or feature as representative. In accordance with aspects of the disclosure, evaluation of a representative sample of the configured RSs, rather than the whole, may conserve processing power and / or reduce complexity.

[0166] The sensing node may determine the representative subset, component, or feature based on preconfiguration, node-specific implementation factors, one or more indications received in the sensing configuration, or any combination thereof. In an example, at 730, the sensing configuration entity 708 determines the RSs associated with a sensing session and selects a subset, component, or feature thereof for evaluation. The sensing configuration may indicate the RSs and may separately indicate the particular subset, component, or feature which is to be used for evaluation.

[0167] In accordance with aspects of the disclosure, the one or more criteria may be used to shift or expand measurements. For example, a sensing node may perform measurements on a particular subset, component, or feature of the one or more RSs indicated by the sensing configuration. The one or more criteria may be used to evaluate the measurements. Evaluation of the subset may be an initial evaluation that is performed on initial measurements obtained beginning at a start time of the sensing window. The sensing node may evaluate the initial subset based on the one or more criteria, and if the initial subset meets the criteria, the sensing node may shift or expand measurements to a larger subset and / or the full set of RSs, resource sets, resources, and / or symbols indicated by the sensing configuration.

[0168] In accordance with aspects of the disclosure, specific examples of the one or more criteria that may be used for evaluation of measurements are set forth below. Evaluation may be described as pass / fail, with passing being associated with measurement continuation, and failing being associated with measurement stoppage. In some implementations, failure ofQC2406855WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2406855WO48 / 92 a single criteria may precipitate a measurement stoppage determination. In other implementations, multiple failures across one or more criteria may precipitate a measurement stoppage determination.

[0169] The one or more criteria may include a minimum received power. The sensing node may perform one or more measurements, and the evaluating may comprise determining a received power of the one or more measurements. The one or more measurements fail to meet the criteria if the received power is below the minimum received power.

[0170] The one or more criteria may include a doppler interval (e.g., a maximum doppler value, a minimum doppler value, or both). The sensing node may perform one or more measurements, and the evaluating may comprise determining a doppler value of the one or more measurements. The one or more measurements fail to meet the criteria if the doppler value is outside the doppler interval, above the maximum doppler value, or below the minimum doppler value.

[0171] The one or more criteria may include an angle of arrival (AoA) interval (e.g., a maximum AoA value, a minimum AoA value, or both). The sensing node may perform one or more measurements, and the evaluating may comprise determining an AoA of the one or more measurements. The one or more measurements fail to meet the criteria if the AoA is outside the AoA interval, above the maximum AoA value, or below the minimum AoA value.

[0172] The one or more criteria may include an angle of departure (AoD) interval (e.g., a maximum AoD value, a minimum AoD value, or both). The sensing node may perform one or more measurements, and the evaluating may comprise determining an AoD of the one or more measurements. The one or more measurements fail to meet the criteria if the AoD is outside the AoD interval, above the maximum AoD value, or below the minimum AoD value.

[0173] The one or more criteria may include path distance interval (e.g., a maximum path distance value, a minimum path distance value, or both). The sensing node may perform one or more measurements, and the evaluating may comprise detecting a path distance of the one or more measurements. The one or more measurements fail to meet the criteria if the path distance is outside the path distance interval, above the maximum path distance value, or below the minimum path distance value.

[0174] The one or more criteria may include a termination duration (T). The sensing node may perform one or more measurements starting at a start time of the sensing window, and theQC2406855WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2406855WO49 / 92 evaluating may comprise determining an amount of time remaining in the sensing window (TO). After the time remaining in the sensing window TO drops below T, the sensing node may stop evaluation and / or continue measurements irrespective of evaluation results. The termination duration (T) is described in greater detail later in the application.

[0175] The one or more criteria may include reception of a skipping indication. The skipping indication may indicate to skip one or more measurements, skip a sensing window, skip a sensing session, or any combination thereof. Based on receiving the skipping indication, the sensing node may stop measurements within a sensing window, skip a sensing window, skip a sensing session, or any combination thereof. For example, the criteria passes so long as the skipping indication is not received, and fails once the skipping indication is received. The skipping indication is described in greater detail later in the application.

[0176] At 745, Rx node 701 stops measurements. The stopping at 745 may be referred to as an early sensing termination. The stopping at 745 may be based on the evaluating at 743. Examples of the evaluation will be described in greater detail below. Broadly speaking, Rx node 701 may determine, based on the evaluating at 743, that the starting at 741 has resulted in low-quality measurements, and that further measurements will not have a benefit commensurate with the cost of obtaining them.

[0177] At 746, Rx node 702 continues measurements. The continuing may be based on the evaluating at 744. Examples of the evaluation will be described in greater detail below. Broadly speaking, Rx node 702 may determine, based on the evaluating at 744, that the starting at 742 has resulted in high-quality measurements, and the further measurements will have a benefit that exceeds that cost of obtaining them.

[0178] As shown in FIG. 7, sensing configuration entity 708 may send a measurement termination indication 750 to sensing configuration entity 708. Measurement termination indication 750 may be referred to as an early sensing termination indication. Measurement termination indication 750 may be transmitted via uplink, a Uu interface, sidelink, a PC5 interface, a long term evolution positioning protocol (LPP) message, a new radio positioning protocol (NRPP) message, a new radio positioning protocol a (NRPPa) message, inter-next generation node b (gNB) signaling, inter-transmission-reception point (TRP) signaling, a radio resource control (RRC) message, a medium access control control element (MAC CE), a downlink control information (DCI), a sidelink control information (SCI), or any non-mutually exclusive combination thereof. One or moreQC2406855WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2406855WO50 / 92 applications of measurement termination indication 750 will be explained later, with reference to FIGS. 8A-8C.

[0179] Although network node 705 and sensing configuration entity 708 are illustrated in FIG. 7 as separate nodes / entities, it will be understood that a single node / entity may have the functionality of both. Moreover, as suggested by FIG. 7, network node 705 may represent a plurality of nodes with similar functionality, serving (for example) different sensing nodes. As an example, network node 705 may be a base station that serves all three of the TRPs and sensing configuration entity 708 may be a sensing management function (SnMF). The base station may have signaling functionality (e.g., antennas) enabling it to relay signaling between the SnMF and the sensing nodes. As another example, the different sensing nodes may communicate with the SnMF via different base stations, all of which are represented by the network node 705 of FIG. 7. As another example, network node 705 and sensing configuration entity 708 may be combined as a single entity (e.g., a base station with sensing functionality or a SnMF with transceiver functionality), and may share hardware, firmware, and / or software.

[0180] In light of the foregoing, it will be understood that network node 705 and sensing configuration entity 708 may be implemented in many different ways without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. For example, the network node 705 and / or sensing configuration entity 708 in FIG. 7 may be implemented by: one or more base stations, one or more next generation node Bs (gNBs), one or more user equipments (UEs), one or more TRPs, one or more sensing nodes, a sensing configuration entity, a location management function (LMF), a sensing management function (SnMF), a sensing server, or any non-mutually exclusive combination thereof.

[0181] FIGS. 8A-8C illustrate example flow diagrams for sending a measurement skipping indication, in accordance with aspects of the disclosure. Similar to FIGS. 6A-7, FIG. 8 illustrates a Tx node 800, an Rx node 801, an Rx node 802, a network node 805, and a sensing configuration entity 808. In the example flow diagrams, sensing configuration entity 808 receives a measurement termination indication 850 from Rx node 801, similar to measurement termination indication 750 received from Rx node 701 in FIG. 7, described above. After receiving measurement termination indication 850, sensing configuration entity 808 may not expect to receive a measurement report from the Rx node 801. In accordance with aspects of the disclosure, sensing configuration entity 808QC2406855WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2406855WO51 / 92 may reallocate any resources that may have been allocated to reception of Rx node 801’s measurement report.

[0182] In accordance with aspects of the disclosure, the sensing configuration entity 808 may take one or more of the actions illustrated in FIGS. 8A-8C.

[0183] FIG. 8A illustrates an example flow diagrams for sending a measurement skipping indication, in accordance with aspects of the disclosure.

[0184] At 860, the sensing configuration entity 808 determines to stop measurements performed by one or more sensing nodes. The determining at 860 may be based on the receiving of the measurement termination indication 850. In an example, the sensing configuration entity 808 may determine, based on receiving the measurement termination indication 850 from Rx node 801, that measurements performed by Rx node 802 should also be terminated. For example, Rx node 802 may be similarly situated to Rx node 801 in terms of location or other characteristics (e.g., Rx node 802 may be within a threshold distance of Rx node 801, Rx node 802 and Rx node 801 may be within a same geographic zone, etc.). Sensing configuration entity 808 may determine that of Rx node 801 can not contribute measurement results, then Rx node 802 also can not contribute measurement results. By terminating measurements by Rx node 802, resources may be conserved.

[0185] As shown in FIG. 8, sensing configuration entity 808 may send a measurement skipping indication 861 to Rx node 802. Measurement skipping indication 861 may be transmitted via uplink, a Uu interface, sidelink, a PC5 interface, a long term evolution positioning protocol (LPP) message, a new radio positioning protocol (NRPP) message, a new radio positioning protocol a (NRPPa) message, inter-next generation node b (gNB) signaling, inter-transmission-reception point (TRP) signaling, a radio resource control (RRC) message, a medium access control control element (MAC CE), a downlink control information (DCI), a sidelink control information (SCI), or any non-mutually exclusive combination thereof.

[0186] At 863, Rx node 802 may stop measurements. The stopping at 863 may be based on receiving measurement skipping indication 861. The stopping at 863 may be further based on evaluation of one or more other criteria. The stopping at 863 may be performed at a next boundary after receiving the measurement skipping indication 861. The measuring may continue until the next boundary. For example, the next boundary may comprise a next symbol, a next slot, a next repetition of at least one of the one or more sensing RSs, or any combination thereof.QC2406855WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2406855WO52 / 92

[0187] In an example, an RS (e.g., a sensing RS that is configured by the sensing configuration entity 808) may be encoded with the measurement skipping indication 861. For example, measurement skipping indication 861 may be embedded within specific resource elements and / or symbols (e.g., pilots that are code-division multiplexed with one-bit of information). For example, a last symbol of each slot may contain a bit that contains measurement skipping indication 861.

[0188] In an example, the measurement skipping indication 861 may be signaled across one or more RSs, one or more bands, one or more component carriers (CCs), one or more positioning frequency layers (PFLs), or any combination thereof. For example, based on an outcome of measuring an RS, the UE may determine that remaining RSs of the same resource set, band, CC, or PFL, may be skipped.

[0189] FIG. 8B illustrates an example flow diagram for sending a session skipping indication, in accordance with aspects of the disclosure.

[0190] At 870, the sensing configuration entity 808 determines to skip a sensing session. The determining at 870 may be based on the receiving of the measurement termination indication 850. In an example, the sensing configuration entity 808 may determine, based on receiving the measurement termination indication 850 from Rx node 801 , that a current sensing session should be terminated, and / or that a future sensing session should be skipped. For example, sensing configuration entity 808 may determine that if Rx node 801 and / or one or more other TRPs do not contribute measurement results, then the configured sensing session will not yield useful results. By terminating and / or skipping a sensing session, resources may be conserved.

[0191] As shown in FIG. 8, sensing configuration entity 808 may send a session skipping indication 871 to Rx node 802. The session skipping indication 871 may be a measurement skipping indication similar to the measurement skipping indication 861 described above. Session skipping indication 871 may be transmitted via uplink, a Uu interface, sidelink, a PC5 interface, an LPP message, an NRPP message, an NRPPa message, inter-gNB signaling, inter-TRP signaling, an RRC message, a MAC CE, a DCI, an SCI, or any non-mutually exclusive combination thereof.

[0192] In an example, the session skipping indication 871 may be signaled across one or more RSs, one or more bands, one or more component carriers (CCs), one or more positioning frequency layers (PFLs), or any combination thereof. For example, based on an outcomeQC2406855WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2406855WO53 / 92 of measuring an RS, the UE may determine that remaining RSs of the same resource set, band, CC, or PFL, may be skipped.

[0193] Sensing configuration entity 808 may send a session skipping indication 872 to Tx node 800. Session skipping indication 872 may be transmitted via uplink, a Uu interface, sidelink, a PC5 interface, an LPP message, an NRPP message, an NRPPa message, inter- gNB signaling, inter- TRP signaling, an RRC message, a MAC CE, a DCI, an SCI, or any non-mutually exclusive combination thereof.

[0194] At 873, Rx node 802 may stop measurements. The stopping at 873 may be based on receiving the session skipping indication 871. The stopping at 873 may be further based on evaluation of one or more other criteria. The stopping at 873 may be performed at a next boundary after receiving the session skipping indication 871. The measuring may continue until the next boundary. For example, the next boundary may comprise a next symbol, a next slot, a next repetition of at least one of the one or more sensing RSs, or any combination thereof.

[0195] At 874, Tx node 800 may stop RS transmission associated with the sensing session. The stopping at 874 may be based on receiving the session skipping indication 872. The stopping at 874 may be further based on evaluation of one or more other criteria. The stopping at 874 may be performed at a next boundary after receiving the session skipping indication 872. The transmitting may continue until the next boundary. For example, the next boundary may comprise a next symbol, a next slot, a next repetition of at least one of the one or more sensing RSs, or any combination thereof.

[0196] FIG. 8C illustrates an example flow diagram for configuring or reconfiguring a session, in accordance with aspects of the disclosure.

[0197] At 880, the sensing configuration entity 808 determines to configure or reconfigure a sensing session. The determining at 880 may be based on the receiving of the measurement termination indication 850.

[0198] In an example, the sensing configuration entity 808 may determine, based on receiving the measurement termination indication 850 from Rx node 801, that a current sensing session should be reconfigured. In another example, the sensing configuration entity 808 may determine, based on receiving the measurement termination indication 850 from Rx node 801, that a future sensing session should be reconfigured (e.g., configured differently from the current sensing configuration).QC2406855WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2406855WO54 / 92

[0199] As an example, if a transmission power of one or more RSs associated with the sensing session is increased, then the Rx node 801 may receive the RS with sufficient power to obtain one or more measurements. The sensing configuration entity 808 may reconfigure the sensing configuration so that the Tx node 800, or some other sensing node, transmits the RSs with increased transmission power.

[0200] As another example, if the sensing configuration entity 808 is able to derive a sensing result without any contribution from Rx node 801, then sensing configuration entity 808 may omit Rx node 801 (and / or other similarly-situated TRPs) from future sensing configurations.

[0201] In an example, measurement termination indication 850 further comprises a cause value indicating a cause of the measurement termination (e.g., an indication of one or more failed criteria). In an example, the determining at 860, the determining at 870, the determining at 880, and / or other subsequent actions are based on the cause value.

[0202] FIG. 9A illustrates an example of a measurement stoppage or continuation decision, in accordance with aspects of the disclosure.

[0203] A sensing node may select between measurement stoppage and measurement continuation based on a termination duration (T). AS noted above, in some implementations, termination duration T may be considered as a criteria for determining whether to stop measurements.

[0204] In the example of FIG. 9A, a TRP Rxl behaves differently based on whether the amount of time remaining in the sensing window TO > T (or TO > T). TRP Rxl 901a exhibits the first behavior and TRP Rxl 901b exhibits the second behavior.

[0205] As illustrated in the top timing diagram, during a first subset 911a of transmission occasions of a sensing window, the TRP Rxl 901a performs, or attempts to perform, measurements of one or more RSs. During the first subset 911a of the transmission occasions, or a portion thereof, TRP Rxl 901a performs a criteria evaluation 941a. During a second subset 912a of the transmission occasions, TRP Rxl 901a does not perform RS measurements. For TRP Rxl 901a, a measurement stoppage 951 occurs after the criteria evaluation 941a. The measurement stoppage 951 separates first subset 911a from second subset 912a.

[0206] As illustrated in the bottom timing diagram, during a first subset 911b of transmission occasions of a sensing window, the TRP Rxl 901b performs, or attempts to perform, measurements of one or more RSs. During the first subset 911b of the transmissionQC2406855WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2406855WO55 / 92 occasions, or a portion thereof, TRP Rxl 901b performs a criteria evaluation 941b. During a second subset 912b of the transmission occasions, TRP Rxl 901b continues to perform RS measurements. For TRP Rxl 901b, a measurement continuation 952 occurs.

[0207] In the illustrated example, the different behavior is caused by termination duration T. The termination duration T may be preconfigured to a sensing node, configured to the sensing node in a sensing configuration, or determined by the sensing node based on any appropriate factors. Once time progresses such that the sensing node is within a certain distance T of the end of the sensing window, the sensing node may determine to continue and / or complete the measurements corresponding to the entirety of the sensing window, irrespective of any criteria evaluations. Accordingly, before TO reaches T, the sensing node may determine to stop measurements (as at measurement stoppage 951) or continue measurements (as at measurement continuation 952), depending on evaluations of one or more criteria (as at criteria evaluation 941a and / or criteria evaluation 941b). When TO reaches T, or drops below T, the sensing node may determine to continue measurements (as at measurement continuation 952), determine to disregard one or more criteria, and / or determine to stop performing evaluations.

[0208] As another implementation, when TO reaches T, or drops below T, the sensing node may determine to stop measurements and / or not send the measurement report, but will determine to not send the measurement termination indication 750, 850.

[0209] As noted above, one benefit of sending the measurement termination indication 750, 850 is that the network may reallocate resources for other purposes (e.g., a resource previously dedicated to communication of a measurement report can be used for other purposes). At a certain point (e.g., after the remaining time TO drops below T), it becomes too late to perform a reallocation, and the benefit of sending the measurement termination indication 750, 850 drops off.

[0210] FIG. 9B illustrates an example of receiving a measurement skipping indication, in accordance with aspects of the disclosure, in accordance with aspects of the disclosure.

[0211] A sensing node may receive a skipping indication. As noted above, in some implementations, reception of a skipping indication may be considered as a criteria for determining whether to stop measurements.

[0212] The timing diagram at the top of FIG. 9B pertains to a TRP Tx 900. A sensing window 910 spans a plurality of transmission occasions. The TRP Tx 900 may transmit one orQC2406855WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2406855WO56 / 92 more RSs in each of the plurality of transmission occasions. The RSs may be reflected by a target and received by one or more sensing nodes.

[0213] During a first subset 911 of the transmission occasions, the TRP Rxl 901 performs, or attempts to perform, measurements of the one or more RSs transmitted by TRP Tx 900. During a second subset 912 of the transmission occasions, TRP Rxl 901 does not perform RS measurements. For TRP Rxl 901, a measurement stoppage occurs after receiving a skipping indication 961. The measurement stoppage separates first subset 911 from second subset 912.

[0214] The skipping indication 961 may be the same, or similar to, the measurement skipping indication 861 and / or session skipping indication 871 described above.

[0215] FIG. 10 illustrates an example method 1000 of wireless sensing, according to aspects of the disclosure. In an aspect, method 1000 may be performed by a sensing node (e.g., any of the sensing nodes, user equipments (UEs), or transmission-reception points (TRPs) described herein).

[0216] At 1010, the sensing node receives, from a network node, one or more messages comprising a sensing configuration, wherein the sensing configuration indicates one or more sensing reference signals (RSs), a sensing window comprising transmission occasions for transmission of the one or more sensing RSs and one or more criteria for stopping measuring. In an aspect, where the sensing node is UE (e.g., analogous to UE 302), operation 1010 may be performed by the one or more WWAN transceivers 310, the one or more short-range wireless transceivers 320, the memory 340, the one or more processors 342, and / or the sensing component 348, any or all of which may be considered means for performing this operation. In an aspect, where the sensing node is a transmission-reception point (TRP) (e.g., analogous to base station 304), operation 1010 may be performed by the one or more WWAN transceivers 350, the one or more short- range wireless transceivers 360, the memory 386, the one or more processors 384, and / or the sensing component 388, any or all of which may be considered means for performing this operation.

[0217] At 1020, the sensing node measures the one or more sensing RSs during a first subset of the transmission occasions. In an aspect, where the sensing node is UE (e.g., analogous to UE 302), operation 1010 may be performed by the one or more WWAN transceivers 310, the one or more short-range wireless transceivers 320, the memory 340, the one or more processors 342, and / or the sensing component 348, any or all of which may beQC2406855WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2406855WO57 / 92 considered means for performing this operation. In an aspect, where the sensing node is a TRP (e.g., analogous to base station 304), operation 1010 may be performed by the one or more WWAN transceivers 350, the one or more short-range wireless transceivers 360, the memory 386, the one or more processors 384, and / or the sensing component 388, any or all of which may be considered means for performing this operation.

[0218] At 1030, the sensing node stops the measuring based on the one or more criteria. In an aspect, where the sensing node is UE (e.g., analogous to UE 302), operation 1010 may be performed by the one or more WWAN transceivers 310, the one or more short-range wireless transceivers 320, the memory 340, the one or more processors 342, and / or the sensing component 348, any or all of which may be considered means for performing this operation. In an aspect, where the sensing node is a TRP (e.g., analogous to base station 304), operation 1010 may be performed by the one or more WWAN transceivers 350, the one or more short-range wireless transceivers 360, the memory 386, the one or more processors 384, and / or the sensing component 388, any or all of which may be considered means for performing this operation.

[0219] As will be appreciated, a technical advantage of the method 1000 is that by stopping the measurements, the sensing node can conserve power which would otherwise be used to measure the sensing RSs, process the measurements, and / or send a measurement report.

[0220] FIG. 11 illustrates an example method 1100 of wireless sensing, according to aspects of the disclosure. In an aspect, method 1100 may be performed by a sensing node (e.g., any of the sensing nodes, UEs, or TRPs described herein).

[0221] At 1110, the sensing node receives, from a network node, one or more messages comprising a sensing configuration, wherein the sensing configuration indicates one or more sensing reference signals (RSs) and a sensing window comprising transmission occasions for transmission of the one or more sensing RSs. In an aspect, where the sensing node is UE (e.g., analogous to UE 302), operation 1110 may be performed by the one or more WWAN transceivers 310, the one or more short-range wireless transceivers 320, the memory 340, the one or more processors 342, and / or the sensing component 348, any or all of which may be considered means for performing this operation. In an aspect, where the sensing node is a TRP (e.g., analogous to base station 304), operation 1110 may be performed by the one or more WWAN transceivers 350, the one or more short- range wireless transceivers 360, the memory 386, the one or more processors 384, and / orQC2406855WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2406855WO58 / 92 the sensing component 388, any or all of which may be considered means for performing this operation.

[0222] At 1120, the sensing node measures the one or more sensing RSs during a first subset of the transmission occasions. In an aspect, where the sensing node is UE (e.g., analogous to UE 302), operation 1110 may be performed by the one or more WWAN transceivers 310, the one or more short-range wireless transceivers 320, the memory 340, the one or more processors 342, and / or the sensing component 348, any or all of which may be considered means for performing this operation. In an aspect, where the sensing node is a TRP (e.g., analogous to base station 304), operation 1110 may be performed by the one or more WWAN transceivers 350, the one or more short-range wireless transceivers 360, the memory 386, the one or more processors 384, and / or the sensing component 388, any or all of which may be considered means for performing this operation.

[0223] At 1130, the sensing node transmits, to a network node, a measurement termination indication indicating that the sensing node stops measuring the one or more sensing RSs during the sensing window. In an aspect, where the sensing node is UE (e.g., analogous to UE 302), operation 1110 may be performed by the one or more WWAN transceivers 310, the one or more short-range wireless transceivers 320, the memory 340, the one or more processors 342, and / or the sensing component 348, any or all of which may be considered means for performing this operation. In an aspect, where the sensing node is a TRP (e.g., analogous to base station 304), operation 1110 may be performed by the one or more WWAN transceivers 350, the one or more short-range wireless transceivers 360, the memory 386, the one or more processors 384, and / or the sensing component 388, any or all of which may be considered means for performing this operation.

[0224] As will be appreciated, a technical advantage of the method 1100 is that by notifying a network node of the stoppage, the described techniques can be used to stop other measurements, or a sensing session, thereby conserving resources in the network. Additionally or alternatively, the network can reconfigure the sensing session (or a later sensing session) to achieve better results.

[0225] FIG. 12 illustrates an example method 1200 of wireless sensing, according to aspects of the disclosure. In an aspect, method 1200 may be performed by a sensing node (e.g., any of the sensing nodes, UEs, or TRPs described herein).

[0226] At 1210, the sensing node receives, from a network node, one or more messages comprising a sensing configuration, wherein the sensing configuration indicates one orQC2406855WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2406855WO59 / 92 more sensing reference signals (RSs) and a sensing window comprising transmission occasions for transmission of the one or more sensing RSs. In an aspect, where the sensing node is UE (e.g., analogous to UE 302), operation 1210 may be performed by the one or more WWAN transceivers 310, the one or more short-range wireless transceivers 320, the memory 340, the one or more processors 342, and / or the sensing component 348, any or all of which may be considered means for performing this operation. In an aspect, where the sensing node is a TRP (e.g., analogous to base station 304), operation 1210 may be performed by the one or more WWAN transceivers 350, the one or more short- range wireless transceivers 360, the memory 386, the one or more processors 384, and / or the sensing component 388, any or all of which may be considered means for performing this operation.

[0227] At 1220, the sensing node measures the one or more sensing RSs during a first subset of the transmission occasions. In an aspect, where the sensing node is UE (e.g., analogous to UE 302), operation 1210 may be performed by the one or more WWAN transceivers 310, the one or more short-range wireless transceivers 320, the memory 340, the one or more processors 342, and / or the sensing component 348, any or all of which may be considered means for performing this operation. In an aspect, where the sensing node is a TRP (e.g., analogous to base station 304), operation 1210 may be performed by the one or more WWAN transceivers 350, the one or more short-range wireless transceivers 360, the memory 386, the one or more processors 384, and / or the sensing component 388, any or all of which may be considered means for performing this operation.

[0228] At 1230, the sensing node transmits, to a network node, a measurement termination indication indicating that the sensing node stops measuring the one or more sensing RSs during the sensing window. In an aspect, where the sensing node is UE (e.g., analogous to UE 302), operation 1210 may be performed by the one or more WWAN transceivers 310, the one or more short-range wireless transceivers 320, the memory 340, the one or more processors 342, and / or the sensing component 348, any or all of which may be considered means for performing this operation. In an aspect, where the sensing node is a TRP (e.g., analogous to base station 304), operation 1210 may be performed by the one or more WWAN transceivers 350, the one or more short-range wireless transceivers 360, the memory 386, the one or more processors 384, and / or the sensing component 388, any or all of which may be considered means for performing this operation.QC2406855WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2406855WO60 / 92

[0229] FIG. 13 illustrates an example method 1300 of wireless sensing, according to aspects of the disclosure. In an aspect, method 1300 may be performed by a sensing node (e.g., any of the sensing nodes, UEs, or TRPs described herein).

[0230] At 1310, the sensing node receives, from a network node, one or more messages comprising a sensing configuration, wherein the sensing configuration indicates one or more sensing reference signals (RSs) and a sensing window comprising transmission occasions for transmission of the one or more sensing RSs. In an aspect, where the sensing node is UE (e.g., analogous to UE 302), operation 1310 may be performed by the one or more WWAN transceivers 310, the one or more short-range wireless transceivers 320, the memory 340, the one or more processors 342, and / or the sensing component 348, any or all of which may be considered means for performing this operation. In an aspect, where the sensing node is a TRP (e.g., analogous to base station 304), operation 1310 may be performed by the one or more WWAN transceivers 350, the one or more short- range wireless transceivers 360, the memory 386, the one or more processors 384, and / or the sensing component 388, any or all of which may be considered means for performing this operation.

[0231] At 1320, the sensing node measures the one or more sensing RSs during a first subset of the transmission occasions. In an aspect, where the sensing node is UE (e.g., analogous to UE 302), operation 1310 may be performed by the one or more WWAN transceivers 310, the one or more short-range wireless transceivers 320, the memory 340, the one or more processors 342, and / or the sensing component 348, any or all of which may be considered means for performing this operation. In an aspect, where the sensing node is a TRP (e.g., analogous to base station 304), operation 1310 may be performed by the one or more WWAN transceivers 350, the one or more short-range wireless transceivers 360, the memory 386, the one or more processors 384, and / or the sensing component 388, any or all of which may be considered means for performing this operation.

[0232] At 1330, the sensing node transmits, to a network node, a measurement termination indication indicating that the sensing node stops measuring the one or more sensing RSs during the sensing window. In an aspect, where the sensing node is UE (e.g., analogous to UE 302), operation 1310 may be performed by the one or more WWAN transceivers 310, the one or more short-range wireless transceivers 320, the memory 340, the one or more processors 342, and / or the sensing component 348, any or all of which may be considered means for performing this operation. In an aspect, where the sensing node isQC2406855WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2406855WO61 / 92 a TRP (e.g., analogous to base station 304), operation 1310 may be performed by the one or more WWAN transceivers 350, the one or more short-range wireless transceivers 360, the memory 386, the one or more processors 384, and / or the sensing component 388, any or all of which may be considered means for performing this operation.

[0233] As will be appreciated, a technical advantage of the methods 1200, 1300 is that by stopping measurements by the second sensing node, resources in the network can be conserved.

[0234] In the detailed description above it can be seen that different features are grouped together in examples. This manner of disclosure should not be understood as an intention that the example clauses have more features than are explicitly mentioned in each clause. Rather, the various aspects of the disclosure may include fewer than all features of an individual example clause disclosed. Therefore, the following clauses should hereby be deemed to be incorporated in the description, wherein each clause by itself can stand as a separate example. Although each dependent clause can refer in the clauses to a specific combination with one of the other clauses, the aspect(s) of that dependent clause are not limited to the specific combination. It will be appreciated that other example clauses can also include a combination of the dependent clause aspect(s) with the subject matter of any other dependent clause or independent clause or a combination of any feature with other dependent and independent clauses. The various aspects disclosed herein expressly include these combinations, unless it is explicitly expressed or can be readily inferred that a specific combination is not intended (e.g., contradictory aspects, such as defining an element as both an electrical insulator and an electrical conductor). Furthermore, it is also intended that aspects of a clause can be included in any other independent clause, even if the clause is not directly dependent on the independent clause.

[0235] Implementation examples are described in the following numbered clauses:

[0236] Clause 1. A method of wireless sensing performed by a sensing node, comprising: receiving, from a network node, one or more messages comprising a sensing configuration, wherein the sensing configuration indicates: one or more sensing reference signals (RSs); a sensing window comprising transmission occasions for transmission of the one or more sensing RSs; and one or more criteria for stopping measuring; measuring the one or more sensing RSs during a first subset of the transmission occasions; and stopping the measuring based on the one or more criteria.QC2406855WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2406855WO62 / 92

[0237] Clause 2. The method of clause 1, wherein the one or more sensing RSs comprise one or more positioning reference signals (PRSs) or one or more sounding reference signals (SRSs).

[0238] Clause 3. The method of any of clauses 1 to 2, wherein the one or more sensing RSs are transmitted over an entirety of the sensing window using one or more orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) symbols, one or more OFDM resources, one or more OFDM resource sets, or any combination thereof.

[0239] Clause 4. The method of any of clauses 1 to 3, wherein the sensing window is a sensing signal transmission window, a coherent processing interval (CPI), or any combination thereof.

[0240] Clause 5. The method of any of clauses 1 to 4, wherein the transmission occasions comprise a plurality of slots, a plurality of symbols, or any combination thereof.

[0241] Clause 6. The method of any of clauses 1 to 5, further comprising: evaluating the one or more criteria; determining to stop the measuring based on the one or more criteria; and transmitting, to a network node, a measurement termination indication based on the one or more criteria.

[0242] Clause 7. The method of clause 6, wherein the sensing configuration indicates: at least one sensing RS, of the one or more sensing RSs, for evaluating the one or more criteria; at least one resource set, of one or more resource sets associated with the at least one sensing RS, for evaluating the one or more criteria; at least one resource, of one or more resources associated with the at least one sensing RS, for evaluating the one or more criteria; at least one symbol, of one or more symbols associated with the at least one sensing RS, for evaluating the one or more criteria; or any combination thereof.

[0243] Clause 8. The method of any of clauses 6 to 7, wherein: the one or more criteria comprise a minimum received power; the evaluating comprises measuring a received power during the first subset of the transmission occasions; and the determining to stop the measuring is based on the received power being below the minimum received power.

[0244] Clause 9. The method of any of clauses 6 to 8, wherein: the one or more criteria comprise a minimum doppler value, a maximum doppler value, or both; the evaluating comprises measuring a doppler value during the first subset of the transmission occasions; and the determining to stop the measuring is based on the doppler value being below the minimum doppler value or above the maximum doppler value.QC2406855WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2406855WO63 / 92

[0245] Clause 10. The method of any of clauses 6 to 9, wherein: the one or more criteria comprise a minimum angle of arrival (AoA) value, a maximum AoA value, a minimum angle of departure (AoD) value, a maximum AoD value, or any combination thereof; the evaluating comprises measuring an AoA value, an AoD value, or any combination thereof, during the first subset of the transmission occasions; and the determining to stop the measuring is based on the AoA value being below the minimum AoA value, above the maximum AoA value, below the minimum AoD, or above the maximum AoD value.

[0246] Clause 11. The method of any of clauses 6 to 10, wherein: the one or more criteria comprise a minimum detected path distance, a maximum detected path distance, or both; the evaluating comprises measuring a detected path distance during the first subset of the transmission occasions; and the determining to stop the measuring is based on the detected path distance being below the minimum detected path distance or above the maximum detected path distance.

[0247] Clause 12. The method of any of clauses 6 to 11, wherein: the one or more criteria comprise a termination duration (T); the sensing window consists of the first subset of the transmission occasions and a second subset of the transmission occasions; the evaluating comprises determining a time duration of a second subset of the transmission occasions (T_0); and the determining to stop the measuring is based on T_0 being greater-than-or- equal-to T.

[0248] Clause 13. The method of any of clauses 6 to 12, wherein: the one or more criteria are associated with a measurement skipping indication; the evaluating comprises determining whether the measurement skipping indication has been received; and the determining to stop the measuring is based reception of the measurement skipping indication.

[0249] Clause 14. The method of any of clauses 1 to 13, further comprising: evaluating the one or more criteria; determining to stop the measuring based on the one or more criteria; and transmitting, to a network node, a measurement termination indication based on the one or more criteria, wherein: the sensing window consists of the first subset of the transmission occasions and a second subset of the transmission occasions; the transmitting is based on a time duration of a second subset of the transmission occasions (T_0) being greater-than-or-equal-to a termination duration (T).

[0250] Clause 15. The method of any of clauses 1 to 14, further comprising sending, to the network node, an indication of a measurement termination capability, an indication of a measurement skipping capability, or any combination thereof.QC2406855WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2406855WO64 / 92

[0251] Clause 16. The method of any of clauses 1 to 15, wherein the sensing node is a user equipment (UE) or a transmission-reception point (TRP).

[0252] Clause 17. The method of any of clauses 1 to 16, wherein the network node is a sensing configuring entity, a second sensing node, a location management function (LMF), a sensing management function (SnMF), a base station, a next generation node b (gNB), a user equipment (UE), or any combination thereof.

[0253] Clause 18. A method of wireless sensing performed by a sensing node, comprising: receiving one or more messages comprising a sensing configuration, wherein the sensing configuration indicates: one or more sensing reference signals (RSs); and a sensing window comprising transmission occasions for transmission of the one or more sensing RSs; measuring the one or more sensing RSs during a first subset of the transmission occasions; and transmitting, to a network node, a measurement termination indication indicating that the sensing node stops measuring the one or more sensing RSs during the sensing window.

[0254] Clause 19. The method of clause 18, wherein the one or more sensing RSs are transmitted over an entirety of the sensing window using one or more orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) symbols, one or more OFDM resources, one or more OFDM resource sets, or any combination thereof.

[0255] Clause 20. The method of any of clauses 18 to 19, wherein the sensing window is a sensing signal transmission window, a coherent processing interval (CPI), or any combination thereof.

[0256] Clause 21. The method of any of clauses 18 to 20, wherein the transmission occasions comprise a plurality of slots, a plurality of symbols, or any combination thereof.

[0257] Clause 22. The method of any of clauses 18 to 21, further comprising: determining one or more criteria for stopping the measuring; evaluating the one or more criteria; determining to stop the measuring based on the one or more criteria; and transmitting the measurement termination indication based on the one or more criteria.

[0258] Clause 23. The method of any of clauses 18 to 22, wherein determining the one or more criteria for stopping the measuring comprises receiving, in the sensing configuration, the one or more criteria.

[0259] Clause 24. The method of any of clauses 18 to 23, wherein the transmitting the measurement termination indication is via uplink, a Uu interface, sidelink, a PC5 interface, a long term evolution positioning protocol (LPP) message, a new radioQC2406855WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2406855WO65 / 92 positioning protocol (NRPP) message, inter-next generation node b (gNB) signaling, inter-transmission-reception point (TRP) signaling, a radio resource control (RRC) message, a medium access control control element (MAC CE), a downlink control information (DCI), or a sidelink control information (SCI).

[0260] Clause 25. A method of wireless sensing performed by a sensing node, comprising: receiving, from a network node, one or more messages comprising a sensing configuration, wherein the sensing configuration indicates: one or more sensing reference signals (RSs); and a sensing window comprising transmission occasions for transmission of the one or more sensing RSs; measuring the one or more sensing RSs during a first subset of the transmission occasions; receiving a measurement skipping indication indicating that the sensing node stops measuring the one or more sensing RSs during the sensing window; and stopping the measuring based on the receiving the measurement skipping indication.

[0261] Clause 26. The method of clause 25, wherein the stopping the measuring is at a next boundary, wherein the next boundary comprises a next symbol, a next slot, a next repetition of at least one of the one or more sensing RSs, or any combination thereof.

[0262] Clause 27. A method of wireless sensing performed by a network node, comprising: transmitting, to a first sensing node, a second sensing node, or any combination thereof, one or more sensing configurations indicating: one or more sensing reference signals (RSs); and a sensing window comprising transmission occasions for transmission of the one or more sensing RSs; receiving, from the first sensing node, a measurement termination indication indicating that the first sensing node stops measuring the one or more sensing RSs during the sensing window; and transmitting, to the second sensing node, a measurement skipping indication indicating that the second sensing node stops measuring the one or more sensing RSs during the sensing window, based on the receiving the measurement termination indication.

[0263] Clause 28. The method of clause 27, wherein transmitting the measurement skipping indication is based on: the second sensing node being within a threshold distance of the first sensing node; the second sensing node being in a same geographic zone as the first sensing node; a session associated with the one or more sensing configurations being dropped, wherein the dropping is based on the receiving the measurement termination indication; or any combination thereof.QC2406855WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2406855WO66 / 92

[0264] Clause 29. The method of any of clauses 27 to 28, wherein the measurement skipping indication is encoded in at least one of the one or more sensing RSs measured during the sensing window.

[0265] Clause 30. The method of any of clauses 27 to 29, wherein the measurement skipping indication is transmitted across one or more RSs, one or more bands, one or more component carriers (CCs), one or more positioning frequency layers (PFLs), or any combination thereof.

[0266] Clause 31. A sensing node, comprising: one or more memories; one or more transceivers; and one or more processors communicatively coupled to the one or more memories and the one or more transceivers, the one or more processors, either alone or in combination, configured to: receive, via the one or more transceivers, from a network node, one or more messages comprising a sensing configuration, wherein the sensing configuration indicates: one or more sensing reference signals (RSs); a sensing window comprising transmission occasions for transmission of the one or more sensing RSs; and one or more criteria for stopping measuring; measure the one or more sensing RSs during a first subset of the transmission occasions; and stop the measuring based on the one or more criteria.

[0267] Clause 32. The sensing node of clause 31, wherein the one or more sensing RSs comprise one or more positioning reference signals (PRSs) or one or more sounding reference signals (SRSs).

[0268] Clause 33. The sensing node of any of clauses 31 to 32, wherein the one or more sensing RSs are transmitted over an entirety of the sensing window using one or more orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) symbols, one or more OFDM resources, one or more OFDM resource sets, or any combination thereof.

[0269] Clause 34. The sensing node of any of clauses 31 to 33, wherein the sensing window is a sensing signal transmission window, a coherent processing interval (CPI), or any combination thereof.

[0270] Clause 35. The sensing node of any of clauses 31 to 34, wherein the transmission occasions comprise a plurality of slots, a plurality of symbols, or any combination thereof.

[0271] Clause 36. The sensing node of any of clauses 31 to 35, wherein the one or more processors, either alone or in combination, are further configured to: evaluate the one or more criteria; determine to stop the measuring based on the one or more criteria; and transmit, via the one or more transceivers, to a network node, a measurement termination indication based on the one or more criteria.QC2406855WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2406855WO67 / 92

[0272] Clause 37. The sensing node of any of clauses 5 to 36, wherein the sensing configuration indicates: at least one sensing RS, of the one or more sensing RSs, for evaluating the one or more criteria; at least one resource set, of one or more resource sets associated with the at least one sensing RS, for evaluating the one or more criteria; at least one resource, of one or more resources associated with the at least one sensing RS, for evaluating the one or more criteria; at least one symbol, of one or more symbols associated with the at least one sensing RS, for evaluating the one or more criteria; or any combination thereof.

[0273] Clause 38. The sensing node of any of clauses 6 to 37, wherein: the one or more criteria comprise a minimum received power; the one or more processors, either alone or in combination, are configured to measure a received power during the first subset of the transmission occasions; and the one or more processors, either alone or in combination, are configured to determine to stop the measuring based on the received power being below the minimum received power.

[0274] Clause 39. The sensing node of any of clauses 5 to 38, wherein: the one or more criteria comprise a minimum doppler value, a maximum doppler value, or both; the one or more processors, either alone or in combination, are configured to measure a doppler value during the first subset of the transmission occasions; and the one or more processors, either alone or in combination, are configured to determine to stop the measuring s based on the doppler value being below the minimum doppler value or above the maximum doppler value.

[0275] Clause 40. The sensing node of any of clauses 5 to 39, wherein: the one or more criteria comprise a minimum angle of arrival (AoA) value, a maximum AoA value, a minimum angle of departure (AoD) value, a maximum AoD value, or any combination thereof; the one or more processors, either alone or in combination, are configured to measure an AoA value, an AoD value, or any combination thereof, during the first subset of the transmission occasions; and the one or more processors, either alone or in combination, are configured to determine to stop the measuring based on the AoA value being below the minimum AoA value, above the maximum AoA value, below the minimum AoD, or above the maximum AoD value.

[0276] Clause 41. The sensing node of any of clauses 5 to 40, wherein: the one or more criteria comprise a minimum detected path distance, a maximum detected path distance, or both; the one or more processors, either alone or in combination, are configured to measure ring a detected path distance during the first subset of the transmission occasions; and the oneQC2406855WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2406855WO68 / 92 or more processors, either alone or in combination, are configured to determine to stop the measuring based on the detected path distance being below the minimum detected path distance or above the maximum detected path distance.

[0277] Clause 42. The sensing node of any of clauses 5 to 41, wherein: the one or more criteria comprise a termination duration (T); the sensing window consists of the first subset of the transmission occasions and a second subset of the transmission occasions; the one or more processors, either alone or in combination, are configured to determine a time duration of a second subset of the transmission occasions (T_0); and the one or more processors, either alone or in combination, are configured to determine to stop the measuring based on T_0 being greater-than-or-equal-to r.

[0278] Clause 43. The sensing node of any of clauses 5 to 42, wherein: the one or more criteria are associated with a measurement skipping indication; the one or more processors, either alone or in combination, are configured to determine whether the measurement skipping indication has been received; and the one or more processors, either alone or in combination, are configured to determine to stop the measuring based reception of the measurement skipping indication.

[0279] Clause 44. The sensing node of any of clauses 31 to 43, wherein the one or more processors, either alone or in combination, are further configured to: evaluate the one or more criteria; determine to stop the measuring based on the one or more criteria; and transmit, via the one or more transceivers, to a network node, a measurement termination indication based on the one or more criteria, wherein: the sensing window consists of the first subset of the transmission occasions and a second subset of the transmission occasions; the one or more processors, either alone or in combination, are configured to transmit based on a time duration of a second subset of the transmission occasions (T_0) being greater-than-or-equal-to a termination duration (T).

[0280] Clause 45. The sensing node of any of clauses 31 to 44, wherein the one or more processors, either alone or in combination, are further configured to send, via the one or more transceivers, to the network node, an indication of a measurement termination capability, an indication of a measurement skipping capability, or any combination thereof.

[0281] Clause 46. The sensing node of any of clauses 31 to 45, wherein the sensing node is a user equipment (UE) or a transmission-reception point (TRP).QC2406855WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2406855WO69 / 92

[0282] Clause 47. The sensing node of any of clauses 31 to 46, wherein the network node is a sensing configuring entity, a second sensing node, a location management function (LMF), a sensing management function (SnMF), a base station, a next generation node b (gNB), a user equipment (UE), or any combination thereof.

[0283] Clause 48. A sensing node, comprising: one or more memories; one or more transceivers; and one or more processors communicatively coupled to the one or more memories and the one or more transceivers, the one or more processors, either alone or in combination, configured to: receive, via the one or more transceivers, one or more messages comprising a sensing configuration, wherein the sensing configuration indicates: one or more sensing reference signals (RSs); and a sensing window comprising transmission occasions for transmission of the one or more sensing RSs; measure the one or more sensing RSs during a first subset of the transmission occasions; and transmit, via the one or more transceivers, to a network node, a measurement termination indication indicating that the sensing node stops measuring the one or more sensing RSs during the sensing window.

[0284] Clause 49. The sensing node of any of clauses 17 to 48, wherein the one or more sensing RSs are transmitted over an entirety of the sensing window using one or more orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) symbols, one or more OFDM resources, one or more OFDM resource sets, or any combination thereof.

[0285] Clause 50. The sensing node of any of clauses 17 to 49, wherein the sensing window is a sensing signal transmission window, a coherent processing interval (CPI), or any combination thereof.

[0286] Clause 51. The sensing node of any of clauses 17 to 50, wherein the transmission occasions comprise a plurality of slots, a plurality of symbols, or any combination thereof.

[0287] Clause 52. The sensing node of any of clauses 17 to 51, wherein the one or more processors, either alone or in combination, are further configured to: determine one or more criteria for stopping the measuring; evaluate the one or more criteria; determine to stop the measuring based on the one or more criteria; and transmit, via the one or more transceivers, the measurement termination indication based on the one or more criteria.

[0288] Clause 53. The sensing node of any of clauses 17 to 52, wherein the one or more processors, either alone or in combination, are configured to receive, in the sensing configuration, the one or more criteria.

[0289] Clause 54. The sensing node of any of clauses 17 to 53, wherein the one or more processors, either alone or in combination, are configured to transmit the measurementQC2406855WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2406855WO70 / 92 termination indication via uplink, a Uu interface, sidelink, a PC5 interface, a long term evolution positioning protocol (LPP) message, a new radio positioning protocol (NRPP) message, inter-next generation node b (gNB) signaling, inter-transmission-reception point (TRP) signaling, a radio resource control (RRC) message, a medium access control control element (MAC CE), a downlink control information (DCI), or a sidelink control information (SCI).

[0290] Clause 55. A sensing node, comprising: one or more memories; one or more transceivers; and one or more processors communicatively coupled to the one or more memories and the one or more transceivers, the one or more processors, either alone or in combination, configured to: receive, via the one or more transceivers, from a network node, one or more messages comprising a sensing configuration, wherein the sensing configuration indicates: one or more sensing reference signals (RSs); and a sensing window comprising transmission occasions for transmission of the one or more sensing RSs; measure the one or more sensing RSs during a first subset of the transmission occasions; receive, via the one or more transceivers, a measurement skipping indication indicating that the sensing node stops measuring the one or more sensing RSs during the sensing window; and stop the measuring based on the receiving the measurement skipping indication.

[0291] Clause 56. The sensing node of any of clauses 24 to 55, wherein the one or more processors, either alone or in combination, are configured to stop the measuring at a next boundary, wherein the next boundary comprises a next symbol, a next slot, a next repetition of at least one of the one or more sensing RSs, or any combination thereof.

[0292] Clause 57. A network node, comprising: one or more memories; one or more transceivers; and one or more processors communicatively coupled to the one or more memories and the one or more transceivers, the one or more processors, either alone or in combination, configured to: transmit, via the one or more transceivers, to a first sensing node, a second sensing node, or any combination thereof, one or more sensing configurations indicating: one or more sensing reference signals (RSs); and a sensing window comprising transmission occasions for transmission of the one or more sensing RSs; receive, via the one or more transceivers, from the first sensing node, a measurement termination indication indicating that the first sensing node stops measuring the one or more sensing RSs during the sensing window; and transmit, via the one or more transceivers, to the second sensing node, a measurement skipping indication indicating that the secondQC2406855WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2406855WO71 / 92 sensing node stops measuring the one or more sensing RSs during the sensing window, based on the receiving the measurement termination indication.

[0293] Clause 58. The network node of any of clauses 26 to 57, wherein the one or more processors, either alone or in combination, are configured to transmit the measurement skipping indication based on: the second sensing node being within a threshold distance of the first sensing node; the second sensing node being in a same geographic zone as the first sensing node; a session associated with the one or more sensing configurations being dropped, wherein the dropping is based on the receiving the measurement termination indication; or any combination thereof.

[0294] Clause 59. The network node of any of clauses 26 to 58, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to encode the measurement skipping indication in at least one of the one or more sensing RSs measured during the sensing window.

[0295] Clause 60. The network node of any of clauses 26 to 59, wherein the one or more processors, either alone or in combination, are configured to transmit the measurement skipping indication across one or more RSs, one or more bands, one or more component carriers (CCs), one or more positioning frequency layers (PFLs), or any combination thereof.

[0296] Clause 61. A sensing node, comprising: means for receiving, from a network node, one or more messages comprising a sensing configuration, wherein the sensing configuration indicates: one or more sensing reference signals (RSs); a sensing window comprising transmission occasions for transmission of the one or more sensing RSs; and one or more criteria for stopping measuring; means for measuring the one or more sensing RSs during a first subset of the transmission occasions; and means for stopping the measuring based on the one or more criteria.

[0297] Clause 62. The sensing node of any of clauses 30 to 61, wherein the one or more sensing RSs comprise one or more positioning reference signals (PRSs) or one or more sounding reference signals (SRSs).

[0298] Clause 63. The sensing node of any of clauses 30 to 62, wherein the one or more sensing RSs are transmitted over an entirety of the sensing window using one or more orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) symbols, one or more OFDM resources, one or more OFDM resource sets, or any combination thereof.QC2406855WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2406855WO72 / 92

[0299] Clause 64. The sensing node of any of clauses 30 to 63, wherein the sensing window is a sensing signal transmission window, a coherent processing interval (CPI), or any combination thereof.

[0300] Clause 65. The sensing node of any of clauses 30 to 64, wherein the transmission occasions comprise a plurality of slots, a plurality of symbols, or any combination thereof.

[0301] Clause 66. The sensing node of any of clauses 30 to 65, further comprising: means for evaluating the one or more criteria; means for determining to stop the measuring based on the one or more criteria; and means for transmitting, to a network node, a measurement termination indication based on the one or more criteria.

[0302] Clause 67. The sensing node of any of clauses 35 to 66, wherein the sensing configuration indicates: at least one sensing RS, of the one or more sensing RSs, for evaluating the one or more criteria; at least one resource set, of one or more resource sets associated with the at least one sensing RS, for evaluating the one or more criteria; at least one resource, of one or more resources associated with the at least one sensing RS, for evaluating the one or more criteria; at least one symbol, of one or more symbols associated with the at least one sensing RS, for evaluating the one or more criteria; or any combination thereof.

[0303] Clause 68. The sensing node of any of clauses 36 to 67, wherein: the one or more criteria comprise a minimum received power; the evaluating comprises measuring a received power during the first subset of the transmission occasions; and the determining to stop the measuring is based on the received power being below the minimum received power.

[0304] Clause 69. The sensing node of any of clauses 35 to 68, wherein: the one or more criteria comprise a minimum doppler value, a maximum doppler value, or both; the evaluating comprises measuring a doppler value during the first subset of the transmission occasions; and the determining to stop the measuring is based on the doppler value being below the minimum doppler value or above the maximum doppler value.

[0305] Clause 70. The sensing node of any of clauses 35 to 69, wherein: the one or more criteria comprise a minimum angle of arrival (AoA) value, a maximum AoA value, a minimum angle of departure (AoD) value, a maximum AoD value, or any combination thereof; the evaluating comprises measuring an AoA value, an AoD value, or any combination thereof, during the first subset of the transmission occasions; and the determining to stop the measuring is based on the AoA value being below the minimum AoA value, above the maximum AoA value, below the minimum AoD, or above the maximum AoD value.QC2406855WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2406855WO73 / 92

[0306] Clause 71. The sensing node of any of clauses 35 to 70, wherein: the one or more criteria comprise a minimum detected path distance, a maximum detected path distance, or both; the evaluating comprises measuring a detected path distance during the first subset of the transmission occasions; and the determining to stop the measuring is based on the detected path distance being below the minimum detected path distance or above the maximum detected path distance.

[0307] Clause 72. The sensing node of any of clauses 35 to 71, wherein: the one or more criteria comprise a termination duration (T); the sensing window consists of the first subset of the transmission occasions and a second subset of the transmission occasions; the evaluating comprises determining a time duration of a second subset of the transmission occasions (T_0); and the determining to stop the measuring is based on T_0 being greater-than-or- equal-to T.

[0308] Clause 73. The sensing node of any of clauses 35 to 72, wherein: the one or more criteria are associated with a measurement skipping indication; the evaluating comprises determining whether the measurement skipping indication has been received; and the determining to stop the measuring is based reception of the measurement skipping indication.

[0309] Clause 74. The sensing node of any of clauses 30 to 73, further comprising: means for evaluating the one or more criteria; means for determining to stop the measuring based on the one or more criteria; and means for transmitting, to a network node, a measurement termination indication based on the one or more criteria, wherein: the sensing window consists of the first subset of the transmission occasions and a second subset of the transmission occasions; the transmitting is based on a time duration of a second subset of the transmission occasions (T_0) being greater-than-or-equal-to a termination duration (T).

[0310] Clause 75. The sensing node of any of clauses 30 to 74, further comprising means for sending, to the network node, an indication of a measurement termination capability, an indication of a measurement skipping capability, or any combination thereof.

[0311] Clause 76. The sensing node of any of clauses 30 to 75, wherein the sensing node is a user equipment (UE) or a transmission-reception point (TRP).

[0312] Clause 77. The sensing node of any of clauses 30 to 76, wherein the network node is a sensing configuring entity, a second sensing node, a location management function (LMF), a sensing management function (SnMF), a base station, a next generation node b (gNB), a user equipment (UE), or any combination thereof.QC2406855WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2406855WO74 / 92

[0313] Clause 78. A sensing node, comprising: means for receiving one or more messages comprising a sensing configuration, wherein the sensing configuration indicates: one or more sensing reference signals (RSs); and a sensing window comprising transmission occasions for transmission of the one or more sensing RSs; means for measuring the one or more sensing RSs during a first subset of the transmission occasions; and means for transmitting, to a network node, a measurement termination indication indicating that the sensing node stops measuring the one or more sensing RSs during the sensing window.

[0314] Clause 79. The sensing node of any of clauses 47 to 78, wherein the one or more sensing RSs are transmitted over an entirety of the sensing window using one or more orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) symbols, one or more OFDM resources, one or more OFDM resource sets, or any combination thereof.

[0315] Clause 80. The sensing node of any of clauses 47 to 79, wherein the sensing window is a sensing signal transmission window, a coherent processing interval (CPI), or any combination thereof.

[0316] Clause 81. The sensing node of any of clauses 47 to 80, wherein the transmission occasions comprise a plurality of slots, a plurality of symbols, or any combination thereof.

[0317] Clause 82. The sensing node of any of clauses 47 to 81, further comprising: means for determining one or more criteria for stopping the measuring; means for evaluating the one or more criteria; means for determining to stop the measuring based on the one or more criteria; and means for transmitting the measurement termination indication based on the one or more criteria.

[0318] Clause 83. The sensing node of any of clauses 47 to 82, wherein the means for determining the one or more criteria for stopping the measuring comprises means for receiving, in the sensing configuration, the one or more criteria.

[0319] Clause 84. The sensing node of any of clauses 47 to 83, wherein the transmitting the measurement termination indication is via uplink, a Uu interface, sidelink, a PC5 interface, a long term evolution positioning protocol (LPP) message, a new radio positioning protocol (NRPP) message, inter-next generation node b (gNB) signaling, inter-transmission-reception point (TRP) signaling, a radio resource control (RRC) message, a medium access control control element (MAC CE), a downlink control information (DCI), or a sidelink control information (SCI).

[0320] Clause 85. A sensing node, comprising: means for receiving, from a network node, one or more messages comprising a sensing configuration, wherein the sensing configurationQC2406855WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2406855WO75 / 92 indicates: one or more sensing reference signals (RSs); and a sensing window comprising transmission occasions for transmission of the one or more sensing RSs; means for measuring the one or more sensing RSs during a first subset of the transmission occasions; means for receiving a measurement skipping indication indicating that the sensing node stops measuring the one or more sensing RSs during the sensing window; and means for stopping the measuring based on the receiving the measurement skipping indication.

[0321] Clause 86. The sensing node of any of clauses 54 to 85, wherein the stopping the measuring is at a next boundary, wherein the next boundary comprises a next symbol, a next slot, a next repetition of at least one of the one or more sensing RSs, or any combination thereof.

[0322] Clause 87. A network node, comprising: means for transmitting, to a first sensing node, a second sensing node, or any combination thereof, one or more sensing configurations indicating: one or more sensing reference signals (RSs); and a sensing window comprising transmission occasions for transmission of the one or more sensing RSs; means for receiving, from the first sensing node, a measurement termination indication indicating that the first sensing node stops measuring the one or more sensing RSs during the sensing window; and means for transmitting, to the second sensing node, a measurement skipping indication indicating that the second sensing node stops measuring the one or more sensing RSs during the sensing window, based on the receiving the measurement termination indication.

[0323] Clause 88. The network node of any of clauses 56 to 87, wherein transmitting the measurement skipping indication is based on: the second sensing node being within a threshold distance of the first sensing node; the second sensing node being in a same geographic zone as the first sensing node; a session associated with the one or more sensing configurations being dropped, wherein the dropping is based on the receiving the measurement termination indication; or any combination thereof.

[0324] Clause 89. The network node of any of clauses 56 to 88, wherein the measurement skipping indication is encoded in at least one of the one or more sensing RSs measured during the sensing window.

[0325] Clause 90. The network node of any of clauses 56 to 89, wherein the measurement skipping indication is transmitted across one or more RSs, one or more bands, one or more component carriers (CCs), one or more positioning frequency layers (PFLs), or any combination thereof.QC2406855WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2406855WO76 / 92

[0326] Clause 91. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer-executable instructions that, when executed by a sensing node, cause the sensing node to: receive, from a network node, one or more messages comprising a sensing configuration, wherein the sensing configuration indicates: one or more sensing reference signals (RSs); a sensing window comprising transmission occasions for transmission of the one or more sensing RSs; and one or more criteria for stopping measuring; measure the one or more sensing RSs during a first subset of the transmission occasions; and stop the measuring based on the one or more criteria.

[0327] Clause 92. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 60 to 91, wherein the one or more sensing RSs comprise one or more positioning reference signals (PRSs) or one or more sounding reference signals (SRSs).

[0328] Clause 93. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 60 to 92, wherein the one or more sensing RSs are transmitted over an entirety of the sensing window using one or more orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) symbols, one or more OFDM resources, one or more OFDM resource sets, or any combination thereof.

[0329] Clause 94. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 60 to 93, wherein the sensing window is a sensing signal transmission window, a coherent processing interval (CPI), or any combination thereof.

[0330] Clause 95. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 60 to 94, wherein the transmission occasions comprise a plurality of slots, a plurality of symbols, or any combination thereof.

[0331] Clause 96. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 60 to 95, further comprising computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the sensing node, cause the sensing node to: evaluate the one or more criteria; determine to stop the measuring based on the one or more criteria; and transmit, to a network node, a measurement termination indication based on the one or more criteria.

[0332] Clause 97. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 65 to 96, wherein the sensing configuration indicates: at least one sensing RS, of the one or more sensing RSs, for evaluating the one or more criteria; at least one resource set, of one or more resource sets associated with the at least one sensing RS, for evaluating the one or more criteria; at least one resource, of one or more resources associated with the at least one sensing RS, for evaluating the one or more criteria; at least one symbol, of one orQC2406855WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2406855WO77 / 92 more symbols associated with the at least one sensing RS, for evaluating the one or more criteria; or any combination thereof.

[0333] Clause 98. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 66 to 97, wherein: the one or more criteria comprise a minimum received power; the evaluating comprises measuring a received power during the first subset of the transmission occasions; and the determining to stop the measuring is based on the received power being below the minimum received power.

[0334] Clause 99. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 65 to 98, wherein: the one or more criteria comprise a minimum doppler value, a maximum doppler value, or both; the evaluating comprises measuring a doppler value during the first subset of the transmission occasions; and the determining to stop the measuring is based on the doppler value being below the minimum doppler value or above the maximum doppler value.

[0335] Clause 100. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 65 to 99, wherein: the one or more criteria comprise a minimum angle of arrival (AoA) value, a maximum AoA value, a minimum angle of departure (AoD) value, a maximum AoD value, or any combination thereof; the evaluating comprises measuring an AoA value, an AoD value, or any combination thereof, during the first subset of the transmission occasions; and the determining to stop the measuring is based on the AoA value being below the minimum AoA value, above the maximum AoA value, below the minimum AoD, or above the maximum AoD value.

[0336] Clause 101. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 65 to 100, wherein: the one or more criteria comprise a minimum detected path distance, a maximum detected path distance, or both; the evaluating comprises measuring a detected path distance during the first subset of the transmission occasions; and the determining to stop the measuring is based on the detected path distance being below the minimum detected path distance or above the maximum detected path distance.

[0337] Clause 102. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 65 to 101, wherein: the one or more criteria comprise a termination duration (T); the sensing window consists of the first subset of the transmission occasions and a second subset of the transmission occasions; the evaluating comprises determining a time duration of a second subset of the transmission occasions (T_0); and the determining to stop the measuring is based on T_0 being greater-than-or-equal-to r.QC2406855WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2406855WO78 / 92

[0338] Clause 103. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 65 to 102, wherein: the one or more criteria are associated with a measurement skipping indication; the evaluating comprises determining whether the measurement skipping indication has been received; and the determining to stop the measuring is based reception of the measurement skipping indication.

[0339] Clause 104. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 60 to 103, further comprising computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the sensing node, cause the sensing node to: evaluate the one or more criteria; determine to stop the measuring based on the one or more criteria; and transmit, to a network node, a measurement termination indication based on the one or more criteria, wherein: the sensing window consists of the first subset of the transmission occasions and a second subset of the transmission occasions; the transmitting is based on a time duration of a second subset of the transmission occasions (T_0) being greater-than-or-equal-to a termination duration (T).

[0340] Clause 105. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 60 to 104, further comprising computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the sensing node, cause the sensing node to send, to the network node, an indication of a measurement termination capability, an indication of a measurement skipping capability, or any combination thereof.

[0341] Clause 106. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 60 to 105, wherein the sensing node is a user equipment (UE) or a transmission-reception point (TRP).

[0342] Clause 107. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 60 to 106, wherein the network node is a sensing configuring entity, a second sensing node, a location management function (LMF), a sensing management function (SnMF), a base station, a next generation node b (gNB), a user equipment (UE), or any combination thereof.

[0343] Clause 108. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer-executable instructions that, when executed by a sensing node, cause the sensing node to: receive one or more messages comprising a sensing configuration, wherein the sensing configuration indicates: one or more sensing reference signals (RSs); and a sensing window comprising transmission occasions for transmission of the one or more sensing RSs; measure the one or more sensing RSs during a first subset of the transmission occasions; and transmit, toQC2406855WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2406855WO79 / 92 a network node, a measurement termination indication indicating that the sensing node stops measuring the one or more sensing RSs during the sensing window.

[0344] Clause 109. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 77 to 108, wherein the one or more sensing RSs are transmitted over an entirety of the sensing window using one or more orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) symbols, one or more OFDM resources, one or more OFDM resource sets, or any combination thereof.

[0345] Clause 110. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 77 to 109, wherein the sensing window is a sensing signal transmission window, a coherent processing interval (CPI), or any combination thereof.

[0346] Clause 111. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 77 to 110, wherein the transmission occasions comprise a plurality of slots, a plurality of symbols, or any combination thereof.

[0347] Clause 112. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 77 to 111, further comprising computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the sensing node, cause the sensing node to: determine one or more criteria for stopping the measuring; evaluate the one or more criteria; determine to stop the measuring based on the one or more criteria; and transmit the measurement termination indication based on the one or more criteria.

[0348] Clause 113. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 77 to 112, wherein the computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the sensing node, cause the sensing node to determine the one or more criteria for stopping the measuring comprise computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the sensing node, cause the sensing node to receive, in the sensing configuration, the one or more criteria.

[0349] Clause 114. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 77 to 113, wherein the transmitting the measurement termination indication is via uplink, a Uu interface, sidelink, a PC5 interface, a long term evolution positioning protocol (LPP) message, a new radio positioning protocol (NRPP) message, inter-next generation node b (gNB) signaling, inter-transmission-reception point (TRP) signaling, a radio resource control (RRC) message, a medium access control control element (MAC CE), a downlink control information (DCI), or a sidelink control information (SCI).

[0350] Clause 115. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer-executable instructions that, when executed by a sensing node, cause the sensing node to: receive,QC2406855WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2406855WO80 / 92 from a network node, one or more messages comprising a sensing configuration, wherein the sensing configuration indicates: one or more sensing reference signals (RSs); and a sensing window comprising transmission occasions for transmission of the one or more sensing RSs; measure the one or more sensing RSs during a first subset of the transmission occasions; receive a measurement skipping indication indicating that the sensing node stops measuring the one or more sensing RSs during the sensing window; and stop the measuring based on the receiving the measurement skipping indication.

[0351] Clause 116. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 84 to 115, wherein the stopping the measuring is at a next boundary, wherein the next boundary comprises a next symbol, a next slot, a next repetition of at least one of the one or more sensing RSs, or any combination thereof.

[0352] Clause 117. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer-executable instructions that, when executed by a network node, cause the network node to: transmit, to a first sensing node, a second sensing node, or any combination thereof, one or more sensing configurations indicating: one or more sensing reference signals (RSs); and a sensing window comprising transmission occasions for transmission of the one or more sensing RSs; receive, from the first sensing node, a measurement termination indication indicating that the first sensing node stops measuring the one or more sensing RSs during the sensing window; and transmit, to the second sensing node, a measurement skipping indication indicating that the second sensing node stops measuring the one or more sensing RSs during the sensing window, based on the receiving the measurement termination indication.

[0353] Clause 118. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 86 to 117, wherein transmitting the measurement skipping indication is based on: the second sensing node being within a threshold distance of the first sensing node; the second sensing node being in a same geographic zone as the first sensing node; a session associated with the one or more sensing configurations being dropped, wherein the dropping is based on the receiving the measurement termination indication; or any combination thereof.

[0354] Clause 119. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 86 to 118, wherein the measurement skipping indication is encoded in at least one of the one or more sensing RSs measured during the sensing window.

[0355] Clause 120. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 86 to 119, wherein the measurement skipping indication is transmitted across one or more RSs, oneQC2406855WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2406855WO81 / 92 or more bands, one or more component carriers (CCs), one or more positioning frequency layers (PFLs), or any combination thereof.

[0356] Those of skill in the art will appreciate that information and signals may be represented using any of a variety of different technologies and techniques. For example, data, instructions, commands, information, signals, bits, symbols, and chips that may be referenced throughout the above description may be represented by voltages, currents, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or particles, optical fields or particles, or any combination thereof.

[0357] Further, those of skill in the art will appreciate that the various illustrative logical blocks, modules, circuits, and algorithm steps described in connection with the aspects disclosed herein may be implemented as electronic hardware, computer software, or combinations of both. To clearly illustrate this interchangeability of hardware and software, various illustrative components, blocks, modules, circuits, and steps have been described above generally in terms of their functionality. Whether such functionality is implemented as hardware or software depends upon the particular application and design constraints imposed on the overall system. Skilled artisans may implement the described functionality in varying ways for each particular application, but such implementation decisions should not be interpreted as causing a departure from the scope of the present disclosure.

[0358] The various illustrative logical blocks, modules, and circuits described in connection with the aspects disclosed herein may be implemented or performed with a general purpose processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an ASIC, a field-programable gate array (FPGA), or other programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof designed to perform the functions described herein. A general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor, but in the alternative, the processor may be any conventional processor, controller, microcontroller, or state machine. A processor may also be implemented as a combination of computing devices, for example, a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, a plurality of microprocessors, one or more microprocessors in conjunction with a DSP core, or any other such configuration.

[0359] The methods, sequences and / or algorithms described in connection with the aspects disclosed herein may be embodied directly in hardware, in a software module executed by a processor, or in a combination of the two. A software module may reside in randomQC2406855WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2406855WO82 / 92 access memory (RAM), flash memory, read-only memory (ROM), erasable programmable ROM (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable ROM (EEPROM), registers, hard disk, a removable disk, a CD-ROM, or any other form of storage medium known in the art. An example storage medium is coupled to the processor such that the processor can read information from, and write information to, the storage medium. In the alternative, the storage medium may be integral to the processor. The processor and the storage medium may reside in an ASIC. The ASIC may reside in a user terminal (e.g., UE). In the alternative, the processor and the storage medium may reside as discrete components in a user terminal.

[0360] In one or more example aspects, the functions described may be implemented in hardware, software, firmware, or any combination thereof. If implemented in software, the functions may be stored on or transmitted over as one or more instructions or code on a computer-readable medium. Computer-readable media includes both computer storage media and communication media including any medium that facilitates transfer of a computer program from one place to another. A storage media may be any available media that can be accessed by a computer. By way of example, and not limitation, such computer-readable media can comprise RAM, ROM, EEPROM, CD-ROM or other optical disk storage, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium that can be used to carry or store desired program code in the form of instructions or data structures and that can be accessed by a computer. Also, any connection is properly termed a computer-readable medium. For example, if the software is transmitted from a website, server, or other remote source using a coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, digital subscriber line (DSL), or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio, and microwave, then the coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, DSL, or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio, and microwave are included in the definition of medium. Disk and disc, as used herein, includes compact disc (CD), laser disc, optical disc, digital versatile disc (DVD), floppy disk and Blu-ray disc where disks usually reproduce data magnetically, while discs reproduce data optically with lasers. Combinations of the above should also be included within the scope of computer-readable media.

[0361] While the foregoing disclosure shows illustrative aspects of the disclosure, it should be noted that various changes and modifications could be made herein without departing from the scope of the disclosure as defined by the appended claims. For example, theQC2406855WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2406855WO83 / 92 functions, steps and / or actions of the method claims in accordance with the aspects of the disclosure described herein need not be performed in any particular order. Further, no component, function, action, or instruction described or claimed herein should be construed as critical or essential unless explicitly described as such. Furthermore, as used herein, the terms “set,” “group,” and the like are intended to include one or more of the stated elements. Also, as used herein, the terms “has,” “have,” “having,” “comprises,” “comprising,” “includes,” “including,” and the like does not preclude the presence of one or more additional elements (e.g., an element “having” A may also have B). Further, the phrase “based on” is intended to mean “based, at least in part, on” unless explicitly stated otherwise. Also, as used herein, the term “or” is intended to be inclusive when used in a series and may be used interchangeably with “and / or,” unless explicitly stated otherwise (e.g., if used in combination with “either” or “only one of’) or the alternatives are mutually exclusive (e.g., “one or more” should not be interpreted as “one and more”). Furthermore, although components, functions, actions, and instructions may be described or claimed in the singular, the plural is contemplated unless limitation to the singular is explicitly stated. Accordingly, as used herein, the articles “a,” “an,” “the,” and “said” are intended to include one or more of the stated elements. Additionally, as used herein, the terms “at least one” and “one or more” encompass “one” component, function, action, or instruction performing or capable of performing a described or claimed functionality and also “two or more” components, functions, actions, or instructions performing or capable of performing a described or claimed functionality in combination.QC2406855WO

Claims

1. Qualcomm Ref. No. 2406855WO84 / 92CLAIMSWhat is claimed is:

1. A sensing node, comprising: one or more memories; one or more transceivers; and one or more processors communicatively coupled to the one or more memories and the one or more transceivers, the one or more processors, either alone or in combination, configured to: receive, via the one or more transceivers, from a network node, one or more messages comprising a sensing configuration, wherein the sensing configuration indicates: one or more sensing reference signals (RSs); a sensing window comprising transmission occasions for transmission of the one or more sensing RSs; and one or more criteria for stopping measuring; measure the one or more sensing RSs during a first subset of the transmission occasions; and stop the measuring based on the one or more criteria.

2. The sensing node of claim 1, wherein the one or more sensing RSs comprise one or more positioning reference signals (PRSs) or one or more sounding reference signals (SRSs).

3. The sensing node of claim 1, wherein the one or more sensing RSs are transmitted over an entirety of the sensing window using one or more orthogonal frequency -division multiplexing (OFDM) symbols, one or more OFDM resources, one or more OFDM resource sets, or any combination thereof.

4. The sensing node of claim 1, wherein the sensing window is a sensing signal transmission window, a coherent processing interval (CPI), or any combination thereof.

5. The sensing node of claim 1, wherein the transmission occasions comprise a plurality of slots, a plurality of symbols, or any combination thereof.QC2406855WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2406855WO85 / 926. The sensing node of claim 1, wherein the one or more processors, either alone or in combination, are further configured to: evaluate the one or more criteria; determine to stop the measuring based on the one or more criteria; and transmit, via the one or more transceivers, to a network node, a measurement termination indication based on the one or more criteria.

7. The sensing node of claim 6, wherein the sensing configuration indicates: at least one sensing RS, of the one or more sensing RSs, for evaluating the one or more criteria; at least one resource set, of one or more resource sets associated with the at least one sensing RS, for evaluating the one or more criteria; at least one resource, of one or more resources associated with the at least one sensing RS, for evaluating the one or more criteria; at least one symbol, of one or more symbols associated with the at least one sensing RS, for evaluating the one or more criteria; or any combination thereof.

8. The sensing node of claim 7, wherein: the one or more criteria comprise a minimum received power; the one or more processors, either alone or in combination, are configured to measure a received power during the first subset of the transmission occasions; and the one or more processors, either alone or in combination, are configured to determine to stop the measuring based on the received power being below the minimum received power.

9. The sensing node of claim 6, wherein: the one or more criteria comprise a minimum doppler value, a maximum doppler value, or both; the one or more processors, either alone or in combination, are configured to measure a doppler value during the first subset of the transmission occasions; andQC2406855WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2406855WO86 / 92 the one or more processors, either alone or in combination, are configured to determine to stop the measuring based on the doppler value being below the minimum doppler value or above the maximum doppler value.

10. The sensing node of claim 6, wherein: the one or more criteria comprise a minimum angle of arrival (AoA) value, a maximum AoA value, a minimum angle of departure (AoD) value, a maximum AoD value, or any combination thereof; the one or more processors, either alone or in combination, are configured to measure an AoA value, an AoD value, or any combination thereof, during the first subset of the transmission occasions; and the one or more processors, either alone or in combination, are configured to determine to stop the measuring based on the AoA value being below the minimum AoA value, above the maximum AoA value, below the minimum AoD, or above the maximum AoD value.

11. The sensing node of claim 6, wherein: the one or more criteria comprise a minimum detected path distance, a maximum detected path distance, or both; the one or more processors, either alone or in combination, are configured to measure a detected path distance during the first subset of the transmission occasions; and the one or more processors, either alone or in combination, are configured to determine to stop the measuring based on the detected path distance being below the minimum detected path distance or above the maximum detected path distance.

12. The sensing node of claim 6, wherein: the one or more criteria comprise a termination duration (T); the sensing window consists of the first subset of the transmission occasions and a second subset of the transmission occasions; the one or more processors, either alone or in combination, are configured to determine a time duration of a second subset of the transmission occasions (T_0); andQC2406855WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2406855WO87 / 92 the one or more processors, either alone or in combination, are configured to determine to stop the measuring based on T_0 being greater-than-or-equal-to r.

13. The sensing node of claim 6, wherein: the one or more criteria are associated with a measurement skipping indication; the one or more processors, either alone or in combination, are configured to determine whether the measurement skipping indication has been received; and the one or more processors, either alone or in combination, are configured to determine to stop the measuring based on reception of the measurement skipping indication.

14. The sensing node of claim 1, wherein the one or more processors, either alone or in combination, are further configured to: evaluate the one or more criteria; determine to stop the measuring based on the one or more criteria; and transmit, via the one or more transceivers, to a network node, a measurement termination indication based on the one or more criteria, wherein: the sensing window consists of the first subset of the transmission occasions and a second subset of the transmission occasions; and the one or more processors, either alone or in combination, are configured to transmit based on a time duration of a second subset of the transmission occasions (T_0) being greater-than-or-equal-to a termination duration (T).

15. The sensing node of claim 1, wherein the one or more processors, either alone or in combination, are further configured to send, via the one or more transceivers, to the network node, an indication of a measurement termination capability, an indication of a measurement skipping capability, or any combination thereof.

16. The sensing node of claim 1, wherein the sensing node is a user equipment (UE) or a transmission-reception point (TRP).QC2406855WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2406855WO88 / 9217. The sensing node of claim 1, wherein the network node is a sensing configuring entity, a second sensing node, a location management function (LMF), a sensing management function (SnMF), a base station, a next generation node b (gNB), a user equipment (UE), or any combination thereof.

18. A sensing node, comprising: one or more memories; one or more transceivers; and one or more processors communicatively coupled to the one or more memories and the one or more transceivers, the one or more processors, either alone or in combination, configured to: receive, via the one or more transceivers, one or more messages comprising a sensing configuration, wherein the sensing configuration indicates: one or more sensing reference signals (RSs); and a sensing window comprising transmission occasions for transmission of the one or more sensing RSs; measure the one or more sensing RSs during a first subset of the transmission occasions; and transmit, via the one or more transceivers, to a network node, a measurement termination indication indicating that the sensing node stops measuring the one or more sensing RSs during the sensing window.

19. The sensing node of claim 18, wherein the one or more sensing RSs are transmitted over an entirety of the sensing window using one or more orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) symbols, one or more OFDM resources, one or more OFDM resource sets, or any combination thereof.

20. The sensing node of claim 18, wherein the sensing window is a sensing signal transmission window, a coherent processing interval (CPI), or any combination thereof.

21. The sensing node of claim 18, wherein the transmission occasions comprise a plurality of slots, a plurality of symbols, or any combination thereof.QC2406855WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2406855WO89 / 9222. The sensing node of claim 18, wherein the one or more processors, either alone or in combination, are further configured to: determine one or more criteria for stopping the measuring; evaluate the one or more criteria; determine to stop the measuring based on the one or more criteria; and transmit, via the one or more transceivers, the measurement termination indication based on the one or more criteria.

23. The sensing node of claim 22, wherein the one or more processors, either alone or in combination, are configured to receive, in the sensing configuration, the one or more criteria.

24. The sensing node of claim 18, wherein the one or more processors, either alone or in combination, are configured to transmit the measurement termination indication via uplink, a Uu interface, sidelink, a PC5 interface, a long term evolution positioning protocol (LPP) message, a new radio positioning protocol (NRPP) message, inter-next generation node b (gNB) signaling, inter-transmission-reception point (TRP) signaling, a radio resource control (RRC) message, a medium access control control element (MAC CE), a downlink control information (DCI), or a sidelink control information (SCI).

25. A sensing node, comprising: one or more memories; one or more transceivers; and one or more processors communicatively coupled to the one or more memories and the one or more transceivers, the one or more processors, either alone or in combination, configured to: receive, via the one or more transceivers, from a network node, one or more messages comprising a sensing configuration, wherein the sensing configuration indicates: one or more sensing reference signals (RSs); and a sensing window comprising transmission occasions for transmission of the one or more sensing RSs;QC2406855WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2406855WO90 / 92 measure the one or more sensing RSs during a first subset of the transmission occasions; receive, via the one or more transceivers, a measurement skipping indication indicating that the sensing node stops measuring the one or more sensing RSs during the sensing window; and stop the measuring based on the receiving the measurement skipping indication.

26. The sensing node of claim 25, wherein the one or more processors, either alone or in combination, are configured to stop the measuring at a next boundary, wherein the next boundary comprises a next symbol, a next slot, a next repetition of at least one of the one or more sensing RSs, or any combination thereof.

27. A network node, comprising: one or more memories; one or more transceivers; and one or more processors communicatively coupled to the one or more memories and the one or more transceivers, the one or more processors, either alone or in combination, configured to: transmit, via the one or more transceivers, to a first sensing node, a second sensing node, or any combination thereof, one or more sensing configurations indicating: one or more sensing reference signals (RSs); and a sensing window comprising transmission occasions for transmission of the one or more sensing RSs; receive, via the one or more transceivers, from the first sensing node, a measurement termination indication indicating that the first sensing node stops measuring the one or more sensing RSs during the sensing window; and transmit, via the one or more transceivers, to the second sensing node, a measurement skipping indication indicating that the second sensing node stops measuring the one or more sensing RSs during the sensing window, based on the receiving the measurement termination indication.QC2406855WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2406855WO91 / 9228. The network node of claim 27, wherein the one or more processors, either alone or in combination, are configured to transmit the measurement skipping indication based on: the second sensing node being within a threshold distance of the first sensing node; the second sensing node being in a same geographic zone as the first sensing node; a session associated with the one or more sensing configurations being dropped, wherein the dropping is based on the receiving the measurement termination indication; or any combination thereof.

29. The network node of claim 27, wherein the one or more processors, either alone or in combination, are further configured to encode the measurement skipping indication in at least one of the one or more sensing RSs measured during the sensing window.

30. The network node of claim 27, wherein the measurement skipping indication is transmitted across one or more RSs, one or more bands, one or more component carriers (CCs), one or more positioning frequency layers (PFLs), or any combination thereof.QC2406855WO

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