Method and apparatus for reporting sensing measurement information in a mobile network
Patent Information
- Authority / Receiving Office
- WO · WO
- Patent Type
- Applications
- Current Assignee / Owner
- Filing Date
- 2025-02-10
- Publication Date
- 2026-08-13
Smart Images
Figure CN2025076712_13082026_PF_FP_ABST
Abstract
Description
METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR REPORTING SENSING MEASUREMENT INFORMATION IN A MOBILE NETWORKFIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE
[0001] Embodiments of the present disclosure generally relate to the field of mobile networks, in particular to sensing in a mobile network.BACKGROUND
[0002] Next generation radio access networks (RANs) are envisioned to provide Integrated Sensing and Communication (ISAC) services. These radio nodes include base stations (BSs) , Transmit and Receive Points (TRPs) , user equipment (UE) , as well as any type of device that transmits and / or receives radio signals.
[0003] ISAC is expected to provide sensing information for sensing targets. Specifically, a measurement unit (for example, a radio node or UE) that measures the received radio signals, which may be dedicated sensing signals or radio signals used for other purposes such as communication signals, obtains measurement information such as power, range, Doppler frequency shift and angle-related information. Based on the measurement information collected from one or multiple measurement units, sensing information may be extracted at a sensing entity.
[0004] The sensing information can reflect characteristics of sensing targets. A sensing target may be a static or dynamic object in the surroundings or in the environment itself. The sensing information can include the range, Doppler frequency shift, velocity, angle, location, classification, object type, shape and trajectory information.
[0005] In existing approaches, a UE in the mobile network can report up to 9 detected paths with associated path parameters subject to UE capability (see 3GPP Technical Specification 38.214, NR; Physical layer procedures for data) . For example, the UE can measure the downlink (DL) positioning reference signal (PRS) and report multiple reference signal received path power (RSRPP) associated to different received beams for the first detected path, or the UE can measure the DL-PRS and report time and quality metrics of up to 8 additional paths. Alternatively, the UE can measure the side link (SL) PRS, and report time and quality metrics of up to 8 paths.
[0006] In prior approaches, only the maximum number of reporting paths of the UE can be configured, but there is no configuration of sensing reporting criteria. This may lead to unnecessary reports, for example for outlier paths or paths with lower fidelity.
[0007] It is desirable to develop an approach that may overcome at least some of the above issues.SUMMARY
[0008] According to a first aspect, there is provided a measurement entity in a mobile network, the measurement entity being configured to obtain measurement information based on respective received sensing signals, wherein the measurement entity is configured to: obtain configuration information indicating one or more parameter ranges for constraining the measurement information that is to be reported and / or not reported to a sensing entity in the mobile network; and report measurement information containing one or more parameters that satisfy at least one of the parameter ranges indicated in the configuration information to the sensing entity.
[0009] This may result in improved sensing and positioning accuracy due to the removal of un-wanted objects and outlier received signal paths (for example, from clutter) . It can also result in reduced overhead in the measurement reporting to the sensing entity. The approach described herein may also provide additional flexibility in enabling high performance sensing and communication at the same time.
[0010] The measurement information may be obtained from one or more of the following: channel impulse response estimation, range / delay-Doppler, range / delay-angle-Doppler, range / delay-angle periodogram and spectrogram or pseudo spectrogram. This may allow the measurement information to be obtained in different ways.
[0011] The one or more parameter ranges indicated in the configuration information may specify one or more continuous or discontinuous ranges of parameters or one or more thresholds of parameters. This may allow the parameter ranges to be specified in the configuration information accordingly and may allow the measurement information to be constrained within an appropriate range.
[0012] The measurement information may comprise path estimation information containing one or more measured or estimated parameters relating to one or more of amplitude, range, Doppler frequency shift, angle of arrival, velocity, location, classification of object type, object shape and trajectory. This may allow the measurement information to be reported or not reported to be constrained based on different parameters. Path estimation information containing, for example, parameter tuples, can be extracted from channel impulse response estimation, range / delay-Doppler, range / delay-angle-Doppler, range / delay-angle periodogram and spectrogram or pseudo spectrogram data.
[0013] The measurement entity may be configured to report the measurement information as one or more of the following: an absolute value, a relative value, a percentage and an index of a pre-configured range of parameters. This may allow the measurement information to be reported in different formats.
[0014] The configuration information may comprise an indication of one or more path associations. The measurement entity may be configured to report measurement information that satisfies one or more of the path associations to the sensing entity. This may allow the measurement information that is to be reported to the sensing entity to be constrained based on one or more path associations.
[0015] The one or more path associations may comprise one or more of: an association to one or more reference signals, an association to one or more spatial filters, an association with a resolution requirement and an association to another received path with respect to the parameter. This may allow the measurement entity to report measurement information that is associated with particular paths.
[0016] The measurement entity may be configured to report measurement information that satisfies the one or more parameter ranges indicated in the configuration information to the sensing entity as a clustered report for two or more paths of received signals. This may reduce the reporting overhead and increase the accuracy of parameter estimation.
[0017] The measurement entity may be configured to process received signals using one or more spatial filters. This may allow the received signals to be filtered spatially.
[0018] The measurement entity may be configured to report measurement information for one or more received paths having one or more parameters that fall within the one or more parameter ranges to be reported to the sensing entity and / or not report measurement information for one or more received paths having one or more parameters that fall outside of the one or more parameter ranges to be reported to the sensing entity. The measurement entity may be configured to not report measurement information for one or more received paths having one or more parameters that fall within the one or more parameter ranges to not be reported to the sensing entity and / or report measurement information for one or more received paths having one or more parameters that fall outside of the one or more parameter ranges to not be reported to the sensing entity. This may allow measurement information to be reported for relevant paths and disregarded for irrelevant paths.
[0019] The measurement entity may be a radio access network entity or a user equipment device. This may allow the approach to be implemented in communications networks and allow ISAC to be performed.
[0020] The measurement entity may be a user equipment device and may be configured to:
[0021] receive a request from the sensing entity for capability of the user equipment device for reporting measurement information for one of more parameters of measurement information that satisfies one or more ranges of parameters; and / or send a capability report to the sensing entity. This may allow the sensing entity to determine whether the user equipment has the capability to support the approach described herein.
[0022] According to another aspect, there is provided a method for implementation at a measurement entity in a mobile network, the measurement entity being configured to obtain measurement information based on respective received sensing signals, the method comprising: obtaining configuration information indicating one or more parameter ranges for constraining the measurement information that is to be reported and / or not reported to a sensing entity in the mobile network; and reporting measurement information containing one or more parameters that satisfy at least one of the parameter ranges indicated in the configuration information to the sensing entity.
[0023] This method may result in improved sensing and positioning accuracy due to the removal of un-wanted objects and outlier paths (for example, from clutter) . It can also result in reduced overhead in the measurement reporting to the sensing entity. The approach described herein may also provide additional flexibility in enabling high performance sensing and communication at the same time.
[0024] According to a further aspect, there is provided a sensing entity for a mobile network, the sensing entity being configured to: provide configuration information to one or more measurement entities in the mobile network, wherein the configuration information comprises an indication of one or more parameter ranges for constraining measurement information that is to be reported and / or not reported to the sensing entity from the one or more measurement entities; and obtain measurement information from the one or more measurement entities according to the configuration information.
[0025] This may allow the sensing entity to configure the measurement entity to allow improved sensing and positioning accuracy due to the removal of un-wanted objects and outlier paths (for example, from clutter) . It can also result in reduced overhead in the measurement reporting to the sensing entity. The approach described herein may also provide additional flexibility in enabling high performance sensing and communication at the same time.
[0026] The sensing entity may be configured to: obtain one or more measurement information reports for one or more paths of received signals from at least one of the measurement entities; and process the one or more measurement information reports to obtain sensing information, wherein the sensing information is related to one or more sensing objects based on the obtained measurement information reports. This may allow the sensing entity to determine one or more properties of a sensing object target. For example, properties such as color, location, velocity, trajectory, motion parameters, object / gesture / movement classification, shape or one or more material properties.
[0027] The configuration information may specify one or more continuous or discontinuous ranges of parameters or one or more thresholds of parameters. This may allow the parameter ranges to be specified in the configuration information accordingly and may allow the measurement information to be constrained within an appropriate range.
[0028] The measurement information may comprise path estimation information containing one or more measured or estimated parameters relating to one or more of amplitude, range, Doppler frequency shift, angle of arrival, velocity, location, classification, object type, object shape and trajectory. This may allow the measurement information that is to be reported to the sensing entity to be constrained based on different path parameters.
[0029] The sensing entity may be configured to receive the measurement information as one or more of the following: an absolute value, a relative value, a percentage and an index of a pre-configured range of parameters. This may allow the measurement information to be reported in different formats.
[0030] The sensing entity may be configured to: determine one or more path associations; and indicate the one or more path associations to the one or more measurement entities in the configuration information. This may allow the sensing entity to configure the measurement entity to report measurement information that is constrained based on path associations.
[0031] The one or more path associations may comprise one or more of: an association to one or more reference signals, an association to one or more spatial filters, an association with a resolution requirement and an association to another received path with respect to the parameter. This may allow the sensing entity to configure the measurement entity to report measurement information that is associated with particular paths.
[0032] The sensing entity may be configured to receive measurement information that satisfies the one or more parameter ranges indicated in the configuration information as a clustered report for two or more received paths. This may reduce the reporting overhead and increase the accuracy of parameter estimation.
[0033] The sensing entity may be configured to receive measurement information for one or more received paths having one or more parameters that fall within the one or more parameter ranges to be reported to the sensing entity and / or not receive measurement information for one or more received paths having one or more parameters that fall outside of the one or more parameter ranges to be reported to the sensing entity. The sensing entity may be configured to not receive measurement information for one or more received paths having one or more parameters that fall within the one or more parameter ranges to not be reported to the sensing entity and / or receive measurement information for one or more received paths having one or more parameters that fall outside of the one or more parameter ranges to not be reported to the sensing entity. This may allow the measurement entity to received measurement information for desirable paths and / or not receive measurement information for undesirable paths.
[0034] The measurement entity may be a user equipment device and the sensing entity may be configured to: send a request for capability of the user equipment device for reporting measurement information for one of more parameters of measurement information that satisfies one or more ranges of parameters; and / or receive a capability report from the one or more measurement entities. This may allow the sensing entity to determine whether the user equipment has the capability to support the approach described herein.
[0035] The measurement entity may be configured to concurrently serve data communication with a cooperating device in the mobile network. This may allow the measurement entity to be used in an integrated sensing and communication network. For example, the measurement entity may be a UE that is configured to concurrently serve data communication with a RAN entity (for example, a base station) in the mobile network.
[0036] According to another aspect, there is provided a method for implementation at a sensing entity for a mobile network, the method comprising: providing configuration information to one or more measurement entities in the mobile network, wherein the configuration information comprises an indication of one or more parameter ranges for constraining measurement information that is to be reported and / or not reported to the sensing entity from the one or more measurement entities; and obtaining measurement information from the one or more measurement entities according to the configuration information.
[0037] This method may allow the sensing entity to configure the measurement entity to allow improved sensing and positioning accuracy due to the removal of un-wanted objects and outlier paths (for example, from clutter) . It can also result in reduced overhead in the measurement reporting to the sensing entity. The approach described herein may also provide additional flexibility in enabling high performance sensing and communication at the same time.
[0038] According to a further aspect, there is provided a mobile network comprising a measurement entity having any of the features described herein and a sensing entity having any of the features described herein.
[0039] According to a further aspect, there is provided one or more computer programs for instructing a computer comprising one or more processors to implement the methods above.
[0040] According to a further aspect, there is provided a data carrier storing in non-transitory form the one or more computer programs above.
[0041] The above aspects may allow the mobile network to perform integrated sensing and communications.BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0042] Embodiments of the present disclosure will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings:
[0043] Figure 1a schematically illustrates an exemplary arrangement for multi-path reporting of measurement information;
[0044] Figure 1b schematically illustrates a range of a delay parameter to be reported to a sensing entity;
[0045] Figure 2 illustrates a signaling diagram for a measurement information reporting;
[0046] Figure 3 schematically illustrates an example of clustered paths;
[0047] Figure 4a illustrates a signaling block diagram of a request and configuration of a user equipment by a sensing entity;
[0048] Figure 4b illustrates a signaling block diagram of the configuration of a RAN entity by a sensing entity;
[0049] Figure 5 illustrates a signaling block diagram for an example where a UE is selected to provide sensing measurement information in an integrated sensing and communication network;
[0050] Figure 6 illustrates a signaling block diagram for an example where a RAN node is selected to provide sensing measurement information in an integrated sensing and communication network;
[0051] Figures 7a and 7b schematically illustrate the configuration of the measurement entity for desirable paths;
[0052] Figures 7c and 7d schematically illustrate the configuration of the measurement entity for undesirable paths;
[0053] Figure 8 shows the steps of an exemplary method for implementation at a measurement entity;
[0054] Figure 9 shows the steps of an exemplary method for implementation at a sensing entity;
[0055] Figure 10 schematically illustrates an example of a measurement entity and some of its associated components;
[0056] Figure 11 schematically illustrates an example of a sensing entity and some of its associated components.DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0057] A mobile network comprises an Access Network (AN) , which may be a Radio Access Network (RAN) and a Core Network (CN) . The (R) AN handles the wireless aspects, while the CN handles the management and control aspects. Both the (R) AN and CN have a User Plane (UP) to transmit traffic. A Control Plane (CP) can carry signaling traffic.
[0058] Embodiments of the present disclosure may be applied in any mobile communication system, such as, but not limited to, 3GPP, IEEE 802.11 series, or Open-RAN (ORAN) architecture. The described approaches may also be implemented in different communication networks that are currently available or developed in the future. The network may comprise a plurality of network entities (NEs) . The NEs may be network function (NFs) , which may be software-based. The NEs may alternatively be network apparatus (hardware-based) .
[0059] A radio node is any node which may reside in the RAN of a mobile network which is capable of transmitting and / or receiving radio signals. Radio nodes can act as sensing nodes in an integrated sensing and communication network.
[0060] A gNB is an apparatus that is deployed in a radio access network and that meets a 5G standard and that provides a wireless communications function for UE. The gNB may include a macro base station, a micro base station (also referred to as a small cell) , a relay station, an access point, a wearable device, and an in-vehicle device in various forms. Alternatively, the gNB may be a transmission and reception point (Transmission and Reception Point, TRP) or a transmission measurement function (Transmission measurement function, TMF) . The gNB may include a central unit (Central unit, CU) and a distributed unit (Distributed unit, DU) that are integrated on the gNB.
[0061] A UE may be a handheld device, in-vehicle device, wearable device, computing device, or other processing device connected to a wireless modem that have a wireless communication function. The UE may also be a mobile station (Mobile Station, MS) , a subscriber unit (subscriber unit) , a cellular phone (cellular phone) , a smart phone (smart phone) , a wireless data card, or a personal digital assistant (Personal Digital Assistant, short for) : a PDA computer, a tablet computer, a wireless modem (modem) , a handheld device (handset) , a laptop computer (laptop computer) , a machine type communication (Machine Type Communication, MTC) terminal, a label, and the like.
[0062] As used herein, a sensing signal is a signal (such as a radio signal) to be measured at a measurement entity so that a sensing measurement may be obtained. Sensing signals may be dedicated sensing signals or radio signals used for other purposes such as communication signals. Sensing signals that have travelled along respective paths can be received by a measurement entity.
[0063] A measurement entity is an entity which may, for example, reside in a radio node, such as a base station, or a user equipment (UE) to obtain the sensing measurement based on a sensing signal. The measurement entity may in some cases be at a fixed location with a known position and / or angular orientation. The measurement entity may be connected to the radio access network (or part thereof) and / or core network of the mobile network.
[0064] Measurement information is measurement data derived from the sensing signals impacted (for example, reflected, refracted, diffracted) by sensing targets (for example, an object or environment of interest) or by incidental environment objects that are not the sensing target.
[0065] Sensing information is processed information based on the measurement information. Sensing information may be indicated by one or multiple levels of information. The sensing information can be determined by a sensing entity in the network. A sensing entity may be a network entity or UE which may be implemented as one or multiple functional entities to compute sensing information based on the sensing measurements. It may for example reside in a UE, radio node, be co-located with or near to radio node or may be in core network (for example, where it may be a sensing function, SF) .
[0066] In some implementations, the measurement entity and sensing entity may be the same network entity or may be co-located.
[0067] Embodiments of the present disclosure can address a technical problem of how to use limited communication resources to report effective multi-path information enabling accurate sensing / positioning information by extracting measurement information from certain desirable paths out of a plurality of multi-path measurement information.
[0068] Described herein is a method to report the measurement information constrained by one or more parameter ranges, as well as the corresponding request and configuring mechanism.
[0069] Figure 1a schematically illustrates a mobile network 100 in which there are multiple paths along which sensing signals are propagated between a transmitting sensing entity 101 and a measurement entity 102 which is configured to receive one or more sensing signals. The measurement entity 102 receives sensing signals for multiple received paths (shown at 107, 108, 109, 110, 111 and 112) . The sensing signals transmitted by the transmitting sensing entity are impacted (for example, reflected, refracted, diffracted) by a sensing target and / or by environmental objects. The sensing signals may each have different beamforming or spatial filters. In Figure 1a, environment objects (which are not of interest for sensing) are shown at 103, 104 and 105 and the sensing target (which is of interest for sensing) is shown at 106. In this example, the sensing target is a static object. In other examples, the sensing target may be a dynamic object. The transmitted sensing signals from transmitting sensing entity 101 travel along paths 107, 108, 109 and 110, 111 which are impacted by the objects 103, 104, 105 and 106 respectively. The path indicated at 112 is a direct path between the transmitting sensing entity 101 and the measurement entity 102 which is not impacted by any objects.
[0070] Paths 110 and 111 are desirable paths which are impacted by the sensing target 106. Paths 107, 108, 109 and 112 are undesirable paths which are not impacted by the sensing target 106.
[0071] The transmitting sensing entity 101 may be, for example, a BS and the measurement entity 102 may be, for example, a UE.
[0072] The measurement entity and / or sensing entity may be implemented in one or more network nodes and / or different types of UE. Network nodes may include, for example, base stations, next-generation Node B (gNB) , gNB-Distributed Unit (gNB-DU) , gNB-Radio Unit (gNB-RU) , Remote-Radio-Head (RRH) , and the equivalent variants such as the radio units in the IEEE 802.11 series, or Open-RAN architecture. The measurement entity and / or sensing entity may be implemented any device with a role of UE, for example a UE, Road Side Unit (RSU) , Position Reference Unit (PRU) , any vehicle with a UE module on board, hand-held terminal devices, hand-set XR / AR devices, in-vehicle devices, robots. The measurement entity and / or sensing entity may also be implemented in core network, for example in network entities in core network or a service in a cloud / edge device.
[0073] In embodiments of the present disclosure, the measurement entity is configured to obtain measurement information based on the respective received signals. The measurement entity can measure the received signal (s) to determine respective measurement information for each of one or more received paths.
[0074] The measurement entity can obtain configuration information indicating one or more parameter ranges for constraining the measurement information that is to be reported and / or not reported to a sensing entity in the mobile network (not shown in Figure 1a) . The configuration information may be determined by and / or provided to the measurement entity by the sensing entity. The configuration information comprises an indication of one or more parameter ranges for constraining measurement information that is to be reported and / or not reported to the sensing entity from the measurement entity.
[0075] The measurement entity is configured to report measurement information containing one or more parameters that satisfy at least one of the parameter ranges indicated in the configuration information to the sensing entity. The sensing entity can obtain measurement information from the one or more measurement entities according to the configuration information.
[0076] For example, the measurement entity can estimate one or more parameters of resolvable paths and in this example obtains the channel impulse response, which could be line of sight (LOS) paths, or non-line-of-sight paths reflected from targets or other sources (such as the environment objects 103, 104, 105) .
[0077] The measurement entity can be configured to report measurement information for one or more received paths having one or more parameters that fall within the one or more parameter ranges to be reported to the sensing entity and / or not report measurement information for one or more received paths having one or more parameters that fall outside of the one or more parameter ranges to be reported to the sensing entity. The measurement entity can be configured to not report measurement information for one or more received paths having one or more parameters that fall within the one or more parameter ranges to not be reported to the sensing entity and / or report measurement information for one or more received paths having one or more parameters that fall outside of the one or more parameter ranges to not be reported to the sensing entity.
[0078] Figure 1b schematically illustrates an example of a parameter range to be reported to the sensing entity. In this example, the parameter is the delay. In embodiments of the present disclosure, a path may be the path obtained from, for example, channel impulse response estimation, range / delay-Doppler, range-angle, range / delay-angle-Doppler periodogram, or path from the spectrogram or pseudo spectrogram. The sensing entity can configure the measurement entity to report measurement information constrained by this range. For example, the measurement entity may be configured to report measurement information for paths having a delay within the specified range and not report measurement information for paths having a delay outside of the specified range.
[0079] The measurement information may comprise path estimation information containing one or more measured or estimated parameters relating to one or more of amplitude, range, Doppler frequency shift, angle of arrival, velocity, location, classification of object type, object shape and trajectory. Other parameters are possible. For example, the measurement information may comprise channel state information (CSI) or periodgram information.
[0080] Path estimation information containing, for example, parameter tuples, can be extracted from channel impulse response estimation, range / delay-doppler, range / delay-angle-doppler, range / delay-angle periodogram and spectrogram or pseudo spectrogram data.
[0081] The measurement entity 102 is configured with the range of parameters to report. Therefore, in this example, the measurement entity should only report the measurement information for a path of a received signal if the relevant parameters in the measurement information are given in the block indicated at 150 (i.e. are within the range x) .
[0082] The sensing entity can determine the range (s) of the measurement information (for example, range (s) of path parameter (s) measured or estimated by the measurement entity) that need to be reported or / and that do not need to be reported, then can request and / or configure the measurement entity that receives the sensing signals (for example, a UE, device or RAN) to report the path (s) having measurements within one or more ranges for one or more of the following: - The amplitude threshold (s) (maximum and / or minimum amplitude) or range (s) , including but not limited to reference signal receiving power (RSRP) , power, amplitude percentage indicator. - The timing threshold (s) (maximum and / or minimum timing) or range (s) , including but not limited to reception- transmission timing difference, reference signal time difference, delay. - The angle threshold (s) (maximum and / or minimum angle) or range (s) , including but not limited to azimuth angles of arrival (AoA) , zenith angles of arrival (ZoA) , azimuth angles of departure (AoD) and zenith angles of departure (ZoD) , may be associated with one or more transmitted reference signal resources / spatial filters. - Maximum expected path and / or maximum unexpected path.
[0083] In addition to the initial configured paths according to the initial configuration, the sensing entity can also request the measurement from additional received paths within certain range (s) (for example, certain threshold (s) ) . The information may be the same as listed above for the additional paths. At the measurement entity, the configuration of path (s) report with certain range (s) can be updated to include the additional path measurements. This may be performed subsequently to an initial configuration of the parameter range (s) to be reported and / or not reported to the sensing entity.
[0084] The one or more parameter ranges indicated in the configuration information may specify one or more continuous or discontinuous ranges of parameters, or one or more thresholds of parameters (or a combination of these) .
[0085] The sensing entity may be configured to receive the measurement information as one or more of the following: an absolute value, a relative value (for example, relative to one or more other reported values) , a percentage and an index of a pre-configured range of parameters. This may allow the measurement information to be reported in different formats.
[0086] An exemplary signaling diagram for the mobile network 100 for the range / threshold-based measurement report is shown in Figure 2. The transmitting sensing entity 101 transmits sensing signals at 201. The measurement entity (ME) 102 (for example, UE or other device / RAN) receives the sensing signals transmitted by transmitting sensing entity 101. The measurement entity 102 processes the measurement information with the range / threshold-based configuration at 202 and measures and / or estimates one or more parameters (for example, path parameters for each received path) . The measurement entity 102 may use different receive spatial filters (for example, for each received path) . The measurement entity 102 sends a measurement report to the sensing entity 150 within the configured range (s) of measurement information at 203.
[0087] The measurement information may be constrained, as specified in the configuration information, based on one or more of the following threshold (s) for parameters: an indication of the path parameters confined by the amplitude range, an indication of the path parameters confined by the timing range, an indication of the path parameters confined by the angle range, and an indication of the path parameters confined by the Doppler / frequency shift range.
[0088] The configuration information obtained by the measurement entity may also comprise an indication of one or more path associations. The measurement entity can report measurement information that satisfies one or more of the path associations to the sensing entity. The one or more path associations may comprise one or more of: an association to one or more reference signals, an association to one or more spatial filters, an association with a resolution requirement, an association to another received path with respect to the parameter (e.g., comparable amplitude or delay) , an association to an accuracy and an unambiguous requirement.
[0089] Concerning the measurement report, two exemplary options are described below.
[0090] In a first implementation, the receiving sensing entity provides the measurement report of the paths based on the configuring of ranges / thresholds for path parameters.
[0091] The receiving sensing entity (measurement entity) may provide a path list with one or more of the following: Path ID, Path amplitude (relative or absolute or indicator with different levels) , Path delay (relative or absolute or indicator with different levels) , Path AoA / ZoA or AoD / ZoD (relative or absolute or indicator with different levels) , Path frequency shift or Doppler, Path measurement quality, resolution (timing, angle, amplitude, Doppler) .
[0092] The report may be associated with one of the following: certain reference signal (s) , certain spatial filters, or to another path with respect to the parameter, e.g., comparable amplitude, delay.
[0093] In a second implementation, as schematically illustrated in Figure 3, the measurement entity can provide a measurement report for multiple clustered paths based on the configuration of the one or more ranges of path parameters specified in the configuration information (for example, obtained from the sensing entity) .
[0094] The arrangement of the transmitting sensing entity, the measurement entity, the environment objects and the sensing target may, for example, be as shown in Figure 1a. The measurement entity may, for example, determine the measurement information as shown in Figure 1b.
[0095] The measurement entity may provide a clustered measurement report of the parameters of multiple clustered paths confined by the one or more ranges.
[0096] An example of a clustered path within a configured region for measurement information report (s) is illustrated in Figure 3. For example, an average or weighted average of one or more path parameters may be obtained for multiple estimated paths of received signals in a cluster. This can reduce the reporting overhead and increase the accuracy of parameter estimation.
[0097] The measurement entity may provide a clustered path list to the sensing entity with one or more of the following: path cluster ID (with or without reference path) , clustered path amplitude (relative or absolute or indicator with different levels) , clustered path delay (relative or absolute or indicator with different levels) , clustered path AoA / ZoA or AoD / ZoD (relative or absolute or indicator with different levels) , clustered path frequency shift or Doppler, clustered path measurement quality, resolution (timing, angle, amplitude, Doppler) .
[0098] In some implementations, the sensing entity may request the capability of the measurement entity to measure and report the parameters based on the range / threshold-based configuration. The measurement entity may provide its capability to the sensing entity.
[0099] For example, the sensing entity may be configured to send a request for capability to one or more measurement entities for reporting measurement information for one of more parameters of measurement information that satisfies one or more ranges of parameters and receive a capability report from each of the one or more measurement entities. The or each measurement entity may be configured to receive the request from the sensing entity for capability of the user equipment device for reporting measurement information for one of more parameters of measurement information that satisfies one or more ranges of parameters and send the capability report to the sensing entity.
[0100] The following exemplary signaling may be used for this request and configuration. In this example, the measurement entity is implemented by a UE.
[0101] The signaling for the UE capability report is shown in Figure 4a for the request to the UE for its capability report and the configuration of the UE acting as the measurement entity (receiving sensing entity) and in Figure 4b for the configuration of the RAN entity acting as the measurement entity.
[0102] In the signaling block diagram of Figure 4a, the sensing entity 401 requests the UE capability at 403. This request asks whether the UE could support the threshold-based report. At 404, the UE 402 feedbacks the UE capability indication to the sensing entity 401. If UE capability report sent to the sensing entity 401 at 404 indicates that the UE 402 can support range / threshold-based reporting, the sensing entity 401 then configures the UE 402 for range / threshold-based reporting at 405.
[0103] In the signaling block diagram of Figure 4b, the sensing entity 401 configures the RAN entity 406 for range / threshold-based reporting, as shown at 407.
[0104] In both Figures 4a and 4b, the sensing entity 401 can configure the UE 402 or the RAN entity 406 with the above thresholds / ranges as well as association information.
[0105] Figure 5 shows an exemplary implementation which may be used for downlink sensing, sidelink sensing or UE monostatic sensing (with one UE or multiple UEs) . In such implementations, one or multiple UEs may be selected to provide sensing measurements (i.e. to implement the measurement entity) in an integrated sensing and communication network.
[0106] The arrangement may be the same as shown in Figure 1a. In this example, the measurement entity 102 is a UE. One or multiple UEs may be selected to provide the sensing measurement information in an integrated sensing and communication network.
[0107] In the signaling block diagram of Figure 5, at 551, the UE 102 is configured to report the range / threshold-based report on the measurement. At 552, the UE is configured to report the UE capability for range / threshold-based reporting. At 553, the UE sends back the UE capability report whether it is able to support the range / threshold-based report and / or whether it could support the report based on configuration. Step 551 may be swapped such that it follows steps 552 and 553. At 554, the sensing transmitting entity 101 sends sensing signals (which may be for example data or reference signals dedicated or non-dedicated for sensing) . At 555, the UE, which may use one or more spatial filters, receives the sensing signals and processes the estimate of measurement, and can further process the measurement information report based on the range / threshold-based configuration. At 556, the UE provides range / threshold-based measurement report to the sensing entity 150.
[0108] Figure 6 schematically illustrates a signaling block diagram for an exemplary implementation that can be used for uplink sensing, cross-link sensing or RAN monostatic sensing. For example, the measurement entity may be implemented by a RAN entity such as a base station (such as a gNB in a 5G system) or a TRP.
[0109] In this example, the measurement entity 102 is a RAN node (such as a base station, for example a gNB) .
[0110] In such implementations, one or multiple RAN entities may be selected to provide the sensing measurement information in an integrated sensing and communication network.
[0111] At 651, the RAN entity 602 is configured to report the range / threshold-based report on the measurement. Step 651 may be swapped with step 652 and 653. At 652, the sensing transmitter sends sensing signals (may be data or reference signals dedicated or non-dedicated for sensing) . At 653, the RAN entity uses one or more spatial filters to receive the sensing signals and processing the estimate of measurement, further processing the measurement report based on the range / threshold-based configuration. At 654, the RAN entity provides range / threshold-based measurement report to the sensing entity 150.
[0112] Figures 7a, 7b and 7c, 7d schematically illustrate the configuration of the measurement entity for desirable and undesirable paths respectively.
[0113] In Figure 7a, a mobile network 700 is schematically illustrated in which there are multiple paths along which sensing signals are propagated between a transmitting sensing entity 701 and a measurement entity 702 which receives one or more sensing signals. The measurement entity 702 receives sensing signals for multiple received paths. The sensing signals transmitted by the transmitting sensing entity are impacted (for example, one or more of reflected, refracted and diffracted) by a sensing target and by environmental objects. The sensing signals may each have different beamforming or spatial filters. Environmental objects are shown at 703, 704 and 705 and the sensing target is shown at 706.
[0114] The transmitted sensing signals from transmitting sensing entity 701 travel along paths 707, 708, 709, and 710, 711 which are impacted by the objects 703, 704, 705 and 706 respectively. The path indicated at 712 is a direct path between the transmitting sensing entity 701 and the measurement entity 702 which is not impacted by any objects.
[0115] In Figure 7b, the dashed box at 720 shows the desirable paths. The desirable path (s) within the parameter range shown at 720 are potentially from the sensing target and should be reported. This example exemplifies the path obtained from channel impulse response and the path parameter is the delay.
[0116] In Figure 7c, entity 713 is a UE that transmits a signal along path 714 that is received by the measurement entity 702. This received signal path is undesirable as it is an interfering path.
[0117] In Figure 7d the dashed box at 730 shows the undesirable paths. The undesirable paths within the range shown at 730 are interfering paths that should not be reported. This example exemplifies the path obtained from channel impulse response and the path parameter is the delay.
[0118] The configuration information may indicate the desirable or undesirable paths obtained from channel impulse response, periodogram, spectrogram or pseudo spectrogram.
[0119] As described above, the sensing entity requests and configures the sensing receiving node (comprising the measurement entity) to report the parameters with certain thresholds / ranges. The measurement entity is configured to report on the measurement information based on the configuring of the range (s) of parameters. As described above, this may include one or more of the following: an indication of the parameters within the amplitude range (e.g., power, RSRP, amplitude level) , within the delay range, within the angle range and within the Doppler range.
[0120] The above indications may be made in different ways. For example, they may be indicated as one or more of absolute values, relative values, percentage, or an index of a preconfigured range.
[0121] Figure 8 shows exemplary steps of a method 800 for implementation at a measurement entity in a mobile network. The measurement entity is configured to obtain measurement information based on respective received sensing signals. At step 801, the method comprises obtaining configuration information indicating one or more parameter ranges for constraining the measurement information that is to be reported and / or not reported to a sensing entity in the mobile network. At step 802, the method comprises reporting measurement information containing one or more parameters that satisfy at least one of the parameter ranges indicated in the configuration information to the sensing entity.
[0122] Figure 9 shows exemplary steps of a method 900 for implementation at a sensing entity for a mobile network. At step 901, the method comprises providing configuration information to one or more measurement entities in the mobile network, wherein the configuration information comprises an indication of one or more parameter ranges for constraining measurement information that is to be reported and / or not reported to the sensing entity from the one or more measurement entities. At step 902, the method comprises obtaining measurement information from the one or more measurement entities according to the configuration information.
[0123] Figures 10 and 11 show examples of a measurement entity 1000 and a sensing entity 1100 respectively. Entities 1001, 1101 are computing entities. Entities 1002, 1102 are command and control entities. These entities are logical entities. In practice they may each be provided by one or more physical devices such as servers and data stores, and the functions of two or more of the entities may be provided by a single physical device. In some implementations, the entities may be cloud-based. Each physical device implementing an entity may comprise a processor and / or a memory. The devices may also comprise a transceiver for transmitting and receiving data. The memory stores in a non-transient way code that is executable by the processor to implement the respective entity in the manner described herein.
[0124] Therefore, the methods may be deployed in multiple ways, for example in the cloud or alternatively in dedicated hardware.
[0125] In embodiments of the present disclosure, the sensing entity may be distributed in one or multiple functional entities in network or UE to compute sensing information based on the sensing measurements obtained from measurement units (which may be, for example, a TRP, RAN node or UE) . As mentioned above, the sensing entity may be UE, radio node, co-located with / near to radio node or in edge node, in the core network.
[0126] In one potential network architecture, a sensing network element (NE) or Sensing Function (SF) is considered, and the SF or the location management function (LMF) may be integrated. The LMF is a core NE that provides control-plane positioning in the 5GC. It calculates and feeds back location information on the 5G network, manages the positioning process, obtains UE capabilities, provides auxiliary data, and estimates UE locations. The LMF provides the following functions: (i) UE location calculation, (ii) Downlink location measurements or location estimates are obtained from the UE, (iii) Obtain uplink position measurements from the NG RAN.
[0127] In this architecture, the SF can reuse the LMF and Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF) . Interfaces between network elements of the 5G core network perform perception interaction, and perception control signaling between an LMF (including an SF) and a RAN or UE is transmitted by using the AMF. The sensing measurement data obtained by the RAN / UE may be transferred to the LMF or SF through the control plane, and the LPP (LTE Positioning Protocol) or NRPPa (NR Positioning Protocol Annex, NR Positioning Protocol A) is reused. Protocol data is transmitted.
[0128] Alternatively, the data may be forwarded by a User Plane Function (UPF) or directly transmitted to an LMF (including an SF) . Alternatively, the SF may be introduced as the new network entity, which can be independently deployed or co-deployed with the 5GC (such as the AMF or LMF) based on awareness requirements. The network element may implement basic sensing functions, such as sensing authorization, sensing control, sensing measurement data processing, and result output. If the awareness function is co-located with the LMF, the LMF and the GMLC (Gateway Mobile Location Center, gateway mobile location center) can be enhanced to support the basic awareness function, where the GMLC is the first network element that processes the awareness request in the operator network, and performs the privacy check or authorization function. The route awareness request is sent to the AMF for LMF selection.
[0129] The awareness NE sets up interfaces with 5GC NEs such as the AMF. An NS1 interface may be added between the awareness NE and the AMF. This interface can transmit awareness control signaling. In scenarios where perception measurement data is transmitted on the control plane, this interface can also be used to transmit perception measurement data.
[0130] If the service awareness function is co-located with the LMF, an interface may be added between the LMF and the GMLC to transmit service awareness information.
[0131] Another architecture is more independent with respect to 5GC architecture. In this architecture, the awareness function is relatively independent of the existing 5GC, and the awareness network element does not need to interact with the 5GC or only performs relatively few interactions with the 5GC. For a scenario in which only awareness requirements exist in a specific area or a scenario in which only awareness requirements exist, the architecture can provide awareness services without 5GC control or only some network elements need to participate in control. In addition, local SF deployment can be used to prevent awareness measurement data or awareness results from leaving the campus. In this way, enterprises'requirements for security and privacy of sensing measurement data or sensing results can be met, and perception latency can be reduced. The architecture is simple, flexible, and efficient. The number of transmission nodes is small and easy to deploy. It can optionally support UE-related awareness requirements and implement functions such as authorization, mobility management, and charging as required.
[0132] In this embodiment of the present disclosure, one or more of the following network elements may be included:
[0133] SF: An apparatus or component deployed in a core network to provide an awareness function for a network. It may also be referred to as an SMF (Sensing management function, sensing management function) or another name.
[0134] LMF: An apparatus or component deployed in a core network to provide a positioning function for UE.
[0135] eNB: An apparatus that is deployed in a radio access network and that meets a 4G standard and that provides a wireless communication function for UE. The eNB may include a macro base station, a micro base station (also referred to as a small cell) , a relay station, an access point, a wearable device, and an in-vehicle device in various forms. Alternatively, the eNB may be a transmission and reception point (Transmission and Reception Point, TRP) .
[0136] In one example, the mobile network may have an open radio access network (O-RAN) architecture. The O-RAN system may include an access network device (The RAN may be, for example, an eNB, a gNB, or a next-generation access network device. ) communicates with a core network (CN) by using a backhaul link (Backhaul) , and communicates with a UE by using an air interface. Specifically, a baseband unit (BBU) in the access network device communicates with a core network by using a backhaul link (Backhaul) , and a radio frequency unit (Radio Unit) in the access network device (the RU) communicates with at least one UE by using an air interface. The BBU communicates with the at least one RU by using the fronthaul link. The BBU and the RU may be co-located or may not be co-located.
[0137] The BBU may comprise at least one control unit (CU) and at least one distributed unit (DU) , and they may communicate by using at least one midhaul. There is an interface between the DU and the RU. According to different functions and / or different splitting manners of the DU and the RU, the interface between the DU and the RU may be a common public radio interface (CPRI) or an enhanced common public radio interface (eCPRI) .
[0138] In an O-RAN architecture, the access network device includes one or more functional modules, configured to implement signal processing. Using a physical layer function as an example, the access network device includes one or more of the following functions: coding, rate matching, scrambling, modulation, layer mapping, precoding, resource element (RE) mapping, and digital beamforming (BF) , inverse fast Fourier transformation (IFFT) / cyclic prefix (CP) , decoding, rate de-matching, descrambling, demodulation, inverse discrete Fourier transformation (IDFT) , channel equalization (or channel estimation) , de-remapping, digital BF, fast Fourier transform (FFT) / CP removal, digital to analog (DA) conversion, analog BF, analog to digital (AD) conversion, or analog BF.
[0139] The approach described herein may be used for downlink sensing (where the transmitting sensing entity is a base station and the measurement entity is a UE) , sidelink sensing (between two UEs) , UE monostatic sensing (with one UE or multiple UEs) , uplink sensing (where the transmitting sensing entity is a UE and the measurement entity is a RAN entity such as a base station) , cross-link sensing (between two RAN entities, such as base stations) , or RAN monostatic sensing.
[0140] Exemplary static targets may include buildings, walls or furniture which may comprise reflecting surfaces, or vegetation (for example, trees) that may contribute to the background clutter. Dynamic objects refer to objects that are moving or comprise moving components, such as vehicles, pedestrian, cyclists, animals, drones or human hands.
[0141] The present approach can result in improved sensing and positioning accuracy due to the removal of un-wanted objects and outlier paths (for example, from clutter) . It can also result in reduced overhead in the measurement reporting to the sensing entity. The approach described herein may also provide additional flexibility in enabling high performance sensing and communication at the same time.
[0142] The applicant hereby discloses in isolation each individual feature described herein and any combination of two or more such features, to the extent that such features or combinations are capable of being carried out based on the present specification as a whole in the light of the common general knowledge of a person skilled in the art, irrespective of whether such features or combinations of features solve any problems disclosed herein. The applicant indicates that aspects of the present disclosure may consist of any such individual feature or combination of features. In view of the foregoing description, it will be evident to a person skilled in the art that various modifications may be made within the scope of the disclosure.
Claims
1.A measurement entity (102, 702, 1000) in a mobile network (100, 700) , the measurement entity being configured to obtain measurement information based on respective received sensing signals, wherein the measurement entity is configured to:obtain (801) configuration information indicating one or more parameter ranges for constraining the measurement information that is to be reported and / or not reported to a sensing entity (150, 1100) in the mobile network; andreport (802) measurement information containing one or more parameters that satisfy at least one of the parameter ranges indicated in the configuration information to the sensing entity.2.The measurement entity as claimed in claim 1, wherein the measurement information is obtained from one or more of the following: channel impulse response estimation, range / delay-Doppler, range / delay-angle, range / delay-angle-Doppler periodogram and spectrogram or pseudo spectrogram.3.The measurement entity as claimed in claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the one or more parameter ranges indicated in the configuration information specify one or more continuous or discontinuous ranges of parameters or one or more thresholds of parameters.4.The measurement entity as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the measurement information comprises path estimation information containing one or more measured or estimated parameters relating to one or more of amplitude, range, Doppler frequency shift, angle of arrival, velocity, location, classification of object type, object shape and trajectory.5.The measurement entity as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the measurement entity is configured to report the measurement information as one or more of the following: an absolute value, a relative value, a percentage and an index of a pre-configured range of parameters.6.The measurement entity as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the configuration information comprises an indication of one or more path associations and wherein the measurement entity is configured to report measurement information that satisfies one or more of the path associations to the sensing entity.7.The measurement entity as claimed in claim 6, wherein the one or more path associations comprise one or more of: an association to one or more reference signals, an association to one or more spatial filters, an association with a resolution requirement and an association to another received path with respect to the parameter.8.The measurement entity as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the measurement entity is configured to report measurement information that satisfies the one or more parameter ranges indicated in the configuration information to the sensing entity as a clustered report for two or more received paths.9.The measurement entity as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the measurement entity is configured to process received signals using one or more spatial filters.10.The measurement entity as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the measurement entity is configured to report measurement information for one or more received paths having one or more parameters that fall within the one or more parameter ranges to be reported to the sensing entity and / or not report measurement information for one or more received paths having one or more parameters that fall outside of the one or more parameter ranges to be reported to the sensing entity.11.The measurement entity as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the measurement entity is a radio access network entity or a user equipment device.12.The measurement entity as claimed in claim 11, wherein the measurement entity is a user equipment device and wherein the measurement entity is configured to:receive a request from the sensing entity for capability of the user equipment device for reporting measurement information for one of more parameters of measurement information that satisfies one or more ranges of parameters; and / orsend a capability report to the sensing entity.13.A method (800) for implementation at a measurement entity (102, 702, 1000) in a mobile network (100, 700) , the measurement entity being configured to obtain measurement information based on respective received sensing signals, the method comprising:obtaining (801) configuration information indicating one or more parameter ranges for constraining the measurement information that is to be reported and / or not reported to a sensing entity (150, 1100) in the mobile network; andreporting (802) measurement information containing one or more parameters that satisfy at least one of the parameter ranges indicated in the configuration information to the sensing entity.14.A sensing entity (150, 1100) for a mobile network (100, 700) , the sensing entity being configured to:provide (901) configuration information to one or more measurement entities (102, 702, 1000) in the mobile network, wherein the configuration information comprises an indication of one or more parameter ranges for constraining measurement information that is to be reported and / or not reported to the sensing entity from the one or more measurement entities; andobtain (902) measurement information from the one or more measurement entities according to the configuration information.15.The sensing entity as claimed in claim 14, wherein the sensing entity is configured to:obtain one or more measurement information reports for one or more paths of received signals from at least one of the measurement entities; andprocess the one or more measurement information reports to obtain sensing information, wherein the sensing information is related to one or more sensing objects based on the obtained measurement information reports.16.The sensing entity as claimed in claim 14 or claim 15, wherein the configuration information specifies one or more continuous or discontinuous ranges of parameters or one or more thresholds of parameters.17.The sensing entity as claimed in any of claims 14 to 16, wherein the measurement information comprises path estimation information containing one or more measured or estimated parameters relating to one or more of amplitude, range, Doppler frequency shift, angle of arrival, velocity, location, classification, object type, object shape and trajectory.18.The sensing entity as claimed in any of claims 14 to 17, wherein the sensing entity is configured to receive the measurement information as one or more of the following: an absolute value, a relative value, a percentage and an index of a pre-configured range of parameters.19.The sensing entity as claimed in any of claims 14 to 18, wherein the sensing entity is configured to:determine one or more path associations; andindicate the one or more path associations to the one or more measurement entities in the configuration information.20.The sensing entity as claimed in claim 19, wherein the one or more path associations comprise one or more of: an association to one or more reference signals, an association to one or more spatial filters, an association with a resolution requirement and an association to another received path with respect to the parameter.21.The sensing entity as claimed in any of claims 14 to 20, wherein the sensing entity is configured to receive measurement information that satisfies the one or more parameter ranges indicated in the configuration information as a clustered report for two or more received paths.22.The sensing entity as claimed in any of claims 14 to 21, wherein the sensing entity is configured to receive measurement information for one or more received paths having one or more parameters that fall within the one or more parameter ranges to be reported to the sensing entity and / or not receive measurement information for one or more received paths having one or more parameters that fall outside of the one or more parameter ranges to be reported to the sensing entity.23.The sensing entity as claimed in any of claims 14 to 22, wherein the measurement entity is a user equipment device and wherein the sensing entity is configured to:send a request for capability of the user equipment device for reporting measurement information for one of more parameters of measurement information that satisfies one or more ranges of parameters; and / orreceive a capability report from the one or more measurement entities.24.A method (900) for implementation at a sensing entity (150, 1100) for a mobile network (100, 700) , the method comprising:providing (901) configuration information to one or more measurement entities (102, 702, 1000) in the mobile network, wherein the configuration information comprises an indication of one or more parameter ranges for constraining measurement information that is to be reported and / or not reported to the sensing entity from the one or more measurement entities; andobtaining (902) measurement information from the one or more measurement entities according to the configuration information.25.A mobile network (100, 700) comprising the measurement entity (102, 702, 1000) as claimed in any of claims 1 to 12 and the sensing entity (150, 1100) as claimed in any of claims 14 to 23.