Reconfigurable hardware for privacy-preserving sensing

Abstract

The present disclosure relates to an electronic device (100) including: a radiofrequency front- end circuit (102) including a plurality of hardware components (106) configured to enable transmission and reception of radiofrequency signals (108), wherein the radiofrequency front- end circuit (102) is configured to operate in a plurality of operating configurations, wherein each operating configuration has a respective set of operating parameters for the hardware components (106) of the radiofrequency front-end circuit (102); and a processor (104) configured to: receive an indication of a sensing operation (152) to be carried out via the radiofrequency front-end circuit (102); determine privacy requirements (154) associated with the sensing operation (154); and control the radiofrequency front-end circuit (102) to carry out the sensing operation (152) using an operating configuration that fulfills the privacy requirements (154) associated with the sensing operation (152).

Description

[P97831]RECONFIGURABLE HARDWARE FOR PRIVACY-PRESERVING SENSING Technical Field

[0001] The present disclosure is generally related to an electronic device configured to carry out privacy-preserving sensing, and to a corresponding method for privacy-preserving sensing.Background

[0002] In general, radiofrequency (RF) sensing has emerged as one of the most important techniques for monitoring health problems, connected robotics, navigation, autonomous driving, machine-type communication, activity detection, and extended reality, amongst numerous other applications. These innovative services necessitate enormous data transfer and high accuracy sensing at the same time, typically referred as joint communication and sensing (JCAS) or integrated sensing and communication (ISAC) applications. In particular, research efforts have been devoted to introduce devices that support both radiofrequency sensing and communication into the sixth generation (6G) framework. Developments in electronic devices for RF sensing and communication may thus be of particular relevance for the further advancement of several technologies, e.g., in the 6G context.Brief Description of the Drawings

[0003] In the drawings, like reference characters generally refer to the same parts throughout the different views. The drawings are not necessarily to scale, emphasis instead generally being placed upon illustrating the principles of the invention. In the following description, various aspects of the invention are described with reference to the following drawings, in which:FIG.1A shows an electronic device including a processor and a radiofrequency frontend circuit, in a schematic representation according to various aspects;FIG. IB to FIG. ID show further aspects of the electronic device, in a schematic representation according to various aspects;FIG.2A to FIG.2F show exemplary hardware components of the radiofrequency frontend circuit, in a schematic representation according to various aspects;FIG.3A and FIG.3B show exemplary configurations of the radiofrequency front-end circuit, in a schematic representation according to various aspects;FIG.4A and FIG.4B show the processor being part of a trusted execution environment of the electronic device, in a schematic representation according to various aspects; and[P97831]FIG.5 A and FIG.5B show the electronic device further including a physical switch, in a schematic representation according to various aspects.Description

[0004] The following detailed description refers to the accompanying drawings that show, by way of illustration, specific details and aspects in which the invention may be practiced. These aspects are described in sufficient detail to enable those skilled in the art to practice the invention. Other aspects may be utilized and structural, logical, and electrical changes may be made without departing from the scope of the invention. The various aspects are not necessarily mutually exclusive, as some aspects may be combined with one or more other aspects to form new aspects. Various aspects are described in connection with methods and various aspects are described in connection with devices (e.g., an electronic device, a radiofrequency front-end circuit, a processor, etc.). However, it is understood that aspects described in connection with methods may similarly apply to the devices, and vice versa.

[0005] In general, Integrated Sensing and Communication (ISAC) devices combine radio-based communication and radio-based sensing in a single platform. An ISAC device may include means of data sharing and / or means of hardware sharing (illustratively, the same hardware components may be shared between communication and sensing). An ISAC device may thus exploit radiofrequency signals for data transmission / reception, and also for carrying out sensing operations in the surrounding environment. An advantage of ISAC devices lies in the use of a single waveform for communication and sensing, thus providing a resource-efficient setup and an efficient utilization of the frequency spectrum. ISAC devices may thus enable a wide range of applications, e.g., object tracking, gesture or posture recognition, presence detection, and the like. An ISAC device may also be referred to herein as joint communication and sensing (JCAS) device.

[0006] In the recent years, efforts have been devoted to the integration of ISAC systems in the sixth generation (6G) framework. The enhanced capabilities of 6G networks, such as the use of new spectrum bands, low latency, high data transfer speed, etc., may contribute to high-accuracy and high-resolution sensing via ISAC devices. The integration in 6G networks may therefore enhance the operations of ISAC devices, and enable sensing operations with increased performances. For example, ISACs as dual functional system may enable the realization of ubiquitous radar sensing and thus enable Radar as a service (RaaS).

[0007] While integrating sensing capabilities into the 6G may allow many new use cases, it also introduces many challenges for data protection and privacy. Illustratively, RF sensing may[P97831]be capable of collecting personal information from people in the surroundings, thus potentially allowing an application to have access to information that should remain private. As examples, radiofrequency signals may allow for a detection of vital signs such as the heart rate or respiratory rate, abnormal movement, breathing patterns, and the like.

[0008] Therefore, having devices potentially capable of collecting sensitive information without the targets knowing may pose privacy risks, and may infringe existing regulations on protection of personal data. Furthermore, it gives the possibility to malicious actors to exploit the capabilities of such devices for non-authorized purposes, e.g., for collecting personal information without authorization.

[0009] Aspects of the present disclosure are based on the realization that software-based and hardware-based switching mechanisms may be implemented to ensure that privacy requirements are met during the operation of electronic devices capable of RF sensing (and, in some aspects, capable of RF-based communication). The present disclosure is thus related to a hardware design for a radiofrequency front-end circuit, which may be reconfigured to ensure that a required level of privacy is maintained during a sensing operation carried out using the radiofrequency front-end circuit.

[0010] According to the strategy proposed herein, the capabilities of the radiofrequency front-end circuit may be controlled via software and / or hardware to carry out a sensing operation in a manner that ensures that the privacy of a user of the device or of people in the surroundings is preserved. The configuration of the radiofrequency front-end circuit may be dynamically adapted to ensure that the transmission and reception of radiofrequency signals via the radiofrequency front-end circuit respects privacy requirements while providing meaningful results for the sensing operation.

[0011] By way of illustration, the approach proposed herein may be based on the realization that putting controlled limitations to the operation of the radiofrequency front-end circuit (e.g., to the operation of one or more of its hardware components) ensures that a sensing operation carried out using the radiofrequency front-end circuit does not exceed the intended sensing parameters (e.g., in terms of range, penetration depth, duration, etc.) and thus collects only the data required for the sensing operation without having access to further data to which a certain application should not have access.

[0012] The following examples pertain to various aspects of the present disclosure.

[0013] According to various aspects, an electronic device includes: a radiofrequency frontend circuit including a plurality of hardware components configured to enable transmission and reception of radiofrequency signals, wherein the radiofrequency front-end circuit is configured[P97831]to operate in a plurality of operating configurations, wherein each operating configuration has a respective set of operating parameters for the hardware components of the radiofrequency front-end circuit; and a processor configured to: receive an indication of a sensing operation to be carried out via the radiofrequency front-end circuit; determine (e.g., identify) privacy requirements associated with the sensing operation; and control the radiofrequency front-end circuit to carry out the sensing operation using an operating configuration that fulfills the privacy requirements associated with the sensing operation. The features of this paragraph provide a first example.

[0014] The electronic device may optionally further include that for each operating configuration the respective set of operating parameters for the hardware components defines performance parameters obtainable for the sensing operation, and that the processor is configured to control the radiofrequency front-end circuit to carry out the sensing operation using the operating configuration that defines performance parameters that fulfill the privacy requirements associated with the sensing operation. The features of this paragraph in combination with the first example provide a second example.

[0015] The electronic device may optionally further include that the processor is configured to control the radiofrequency front-end circuit to carry out the sensing operation using the operating configuration that fulfills the privacy requirements associated with the sensing operation and that provides minimum performance parameters for successfully carrying out the sensing operation. The features of this paragraph in combination with the second example provide a third example.

[0016] The electronic device may optionally further include that the performance parameters obtainable for the sensing operation include one or more performance parameters for a transmission of radiofrequency signals and / or one or more performance parameters for a reception of radiofrequency signals. The features of this paragraph in combination with the second example or the third example provide a fourth example.

[0017] The electronic device may optionally further include that the performance parameters obtainable for the sensing operation include one or more of: a resolution, an accuracy, a throughput, a noise level, an error rate, and / or combinations thereof. The features of this paragraph in combination with any one of examples one to four provide a fifth example.

[0018] The electronic device may optionally further include that the performance parameters obtainable for the sensing operation include one or more of: a range accuracy, an angle of arrival accuracy, a time of arrival accuracy, a velocity accuracy, a localization accuracy, a target identification accuracy, a bit error rate, a latency, a signal-to-noise ratio, and / or combinations[P97831]thereof. The features of this paragraph in combination with the fifth example provide a sixth example.

[0019] The electronic device may optionally further include that the sensing operation includes one or more of: presence detection, movement detection, velocity detection, tracking, face recognition, object classification, detection of vital signs, and / or combinations thereof. The features of this paragraph in combination with any one of examples one to six provide a seventh example.

[0020] The electronic device may optionally further include that the sensing operation is a radar sensing operation. The features of this paragraph in combination with any one of examples one to seven provide an eighth example.

[0021] The electronic device may optionally further include that the processor is configured to control the radiofrequency front-end circuit to inject noise in a transmit signal and / or in a receive signal associated with the sensing operation based on the privacy requirements associated with the sensing operation. The features of this paragraph in combination with any one of examples one to eight provide a ninth example.

[0022] The electronic device may optionally further include that the processor is configured to determine the privacy requirements associated with the sensing operation based on a user defined privacy policy. The features of this paragraph in combination with any one of examples one to nine provide a tenth example.

[0023] The electronic device may optionally further include that the operating parameters of the hardware components include one or more of: a bandwidth, a modulation, an amplification, a frequency, a transmit power, a receiver gain, a receiver linearity, a processing time, a processing latency, and / or combinations thereof. The features of this paragraph in combination with any one of examples one to ten provide an eleventh example.

[0024] The electronic device may optionally further include that the hardware components include an amplifier and the operating parameters include a gain of the amplifier, wherein optionally the amplifier includes a power amplifier in a transmit path of the radiofrequency front-end circuit and / or a low-noise amplifier in a receive path of the radiofrequency front-end circuit. The features of this paragraph in combination with any one of examples one to eleven provide a twelfth example.

[0025] The electronic device may optionally further include that the hardware components include a frequency converter and the operating parameters include an output frequency of the frequency converter. The features of this paragraph in combination with any one of examples one to twelve provide a thirteenth example.[P97831]

[0026] The electronic device may optionally further include that the hardware components include an analog-to-digital converter and the operating parameters include a sampling rate of the analog-to-digital converter, and / or that the hardware components include a digital-to-analog converter and the operating parameters include a sampling rate of the digital-to-analog converter. The features of this paragraph in combination with any one of examples one to thirteen provide a fourteenth example.

[0027] The electronic device may optionally further include that the hardware components include a filter and the operating parameters include a frequency bandwidth of the filter. The features of this paragraph in combination with any one of examples one to fourteen provide a fifteenth example.

[0028] The electronic device may optionally further include that the hardware components include one or more antennas and the operating parameters include a gain of the one or more antennas, wherein optionally the one or more antennas are shared between the transmit path and the receive path of the radiofrequency front-end circuit. The features of this paragraph in combination with any one of examples one to fifteen provide a sixteenth example.

[0029] The electronic device may optionally further include that the hardware components include a phased antenna array and the operating parameters include a phase pattern for the phased antenna array. The features of this paragraph in combination with any one of examples one to sixteen provide a seventeenth example.

[0030] The electronic device may optionally further include that processor is part of a trusted execution environment of the electronic device. The features of this paragraph in combination with any one of examples one to seventeen provide an eighteenth example.

[0031] The electronic device may optionally further include that the processor in the trusted execution environment is configured to: receive a request from an application running on of the electronic device, the request including the indication of the sensing operation to be carried out and target performance parameters to be provided for the sensing operation; verify whether the application that issued the request has permission to obtain a result of the sensing operation carried out with the target performance parameters; and control the radiofrequency front-end circuit to carry out the sensing operation based on a result of the verification. The features of this paragraph in combination with the eighteenth example provide a nineteenth example.

[0032] The electronic device may optionally further include that the trusted execution environment is coupled with a secure input / output interface to receive input from a user of the electronic device and to provide output to the user of the electronic device, wherein optionally the secure input / output interface is a secure graphic user interface. The features of this[P97831]paragraph in combination with the eighteenth example or the nineteenth example provide a twentieth example.

[0033] The electronic device may optionally further include that the processor is further configured to provide an indication to the user, via the secure input / output interface, of the current operating configuration of the radiofrequency front-end circuit. The features of this paragraph in combination with the twentieth example provide a twenty-first example.

[0034] The electronic device may optionally further include that the processor is further configured to receive, via the secure input / output interface, the user-defined privacy policy to be adopted for carrying out sensing operations via the radiofrequency front-end circuit. The features of this paragraph in combination with the twentieth example or the twenty-first example provide a twenty-second example.

[0035] The electronic device may optionally further include that the radiofrequency front-end circuit includes a plurality of transmit paths available for transmitting radiofrequency signals, and that the processor is configured to: control the radiofrequency front-end circuit to carry out the sensing operation using all the available transmit paths or a subset of the available transmit paths based on the privacy requirements associated with the sensing operation. The features of this paragraph in combination with any one of examples one to twenty-two provide a twenty-third example.

[0036] The electronic device may optionally further include that the radiofrequency front-end circuit includes a plurality of receive paths available for receiving radiofrequency signals, and that the processor is configured to: control the radiofrequency front-end circuit to carry out the sensing operation using all the available receive paths or a subset of the available receive paths based on the privacy requirements associated with the sensing operation. The features of this paragraph in combination with any one of examples one to twenty -three provide a twenty -fourth example.

[0037] The electronic device may optionally further include a physical switch operable to assume a plurality of switching states, wherein the physical switch is configured such that in at least one switching state the physical switch at least partially blocks transmission and / or reception of radiofrequency signals at the radiofrequency front-end circuit. The features of this paragraph in combination with any one of examples one to twenty -four provide a twenty-fifth example.

[0038] The electronic device may optionally further include that the physical switch is operable to at least partially block one or more antennas of the radiofrequency front-end circuit.[P97831]The features of this paragraph in combination with the twenty-fifth example provide a twenty-sixth example.

[0039] The electronic device may optionally further include that the processor is configured to: receive a first indication of a first sensing operation to be carried out via the radiofrequency front-end circuit; determine first privacy requirements associated with the first sensing operation; and control the radiofrequency front-end circuit to carry out the first sensing operation using a first operating configuration that fulfills the first privacy requirements associated with the first sensing operation; receive a second indication of a second sensing operation to be carried out via the radiofrequency front-end circuit; determine second privacy requirements associated with the second sensing operation; and control the radiofrequency front-end circuit to carry out the second sensing operation using a second operating configuration that fulfills the second privacy requirements associated with the second sensing operation, wherein the first sensing operation is different from the second sensing operation, and wherein the first operating configuration is different from the second operating configuration. The features of this paragraph in combination with any one of examples one to twenty-six provide a twenty-seventh example.

[0040] The electronic device may optionally further include that the radiofrequency front-end is configured to enable radar sensing and / or communication via transmission and reception of radiofrequency signals. The features of this paragraph in combination with any one of examples one to twenty-seven provide a twenty-eighth example.

[0041] The electronic device may optionally further include that the electronic device is a user equipment. The features of this paragraph in combination with any one of examples one to twenty-eight provide a twenty -ninth example.

[0042] The electronic device may optionally further include that the electronic device is a base station. The features of this paragraph in combination with any one of examples one to twenty -nine provide a thirtieth example.

[0043] According to various aspects, a method of operating an electronic device is provided, wherein the electronic device includes a radiofrequency front-end circuit including a plurality of hardware components configured to enable transmission and reception of radiofrequency signals, wherein the radiofrequency front-end circuit is configured to operate in a plurality of operating configurations, wherein each operating configuration has a respective set of operating parameters for the hardware components of the radiofrequency front-end circuit, wherein the method includes: receiving an indication of a sensing operation to be carried out via the radiofrequency front-end circuit; determining (e.g., identifying) privacy requirements[P97831]associated with the sensing operation; and controlling the radiofrequency front-end circuit to carry out the sensing operation using an operating configuration that fulfills the privacy requirements associated with the sensing operation. The features of this paragraph provide a thirty-first example.

[0044] The method may optionally further include that for each operating configuration the respective set of operating parameters for the hardware components defines performance parameters obtainable for the sensing operation, and that the method includes controlling the radiofrequency front-end circuit to carry out the sensing operation using the operating configuration that defines performance parameters that fulfill the privacy requirements associated with the sensing operation. The features of this paragraph in combination with the thirty -first example provide a thirty-second example.

[0045] The method may optionally further include controlling the radiofrequency front-end circuit to carry out the sensing operation using the operating configuration that fulfills the privacy requirements associated with the sensing operation and that provides minimum performance parameters for successfully carrying out the sensing operation. The features of this paragraph in combination with the thirty-second example provide a thirty-third example.

[0046] The method may optionally further include that the performance parameters obtainable for the sensing operation include one or more performance parameters for a transmission of radiofrequency signals and / or one or more performance parameters for a reception of radiofrequency signals. The features of this paragraph in combination with the thirty-second example or the thirty -third example provide a thirty-fourth example.

[0047] The method may optionally further include that the performance parameters obtainable for the sensing operation include one or more of: a resolution, an accuracy, a throughput, a noise level, an error rate, and / or combinations thereof. The features of this paragraph in combination with any one of examples thirty-one to thirty-four provide a thirty -fifth example.

[0048] The method may optionally further include that the performance parameters obtainable for the sensing operation include one or more of: a range accuracy, an angle of arrival accuracy, a time of arrival accuracy, a velocity accuracy, a localization accuracy, a target identification accuracy, a bit error rate, a latency, a signal-to-noise ratio, and / or combinations thereof. The features of this paragraph in combination with the thirty-fifth example provide a thirty-sixth example.

[0049] The method may optionally further include that the sensing operation includes one or more of: presence detection, movement detection, velocity detection, tracking, face recognition, object classification, detection of vital signs, and / or combinations thereof. The features of this[P97831]paragraph in combination with any one of examples thirty-one to thirty-six provide a thirty-seventh example.

[0050] The method may optionally further include that the sensing operation is a radar sensing operation. The features of this paragraph in combination with any one of examples thirty-one to thirty-seven provide a thirty-eighth example.

[0051] The method may optionally further include controlling the radiofrequency front-end circuit to inject noise in a transmit signal and / or in a receive signal associated with the sensing operation based on the privacy requirements associated with the sensing operation. The features of this paragraph in combination with any one of examples thirty-one to thirty-eight provide a thirty-ninth example.

[0052] The method may optionally further include determining the privacy requirements associated with the sensing operation based on a user defined privacy policy. The features of this paragraph in combination with any one of examples thirty-one to thirty-nine provide a fortieth example.

[0053] The method may optionally further include that the operating parameters of the hardware components include one or more of: a bandwidth, a modulation, an amplification, a frequency, a transmit power, a receiver gain, a receiver linearity, a processing time, a processing latency, and / or combinations thereof. The features of this paragraph in combination with any one of examples thirty-one to forty provide a forty-first example.

[0054] The method may optionally further include that the hardware components include an amplifier and the operating parameters include a gain of the amplifier, wherein optionally the amplifier includes a power amplifier in a transmit path of the radiofrequency front-end circuit and / or a low-noise amplifier in a receive path of the radiofrequency front-end circuit. The features of this paragraph in combination with any one of examples thirty-one to forty-one provide a forty-second example.

[0055] The method may optionally further include that the hardware components include a frequency converter and the operating parameters include an output frequency of the frequency converter. The features of this paragraph in combination with any one of examples thirty-one to forty -two provide a forty -third example.

[0056] The method may optionally further include that the hardware components include an analog-to-digital converter and the operating parameters include a sampling rate of the analog-to-digital converter, and / or that the hardware components include a digital-to-analog converter and the operating parameters include a sampling rate of the digital-to-analog converter. The[P97831]features of this paragraph in combination with any one of examples thirty-one to forty-three provide a forty-fourth example.

[0057] The method may optionally further include that the hardware components include a filter and the operating parameters include a frequency bandwidth of the filter. The features of this paragraph in combination with any one of examples thirty-one to forty-four provide a forty-fifth example.

[0058] The method may optionally further include that the hardware components include one or more antennas and the operating parameters include a gain of the one or more antennas, wherein optionally the one or more antennas are shared between the transmit path and the receive path of the radiofrequency front-end circuit. The features of this paragraph in combination with any one of examples thirty-one to forty-five provide a forty-sixth example.

[0059] The method may optionally further include that the hardware components include a phased antenna array and the operating parameters include a phase pattern for the phased antenna array. The features of this paragraph in combination with any one of examples thirty-one to forty-six provide a forty-seventh example.

[0060] The method may optionally further include that the method is carried out in a trusted execution environment of the electronic device. The features of this paragraph in combination with any one of examples thirty-one to forty-seven provide a forty-eighth example.

[0061] The method may optionally further include receiving a request from an application running on of the electronic device, the request including the indication of the sensing operation to be carried out and target performance parameters to be provided for the sensing operation; verifying whether the application that issued the request has permission to obtain a result of the sensing operation carried out with the target performance parameters; and controlling the radiofrequency front-end circuit to carry out the sensing operation based on a result of the verification. The features of this paragraph in combination with the forty-eighth example provide a forty-ninth example.

[0062] The method may optionally further include receiving input from a user of the electronic device via a secure input / output interface and providing output to the user of the electronic device via the secure input / output interface, wherein optionally the secure input / output interface is a secure graphic user interface. The features of this paragraph in combination with the forty-eighth example or the forty-ninth example provide a fiftieth example.

[0063] The method may optionally further include providing an indication to the user, via the secure input / output interface, of the current operating configuration of the radiofrequency front-[P97831]end circuit. The features of this paragraph in combination with the fiftieth example provide a fifty-first example.

[0064] The method may optionally further include receiving, via the secure input / output interface, the user-defined privacy policy to be adopted for carrying out sensing operations via the radiofrequency front-end circuit. The features of this paragraph in combination with the fiftieth example or the fifty-first example provide a fifty-second example.

[0065] The method may optionally further include that the radiofrequency front-end circuit includes a plurality of transmit paths available for transmitting radiofrequency signals, and that the method includes controlling the radiofrequency front-end circuit to carry out the sensing operation using all the available transmit paths or a subset of the available transmit paths based on the privacy requirements associated with the sensing operation. The features of this paragraph in combination with any one of examples thirty-one to fifty -two provide a fifty-third example.

[0066] The method may optionally further include that the radiofrequency front-end circuit includes a plurality of receive paths available for receiving radiofrequency signals, and that that the method includes controlling the radiofrequency front-end circuit to carry out the sensing operation using all the available receive paths or a subset of the available receive paths based on the privacy requirements associated with the sensing operation. The features of this paragraph in combination with any one of examples thirty-one to fifty-three provide a fifty-fourth example.

[0067] The method may optionally further include that the electronic device includes a physical switch operable to assume a plurality of switching states, wherein the physical switch is configured such that in at least one switching state the physical switch at least partially blocks transmission and / or reception of radiofrequency signals at the radiofrequency front-end circuit. The features of this paragraph in combination with any one of examples thirty-one to fifty-four provide a fifty-fifth example.

[0068] The method may optionally further include that the physical switch is operable to at least partially block one or more antennas of the radiofrequency front-end circuit. The features of this paragraph in combination with the fifty-fifth example provide a fifty-sixth example.

[0069] The method may optionally further include receiving a first indication of a first sensing operation to be carried out via the radiofrequency front-end circuit; determining first privacy requirements associated with the first sensing operation; and controlling the radiofrequency front-end circuit to carry out the first sensing operation using a first operating configuration that fulfills the first privacy requirements associated with the first sensing operation; receiving a[P97831]second indication of a second sensing operation to be carried out via the radiofrequency frontend circuit; determining second privacy requirements associated with the second sensing operation; and controlling the radiofrequency front-end circuit to carry out the second sensing operation using a second operating configuration that fulfills the second privacy requirements associated with the second sensing operation, wherein the first sensing operation is different from the second sensing operation, and wherein the first operating configuration is different from the second operating configuration. The features of this paragraph in combination with any one of examples thirty-one to fifty-six provide a fifty-seventh example.

[0070] The method may optionally further include that the radiofrequency front-end is configured to enable radar sensing and / or communication via transmission and reception of radiofrequency signals. The features of this paragraph in combination with any one of examples thirty-one to fifty-seven provide a fifty-eighth example.

[0071] The method may optionally further include that the electronic device is a user equipment. The features of this paragraph in combination with any one of examples thirty-one to fifty-eight provide a fifty-ninth example.

[0072] The method may optionally further include that the electronic device is a base station. The features of this paragraph in combination with any one of examples thirty-one to fifty-nine provide a sixtieth example.

[0073] FIG.1A shows an electronic device 100 including a radiofrequency front-end circuit 102 and a processor 104, in a schematic representation according to various aspects of the present disclosure. As will be described in further detail below, the electronic device 100 is generally configured according to the privacy-preserving approach proposed herein. It is understood that the representation of the electronic device 100 is simplified for the purpose of illustrating the relevant aspects of the present disclosure, and that the electronic device 100 may include additional components with respect to those shown (e.g., a power source, a communication interface, further processors, and the like).

[0074] In general, the electronic device 100 may be for use in a communication network, e.g., at the user-side or at the network-side. The electronic device 100 may be a mobile or immobile device capable of communicating with other devices. As an example, the electronic device 100 may be a wireless communication device, e.g., the electronic device 100 may be a user equipment (UE), such as a mobile phone, a laptop, a tablet, a wearable device, and the like. As another example, the electronic device 100 may be a network-side device configured to provide an access network, e.g., the electronic device 100 may be a base station or an access point. The[P97831]electronic device 100 may be configured as any suitable type of base station, such as NodeB, evolved NodeB (eNB), New Radio NodeB (gNB), as examples.

[0075] The electronic device 100 includes a radiofrequency front-end circuit 102 that includes a plurality of hardware components 106 configured to enable transmission and reception of radiofrequency signals 108. Illustratively, the radiofrequency front-end circuit 102 may include a plurality of hardware components 106 configured to generate radiofrequency signals 108 for transmission over a transmission medium (e.g., air), and configured to receive radiofrequency signals 108 over the transmission medium. The radiofrequency front-end circuit 102 may thus be configured for handling and processing the radiofrequency signals 108.

[0076] In this regard, the radiofrequency front-end circuit 102 may include any suitable hardware component 106 to carry out transmission and reception of radiofrequency signals 108. The general configuration and the general hardware of a radiofrequency front-end circuit are known in the art, and the privacy-preserving approach of the present disclosure is not limited to a specific configuration or to a specific set of hardware components. Examples of hardware components 106 of the radiofrequency front-end circuit 102 will be discussed in further detail in relation to FIG.2A to FIG.2F.

[0077] In a preferred configuration, the radiofrequency front-end circuit 102 may be configured to carry out both radiofrequency sensing (e.g., radar sensing) and communication via transmission and reception of radiofrequency signals. Illustratively, in a preferred configuration the electronic device 100 may be configured as an IS AC device. It is however understood that in other aspects the radiofrequency front-end circuit 102 may be dedicated just to radiofrequency sensing (e.g., radar sensing).

[0078] In this regard, the term “radiofrequency sensing” may describe the use of radiofrequency signals to detect, measure, or monitor physical, environmental, or object-related characteristics. “Radiofrequency sensing” may thus include the transmission (in other words, the emission) of RF signals into the environment, and the reception of reflected or scattered RF signals after an interaction with objects or surfaces in the environment. An assessment of the differences between the transmitted RF signals and the received RF signals provides information about the environment, such as the presence of an object, a distance to the object, a movement of the object, an environmental condition (e.g., temperature), a vital parameter, and the like. The term “radio sensing” or “radio-based sensing” may be used in an analogous manner as the term “radiofrequency sensing”.

[0079] In particular, “radiofrequency sensing” may include “radar sensing” when the radiofrequency signals are used for detecting objects (e.g., animate or inanimate objects) and[P97831]their characteristics such as position, shape, velocity, and the like. The detection may be based on analyzing the time it takes for the transmitted signals to be received back, and / or on a shift in the frequency of the radiofrequency signals, and / or on a shift in the phase of the radiofrequency signals, or any other suitable property.

[0080] In general, the privacy-preserving approach of the present disclosure is not limited to a specific communication standard, so that the radiofrequency front-end circuit 102 may be configured according to any suitable radio communication standard, existing or not yet formulated. Illustratively, the hardware components 106 of the radiofrequency front-end circuit 102 may be configured to transmit and receive radiofrequency signals 108 according to the set of rules and parameters defined by any suitable radio communication standard.

[0081] As mentioned above, 6G networks may represent the most relevant use case for the privacy-preserving approach of the present disclosure. In a preferred configuration, the radiofrequency front-end circuit 102 (and accordingly, the hardware components 106) may be configured according to the communication standard defined by the 6G Generation Partnership Project. It is however understood that the radiofrequency front-end circuit 102 may be configured according to any other communication standard, such as one or more Wide Area Network radio communication standards (e.g., 4G, or 5G) or one or more Local Area Network radio communication standards (e.g., WiFi radio communication standards such as one or more IEEE 802.11 standards, e.g. IEEE 802.11g or IEEE 802.1 la or IEEE 802.1 In or IEEE 802.1 lac or IEEE 802.1 lax or IEEE 802.1 lad or IEEE 802.11 ah or IEEE 802.1 Ibe or IEEE 802.1 Ibf or IEEE 802.11 ay).

[0082] According to the proposed approach, the radiofrequency front-end circuit 102 may be reconfigurable. Illustratively, the radiofrequency front-end circuit 102 may be configured to operate in a plurality of (different) operating configurations. Each operating configuration may have a respective set of operating parameters for the hardware components 106 of the radiofrequency front-end circuit 102. As will be discussed in further detail below, the radiofrequency front-end circuit 102 may be dynamically reconfigured for privacy-preserving purposes.

[0083] In this regard, the term “operating parameter” may describe any measurable and controllable characteristic of a hardware component that influences the behavior of the hardware component in the processing of radiofrequency signals. Reconfigurable operating parameters will be discussed in further detail in relation to FIG.2A to FIG.2F. Illustratively, each operating configuration may define a respective set of operating parameters according to which the hardware components 106 operate. In an operating configuration, each hardware[P97831]component 106 may carry out its function for transmission / reception of RF signals (e.g., amplification, filtering, mixing, etc.) according to the operating parameter(s) that the operating configuration defines for that hardware component 106.

[0084] Stated differently, the radiofrequency front-end circuit 102 may be operable to control the hardware components 106 (e.g., at least one hardware component 106, e.g., each hardware components 106) to assume one operating configuration among a plurality of operating configurations, and to carry out its function in the context of transmission and / or reception of radiofrequency signals 108 according to the selected operating configuration.

[0085] The radiofrequency front-end circuit 102 may thus be configured (e.g., operable, controllable) to assume a first operating configuration in which the hardware components 106 function according to a first set of operating parameters, a second operating configuration in which the hardware components 106 function according to a second set of operating parameters, a third operating configuration in which the hardware components 106 function according to a third set of operating parameters, etc.

[0086] The operating configurations are different from one another, so that selecting an operating configuration causes a change in at least one operating parameter of at least one hardware component 106 with respect to another operating configuration. Illustratively, at least one operating parameter of the first set of operating parameters may be different from a corresponding operating parameter of the second set of operating parameters, from a corresponding operating parameter of the third set of operating parameters, etc. Selecting different operating configuration causes thus a corresponding change in the transmission and reception of radiofrequency signals 108 (illustratively, a corresponding change in at least one processing step, e.g., in one or more of amplification, filtering, mixing, etc.), as will be discussed in further detail below.

[0087] The reconfigurability of the radiofrequency front-end circuit 102 allows for a dynamic adaptation of the transmitted RF signals 108, and thus allows for a tailoring of the operation of the radiofrequency front-end circuit 102 to preserve privacy requirements.

[0088] The electronic device 100 further includes a processor 104 configured to control the radiofrequency front-end circuit 102 according to the privacy-preserving approach of the present disclosure. For example, the electronic device 100 may include the processor 104 and a memory 110 communicatively coupled with one another. The memory 110 may be configured to store instructions (e.g., software instructions, program code) to be executed by the processor 104. The instructions may be configured to cause the processor 104 to perform an adapted method 150 of privacy-preserving sensing, described in further detail below. Aspects described[P97831]with respect to a configuration of the processor 104 may also apply to the method 150, and vice versa.

[0089] A configuration of the processor 104 to carry out a certain function may correspond to a respective step of the method 150, and a step of the method 150 may correspond to a respective configuration of the processor 104 to carry out a certain function that results in the method step. It is understood that the processor 104 may include a single processor (e.g., a single circuit) configured to carry out the method 150, or may include a plurality of processors (e.g., sub-processors, or sub-circuits) each configured to carry out one or more steps of the method 150.

[0090] According to the proposed privacy -preserving approach, the processor 104 may be configured to receive an indication of a sensing operation 152 to be carried out via the radiofrequency front-end circuit 102. Illustratively, the processor 104 may receive a notification that a sensing operation 152 should be performed using the radiofrequency front-end circuit 102. Stated differently, the processor 104 may receive a message containing information representative of the sensing operation 152 to be carried out via transmission and reception of radiofrequency signals 108 by the radiofrequency front-end circuit 102.

[0091] In this regard, the sensing operation 152 may include any suitable type of sensing based on radiofrequency signals, illustratively any suitable type of radiofrequency sensing. The sensing operation 152 may thus be any suitable radiofrequency sensing operation, e.g., the sensing operation 152 may be a radar sensing operation.

[0092] As examples, the sensing operation 152 may include detection of an object in the environment, e.g., presence detection to determine whether an object (e.g., a person) is present or not in the environment, movement detection to determine whether the object is moving (and its direction), velocity detection to determine the speed of motion of the object, and the like. As another example, the sensing operation 152 may include a tracking operation to follow a variation in spatial coordinates of an object (in the real -world), e.g., gesture tracking, object tracking, and the like. As a further example, the sensing operation 152 may include a recognition operation, e.g., a face recognition to detect the face of a user of the electronic device 100, a classification to assign an object to a corresponding class (e.g., animal, person, vehicle, etc.). As a further example, the sensing operation 152 may include a detection of health-related parameters, e.g., a detection of vital signs, such as a heart rate, a breath rate, a blood pressure, a breathing pattern, and the like.

[0093] The processor 104 is further configured to determine privacy requirements 154 associated with the sensing operation 152. The “privacy requirements” for a sensing operation[P97831]may include a set of conditions and constraints to be respected when carrying out the sensing operation to ensure that the privacy of individuals that may be present in the environment is respected. Illustratively, the “privacy requirements” for a sensing operation may include a set of requirements to be met by the sensing operation to ensure that the collection of information via the transmission / reception of RF signals preserves the privacy of individuals that may be present in the environment in / from which the RF signals are transmitted / received. Stated differently, the processor 104 may be configured to determine privacy requirements 154 to be met (in other words, fulfilled) by the sensing operation 152. In various embodiments, “privacy requirements” relate to individuals that are present in the environment in / from which the RF signals are transmitted / received. In other words, “privacy requirements” may be requirements to be met by the sensing operation to ensure that the collection of information via the transmission / reception of RF signals preserves the privacy of individuals that may be present in the environment in / from which the RF signals are transmitted / received.

[0094] In this regard, the processor 104 may determine the privacy requirements 154 in any suitable manner. In some aspects, the processor 104 may identify the privacy requirements 154 based on the sensing operation 152, e.g., the processor 104 may retrieve from the memory 110 the privacy requirements 154 stored in association with the sensing operation 152 (e.g., as a database, e.g., as a look-up table). In other aspects, the processor 104 may be configured to establish (in other words, to set) the privacy requirements 154 for the sensing operation 152, e.g., based on a general policy to be followed, based on existing privacy regulations, or in general based on any suitable condition or constraint.

[0095] According to the proposed approach, the processor 104 is further configured to control the radiofrequency front-end circuit 102 to carry out the sensing operation 152 using an operating configuration 156 that fulfills the privacy requirements 154. Illustratively, the processor 104 may be configured to control the hardware components 106 of the radiofrequency front-end circuit 102 to operate according to operating parameters that fulfill the privacy requirements 154 of the sensing operation 152 for carrying out the sensing operation 152.

[0096] Stated in a different fashion, the processor 104 may be configured to cause the radiofrequency front-end circuit 102 to transmit and receive radiofrequency signals 108 for carrying out the sensing operation 152 using operating parameters of the hardware components 106 that ensure that the privacy requirements 154 associated with the sensing operation 152 are respected (in other words, not contravened).

[0097] According to various aspects, the set of operating parameters for the hardware components 106 of a certain operating configuration 156 may define performance parameters[P97831]obtainable for the sensing operation 152. Illustratively, the hardware components 106 operating according to the set of operating parameters cause the transmission / reception of the RF signals 108 to happen with corresponding performance parameters (which fulfill the privacy requirements 154).

[0098] The operating parameters and the corresponding influence on the performance parameters will be discussed in further detail in relation to FIG.2A to FIG.2F. In brief, controlling the operation of the hardware components 106 in terms of frequency, amplification, sampling rate, etc., has a corresponding influence on parameters of the sensing operation 152 such as range, penetration depth, resolution, accuracy, etc., so that acting on the operating parameters ensures that the corresponding performance parameters do not violate the privacy requirements 154.

[0099] As an example, considering presence detection as sensing operation 152, selecting suitable operating parameters ensures that the result of the sensing is limited to detecting presence / absence of a person in a room, and does not collect further data about the person, such as their heart rate. As a further example, considering movement tracking as sensing operation 152, selecting suitable operating parameters ensures that the result of the sensing is limited to following the movement of the person in the environment, and does not collect further data, such as abnormalities in their behavior, etc. As a further example, considering face recognition as sensing operation 152, selecting suitable operating parameters ensures that the result of the sensing is limited to recognizing an object generically as “human face” without collecting more specific data about the physiognomy of the face.

[0100] The processor 104 may thus be configured to control the radiofrequency front-end circuit 102 to carry out the sensing operation 152 using the operating configuration 156 that defines performance parameters that fulfill the privacy requirements 154 associated with the sensing operation 152 (illustratively, the operating configuration 156 that causes the radiofrequency front-end circuit 102 to carry out the sensing operation 152 in such a way that performance parameters that fulfill the privacy requirements 154 are obtained).

[0101] In this regard, the performance parameters obtainable for the sensing operation 152 may include any suitable type of parameter which may have an influence on the extent and the scope of the data collection. In general, the performance parameters influenced by the choice of operating configuration 156 (and corresponding choice of operating parameters) are related to the transmission and / or reception of RF signals 108. The performance parameters may thus include in general a resolution, an accuracy, a noise level, a range, a penetration depth, and / or[P97831]any other suitable performance parameter that may be controlled via controlling the hardware components 106 and that may extend or limit the scope of the sensing operation 152.

[0102] The specific performance parameters to be controlled may depend on the type of sensing operation 152 to be carried out (e.g., distance measurement, presence detection, etc.). As more specific examples, the performance parameters may include a range accuracy (e.g., an accuracy with which a distance from an object is measured), an angle of arrival accuracy (e.g., an accuracy with which the angle of arrival of a reflected RF signal is measured), a time of arrival accuracy (e.g., an accuracy with which the time of arrival of a reflected RF signal is measured), a velocity accuracy (e.g., an accuracy with which the velocity of a moving object is measured), a localization accuracy (e.g., an accuracy with which the position of an object is measured), a target identification accuracy (e.g., an accuracy with which an object is classified or recognized), a bit error rate, a latency, a signal-to-noise ratio, and / or combinations thereof.

[0103] As other examples, the performance parameters may include a range resolution, an angle of arrival resolution, a time of arrival resolution, a velocity resolution, a localization resolution, a doppler resolution, an azimuth resolution, a probability of detection (e.g., a probability of success for the detection of a target), and the like.

[0104] By way of illustration, the performance parameters may be understood as key performance indicators (KPI) of the sensing operation 152, which are controlled by selecting a corresponding operating configuration 156 for the hardware components 106 of the radiofrequency front-end circuit 102. The approach proposed herein may thus be understood as a reconfigurable hardware of a radiofrequency front-end circuit for KPI control to ensure a privacy-preserving sensing.

[0105] Although preserving the privacy is the main purpose of selecting a certain operating configuration 156, it is understood that the sensing operation 152 should be carried out in a manner that ensures that it delivers a meaningful result. In other words, the processor 104 may select the operating configuration 156 that ensures both that the privacy requirements 154 are fulfilled and that the result of the sensing operation 152 provides the information for which the sensing operation 152 is designed.

[0106] In various aspects, the processor 104 may thus be configured to control the radiofrequency front-end circuit 102 to carry out the sensing operation 152 using an operating configuration 156 that fulfills the privacy requirements 154 and further provides minimum performance parameters for successfully carrying out the sensing operation 152. Illustratively, the operating configuration 156 may ensure that the sensing operation 152 is carried out with a sufficient range, a sufficient noise level, a sufficient resolution, etc., such that a desired outcome[P97831]of the sensing operation 152 is achieved (in other words, that the objective of the sensing operation 152 is fulfilled).

[0107] Although the operation of the electronic device 100 has been described in FIG.1A in relation to one sensing operation 152 it is understood that the proposed approach may be implemented for a plurality of (different) sensing operations 152 that are carried out via the radiofrequency front-end circuit 102. In this regard, the processor 104 may receive a corresponding indication for each sensing operation to be carried out, may determine the respective privacy requirements, and may control the radiofrequency front-end circuit 102 to carry out the sensing operation using a corresponding operating configuration 156.

[0108] As an example, the processor 104 may receive a first indication of a first sensing operation, determine first privacy requirements associated with the first sensing operation, and control the radiofrequency front-end circuit to carry out the first sensing operation using a first operating configuration that fulfills the first privacy requirements. The processor 104 may further receive (e.g., at a later time point), a second indication of a second sensing operation, determine second privacy requirements associated with the second sensing operation, and control the radiofrequency front-end circuit to carry out the second sensing operation using a second operating configuration that fulfills the second privacy requirements. The same may apply to a third sensing operation with third privacy requirements, a fourth sensing operation with fourth privacy requirements, etc.

[0109] Considering different types of sensing operations, the respective privacy requirements and accordingly the respective operating configuration may differ. For example, considering a first sensing operation of a first type (e.g., presence detection), and a second sensing operation of a second type (e.g., face recognition), the respective first and second privacy requirements may be different (e.g., may defined at least one different performance parameter, such as a different range, or a different resolution, or the like). Accordingly the first operating configuration used for the first sensing operation and the second operating configuration used for the second sensing operation may differ in at least one operating parameter (or in more than one operating parameter, or in each operating parameter) to fulfill the respective privacy requirements.

[0110] According to various aspects, as illustrated in FIG.1B for a configuration 150b of the method, the processor 104 may determine the privacy requirements 154 to be applied for carrying out the sensing operation 152 based on a user-defined privacy policy 158. The user-defined privacy policy 158 may include a set of rules or parameters defined by the user of the electronic device 100, and the rules or parameters represent the desired privacy requirements[P97831]to be fulfilled by a sensing operation 152. For example, as will be described in further detail in relation to FIG. ID, the sensing operation 152 may be instructed by a software application of the electronic device 100, and the user-defined privacy policy 158 may describe which type of information the software application should have access to.

[0111] Illustratively, the user-defined privacy policy 158 may include constraints to be met by a sensing operation 152 (e.g., according to respective constraints for a corresponding application), and the processor 104 may determine the privacy requirements 154 and corresponding operating configuration 156 that satisfy the user-defined privacy policy 158. As an exemplary configuration, the user-defined privacy policy 158 may be stored in the memory 110, and the processor 104 may retrieve / consult the user-defined privacy policy 158 upon receiving the indication of the sensing operation 152 to be carried out to verify which privacy requirements 154 to apply.

[0112] According to various aspects, as illustrated in FIG.1C for a configuration 150c of the method, the processor 104 may be configured to control the radiofrequency front-end circuit 102 to add noise 160 to the RF signals 108. For example, the processor 104 may control the hardware components 106 in the transmit path to inject noise 160 in a transmit signal for carrying out the sensing operation 152. As another example, additionally or alternatively, the processor 104 may control the hardware components 106 in the receive path to inject noise 160 in a receive signal for carrying out the sensing operation 152.

[0113] The processor 104 may cause the radiofrequency front-end circuit 102 to add noise to the sensing operation 152 such that the privacy requirements 154 are fulfilled. Illustratively, adding noise 160 may limit the performance of the sensing operation 152, e.g., may cause a reduction in corresponding performance parameters, such as range, resolution, accuracy etc., in such a way that the privacy requirements 154 are met. Adding the noise 160 may thus further ensure that privacy is preserved.

[0114] According to various aspects, as illustrated in FIG.1D, the electronic device 100 may include one or more software applications 170 installed thereon (e.g., a first application 170-1, a second application 170-2, ... , a N-th application 170-N). The term “software application” may be used as generally known in the art to describe a computer program that is configured to carry out a specific task other than one relating to the operation of the computer itself. The software applications 170 may be running on the electronic device 100, e.g., a user of the electronic device 100 may open a respective software application 170 to carry out the corresponding functionality. For example, the software applications 170 may be stored in the memory 110.[P97831]

[0115] In this regard, a software application 170 may request a corresponding sensing operation to be carried out via the radiofrequency front-end circuit 102. As an example, an application 170 may request a face recognition to authenticate the user of the electronic device 100 and authorize a certain operation (e.g., for banking purposes, for reading a password, etc.). As another example, an application 170 may request a tracking operation to follow the movement of the user or of a hand of the user, e.g., for gaming purposes, and the like.

[0116] The processor 104 may thus receive the indication that a sensing operation 152 is to be carried out when an application 170 is requesting that sensing operation 152. For example, the processor 104 may receive the indication directly from the corresponding application 170. The application 170 may also indicate target performance parameters to be provided for the sensing operation 152, illustratively minimum performance parameters to obtain a meaningful result for the task of the application 170. The processor 104 may thus control the radiofrequency front-end circuit 102 to carry out the requested sensing operation using an operating configuration that fulfills the privacy requirements 154 (e.g., set by the user-defined privacy policy for that application 170), and that fulfills the target performance parameters set by the application 170.

[0117] In various aspects, the processor 104 may further verify whether the application requesting the sensing has permission to obtain the results, e.g., whether the application 170 has permission to access the type of information collected by a type of sensing operation as the one requested. Furthermore, the processor 104 may verify whether the application 170 has permission to obtain a result of a sensing operation having the indicated target performance parameters. Illustratively, the processor 104 may verify whether the application 170 is authorized to request collecting data with the target performance parameters, e.g., with the target range, target resolution, target accuracy, etc. The processor 104 may thus verify whether carrying out the sensing operation with the target performance parameters would infringe the privacy requirements for that sensing operation (and / or the constraints for that application 170).

[0118] Stated differently, the processor 104 may carry out a preliminary verification whether the sensing operation may be carried out as requested. The processor 104 may then control the radiofrequency front-end circuit 102 according to the result of the verification. For example, in case of positive verification the processor 104 may control the radiofrequency front-end circuit 102 to perform the sensing with the operating configuration that fulfills the privacy requirements and further fulfills the target performance parameters. In case of negative verification the processor 104 may control the radiofrequency front-end circuit 102 to perform the sensing with another operating configuration that fulfills the privacy requirements without[P97831]fulfilling the target performance parameters (but rather fulfilling “less invasive” performance parameters).

[0119] According to various aspects, the processor 104 may receive the result of the performed sensing operation from the radiofrequency front-end circuit 102, e.g., the processor 104 may receive signals representing the data collected via the radiofrequency front-end circuit 102 during the sensing operation 152. For example, the processor 104 may then deliver the results to the application 170 that requested the sensing operation.

[0120] As mentioned above, the radiofrequency front-end circuit 102 may have any suitable configuration known in the art for transmission and reception of RF signals 108, e.g., the radiofrequency front-end circuit 102 may include any suitable combination of hardware components 106 to realize the RF front-end functionality. FIG.2A to FIG.2F show exemplary hardware components for use in a radiofrequency front-end circuit (e.g., in the radiofrequency front-end circuit 102) and an exemplary configuration of a radiofrequency front-end circuit (e.g., of the radiofrequency front-end circuit 102). The aspects discussed in relation to FIG.2A to FIG.2F illustrate a possible realization of the privacy-preserving approach of the present disclosure. It is however understood that a radiofrequency front-end circuit controlled according to the proposed approach may include additional, fewer, or alternative hardware components with respect to those shown.

[0121] In general, a radiofrequency front-end circuit may include a transmit path for transmitting RF signals, and a receive path for receiving RF signals. The transmit path may include hardware components dedicated to signal processing for transmission, e.g., including converting a digital transmit signal into an analog transmit signal, signal amplification, frequency conversion from baseband to radiofrequency, filtering to remove undesired frequency components from the signal, and the like. In a corresponding manner, the receive path may include hardware components dedicated to signal processing for reception, e.g., including signal amplification, frequency conversion from radiofrequency to baseband, filtering to remove undesired frequency components from the received signal, converting the analog receive signal into a digital receive signal, and the like. A “transmit path” may also be referred to herein as “transmitter path”, “transmitter side”, or “transmit chain”, and a “receive path” may also be referred to herein as “receiver path”, “receiver side”, or “receive chain”. The term “TX” may be used to refer to the transmitter side of the radiofrequency front-end circuit, and the term “RX” may be used to refer to the receiver side of the radiofrequency front-end circuit- 100122] An operating configuration of the radiofrequency front-end circuit may define operating parameters for the hardware components in both the transmit path and the receive[P97831]path. For example, the operating parameters of the hardware components may include frequency-related components, such as a bandwidth, a frequency, or a frequency modulation. Acting on the frequency of the transmitted / received RF signals has an influence on the resolution (e.g., higher frequency signal may provide better spatial resolution), on the penetration capability (e.g., lower frequency signals penetrate more and are less absorbed compared to high frequency signals), on the atmospheric absorption (e.g., higher frequency signals are more susceptible to attenuation), as examples.

[0123] As another example, the operating parameters of the hardware components may include power-related components, such as an amplification, a transmit power, a receiver gain, and the like. Acting on the power of the transmitted / received RF signals has an influence on the range of detection (e.g., higher power signals may have a longer range), on the signal -to-noise ratio (e.g., higher power signals may have higher SNR), on the resolution and accuracy (e.g., higher power may lead to stronger signals with higher resolution and accuracy), penetration capability (e.g., higher power may increase the penetration depth of the RF signals), as examples.

[0124] As a further example, the operating parameters of the hardware components may include processing-related parameters, such as a receiver linearity, a processing time, or a processing latency. For example, a lower processing time may lead to a lower accuracy for the measurement, e.g., reducing the number of cycles over which a signal is integrated. A lower receiver linearity may introduce distortions in the measurement, thus limiting the range and sensitivity. As a further example, an increased processing latency may reduce the precision of a measurement (e.g., of a tracking operation, or of the determination of a distance).

[0125] With regard to the transmit path, the operating parameters that may be reconfigured at the TX side may include an equivalent isotropic radiated power, and / or a noise floor. In general, the TX characteristics may be strictly regulated by specifications. As a further example, the bandwidth of the transmit path may be reconfigured. Controlling the bandwidth may prevent, for example, malicious hardware giving wideband signal to a power amplifier for sensing, which may be prevented via software (illustratively, via the controls executed by the processor 104). As a further example, the linearity at the transmitter side may be reconfigured, although linearity reconfigurability may be limited as it may affect out of band emissions violating specifications. While reconfiguring SNR and bandwidth may directly impact privacy KPI’s, limiting linearity will limit dynamic range, thus also impacting the KPIs.

[0126] For example, the noise floor of the transmit path and / or receive path may be worsened (e.g., by making a local oscillator of the radiofrequency front-end circuit more noisy). The local[P97831]oscillator may be made more noisy for example by worsening the voltage-controlled oscillator (VCO), or by adjusting the loop bandwidth in a phase-locked loop (PLL).

[0127] With regard to the receive path, the operating parameters that may be reconfigured may include, for example, gain / linearity tunability controls. For example, considering a mixer the gain of the mixer may be increased or decreased by acting on its components such as transistors, resistors, and the like. As a further example, considering a low-noise amplifier (LNA) the gain and linearity may be controlled using biasing conditions. As a further example, frequency tunability controls may be implemented acting on components that are frequency selective, such as variable capacitors (varactors), switched inductors, capacitors, as examples. With regard to bandwidth tunability, it may be realized by means of a tunable filter, or adjusting the clock frequency of an analog-to-digital converter (ADC), as examples. As mentioned, the bandwidth may directly affect the resolution of the sensing operation (e.g., of radar sensing).

[0128] The exemplary hardware components shown in FIG.2A to FIG.2E are generally well known in terms of functionality and realization, so that a detailed description is not provided, with focus being placed on the use of such hardware components in the context of the privacypreserving approach of the present disclosure.

[0129] As an example, as shown in FIG.2A, the hardware components of the radiofrequency front-end circuit may include an amplifier 200. The amplifier 200 may be configured to increase the amplitude of a signal. Illustratively, the amplifier 200 may receive an input signal 202 (e.g., a current or a voltage) and may deliver a corresponding output signal 204 having a greater amplitude (e.g., a greater current or greater voltage). The output signal 204 may thus be a scaled-up version of the input signal 202. In this regard, the operating parameters that may be adjusted for a sensing operation may include a gain of the amplifier 200 (illustratively, an amplification obtained via the amplifier 200, and accordingly a level of the signal), e.g., the gain may be increased / decreased to increase / decrease the performance of the sensing as discussed above.

[0130] For example, at the transmitter side the radiofrequency front-end circuit may include a power amplifier whose gain may be adjusted to increase / decrease the power of the transmitted RF signals. As another example, at the receiver side the radiofrequency front-end circuit may include a low-noise amplifier whose gain may be adjusted to increase / decrease the power of the received RF signals.

[0131] As a further example, as shown in FIG.2B, the hardware components of the radiofrequency front-end circuit may include a mixer 210 (illustratively, a frequency converter). The mixer 210 may be configured to mix a first input signal 212 (e.g., a carrier signal) with a[P97831]second input signal 216 (e.g., a modulation signal, e.g., from a local oscillator of the radiofrequency front-end circuit), and provide a corresponding output signal 214 having as frequency a combination of the frequencies of the input signals 212, 216 (e.g., the output signal may include a first output signal having as frequency the sum of the frequencies and a second output signal having as frequency the difference of the frequencies). In this regard, the operating parameters may include an output frequency of the mixer 210. For example, at the transmitter side the output frequency of the mixer 210 may be the frequency of the transmitted RF signals.

[0132] As a further example, as shown in FIG.2C, the hardware components of the radiofrequency front-end circuit may include an analog-to-digital converter 220 (at the receiver side) and / or a digital-to-analog converter 230 (at the transmitter side). The ADC 220 may receive an analog input signal 222 (illustratively, a continuous signal), and convert the input signal 222 into a digital output signal 224. The ADC 220 may sample the analog input signal 222 at regular intervals (regular sampling times), thus quantifying the amplitude into discrete levels encoded in the digital output signal 224. In a corresponding manner, the DAC 230 may receive a digital input signal 232 and convert it into an analog output signal 234. The DAC 230 may convert digital values encoded in the input signal 232 into corresponding voltage or current values for the output signal 234. In this regard, the operating parameters of the hardware component may include a sampling rate of the ADC and / or a sampling rate of the DAC.

[0133] As a further example, as shown in FIG.2D, the hardware components of the radiofrequency front-end circuit may include a filter 240. The filter 240 may receive an input signal 242 and may be configured to allow certain frequency components of the input signal 242 to pass through (and provide an output signal 244), while blocking (e.g., attenuating) other frequency components. The output signal 244 may thus include frequencies that the filter 240 was configured to let pass through. The filter 240 may be configured, for example, as a high-pass filter, low-pass filter, or band-pass filter. In this regard, the operating parameters may include a frequency bandwidth of the filter 240, e.g., the operating parameters may include the range or ranges of frequencies that the filter 240 let pass through or blocks.

[0134] As a further example, as shown in FIG.2E, the hardware components of the radiofrequency front-end circuit may include one or more antennas 250. The antennas 250 may be part of the radiofrequency front-end circuit, or may be coupled with the radiofrequency front-end circuit. In an exemplary configuration, the one or more antennas 250 may be shared between the transmit path and the receive path. Alternatively, the radiofrequency front-end circuit may include one or more antennas 250 dedicated exclusively to transmission of RF signals, and one or more other antennas 250 dedicated exclusively to reception of RF signals.[P97831]The one or more antennas 250 may have any suitable configuration, e.g., dipole antennas, patch antennas, monopole antennas, yagi-uda antennas, helical antennas, and the like. In this regard, the operating parameters may include a gain of the one or more antennas 250.

[0135] In some aspects, the one or more antennas 250 may form a phased antenna array, thus enabling beamforming of the transmitted / received RF signals by controlling the phase of the signals. In this scenario, the operating parameters may include a phase pattern for the phased antenna array. Illustratively, the operating parameters may include a beamforming configuration for transmitting and / or receiving signals via the phased antenna array.

[0136] FIG.2F shows an exemplary realization of a radiofrequency front-end circuit 260 using the hardware components described in relation to FIG.2A to FIG.2E (e.g., an example of the radiofrequency front-end circuit 102). The radiofrequency front-end circuit 260 may include a transmit path 262 including a DAC 230, a first amplifier 200-1, a first frequency converter 210-1 coupled to a first local oscillator 266, a second amplifier 200-2, a second frequency converter 210-2 coupled to a second local oscillator 268, and a power amplifier 200-3 to deliver a transmit signal at one or more antennas 250 for transmission in the medium (e.g., air).

[0137] The radiofrequency front-end circuit 260 may include a receive path 264 including one or more antennas 250 for receiving RF signals from the medium (e.g., air), a low-noise amplifier 200-4, a third frequency converter 210-3 coupled to the second local oscillator 268 a fifth amplifier 200-5, a fourth frequency converter 210-4 coupled to the first local oscillator 266, a sixth amplifier 200-6, and an ADC 220 to deliver, as output, a digital signal for further processing.

[0138] According to various aspects, as shown schematically in FIG.3A and FIG.3B, the radiofrequency front-end circuit may have more than one path for transmission and / or more than one path for reception.

[0139] For example, as shown in FIG.3 A, a transmit path 300 of the radiofrequency front-end circuit may include a plurality of transmit paths, e.g., a first transmit path 302-1, a second transmit path 302-2,..., a N-th transmit path 302-N. Illustratively, the transmit path 300 may include a plurality of branches for delivering the signal to be transmitted at the antennas of the radiofrequency front-end circuit. In a corresponding manner, as shown in FIG.3B, a receive path 310 of the radiofrequency front-end circuit may include a plurality of receive paths, e.g., a first receive path 312-1, a second receive path 312-2,..., a N-th receive path 312-N. Illustratively, the receive path 310 may include a plurality of branches for delivering the signal received at the antennas of the radiofrequency front-end circuit to the further processing stages.[P97831]

[0140] In this scenario, the transmit paths may have different configurations with respect to another, such that at least one signal property varies for a signal propagating along a transmit path (e.g., the first transmit path 302-1) with respect to a signal propagating along another transmit path (e.g., the second transmit path 302-2). For example, a signal propagating along a transmit path may receive a first amplification, and a signal propagating along another transmit path may receive a second amplification (e.g., to a lower signal level compared to the first amplification). At the output, the signals from different transmit paths may be combined to deliver a single signal for transmission via the antenna(s).

[0141] In a corresponding manner, the receive paths may have different configurations with respect to another, such that at least one signal property varies for a signal propagating along a receive path (e.g., the first receive path 312-1) with respect to a signal propagating along another receive path (e.g., the second receive path 312-2). For example, a signal propagating along a receive path may receive a first amplification, and a signal propagating along another receive path may receive a second amplification (e.g., to a lower signal level compared to the first amplification). At the output, the signals from different receive paths may be combined to deliver a single signal for further processing.

[0142] According to the privacy-preserving approach of the present disclosure, the processor 104 may be configured to control the radiofrequency front-end circuit to carry out the sensing operation using all the available transmit paths 302-1, ...,302-N or only some of the available transmit paths 302-1,.. ,,302-N (illustratively, a subset, i.e. one or more but not all of the available transmit paths 302-1, ...,302-N). Selecting which transmit paths 302-1,.. ,,302-N to use allows for a control of the properties of the transmitted signal based on the configuration of the selected transmit paths 302-1,..., 302-N. For example, an amplification level of the transmitted signal may be tailored selecting a suitable combination of transmit paths that deliver that signal level. For example, one transmit path 312-1,..., 312-N may be configured to attenuate the signal level of the transmitted signal (e.g., via an amplifier with negative gain), and this path may be selected to provide a transmit signal with reduced signal strength to fulfill corresponding privacy requirements.

[0143] In a corresponding manner, the processor 104 may be configured to control the radiofrequency front-end circuit to carry out the sensing operation using all the available receive paths 312-1,. ,.,312-N or only some of the available receive paths 312-1,. ,.,312-N (illustratively, a subset, i.e. one or more but not all of the available receive paths 312-1,. ,.,312-N). Selecting which receive paths 312-1,. ,.,312-N to use for a control of the properties of the receive signal based on the configuration of the selected receive paths[P97831]312-1,. ,.,312-N. For example, an amplification level of the receive signal may be tailored selecting a suitable combination of receive paths that deliver that signal level. For example, one receive path 312-1,..., 312-N may be configured to attenuate the signal level of the receive signal (e.g., via an amplifier with negative gain), and this path may be selected to provide a receive signal with reduced signal strength to fulfill corresponding privacy requirements.

[0144] According to various aspects, as shown in FIG.4A and FIG.4B for a configuration 400 of the electronic device 100, the processor 104 configured to implement the privacypreserving approach may be part of a trusted execution environment 402 of the electronic device 100. Illustratively, the electronic device 100 may include one or more processors outside of the trusted execution environment 402, e.g., to carry out general processing, e.g., to run an operating system of the electronic device. In addition, the electronic device 100 may include the processor 104 within the trusted execution environment 402 for implementing the privacypreserving sensing. In some aspects, also the memory 110 may be part of the trusted execution environment 402.

[0145] As generally known in the art, a trusted execution environment (TEE) is a secure and isolated area configured to ensure integrity of code and data. Illustratively, a TEE 402 may provide a protected space separate from the main operating system of the electronic device 100 for secure execution of operations and for secure storage of data. The TEE 402 may thus be a segregated space, and code and information stored within the TEE 402 may not be modified from the outside, thus preventing unauthorized access and tampering from malicious attackers. The TEE 402 may include hardware-level security mechanism, which enhance the protection of the environment.

[0146] Operating in the TEE 402 ensures that the privacy-preserving sensing is executed without the possibility for malicious users to tamper with the privacy requirements and collect data in an unauthorized manner. Illustratively, the privacy-preserving may be carried out without the possibility of being modified from the outside, so that it is ensured that the sensing is carried out in a manner that preserves the privacy of the individuals in the surrounding of the electronic device 100.

[0147] As shown in FIG.4B, the software applications 170 of the electronic device 100 may be outside of the TEE 402, so that these applications 170 cannot modify the settings of the processor 104 and cannot alter its operation. The processor 104 may thus receive and process the requests from an application 170 as discussed in relation to FIG. ID, without the risk that the application 170 “tricks” the processor 104 into allowing for a sensing operation that exceeds the intended scope of the data collection. Illustratively, the software for the privacy-preserving[P97831]approach running within the TEE 402 ensures that other software components (e.g., the applications 170) cannot manipulate it.

[0148] In some aspects, in addition to the TEE 402, the electronic device 100 may further include a trusted output component, illustratively, a secure input / output interface 404 (also referred to as trusted input / output interface), e.g., a secure graphic user interface (GUI). The trusted output components allow for a signaling of the current status of the radiofrequency front-end circuit 102, without the risk of being influenced by malicious attackers. The processor 104 may thus use the secure input / output interface 404 to receive inputs from the user and to deliver outputs to the user in a secure manner.

[0149] For example, the processor 104 may receive the user-defined privacy policy 158 via the secure input / output interface 404. As another example, the processor 104 may deliver to the user an indication of current operating configuration of the radiofrequency front-end circuit 102 via the input / output interface 404. This way the user may be aware of the capabilities of the current operation of the radiofrequency front-end circuit 102, and may be alerted in case these capabilities exceed the intended operation. In some aspects, the input / output interface 404 may be configured at the output side as a visual indicator (e.g., a light-emitter, such as a LED) signaling the status of the radiofrequency front-end circuit 102 in a visual manner, e.g., by changing color.

[0150] According to various aspects, as shown in FIG.5A and FIG.5B for a configuration 500 of the electronic device 100, the electronic device 100 may further include a physical switch 502. The physical switch 502 may illustratively be a mechanical component of the electronic device 100 that is configured to alter the transmission / reception of RF signals 108 via a physical manipulation. The physical switch 502 may be operable (e.g., by the user of the electronic device 100) to assume a plurality of switching states, e.g., a first state 504a (FIG.5A) and a second state 504b (FIG.5B). The physical switch 502 may also be referred to herein as “hardware switch” (to distinguish from the software switching discussed in relation to the operation of the processor 104).

[0151] The physical switch 502 may be configured such that in at least one switching state the physical switch 502 at least partially blocks transmission and / or reception of radiofrequency signals 108 via the radiofrequency front-end circuit 102 (as shown in FIG.5B). Illustratively, the physical switch 502 may be operable to physically prevent the radiofrequency front-end circuit 102 from transmitting and / or receiving RF signals 108. In this regard, FIG.5A shows the physical switch 502 in a first (e.g., “default”) state 504a, in which the physical switch 502 allows the radiofrequency front-end circuit 102 to transmit / receive, and FIG.5B shows the[P97831]physical switch 502 in a second (e.g., “closed”) state 504b, in which the physical switch 502 prevents the radiofrequency front-end circuit 102 from transmitting / receiving.

[0152] Illustratively, the physical switch 502 may be mechanically actuated to disrupt the operation of the radiofrequency front-end circuit 102 until the switch 502 is actuated again to revert to a switching state 504a in which the transmission / reception of RF signals 108 is allowed. The physical switch 502 allows thus a user of the electronic device 100 to make sure that no data are collected in an unauthorized manner. The physical switch 502 blocking the transmission / reception ensures that software running on the electronic device 100 (e.g., an application 170) cannot exploit the sensing capabilities of the radiofrequency front-end circuit 102 to collect data without the user knowing (e.g., bypassing software safety mechanisms).

[0153] The physical switch 502 may include any suitable material capable of shielding RF waves, e.g., a metal material (such as copper, aluminum, or steel), a carbon-based material, a conductive polymer, a conductive plastic, and the like.

[0154] In a preferred configuration, the physical switch 502 may be operable to at least partially block one or more antennas of the radiofrequency front-end circuit 102. In this scenario, in the “closed” state 504b the physical switch 502 may act as a screen for the antennas to physically block RF signals and prevent transmission / reception via the antennas. A switch operable to block the antennas may be realized in a relatively simple manner, e.g., as a slidable component or rotatable component that is slidable / rotatable between different positions and that in at least one position blocks the antennas of the radiofrequency front-end circuit. It is however understood that the physical switch 502 may be realized in any suitable manner to implement the privacy-preserving approach in a mechanical manner.

[0155] The term “processor” as used herein may be understood as any kind of technological entity that allows for a processing of data. A “processor” may be any suitable analog or digital circuit, such as a microprocessor, a graphics processing unit (GPU), a field programmable gate array (FPGA), an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a central processing unit (CPU), or the like.

[0156] The term “memory” as used herein may be understood as a non-transitory computer-readable medium configured to store data (e.g., instructions, measurement data, an operating system). A “memory” may be configured as volatile or non-volatile memory, e.g., as a flash memory, solid state disk, hard disk drive, random access memory (RAM), read only memory (ROM), or combinations thereof, as examples.

[0157] The phrase “at least one” and “one or more” describes a numerical quantity greater than or equal to one (e.g., one, two, three, four, ..., etc.). Unless specified otherwise, the term[P97831]“subset” in relation to a group of elements (e.g., data points) may include a numerical quantity equal to or greater than one and less than a total number of the elements.

[0158] Implementations of methods may be demonstrative in nature and may be implemented in a corresponding device. In a corresponding manner, implementations of devices or circuits may be implemented with a corresponding method. It is thus understood that a device or circuit corresponding to a method may include one or more components configured to perform each aspect of the related method.

[0159] All acronyms defined in the above description additionally hold in all claims included herein.

[0160] While the invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to specific aspects, it should be understood that various changes in form and detail may be made therein without departing from the scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.

Claims

[P97831]Claims1. An electronic device (100) comprising:a radiofrequency front-end circuit (102) comprising a plurality of hardware components (106) configured to enable transmission and reception of radiofrequency signals (108), wherein the radiofrequency front-end circuit (102) is configured to operate in a plurality of operating configurations,wherein each operating configuration has a respective set of operating parameters for the hardware components (106) of the radiofrequency front-end circuit (102); and a processor (104) configured to:receive an indication of a sensing operation (152) to be carried out via the radiofrequency front-end circuit (102);determine privacy requirements (154) associated with the sensing operation (154); and control the radiofrequency front-end circuit (102) to carry out the sensing operation (152) using an operating configuration that fulfills the privacy requirements (154) associated with the sensing operation (152).

2. The electronic device (100) according to claim 1,wherein, for each operating configuration, the respective set of operating parameters for the hardware components (106) defines performance parameters obtainable for the sensing operation (152), andwherein the processor (104) is configured to control the radiofrequency front-end circuit (102) to carry out the sensing operation (152) using the operating configuration that defines performance parameters that fulfill the privacy requirements (154) associated with the sensing operation (152).

3. The electronic device (100) according to claim 2,[P97831]wherein the processor (104) is configured to control the radiofrequency front-end circuit (102) to carry out the sensing operation (152) using the operating configuration that fulfills the privacy requirements (154) associated with the sensing operation (152) and that provides minimum performance parameters for successfully carrying out the sensing operation (152).

4. The electronic device (100) according to claim 2 or 3,wherein the performance parameters obtainable for the sensing operation (152) comprise one or more performance parameters for a transmission of radiofrequency signals (108) and / or one or more performance parameters for a reception of radiofrequency signals (108).

5. The electronic device (100) according to any one of claims 1 to 4,wherein the performance parameters obtainable for the sensing operation (152) comprise one or more of a resolution, an accuracy, a throughput, a noise level, an error rate, and / or combinations thereof6. The electronic device (100) according to any one of claims 1 to 5,wherein the processor (104) is configured to control the radiofrequency front-end circuit (102) to inject noise (160) in a transmit signal and / or in a receive signal associated with the sensing operation (152) based on the privacy requirements (154) associated with the sensing operation (152).

7. The electronic device (100) according to any one of claims 1 to 6,wherein the operating parameters of the hardware components (106) comprise one or more of a bandwidth, a modulation, an amplification, a frequency, a transmit power, a receiver gain, a receiver linearity, a processing time, a processing latency, and / or combinations thereof.[P97831]8. The electronic device (100, 400) according to any one of claims 1 to 7,wherein the processor (104) is part of a trusted execution environment (402) of the electronic device (100, 400).

9. The electronic device (100, 400) according to claim 8,wherein the processor (104) in the trusted execution environment (402) is configured to: receive a request from an application (170) running on of the electronic device (100, 400), the request including the indication of the sensing operation (152) to be carried out and target performance parameters to be provided for the sensing operation (152); verify whether the application (170) that issued the request has permission to obtain a result of the sensing operation (152) carried out with the target performance parameters; andcontrol the radiofrequency front-end circuit (102) to carry out the sensing operation based (152) on a result of the verification.

10. The electronic device (100) according to any one of claims 1 to 9,wherein the radiofrequency front-end circuit (102) comprises a plurality of transmit paths (302-1, ...,302-N) available for transmitting radiofrequency signals, and wherein the processor (104) is configured to: control the radiofrequency front-end circuit (102) to carry out the sensing operation (152) using all the available transmit paths (302-1,... ,302-N) or a subset of the available transmit paths (302-1,... ,302-N) based on the privacy requirements (154) associated with the sensing operation (152).

11. The electronic device (100) according to any one of claims 1 to 10,wherein the radiofrequency front-end circuit (102) comprises a plurality of receive paths (312-1,. ,.,312-N) available for receiving radiofrequency signals, andwherein the processor (104) is configured to: control the radiofrequency front-end circuit (102) to carry out the sensing operation (152) using all the available receive[P97831]paths (312-1,. ,.,312-N) or a subset of the available receive paths (312-1,...,312-N) based on the privacy requirements (154) associated with the sensing operation (152).

12. The electronic device (100, 500) according to any one of claims 1 to 11, further comprising:a physical switch (502) operable to assume a plurality of switching states (504a, 504b), wherein the physical switch (502) is configured such that in at least one switching state (504b) the physical switch (502) at least partially blocks transmission and / or reception of radiofrequency signals (108) at the radiofrequency front-end circuit (102).

13. The electronic device (100, 500) according to claim 12,wherein the physical switch (502) is operable to at least partially block one or more antennas of the radiofrequency front-end circuit (102).

14. The electronic device (100) according to any one of claims 1 to 13,wherein the radiofrequency front-end (102) is configured to enable radar sensing and / or communication via transmission and reception of radiofrequency signals (108).

15. A method (150) of operating an electronic device,wherein the electronic device comprises a radiofrequency front-end circuit having a plurality of hardware components configured to enable transmission and reception of radiofrequency signals,wherein the radiofrequency front-end circuit is configured to operate in a plurality of operating configurations,wherein each operating configuration has a respective set of operating parameters for the hardware components of the radiofrequency front-end circuit,wherein the method comprises:[P97831]receiving an indication of a sensing operation to be carried out via the radiofrequency front-end circuit;determining privacy requirements associated with the sensing operation; and controlling the radiofrequency front-end circuit to carry out the sensing operation using an operating configuration that fulfills the privacy requirements associated with the sensing operation.

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