Communication method, communication device, communication system, storage medium, and program product

Abstract

The present disclosure relates to a communication method, a communication device, a communication system, a storage medium, and a program product. The method comprises: a first terminal receiving first information sent by a first network device, the first information being used for indicating a first delay of a sensing signal; and on the basis of the first information and a first time granularity, determining a first timing advance (TA) used by the first terminal for sending the sensing signal. Therefore, a terminal determines the TA of a sensing signal on the basis of the delay of the sensing signal and time granularity, thereby ensuring the time alignment of the sensing signal between the terminal and a network device, and improving the sensing performance of a communication system.

Description

Communication methods, communication equipment, communication systems, storage media and software products Technical Field

[0001] This disclosure relates to the field of communication technology, and in particular to a communication method, communication device, communication system, storage medium, and program product. Background Technology

[0002] ISAC (Integrated Sensing and Communication) technology is a novel communication technology designed to integrate sensing capabilities into the design of communication systems, enabling these systems to provide sensing as a service alongside communication. Through the transmission and reception of sensing signals, gNB (the next generation Node B) / UE (User Equipment) can perceive information such as the distance, speed, and angle of targets / environments, acquiring information about the surrounding targets / environment for applications such as drone detection, intrusion detection, intelligent transportation, and smart factories. Summary of the Invention

[0003] To overcome the problem of inaccurate sensing results caused by timing differences between sensing transmitting nodes and sensing receiving nodes in related technologies, this disclosure provides a communication method, communication device, communication system, storage medium, and program product.

[0004] According to a first aspect of the embodiments of this disclosure, a communication method is provided, executed by a first terminal, the method comprising:

[0005] Receive first information sent by a first network device, the first information being used to indicate a first time delay of the sensing signal;

[0006] Based on the first information and the first time granularity, a first timing advance amount TA is determined for the terminal to send the sensing signal.

[0007] According to a second aspect of the present disclosure, a communication method is provided, performed by a first network device, the method comprising:

[0008] A first message is sent to a first terminal, the first message being used to indicate a first time delay of the sensing signal. The first terminal determines a first time interval (TA) used by the first terminal to send the sensing signal based on the first message and a first time granularity.

[0009] According to a third aspect of the present disclosure, a communication device is provided, which is used to perform the communication method described in any one of the first aspects of the present disclosure, or the communication device is used to perform the communication method described in any one of the second aspects of the present disclosure.

[0010] According to a fourth aspect of the present disclosure, a communication system is provided, including a first terminal and a second network device, wherein the first terminal is configured to implement the communication method described in any one of the first aspects of the present disclosure, and the second network device is configured to implement the communication method described in any one of the second aspects of the present disclosure.

[0011] According to a fifth aspect of the present disclosure, a storage medium is provided that stores instructions which, when executed on a communication device, cause the communication device to perform a communication method as described in any one of the first aspects of the present disclosure, or cause the communication device to perform a communication method as described in any one of the second aspects of the present disclosure.

[0012] According to a sixth aspect of the present disclosure, a program product is provided, comprising at least one of a program and instructions, wherein when the program or instructions are executed by a communication device, they implement the steps of any of the communication methods described in the first aspect of the present disclosure, or when the program or instructions are executed by a communication device, they implement the steps of any of the communication methods described in the second aspect of the present disclosure.

[0013] By adopting the above technical solution, at least the following beneficial technical effects can be achieved:

[0014] The first terminal receives first information sent by the first network device. The first information indicates a first time delay of the sensing signal. Based on the first information and the first time granularity, the first time interval (TA) used by the first terminal to send the sensing signal is determined. This allows the terminal to determine the timing advance of the sensing signal based on its time delay and time granularity, ensuring time alignment between the sensing signal and the network device, and improving the sensing performance of the communication system. Attached Figure Description

[0015] To more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of this disclosure, the accompanying drawings required for the description of the embodiments are introduced below. The following drawings are only some embodiments of this disclosure and do not impose specific limitations on the protection scope of this disclosure.

[0016] Figure 1A is a schematic diagram of the architecture of a communication system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0017] Figure 1B is a schematic diagram illustrating a sensing mode according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0018] Figure 1C is a schematic diagram of CBRA and CFRA according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0019] Figure 2A is an interactive schematic diagram of a communication method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0020] Figure 2B is an interactive schematic diagram of a communication method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0021] Figure 2C is a schematic diagram illustrating timing offset according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0022] Figure 2D is an interactive schematic diagram of a communication method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0023] Figure 3A is an interactive schematic diagram of a communication method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0024] Figure 3B is an interactive schematic diagram of a communication method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0025] Figure 4 is a flowchart illustrating a communication method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0026] Figure 5 is a schematic diagram of the structure of a first terminal according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0027] Figure 6 is a schematic diagram of the structure of a first network device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0028] Figure 7 is a schematic diagram of the structure of a communication device 7100 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0029] Figure 8 is a schematic diagram of the structure of chip 7200 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. Detailed Implementation

[0030] This disclosure provides a communication method, communication device, communication system, storage medium, and program product.

[0031] In a first aspect, embodiments of this disclosure provide a communication method executed by a first terminal, the method comprising:

[0032] Receive first information sent by a first network device, the first information being used to indicate a first time delay of the sensing signal;

[0033] Based on the first information and the first time granularity, a first timing advance amount TA is determined for the first terminal to send the sensing signal.

[0034] In the above embodiments, the first terminal can determine the timing advance of the sensing signal based on the delay and time granularity of the sensing signal, thereby ensuring the time alignment of the sensing signal between the terminal and the network device and improving the sensing performance of the communication system.

[0035] In conjunction with some embodiments of the first aspect, in some embodiments, the first information includes the quantized amount of the first delay.

[0036] In the above embodiments, the first network device indicates the latency of the sensing signal by quantifying the quantity, thereby reducing the overhead in the latency transmission process and improving data transmission efficiency.

[0037] In conjunction with some embodiments of the first aspect, in some embodiments, the first delay includes any one of the following:

[0038] The second delay is the round-trip delay or propagation delay of the communication signal from the terminal to the network device;

[0039] The third delay is the round-trip delay or propagation delay of the sensing signal in the first path, where the first path is the path of the sensing signal from the sensing transmitter to the sensing target and the path of the sensing signal from the sensing target to the sensing receiver.

[0040] The fourth delay is a set delay;

[0041] The fifth delay is the round-trip delay or propagation delay of the sensing signal from the sensing transmitter to the sensing receiver.

[0042] In the above embodiments, the transmission delay of the sensing signal indicated in the first information includes multiple types to adapt to different sensing scenarios. The first terminal can use different delays to determine the timing advance based on different sensing scenarios, which improves the robustness of the above TA and ensures the sensing performance of the communication system.

[0043] In conjunction with some embodiments of the first aspect, in some embodiments, the first path includes any one of the following:

[0044] The direct path is a path consisting of the line-of-sight (LoS) path from the sensing transmitter to the sensing target and the line-of-sight (LoS) path from the sensing target to the sensing receiver.

[0045] The i-th path is the i-th path detected in the time domain for transmitting the sensing signal, where i is a positive integer;

[0046] The path is set, which includes any one of the following: setting a time delay path, setting a Doppler effect path, or setting an angle path.

[0047] In the above embodiments, the first terminal can use different first paths to determine the TA based on different sensing scenarios, thereby accurately calculating the transmission time of the sensing signal and improving the accuracy of signal synchronization.

[0048] In conjunction with some embodiments of the first aspect, in some embodiments, the first time granularity is the smallest time granularity used for sensing the signal TA; or,

[0049] The first time granularity is the second time granularity, which is the smallest time granularity used for communication signal TA.

[0050] In the above embodiments, by standardizing the definition of the first time granularity, the signal synchronization accuracy can be significantly improved, the signaling overhead in the sensing signal synchronization process can be reduced, and the communication efficiency can be improved.

[0051] In conjunction with some embodiments of the first aspect, in some embodiments, the duration corresponding to the first time granularity is less than the duration corresponding to the second time granularity.

[0052] In the above embodiments, by specifying that the time granularity of the sensing signal is smaller than that of the communication signal, the time delay changes of the sensing signal can be captured more accurately, thereby improving the sensing accuracy.

[0053] In conjunction with some embodiments of the first aspect, in some embodiments, the method includes:

[0054] The first terminal's sensing mode is determined to be a first sensing mode, which is a mode in which the first terminal sends a sensing signal and the second terminal receives the sensing signal, wherein both the first terminal and the second terminal are provided with network services by the first network device.

[0055] The first TA is sent to the second terminal through the first network device.

[0056] In the above embodiments, the first terminal interacts with the second terminal via the first network device to obtain the first TA, thereby enabling the second terminal to determine the timing difference with the first terminal and improve the accuracy of perception estimation in the second terminal.

[0057] In conjunction with some embodiments of the first aspect, in some embodiments, the method includes:

[0058] The first terminal's sensing mode is determined to be a first sensing mode, which is a mode in which the first terminal sends a sensing signal and the second terminal receives the sensing signal. The first terminal is provided with network services by the first network device, and the second terminal is provided with network services by the second network device.

[0059] The first network device sends second information to the second network device, the second information being used to instruct the second network device to send the second information to the second terminal, and the second information also being used to indicate the timing difference between the first terminal and the second terminal.

[0060] In the above embodiments, when the first terminal and the second terminal are provided by different network devices, the timing error can be adjusted in a timely manner by exchanging timing errors between network devices, thereby improving the synchronization accuracy of the network and optimizing the sensing performance of the communication system.

[0061] In conjunction with some embodiments of the first aspect, in some embodiments, the second information includes the first TA, and the second information further includes at least one of the following:

[0062] The timing offset between the first network device and the second network device;

[0063] Timing error between the first network device and the second network device.

[0064] In the above embodiments, timing differences between network devices are avoided and synchronization accuracy between network devices is improved by using timing offsets and / or timing errors between interactive network devices.

[0065] In conjunction with some embodiments of the first aspect, in some embodiments, the method includes:

[0066] The first terminal is determined to be in a second sensing mode, where the second network device sends sensing signals and the first terminal receives the sensing signals. The first terminal is provided with network services by the first network device.

[0067] The system receives third information sent by the second network device through the first network device, the third information being used to indicate the timing difference between the second network device and the first terminal.

[0068] In the above embodiments, under different sensing modes, timing differences between network devices are avoided and synchronization accuracy between network devices is improved by using timing offsets and / or timing errors between interactive network devices.

[0069] In conjunction with some embodiments of the first aspect, in some embodiments, the third information includes at least one of the following:

[0070] The timing offset between the first network device and the second network device;

[0071] Timing error between the first network device and the second network device.

[0072] In the above embodiments, timing differences between network devices are avoided, and the synchronization accuracy between network devices is improved.

[0073] In conjunction with some embodiments of the first aspect, in some embodiments, the timing offset includes at least one of the following:

[0074] Frame timing offset;

[0075] Subframe timing offset.

[0076] In the above embodiments, a timing offset is defined to ensure frame synchronization between different devices and improve the synchronization accuracy in the time domain between different devices.

[0077] Secondly, embodiments of this disclosure provide a communication method executed by a first network device, the method comprising:

[0078] A first message is sent to a first terminal, the first message being used to indicate a first time delay of the sensing signal. The first terminal determines a first time interval (TA) used by the first terminal to send the sensing signal based on the first message and a first time granularity.

[0079] In conjunction with some embodiments of the second aspect, in some embodiments, the first information includes the quantized amount of the first delay.

[0080] In conjunction with some embodiments of the second aspect, in some embodiments, the first delay includes any one of the following:

[0081] The second delay is the round-trip delay or propagation delay of the communication signal from the terminal to the network device;

[0082] The third delay is the round-trip delay or propagation delay of the sensing signal in the first path, where the first path is the path of the sensing signal from the sensing transmitter to the sensing target and the path of the sensing signal from the sensing target to the sensing receiver.

[0083] The fourth delay is a set delay;

[0084] The fifth delay is the propagation delay of the sensing signal from the sensing transmitter to the sensing receiver.

[0085] In conjunction with some embodiments of the second aspect, in some embodiments, the first path includes any one of the following:

[0086] The direct path is a path consisting of the Loss path from the sensing transmitter to the sensing target and the Loss path from the sensing target to the sensing receiver.

[0087] The i-th path is the i-th path detected in the time domain for transmitting the sensing signal, where i is a positive integer;

[0088] The path is set, which includes any one of the following: setting a time delay path, setting a Doppler effect path, or setting an angle path.

[0089] In conjunction with some embodiments of the second aspect, in some embodiments, the first time granularity is the smallest time granularity used for sensing the first TA of the signal; or,

[0090] The first time granularity is the second time granularity, which is the smallest time granularity used for communication signal TA.

[0091] In conjunction with some embodiments of the second aspect, in some embodiments, the duration corresponding to the first time granularity is less than the duration corresponding to the second time granularity.

[0092] In conjunction with some embodiments of the second aspect, in some embodiments, the method includes:

[0093] The first terminal's sensing mode is determined to be a first sensing mode, which is a mode in which the first terminal sends a sensing signal and the second terminal receives the sensing signal, wherein both the first terminal and the second terminal are provided with network services by the first network device.

[0094] Receive the first TA sent by the first terminal;

[0095] Send the first TA to the second terminal.

[0096] In conjunction with some embodiments of the second aspect, in some embodiments, the method includes:

[0097] The first terminal's sensing mode is determined to be a first sensing mode, which is a mode in which the first terminal sends a sensing signal and the second terminal receives the sensing signal. The first terminal is provided with network services by the first network device, and the second terminal is provided with network services by the second network device.

[0098] The second information is sent to the second terminal via the second network device, and the second information is used to indicate the timing difference between the first terminal and the second terminal.

[0099] In conjunction with some embodiments of the second aspect, in some embodiments, the second information includes the first TA, and the second information further includes at least one of the following:

[0100] The timing offset between the first network device and the second network device;

[0101] Timing error between the first network device and the second network device.

[0102] In conjunction with some embodiments of the second aspect, in some embodiments, the method includes:

[0103] The first terminal is determined to be in a second sensing mode, where the second network device sends sensing signals and the first terminal receives the sensing signals. The first terminal is provided with network services by the first network device.

[0104] The third information is sent to the first terminal.

[0105] In conjunction with some embodiments of the second aspect, in some embodiments, the third information includes at least one of the following:

[0106] The timing offset between the first network device and the second network device;

[0107] Timing error between the first network device and the second network device.

[0108] In conjunction with some embodiments of the second aspect, in some embodiments, the timing offset includes at least one of the following:

[0109] Frame timing offset;

[0110] Subframe timing offset.

[0111] Thirdly, embodiments of this disclosure provide a communication device for performing the communication method described in any one of the first aspects of this disclosure, or for performing the communication method described in any one of the second aspects of this disclosure.

[0112] Fourthly, embodiments of this disclosure provide a communication system including a first terminal and a first network device, wherein the first terminal is configured to implement the communication method described in any one of the first aspects of this disclosure, and the first network device is configured to implement the communication method described in any one of the second aspects of this disclosure.

[0113] Fifthly, embodiments of this disclosure provide a storage medium storing instructions that, when executed on a communication device, cause the communication device to perform a communication method as described in any one of the first aspects of this disclosure, or cause the communication device to perform a communication method as described in any one of the second aspects of this disclosure.

[0114] In a sixth aspect, embodiments of this disclosure provide a program product comprising at least one of a program and instructions, wherein when the program or instructions are executed by a communication device, they implement the steps of any of the communication methods described in the first aspect of this disclosure, or when the program or instructions are executed by a communication device, they implement the steps of any of the communication methods described in the second aspect of this disclosure.

[0115] In a seventh aspect, embodiments of this disclosure provide a chip or chip system. The chip or chip system includes processing circuitry configured to perform the methods described according to optional implementations of the first, second, or third aspects above.

[0116] It is understood that the aforementioned communication equipment, communication system, storage medium, program product, etc., are all used to execute the methods proposed in the embodiments of this disclosure. Therefore, the beneficial effects they can achieve can be referred to the beneficial effects in the corresponding methods, and will not be repeated here.

[0117] This disclosure provides a communication method, communication device, communication system, storage medium, and program product. In some embodiments, terms such as information processing method and communication method may be used interchangeably.

[0118] This disclosure is not exhaustive, but merely illustrative of some embodiments, and is not intended to limit the scope of protection of this disclosure. Unless otherwise specified, each step in a particular embodiment can be implemented as an independent embodiment, and the steps can be arbitrarily combined. For example, a solution after removing some steps in a particular embodiment can also be implemented as an independent embodiment, and the order of the steps in a particular embodiment can be arbitrarily interchanged. Furthermore, the optional implementation methods in a particular embodiment can be arbitrarily combined; moreover, the embodiments can be arbitrarily combined, for example, some or all steps of different embodiments can be arbitrarily combined, and a particular embodiment can be arbitrarily combined with the optional implementation methods of other embodiments. In all embodiments of this disclosure, unless otherwise specified or logically conflicting, the terminology and / or descriptions between the embodiments are consistent and can be mutually referenced. Technical features in different embodiments can be combined to form new embodiments based on their inherent logical relationships.

[0119] The terminology used in the embodiments of this disclosure is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to limit the scope of this disclosure.

[0120] In this embodiment of the disclosure, unless otherwise stated, elements expressed in the singular form, such as "a," "an," "the," "the," "the," "the," "the," "the," "this," etc., can mean "one and only one," or "one or more," "at least one," etc. For example, when using articles such as "a," "an," "the," etc. in translation, the noun following the article can be understood as either a singular expression or a plural expression.

[0121] In the embodiments disclosed herein, "multiple" refers to two or more.

[0122] In some embodiments, the terms "at least one of A or B, at least one of A and B", "one or more", "a plurality of", "multiple" and the like can be used interchangeably.

[0123] In some embodiments, the notation "at least one of A and B", "A and / or B", "A in one case, B in another", "in response to one case A, in response to another case B", etc., may include the following technical solutions depending on the situation: in some embodiments, A (execute A regardless of whether there is a branch B); in some embodiments, B (execute B regardless of whether there is a branch A); in some embodiments, execution is selected from A and B (A and B are selectively executed); in some embodiments, both A and B are executed. The same applies when there are more branches such as A, B, C, etc.

[0124] In some embodiments, the notation "A or B" may include the following technical solutions, depending on the situation: in some embodiments, A (execute A regardless of whether a branch B exists); in some embodiments, B (execute B regardless of whether a branch A exists); in some embodiments, execution is selected from A and B (A and B are selectively executed). The same applies when there are more branches such as A, B, and C.

[0125] The prefixes "first," "second," etc., used in the embodiments of this disclosure are merely for distinguishing different descriptive objects and do not impose restrictions on the position, order, priority, quantity, or content of the descriptive objects. The description of the descriptive objects is found in the claims or the context of the embodiments, and the use of prefixes should not constitute unnecessary restrictions. For example, if the descriptive object is a "field," the ordinal numbers preceding "field" in "first field" and "second field" do not restrict the position or order of the "fields." "First" and "second" do not restrict whether the "fields" they modify are in the same message, nor do they restrict the order of "first field" and "second field." Similarly, if the descriptive object is a "level," the ordinal numbers preceding "level" in "first level" and "second level" do not restrict the priority between "levels." Furthermore, the number of descriptive objects is not limited by ordinal numbers and can be one or more. For example, in "first device," the number of "devices" can be one or more. Furthermore, the objects modified by different prefixes can be the same or different. For example, if the object being described is "device", then "first device" and "second device" can be the same device or different devices, and their types can be the same or different. Similarly, if the object being described is "information", then "first information" and "second information" can be the same information or different information, and their content can be the same or different.

[0126] In some embodiments, “including A,” “containing A,” “for indicating A,” and “carrying A” can be interpreted as directly carrying A or indirectly indicating A.

[0127] In some embodiments, terms such as "time / frequency" and "time-frequency domain" refer to the time domain and / or frequency domain.

[0128] In some embodiments, terms such as “in response to…”, “in response to determining…”, “in the case of…”, “when…”, “if…”, “if…”, etc. can be used interchangeably. These descriptions all refer to the device taking corresponding actions under certain objective circumstances. They do not necessarily limit the time, nor do they require the device to have a judgment action when implementing it, nor do they mean that there must be other limitations.

[0129] In some embodiments, the terms “greater than,” “greater than or equal to,” “not less than,” “more than,” “more than or equal to,” “not less than,” “higher than,” “higher than or equal to,” “not lower than,” and “above” can be used interchangeably, as can the terms “less than,” “less than or equal to,” “not greater than,” “less than,” “less than or equal to,” “not more than,” “lower than,” “lower than or equal to,” “not higher than,” and “below”.

[0130] In some embodiments, devices, etc., may be interpreted as physical or virtual, and their names are not limited to those described in the embodiments. Terms such as “device,” “equipment,” “circuit,” “network element,” “network function,” “network device,” “function,” “node,” “unit,” “section,” “system,” “network,” “chip,” “chip system,” “entity,” and “subject” are interchangeable.

[0131] In some embodiments, "network" can be interpreted as devices included in a network (e.g., access network devices, core network devices, etc.).

[0132] In some embodiments, the terms "access network device (AN device)," "radio access network device (RAN device)," "base station (BS)," "radio base station," "fixed station," "node," "access point," "transmission point (TP)," "reception point (RP)," "transmission / reception point (TRP)," "panel," "antenna panel," "antenna array," "cell," "macro cell," "small cell," "femto cell," "pico cell," "sector," "cell group," "serving cell," "carrier," "component carrier," and "bandwidth part (BWP)" can be used interchangeably.

[0133] In some embodiments, the terms "terminal", "terminal device", "user equipment (UE)", "user terminal", "mobile station (MS)", "mobile terminal (MT)", "subscriber station", "mobile unit", "subscriber unit", "wireless unit", "remote unit", "mobile device", "wireless device", "wireless communication device", "remote device", "mobile subscriber station", "access terminal", "mobile terminal", "wireless terminal", "remote terminal", "handset", "user agent", "mobile client", and "client" can be used interchangeably.

[0134] In some embodiments, access network devices, core network devices, or network devices can be replaced by terminals. For example, embodiments of this disclosure can also be applied to structures where communication between access network devices, core network devices, or network devices and terminals is replaced by communication between multiple terminals (e.g., device-to-device (D2D), vehicle-to-everything (V2X), etc.). In this case, the structure can also be configured such that the terminal has all or part of the functions of the access network device. Furthermore, terms such as "uplink" and "downlink" can be replaced with terms corresponding to communication between terminals (e.g., "sidelink"). For example, uplink channel, downlink channel, etc., can be replaced with sidelink channel, and uplink link, downlink, etc., can be replaced with sidelink link.

[0135] In some embodiments, the terminal may be replaced by an access network device, a core network device, or a network device. In this case, the access network device, core network device, or network device may also be configured to have all or some of the functions of the terminal.

[0136] In some embodiments, the acquisition of data, information, etc., may comply with the laws and regulations of the country where the location is situated.

[0137] In some embodiments, data, information, etc., may be obtained with the user's consent.

[0138] Furthermore, each element, each row, or each column in the table of this disclosure can be implemented as an independent embodiment, and any combination of any element, any row, or any column can also be implemented as an independent embodiment.

[0139] Figure 1A is a schematic diagram of the architecture of a communication system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in Figure 1A, the communication system 100 includes a first terminal 101 and a first network device 102.

[0140] In some embodiments, the first terminal 101 includes, for example, at least one of the following: a mobile phone, a wearable device, an Internet of Things device, a car with communication capabilities, a smart car, a tablet computer, a computer with wireless transceiver capabilities, a virtual reality (VR) terminal device, an augmented reality (AR) terminal device, a wireless terminal device in industrial control, a wireless terminal device in self-driving, a wireless terminal device in remote medical surgery, a wireless terminal device in a smart grid, a wireless terminal device in transportation safety, a wireless terminal device in a smart city, and a wireless terminal device in a smart home, but is not limited thereto.

[0141] In some embodiments, the first network device 102 may be a node or device for connecting a terminal to a wireless network. The first network device may include at least one of the following in a 5G communication system: an evolved Node B (eNB), a next-generation eNB (ng-eNB), a next-generation Node B (gNB), a node B (NB), a home node B (HNB), a home evolved node B (HeNB), a wireless backhaul device, a radio network controller (RNC), a base station controller (BSC), a base transceiver station (BTS), a base band unit (BBU), a mobile switching center, a base station in a 6G communication system, an open RAN, a cloud RAN, a base station in other communication systems, and an access node in a Wi-Fi system, but is not limited thereto.

[0142] In some embodiments, the technical solutions of this disclosure can be applied to the Open RAN architecture. In this case, the interfaces between or within access network devices involved in the embodiments of this disclosure can be transformed into internal interfaces of Open RAN. The processes and information interactions between these internal interfaces can be implemented by software or programs.

[0143] In some embodiments, the access network device may be composed of a central unit (CU) and a distributed unit (DU). The CU may also be called a control unit. The CU-DU structure can separate the protocol layer of the access network device. Some of the protocol layer functions are centrally controlled by the CU, while the remaining part or all of the protocol layer functions are distributed in the DU and centrally controlled by the CU. However, this is not the only possibility.

[0144] It is understood that the communication system described in this disclosure is for the purpose of more clearly illustrating the technical solutions of this disclosure, and does not constitute a limitation on the technical solutions proposed in this disclosure. As those skilled in the art will know, with the evolution of system architecture and the emergence of new business scenarios, the technical solutions proposed in this disclosure are also applicable to similar technical problems.

[0145] The following embodiments of this disclosure can be applied to the communication system 100 shown in FIG1A, or to some of the main bodies, but are not limited thereto. The main bodies shown in FIG1A are illustrative. The communication system may include all or some of the main bodies in FIG1A, or it may include other main bodies outside of FIG1A. The number and form of each main body are arbitrary. Each main body may be physical or virtual. The connection relationship between the main bodies is illustrative. The main bodies may not be connected or may be connected. The connection can be in any way, it can be a direct connection or an indirect connection, it can be a wired connection or a wireless connection.

[0146] The embodiments disclosed herein can be applied to Long Term Evolution (LTE), LTE-Advanced (LTE-A), LTE-Beyond (LTE-B), SUPER 3G, IMT-Advanced, 4th generation mobile communication system (4G), 5th generation mobile communication system (5G), 5G new radio (NR), Future Radio Access (FRA), New-Radio Access Technology (RAT), New Radio (NR), New radio access (NX), Future generation radio access (FX), Global System for Mobile communications (GSM), CDMA2000, Ultra Mobile Broadband (UMB), IEEE 802.11 (Wi-Fi), IEEE 802.16 (WiMAX), and IEEE 802.20, Ultra-Wideband (UWB), Bluetooth (a registered trademark), Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN) networks, Device-to-Device (D2D) systems, Machine-to-Machine (M2M) systems, Internet of Things (IoT) systems, Vehicle-to-Everything (V2X) systems, systems utilizing other communication methods, and next-generation systems built upon them, etc. Furthermore, multiple systems can be combined (e.g., a combination of LTE or LTE-A with 5G).

[0147] Figure 1B is a schematic diagram illustrating sensing modes according to embodiments of the present disclosure. As shown in Figure 1B, the application scenarios for ISCA technology include the following various sensing modes:

[0148] (a) TRP (Transmission and Receiving Point) - mono-static mode: The base station transmits and receives signals on its own. The base station sends sensing signals, and after the sensing signals are reflected by the object being measured, the base station receives the reflected waves and uses the reflected waves to sense the object being measured.

[0149] (b) TRP-TRP-bistatic (dual-station) mode: Base station A transmits and base station B receives. Base station A sends a sensing signal, and after the sensing signal is reflected by the object being measured, base station B receives the reflected wave and uses the reflected wave to sense the object being measured.

[0150] (c) TRP-UE (User Equipment)-bistatic mode: the base station transmits and the UE receives. The base station sends a sensing signal, and after the sensing signal is reflected by the object under test, the UE receives the reflected wave and the UE senses the object under test based on the reflector wave.

[0151] (d) UE-TRP-bistatic mode: UE transmits and base station receives. The UE sends a sensing signal, and after the sensing signal is reflected by the object under test, the base station receives the reflected wave and uses the reflected wave to sense the object under test.

[0152] (e) UE-mono-static mode, UE self-transmits and receives, UE sends sensing signal, after the sensing signal is reflected by the object under test, UE receives the reflected wave, and UE senses the object under test based on the reflected wave.

[0153] (f) UE-UE-bistatic mode, UE-A transmits and UE-B receives. UE-A transmits a sensing signal, which is reflected by the object under test. UE-B receives the reflected wave and uses the wave from the reflector to sense the object under test.

[0154] In some embodiments, when multiple UEs are included in the same cell, considering the different distances between different UEs and the gNB, the time required for the UE to send UL (Up-Link) signals to reach the gNB varies. If multiple UEs send UL signals at the same start time, the arrival times of the UL signals from different UEs to the gNB will differ. In this case, the performance of the gNB in ​​demodulating different UL signals will degrade. Considering this impact, the concept of TA (Timing Advance) is introduced for UL signal transmission, which ensures that the arrival times of the UL signals from different UEs to the gNB are basically consistent.

[0155] Figure 1C is a schematic diagram of CBRA and CFRA according to embodiments of the present disclosure. As shown in Figure 1C, based on the number of steps in the RA (Random Access) process, it can be divided into a 4-step RA and a 2-step RA. Based on whether the preamble used by the UE will conflict with the preamble of other UEs, it can be divided into CBRA (Contention Based Random Access) and CFRA (Contention Free Random Access).

[0156] In CBRA with 4-step RA type (contention-based 4-step type random access procedure), the UE sends Msg1 and Msg3, and the gNB sends Msg2 and Msg4, completing random access in 4 steps. Among them, Msg1 is the PRACH (Physical Random Access Channel) signal.

[0157] In CBRA with 2-step RA type (contention-based two-step random access procedure), the UE sends MsgA and the gNB sends MsgB, completing random access in two steps. MsgA includes MsgA-PRACH and MsgA-PUSCH (Physical Uplink Shared Channel) signals.

[0158] In CFRA with 4-step RA type (contention-free 4-step type random access procedure), the UE sends Msg1, and the gNB sends Msg2, completing random access in two steps. Msg1 is the PRACH (Physical Random Access Channel) signal. Furthermore, the gNB needs to pre-configure the UE's preamble for the PRACH signal.

[0159] In CFRA with 2-step RA type (Contest-Free 2-Step Type Random Access Procedure), the UE sends MsgA, and the gNB sends MsgB, completing random access in two steps. MsgA includes MsgA-PRACH and MsgA-PUSCH signals. Furthermore, the gNB needs to pre-configure the Preamble and PUSCH resources used by the UE's MsgA signal.

[0160] In some embodiments, after the gNB receives the Msg1 / MsgA signal, it can perform correlation detection on the Preamble sequence in Msg1, determine the propagation delay of Msg1 / MsgA-PRACH based on the peak value of the correlation detection, i.e., the propagation delay between the UE and the gNB, and determine the number N1 of delay quantizations after quantizing the propagation delay according to a first time granularity. Optionally, the first time granularity is: T0 = 16 × 64 × T c / 2 μ

[0161] Among them, T c It is the basic time unit, μ is related to SCS (Subcarrier Spacing), where μ and T c It can be calculated using the following formula:

[0162] Where, Δf max =480×10 3 Hz, N f =4096.

[0163] In some embodiments, during random access, the gNB indicates the number of quantized delays N1 to the UE via Msg2 / MsgB. The UE combines the first time granularity T0 and N1 to determine the propagation delay, and then determines the advance T for UL transmission. A =N1×T0.

[0164] In some embodiments, T in the related art A The determination of the value did not take into account the T of the sensed signal in the sensing mode. A and communication signal T A The issue stems from differing values; therefore, it is necessary to clearly define the T value of the perceived signal. A The method of determination.

[0165] In some embodiments, the T of the sensed signal A The time delay of Tx-target-Rx (Transmitter-target-Receiver) can be considered, and the communication signal should take into account the time delay of Tx-Rx (transmitter-receiver).

[0166] In some embodiments, to improve timing accuracy, information exchange is required between sensing nodes to enable the sensing receiving node to determine the T of the sensing sending node. A And / or sensing timing differences between the transmitting node and the receiving node, which can be used for sensing estimation.

[0167] In some embodiments, the second T of the sensed signal AThe second time delay is determined based on the second time delay and the second time granularity. The second time delay includes any one of the following: the propagation delay of the communication signal, the propagation delay of Tx-target-Rx, or 0. The second time granularity includes any one of the following: the time delay determined by the communication signal. A The first time granularity is the same; the new time granularity has a duration that is shorter than the duration corresponding to the first time granularity.

[0168] In some embodiments, the information exchanged between sensing nodes includes at least one of the following: the UE's second TA; the timing offset between gNB#1 and gNB#2; the timing offset includes at least one of frame timing offset and subframe timing offset; and the timing error between gNB#1 and gNB#2.

[0169] Figure 2A is an interactive schematic diagram of a communication method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in Figure 2A, the embodiments of the present disclosure relate to a communication method, which includes:

[0170] In step S2101, the first network device 102 sends the first information to the first terminal 101.

[0171] For example, this embodiment is applied in a sensing communication scenario, where the first terminal is a sensing transmitting device and the first network device is a sensing receiving device. The first terminal sends a sensing signal to the first network device. After being reflected by the target, the sensing signal reaches the first network device. The first network device can determine sensing information such as speed, distance, direction, and size of the sensing target by measuring the reflected sensing signal. The transmission path of the sensing signal includes the transmission path from the first terminal to the sensing target and the transmission path from the sensing target to the first network device. Because the propagation delay of the sensing signal along the transmission path reduces the accuracy of the sensing estimation by the first network device, measuring the time delay of the sensing signal determines the amount of time the first terminal needs to advance before sending the sensing signal, thereby compensating for the propagation delay and improving the sensing accuracy of the first network device.

[0172] In some embodiments, the first terminal is provided with network services by a first network device. The first terminal can be applicable to a variety of different sensing modes. In different sensing modes, the first network device can be a sensing receiver device. Optionally, in some sensing modes, the first network device may not be a sensing receiver device.

[0173] For example, this embodiment is applied to a sensing communication scenario, where the first terminal is a sensing transmitting device and the second network device is a sensing receiving device. In this case, the sensing mode between the first terminal and the second network device is the UE1-gNB2 sensing mode.

[0174] For example, this embodiment is applied to a sensing communication scenario. The first terminal is a sensing transmitting device, and the second terminal is a sensing receiving device. Both the first and second terminals are provided with network services by the first network device, and the sensing mode between the first and second terminals is the UE1-UE2 sensing mode. Optionally, the first terminal is a sensing transmitting device, the second terminal is a sensing receiving device, the first terminal is provided with network services by the first network device, and the second terminal is provided with network services by the second network device.

[0175] For example, this embodiment is applied in a sensing communication scenario. The first terminal is a sensing transmitting device, the first terminal is a sensing receiving device, the first terminal is provided with network services by the first network device, and the sensing mode of the first terminal is UE1-UE1 sensing mode.

[0176] In some embodiments, the first terminal 101 receives first information sent by the first network device 102, but is not limited thereto. The first terminal 101 may also receive first information sent by other network devices, in which case step S2101 is omitted.

[0177] In some embodiments, the first terminal acquires the first information specified by the protocol, in which case step S2101 is omitted. For example, in some perception modes, the first delay of the perception signal can be agreed upon by the protocol. For instance, in the UE1-UE1 perception mode, the first delay of the perception signal can be agreed upon by the protocol to be 0. When UE1 determines that the current perception mode is the UE1-UE1 perception mode, it acquires the first information specified by the protocol.

[0178] In some embodiments, the first terminal may obtain first information from the upper layer(s), in which case step S2101 is omitted.

[0179] In some embodiments, this embodiment is adapted to a sensing communication scenario. The sensing receiving device detects the received sensing signal, determines the first time delay of the sensing signal during transmission, and generates first information based on the first time delay. If a communication connection exists between the sensing receiving device and the first terminal, the sensing receiving device can send the first information to the first terminal based on the communication connection; if there is no direct communication connection between the sensing receiving device and the first terminal, the sensing receiving device can send the first information to other network nodes, which will then send the first information to the first terminal.

[0180] For example, this embodiment is applicable to any of the above-mentioned sensing modes. The sensing signal can indicate the currently applicable sensing mode between the first terminal and the sensing receiving device. The sensing receiving device can transmit the first information to the first terminal based on different sensing modes. For example, in the UE1-gNB2 sensing mode, the first terminal is UE1, the sensing receiving device is the second network device gNB2, UE1 is provided with network services by the first network device gNB1, and there is no direct communication connection between UE1 and gNB2. After gNB2 determines the first information, it sends the first information to gNB1, and then sends the first information to UE1 through gNB1. For example, in the UE1-gNB1 sensing mode, the first terminal is UE1, the sensing receiving device is the first network device gNB1, and there is a direct communication connection between UE1 and gNB1. After gNB1 determines the first information, it sends the first information to UE1. For example, in the UE1-UE2 perception mode, the first terminal is UE1, and the perception receiving device is the second terminal UE2. There is no direct communication connection between UE1 and UE2. Both UE1 and UE2 are provided with network services by the first network device gNB1. After UE2 determines the first information, it sends the first information to gNB1, which then sends the first information to UE1. Similarly, in the UE1-UE2 perception mode, the first terminal is UE1, and the perception receiving device is UE2. There is no direct communication connection between UE1 and UE2. UE1 is provided with network services by the first network device gNB1, and UE2 is provided with network services by the second network device gNB2. After UE2 determines the first information, it sends the first information to gNB2, which then sends it to gNB1, which in turn sends it to UE1. In this embodiment, the method of exchanging the first information between the first terminal and the perception receiving device is not limited. The perception receiving device can use different communication methods based on different perception modes to send the first information directly or indirectly to the first terminal through other network nodes.

[0181] Optionally, in some embodiments, the first information can also be forwarded to the first terminal through the sensing function node.

[0182] In some embodiments, the sensing transmitting device is a first terminal, the sensing receiving device is a first network device, and the sensing mode between the first terminal and the first network device is a UE1-gNB1 sensing mode. In this case, the first delay of the sensing signal is the same as the second delay of the communication signal. Therefore, the first network device can receive the communication signal from the first terminal, detect the received communication signal, determine the first delay of the communication signal during transmission, and generate first information based on the first delay. The first network device then sends the first information to the first terminal.

[0183] In some embodiments, the first information is used to instruct the first terminal to determine the first TA of the sensing signal based on the first information.

[0184] In some embodiments, the first information is used to indicate a first time delay of the sensed signal.

[0185] For example, the first network device can determine the first delay of the sensing signal during transmission based on the received sensing signal. For instance, when the first terminal sends the sensing signal, it can configure the transmission time point of the sensing signal in the sensing signal. When the first network device receives the sensing signal, it can calculate and determine the first delay of the sensing signal during transmission by comparing the reception time point of the sensing signal with the transmission time point of the sensing signal.

[0186] In some embodiments, the name of the first information is not limited, and may be, for example, "time delay information of the sensed signal", "transmission delay information of the sensed signal", "round-trip time delay of the sensed signal", or "propagation delay of the sensed signal".

[0187] In some embodiments, the first information includes the quantization quantity of the first delay. For example, in this embodiment, the first network device may not directly transmit the first delay of the sensing signal, but instead divide the first delay by the time granularity of the sensing signal to obtain the quantization quantity of the sensing signal, and then indicate the quantization quantity of the sensing signal to the first terminal through the first information. The first terminal multiplies the quantization quantity by the first time granularity of the sensing signal to determine the first delay of the sensing signal. For example, in the first network device, this can be achieved through... or Calculate the quantization quantity N1 of the sensed signal, where τ is the first time delay of the sensed signal, δ is the time granularity of the sensed signal in the first network device, round() is the rounding function, ceil() is the floor function, and floor() is the floor function. The first terminal multiplies the first step quantity N1 by the first time granularity δ1 to obtain the first time delay of the sensed signal.

[0188] In some embodiments, after the first time delay of the sensed signal is determined, the first time delay may still change. Therefore, in this embodiment, the first information may also include the quantized quantity of the change in the first time delay. For example, in this embodiment, the first network device may not directly transmit the change in the first time delay of the sensed signal, but instead divide the change in the first time delay by the time granularity of the sensed signal to obtain the quantized quantity of the change in the first time delay of the sensed signal, and indicate the quantized quantity of the change in the sensed signal to the first terminal through the first information. The first terminal multiplies the quantized quantity of the change by the first time granularity of the sensed signal to determine the change in the first time delay of the sensed signal. For example, in the first network device, it can be done by... or The quantization quantity N1 of the perceived signal change is calculated, where τ is the change in the first time delay of the perceived signal, δ is the time granularity of the perceived signal in the first network device, round() is the rounding function, ceil() is the floor function, and floor() is the floor function. The first terminal multiplies the first step quantity N1 by the first time granularity δ1 to obtain the change in the first time delay of the perceived signal. Combining the previous first time delay and the change quantity, the first time delay is determined.

[0189] In step S2102, the first terminal 101 determines the first TA to be used for sending the sensing signal based on the first information and the first time granularity.

[0190] For example, the first terminal multiplies the quantized quantity of the first information by the first time granularity to obtain the first time interval (TA) of the sensing signal in the first terminal. When transmitting the sensing signal, the first terminal can advance the sensing signal based on the first TA to improve the sensing accuracy in the sensing receiving device.

[0191] For example, the first terminal multiplies the quantized quantity of the first time delay change of the first information by the first time granularity to obtain the change in the first TA of the sensing signal in the first terminal. Based on the historical first TA and the change in the first TA, the first TA of the sensing signal in the first terminal is determined. When transmitting the sensing signal, the first terminal can advance the sensing signal based on the first TA to improve the sensing accuracy in the sensing receiving device. The historical first TA can be indicated by other information.

[0192] In some embodiments, the first delay includes any one of the following:

[0193] The second delay is the round-trip delay or propagation delay of the communication signal from the terminal to the network device;

[0194] The third delay is the round-trip delay or propagation delay of the sensing signal in the first path, where the first path is the path from the sensing transmitter to the sensing target and then from the sensing target to the sensing receiver.

[0195] The fourth delay is a set delay;

[0196] The fifth delay is the round-trip delay or propagation delay of the sensing signal from the sensing transmitter to the sensing receiver.

[0197] For example, in this embodiment, the first terminal is a sensing transmitter device. The first terminal can be applied to multiple sensing modes, and the corresponding sensing receiver device can include multiple situations. The corresponding first terminal and the first network device are applicable to different device types in different sensing modes. For example, (1) when the first terminal UE1 is a sensing transmitter and the sensing receiver device is the first network device gNB1, the sensing mode between the first terminal UE1 and the first network device gNB1 is the UE1-gNB1 dual-site sensing mode; if the first terminal UE1 is a sensing transmitter device and the sensing receiver device is the second terminal UE2, the sensing mode between the first terminal and the second terminal is the UE1-UE2 dual-site sensing mode. At this time, UE1 and UE2 can both be provided with network services by the first network device, or UE1 can be provided with network services by the first network device and UE2 can be provided with network services by the second network device; if the first terminal UE1 is a sensing transmitter device and the first terminal UE1 is a sensing receiver device, the sensing mode of UE1 is the UE1-UE1 single-site sensing mode. At this time, UE1 is provided with network services by the first network device.

[0198] Optionally, in some embodiments, the first delay measured and determined in the sensing receiving device differs for different sensing modes constituted by different device types. In this embodiment, the first delay determined in the first network device may include the following types:

[0199] (1) The first delay is the second delay, which is the round-trip delay or propagation delay of the communication signal from the terminal to the network device. The round-trip delay includes the propagation delay A from the transmitter to the receiver and the propagation delay B from the receiver to the transmitter. For example, the propagation delay refers to the time required for the sensed signal to propagate from the transmitter to the receiver. In this embodiment, the delay of the sensed signal can be configured as: the round-trip delay or propagation delay of the communication signal between the terminal and the network device.

[0200] Optionally, the configuration of the second latency can differ depending on the perception mode.

[0201] Example 1: In UE1-gNB1 sensing mode, the sensing signal sent by UE1 can be received by at least one gNB. The second delay is the round-trip delay or propagation delay of the communication signal between UE1 and gNB1 in free space. In this example, one gNB corresponds to one serving cell, wherein gNB1 may include at least one of the following:

[0202] 1. The cell corresponding to gNB1 is the cell that configures the time and frequency resources for sensing signals to UE1. At this time, gNB1 can be one of at least one gNB, or it can be another gNB that does not need to receive sensing signals.

[0203] 2. The cell corresponding to gNB1 is one of the serving cells activated by UE1. When UE1 has multiple active serving cells, if at least one serving cell corresponding to at least one gNB includes at least one serving cell activated by UE1, the cell corresponding to gNB1 is the serving cell activated by UE1 among the at least one serving cells corresponding to at least one gNB. For example, if at least one serving cell activated by UE1 includes sPCell (Special Cell), the cell corresponding to gNB1 is sPCell; otherwise, if the active serving cell includes SCell, gNB1 is SCell (Secondary Cell). When UE1 has multiple active serving cells, if at least one serving cell corresponding to at least one gNB does not include the serving cell activated by UE1, the cell corresponding to gNB1 is one of the serving cells activated by UE1. For example, gNB1 is either sPCell or SCell.

[0204] In some embodiments, in UE1-gNB1 awareness mode, gNB1 can be determined by protocol agreement, higher-level configuration, or dynamic indication from network devices.

[0205] In some embodiments, in UE1-gNB1 sensing mode, at least one cell corresponding to at least one gNB may or may not include a cell with time-frequency resources configured for sensing signals.

[0206] Example 2: In UE1-UE2 sensing mode, the sensing signal transmitted by UE1 can be received by at least one UE2. The second delay is the round-trip delay or transmission delay of the communication signal between UE1 and gNB1 in free space. gNB1 may include at least one of the following:

[0207] 1. gNB1 corresponds to a cell that is configured with time-frequency resources for sensing signals;

[0208] 2. The cell corresponding to gNB1 is one of the serving cells activated by UE1. When UE1 has multiple active serving cells, if at least one of the cells where UE2 is located includes at least one of the serving cells activated by UE1, the cell corresponding to gNB1 is one of the serving cells activated by UE1. For example, if at least one of the serving cells activated by UE includes sPCell (Special Cell), the cell corresponding to gNB1 is sPCell; otherwise, if the active serving cell includes SCell, gNB1 is SCell (Secondary Cell). When UE1 has multiple active serving cells, if at least one of the cells where at least one of UE2 is located does not include the serving cell activated by UE1, the cell corresponding to gNB1 is one of the serving cells activated by UE1. For example, gNB1 is either sPCell or SCell.

[0209] In some embodiments, in UE1-UE2 awareness mode, gNB1 can be determined by protocol agreement, higher-level configuration, or dynamic indication of network devices.

[0210] In some embodiments, in the UE1-UE2 sensing mode, at least one cell in which at least one UE2 is located may or may not include a cell that configures time-frequency resources for sensing signals.

[0211] Example 3: In the UE1-UE1 single-site sensing mode, the second delay is the round-trip delay or propagation delay of the communication signal between UE1 and gNB1 in free space. Here, gNB1 is the cell configuring the time-frequency resources for the sensing signal.

[0212] In some embodiments, the time delay of the communication signal between UE1 and gNB1 in free space can be determined by detecting the UL (Up-Link) signal, wherein the UL signal may include at least one of the following: PRACH (Physical Random Access Channel) signal, SRS (Sounding Reference Signal) signal, and UL sensing signal. For example, the signal type of the UL signal is not limited in this embodiment.

[0213] (2) The first delay is the third delay, which is the round-trip delay or propagation delay of the sensing signal in the first path. The first path is the path of the sensing signal from the sensing transmitter to the sensing target, and then from the sensing target to the sensing receiver.

[0214] Optionally, in some embodiments, the first path may include any of the following:

[0215] The direct path is a path consisting of the LoS (Line of Sight) path from the sensing transmitter to the sensing target and the LoS path from the sensing target to the sensing receiver.

[0216] The i-th path is the i-th path detected in the time domain for transmitting sensing signals, where i is a positive integer;

[0217] Set the path, which includes any of the following: set the time delay path, set the Doppler effect path, or set the angle path.

[0218] For example, in a dual-station sensing mode, the sensing signal is transmitted from the sensing transmitter to the sensing target, then reflected by the sensing target, and finally transmitted from the sensing target to the sensing receiver. The path along which the sensing signal travels during the sensing process is the first path. The type of the first path varies depending on the transmission scenario and the sensing mode. In this embodiment, the first path corresponding to the third delay may include at least one of the following:

[0219] The third path is the direct path, which refers to the Loss path between the sensing signal transmitter and the sensing target, and the Loss path between the sensing target and the sensing receiver.

[0220] The third path is the i-th path, which is the i-th detected path in the time domain among the sensing transmitter-sensing target-sensing receiver. For example, if i = 1, then the third path is the first detected path in the time domain among the sensing transmitter-sensing target-sensing receiver.

[0221] The third path is the set path, which can be a set delay path, a set Doppler effect path, or a set angle path in the sensing transmitter-sensing target-sensing receiver sequence. The path type of the set path can be determined through higher-level configuration or dynamic indication by network devices.

[0222] Optionally, the configuration of the third latency can differ depending on the perception mode.

[0223] Example 1: In UE1-gNB1 sensing mode, the sensing signal sent by UE1 can be received by at least one gNB. The third delay is the round-trip delay or propagation delay of the communication signal between UE1 and gNB1 in the target channel. In this example, one gNB corresponds to one serving cell, wherein gNB1 may include at least one of the following:

[0224] 1. The cell corresponding to gNB1 is the cell that configures the time-frequency resources for sensing signals to UE1;

[0225] 2. The cell corresponding to gNB1 is one of the serving cells activated by UE1. When UE1 has multiple active serving cells, if at least one serving cell corresponding to at least one gNB includes at least one serving cell activated by UE1, the cell corresponding to gNB1 is the serving cell activated by UE1 among the at least one serving cells corresponding to at least one gNB. For example, if at least one serving cell activated by UE1 includes sPCell (Special Cell), the cell corresponding to gNB1 is sPCell; otherwise, if the active serving cell includes SCell, gNB1 is SCell (Secondary Cell). When UE1 has multiple active serving cells, if at least one serving cell corresponding to at least one gNB does not include the serving cell activated by UE1, the cell corresponding to gNB1 is one of the serving cells activated by UE1. For example, gNB1 is either sPCell or SCell.

[0226] In some embodiments, in UE1-gNB1 awareness mode, gNB1 can be determined by protocol agreement, higher-level configuration, or dynamic indication from network devices.

[0227] In some embodiments, in UE1-gNB1 sensing mode, at least one cell corresponding to at least one gNB may or may not include a cell with time-frequency resources configured for sensing signals.

[0228] Example 2: In the UE1-UE2 sensing mode, the sensing signal transmitted by UE1 can be received by at least one UE2. The third delay is the round-trip delay or propagation delay of the communication signal between UE1 and UEm in the path of the target channel. Here, UEm is any one of at least one UE2, and UEm may include at least one of the following:

[0229] UEm is at least one UE2 with the smallest index, the largest index, or a specified index;

[0230] UEm is at least one UE2 that has the same serving cell as UE1 and has the smallest, largest, or specified index.

[0231] In some embodiments, UEm can be determined through protocol agreement, higher-layer configuration, or dynamic indication by network devices. For example, UE2, which shares the same serving cell as UE1 and has the largest index, can be designated as UEm through protocol agreement.

[0232] Example 3: In the single-site sensing mode of UE1-UE1, the third delay can be determined based on the transmission delay or round-trip delay of the sensing signal in the path UE1-sensing target-UE1.

[0233] (3) The first delay is the fourth delay, which is a set delay with a fixed value. It is understood that in some sensing scenarios, the transmission path between the first terminal and the sensing receiving device is fixed, and the transmission delay of the corresponding sensing signal will not change. Therefore, the delay of the sensing signal can be set to a fixed value. For example, the set delay can be set to 0, then the first TA of the sensing signal is 0.

[0234] For example, when the first TA is set to 0, the method for determining the first TA can be simplified, reducing the amount of information that needs to be interacted with during the sensing process. Furthermore, a first TA value of 0 can also be used when the UE is in an idle state, and the TA of the sensing signal has not yet been determined whether to send a sensing signal.

[0235] Optionally, in the UE1-UE2 dual-site sensing mode, the first TA of the sensing signal can be configured to be zero.

[0236] (4) The first delay is the fifth delay, which is the round-trip delay or transmission delay of the sensing signal from the sensing transmitter to the sensing receiver.

[0237] Example 1: The fifth delay is the round-trip delay between the sensing transmitter and the sensing receiver. In the UE1-gNB1 sensing mode, the sensing transmitter is UE1, the sensing receiver is gNB1, and the fifth delay is the round-trip delay of the communication signal between UE1 and gNB1 in free space.

[0238] In the UE1-UE2 sensing mode, the sensing signal sent by UE1 can be received by at least one UE2. The fifth delay can be determined based on the round-trip time delay of the signal transmission between UE1 and UEm, wherein UEm is one of at least one UE2, and UEm may include at least one of the following:

[0239] UEm is the UE2 with the smallest index, the largest index, or a specified index among at least one UE2 that receives sensing signals;

[0240] UEm is at least one UE2 that receives sensing signals, has the same serving cell as UE1, and is the UE2 with the smallest index, the largest index, or a specified index.

[0241] In UE1-UE1 perception mode, the perception transmitter and perception receiver are the same node, so the fifth latency can be configured to 0.

[0242] Example 2: The fifth delay is the transmission delay from the sensing transmitter to the sensing receiver.

[0243] For example, 1. The fifth delay is the transmission delay between the UE and the gNB.

[0244] 2. The fifth delay can be determined based on the propagation delay from the sensing transmitter to the sensing target to the sensing receiver.

[0245] Optionally, the fifth delay is the propagation delay of the direct path from the sensing transmitter to the sensing target to the sensing receiver, where the direct path is the Loss path between the sensing transmitter and the sensing target, and the Loss path between the sensing target and the sensing receiver.

[0246] Optionally, the fifth delay is the transmission delay on the i-th detected transmission path in the sensing transmitter-sensing target-sensing receiver path. In the sensing transmitter-sensing target-sensing receiver path, the i-th detected path in the time domain is the target path, and the transmission delay of the sensing signal on the target path is the fifth delay.

[0247] Optionally, the fifth delay is the transmission delay in the set delay path, set Doppler effect path, or set angle path within the path from the sensing transmitter to the sensing target to the sensing receiver. The set delay path, set Doppler effect path, or set angle path is determined by higher-level configuration or dynamic indication.

[0248] Optionally, in some embodiments, the first time granularity is the smallest time granularity used for sensing the signal TA; or,

[0249] The first time granularity is the second time granularity, which is the smallest time granularity used for communication signals TA.

[0250] For example, the first time granularity is the smallest time unit used in the first terminal to measure the time delay parameter corresponding to the sensed signal. For example, the first time granularity can be a second, millisecond, microsecond, or nanosecond.

[0251] After the first network device determines the first delay, through or The method involves calculating the quantization quantity N1 of the sensed signal, where τ is the first delay of the sensed signal, and δ is the time granularity of the sensed signal in the first network device. After generating first information based on N1, the first information is sent to the first terminal. The first terminal is configured with a first time granularity δ for measuring the first delay, and the first terminal determines the first TA by calculating N1 × δ = TA. Typically, the first terminal is also configured with a second time granularity for measuring the second delay corresponding to the communication signal; the first time granularity and the second time granularity can be the same or different.

[0252] Example 1: The first time granularity can be configured to equal the second time granularity. The first terminal can multiply the quantized quantity N1 by the second time granularity to obtain the first TA of the sensed signal. In this case, there is no need to additionally indicate the value of the first time granularity. For example, the first time granularity can be indicated to the first terminal as equal to the second time granularity through protocol agreement, higher-level configuration, or dynamic indication by network devices.

[0253] Example 2: The first time granularity and the second time granularity can be configured to be different, and the duration corresponding to the first time granularity is shorter than the duration corresponding to the second time granularity. For example, the first time granularity is milliseconds, and the second time granularity is seconds. In this case, the TA adjustment granularity used for sensing signals is finer, which can reduce the impact of time granularity on sensing performance. For example, the first time granularity can be indicated to the first terminal through protocol agreement, higher-level configuration, or dynamic indication by network devices.

[0254] Optionally, in some embodiments, the first information includes indication information used to indicate the purpose of the TA. If the first terminal includes a second time granularity and a second TA used when the first terminal sends communication signals, the indication information is needed to indicate whether the TA is used for sensing or communication.

[0255] In some embodiments, the process of determining the TA value based on latency and time granularity can be performed by a network device. The network device can... or Calculate the quantization quantity N1 of the sensed signal, where τ is the first delay of the sensed signal, δ is the first time granularity of the sensed signal, round() is the rounding function, ceil() is the rounding up function, and floor() is the rounding down function. The network device indicates N1 to the terminal, and the terminal determines the indicated TA1 = N1 × δ based on N1 and the first time granularity δ. The TA value used by the terminal during transmission can be determined based on TA1 (first delay) and a second value TA2 agreed upon by other higher-layer configurations or protocols. For example, the TA used by the terminal to send the sensed signal is TA = TA1 + TA2.

[0256] In some embodiments, the first information includes a quantized quantity N2 of the change in the first delay, and a target first TA is determined based on the historical first TA used by the UE during transmission and the value of N2. For example, TA... new =TA old +(N2-A)*δ. Among them, T.A. old For the first TA in history, TA new For the new target first TA, A is a parameter agreed upon in the protocol or configured by higher layers. The change in the first latency can be determined based on the historical first latency and the new first latency.

[0257] In some embodiments, the names of information, etc., are not limited to the names described in the embodiments. Terms such as "information", "message", "signal", "signaling", "report", "configuration", "indication", "instruction", "command", "channel", "parameter", "domain", "field", "symbol", "symbol", "codebook", "codeword", "codepoint", "bit", "data", "program", and "chip" can be used interchangeably.

[0258] In some embodiments, the terms "codebook," "codeword," and "precoding matrix" can be used interchangeably. For example, a codebook can be a collection of one or more codewords / precoding matrices.

[0259] In some embodiments, terms such as “uplink”, “uplink”, and “physical uplink” can be used interchangeably, as can terms such as “downlink”, “downlink”, and “physical downlink”, and terms such as “sidelink”, “sidelink”, “sidelink communication”, “sidelink communication”, “direct connection”, “direct link”, “direct communication”, and “direct link communication”.

[0260] In some embodiments, the terms “downlink control information (DCI),” “downlink (DL) assignment,” “DL DCI,” “uplink (UL) grant,” and “UL DCI” can be used interchangeably.

[0261] In some embodiments, terms such as "physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH)" and "DL data" can be used interchangeably, as can terms such as "physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH)" and "UL data".

[0262] In some embodiments, the terms “radio”, “wireless”, “radio access network (RAN)”, “access network (AN)”, and “RAN-based” can be used interchangeably.

[0263] In some embodiments, the terms "search space", "search space set", "search space configuration", "search space set configuration", "control resource set (CORESET)", and "CORESET configuration" can be used interchangeably.

[0264] In some embodiments, the terms "synchronization signal (SS)," "synchronization signal block (SSB)," "reference signal (RS)," "pilot," and "pilot signal" can be used interchangeably.

[0265] In some embodiments, terms such as “moment,” “point in time,” “time,” and “time location” can be used interchangeably, as can terms such as “duration,” “segment,” “time window,” “window,” and “time.”

[0266] In some embodiments, the terms "component carrier (CC)," "cell," "frequency carrier," and "carrier frequency" can be used interchangeably.

[0267] In some embodiments, the terms “resource block (RB)”, “physical resource block (PRB)”, “sub-carrier group (SCG)”, “resource element group (REG)”, “PRB pair”, “RB pair”, “resource element (RE)”, and “sub-carrier” can be used interchangeably.

[0268] In some embodiments, terms such as wireless access scheme and waveform can be used interchangeably.

[0269] In some embodiments, the terms "precoding", "precoder", "weight", "precoding weight", "quasi-co-location (QCL)", "transmission configuration indication (TCI) status", "spatial relation", "spatial domain filter", "transmission power", "phase rotation", "antenna port", "antenna port group", "layer", "the number of layers", "rank", "resource", "resource set", "resource group", "beam", "beam width", "beam angular degree", "antenna", "antenna element", and "panel" can be used interchangeably.

[0270] In some embodiments, the terms “frame”, “radio frame”, “subframe”, “slot”, “sub-slot”, “mini-slot”, “symbol”, “symbol”, and “transmission time interval (TTI)” can be used interchangeably.

[0271] In some embodiments, "acquire," "get," "obtain," "receive," "transmit," "bidirectional transmission," and "send and / or receive" can be used interchangeably and can be interpreted as receiving from other entities, acquiring from protocols, acquiring from higher layers, obtaining through self-processing, or autonomous implementation. Protocols include, for example, at least one of the 3GPP protocol, Wi-Fi protocol, and audio and / or video protocols.

[0272] In some embodiments, terms such as “send,” “transmit,” “report,” “distribute,” “transfer,” “bidirectional transmission,” “send and / or receive” can be used interchangeably.

[0273] In some embodiments, terms such as "certain," "preset," "default," "set," "indicated," "a certain," "any," and "first" can be used interchangeably. "Certain A," "preset A," "default A," "set A," "indicated A," "a certain A," "any A," and "first A" can be interpreted as A pre-defined in a protocol or the like, or as A obtained through setting, configuration, or instruction, or as specific A, a certain A, any A, or first A, but are not limited thereto.

[0274] In some embodiments, the determination or judgment can be made by a value represented by 1 bit (0 or 1), or by a true or false value (boolean), or by a comparison of numerical values ​​(e.g., a comparison with a predetermined value), but is not limited thereto.

[0275] In some embodiments, "not expecting to receive" can be interpreted as not receiving on time domain resources and / or frequency domain resources, or as not performing subsequent processing on the data and / or instructions received; "not expecting to send" can be interpreted as not sending, or as sending but not expecting the receiver to respond to the sent content.

[0276] In some embodiments, if an arrow in the interaction diagram representing the sending of information, signaling, etc. from one subject to another passes through other subjects, it can be interpreted as the information being forwarded from one subject to another via other subjects, or it can be interpreted as the information being sent from one subject to another without passing through other subjects.

[0277] The communication method involved in the embodiments of this disclosure may include at least one of steps S2101 to S2102. For example, step S2101 may be implemented as a separate embodiment, and step S2102 may be implemented as a separate embodiment, but are not limited thereto.

[0278] In some embodiments, steps S2101 and S2102 may be performed in an alternate order or simultaneously.

[0279] In some embodiments, step S2102 is optional, and one or more of these steps may be omitted or substituted in different embodiments.

[0280] In some embodiments, the steps and their optional implementations in other embodiments described before or after this embodiment, as well as other related parts in the specification, can be referred to, and will not be repeated here.

[0281] Figure 2B is an interactive schematic diagram of a communication method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in Figure 2B, the embodiments of the present disclosure relate to a communication method, which includes:

[0282] In step S2201, the first terminal sends second information to the second terminal through the first network device. The second information includes the first TA.

[0283] For example, in this embodiment, the sensing mode of the first terminal is UE1-UE2, where UE2 is the second terminal. At this time, the first terminal sends a sensing signal, which is reflected by the target object and then received by the second terminal. After determining the first TA used when sending the sensing signal, the first terminal needs to exchange information with the second terminal to enable the sensing receiving node to determine the TA of the sensing sending node, or to exchange information with the second terminal regarding the timing difference between the sensing sending node and the sensing receiving node. This information can be used for sensing estimation, thereby improving the sensing accuracy in the second terminal.

[0284] In some embodiments, there is no direct communication connection between UE1 and UE2, and UE1 needs to send the second information to UE2 through other network nodes. For example, both UE1 and UE2 are provided with network services by a first network device gNB1, and gNB1 forwards the second information to UE2. Optionally, UE1 and UE2 can also be provided with network services by different network devices; UE1 is provided with network services by the first network device gNB1, and UE2 is provided with network services by the second network device gNB2, with a prior communication connection between gNB1 and gNB2. gNB1 sends the second information to gNB2, and gNB2 then sends the second information to UE2.

[0285] Optionally, in some embodiments, the first terminal determines the sensing mode as a first sensing mode, which is a mode in which the first terminal sends a sensing signal and the second terminal receives the sensing signal, wherein both the first terminal and the second terminal are provided with network services by a sensing receiving device.

[0286] The first terminal sends the first TA to the second terminal through the sensing and receiving device.

[0287] For example, the first terminal is UE1, the second terminal is UE2, and the sensing mode between the first terminal and the second terminal is UE1-UE2 sensing mode. When UE1 and UE2 have the same serving cell and both are provided with network services by sensing receiving devices, after UE1 determines the first TA to use for sending sensing signals, it generates second information based on the first TA and sends the second information to UE2 through the sensing receiving device.

[0288] It should be noted that when UE2 and UE1 serve the same cell, the timing between their serving cells is also the same. In this case, the gNB indicates the first TA of UE1 to UE2, which allows UE2 to obtain the actual transmission time of UE1's sensing signal, so as to estimate information such as the distance, displacement, and direction of the sensed target.

[0289] When UE2 and UE1 serve different cells, their timing is different. In this case, the gNB indicates UE1's first TA, as well as the timing error between gNB1 and gNB2, and the timing offset between gNB1 and gNB2 to UE2. This allows UE2 to obtain the actual transmission time of UE1's sensing signal, so as to estimate information such as the distance, displacement, and direction of the sensing target.

[0290] Optionally, in some embodiments, the first terminal determines the sensing mode as a first sensing mode, which is a mode in which the first terminal sends a sensing signal and the second terminal receives the sensing signal, wherein the first terminal is provided with network services by a sensing receiving device and the second terminal is provided with network services by a second network device.

[0291] The first terminal sends second information to the second network device through the sensing and receiving device. The second information is used to instruct the second network device to send second information to the second terminal. The second information is also used to indicate the timing difference between the first terminal and the second terminal.

[0292] For example, the first terminal is UE1, and the second terminal is UE2. The sensing mode between the first terminal and the second terminal is the UE1-UE2 sensing mode, where UE1 and UE2 serve different cells. UE1 is provided with network services by the sensing receiving device gNB1, and UE2 is provided with network services by gNB2. The first terminal sends a first AT to the sensing receiving device. gNB1 determines the second information based on the first AT, and then exchanges the second information with gNB2. gNB2 then instructs UE2 on the second information.

[0293] Optionally, in some embodiments, the second information includes a first TA, and the second information further includes at least one of the following:

[0294] The timing offset between the sensing receiving device and the second network device;

[0295] Timing error between the sensing receiving device and the second network device.

[0296] For example, there is a timing error between the first terminal and the second terminal. When the serving cells of the first terminal and the second terminal are different, there is also a timing error between the serving cells. Therefore, to improve sensing accuracy, during the timing error information exchange between the first terminal and the second terminal, it is necessary not only to exchange the timing error of the sensing signal during transmission between the first and second terminals, but also to exchange the timing error between the sensing receiving device corresponding to the first terminal and the second network device corresponding to the second terminal. This ensures accurate timing between the first terminal and the second terminal.

[0297] Optionally, in some embodiments, the timing offset includes at least one of the following:

[0298] Frame timing offset;

[0299] Subframe timing offset.

[0300] Figure 2C is a schematic diagram of timing offsets according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in Figure 2C, the timing offset between the sensing receiving device and the second network device can be understood as the offset of frames and / or subframes between the sensing receiving device and the second network device. For example: the frame timing offset indicates the offset between the SFN (System frame number) of gNB1 and gNB2, and the unit of the offset is SF (System frame), with a value of 0-1023; the subframe timing offset indicates the offset between the subframe boundaries of gNB1 and gNB2, with the unit being subframes, and a value of 0-9. Based on the frame timing offset, the subframe timing offset, and the subframe boundary of gNB2, the subframe boundary of gNB1 can be determined. For example, a frame timing offset of 3 indicates that the offset value of the subframe numbers of gNB1 and gNB2 is 3, and a subframe timing offset value of 3 indicates that the offset value of the subframe numbers of the cell and the serving cell is 3.

[0301] In some embodiments, the timing error between gNB1 and gNB2 can be understood as the timing difference between gNB1 and gNB2 on the same subframe.

[0302] In some embodiments, the steps and their optional implementations in other embodiments described before or after this embodiment, as well as other related parts in the specification, can be referred to, and will not be repeated here.

[0303] Figure 2D is an interactive schematic diagram of a communication method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in Figure 2D, the embodiments of the present disclosure relate to a communication method, which includes:

[0304] Step S2301: The second network device sends third information to the first terminal through the first network device.

[0305] In some embodiments, the third information is used to indicate the timing difference between the second network device and the first terminal.

[0306] For example, in this embodiment, the second network device is a sensing transmitter, the first terminal is a sensing receiver, and the sensing mode between the second network device and the first terminal is the gNB2-UE1 sensing mode. The first terminal receives network services from the first network device, and a communication connection exists between the first and second network devices. The second network device sends third information to the first terminal through the first network device. This third information is used to indicate the timing difference between the second network device and the first terminal.

[0307] For example, in the gNB2-UE1 awareness mode, gNB1 is the serving cell of UE1, gNB2 is the serving cell of UE2, gNB2 interacts with gNB1 to exchange third information, and after receiving the third information, gNB1 sends the third information to UE1.

[0308] The third information includes at least one of the following:

[0309] Timing offset between the first network device and the second network device;

[0310] Timing error between the first network device and the second network device.

[0311] In this embodiment, gNB2 exchanges third information with gNB1, and gNB1 indicates the third information to UE1 so that UE1 can determine the actual transmission time of the sensing signal from gNB2, in order to estimate information such as the distance, displacement, and angle of the sensing target. The timing error between gNB1 and gNB2 and the timing offset between gNB1 and gNB2 are the same as in the above embodiment, and will not be repeated here.

[0312] Optionally, in some embodiments, the third information can also be forwarded to the first terminal through other sensing function nodes.

[0313] In some embodiments, the names of information, etc., are not limited to the names described in the embodiments. Terms such as "information", "message", "signal", "signaling", "report", "configuration", "indication", "instruction", "command", "channel", "parameter", "domain", "field", "symbol", "symbol", "codebook", "codeword", "codepoint", "bit", "data", "program", and "chip" can be used interchangeably.

[0314] In some embodiments, the terms "codebook," "codeword," and "precoding matrix" can be used interchangeably. For example, a codebook can be a collection of one or more codewords / precoding matrices.

[0315] In some embodiments, terms such as “uplink”, “uplink”, and “physical uplink” can be used interchangeably, as can terms such as “downlink”, “downlink”, and “physical downlink”, and terms such as “sidelink”, “sidelink”, “sidelink communication”, “sidelink communication”, “direct connection”, “direct link”, “direct communication”, and “direct link communication”.

[0316] In some embodiments, the terms “downlink control information (DCI),” “downlink (DL) assignment,” “DL DCI,” “uplink (UL) grant,” and “UL DCI” can be used interchangeably.

[0317] In some embodiments, terms such as "physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH)" and "DL data" can be used interchangeably, as can terms such as "physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH)" and "UL data".

[0318] In some embodiments, the terms “radio”, “wireless”, “radio access network (RAN)”, “access network (AN)”, and “RAN-based” can be used interchangeably.

[0319] In some embodiments, the terms "search space", "search space set", "search space configuration", "search space set configuration", "control resource set (CORESET)", and "CORESET configuration" can be used interchangeably.

[0320] In some embodiments, the terms "synchronization signal (SS)," "synchronization signal block (SSB)," "reference signal (RS)," "pilot," and "pilot signal" can be used interchangeably.

[0321] In some embodiments, terms such as “moment,” “point in time,” “time,” and “time location” can be used interchangeably, as can terms such as “duration,” “segment,” “time window,” “window,” and “time.”

[0322] In some embodiments, the terms "component carrier (CC)," "cell," "frequency carrier," and "carrier frequency" can be used interchangeably.

[0323] In some embodiments, the terms “resource block (RB)”, “physical resource block (PRB)”, “sub-carrier group (SCG)”, “resource element group (REG)”, “PRB pair”, “RB pair”, “resource element (RE)”, and “sub-carrier” can be used interchangeably.

[0324] In some embodiments, terms such as wireless access scheme and waveform can be used interchangeably.

[0325] In some embodiments, the terms "precoding", "precoder", "weight", "precoding weight", "quasi-co-location (QCL)", "transmission configuration indication (TCI) status", "spatial relation", "spatial domain filter", "transmission power", "phase rotation", "antenna port", "antenna port group", "layer", "the number of layers", "rank", "resource", "resource set", "resource group", "beam", "beam width", "beam angular degree", "antenna", "antenna element", and "panel" can be used interchangeably.

[0326] In some embodiments, the terms “frame”, “radio frame”, “subframe”, “slot”, “sub-slot”, “mini-slot”, “symbol”, “symbol”, and “transmission time interval (TTI)” can be used interchangeably.

[0327] In some embodiments, "acquire," "get," "obtain," "receive," "transmit," "bidirectional transmission," and "send and / or receive" can be used interchangeably and can be interpreted as receiving from other entities, acquiring from protocols, acquiring from higher layers, obtaining through self-processing, or autonomous implementation. Protocols include, for example, at least one of the 3GPP protocol, Wi-Fi protocol, and audio and / or video protocols.

[0328] In some embodiments, terms such as “send,” “transmit,” “report,” “distribute,” “transfer,” “bidirectional transmission,” “send and / or receive” can be used interchangeably.

[0329] In some embodiments, terms such as "certain," "preset," "default," "set," "indicated," "a certain," "any," and "first" can be used interchangeably. "Certain A," "preset A," "default A," "set A," "indicated A," "a certain A," "any A," and "first A" can be interpreted as A pre-defined in a protocol or the like, or as A obtained through setting, configuration, or instruction, or as specific A, a certain A, any A, or first A, but are not limited thereto.

[0330] In some embodiments, the determination or judgment can be made by a value represented by 1 bit (0 or 1), or by a true or false value (boolean), or by a comparison of numerical values ​​(e.g., a comparison with a predetermined value), but is not limited thereto.

[0331] In some embodiments, "not expecting to receive" can be interpreted as not receiving on time domain resources and / or frequency domain resources, or as not performing subsequent processing on the data and / or instructions received; "not expecting to send" can be interpreted as not sending, or as sending but not expecting the receiver to respond to the sent content.

[0332] In some embodiments, if an arrow in the interaction diagram representing the sending of information, signaling, etc. from one subject to another passes through other subjects, it can be interpreted as the information being forwarded from one subject to another via other subjects, or it can be interpreted as the information being sent from one subject to another without passing through other subjects.

[0333] In some embodiments, the steps and their optional implementations in other embodiments described before or after this embodiment, as well as other related parts in the specification, can be referred to, and will not be repeated here.

[0334] Figure 3A is an interactive schematic diagram of a communication method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in Figure 3A, the embodiments of the present disclosure relate to a communication method, which includes:

[0335] Step S3101: The sensing and receiving device sends the first information to the first terminal.

[0336] The optional implementation of step S3101 can be found in the optional implementation of step S2101 in Figure 2A and other related parts in the embodiments involved in Figure 2A, which will not be repeated here.

[0337] In step S3102, the first terminal determines the first TA to be used to send the sensing signal based on the first information and the first time granularity.

[0338] The optional implementation of step S3102 can be found in the optional implementation of step S2102 in Figure 2A and other related parts in the embodiments involved in Figure 2A, which will not be repeated here.

[0339] The communication method involved in the embodiments of this disclosure may include at least one of steps S3101 to S3102. For example, step S3101 may be implemented as a separate embodiment, and step S3102 may be implemented as a separate embodiment, but are not limited thereto.

[0340] In some embodiments, steps S3101 and S3102 may be performed in an alternate order or simultaneously.

[0341] In some embodiments, step S3101 is optional, and one or more of these steps may be omitted or substituted in different embodiments.

[0342] In some embodiments, the steps and their optional implementations in other embodiments described before or after this embodiment, as well as other related parts in the specification, can be referred to, and will not be repeated here.

[0343] Figure 3B is an interactive schematic diagram of a communication method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in Figure 3B, the present disclosure relates to a communication method, which includes:

[0344] In step S3201, the first terminal determines the first TA to be used for sending the sensing signal based on the first information and the first time granularity.

[0345] The optional implementation of step S3201 can be found in the optional implementation of step S2102 in Figure 2A, and other related parts in the embodiments involved in Figure 2A, which will not be repeated here.

[0346] In step S3202, the first terminal sends second information to the second terminal through the first network device. The second information includes the first TA.

[0347] The optional implementation of step S3202 can be found in the optional implementation of step S2201 in Figure 2B, and other related parts in the embodiments involved in Figure 2B, which will not be repeated here.

[0348] The communication method involved in the embodiments of this disclosure may include at least one of steps S3201 to S3202. For example, step S3201 may be implemented as a separate embodiment, and step S3202 may be implemented as a separate embodiment, but are not limited thereto.

[0349] In some embodiments, steps S3201 and S3202 may be performed in an alternate order or simultaneously.

[0350] In some embodiments, step S3201 is optional, and one or more of these steps may be omitted or substituted in different embodiments.

[0351] In some embodiments, the steps and their optional implementations in other embodiments described before or after this embodiment, as well as other related parts in the specification, can be referred to, and will not be repeated here.

[0352] Figure 4 is a flowchart illustrating a communication method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in Figure 4, the present disclosure relates to a communication method, which includes:

[0353] In step S4101, the UE determines the first TA used to transmit the sensing signal based on the first delay, and determines the second TA used to transmit the communication signal based on the second delay.

[0354] Example 1: The first delay is the round-trip delay between the UE and the gNB.

[0355] For example, the first delay is the round-trip delay between the UE and the gNB, and the second delay is the same as the first delay.

[0356] In UE#1-gNB sensing mode, the sensing signal transmitted by UE#1 can be received by at least one gNB. The first delay is the round-trip delay of the signal between UE#1 and gNB#1 in free space, which can include the following cases:

[0357] (1) gNB#1 is a cell configured with time and frequency resources for sensing signals;

[0358] (2) gNB#1 is one of the serving cells activated by UE#1;

[0359] When UE#1 has multiple active serving cells, at least one gNB (one gNB corresponds to one cell) contains an active serving cell of UE#1, and gNB#1 is one of the active serving cells;

[0360] The activated serving cell includes sPCell, and gNB#1 is sPCell;

[0361] Otherwise, the activated serving cell contains sCell, and gNB#1 is SCell.

[0362] When UE#1 has multiple active serving cells, at least one gNB (one gNB corresponds to one cell) does not contain an active serving cell of UE#1; gNB#1 is one of the active serving cells of the UE. For example, gNB#1 is sPCell or SCell.

[0363] (3) gNB#1 is determined by the protocol agreement / high-level configuration / dynamic indication.

[0364] In some embodiments, in (1)-(3) above, at least one gNB (one gNB corresponds to one cell) may or may not contain a cell with time-frequency resources configured to sense signals.

[0365] In the UE#1-UE#2 sensing mode, the sensing signal sent by UE#1 can be received by at least one UE. The first delay is the round-trip delay of the signal in free space between UE#1 and gNB#1, which can include the following cases:

[0366] (1) gNB#1 is the cell configured with time-frequency resources for Sensing signals;

[0367] (2) gNB#1 is one of the serving cells activated by UE#1. When UE#1 has multiple activated serving cells, at least one of the cells where the UE is located contains an activated serving cell of UE#1, and gNB#1 is one of the activated serving cells. The activated serving cell contains sPCell, and gNB#1 is sPCell; otherwise, the activated serving cell contains sCell, and gNB#1 is SCell.

[0368] When UE#1 has multiple active serving cells, at least one gNB (one gNB corresponds to one cell) does not contain an active serving cell of UE#1. gNB#1 is one of the active serving cells of UE. For example, gNB#1 is sPCell or SCell.

[0369] (3) gNB#1 is determined by the protocol agreement / high-level configuration / dynamic indication.

[0370] In some embodiments, in (1)-(3) above, at least one of the cells in which the cell is located may or may not contain time-frequency resources configured to sense signals.

[0371] In the single-site sensing mode of UE#1-UE#1, the first delay is the round-trip delay of the signal between UE#1 and gNB#1 in free space, where gNB#1 is the cell configured with time-frequency resources for sensing signals.

[0372] The round-trip time delay of the signal between UE#1 and gNB#1 in free space can be determined based on UL signal detection. The UL signal includes at least one of the following: PRACH signal, SRS signal, and UL sensing signal. This scheme does not limit the specific signal.

[0373] In some embodiments, the first time granularity of determining the first TA and the second time granularity of the second TA may be different.

[0374] (1) The first TA is determined based on the first delay and the second time granularity. At this time, the first TA is equal to the second TA, and after the UE determines the second TA, there is no need to further indicate the first TA.

[0375] (2) The first TA is determined based on the first time delay and the first time granularity. The duration corresponding to the first time granularity is less than that of the second time granularity. At this time, the TA adjustment granularity used for sensing signals is more refined, which can reduce the impact of time granularity on sensing performance, but the value of the first TA needs to be additionally indicated.

[0376] In some embodiments, the first time granularity can be determined by protocol agreement or high-level configuration.

[0377] In some embodiments, the second time granularity can be determined by protocol agreement or high-level configuration.

[0378] For example, when a TA is indicated, it is necessary to additionally indicate whether the TA is used for sensing or communication so that the UE can determine whether it is the first TA or the second TA.

[0379] Optionally, by default, the indicated TA is used for communication, in which case the purpose of the TA may not be indicated.

[0380] Optionally, by default, the indicated TA is used for sensing, and in this case, the purpose of the TA may not be indicated.

[0381] In some embodiments, the TA value is determined by the base station based on latency and time granularity. Several possible methods are as follows: the N1 value is round(τ / δ), ceil(τ / δ), or floor(τ / δ), where τ is the latency, δ is the time granularity, round() is rounding, ceil() is rounding up, and floor() is rounding down. The base station indicates the value of N1 to the UE, and the UE determines the indicated TA value as TA1 = N1 * δ based on the N1 value and the time granularity δ. The TA value used by the UE for transmission can be determined based on TA1 and a second value TA2 agreed upon by other higher-layer configurations / protocols. For example, TA = TA1 + TA2.

[0382] In some embodiments, the first information indicated by the base station to the UE includes a quantized quantity N2 of the change in the first delay, and the UE determines the target first TA based on the historical first TA used in the transmission and the value of N2. For example, TA... new =TA old +(N2-A)*δ. Among them, T.A. old For the first TA in history, TA new For the new target TA, A is a parameter agreed upon in the protocol or configured by a higher layer.

[0383] Optionally, in some embodiments, the time granularity δ is determined according to the protocol agreement / higher-level configuration.

[0384] Example 2: The first delay is determined based on the round-trip delay of the sensing transmitter-sensing target-sensing receiver.

[0385] Optionally, the first delay is the round-trip delay of the direct path from the sensing transmitter to the sensing target to the sensing receiver. The direct path is the path composed of the Loss-of-Stake (LoS) path between the sensing transmitter and the sensing target and the LoS path between the sensing target and the sensing receiver.

[0386] Optionally, the first delay is the round-trip delay of the i-th detected path in the sensing transmitter-sensing target-sensing receiver chain. The i-th path in the sensing transmitter-sensing target-sensing receiver chain is the path in the time domain where the sensing signal is detected.

[0387] Optionally, the first delay is the round-trip delay of the path with a specific delay / Doppler / angle in the sensing transmitter-sensing target-sensing receiver route. The specific delay / Doppler / angle can be configured / dynamically indicated by higher layers.

[0388] For example, the first delay can be determined based on the path from the sensing transmitter to the sensing target to the sensing receiver.

[0389] In UE#1-gNB sensing mode, the sensing signal transmitted by UE#1 can be received by at least one gNB. The first delay can be based on the round-trip delay of the signal path between UE#1 and gNB#1 in the target channel. gNB#1 can include the following cases:

[0390] (1) gNB#1 is a cell configured with time and frequency resources for sensing signals;

[0391] (2) gNB#1 is one of the serving cells activated by UE#1. When UE#1 has multiple activated serving cells, at least one gNB (one gNB corresponds to one cell) contains one of the activated serving cells of UE#1, and gNB#1 is one of the activated serving cells. The activated serving cells include sPCell, and gNB#1 is sPCell; otherwise, the activated serving cells include sCell, and gNB#1 is SCell.

[0392] When UE#1 has multiple active serving cells, at least one gNB does not contain an active serving cell of UE#1. gNB#1 is one of the active serving cells of UE, and gNB#1 is either sPCell or SCell.

[0393] (3) gNB#1 is determined by the protocol agreement / high-level configuration / dynamic indication.

[0394] In some embodiments, in (1)-(3) above, at least one of the cells in which the cell is located may or may not contain time-frequency resources configured to sense signals.

[0395] In the UE#1-UE#2 sensing mode, the sensing signal transmitted by UE#1 can be received by at least one UE. The first delay can be based on the round-trip delay of the signal path in the target channel between UE#1 and UE#m. UE#m is one of the at least one UE receiving the sensing signal, and UE#m can include the following cases:

[0396] (1) UE#m is the UE with the smallest index / largest index / specified index among at least one UE receiving sensing signals;

[0397] (2) UE#m is the UE that has the same serving cell as UE#1 among at least 1 UEs that receive sensing signals, and whose index is the smallest / largest / specified index.

[0398] In the single-site perception mode of UE#1-UE#1, the first delay can be determined based on the round-trip delay of the path from UE#1 to the perception target to UE#1.

[0399] In some embodiments, when there are multiple sensing targets, the target used to determine the first delay is determined according to the protocol agreement / high-level configuration / dynamic indication.

[0400] In some embodiments, the round-trip time delay of the signal between UE#1 and gNB#1 in free space can be determined based on UL signal detection. The UL signal includes at least one of the following: PRACH signal, SRS signal, and UL sensing signal. This scheme does not limit the specific type of signal.

[0401] In some embodiments, the first time granularity and the second time granularity may be the same or different.

[0402] For example, the first TA is determined based on a first delay and a second time granularity.

[0403] For example, the first timing shift (TA) is determined based on a first delay and a first time granularity, where the duration corresponding to the first time granularity is shorter than the duration corresponding to the second time granularity. In this case, the TA adjustment granularity used for sensing signals is finer, reducing the impact of time granularity on sensing performance. However, additional configuration of the first time granularity may be required in this scenario.

[0404] In some embodiments, when the values ​​of the first TA and the second TA are different, the value of the first TA needs to be additionally indicated.

[0405] Optionally, in some embodiments, the first time granularity can be determined by protocol agreement or higher-level configuration. In this case, when the TA is indicated, it is necessary to additionally indicate whether the TA is used for sensing or communication, so that the UE can determine whether it is the first TA or the second TA. Optionally, by default, the indicated TA is used for communication, and the purpose of the TA may not be indicated; alternatively, by default, the indicated TA is used for sensing, and the purpose of the TA may not be indicated.

[0406] In some embodiments, the TA value is determined by the base station based on latency and time granularity. Several possible methods are as follows: the N1 value is round(τ / δ), ceil(τ / δ), or floor(τ / δ), where τ is the latency, δ is the time granularity, round() is rounding, ceil() is rounding up, and floor() is rounding down. The base station indicates the value of N1 to the UE, and the UE determines the indicated TA value as TA1 = N1 * δ based on the N1 value and the time granularity δ. The TA value used by the UE for transmission can be determined based on TA1 and a second value TA2 agreed upon by other higher-layer configurations / protocols. For example, TA = TA1 + TA2.

[0407] In some embodiments, one possible approach is as follows: the base station indicates a quantized value N2 of the change in the first TA to the UE, and the UE uses the historical first TA and the value of N2 to determine the new first TA. Exemplarily, TA new =TA old +(N2-A)*δ. Among them, T.A. old For the first TA in history, TAnew This is the new first TA value, where A is the agreement or high-level configuration.

[0408] Optionally, in some embodiments, the time granularity δ is determined according to the protocol agreement / higher-level configuration.

[0409] Example 3: The first delay is set to 0, and the first TA is set to 0.

[0410] In some embodiments, the second delay is the round-trip delay between the UE and the gNB, and the second TA is determined based on the second delay and the second time granularity.

[0411] In the above embodiments 1 and 2, the first time interval (TA) is determined based on the first time delay and the second time granularity. Optionally, the first TA is determined based on the first time delay and the first time granularity, wherein the duration corresponding to the first time granularity is less than the duration corresponding to the second time granularity.

[0412] Optionally, the value of the first TA differs depending on the perception mode.

[0413] For example, in UE-UE perception mode, the first TA is determined using the method in Embodiment 3 above; in other perception modes, the first TA is determined using the method in Embodiment 1 or Embodiment 2 above.

[0414] Optionally, the value of the first TA can be determined by the protocol agreement / higher-level configuration / dynamic indication of the UE, which is one of the values ​​in Embodiment 1 / Embodiment 2 / Embodiment 3 above.

[0415] For example, setting the first TA to 0 simplifies the determination of the TA and reduces the amount of information that needs to be interacted with for sensing. Furthermore, setting the first TA to 0 can also be used by the UE to send a sensing signal when the TA is not determined in the idle state.

[0416] In some embodiments, the value of the first TA may be different for different sensing modes. In the UE-UE sensing mode, the first TA is determined using the method in Embodiment 3 above. In other sensing modes, the first TA is determined using the method in Embodiment 1 or Embodiment 2 above.

[0417] In some embodiments, the value of the first TA can be determined by the protocol agreement / higher-level configuration / dynamic instruction of the UE through one of the above embodiments 1-3.

[0418] Example 4: The first delay is the round-trip delay between the sensing transmitter and the sensing receiver.

[0419] For example, in UE-gNB sensing mode, the round-trip delay between sensing transmitter and sensing receiver can be determined in the manner described in Embodiment 1 above, where the sensing transmitter is the UE and the sensing receiver is the gNB.

[0420] In the UE#1-UE#2 sensing mode, the sensing signal sent by UE#1 can be received by at least one UE. The first delay can be determined based on the round-trip time delay of the signal transmission between UE#1 and UE#m. UE#m is one of the at least one UE receiving the sensing signal, and can include the following cases:

[0421] UE#m is the UE with the smallest index, the largest index, or the specified index among at least one UE receiving sensing signals;

[0422] UE#m is the UE with the same serving cell as UE#1 among at least one UE receiving sensing signals, and has the smallest / largest / specified index.

[0423] In UE#1-UE#1 perception mode, the perception transmitter and the perception receiver are the same node, and the first delay value is 0.

[0424] Optionally, in some embodiments, the first delay value is halved, that is:

[0425] (1) The first delay is the propagation delay between the UE and the gNB;

[0426] (2) The first delay is determined based on the propagation delay from the sensing transmitter to the sensing target to the sensing receiver.

[0427] Optionally, the first delay is the propagation delay of the direct path from the sensing transmitter to the sensing target to the sensing receiver. Here, the direct path refers to the path formed by the Loss-of-Sight (LoS) path between the sensing transmitter and the sensing target, and the LoS path between the sensing target and the sensing receiver.

[0428] Optionally, the first delay is the propagation delay of the i-th detected path in the sensing transmitter-sensing target-sensing receiver sequence. Here, the i-th path in the sensing transmitter-sensing target-sensing receiver sequence is the i-th path in the time domain where the sensing signal is detected.

[0429] Optionally, the first delay is the propagation delay of a path with a specific delay / Doppler / angle in the sensing transmitter-sensing target-sensing receiver, wherein the specific delay / Doppler / angle can be configured / dynamically indicated by a higher layer.

[0430] (3) The first delay is 0 and the first TA is 0.

[0431] (4) The first delay is the propagation delay between the sensing transmitter and the sensing receiver.

[0432] In step S4102, the UE obtains information for perception estimation.

[0433] For example, in UE#1-UE#2 perception modes:

[0434] UE#2 and UE#1 serve the same cell, gNB#1. gNB#1 indicates the first TA of UE#1 to UE#2.

[0435] UE#2 and UE#1 serve different cells, namely gNB#2 and gNB#1 respectively. gNB#1 exchanges first information with gNB#2, and gNB#2 indicates first information to UE#2. The first information includes at least one of the following:

[0436] The first TA of UE#1;

[0437] The timing offset between gNB#1 and gNB#2, wherein the timing offset includes at least one of the frame timing offset and the subframe timing offset;

[0438] Timing error between gNB#1 and gNB#2.

[0439] In gNB#1-UE#2 perception mode:

[0440] gNB#1 is the serving cell of UE#1, gNB#2 is the serving cell of UE#2, gNB#1 exchanges second information with gNB#2, and gNB#2 indicates the second information to UE#2. The second information includes at least one of the following:

[0441] Timing offset between gNB#1 and gNB#2;

[0442] Timing error between gNB#1 and gNB#2.

[0443] Optionally, in some embodiments, the base station determines the TA value of the sensing signal transmitted by the UE by the following method, and determines the information used for sensing estimation by the UE and the base station.

[0444] Example 1: The TA value of the sensing signal transmitted by the UE is determined by the following method. The specific method is the same as the method for determining the first TA on the UE side. You can refer to the above example, and it will not be repeated here.

[0445] Example 2: The base station determines the information that the UE obtains for perception estimation in the following manner. The specific method is the same as the method by which the terminal side determines the perception estimation information. You can refer to the above example, and it will not be repeated here.

[0446] It should be noted that when the UE receives the sensing signal, other auxiliary information is also needed for sensing estimation, as follows:

[0447] In UE#1-UE#2 perception modes:

[0448] UE#2 and UE#1 serve the same cell, gNB#1. gNB#1 indicates the first TA of UE#1 to UE#2.

[0449] UE#2 and UE#1 serve different cells, namely gNB#2 and gNB#1 respectively. gNB#1 exchanges first information with gNB#2, and gNB#2 indicates first information to UE#2. The first information includes at least one of the following:

[0450] The first TA of UE#1;

[0451] The timing offset between gNB#1 and gNB#2, wherein the timing offset includes at least one of the frame timing offset and the subframe timing offset;

[0452] Timing error between gNB#1 and gNB#2.

[0453] In some embodiments, when the serving cells of UE#2 and UE#1 are the same, the timing between the serving cells of UE#2 and UE#1 is the same. In this case, the gNB indicates the first TA of UE#1 to UE#2, which enables UE#2 to obtain the actual transmission time of the sensing signal of UE#1 in order to estimate information such as the distance of the target.

[0454] In some embodiments, when the serving cells of UE#2 and UE#1 are different, the timing between the serving cells of UE#2 and UE#1 is different. In this case, the gNB indicates the first TA of UE#1, as well as the timing error between gNB#1 and gNB#2, and the timing offset between gNB#1 and gNB#2 to UE#2, which enables UE#2 to obtain the actual transmission time of the sensed signal of UE#1 in order to estimate information such as the distance to the target.

[0455] In some embodiments, the timing offset between gNB#1 and gNB#2 can be understood as the offset between frames and / or subframes between gNB#1 and gNB#2.

[0456] For example, the frame timing offset indicates the offset between the SFN (System frame number) of gNB#1 and gNB#2, in units of SF (System frame), and can take values ​​of: 0, 1, 2, ..., 1023.

[0457] The subframe timing offset indicates the offset between the subframe boundaries of gNB#1 and gNB#2, in units of subframes, and can take values ​​of: 0, 1, 2, ..., 9.

[0458] By combining the frame timing offset, the subframe timing offset, and the SFN boundary of gNB#2, the SFN boundary of gNB#1 can be determined.

[0459] For example, the frame timing offset is 3, which means that the offset between the SFN numbers of gNB#1 and gNB#2 is 3. The subframe timing offset is 3, which means that the offset between the subframe numbers of the Cell and the serving cell is 3.

[0460] In some embodiments, the timing error between gNB#1 and gNB#2 can be understood as the timing difference between gNB#1 and gNB#2 on the same subframe.

[0461] In gNB#1-UE#2 perception mode:

[0462] gNB#1 is the serving cell of UE#1, gNB#2 is the serving cell of UE#2, gNB#1 exchanges second information with gNB#2, and gNB#2 indicates the second information to UE#2. The second information includes at least one of the following:

[0463] Timing error between gNB#1 and gNB#2;

[0464] The timing offset between gNB#1 and gNB#2.

[0465] In some embodiments, gNB#1 exchanges second information with gNB#2, and gNB#2 indicates the second information to UE#2, so as to determine with UE#2 the actual transmission time of the sensing signal of gNB#1, in order to estimate information such as the distance to the target. The timing error between gNB#1 and gNB#2 and the timing offset between gNB#1 and gNB#2 are defined in the same way as those in the UE#1-UE#2 sensing mode.

[0466] In step S4103, the base station acquires information for sensing estimation.

[0467] For example, in UE#1-gNB#2 awareness mode: gNB#1 is the serving cell of UE#1, gNB#2 is not the serving cell of UE#1, and gNB#1 exchanges first information with gNB#2.

[0468] In the gNB#1-gNB#2 perception mode: gNB#1 exchanges second information with gNB#2.

[0469] For example, in UE#1-gNB#2 perception mode:

[0470] gNB#1 is the serving cell of UE#1, while gNB#2 is not the serving cell of UE#1. gNB#1 exchanges first information with gNB#2.

[0471] gNB#2 is not the serving cell of UE#1, and the timing of UE#2 and the serving cell of UE#1 are different. At this time, gNB#1 exchanges the first TA of UE#1 with gNB#2, as well as the timing error between gNB#1 and gNB#2, and the timing offset between gNB#1 and gNB#2. This enables gNB#2 to obtain the actual transmission time of the sensed signal of UE#1, so as to estimate information such as the distance to the target.

[0472] In the bistatic perception of gNB#1-gNB#2:

[0473] gNB#1 exchanges the second information with gNB#2;

[0474] gNB#1 exchanges second information with gNB#2 to determine the actual transmission time of gNB#1's sensing signal, in order to estimate information such as the target's distance. The timing error and timing offset between gNB#1 and gNB#2 are defined in the same way as those in the UE#1-UE#2 sensing mode.

[0475] In some embodiments, the first TA is a quantized value of the first delay. For example, the first TA can be calculated as follows: TA = N³ * δ. The first information may include the value of the first TA. For example, the first information may also include the value of N³. Optionally, the first information may also include the value of δ.

[0476] In some embodiments, the first TA is a specific value of the first delay, rather than a quantized value.

[0477] It should be noted that the second information includes a first TA, which is the timing advance amount for the first terminal to send the sensing signal. This first TA indicates the time the first terminal will send the sensing signal ahead of schedule, rather than being a quantized value. The first information from the first network device instructs the terminal to use the quantized value of the first delay, which is obtained by dividing the first delay by the time granularity. For example, the first T included in the second information is 1 second, while the quantized number of the first delay included in the first information is 30.

[0478] In some embodiments, the first information may further include a time delay offset value. Specifically, the TA of the sensing transmitter is the first TA + offset, and the first information may further include the value of offset or a parameter used to determine the offset value.

[0479] Optionally, in some embodiments, the first and second information may also be sent by a base station or other sensing function.

[0480] In some embodiments, the sensing transmitting node is a UE, and the UE can also report timing error information to the sensing receiving node for sensing estimation. This timing error information is the error between the actual transmission time of the sensing signal and the indicated transmission time. For example, the transmission method of timing error information differs in different sensing modes:

[0481] For example, (1) in UE#1-gNB#1 perception mode:

[0482] The serving base station of UE#1 is gNB#1. UE#1 reports timing error information to gNB#1 or the sensing function entity.

[0483] The sensing base station of UE#1 is gNB#2. UE#1 reports timing error information to gNB#2 or the sensing function entity, and gNB#2 or the sensing function entity transmits the timing error information to gNB#1.

[0484] (2) In UE#1-UE#2 perception mode:

[0485] The serving base station of UE#1 is gNB#1, the serving base station of UE#2 is gNB#1, UE#1 reports timing error information to gNB#1 or the sensing function entity, and gNB#1 or the sensing function entity transmits the timing error information to UE#2.

[0486] The serving base station of UE#1 is gNB#1, and the serving base station of UE#2 is gNB#2. UE#1 reports timing error information to gNB#1 or the sensing function entity. gNB#1 or the sensing function entity transmits the timing error information to gNB#2 or the sensing function entity. gNB#2 or the sensing function entity then transmits the timing error information to UE#2. Optionally, the sensing function entity transmits the timing error information to UE#2.

[0487] UE#1 reports timing error information to gNB#1 or the sensing function entity.

[0488] (3) In the perception mode of UE#1-UE#1, UE#1 reports timing error information to gNB#1 or the perception function entity.

[0489] In some embodiments, the sensing transmitting node is a gNB, which can report / transmit timing error information between the actual transmission time of the sensing signal and the indicated transmission time to the sensing receiving node (UE or gNB) or the sensing function center.

[0490] (4) In gNB#1-UE#1 perception mode:

[0491] The serving base station of UE#1 is gNB#1. gNB#1 reports timing error information to the sensing function entity or transmits it to UE#1.

[0492] The serving base station of UE#1 is gNB#2. gNB#1 reports timing error information to the sensing function entity or transmits it to gNB#2. The sensing function entity or gNB#2 then transmits the timing error information to UE#1.

[0493] (5) In the perception mode of gNB#1-gNB#2:

[0494] gNB#1 transmits the timing error information to the sensing function entity, and the sensing function entity transmits the timing error information to gNB#2.

[0495] gNB#1 transmits timing error information to gNB#2.

[0496] (6) In the gNB#1-gNB#1 sensing mode: gNB#1 reports the timing error information to the sensing function entity.

[0497] The communication method involved in the embodiments of this disclosure may include at least one of steps S4101 to S4103. For example, step S4101 may be implemented as a standalone embodiment, step S4102 may be implemented as a standalone embodiment, step S4103 may be implemented as a standalone embodiment, and step S4101 + step S4102 may be implemented as a standalone embodiment, but is not limited thereto.

[0498] In some embodiments, steps S4101 and S4103 may be performed in an alternate order or simultaneously.

[0499] In some embodiments, steps S4102 and S4103 are optional, and one or more of these steps may be omitted or substituted in different embodiments.

[0500] In some embodiments, the steps and their optional implementations in other embodiments described before or after this embodiment, as well as other related parts in the specification, can be referred to, and will not be repeated here.

[0501] This disclosure also proposes an apparatus (also referred to as a communication device, etc.) for implementing any of the above methods. For example, an apparatus is proposed that includes units or modules for implementing the steps performed by the terminal in any of the above methods. Furthermore, another apparatus is proposed that includes units or modules for implementing the steps performed by a network device (e.g., an access network device, a core network functional node, a core network device, etc.) in any of the above methods.

[0502] It should be understood that the division of units or modules in the above device is only a logical functional division. In actual implementation, they can be fully or partially integrated into a single physical entity, or they can be physically separated. Furthermore, the units or modules in the device can be implemented by a processor calling software: for example, the device includes a processor connected to a memory containing instructions. The processor calls the instructions stored in the memory to implement any of the above methods or to implement the functions of the units or modules in the above device. The processor can be, for example, a general-purpose processor, such as a Central Processing Unit (CPU) or a microprocessor, and the memory can be internal or external to the device. Alternatively, the units or modules in the device can be implemented in the form of hardware circuits. The functionality of some or all of the units or modules can be achieved through the design of these hardware circuits, which can be understood as one or more processors. For example, in one implementation, the hardware circuit is an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC). The functionality of some or all of the units or modules is achieved through the design of the logical relationships between the components within the circuit. In another implementation, the hardware circuit can be implemented using a programmable logic device (PLD). Taking a field-programmable gate array (FPGA) as an example, it can include a large number of logic gates. The connection relationships between the logic gates are configured through configuration files, thereby achieving the functionality of some or all of the units or modules. All units or modules of the above device can be implemented entirely through processor-called software, entirely through hardware circuits, or partially through processor-called software with the remaining parts implemented through hardware circuits.

[0503] In this embodiment, the processor is a circuit with signal processing capabilities. In one implementation, the processor can be a circuit with instruction read and execute capabilities, such as a Central Processing Unit (CPU), a microprocessor, a graphics processing unit (GPU) (which can be understood as a microprocessor), or a digital signal processor (DSP). In another implementation, the processor can implement certain functions through the logical relationships of hardware circuits. The logical relationships of the aforementioned hardware circuits are fixed or reconfigurable. For example, the processor is a hardware circuit implemented using an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) or a programmable logic device (PLD), such as an FPGA. In a reconfigurable hardware circuit, the process of the processor loading a configuration document and configuring the hardware circuit can be understood as the process of the processor loading instructions to implement the functions of some or all of the above units or modules. Furthermore, it can also be a hardware circuit designed for artificial intelligence, which can be understood as an ASIC, such as a Neural Network Processing Unit (NPU), a Tensor Processing Unit (TPU), or a Deep Learning Processing Unit (DPU).

[0504] Figure 5 is a schematic diagram of the structure of a first terminal according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The first terminal 5100 is used to perform any of the above methods. In some embodiments, as shown in Figure 5, the first terminal 5100 may include a transceiver module 5101 and a processing module 5102. In some embodiments, the transceiver module 5101 is used to receive first information sent by a sensing receiving device, the first information indicating a first time delay of a sensing signal, and the processing module 5102 is used to determine a first timing advance TA used by the first terminal to send the sensing signal based on the first information and a first time granularity. Optionally, the transceiver module is used to perform at least one of the communication steps such as sending and / or receiving performed by the first terminal 101 in any of the above methods, which will not be described in detail here. Optionally, the processing module is used to perform at least one of the other steps performed by the first terminal 101 in any of the above methods, which will not be described in detail here.

[0505] In some embodiments, the transceiver module may include a transmitting module and / or a receiving module, which may be separate or integrated. Optionally, the transceiver module may be interchangeable with a transceiver.

[0506] In some embodiments, the processing module may be a single module or may include multiple sub-modules. Optionally, the multiple sub-modules may each perform all or part of the steps required by the processing module.

[0507] In some embodiments, the processing module can be interchanged with the processor, and the transceiver module can be interchanged with the transceiver.

[0508] Figure 6 is a schematic diagram of the structure of a first network device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The sensing receiving device 6100 is used to perform any of the above methods. In some embodiments, as shown in Figure 6, the first network device 6100 may include a transceiver module 6101. In some embodiments, the transceiver module 6101 is used to send first information to a first terminal, the first information indicating a first time delay of a sensing signal, and the first terminal determines a first time interval (TA) used by the first terminal to send the sensing signal based on the first information and a first time granularity. Optionally, the transceiver module is used to perform at least one of the communication steps such as sending and / or receiving performed by the first network device 102 in any of the above methods, which will not be elaborated here. Optionally, the processing module is used to perform at least one of the other steps performed by the first network device 102 in any of the above methods, which will not be elaborated here.

[0509] In some embodiments, the transceiver module may include a transmitting module and / or a receiving module, which may be separate or integrated. Optionally, the transceiver module may be interchangeable with a transceiver.

[0510] Figure 7 is a schematic diagram of the structure of a communication device 7100 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The communication device 7100 can be a network device (e.g., access network device, core network device, etc.), a terminal (e.g., user equipment, etc.), a chip, chip system, or processor that supports the network device in implementing any of the above methods, or a chip, chip system, or processor that supports the terminal in implementing any of the above methods. The communication device 7100 can be used to implement the methods described in the above method embodiments; for details, please refer to the descriptions in the above method embodiments.

[0511] As shown in Figure 7, the communication device 7100 includes one or more third processors 7101. The third processor 7101 can be a general-purpose processor or a dedicated processor, such as a baseband processor or a central processing unit (CPU). The baseband processor can be used to process communication protocols and communication data, while the CPU can be used to control communication devices (e.g., base stations, baseband chips, terminal devices, terminal device chips, DUs or CUs, etc.), execute programs, and process program data. Optionally, the communication device 7100 can be used to execute any of the above methods. Optionally, one or more third processors 7101 can be used to invoke instructions to cause the communication device 7100 to execute any of the above methods.

[0512] In some embodiments, the communication device 7100 further includes one or more third transceivers 7102. When the communication device 7100 includes one or more third transceivers 7102, the third transceiver 7102 performs at least one of the communication steps such as sending and / or receiving in the above method, and the third processor 7101 performs at least one of the other steps. In optional embodiments, the transceiver may include a receiver and / or a transmitter, which may be separate or integrated. Optionally, the terms transceiver, transceiver unit, transceiver, transceiver circuit, interface circuit, interface, etc., can be used interchangeably; the terms transmitter, sending unit, transmitter, sending circuit, etc., can be used interchangeably; and the terms receiver, receiving unit, receiver, receiving circuit, etc., can be used interchangeably.

[0513] In some embodiments, the communication device 7100 further includes one or more third memories 7103 for storing data. Optionally, all or part of the third memories 7103 may be located outside the communication device 7100. In optional embodiments, the communication device 7100 may include one or more first interface circuits 7104. Optionally, the first interface circuit 7104 is connected to the third memory 7103, and the first interface circuit 7104 can be used to receive data from the third memory 7103 or other devices, and can be used to send data to the third processor 7101 or other devices. For example, the first interface circuit 7104 can read data stored in the third memory 7103 and send the data to the third processor 7101.

[0514] The communication device 7100 described in the above embodiments may be a network device or a terminal, but the scope of the communication device 7100 described in this disclosure is not limited thereto, and the structure of the communication device 7100 may not be limited by FIG. 7. The communication device may be a standalone device or a part of a larger device. For example, the communication device may be: (1) a standalone integrated circuit IC, or chip, or chip system or subsystem; (2) a collection of one or more ICs, optionally, the IC collection may also include storage components for storing data and programs; (3) an ASIC, such as a modem; (4) a module that can be embedded in other devices; (5) a receiver, terminal device, smart terminal device, cellular phone, wireless device, handheld device, mobile unit, vehicle device, network device, cloud device, artificial intelligence device, etc.; (6) others, etc.

[0515] Figure 8 is a schematic diagram of the structure of chip 7200 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. For cases where the communication device 7100 can be a chip or a chip system, the schematic diagram of chip 7200 shown in Figure 8 can be referenced, but is not limited thereto.

[0516] Chip 7200 includes one or more fourth processors 7201. Chip 7200 is used to perform any of the above methods.

[0517] In some embodiments, chip 7200 further includes one or more second interface circuits 7202. Optionally, terms such as interface circuit, interface, and transceiver pin can be used interchangeably. In some embodiments, chip 7200 further includes one or more fourth memories 7203 for storing data. Optionally, all or part of the fourth memories 7203 may be located outside chip 7200. Optionally, the second interface circuit 7202 is connected to the fourth memories 7203, and the second interface circuit 7202 can be used to receive data from the fourth memories 7203 or other devices, and the second interface circuit 7202 can be used to send data to the fourth memories 7203 or other devices. For example, the second interface circuit 7202 can read data stored in the fourth memories 7203 and send the data to the fourth processor 7201.

[0518] In some embodiments, the second interface circuit 7202 performs at least one of the communication steps such as sending and / or receiving in the above-described method. For example, the second interface circuit 7202 performing the communication steps such as sending and / or receiving in the above-described method means that the second interface circuit 7202 performs data interaction between the fourth processor 7201, the chip 7200, the fourth memory 7203, or the transceiver device. In some embodiments, the fourth processor 7201 performs at least one of the other steps.

[0519] The modules and / or devices described in the various embodiments, such as virtual devices, physical devices, and chips, can be combined or separated arbitrarily as needed. Optionally, some or all steps can also be performed collaboratively by multiple modules and / or devices, which is not limited here.

[0520] This disclosure also proposes a storage medium storing instructions that, when executed on the communication device 7100, cause the communication device 7100 to perform any of the above methods. Optionally, the storage medium is an electronic storage medium. Optionally, the storage medium is a computer-readable storage medium, but not limited thereto; it may also be a storage medium readable by other devices. Optionally, the storage medium may be a non-transitory storage medium, but not limited thereto; it may also be a temporary storage medium.

[0521] This disclosure also provides a program product that, when executed by the communication device 7100, causes the communication device 7100 to perform any of the above methods. Optionally, the program product is a computer program product.

[0522] This disclosure also proposes a computer program that, when run on a computer, causes the computer to perform any of the above methods.

Claims

1. A communication method, characterized in that, The method, executed by a first terminal, includes: Receive first information sent by a first network device, the first information being used to indicate a first time delay of the sensing signal; Based on the first information and the first time granularity, a first timing advance amount TA is determined for the first terminal to send the sensing signal.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that, The first information includes the quantized quantity of the first delay.

3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that, The first delay includes any one of the following: The second delay is the round-trip delay or propagation delay of the communication signal from the terminal to the network device; The third delay is the round-trip delay or propagation delay of the sensing signal in the first path, where the first path is the path of the sensing signal from the sensing transmitter to the sensing target and the path of the sensing signal from the sensing target to the sensing receiver. The fourth delay is a set delay; The fifth delay is the round-trip delay or propagation delay of the sensing signal from the sensing transmitter to the sensing receiver.

4. The method according to claim 3, characterized in that, The first path includes any one of the following: The direct path is a path composed of the line-of-sight (LoS) path from the sensing transmitter to the sensing target and the LoS path from the sensing target to the sensing receiver. The i-th path is the i-th path detected in the time domain for transmitting the sensing signal, where i is a positive integer; The path is set, which includes any one of the following: setting a time delay path, setting a Doppler effect path, or setting an angle path.

5. The method according to any one of claims 1-4, characterized in that, The first time granularity is the smallest time granularity used for sensing the signal TA; or, The first time granularity is the second time granularity, which is the smallest time granularity used for communication signal TA.

6. The method according to claim 5, characterized in that, The duration corresponding to the first time granularity is less than the duration corresponding to the second time granularity.

7. The method according to any one of claims 1-6, characterized in that, The method includes: The first terminal's sensing mode is determined to be a first sensing mode, which is a mode in which the first terminal sends a sensing signal and the second terminal receives the sensing signal, wherein both the first terminal and the second terminal are provided with network services by the first network device. The first TA is sent to the second terminal through the first network device.

8. The method according to any one of claims 1-6, characterized in that, The method includes: The first terminal's sensing mode is determined to be a first sensing mode, which is a mode in which the first terminal sends a sensing signal and the second terminal receives the sensing signal. The first terminal is provided with network services by the first network device, and the second terminal is provided with network services by the second network device. The first network device sends second information to the second network device, the second information being used to instruct the second network device to send the second information to the second terminal, and the second information also being used to indicate the timing difference between the first terminal and the second terminal.

9. The method according to claim 8, characterized in that, The second information includes the first TA, and the second information also includes at least one of the following: The timing offset between the first network device and the second network device; Timing error between the first network device and the second network device.

10. The method according to any one of claims 1-6, characterized in that, The method includes: The first terminal is determined to be in a second sensing mode, where the second network device sends sensing signals and the first terminal receives the sensing signals. The first terminal is provided with network services by the first network device. The system receives third information sent by the second network device through the first network device, the third information being used to indicate the timing difference between the second network device and the first terminal.

11. The method according to claim 10, characterized in that, The third information includes at least one of the following: The timing offset between the first network device and the second network device; Timing error between the first network device and the second network device.

12. The method according to claim 9 or 11, characterized in that, The timing offset includes at least one of the following: Frame timing offset; Subframe timing offset.

13. A communication method, characterized in that, Performed by a first network device, the method includes: A first message is sent to a first terminal, the first message being used to indicate a first time delay of the sensing signal. The first terminal determines a first time interval (TA) used by the first terminal to send the sensing signal based on the first message and a first time granularity.

14. The method according to claim 13, characterized in that, The first information includes the quantized quantity of the first delay.

15. The method according to claim 13 or 14, characterized in that, The first delay includes any one of the following: The second delay is the round-trip delay or propagation delay of the communication signal from the terminal to the network device; The third delay is the round-trip delay or propagation delay of the sensing signal in the first path, where the first path is the path of the sensing signal from the sensing transmitter to the sensing target and the path of the sensing signal from the sensing target to the sensing receiver. The fourth delay is a set delay; The fifth delay is the propagation delay of the sensing signal from the sensing transmitter to the sensing receiver.

16. The method according to claim 15, characterized in that, The first path includes any one of the following: The direct path is a path consisting of the Loss path from the sensing transmitter to the sensing target and the Loss path from the sensing target to the sensing receiver. The i-th path is the i-th path detected in the time domain for transmitting the sensing signal, where i is a positive integer; The path is set, which includes any one of the following: setting a time delay path, setting a Doppler effect path, or setting an angle path.

17. The method according to any one of claims 13-16, characterized in that, The first time granularity is the smallest time granularity used for sensing the first TA of the signal; or, The first time granularity is the second time granularity, which is the smallest time granularity used for communication signal TA.

18. The method according to claim 17, characterized in that, The duration corresponding to the first time granularity is less than the duration corresponding to the second time granularity.

19. The method according to any one of claims 13-18, characterized in that, The method includes: The first terminal's sensing mode is determined to be a first sensing mode, which is a mode in which the first terminal sends a sensing signal and the second terminal receives the sensing signal, wherein both the first terminal and the second terminal are provided with network services by the first network device. Determine the first TA used by the first terminal to send the sensing signal; Send the first TA to the second terminal.

20. The method according to any one of claims 13-18, characterized in that, The method includes: The first terminal's sensing mode is determined to be a first sensing mode, which is a mode in which the first terminal sends a sensing signal and the second terminal receives the sensing signal. The first terminal is provided with network services by the first network device, and the second terminal is provided with network services by the second network device. The second information is sent from the second network device to the second terminal, and the second information is used to indicate the timing difference between the first terminal and the second terminal.

21. The method according to claim 20, characterized in that, The second information includes the first TA, and the second information also includes at least one of the following: The timing offset between the first network device and the second network device; Timing error between the first network device and the second network device.

22. The method according to any one of claims 13-18, characterized in that, The method includes: The first terminal is determined to be in a second sensing mode, where the second network device sends sensing signals and the first terminal receives the sensing signals. The first terminal is provided with network services by the first network device. The third information is sent to the first terminal.

23. The method according to claim 22, characterized in that, The third information includes at least one of the following: The timing offset between the first network device and the second network device; Timing error between the first network device and the second network device.

24. The method according to claim 21 or 23, characterized in that, The timing offset includes at least one of the following: Frame timing offset; Subframe timing offset.

25. A communication device, characterized in that, The communication device is used to perform the communication method according to any one of claims 1-12, or the communication device is used to perform the communication method according to any one of claims 13-24.

26. A communication system, characterized in that, The device includes a first terminal and a first network device, wherein the first terminal is configured to implement the communication method of any one of claims 1-12, and the first network device is configured to implement the communication method of any one of claims 13-24.

27. A storage medium storing instructions, characterized in that, When the instruction is executed on the communication device, it causes the communication device to perform the communication method as described in any one of claims 1-12, or causes the communication device to perform the communication method as described in any one of claims 13-24.

28. A program product comprising at least one of a program and instructions, characterized in that, When at least one of the program or instructions is executed by the communication device, it implements the steps of the communication method according to any one of claims 1-12, or when at least one of the program or instructions is executed by the communication device, it implements the steps of the communication method according to any one of claims 13-24.

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