First network node, second network node, third network node, and methods performed therein for handling sensing in a wireless communication network

Abstract

Embodiments herein disclose a method performed by a first network node (21) for handling sensing in a wireless communication network. The first network node transmits a configuration to a second network node (22). The configuration is for obtaining one or more sensing results comprising a doppler based measurement for a detected sensing target object.

Description

[0001] FIRST NETWORK NODE, SECOND NETWORK NODE, THIRD NETWORK NODE, AND METHODS PERFORMED THEREIN

[0002] TECHNICAL FIELD

[0003] Embodiments herein relate to a first network node, a second network node, a third network node, and methods performed therein regarding wireless communication. Furthermore, a computer program product and a computer readable storage medium are also provided herein. In particular, embodiments herein relate to handling sensing, such as sensing target objects, in a wireless communication network.

[0004] BACKGROUND

[0005] In a typical wireless communication network, user equipments (UE), also known as wireless communication devices, mobile stations, stations (STA) and / or wireless devices, communicate via a Radio Access Network (RAN) with one or more core networks (CN). The RAN covers a geographical area which is divided into service areas or cells, with each service area or cell being served by a radio network node such as an access node e.g. a Wi-Fi access point (AP) or a radio base station (RBS), which in some networks may also be called, for example, a NodeB, a gNodeB, or an eNodeB. The service area or cell is a geographical area where radio coverage is provided by the radio network node. The radio network node operates on radio frequencies to communicate over an air interface with the UEs within range of the radio network node. The radio network node communicates over a downlink (DL) to the UE and the UE communicates over an uplink (UL) to the radio network node.

[0006] A Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) is a third generation (3G) telecommunication network, which evolved from the second generation (2G) Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM). The UMTS terrestrial radio access network (UTRAN) is essentially a RAN using wideband code division multiple access (WCDMA) and / or High-Speed Packet Access (HSPA) for communication with user equipment. In a forum known as the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), telecommunications suppliers propose and agree upon standards for present and future generation networks and investigate e.g. enhanced data rate and radio capacity. In some RANs, e.g. as in UMTS, several radio network nodes may be connected, e.g., by landlines or microwave, to a controller node, such as a radio network controller (RNC) or a base station controller (BSC), which supervises and coordinates various activities of the plural radio network nodes connected thereto. The RNCs are typically connected to one or more core networks.

[0007] Specifications for the Evolved Packet System (EPS) have been completed within the 3GPP and coming 3GPP releases, such as New Radio (NR), are worked on. The EPS comprises theEvolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (E-UTRAN), also known as the Long-Term Evolution (LTE) radio access network, and the Evolved Packet Core (EPC), also known as System Architecture Evolution (SAE) core network. E-UTRAN / LTE is a 3GPP radio access technology wherein the radio network nodes are directly connected to the EPC core network. As such, the Radio Access Network (RAN) of an EPS has an essentially “flat” architecture comprising radio network nodes connected directly to one or more core networks.

[0008] With the emerging 5G technologies such as NR, the use of very many transmit- and receive-antenna elements may be of great interest as it makes it possible to utilize beamforming, such as transmit-side and receive-side beamforming. Transmit-side beamforming means that the transmitter can amplify the transmitted signals in a selected direction or directions, while suppressing the transmitted signals in other directions. Similarly, on the receive-side, a receiver can amplify signals from a selected direction or directions, while suppressing unwanted signals from other directions. NR is connected to the 5G Core Network (5GC) which comprises a number of Network Functions (NF) such as Session Management Function (SMF), Access Management Function (AMF), Authentication Service Function (AUSF), Policy Control Function (PCF), Unified Data Manager (UDM), Network Repository Function (NRF), Network Exposure Function (NEF), just to mention some. In the 5GC, NFs can discover other NFs by using a discovery service provided by the NRF.

[0009] Unlike traditional radar technology, which is also radio signal based, Integrated Sensing and Communication (ISAC) relies on radio communications signals transmitted by radio nodes comprised in a radio communications network, i.e. , the sensing capabilities are provided by the same cellular communication system and infrastructure as used for communication to enable radio-based sensing and can also be used for the mutual benefit such as communication-assisted sensing service or for sensing-assisted communication to improve the communication service, e.g., through predicting the movements of target objects that may block communications.

[0010] In ISAC, sensing can serve very different purposes, including area monitoring, event detection, object absence detection, recognition of a characteristic of the sensing target object, condition evaluation and / or recognition, e.g., weather, environment, or health, activity level detection, etc. Sensing may also involve object localization as in positioning, but unlike positioning, sensing needs to work on any target objects, including those that do not include radios, e.g., passive or non-connected objects such as people, cars, drones, obstacles, etc., or even not being physical objects. Such a variety of sensing objectives also suggests a big range of choices in configuring a radio network with radio sensing support, where even physical properties, including the size and consistency / material, of the sensing target object play a crucial role in choosing the appropriate deployment choice.

[0011] 3GPP has been working on use cases and is currently working on channel modelling for ISAC for 5G release (Rel)- 19 and potentially for 6G.Herein, the terms ISAC, Joint Sensing And Communication (JCAS), and radio signal based sensing in a radio communications network are used interchangeably.

[0012] With ISAC in cellular networks, sensing may be performed in a monostatic deployment, when the transmitter and the receiver sensing antennas are located in the same node, and in a multi-static deployment, when the transmitter and the receiver sensing antennas are located in different nodes. Bistatic sensing is a special case of multi-static sensing where only two nodes are involved.

[0013] The on-going studies evaluate how to integrate the sensing functions into a NG-RAN architecture and beyond for6G RAN. Different sensing architecture options exist. Unless explicitly stated, the described embodiments are neither limited to any specific sensing architecture nor to a specific radio access technology (RAT), e.g., 5G, 6G, etc.

[0014] At a high level, ISAC support in a radio communications network may comprise the support of the new entities, e.g.: Sensing Units (SU), Sensing Management Function (SeMF), and / or Sensing Processing Function (SPF). Note that the entity names may also differ from the ones used below in different solutions.

[0015] 1) Sensing Unit (SU):

[0016] The SU is a logical entity that may be either a standalone entity in the network, integrated into a base station (BS) or UE, or may be co-located or co-sited with a UE or a RAN node. The SU may be capable of at least one of:

[0017] • Radio signal transmission used for sensing;

[0018] • Radio signal reception and measurement used for sensing; and / or

[0019] • Comprising or sharing with other radio nodes, e.g., BS or UE, radio antennas used for sensing. SUs may have their own internal or external antenna, or may share the radio antenna or antennas with other radio nodes, e.g., UE, RAN node, another SU, for ISAC. Multiple SUs with the same or different capabilities may be involved in a sensing session. The multiple SUs may not need to be all in the same RAT, e.g., an SU served by a first RAT may receive radio signals for sensing from N1 transmitting SUs in a first RAT (N1=0, 1, 2, ...) and from N2 transmitting SUs in a second RAT (N1=0, 1, 2, ...). An SU may be multi-RAT capable of receiving and / or transmitting in different RATs with or without being served by any of the RATs. The relevant SUs may need to be configured, selected, or simliar by a controlling entity which may be, e.g., an SeMF, a core network node or function, a radio network node or function, a UE, an SU-central unit (CU), such as a CU controlling one or more SU-distributed units (DU), or similar.

[0020] 2) Sensing Management function (SeMF):

[0021] The SeMF is a function controlling or managing sensing session or sessions, entities involved in a sensing session, or similar. In one example, the SeMF may be a sensing server that sends the request to RAN to trigger a sensing session, sensing measurements, or similar. The sensing session is configured based on the information comprised in or determined based on asensing request, e.g., at least on the sensing task, sensing target information, e.g., object type, object size, weather condition, etc., and / or sensing area information, e.g., forest, indoor factory, house, area size, or similar.

[0022] 3) Sensing Processing Function (SPF):

[0023] The SPF is a function which processes sensing measurements from one or more Sils to obtain one or more sensing results. The measurements may be received directly from the Sils or via another node. The SPF may be a separate entity in the network or may be comprised in another node, e.g., in a BS or UE. The SPF may be implemented in one node or distributed over multiple nodes, e.g., in a linear fashion {SPF1, SPF2, etc.} in control plane (CP) or user plane (UP) or {SPF-ControlPlane, SPF-UserPlane} and / or hierarchical fashion {SPF-CU, SPF-DU1, SPF-DU2, or similar}. The SPF may even be partly or fully deployed in a UE or RAN node, e.g., in a measuring SU or the node obtaining the sensing result such as UE or BS, in a core node, or positioning node. The SPF may be implemented together with or as a part of the SeM F.

[0024] Fig. 1 shows an example of how the SeMF entity and the SPF may be included in a 3GPP 5G architecture. The SeMF and / or the SPF may also interact with a positioning and / or location function, e.g., location management function (LMF). It is also understood that the sensing functions may also be integrated in another RAT, e.g., 6G RAT, comprising the relevant RAT nodes and corresponding interfaces. Fig. 1 shows a non-limiting example of incorporating SPF, SeMF, and / or SUs into 5G architecture comprising also positioning functions, such as NR LMF, LTE Evolved Serving Mobile Location Centre (E-SMLC), and / or user-plane positioning function such as secure user plane location (SUPL) Location Platform (SLP).

[0025] SUMMARY

[0026] As part of developing embodiments herein one or more issues have been identified. As part of sensing procedure, a UE and / or network (NW) node may perform different measurements. However, current sensing measurements primarily refer to positioning measurements with respect to angle-, power- or time-based measurements. There is no sensing-specific radio measurements defined for radio communications network. Further, how to configure and how to perform such measurements and how to signal the measurements, i.e. , quantization of measurements and reporting of measurements, in radio communications networks, is not known.

[0027] An object of embodiments herein is to handle sensing procedures in a wireless communication network in an efficient manner.

[0028] According to an aspect the object is achieved, according to some embodiments herein, by providing a method performed by a first network node for handling sensing in a wireless communication network. The first network node transmits a configuration to a second network node. The configuration is for obtaining one or more sensing results comprising a doppler based measurement for a detected sensing target object. As an example, the configuration may be forobtaining one or more sensing results, also referred to as sensing-related results, based on one or more of the following: one dimensional (1 D), two dimensional (2D), or three dimensional (3D) fast Fourier transform (FFT), or N dimensional (N-D) FFT, doppler frequency, doppler-delay(range) measurements, and / or other doppler-based measurements. The configuration may indicate number of channel impulse responses (CIR) to be generated and which symbols to use to derive each CIR.

[0029] According to another aspect the object is achieved, according to some embodiments herein, by providing a method performed by a second network node for handling sensing in a wireless communication network. The second network node performs a sensing procedure, such as for locating an object in an area, based on a configuration to obtain a result indication comprising one or more sensing measurements, one or more sensing results, or a result of processing one or more sensing measurements, wherein the one or more sensing measurements, the one or more sensing results, or the result comprises a doppler based measurement for a detected sensing target object.

[0030] According to yet another aspect the object is achieved, according to some embodiments herein, by providing a method performed by a third network node for handling sensing in a wireless communication network. The third network node obtains a result of a sensing procedure based on a result indication from a second network node. The result indication comprises one or more sensing measurements, one or more sensing results or a result of processing one or more sensing measurements, wherein the one or more sensing measurements, the one or more sensing results, or the result comprises a doppler based measurement for a detected sensing target object.

[0031] It is furthermore provided herein a computer program product comprising instructions, which, when executed on at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to carry out any of the methods herein, as performed by the first network node, the second network node, and the third network node, respectively. It is additionally provided herein a computer-readable storage medium, having stored thereon a computer program product comprising instructions which, when executed on at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to carry out the method according to any of the methods herein, as performed by the first network node, the second network node, and the third network node, respectively.

[0032] According to yet another aspect the object is achieved, according to some embodiments herein, by providing the first network node, the second network node, and the third network node, configured to perform the methods herein, respectively.

[0033] Thus, according to an aspect the object is achieved, according to some embodiments herein, by providing a first network node for handling sensing in a wireless communication network. The first network node is configured to transmit a configuration to a second network node. The configuration is for obtaining one or more sensing results comprising a doppler based measurement for a detected sensing target object.According to another aspect the object is achieved, according to some embodiments herein, by providing a second network node for handling sensing in a wireless communication network. The second network node is configured to perform a sensing procedure based on a configuration to obtain a result indication comprising one or more sensing measurements, one or more sensing results, or a result of processing one or more sensing measurements, wherein the one or more sensing measurements, the one or more sensing results, or the result comprises a doppler based measurement for a detected sensing target object.

[0034] According to yet another aspect the object is achieved, according to some embodiments herein, by providing a third network node for handling sensing in a wireless communication network. The third network node is configured to obtain a result of a sensing procedure based on a result indication from a second network node. The result indication comprises one or more sensing measurements, one or more sensing results, or a result of processing one or more sensing measurements, wherein the one or more sensing measurements, the one or more sensing results, or the result comprises a doppler based measurement for a detected sensing target object.

[0035] Embodiments herein achieve one or more advantages, such as able to configure sensing measurements; able to obtain sensing specific measurements; input-derived may also be used to be fed to an artificial intelligence (Al) and / or machine learning (ML) model for sensing; and / or able to deduce doppler, delay, and / or angle of the sensing target. Thus, embodiments herein handle the sensing procedure in a wireless communication network in an efficient and accurate manner.

[0036] BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0037] Embodiments will now be described in more detail in relation to the enclosed drawings, in which:

[0038] Fig. 1 is a schematic overview depicting sensing according to prior art;

[0039] Fig. 2 shows an overview depicting a wireless communication network according to embodiments herein;

[0040] Fig. 3 shows a combined flowchart and signaling scheme according to some embodiments herein;

[0041] Fig. 4A shows a schematic flowchart depicting a method performed by a first network node according to some embodiments herein;

[0042] Fig. 4B shows a schematic flowchart depicting a method performed by a second network node according to some embodiments herein;

[0043] Fig. 4Cshows a schematic flowchart depicting a method performed by a third network node according to some embodiments herein;

[0044] Fig. 5 shows 2D FFT transforming the baseband signal into Delay-Doppler domain;

[0045] Fig. 6 shows a combined flowchart and signaling scheme according to some embodiments herein;Fig. 7 shows that comparing different Cl Rs can lead to detection of Doppler peak; Fig. 8 shows a schematic signaling scheme depicting some embodiments herein;

[0046] Fig. 9 is a schematic overview depicting a first network node according to embodiments herein;

[0047] Fig. 10 is a schematic overview depicting a second network node according to embodiments herein;

[0048] Fig. 11 is a schematic overview depicting a third network node according to embodiments herein;

[0049] Fig. 12 shows an example of a communication system 15100 in accordance with some embodiments;

[0050] Fig. 13 shows a communication system 15200 in accordance with some embodiments; Fig. 14 shows a UE 15300 in accordance with some embodiments;

[0051] Fig. 15 is a block diagram of a network node 15400 in accordance with various aspects described herein; and

[0052] Fig. 16 is a block diagram illustrating a virtualization environment 15500 in which functions implemented by some embodiments may be virtualized.

[0053] DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0054] Embodiments herein relate to wireless communication networks in general. Fig. 2 is a schematic overview depicting a wireless communication network 1. The wireless communication network 1 comprises one or more RANs and one or more CNs. The wireless communication network 1 may use one or a number of different technologies. Embodiments herein relate to recent technology trends that are of particular interest in a New Radio (NR) context, however, embodiments are also applicable in further development of existing wireless communications systems such as e.g. LTE or Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA), and upcoming networks such as 6G.

[0055] In the wireless communication network 1, one or more UEs such as a user equipment (UE) 10 exemplified herein respectively as a wireless device such as a mobile station, a non-access point (non-AP) station (STA), a STA and / or a wireless terminal, are comprised communicating via e.g. one or more Access Networks (AN), e.g. radio access network (RAN), to one or more core networks (CN). It should be understood by the skilled in the art that “UE” is a non-limiting term which means any terminal, wireless communications terminal, user equipment, narrowband internet of things (NB-loT) device, Machine Type Communication (MTC) device, Device to Device (D2D) terminal, or node e.g. smart phone, laptop, mobile phone, sensor, relay, mobile tablets or even a small base station capable of communicating using radio communication with a radio network node within an area served by the radio network node. According to embodiments herein respective UE is a sensing UE, i.e. , a UE capable of performing one or moresensing measurements in an area. In particular, when the UE 10 has created a sensing context for a sensing object 170, the UE may be termed as sensing UE.

[0056] The wireless communication network 1 comprises a first radio network node 12 or just radio network node 12, providing radio coverage over a geographical area, a first service area 11 or first cell, of a first radio access technology (RAT), such as 6G, NR, LTE, or similar. The first radio network node 12 may be a transmission and reception point (TRP) such as an access node, an access controller, a base station, e.g. a radio base station such as a gNodeB (gNB), an evolved Node B (eNB, eNode B), a NodeB, a base transceiver station, a radio remote unit, an Access Point Base Station, a base station router, a Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) access point or an Access Point Station (AP STA), a transmission arrangement of a radio base station, a stand-alone access point or any other network unit or node capable of communicating with a UE within the area served by the first radio network node depending e.g. on the first radio access technology and terminology used. The first radio network node may be referred to as a serving radio network node wherein the service area may be referred to as a serving cell, and the serving network node communicates with the wireless device in form of DL transmissions to the wireless device and UL transmissions from the wireless device. It should be noted that a service area may be denoted as cell, beam, beam group or similar to define an area of radio coverage. It should be noted that a service area may be denoted as cell, beam, beam group or similar to define an area of radio coverage.

[0057] The wireless communication network 1 comprises a second radio network node 13 providing radio coverage over a geographical area, a second service area 14 or second cell, of a the first or second RAT, such as NR, 6G, LTE, or similar. The second radio network node 13 may be UE, a road side unit (RSU), a relay node, a transmission and reception point such as an access node, an access controller, a base station, e.g. a radio base station such as a gNB, an eNB, a NodeB, a base transceiver station, or node capable of communicating with the UE outside the area served by the first radio network node.

[0058] The wireless communication network 1 may further comprise a number of network nodes providing applications, such as an application server (AS), e.g. in NR, or network functions (NF) or actually instantiations of NFs also referred to as NF instances, such as a network function node 15.

[0059] According to embodiments herein a first network node or node 21 (node 1) such as , for example, a sensing managing function (SeMF), a base station such as the first radio network node 12, the UE 10, or similar, and may control a second network node or node 22 (node 2), such as a radio node, an SU, an SPF, or a sensing node, for example a sensing unit such as a primary radio network node, e.g., the first radio network node 12 or the UE 10, and / or a third network node or node 23 (node 3) such as an SPF, the UE 10, the first radio network node 12 or the second radio network node 13. The first network node 21 may handle or manage sensingprocedures to detect, track, and / or monitor one or more objects such as a sensing object or sensing target 170 in the wireless communication network 1. The sensing target 170 may comprise a vehicle, a person, a device, an obstacle, a building, an animal or similar.

[0060] The respective node may be a standalone server, a cloud-implemented server, a distributed server or processing resources in a server farm or same node. Embodiments herein may be implemented as physical bare metal, virtual or cloud native such as Kubernetes environment in, e.g., hyper-cloud networks.

[0061] According to embodiments herein the first network node 21 transmits a configuration to the second network node 22. The configuration is for obtaining one or more sensing results comprising a doppler based measurement for a detected sensing target object. Thus, the second network node 22 performs a sensing procedure based on the configuration to obtain a result indication comprising one or more sensing measurements, one or more sensing results, or a result of processing one or more sensing measurements. The one or more sensing measurements, the one or more sensing results, or the result comprises a doppler based measurement for a detected sensing target object.

[0062] Furthermore, some embodiments herein may disclose a method performed by the first network node 21 to configure the second network node 22 with further configuration information to specify how many, such as consecutive, one after another, Cl Rs are needed and which reference signal symbols in a slot, or which slots, should be used to derive the Cl Rs. The interval between symbols or slots for the CIR calculation may be specified such that the moving object’s velocity and distance is estimated from the transmitted accurately. Methods to derive multi-dimensional FFT such as 2D-FFT or N-D-FFT are herein disclosed. In order to do so, methods to configure the measurements, specifying the reporting amount, reporting interval or similar, are further disclosed.

[0063] As part of NW configurations, further providing the configuration to the UE for object detection or tracking and to report the doppler frequency and delay and / or angular, such as horizontal and / or vertical, pseudo-spectrum profile of the detected or tracked object. A reference TRP and reference signal may be provided with respect to where the UE 10 derives the doppler-delay-horizontal angular pseudo-spectrum-horizontal angular pseudo-spectrum surface. The network node, such as the first or second network node, may obtain, for example, UE sensing capabilities in terms of reporting the delay-doppler and / or angular, horizontal and / or vertical, pseudo-spectrum estimates. If the UE 10 is capable, then network node, such as the first or second network node, may configure the UE 10 to perform delay-doppler and / or angular, horizontal and / or vertical, pseudo-spectrum measurements within time window occasions, where one or more measurements are specified to be performed in symbol level or aggregated across multiple symbol or slot level or aggregated over multiple slots.

[0064] The embodiments herein may comprise one or more of the following:• Methods to configure sensing measurements, e.g., by a Node 1 in a Node 2, to enable obtaining sensing-related results, e.g., based on a Fast Fourier transform (FFT), which is an algorithm that computes the discrete Fourier transform (DFT) of a sequence, or its inverse discrete Fourier transform (IDFT). The sensing-related result may be obtained based on 1D FFT, multi-dimensional FFT, such as 2D FFT, 3D FFT or N-D FFT, doppler frequency, doppler-delay, or range, measurements, and / or other doppler-based measurements, in general.

[0065] • Methods performed by the second network node 22 to perform sensing measurements, based on the sensing measurement configuration from the first network node 21, and obtain sensing measurement results.

[0066] • Methods to communicate or report a sensing-related result from to the second network node 22 to the third network node 23, which may be same or different from the first network node 21, obtained based on the configuration from first network node 21 and comprising sensing measurement results or a result of processing of sensing measurements.

[0067] o In one example, the sensing-related result may further comprise one or more sensing measurements or sensing measurement results further comprising channel response data.

[0068] o In one example, the sensing-related result may further comprise a result of processing of sensing measurement results, further comprising 2D FFT, 3D FFT, N- D FFT results, doppler frequency, and / or doppler-delay, or range, measurements.

[0069] • Methods to obtain a sensing-related result in the third network node 23, based on the sensing measurement results from the second network node 22. The obtaining of the sensing-related result may further comprise applying a 2D FFT, 3D FFT, and / or N-D FFT algorithm. The sensing-related result may be further signaled to a Sensing Client, an application requesting sensing-related results, or to another node, e.g., Node 4 in Fig. 6. • Methods to obtain the result such as a sensing-related result performed by the third network node 23, based on the result indication, such as sensing measurement results, from the second network node 22. The obtaining of the sensing-related result may further comprise applying extraction of an amplitude, or of a phase, of the samples of the channel impulse or frequency responses, or the quantization of one or both of the previous two. Examples of 2D FFT results are range-doppler relations, range-angle relations, doppler-angle relations, or similar. Angle herein may further comprise direction of arrival (DoA) or angle of arrival (AoA). Examples of 3D FFT results are range-Doppler-beam index or range-angle1-angle2 relations, where anglel may be horizontal angle, and angle2 may comprise vertical angle, or range-Doppler-anglel. Examples of four dimensional (4D)-FFT results may be range-Doppler-angle1-angle2.In particular, a mechanism may be provided on how 2D-FFT, or N-D-FFT (delay-doppler profile) may be derived and means to enable the data for that. The Node, such as UE or NW node, which has the SPF may acquire the N-D-FFT such as Delay Doppler plane. Depending on the value N, the corresponding line, plane, 3D surface, or 4D surface may be formed from a selection of dimensions for the delay, Doppler, horizontal angular pseudo-spectrum, and / or horizontal angular pseudo-spectrum. For this procedure the node, e.g., gNB, or radio network node, transmits sensing reference signal, and expects that the other node, e.g., UE, TRP, or gNB, performs the measurements. The necessary measurement configuration may be provided by the NW node 21, e.g., SeMF, in order to acquire and / or derive the N-D-FFT from the recipient, such as a UE or NW node with sensing unit.

[0070] There may be multiple measurement configuration and reporting options which may depend upon the receiver capabilities, also referred to as measuring unit capabilities, such as one or more of the following:

[0071] • Only raw data generation, such as In-phase and / or quadrature (l / Q) Samples;

[0072] • Able to generate CIR and maximum number of consecutive Cl Rs in a certain time period;

[0073] • FFT in two or more dimensions is sent as octet string, such as in a data container;

[0074] • Fully processed result with doppler and / or range estimations and / or horizontal angular pseudo-spectrum, e.g., plot / graph showing delay and doppler together; delay, doppler plane / profile, and / or horizontal angular pseudo-spectrum such as doppler frequency / shifts / effects, delay doppler profile, horizontal and / or angular pseudospectrum;

[0075] • Fully processed and compressed result with doppler and / or range estimations and / or horizontal angular pseudo-spectrum, and / or horizontal angular pseudo-spectrum, such as doppler frequency / shifts / effects, delay doppler profile, horizontal and / or angular pseudospectrum.

[0076] Terminology

[0077] In this disclosure, the following terminology has been adopted:

[0078] • delay-Doppler: the delay-Doppler plane refers to the calculated 2D pseudo spectrum when the first dimension corresponds to the delay pseudo-spectrum and the second dimension corresponds to the Doppler pseudo-spectrum; The delay-Doppler-horizontal angular pseudo-spectrum; delay-Doppler-horizontal angular pseudo-spectrum 3D surface refers to the calculated 3D pseudo spectrum when the first dimension corresponds to the delay pseudo-spectrum, the second dimension corresponds to the Doppler pseudo-spectrum, and the third dimension corresponds to the horizontal angular pseudo-spectrum; The delay- Doppler-vertical angular pseudo-spectrum: the delay-Doppler-vertical angular pseudospectrum 3D surface refers the calculated 3D pseudo spectrum when the first dimension corresponds to the delay pseudo-spectrum, the second dimension corresponds to theDoppler pseudo-spectrum, and the third dimension corresponds to the vertical angular pseudo-spectrum; The delay-Doppler-vertical angular pseudo-spectrum-horizontal angular pseudo-spectrum: the delay-Doppler-horizontal angular pseudo-spectrum 4D surfacehorizontal angular pseudo-spectrum refers the calculated 2D pseudo spectrum when the first dimension corresponds to the delay pseudo-spectrum, the second dimension corresponds to the Doppler pseudo-spectrum, the third dimension corresponds to the horizontal angular pseudo-spectrum, and the fourth dimension corresponds to the vertical angular pseudo-spectrum.

[0079] • Sensing unit comprises a radio node performing reception and / or transmission of one or more radio signals for sensing purpose, e.g., comprising a UE, TRP, TP, RT, BS, or similar. Sensing unit may comprise a sensing transmission (TX) unit and / or a sensing reception (RX) unit. A sensing unit can be comprised in a 5G, 6G, multi-RAT, or other radio communications network.

[0080] • Sensing RX unit comprises a radio node receiving one or more radio signals for sensing purpose and / or performing one or more radio sensing measurements, e.g., Doppler effect measurements, pseudo Doppler measurements, Doppler frequency measurements, Doppler rate, Doppler shift measurements, Doppler phase shift measurements, velocity or range-rate, range or pseudo-range or RX-TX time difference, phase-range or distance in units of radio frequency (RF) cycles, phase-range rate, delay-Doppler, delay-Doppler- angular measurement, or similar. The measurements may then be used by the network node or another node to determine a sensing result, e.g., comprising one or more states of the sensing target object. In some embodiments the terms “sensing unit” and “sensing RX unit” can be used interchangeably.

[0081] • Sensing target object is an object with respect to which a sensing task is performed, it may comprise a passive object, an object not connected to the communications network, an object in idle or inactive state with respect to the communications network, or even an object whose connectivity to the radio communications network is not strictly necessary for performing a sensing task or is not exploited in the described embodiments.

[0082] • A sensing task is a set of procedures and actions enabling obtaining a sensing result based on radio sensing measurements with respect to a sensing target object. Example sensing tasks: sensing target presence or absence detection, localization, determining or classification of object characteristics such as size, dimensions, material, shape, human, animal, age, movement or gesture detection / recognition, determining a state of the target, and / or similar.

[0083] • A state of the sensing target object may be characterized by one or combination of:

[0084] orientation, size, shape, form, speed such as including zero speed and non-zero speed / moving state in general as well as a specific speed level, acceleration, movementdirection or other movement characteristic or pattern, absolute or relative location which may be 2D, 3D, height, horizontal location, vertical location, range with respect to a reference location, presence / absence, and / or similar.

[0085] Fig. 3 is a combined flowchart and signaling scheme according to some embodiments herein.

[0086] Action 301. The first network node 21 may transmit a configuration to the second network node 22. The configuration is for obtaining one or more sensing results comprising a doppler based measurement for a detected sensing target object. The configuration may be for obtaining one or more sensing-related results based on 1D, 2D FFT or 3D FFT or N-D FFT, doppler frequency, doppler-delay(range) measurements, and / or other doppler-based measurements. The first network node 21 may thus enable obtaining sensing-related results based on 1D, 2D FFT or 3D FFT or N-D FFT, doppler frequency, doppler-delay(range) measurements, and other doppler-based measurements, in general. The configuration may indicate number of Cl Rs to be generated and which symbols to use to derive each CIR.

[0087] Action 302. The second network node 22 performs a sensing procedure, such as for locating an object in an area, based on the configuration to obtain a result indication comprising one or more sensing measurements, one or more sensing results, or a result of processing one or more sensing measurements. The one or more sensing measurements, the one or more sensing results, or the result comprises the doppler based measurement for the detected sensing target object. The second network node 22 may perform one or more sensing measurements on signals for determining location of the object. The result indication may be obtained based on a sensing measurement configuration from first network node 21 and may comprise one or more sensing measurement results or a result of processing of sensing measurements. In one example, the sensing-related result may further comprise one or more sensing measurement results further comprising channel response. In one example, the sensing-related result may comprise a result of processing of sensing measurement results, further comprising 2D FFT / 3D FFT / N-D FFT results, doppler frequency, and / or doppler-delay, or range, measurements.

[0088] Action 303. The second network node 22 transmits the result indication to the third network node 23 and / or the first network node 21, wherein the result indication comprises one or more sensing results or a result of processing one or more sensing measurements, wherein the one or more sensing results or the result comprises a doppler based measurement for a detected sensing target object. The one or more sensing measurement results may further comprise channel response, and / or 2D FFT / 3D FFT / N-D FFT results, doppler frequency, and / or doppler-delay, or range, measurements.

[0089] Action 304. The third network node 23 obtains a result of the sensing procedure based on the result indication from the second network node 22. The third network node 23 may apply a 2DFFT / 3D FFT / N-D FFT algorithm to the received result indication to obtain the result. The result may further be signaled to a Sensing Client, an application requesting sensing-related results, or to another node. The result may be obtained by applying extraction of the amplitude or of the phase of the samples of the channel impulse or frequency responses, or the quantization of one or both of the previous two.

[0090] The method actions performed by the first network node 21 for handling sensing in the wireless communication network according to embodiments herein will now be described with reference to a flowchart depicted in Fig. 4A.

[0091] Action 401. The first network node 21 transmits the configuration to the second network node 22. The configuration is for obtaining the one or more sensing results comprising the doppler based measurement for the detected sensing target object. The doppler based measurement may comprise one or more of: Doppler estimate, Doppler frequency or shift, Delay or range, velocity, one or multiple angles, a power per detected path, peak, or object, and / or a time stamp of detection of the detected sensing target object. The configuration may further indicate reporting number of paths, peaks, and / or measurements of the detected sensing target object.

[0092] The one or more sensing results may be based on one or more of the following: 1 D, 2D FFT or 3D FFT or N-D FFT, doppler frequency, doppler-delay measurements, delay-doppler plane, angular pseudo-spectrum estimates, and / or other doppler-based measurements. For example, the first network node 21 may transmit the configuration to the second network node 22, wherein the configuration is for obtaining one or more sensing results such as one or more sensing-related results based on 1D, 2D FFT, 3D FFT, or N-D FFT, doppler frequency, doppler-delay(range) measurements, and / or other doppler-based measurements. The first network node 21 thus enables obtaining sensing-related results based on 1D, 2D FFT or 3D FFT or N-D FFT, doppler frequency, doppler-delay, or range, measurements, and other doppler-based measurements, in general. The configuration may indicate number of Cl Rs to be generated and which symbols to use to derive each CIR. The first network node 21 may be a SeMF in the CN, and the configuration may be transmitted via a CN-RAN interface. The first network node 21 may be a RAN node and the second network node 22 may be a UE and the configuration may be transmitted via radio resource control (RRC) protocol. The first network node 21 may be a SeMF node and the second network node 22 may be a UE, and the configuration may be transmitted via higher layer protocol.

[0093] The method actions performed by the second network node 22 for handling sensing in the wireless communication network according to embodiments herein will now be described with reference to a flowchart depicted in Fig. 4B. The actions do not have to be taken in the order stated below but may be taken in any suitable order. Actions performed in some embodiments are marked with dashed boxes. The second network node 22 may comprise a sensing receiver nodereceiving a radio signal for performing a sensing measurement and / or obtaining a sensing result, or both a sensing receiver node receiving a radio signal for performing a sensing measurement or obtaining a sensing result and a sensing transmitter node transmitting the radio signal.

[0094] Action 410. The second network node 22 may obtain the configuration, may be preconfigured or received from the first network node 21, The configuration may be for obtaining the one or more sensing results. For example, the configuration may be for obtaining one or more sensing-related results based on 1 D, 2D FFT, 3D FFT, or N-D FFT, doppler frequency, doppler-delay(range) measurements, and / or other doppler-based measurements. The configuration may indicate how many Cl Rs are needed and which reference signal symbols in a slot or which slots should be used to derive the Cl Rs.

[0095] Action 411. The second network node 22 may transmit to a sensing node such as another network node, an indication of Sensing Reference Signals (SeRS) resources for configuring the sensing node. The SeRS resources are to be measured by the second network node 22 to generate one or more CIRs. Further, a SeRS configuration for sensing measurements may be provided to a sensing RX node such as the second network node 22, and / or indicated by the first network node 21 or by serving BS. The SeRS configuration may be comprised in a measurement configuration or assistance data or other configuration message. SeRS configuration may also be provided to a sensing TX node which may be the same or different from the second network node 22.

[0096] Action 412. The second network node 22 performs the sensing procedure, such as for locating an object in an area, based on the configuration to obtain a result indication comprising one or more sensing measurements, one or more sensing results, or a result of processing one or more sensing measurements. The one or more sensing measurements, the one or more sensing results, or the result comprises a doppler based measurement for the detected sensing target object. The doppler based measurement may comprise one or more of: Doppler estimate, Doppler frequency or shift, Delay or range, velocity, one or multiple angles, a power per detected path, peak, or object, and / or a time stamp of detection of the detected sensing target object. The one or more sensing measurements, the one or more sensing results, or the result may be for a number of paths, peaks, and / or measurements of the detected sensing target object. The one or more sensing measurements, the one or more sensing results, or the result of processing one or more sensing measurements may be obtained over the time window. The one or more sensing results may be based on the one or more of the following: 1 D, 2D FFT, 3D FFT or N-D FFT, doppler frequency, doppler-delay measurements, delay-doppler plane, angular pseudo-spectrum estimates, and / or other doppler-based measurements. The second network node 22 may perform one or more sensing measurements on signals for determining location of the object. The result indication may be obtained based on the sensing measurement configuration from first network node 21 and may comprise one or more sensing measurement results or a result of processing ofsensing measurements. In one example, the sensing-related result may further comprise one or more sensing measurement results further comprising channel response. In one example, the sensing-related result can further comprise a result of processing of sensing measurement results, further comprising 2D FFT / 3D FFT / N-D FFT results, doppler frequency, and / or doppler-delay(range) measurements. The one or more sensing results may comprise one or more of the following: delay, delay-Doppler, delay-Doppler-horizontal angular pseudo-spectrum, delay-Doppler-vertical angular pseudo-spectrum, delay-Doppler-horizontal angular pseudo-spectrum, delay-Doppler-vertical angular pseudo-spectrum-horizontal angular pseudo-spectrum. The one or more sensing results may be obtained by extracting the amplitude or of the phase of samples of a channel impulse and / or delay-Doppler plane.

[0097] Action 413. The second network node 22 may transmit the result indication to the third network node 23 and / or the first network node 21. The result indication may comprise the one or more sensing measurements, the one or more sensing results, or the result that comprises the doppler based measurement for the detected sensing target object. For example, the result indication may comprise the one or more sensing measurement results and may comprise channel response, and / or comprise the result of processing of sensing measurement results, further comprising 2D FFT, 3D FFT, N-D FFT results, doppler frequency, and / or doppler-delay, or range, measurements. The first network node 21 may be a SeMF in the CN, and the second network node 22 may be a RAN node and the result indication may be transmitted via a RAN-CN interface. The first network node 21 may be a RAN node and the second network node 22 may be a UE and the result indication may be transmitted via RRC protocol. The first network node 21 may be a SeMF and the second network node 22 may be a UE, and the result indication may be transmitted via higher layer protocol such as non-access stratum (NAS) signaling.

[0098] The method actions performed by the third network node 23 for handling sensing in the wireless communication network according to embodiments herein will now be described with reference to a flowchart depicted in Fig. 4C. The actions do not have to be taken in the order stated below but may be taken in any suitable order. Actions performed in some embodiments are marked with dashed boxes.

[0099] Action 421. The third network node 23 may receive the result indication from the second network node 22.

[0100] Action 422. The third network node 23 obtains the result of the sensing procedure based on the result indication from the second network node 22. The result indication comprises the one or more sensing measurements, the one or more sensing results, or the result of processing one or more sensing measurements. The one or more sensing measurements, the one or more sensing results, or the result comprises the doppler based measurement for the detected sensing target object. The doppler based measurement may comprise one or more of: Doppler estimate, Dopplerfrequency or shift, Delay or range, velocity, one or multiple angles, a power per detected path, peak, or object, and / or a time stamp of detection of the detected sensing target object. The one or more sensing measurements, the one or more sensing results, or the result may be for the number of paths, peaks, and / or measurements of the detected sensing target object. The one or more sensing measurements, the one or more sensing results, or the result of processing one or more sensing measurements may be obtained over the time window. The result indication may comprise one or more sensing measurement results further comprising channel impulse response, and / or a result of processing of sensing measurement results, further comprising 2D FFT / 3D FFT / N-D FFT results, doppler frequency, delay-doppler plane, angular pseudo-spectrum estimates, and / or doppler-delay measurements. For example, the third network node 23 may obtain the result of the sensing procedure based on the result indication from the second network node 22, and / or the third network node 23 may apply a 2D FFT, 3D FFT, N-D FFT algorithm to the received result indication to obtain the result. The result may be obtained by applying extraction of the amplitude or of the phase of the samples of the channel impulse or frequency responses, or the quantization of one or both of the previous two.

[0101] Action 423. The third network node 23 may send the result of the sensing procedure to a sensing client, an application requesting sensing-related results, or to another node.

[0102] In embodiments herein, a technique is presented where sensing radio measurements, e.g., doppler-based measurements, are configured from a first node such as the first network node 21, which convey the sensing radio measurements configuration to second node or nodes, such as the second network node 22, which are radio nodes that perform the sensing radio measurements based on the received configuration. The second nodes may be sensing units or sensing reception (RX) units, e.g., BSs, gNBs, reception points (RP) orTRPs, UEs, ora combination of them. The sensing measurements are performed based on radio signals transmitted by one or more of third nodes, such as sensing nodes or similar, which can be transmitting radio nodes, e.g., sensing units, sensing transmission (TX) units, BSs, UE, transmission points (TP) or TRP. The radio signals for sensing may be radio signals dedicated for sensing, radio signals used for radio communications, or positioning radio signals. The second and third nodes may be comprised in the same node, which may also be referred to as mono-static sensing, in some examples, or may be different nodes, which may also be referred to as bi-static or multi-static sensing, in other examples.

[0103] Embodiments herein describe 2D or N-D FFT as one way of implementation of computing the 2D or N-D pseudo-spectrum from where the peaks that correspond to target characteristics such as doppler frequency, delay, or similar, may be obtained. Some embodiments herein describe how the second network node 22 may configure and perform sensing radio measurements, derive the measurement content from radio samples. Furthermore, it is described how such measurements may be reported from one node to another node such that different desiredproperties of the sensing target and its state characteristics may be extracted such as delay, doppler velocity, angle of arrival, signal power, or similar.

[0104] The 2D FFT is useful for processing two-dimensional signals or two-dimensional data sets in general, and two-dimensional sensing data in particular. For sensing, this allows to derive the doppler frequency, if the object is moving towards or away from the transmitted signal, and delay, i.e., how far to the target object. Fig. 5 shows 2D FFT transforming the baseband signal into Delay-Doppler domain.

[0105] An extension of the two-dimensional FFT is the N-D FFT which may be used for processing N-dimensional signals or N-dimensional data sets in general, and N-dimensional sensing data in particular. 3D FFT may be used where the first, second, and third dimension corresponds Doppler frequency or shift, delay, and space, e.g., in the form of beam-index, respectively. Also, the 4D FFT may be used, where the first, second, third, fourth dimension correspond to Doppler frequency or shift, delay, horizontal Angle of Arrival (AoA), and vertical angle AoA, respectively. Note that the previous 4D FFT may be reduced to 3D FFT if the AoA of interest is only the vertical or the horizontal. This is the case when the involved nodes utilize uniform linear array and not with planar arrays.

[0106] The measurement configuration, which has some specifics for doppler measurements, may comprise one or more of the following:

[0107] • The requested measurement output and output format, such as raw, semiprocessed or fully processed, including units, resolution, determining how the raw samples are processed to form the desired doppler-related measurement.

[0108] • Sampling configuration, e.g., sampling rate, number of samples, etc.

[0109] • How many measurements have to be performed, e.g., how many Cl Rs or consecutive CIR should be generated. Measurement periodicity for periodic measurements.

[0110] • The interval or event of reporting or logging, wherein the time between reports may be longer than measurement periodicity, i.e., when, how often, upon which condition or criterion to report, e.g., when something movement or object is detected based on doppler measurements or object’s state has changed.

[0111] • Aggregated reporting or sequential reporting; where aggregated reporting implies that the UE 10 may store the measurements and report when all the measurements are completed. Sequential reporting implies that the UE 10 may send the measurement as soon as it is ready, i.e., it does not have to wait for all the measurements to be ready. Example: If NW asks the UE 10 to report five Cl Rs or a function of them; for aggregated reporting the UE 10 may send the report after thefifth CIR has been generated, whereas for sequential reporting, the UE 10 may report one after another.

[0112] • Raw data or semi-processed data or processed data; where raw can be l / Q sample;

[0113] semi-processed can be CIR such as imaginary part: a+jb, fully processed is output such as doppler frequency, delay, acceleration, angle or a function of them or indication based on at least one of them, e.g., whether the fully processed output characteristics meet a certain criterion.

[0114] • Time-frequency resource configuration or configurations, e.g., transmit configuration, muting configuration, and / or receive configuration. Since doppler measurements are sensitive to carrier frequency or phase inaccuracies, the timefrequency resource configuration may need to be configured accordingly, e.g., based on symbol level and very few or a single sample.

[0115] A bi-static or multi-static radar topology for cellular sensing may be considered where one node transmits, and the recipient node or recipient nodes, i.e. , plural for multi-static, perform the measurements and the reporting. It is assumed that the transmitting node, such as the second network node 22, or the management / controller node, being example of the first network node 21 of the transmitting node configures the measurements at the recipient node. The recipient node may be either UE as a SU or another NW node as a SU.

[0116] Fig. 6 shows an example of a combined flowchart and signaling scheme according to some embodiments herein.

[0117] Node examples:

[0118] • Node 2, being an example of the second network node 22 such as a sensing unit, may comprise a sensing unit receiving SeRS for sensing purpose and / or performing sensing measurements, which may further comprise a NW node, e.g., BS, standalone sensing unit, sensing unit co-located or co-sited with BS, orgNB-DU, or UE,

[0119] • Node 1 , being an example of the first network node 21 , may comprise a node which may at least configure Node 2 for sensing purpose; examples of the Node 1 are SeMF, SPF configuring Node 2 to provide the data necessary for SPF to obtain sensing result, gNB-CU, another UE, serving BS configuring UE acting as a sensing unit

[0120] • Node 3, being an example of the third network node 23, may comprise a node receiving sensing measurement result, including channel response, or sensing-related result, e.g., based on 2D or 3D or 4D FFT, as described herein. In some examples, the Node 3 may be the same as Node 1; in someexamples, the Node 3 may be different from Node 1, e.g., Node 1 may be SeMF and Node 3 may be SPF.

[0121] • In some examples, even Node 4 may be present, wherein Node 4, being an example of an application or sensing client, may receive sensing result, e.g., based on 2D or 3D or 4D FFT.

[0122] The configuration may be applied in the measuring node, e.g., Node 2, based on a configuration message from another node, pre-defined rules, or pre-configuration. Some configuration parameters may be signaled from another node, e.g., Node 1, see action 601. Some configuration parameters may be pre-defined or configured autonomously by the measuring node, such as the second network node 22. The configuration may be based on the corresponding measuring node’s capability, i.e. , one or more configuration parameters provided by Node 1 are within the supported set of the parameter values of Node 2 (the capability of Node 2 can be provided to Node 1 before the configuration). For example, a sensing RX, e.g., a BS, may report its capability of mono-static or bi-static sensing to core network such as the first network node 21, which configures corresponding measurement matrices the BS should report. The BS configures radio resources of sensing signal to sensing TX, e.g., a UE.

[0123] A node, such as the second network node 22, may define a list, or an array, of channel impulse responses that another node has to produce. That node and may specify SeRS resources, e.g., one or more of: time and / or frequency resources, sequence or ID or code used to generate the SeRS sequence, that is to be used to derive each CIR and how many Cl Rs may be reported at a time.

[0124] Alternatively, a node, such as the second network node 22, may define a list, or an array, of channel impulse responses that another node (sensing RX) has to produce and how many Cl Rs may be reported at a time. The second network node 22 may configure a sensing unit such as a sensing TX, the SeRS resources, e.g., one or more of: time and / or frequency resources, sequence or ID or code used to generate the SeRS sequence, which may be measured by the receiver to generate the needed CIR.

[0125] To calculate a CIR a receiver such as a sensing RX may perform one or more of the following: apply FFT in the received data / signal, apply frequency-domain matched filter in the fast time of the received data, accumulate multiple output of the matched filter, and apply inverse fast Fourier transform (I FFT) in the slow time of the accumulated outputs of the matched filter. The I FFT may be part of the 2D FFT.

[0126] The node which configures the sensing RX may also take the capability of the sensing RX performing measurements into account. That is, how many Cl Rs may be generated in a certain time e.g., processing time of Sensing reference signal for CIR creation.Later, a velocity estimate of the target object may also be taken into account; primarily to configure the frequency, such as how many measurements in a certain time, needs to be configured. For example, a target object with low velocity may need low number of CIR derivation in certain time “T” whereas target object moving fast may need a large number of CIR derivations in the same time “T”. The velocity resolution may be inversely proportional to the product of the number of channel state information (CSI) with the time duration of each CSI.

[0127] The configuration may be present in RRC protocol, LTE positioning protocol (LPP), a protocol between the Sil and SeMF, or any new sensing protocol used by upper layers, such as above Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP), for the configuration. It is also possible to provide pre-configuration such that later medium access control (MAC) control element (CE), higher-layer protocol, or downlink control information (DCI) may be used for activation.

[0128] The measurement configuration may comprise one or more of the following:

[0129] • Type of data requested, that may indicate one or more of:

[0130] o Channel response data such as Reference signal Received power (RSRP), paths, peak paths, and / or time information.

[0131] o A sensing result comprising 2D FFT of a group of channel responses, o A sensing result comprising 3D FFT of the channel response.

[0132] o A sensing result comprising 4D FFT of the channel response.

[0133] • Channel response size, e.g., how many Cl Rs are needed.

[0134] • Channel response resolution or granularity and channel response report mapping, e.g., number of digits, reportable values, difference between adjacent reportable values, or similar. In one further example, the channel response report mapping may depend on the channel response size, e.g., the larger size may be with more accurate channel response reporting and thus with a higher resolution or granularity.

[0135] • The start time to start producing CIR.

[0136] • The periodicity in which the Cl Rs are produced or reported for periodic measurements.

[0137] • Periodicity or event of reporting or logging, i.e. , when, how often, upon which condition or criterion to report, e.g., when an observed parameter such as velocity, speed, direction, doppler frequency, or phase difference exceeds a first threshold and / or falls below a second threshold or upon the object’s state change.

[0138] • Or the time window starts and end occasions where the measurements should be taken.• Reporting characteristics, such as sequential or lumpsum or aggregated.

[0139] Sequential implies after every CIR generation UE reports and aggregated implies when all the Cl Rs have been generated, reporting node responds. • Units, resolution, and / or sampling rate.

[0140] • Time-frequency resource configuration: Time-frequency entities which can comprise sensing radio signal or signals, i.e., transmit configuration of the sensing radio signal or signals. Time-frequency entities where the configured sensing radio signal may not be presented or is muted, e.g., muting configuration, may indicate a subset of resources comprised in transmit configuration. Time-frequency entities in which the receiving radio node has to receive sensing radio signal or signals for performing sensing radio measurements, i.e., receive configuration or measured resources configuration. This may indicate a subset of resources comprised in transmit configuration or a subset of resources comprised in transmit configuration excluding the resources comprised in muting configuration. The receive configuration and the transmit configuration may be the same, or different. The time-frequency resource configuration may comprise individual resource resources, a set or a list of resources, a pattern, mapping, or rule to determine the resources, or similar. The time-frequency resources may be aperiodic or periodic; for the latter, the configuration may also comprise periodicity.

[0141] o Example 1: Time resources are symbols and / or slots where reference signal for sensing exists. For example, reference element for a reference signal in a time frequency resource grid may be present. A particular occurrence of the reference signal may be measured by the UE or NW node.

[0142] o Example 2: Frequency resources may comprise: subcarriers, resource blocks, bandwidth, bandwidth part, RF or carrier frequency, frequency layer, RF band, and / or frequency range.

[0143] • Note: Due to muting of DL / UL slots, or similar, measurements for certain SeRS may be skipped or shifted. Muting may be done to avoid interference. One, some or all of the above configuration parameters may be signaled to the measuring node. In another example, some of the above configuration parameters may be pre-defined, e.g., standardized channel response report mapping.

[0144] An example of a pseudo structure for configuration is provided below:

[0145] Further the sensing measurements may be performed in some sensing resources such as time, frequency, and / or antenna port, which may be characterized by:• Transmission points transmitting reference signal from certain local coordinates.

[0146] • Number of resources, such as beams, transmitted for sensing purposes.

[0147] • Certain antenna port or ports and / or antenna panel or panels correspond to one or more beams with a specific angle.

[0148] It is assumed that the configuration is known to the sensing processing entity or function when, or before, the sensing processing entity computes the results.

[0149] Sensing Measurement Configuration

[0150] Direction: Network to UE or another Network node (Sensing unit), being an example of action 401, but also action 411.

[0151] SensingMeasurementConfig message

[0152]

[0153] Based on the configuration from the Node 1, the Node 2 performs, see action 602, the sensing measurements and obtains sensing-related results comprising one or more of the following:• Channel response data such as one or more of the following: delay, delay-Doppler, delay-Doppler-horizontal angular pseudo-spectrum, delay- Doppler-vertical angular pseudo-spectrum, delay-Doppler-horizontal angular pseudo-spectrum, delay- Doppler-vertical angular pseudo-spectrum-horizontal angular pseudo-spectrum., • Other sensing measurement results, e.g., Doppler estimation, range estimation, timing measurements, velocity estimation, or similar, and

[0154] • result of processing the sensing measurements, e.g., after applying a 2D FFT / 3D FFT / N-D FFT algorithm.

[0155] The Node 2 may communicate or transmit the result indication such as a sensing-related result, e.g., to node 1 action 603, or to Node 3, action 605, which node may comprise SPF, SeMF, gNB-Cll, or another UE. The result indication may comprise one or more of the following:

[0156] • sensing measurement results comprising at least channel response data, • Sensing-related result or result of processing the sensing measurements, which can further comprise a result of processing of sensing measurement results, such as identified peaks in delay-Doppler with some characteristics, such as signal strength or Radar Cross Section, delay or range, Doppler or velocity, horizontal and vertical angles of arrival represented in a pre-defined coordinated system further comprising 2D FFT / 3D FFT / N-D FFT results. The coordinate system may be encoded as Ellipsoid such as longitude, and latitude, as one of the geographical area description (GAD) shapes as outlined in TS 23.032-i20 v.18.2.0.

[0157] The reporting, such as action 413, may be via one or more of the following.

[0158] • RAN-CN interface if sensing TX is BS

[0159] • a higher layer protocol, e.g., MAC CE or NAS, if sensing RX is UE

[0160] • lower layers, e.g., physical control channel or data channel, if sensing RX is UE. If the measurements are considered as control date, they can be piggybacked over data channel, e.g., due to large payload size.

[0161] The CIR result can comprise an Information Element (IE) or a data block.

[0162] An array of CIR is reported by a node performing the measurement. The reporting can be done after each CIR or multiple Cl Rs are accumulated and provided to the node requesting it.

[0163] When communicating virtual channel response data, the sending node may also indicate whether the sent channel response data comprises virtual channel response data. The receiving node would then use the indication to differentiate virtual from actual channel response data; the receiving node can then process them differently.

[0164] In another example, the sending node can be requested to send virtual channel response data or can be requested to provide a certain type of virtual channel response data, e.g.,interpolated, extrapolated, averaged, adjusted or compensated in a certain way, applying a certain function over it prior to reporting, or similar.

[0165] Fig. 7 shows that comparing different Cl Rs may lead to detection of Doppler peak.

[0166] Reporting of CIR is based upon complex reporting, such as a+jb, where j is imaginary.

[0167] Sensing Measurement Report

[0168] Direction: UE or Network sensing unit to Network being example of action 413

[0169] SensingMeasurementReport message

[0170]

[0171] Node 3, such as third network node 23, may obtain a sensing result also referred to as sensing-related result, see action 606, based on the sensing measurement results received from the Node 2. The Node 1 may also obtain the sensing-related result, see action 604. The obtaining of the sensing-related result may comprise applying a 2D FFT, 3D FFT, or N-D FFT algorithm or other types of algorithms for estimating the pseudo-spectrum of the sensing measurement.

[0172] Examples of algorithms may be the multi-dimensional parametric algorithms of Multiple Signal Classification (MUSIC) and Estimation of Signal Parameters via Rotational Invariant Techniques (ESPRIT)

[0173] Furthermore, if the sensing-related result is planned to be used by CSI-based sensing, the obtaining of the sensing-related result may further comprise the extraction of the magnitude, or of the phase of the measured channel impulse responses or of the channel frequency responses, or of a quantized separate or joint version previous channel representation.The sensing-related result may further be signaled and / or exposed, presented, or visualized to the Sensing Client, the application requesting sensing-related results, or to another node, e.g., Node 4, see action 607. The reporting methods may be similar to those described for Node 2 for reporting of a sensing-related result.

[0174] Reporting of doppler-delay or range, see Fig. 8, as indicated in action 413.

[0175] NW obtains UE capabilities for sensing as a sensing RX. The NW may request the sensing capability from the UE 10, action 801. The UE 10 may report the sensing capability, see action 802. The sensing capabilities may consist of whether the UE 10 is able to receive sensing signal, and compute doppler frequency and delay / range measurement estimates. The UE 10 reports the processing duration, including whether the UE 10 may perform the doppler measurements by performing measurement in one or every symbol, across symbols such as aggregated over multiple symbol, in one or every slot, across multiple slots such as aggregated over multiple slots, able to perform measurement over a time window which can be configurable by the NW, or the minimum time from the end of received sensing signal to the time when the required measurements can be transmitted.

[0176] The UE 10 may also indicate the reporting resolution or resolutions of doppler estimates such as spatial resolution, or time resolution, that it supports. The NW may configure the measurements accordingly based upon UE capabilities. Example of resolution for doppler estimates may be space Vertical Frequency, space Horizontal Frequency where the units can be in degrees or rads. There also may be a Reference coordinate system where UEs local coordination system may be used and later translated into global coordinate system. The coordinate system can also be polar coordinate system and / or a cartesian system.

[0177] Based upon the UE capabilities and NW need, the NW may configure the appropriate measurement for reporting the doppler frequency and range estimates. The NW may configure doppler frequency and range measurements, see action 803.

[0178] In one of the embodiments, the UE 10 is configured to report the doppler frequency and delay or range. The UE 10 with respect to a reference TRP and with a reference DL sensing reference signal transmission, reports the delay such as range and / or what time the object was spotted, and the doppler frequency of the detected target object as shown below as an example ASN.1. The delay may also be reported using a UTC timestamp. The doppler frequency may also be termed as doppler shifts or doppler effects. The UE 10 may report a measurement report doppler frequency and range measurements, see action 804.

[0179] - Sensing Measurement Report

[0180] Direction: UE or Network sensing unit to Network being example of action 413

[0181] SensingMeasurementReport message

[0182]

[0183] UE Reporting may also be unsolicited or may also be pre-defined or pre-configured. The NW and UE 10 may also handshake on the object ID that is being sensed and may use a unique objectID while reporting; i.e. , the doppler characteristics may be associated to the objectID.

[0184] Fig. 9 is a block diagram depicting embodiments of the first network node 21 for handling sensing in the wireless communications network according to embodiments herein, such as handling sensing of one or more sensing objects.

[0185] The first network node 21 may comprise processing circuitry 901, e.g., one or more processors, configured to perform the methods herein.

[0186] The first network node 21 and / or the processing circuitry 901 is configured to transmit the configuration to the second network node 22. The configuration is for obtaining one or more sensing results comprising the doppler based measurement for the detected sensing target object. The configuration may be for obtaining one or more sensing-related results based on one or more of the following: 1D, 2D FFT or 3D FFT or N-D FFT, doppler frequency, doppler-delay, or range, measurements, and / or other doppler-based measurements. The configuration may comprise the time window for performing one or more measurements. The doppler based measurement may comprise one or more of: Doppler estimate, Doppler frequency or shift, Delay or range, velocity, one or multiple angles, a power per detected path, peak, or object, and / or a time stamp of detection of the detected sensing target object. The configuration may further indicate reporting number of paths, peaks, and / or measurements of the detected sensing target object. The first network node 21 may be a SeMF in the CN, and the configuration may be transmitted via a CN- RAN interface. The first network node 21 may be a RAN node and the second network node 22may be a UE and the configuration may be transmitted via radio resource control (RRC) protocol. The first network node 21 may be a SeMF node and the second network node 22 may be a UE, and the configuration may be transmitted via higher layer protocol.

[0187] The one or more sensing results may be based on one or more of the following: 1 D FFT, 2D FFT, 3D FFT, N-D FFT, doppler frequency, doppler-delay measurements, delay-doppler plane, angular pseudo-spectrum estimates, and / or other doppler-based measurements.

[0188] The first network node 21 may comprise a memory 905. The memory 905 comprises one or more units to be used to store data on, such as data packets, configuration, sensing information, sensing context data, UE information, FFT algorithms, measurements, events and applications to perform the methods disclosed herein when being executed, and similar.

[0189] Furthermore, the first network node 21 may comprise a communication interface 906 comprising such as a transmitter, a receiver, a transceiver and / or one or more antennas.

[0190] The methods according to the embodiments described herein for the first network node 21 are respectively implemented by means of e.g., a computer program product 907 or a computer program, comprising instructions, i.e. , software code portions, which, when executed on at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to carry out the actions described herein, as performed by the first network node 21. The computer program product 907 may be stored on a computer-readable storage medium 908, e.g., a disc, a universal serial bus (USB) stick, random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), programmable read-only memory (PROM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable readonly memory (EEPROM), magnetic disks, optical disks, hard disks, removable cartridges, flash drives, and so forth. The computer-readable storage medium 908, having stored thereon the computer program product, may comprise the instructions which, when executed on at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to carry out the actions described herein, as performed by the first network node 21. In some embodiments, the computer-readable storage medium may be a transitory or a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium. Thus, embodiments herein may disclose a first network node 21 for handling sensing in a wireless communications network, wherein the first network node 21 comprises processing circuitry and a memory, said memory comprising instructions executable by said processing circuitry whereby said first network node 21 is operative to perform any of the methods herein.

[0191] Fig. 10 is a block diagram depicting embodiments of the second network node 22 for handling sensing in the wireless communications network according to embodiments herein. The second network node 22 may be configured to comprise a sensing receiver node receiving a radio signal for performing a sensing measurement and / or obtaining a sensing result, or comprise both a sensing receiver node receiving a radio signal for performing a sensing measurement or obtaining a sensing result and a sensing transmitter node transmitting the radio signal.The second network node 22 may comprise processing circuitry 1001, e.g., one or more processors, configured to perform the methods herein.

[0192] The second network node 22 and / or the processing circuitry 1001 is configured to perform the sensing procedure, such as for locating an object in an area, based on the configuration to obtain the result indication comprising the one or more sensing measurements, the one or more sensing results, or the result of processing one or more sensing measurements. The one or more sensing measurements, the one or more sensing results, or the result comprises the doppler based measurement for the detected sensing target object. The doppler based measurement may comprise one or more of: Doppler estimate, Doppler frequency or shift, Delay or range, velocity, one or multiple angles, a power per detected path, peak, or object, and / or a time stamp of detection of the detected sensing target object. The one or more radio sensing measurements, the one or more sensing results, or the result may be for number of paths, peaks, and / or measurements of the detected sensing target object. The one or more radio sensing measurements, the one or more sensing results, or the result of processing one or more sensing measurements may be obtained over the time window. The result indication may be obtained based on the sensing measurement configuration from the first network node 21 and the result indication may comprise one or more sensing measurement results or a result of processing of sensing measurements. The result indication may comprise one or more sensing measurement results further comprising channel response, and / or a result of processing of sensing measurement results, further comprising 2D FFT / 3D FFT / N-D FFT results, doppler frequency, and / or doppler-delay(range) measurements.

[0193] The second network node 22 and / or the processing circuitry 1001 may be configured to obtain the configuration, wherein the configuration is for obtaining the one or more radio sensing measurements, the one or more sensing results, or the result, such as obtaining one or more sensing-related results based on: 1D, 2D FFT or 3D FFT or N-D FFT, doppler frequency, doppler-delay(range) measurements, and / or other doppler-based measurements. Thus, the one or more sensing results may be based on one or more of the following: 1 D FFT, 2D FFT, 3D FFT, N-D FFT, doppler frequency, doppler-delay measurements, delay-doppler plane, angular pseudo-spectrum estimates, and / or other doppler-based measurements.

[0194] The second network node 22 and / or the processing circuitry 1001 may be configured to transmit the result indication to the third network node 23 and / or the first network node 21.

[0195] The first network node 21 may be a SeMF in the CN, and the second network node 22 may be a RAN node and the result indication may be transmitted via a RAN-CN interface. The first network node 21 may be a RAN node and the second network node 22 may be a UE and the result indication may be transmitted via RRC protocol. The first network node 21 may be a SeMF and the second network node 22 may be a UE, and the result indication may be transmitted via higher layer protocol such as non-access stratum (NAS) signaling.The second network node 22 and / or the processing circuitry 1001 may be configured to transmit to the sensing node, indication of SeRS resources for configuring the sensing node. The SeRS resources may be measured by the second network node to generate one or more Cl Rs.

[0196] The second network node 22 may comprise a memory 1005. The memory 1005 comprises one or more units to be used to store data on, such as data packets, configuration, sensing information, sensing context data, UE information, FFT algorithms, measurements, events and applications to perform the methods disclosed herein when being executed, and similar. Furthermore, the second network node 22 may comprise a communication interface 1006 comprising such as a transmitter, a receiver, a transceiver and / or one or more antennas.

[0197] The methods according to the embodiments described herein for the second network node 22 are respectively implemented by means of e.g., a computer program product 1007 or a computer program, comprising instructions, i.e. , software code portions, which, when executed on at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to carry out the actions described herein, as performed by the second network node 22. The computer program product 1007 may be stored on a computer-readable storage medium 1008, e g., a disc, a USB stick, RAM, ROM, PROM, EPROM, EEPROM, magnetic disks, optical disks, hard disks, removable cartridges, flash drives, or similar. The computer-readable storage medium 1008, having stored thereon the computer program product, may comprise the instructions which, when executed on at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to carry out the actions described herein, as performed by the second network node 22. In some embodiments, the computer-readable storage medium may be a transitory or a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium. Thus, embodiments herein may disclose a second network node 22 for handling sensing in a wireless communications network, wherein the second network node 22 comprises processing circuitry and a memory, said memory comprising instructions executable by said processing circuitry whereby said second network node 22 is operative to perform any of the methods herein.

[0198] Fig. 11 is a block diagram depicting embodiments of the third network node 23 for handling sensing in the wireless communications network according to embodiments herein.

[0199] The third network node 23 may comprise processing circuitry 1101, e.g., one or more processors, configured to perform the methods herein.

[0200] The third network node 23 and / or the processing circuitry 1101 is configured to obtain the result of the sensing procedure based on the result indication from the second network node 22. The result indication comprises the one or more sensing measurements, the one or more sensing results, or the result of processing one or more sensing measurements, and the one or more sensing measurements, the one or more sensing results, or the result comprises the doppler based measurement for a detected sensing target object. The doppler based measurement may comprise one or more of: Doppler estimate, Doppler frequency or shift, Delay or range, velocity,one or multiple angles, a power per detected path, peak, or object, and / or a time stamp of detection of the detected sensing target object. The one or more sensing measurements, the one or more sensing results, or the result may be for a number of paths, peaks, and / or measurements of the detected sensing target object. The one or more sensing measurements, the one or more sensing results, or the result of processing one or more sensing measurements may be obtained over the time window. The result indication may comprise one or more sensing measurement results further comprising channel impulse response, and / or a result of processing of sensing measurement results, further comprising 2D FFT, 3D FFT or N-D FFT, results, doppler frequency, delay-doppler plane, angular pseudo-spectrum estimates, and / or doppler-delay measurements. For example, the result indication may be obtained by applying a 2D FFT, 3D FFT, or N-D FFT algorithm to the received result indication, and / or by applying extraction of the amplitude or of the phase of samples of channel impulse or frequency response, or quantization of one or both of the previous two.

[0201] The third network node 23 and / or the processing circuitry 1101 may be configured to send the result of the sensing procedure to the sensing client, the application requesting sensing-related results, or to another node.

[0202] The third network node 23 may comprise a memory 1105. The memory 1105 comprises one or more units to be used to store data on, such as data packets, configuration, sensing information, sensing context data, UE information, FFT algorithms, measurements, events and applications to perform the methods disclosed herein when being executed, and similar.

[0203] Furthermore, the third network node 23 may comprise a communication interface 1106 comprising such as a transmitter, a receiver, a transceiver and / or one or more antennas.

[0204] The methods according to the embodiments described herein for the third network node 23 are respectively implemented by means of e.g., a computer program product 1107 or a computer program, comprising instructions, i.e. , software code portions, which, when executed on at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to carry out the actions described herein, as performed by the third network node 23. The computer program product 1107 may be stored on a computer-readable storage medium 1108, e g., a disc, a USB stick, RAM, ROM, PROM, EPROM, EEPROM, magnetic disks, optical disks, hard disks, removable cartridges, flash drives, or similar. The computer-readable storage medium 1108, having stored thereon the computer program product, may comprise the instructions which, when executed on at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to carry out the actions described herein, as performed by the third network node 23. In some embodiments, the computer-readable storage medium may be a transitory or a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium. Thus, embodiments herein may disclose a third network node 23 for handling sensing in a wireless communications network, wherein the third network node 23 comprises processing circuitry and a memory, said memorycomprising instructions executable by said processing circuitry whereby said third network node 23 is operative to perform any of the methods herein.

[0205] Fig. 12 shows an example of a communication system 15100 in accordance with some embodiments.

[0206] In the example, the communication system 15100 includes a telecommunications network 15102 that includes an access network 15104, such as a radio access network (RAN), and a core network 15106, which includes one or more core network nodes 15108. The access network 15104 includes one or more access network nodes or base stations of various types, access network nodes 15110A and 15110B are depicted (which may be collectively referred to as network nodes 15110 or radio network node 12 being examples of the first, second, and third network node), or any other similar 3rdGeneration Partnership Project (3GPP) access nodes or non-3GPP access points (APs). Some embodiments of the access network 15104 may include more than one access network technology. The network nodes 15110 of access network 15104 facilitate direct or indirect connection of wireless devices, also referred to as UEs, such as by connecting UEs 15112A, 15112B, 15112C, and 15112D (one or more of which may be generally referred to as UEs 15112 or UE 10 being example of the first, second or third network node) to the core network 15106 over one or more wireless connections.

[0207] Moreover, a network node is not necessarily limited to an implementation in which a radio portion and a baseband portion are supplied and integrated by a single vendor. Thus, it will be understood that network nodes include disaggregated implementations or portions thereof. For example, in some embodiments, the telecommunications network 15102 includes one or more Open-RAN (ORAN) network nodes. An ORAN network node is a network node in the telecommunications network 15102 that supports an ORAN specification (e.g., a specification published by the O-RAN Alliance, or any similar organization) and may operate alone or together with other network nodes to implement one or more functionalities of any network node in the telecommunications network 15102, including one or more access network nodes 15110 and / or core network nodes 15108.

[0208] Examples of an ORAN network node include an open radio unit (O-RU), an open distributed unit (O-DU), an open central unit (O-CU), including an O-CU control plane (O-CU-CP) or an O-CU user plane (O-CU-UP), a RAN intelligent controller (near-real time or non-real time) hosting software or software plug-ins, such as a near-real time control application (e.g., xApp) or a non-real time control application (e.g., rApp), or any combination thereof (the adjective “open” designating support of an ORAN specification). An ORAN network node may support a specification by, for example, supporting an interface defined by the ORAN specification, such as an A1, F1, W1, E1, E2, X2, Xn interface, an open fronthaul user plane interface, or an open fronthaul management plane interface. Moreover, an ORAN network node may be a logical node ina physical node. Furthermore, an ORAN network node may be implemented in a virtualization environment (described further below) in which one or more network functions are virtualized. For example, the virtualization environment may include an O-Cloud computing platform orchestrated by a Service Management and Orchestration Framework via an 0-2 interface defined by the O-RAN Alliance or comparable technologies.

[0209] The network nodes 15110 facilitate direct or indirect connection of one or more UEs 15112 to the core network 15106 over one or more wireless connections. Example wireless communications over a wireless connection include transmitting and / or receiving wireless signals using electromagnetic waves, radio waves, infrared waves, and / or other types of signals suitable for conveying information without the use of wires, cables, or other material conductors. Moreover, in different embodiments, the communication system 15100 may include any number of wired or wireless networks, network nodes, UEs, and / or any other components or systems that may facilitate or participate in the communication of data and / or signals whether via wired or wireless connections. The communication system 15100 may include and / or interface with any type of communication, telecommunication, data, cellular, radio network, and / or other similar type of system.

[0210] The UEs 15112 may be any of a wide variety of communication devices, including wireless devices arranged, configured, and / or operable to communicate wirelessly with the network nodes 15110 and other communication devices. Similarly, the network nodes 15108, 15110 are arranged, capable, configured, and / or operable to communicate directly or indirectly (e.g., via other devices of telecommunications network 15102) with the UEs 15112 and / or with other network nodes or equipment in the telecommunications network 15102 to enable and / or provide network access, such as wireless network access, and / or to perform other functions, such as administration in the telecommunications network 15102. More specifically, UEs 15112 may send messages, data, and / or other signals to network nodes 15108, 15110 or other elements of the telecommunications network 15102 by transmitting such signals to the relevant device directly without the signals passing through any intervening devices or by transmitting such signals to the relevant device indirectly through an intervening device (or multiple intervening devices) that then transmit the signal to the relevant device. Similarly, network nodes 15108, 15110 may send messages, data, and other signals to UEs 151122, other network nodes 15108, 15110, and other devices in telecommunications network 15102 directly or indirectly. As one specific example, a core network node 108 may transmit a particular message to a UE 15112 by transmitting the message to an access network node 15110 that will then transmit the message to the intended UE 15112.

[0211] Similarly, a core network node 108 may receive a particular message from a UE 15112 by receiving the message from an access network node 15110 that itself received the message from the UE 15112.In the depicted example, the core network 15106 connects elements of the access network 15104 (e.g., one or more of the network nodes 15110) to one or more host computing systems, such as host 15116. These connections may be direct or indirect via one or more intermediary networks or devices. In other examples, network nodes may be directly coupled to hosts. The core network 15106 includes one or more core network nodes (e.g., core network node 15108) of various types, one or more of which may be generally referred to as network nodes 15108.

[0212] Network nodes 15108 are structured with hardware and software components. Features of these components may be substantially similar to those described with respect to the UEs, access network nodes, and / or hosts, such that the descriptions thereof are generally applicable to the corresponding components of the core network node 15108. Example core network nodes provide functions of one or more of a Mobile Switching Center (MSC), Mobility Management Entity (MME), Home Subscriber Server (HSS), Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF), Session Management Function (SMF), Authentication Server Function (ALISF), Subscription Identifier Deconcealing function (SIDF), Unified Data Management (UDM), Security Edge Protection Proxy (SEPP), Network Exposure Function (NEF), and / or a User Plane Function (UPF).

[0213] The host 15116 may be under the ownership or control of a service provider other than an operator or provider of the access network 15104 and / or the telecommunications network 15102. The host 15116 may be operated by the service provider or on behalf of the service provider. The host 15116 may host a variety of applications to provide one or more service. Examples of such applications include live and pre-recorded audio / video content, data collection services such as retrieving and compiling data on various ambient conditions detected by a plurality of UEs, analytics functionality, social media, functions for controlling or otherwise interacting with remote devices, functions for an alarm and surveillance center, or any other such function performed by a server.

[0214] As a whole, the communication system 15100 of Figure 12 enables connectivity between the UEs, network nodes, and hosts. In that sense, the communication system 15100 may be configured to operate according to predefined rules or procedures, such as specific standards that include, but are not limited to: Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM); Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS); Long Term Evolution (LTE), and / or other suitable 2G, 3G, 4G, 5G standards, or any applicable future generation standard (e.g., 6G); wireless local area network (WLAN) standards, such as the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 standards (Wi-Fi); and / or any other appropriate wireless communication standard, such as the Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (Wi-Max), Bluetooth, Z-Wave, Near Field Communication (NFC) ZigBee, Li-Fi, and / or any low-power wide-area network (LPWAN) standards such as LoRa and Sigfox. Moreover, the communication system 15100 may be configured to support multiple different standards, protocols, or other rule sets, with individual componentssupporting all of the relevant rule sets or with different components or sub-systems within the communication system 15100 supporting different standards, protocols, or rule sets.

[0215] As one example, in certain embodiments, access network 15104 may contain some access network nodes 15110 that support 3GPP radio access technologies (RAT), such as LTE or NR, while other access network nodes 15110 support (or the same access network nodes 15110 additionally support) non-3GPP RATs, such as Wi-Fi or a proprietary RAT. As another example, telecommunications network 15102 may support multiple generations of related communication standards, e.g., 4G and 5G 3GPP communication standards, and, as a result, may include an access network 104 and / or a core network 106 that supports multiple different standard generations or may include multiple access networks 104 and / or multiple core networks 106 with individual networks 104, 106 supporting different standard generations.

[0216] Telecommunications network 15102 may support network slicing to provide different logical networks to different devices that are connected to the telecommunications network 15102. For example, the telecommunications network 15102 may provide Ultra Reliable Low Latency Communication (URLLC) services to some UEs, while providing Enhanced Mobile Broadband (eMBB) services to other UEs, and / or Massive Machine Type Communication (mMTC) / Massive loT services to yet further UEs.

[0217] In some examples, one or more of the UEs 15112 are configured to transmit and / or receive information without direct human interaction. For instance, a UE may be designed to transmit information to the access network 15104 on a predetermined schedule, when triggered by an internal or external event, or in response to requests from the access network 15104. Additionally, a UE may be configured for operating in single- or multi-RAT or multi-standard mode. For example, a UE may operate with any one or combination of Wi-Fi, NR (New Radio) and LTE, i.e. being configured for multi-radio dual connectivity (MR-DC), such as E-UTRAN (Evolved-UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access Network) New Radio - Dual Connectivity (EN-DC).

[0218] In the example, the hub 15114 communicates with the access network 15104 to facilitate indirect communication between one or more UEs (e.g., UE 15112C and / or 15112D) and network nodes (e.g., network node 15110B). In some examples, the hub 15114 may be a controller, router, content source and analytics, or any of the other communication devices described herein regarding UEs. For example, the hub 15114 may be a broadband router enabling access to the core network 15106 for the UEs. As another example, the hub 15114 may be a controller that sends commands or instructions to one or more actuators in the UEs. Commands or instructions may be received from the UEs, network nodes 15110, or by executable code, script, process, or other instructions in the hub 15114.

[0219] As another example, the hub 15114 may be a data collector that acts as temporary storage for UE data and, in some embodiments, may perform analysis or other processing of the data. As another example, the hub 15114 may be a content source. For example, for a UE that is a VRheadset, display, loudspeaker or other media delivery device, the hub 15114 may retrieve VR assets, video, audio, or other media or data related to sensory information via a network node, which the hub 15114 then provides to the UE either directly, after performing local processing, and / or after adding additional local content. In still another example, the hub 15114 acts as a proxy server or orchestrator for the UEs, in particular if one or more of the UEs are low energy loT devices.

[0220] The hub 15114 may have a constant / persistent or intermittent connection to the network node 1511 OB. The hub 15114 may also allow for a different communication scheme and / or schedule between the hub 15114 and UEs (e.g., UE 15112C and / or 15112D), and between the hub 15114 and the core network 15106. In other examples, the hub 15114 is connected to the core network 15106 and / or one or more UEs via a wired connection. Moreover, the hub 15114 may be configured to connect to an M2M service provider over the access network 15104 and / or to another UE over a direct connection. In some scenarios, UEs may establish a wireless connection with the network nodes 15110 while still connected via the hub 15114 via a wired or wireless connection. In some embodiments, the hub 15114 may be a dedicated hub - that is, a hub whose primary function is to route communications to / from the UEs from / to the network node 15110B. In other embodiments, the hub 15114 may be a non-dedicated hub - that is, a device which is capable of operating to route communications between the UEs and network node 15110B, but which is additionally capable of operating as a communication start and / or end point for certain data channels.

[0221] Figure 13 is another example of a communication system 15200 according to some embodiments. As used herein, the communication system 15200 includes multiple access points (APs) 15210 (with four exemplary APs 15210A, 15210B, 15210C, and 15210D being depicted) and multiple wireless devices, referred to in the context of communication system 15200 as stations (STAs) 15212 (referred to individually as STA 15212A, STA 15212B, STA 15212C, STA 15212D, and STA 15212E). STA 15212A is served by AP 15210A in a first basic service set (BSS) 15220A. STA 15210B and STA 15210C are served by AP 15210B in a second BSS, BSS 15220B. STA 15212D is served by AP 15210C in a third BSS, BSS 15220C. STA 15212E is served byAP 15210D in a fourth BSS, BSS 15220D. Stations 15212 may be non-AP STAs and correspond to various kinds of wireless devices, for example, user terminals, such as mobile or stationary computing devices like smartphones, laptop computers, desktop computers, tablet computers, gaming devices, head-mounted displays (HMDs) for Augmented Reality (AR) or Virtual Reality (VR), or the like. Further, stations 15212 could, for example, correspond to other kinds of equipment like smart home devices, printers, multimedia devices, data storage devices, or the like.

[0222] Each of STAs 15212 may connect through a radio link to one of APs 15210. For example, depending on location or channel conditions experienced by a given STA 15212, the STA may select an appropriate AP and BSS for establishing the radio link. The radio link may be based onone or more orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) carriers from a frequency spectrum that is shared on the basis of a contention-based mechanism, e.g., an unlicensed or license exempt band like 2.4 GHz Industrial, Scientific, and Medical (ISM) band, the 5 GHz band, the 6 GHz band, or the 60 GHz band.

[0223] Each AP 15210 may provide data connectivity to STAs 15212 connected to a particular AP 15210. As illustrated, APs 15210 may be connected to a data network 15230. In this way, APs 15210 may also provide data connectivity between STAs 15212 and other entities, e.g., to one or more servers, service providers, data sources, data sinks, user terminals, or the like. Accordingly, the radio link established between a given STA 15212 and its serving AP 15210 may be used for providing various kinds of services to STA 15212, e.g., a voice service, a multimedia service, or other data service. Such services may be based on applications that are executed on STA 15212 and / or on a device linked to STA 15212. Byway of example, Figure 13 illustrates an application service platform 15232 provided in data network 15230. The application(s) executed on STA 15212 and / or on one or more other devices linked to STA 15212 may use the radio link for data communication with one or more other STA 15212 and / or the application service platform 15232, thereby enabling utilization of the corresponding service(s) at STA 15212.

[0224] Figure 14 shows a wireless device 15300, being an example of the first, second, or third network node, which may be configured to operate in communication system 15100 of Figure 12 or in communication system 15200 of Figure 13. The wireless device 15300 may be alternatively referred to as a UE 15300, like a UE 15112 within the context of communication system 15100, or as a station (STA) 15300 or as a non-access-point station (non-AP STA) 15300, like a STA 15212 within the context of the communication system 15200, in accordance with respective embodiments. As used herein, a wireless device refers to a device capable, configured, arranged and / or operable to communicate wirelessly with network nodes and / or other wireless devices. Examples of a wireless device include, but are not limited to, a smart phone, mobile phone, cell phone, voice over IP (VoIP) phone, wireless local loop phone, desktop computer, personal digital assistant (PDA), wireless cameras, gaming console or device, music storage device, playback appliance, wearable terminal device, wireless endpoint, mobile station, tablet, laptop, laptop-embedded equipment (LEE), laptop-mounted equipment (LME), smart device, wireless customerpremise equipment (CPE), vehicle, vehicle-mounted or vehicle embedded / integrated wireless device, and wireless terminal. Other examples include any type of UE identified by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), including a narrow band internet of things (NB-loT) UE, a machine type communication (MTC) UE, and / or an enhanced MTC (eMTC) UE.

[0225] A wireless device 15300 may support device-to-device (D2D) communication, for example by implementing a 3GPP standard for sidelink communication, Dedicated Short-Range Communication (DSRC), vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V), vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I), or vehicle-to-everything (V2X). In other examples, wireless device 15300 may not necessarily have a user in thesense of a human user who owns and / or operates the relevant device. Instead, wireless device 15300 may represent a device that is intended for sale to, or operation by, a human user but which may not, or which may not initially, be associated with a specific human user (e.g., a smart sprinkler controller). Alternatively, wireless device 15300 may represent a device that is not intended for sale to, or operation by, an end user but which may be associated with or operated for the benefit of a user (e.g., a smart power meter).

[0226] In particular embodiments, wireless device 15300 includes processing circuitry 15302 that is operatively coupled via a bus 15304 to an input / output interface 15306, a power source 15308, a memory 15310, a communication interface 15312, and / or any other component, or any combination thereof. Certain embodiments of wireless device 15300 may include all or a subset of the components shown in Figure 14. The level of integration between the components may vary from one embodiment of wireless device 15300 to another. In general, in a particular embodiment of wireless device 15300, processing circuitry 15302, input / output interface 15306, power source 15308, memory 15310, and communication interface 15312 may, in whole or in part, represent or include physical components common to or shared by one or more of the other elements of wireless device 15300. Further, certain embodiments of wireless devices 15300 may contain multiple instances of a component, such as multiple processors, memories, transceivers, transmitters, receivers, etc.

[0227] The processing circuitry 15302 is configured to process instructions and data and may be configured to implement any sequential state machine operative to execute instructions stored as machine-readable computer programs in the memory 15310. The processing circuitry 15302 may be implemented as one or more hardware-implemented state machines (e.g., in discrete logic, field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), etc.); programmable logic together with appropriate firmware; one or more stored computer programs, general-purpose processors, such as a microprocessor or digital signal processor (DSP), together with appropriate software; or any combination of the above. For example, the processing circuitry 15302 may include multiple central processing units (CPUs).

[0228] In the example, the input / output interface 15306 may be configured to provide an interface or interfaces to an input device, output device, or one or more input and / or output devices.

[0229] Examples of an output device include a speaker, a sound card, a video card, a display, a monitor, a printer, an actuator, an emitter, a smartcard, another output device, or any combination thereof. An input device may allow a user to capture information into wireless device 15300. Examples of an input device include a touch-sensitive or presence-sensitive display, a camera (e.g., a digital camera, a digital video camera, a web camera, etc.), a microphone, a sensor, a mouse, a trackball, a directional pad, a trackpad, a scroll wheel, a smartcard, and the like. The presence-sensitive display may include a capacitive or resistive touch sensor to sense input from a user. A sensor may be, for instance, an accelerometer, a gyroscope, a tilt sensor, a force sensor, amagnetometer, an optical sensor, a proximity sensor, a biometric sensor, etc., or any combination thereof. An output device may use the same type of interface port as an input device. For example, a Universal Serial Bus (USB) port may be used to provide an input device and an output device.

[0230] In some embodiments, the power source 15308 is structured as a battery or battery pack. Other types of power sources, such as an external power source (e.g., an electricity outlet), photovoltaic device, or power cell, may be used to supply power to circuitry or to charge an associated battery. The power source 15308 may further include power circuitry for delivering power from the power source 15308 itself, and / or an external power source, to the various parts of wireless device 15300 via input circuitry or an interface such as an electrical power cable. Power source 15308 may perform any formatting, converting, or other modification to make accessible power suitable for the respective components of the wireless device 15300 to which power is supplied.

[0231] The memory 15310 may be or be configured to include memory such as random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), programmable read-only memory (PROM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), magnetic disks, optical disks, hard disks, removable cartridges, flash drives, and so forth. In one example, the memory 15310 includes one or more programs 15314, such as an operating system, web browser application, a widget, gadget engine, or other application, and corresponding data 15316. The memory 15310 may store, for use by wireless device 15300, any of a variety of various operating systems or combinations of operating systems.

[0232] The memory 15310 may be configured to include a number of physical drive units, such as redundant array of independent disks (RAID), flash memory, USB flash drive, external hard disk drive, thumb drive, pen drive, key drive, high-density digital versatile disc (HD-DVD) optical disc drive, internal hard disk drive, Blu-Ray optical disc drive, holographic digital data storage (HDDS) optical disc drive, external mini-dual in-line memory module (DIMM), synchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM), external micro-DIMM SDRAM, smartcard memory such as tamper resistant module in the form of a universal integrated circuit card (UICC) including one or more subscriber identity modules (SIMs), such as a USIM and / or ISIM, other memory, or any combination thereof. The UICC may for example be an embedded UICC (eUlCC), integrated UICC (iUICC) or a removable UICC commonly known as ‘SIM card.’ The memory 15310 may allow wireless device 15300 to access instructions, programs and the like, stored on transitory or non-transitory memory media, to off-load data, or to upload data. An article of manufacture, such as one utilizing a communication system may be tangibly embodied as or in the memory 15310, which may be or comprise a device-readable storage medium.

[0233] The processing circuitry 15302 may be configured to communicate with an access network or other network via or using the communication interface 15312. The communication interface 15312 may comprise one or more communication subsystems and may include or becommunicatively coupled to an antenna 15322. The communication interface 15312 may include one or more transceivers used to communicate, such as by communicating with one or more remote transceivers of another device capable of wireless communication (e.g., another wireless device or a network node in an access network). Each transceiver may include a transmitter 15318 and / or a receiver 15320 appropriate to provide network communications (e.g., optical, electrical, frequency allocations, and so forth). Moreover, the transmitter 15318 and receiver 15320 may be coupled to one or more antennas (e.g., antenna 15322) and may share circuit components, software or firmware, or alternatively be implemented separately.

[0234] In the illustrated embodiment, communication functions of the communication interface 15312 may include cellular communication, Wi-Fi communication (e.g., according to an IEEE 802.11 family standard), LPWAN communication, data communication, voice communication, multimedia communication, short-range communications such as Bluetooth, near-field communication, location-based communication such as the use of the global positioning system (GPS) to determine a location, another like communication function, or any combination thereof. Communications may be implemented according to one or more communication protocols and / or standards, such as IEEE 802.11, Code Division Multiplexing Access (CDMA), Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA), GSM, LTE, New Radio (NR), UMTS, WiMax, Ethernet, transmission control protocol / internet protocol (TCP / IP), synchronous optical networking (SONET), Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM), QUIC, Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP), and so forth.

[0235] In particular embodiments, wireless device 15300 may provide an output of data captured via a sensor, through its communication interface 15312, via a wireless connection to a network node, and / or in any appropriate manner. Data captured by sensors of a wireless device 15300 can be communicated through a wireless connection to a network node via another wireless device 15300. In particular embodiments, such output may be periodic (e.g., once every 15 minutes if it reports the sensed temperature), random (e.g., to even out the load from reporting from several sensors), in response to a triggering event (e.g., when moisture is detected an alert is sent), in response to a request (e.g., a user initiated request), or a continuous stream (e.g., a live video feed of a patient).

[0236] As another example, wireless device 15300 comprises an actuator, a motor, or a switch, related to a communication interface configured to receive wireless input from a network node via a wireless connection. In response to the received wireless input the states of the actuator, the motor, or the switch may change. For example, wireless device 15300 may comprise a motor that adjusts the control surfaces or rotors of a drone in flight according to the received input or to a robotic arm performing a medical procedure according to the received input.

[0237] Wireless device 15300, when in the form of an Internet of Things (loT) device, may be a device for use in one or more application domains, these domains comprising, but not limited to, wearable technology, extended industrial application and healthcare. Non-limiting examples ofsuch an loT device are a device which is or which is embedded in: a connected refrigerator or freezer, a TV, a connected lighting device, an electricity meter, a robot vacuum cleaner, a voice controlled smart speaker, a home security camera, a motion detector, a thermostat, a smoke detector, a door / window sensor, a flood / moisture sensor, an electrical door lock, a connected doorbell, an air conditioning system like a heat pump, an autonomous vehicle, a surveillance system, a weather monitoring device, a vehicle parking monitoring device, an electric vehicle charging station, a smart watch, a fitness tracker, a wearable for tactile augmentation or sensory enhancement, a water sprinkler, an animal- or item-tracking device, a sensor for monitoring a plant or animal, an industrial robot, an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV), and any kind of medical device, like a heart rate monitor or a remote controlled surgical robot. In particular embodiments, wireless device 15300 represents an loT device that comprises circuitry and / or software in dependence of the intended application of the loT device in addition to other components as described in relation to the example embodiment of wireless device 15300 shown in Figure 14.

[0238] As yet another specific example, in an loT scenario, wireless device 15300 may represent a machine or other device that performs monitoring and / or measurements, and transmits the results of such monitoring and / or measurements to another wireless device and / or a network node.

[0239] Wireless device 15300 may in this case be an M2M device, which may in a 3GPP context be referred to as an MTC device. As one particular example, wireless device 15300 may implement the 3GPP NB-loT standard. In other scenarios, wireless device 15300 may represent a vehicle, such as a car, a bus, a truck, a ship and an airplane, or other equipment that is capable of monitoring and / or reporting on its operational status or other functions associated with its operation.

[0240] In practice, any number of wireless devices 15300 may be used together with respect to a single use case. For example, a first wireless device 15300 might be or be integrated in a drone and provide the drone’s speed information (obtained through a speed sensor) to a second wireless device 15300 that is a remote controller operating the drone. When a user makes changes from the remote controller, the first wireless device 15300 may adjust the throttle on the drone (e.g. by controlling an actuator) to increase or decrease the drone’s speed. The first and / or the second wireless device 15300 can also include more than one of the functionalities described above. For example, wireless device 15300 might comprise the sensor and the actuator, and handle communication of data for both the speed sensor and the actuators.

[0241] Figure 15 shows a network node 15400, being example of the first, second and third network node, in accordance with some embodiments. As used herein, network node refers to equipment capable, configured, arranged and / or operable to communicate directly or indirectly with a UE and / or with other network nodes or equipment, in a telecommunications network. In accordance with respective embodiments, network node 15400 may be configured to operate in communication system 15100 of Figure 12, like network nodes 15108 or 15110, or incommunication system 15200 of Figure 13, like an AP 15210 or a station 15212. Examples of network nodes include, but are not limited to, access points (APs) (e.g., radio access points), base stations (BSs) (e.g., radio base stations, Node Bs, evolved Node Bs (eNBs) and NR NodeBs (gNBs)), O-RAN nodes or components of an O-RAN node (e.g., 0-Rll, 0-Dll, O-CU).

[0242] Network nodes 15400 may be categorized based on the amount of coverage they provide (or, stated differently, their transmit power level) and so, depending on the provided amount of coverage, may be referred to as femto base stations, pico base stations, micro base stations, or macro base stations. Network node 15400 may be a relay node or a relay donor node controlling a relay. Network nodes 15400 may also include one or more (or all) parts of a distributed radio base station such as centralized digital units, distributed units (e.g., in an O-RAN access node) and / or remote radio units (RRUs), sometimes referred to as Remote Radio Heads (RRHs). Such remote radio units may or may not be integrated with an antenna as an antenna integrated radio. Parts of a distributed radio base station may also be referred to as nodes in a distributed antenna system (DAS).

[0243] Other examples of network nodes 15400 include multiple transmission point (multi-TRP) 5G access nodes, multi-standard radio (MSR) equipment such as MSR BSs, network controllers such as radio network controllers (RNCs) or base station controllers (BSCs), base transceiver stations (BTSs), transmission points, transmission nodes, multi-cell / multicast coordination entities (MCEs), Operation and Maintenance (O&M) nodes, Operations Support System (OSS) nodes, SelfOrganizing Network (SON) nodes, positioning nodes (e.g., Evolved Serving Mobile Location Centers (E-SMLCs)), and / or Minimization of Drive Tests (MDTs).

[0244] In particular embodiments, network node 15400 includes a processing circuitry 15402, a memory 15404, a communication interface 15406, and a power source 15408. In general, in a particular embodiment of network node 15400, processing circuitry 15402, memory 15404, communication interface 15406, and power source 15408 may, in whole or in part, represent or include physical components common to or shared by one or more of the other elements of network node 15400.

[0245] The network node 15400 may be composed of multiple distinct network entities (e.g., a NodeB entity and a RNC entity, or a BTS entity and a BSC entity, etc.), which may each have or utilize their own respective physical components. In certain scenarios in which the network node 15400 comprises multiple such entities (e.g., BTS and BSC), one or more of the separate entities may be shared among several network nodes. For example, a single RNC may control multiple NodeBs. In such a scenario, each unique NodeB and RNC pair, may in some instances be considered a single separate network node. In some embodiments, the network node 15400 may be configured to support multiple radio access technologies (RATs). In such embodiments, some components may be duplicated (e.g., separate memories 15404 or portions of memory 15404 for different RATs) and some components may be reused (e.g., a same antenna 15410 may beshared by different RATs). The network node 15400 may also include multiple sets of the various illustrated components for different wireless technologies integrated into network node 15400, for example GSM, WCDMA, LTE, NR, Wi-Fi (e.g., according to an IEEE 802.11 family standard), Zigbee, Z-wave, LoRaWAN, Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) or Bluetooth wireless technologies. These wireless technologies may be integrated into the same or different chip or set of chips and other components within network node 15400.

[0246] The processing circuitry 15402 may comprise a combination of one or more of a microprocessor, controller, microcontroller, central processing unit, digital signal processor, application-specific integrated circuit, field programmable gate array, or any other suitable computing device, resource, or combination of hardware, software and / or encoded logic operable to provide, either alone or in conjunction with other components, such as the memory 15404, to provide network node 15400 functionality.

[0247] In some embodiments, the processing circuitry 15402 includes a system on a chip (SOC). In some embodiments, the processing circuitry 15402 includes one or more of radio frequency (RF) transceiver circuitry 15412 and baseband processing circuitry 15414. In some embodiments, the RF transceiver circuitry 15412 and the baseband processing circuitry 15414 may be on separate chips (or sets of chips), boards, or units, such as radio units and digital units. In alternative embodiments, part or all of RF transceiver circuitry 15412 and baseband processing circuitry 15414 may be on the same chip or set of chips, boards, or units.

[0248] The memory 15404 may comprise any form of volatile or non-volatile computer-readable memory including, without limitation, persistent storage, solid-state memory, remotely mounted memory, magnetic media, optical media, random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), mass storage media (for example, a hard disk), removable storage media (for example, a flash drive, a Compact Disk (CD) or a Digital Video Disk (DVD)), and / or any other volatile or nonvolatile, non-transitory device-readable and / or computer-executable memory devices that store information, data, and / or instructions that may be used by the processing circuitry 15402. The memory 15404 may store any suitable instructions, data, or information, including a computer program, software, an application including one or more of logic, rules, code, tables, and / or other instructions capable of being executed by the processing circuitry 15402 and utilized by the network node 15400. The memory 15404 may be used to store any calculations made by the processing circuitry 15402 and / or any data received via the communication interface 15406. In some embodiments, the processing circuitry 15402 and memory 15404 is integrated.

[0249] The communication interface 15406 is used in wired or wireless communication of signaling and / or data with UEs, other network nodes, and / or any other network equipment. In the illustrated embodiment, communication interface 15406 comprises port(s) / terminal(s) 15416 to send and receive data, for example to and from a network over a wired connection. In particular embodiments, network node 15300 may be capable of wireless communication andcommunication interface 15406 may also include radio front-end circuitry 15418 that may be coupled to, or in certain embodiments a part of, an antenna 15410. Particular embodiments of radio front-end circuitry 15418 include filter(s) 15420 and amplifier(s) 15422. The radio front-end circuitry 15418 may be connected to an antenna 15410 and processing circuitry 15402. The radio front-end circuitry may be configured to condition signals communicated between antenna 15410 and processing circuitry 15402. The radio front-end circuitry 15418 may receive digital data that is to be sent out to other network nodes or UEs via a wireless connection. The radio front-end circuitry 15418 may convert the digital data into a radio signal(s) having the appropriate channel and bandwidth parameters using a combination of filters 15420 and / or amplifiers 15422. The radio signal(s) may then be transmitted via the antenna 15410. Similarly, when receiving data, the antenna 15410 may collect radio signals which are then converted into digital data by the radio front-end circuitry 15418. The digital data may be passed to the processing circuitry 15402. In other embodiments, the communication interface may comprise different components and / or different combinations of components.

[0250] In certain alternative embodiments, network node 15400 may be capable of wireless communication but does not include separate radio front-end circuitry 15418, instead, the processing circuitry 15402 includes radio front-end circuitry and is connected to the antenna 15410. Similarly, in some embodiments, all or some of the RF transceiver circuitry 15412 is part of the communication interface 15406. In still other embodiments, the communication interface 15406 includes one or more ports or terminals 15416, the radio front-end circuitry 15418, and the RF transceiver circuitry 15412, as part of a radio unit (not shown), and the communication interface 15406 communicates with the baseband processing circuitry 15414, which is part of a digital unit (not shown).

[0251] The antenna 15410 may include one or more antennas, or antenna arrays, configured to send and / or receive wireless signals. The antenna 15410 may be coupled to the radio front-end circuitry 15418 and may be any type of antenna capable of transmitting and receiving data and / or signals wirelessly. In certain embodiments, the antenna 15410 is separate from the network node 15400 and connectable to the network node 15400 through one or more interfaces or ports.

[0252] The antenna 15410, communication interface 15406, and / or the processing circuitry 15402 may be configured to perform some or all of the receiving operations and / or obtaining operations described herein as being performed by the network node 15400. Any information, data and / or signals may be received from a UE, another network node and / or any other network equipment. Similarly, the antenna 15410, the communication interface 15406, and / or the processing circuitry 15402 may be configured to perform some or all of the transmitting or sending operations described herein as being performed by the network node 15400. Any information, data and / or signals may be transmitted to a UE, another network node and / or any other network equipment.The power source 15408 provides power to the various components of network node 15400 in a form suitable for the respective components (e.g., at a voltage and current level needed for each respective component). The power source 15408 may further comprise, or be coupled to, power management circuitry to supply the components of the network node 15400 with power for performing the functionality described herein. For example, the network node 15400 may be connectable to an external power source (e.g., the power grid, an electricity outlet) via an input circuitry or interface such as an electrical cable, whereby the external power source supplies power to power circuitry of the power source 15408. As a further example, the power source 15408 may comprise a source of power in the form of a battery or battery pack which is connected to, or integrated in, power circuitry. The battery may provide backup power should the external power source fail.

[0253] Embodiments of the network node 15400 may include additional components beyond those shown in Figure 15 for providing certain aspects of the network node’s functionality, including any of the functionality described herein and / or any functionality necessary to support the subject matter described herein. For example, the network node 15400 may include user interface equipment to allow input of information into the network node 15400 and to allow output of information from the network node 15400. This may allow a user to perform diagnostic, maintenance, repair, and other administrative functions for the network node 15400.

[0254] Figure 16 is a block diagram illustrating a virtualization environment 15500 in which functions implemented by some embodiments may be virtualized. In the present context, virtualizing means creating virtual versions of apparatuses or devices which may include virtualizing hardware platforms, storage devices and networking resources. As used herein, virtualization can be applied to any device described herein, or components thereof, and relates to an implementation in which at least a portion of the functionality is implemented as one or more virtual components. Some or all of the functions described herein may be implemented as virtual components executed by one or more virtual machines (VMs) implemented in one or more virtual environments 15500 hosted by one or more of hardware nodes, such as a hardware computing device that operates as an access network node, UE, core network node, or host. Further, in embodiments in which a virtual node does not require radio connectivity (e.g., a core network node or host), then the node may be entirely virtualized. In some embodiments, the virtualization environment 15500 includes components defined by the O-RAN Alliance, such as an O-Cloud environment orchestrated by a Service Management and Orchestration Framework via an O-2 interface.

[0255] Applications 15502 (which may alternatively be called software instances, virtual appliances, network functions, virtual nodes, virtual network functions, etc.) are run in the virtualization environment Q400 to implement some of the features, functions, and / or benefits of some of the embodiments disclosed herein.Hardware 15504 includes processing circuitry, memory that stores software and / or instructions executable by hardware processing circuitry, and / or other hardware devices as described herein, such as a network interface, input / output interface, and so forth. Software may be executed by the processing circuitry to instantiate one or more virtualization layers 15506 (also referred to as hypervisors or virtual machine monitors (VMMs)), provide VM 15508A and VM 15508B (which may be collectively referred to as VMs 15508), and / or perform any of the functions, features and / or benefits described in relation with some embodiments described herein. The virtualization layer 15506 may present a virtual operating platform that appears like networking hardware to one or more of the VMs 15508.

[0256] The VMs 15508 comprise virtual processing, virtual memory, virtual networking or interface and virtual storage, and may be run by virtualization layer 15506. Different embodiments of the instance of a virtual appliance 15502 may be implemented on one or more of VMs 15508, and the implementations may be made in different ways. Virtualization of the hardware is in some contexts referred to as network function virtualization (NFV). NFV may be used to consolidate many network equipment types onto industry standard high volume server hardware, physical switches, and physical storage, which can be located in data centers, and customer premise equipment.

[0257] In the context of NFV, each of the VMs 15508 may be a software implementation of a physical machine that runs programs as if they were executing on a physical, non-virtualized machine. Each of the VMs 15508, and that part of hardware 15504 that executes that VM, be it hardware dedicated to that VM and / or hardware shared by that VM with others of the VMs, forms separate virtual network elements. Still in the context of NFV, a virtual network function is responsible for handling specific network functions that run in one or more of the VMs 15508 on top of the hardware 15504 and corresponds to an application 15502.

[0258] Hardware 15504 may be implemented in a standalone network node with generic or specific components. Hardware 15504 may implement some functions via virtualization.

[0259] Alternatively, hardware 15504 may be part of a larger cluster of hardware (e.g. such as in a data center or CPE) where many hardware nodes work together and are managed via management and orchestration 15510, which, among others, oversees lifecycle management of applications 15502. In some embodiments, hardware 15504 is coupled to one or more radio units that each include one or more transmitters and one or more receivers that may be coupled to one or more antennas. Radio units may communicate directly with other hardware nodes via one or more appropriate network interfaces and may be used in combination with the virtual components to provide a virtual node with radio capabilities, such as a radio access node or a base station. In some embodiments, some signaling can be provided with the use of a control system 15512 which may alternatively be used for communication between hardware nodes and radio units.

[0260] Although the computing devices described herein (e.g., UEs, network nodes, hosts) may include the illustrated combination of hardware components, other embodiments may comprisecomputing devices with different combinations of components. It is to be understood that these computing devices may comprise any suitable combination of hardware and / or software needed to perform the tasks, features, functions and methods disclosed herein. Determining, calculating, obtaining or similar operations described herein may be performed by processing circuitry, which may process information by, for example, converting the obtained information into other information, comparing the obtained information or converted information to information stored in the network node, and / or performing one or more operations based on the obtained information or converted information, and as a result of said processing making a determination. Moreover, while components are depicted as single boxes located within a larger box, or nested within multiple boxes, in practice, computing devices may comprise multiple different physical components that make up a single illustrated component, and functionality may be partitioned between separate components. For example, a communication interface may be configured to include any of the components described herein, and / or the functionality of the components may be partitioned between the processing circuitry and the communication interface. In another example, non-computationally intensive functions of any of such components may be implemented in software or firmware and computationally intensive functions may be implemented in hardware.

[0261] In certain embodiments, some or all of the functionality described herein may be provided by processing circuitry executing instructions stored on in memory, which in certain embodiments may be a computer program product in the form of a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium. In alternative embodiments, some or all of the functionality may be provided by the processing circuitry without executing instructions stored on a separate or discrete device-readable storage medium, such as in a hard-wired manner. In any of those particular embodiments, whether executing instructions stored on a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium or not, the processing circuitry can be configured to perform the described functionality. The benefits provided by such functionality are not limited to the processing circuitry alone or to other components of the computing device, but are enjoyed by the computing device as a whole, and / or by end users and a wireless network generally.

[0262] It will be appreciated that the foregoing description and the accompanying drawings represent non-limiting examples of the methods and apparatus taught herein. As such, the apparatus and techniques taught herein are not limited by the foregoing description and accompanying drawings. Instead, the embodiments herein are limited only by the following claims and their legal equivalents.

Claims

1. CLAIMS1. A method performed by a first network node (21) for handling sensing in a wireless communication network, the method comprising:transmitting (401) a configuration to a second network node (22), wherein the configuration is for obtaining one or more sensing results comprising a doppler based measurement for a detected sensing target object.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the configuration comprises a time window for performing one or more measurements.

3. The method of any of the claims 1-2, wherein the doppler based measurement comprises one or more of: Doppler estimate, Doppler frequency or shift, Delay or range, velocity, one or multiple angles, a power per detected path, peak, or object, and / or a time stamp of detection of the detected sensing target object.

4. The method according to any of the claims 1-3, wherein the configuration further indicates reporting number of paths, peaks, and / or measurements of the detected sensing target object.

5. The method according to any of the claims 1-4, wherein the first network node (21) is sensing managing function, SeMF, in a core network, CN, and the configuration is transmitted via a CN-radio access network, RAN, interface.

6. The method according to any of the claims 1-4, wherein the first network node (21) is a RAN node and the second network node (22) is a user equipment, UE, and the configuration is transmitted via radio resource control, RRC, protocol.

7. The method according to any of the claims 1-4, wherein the first network node (21) is a SeMF node and the second network node (22) is a user equipment, UE, and the configuration is transmitted via higher layer protocol.

8. The method according to any of the claims 1-7, wherein the one or more sensing results are based on one or more of the following: one dimensional, 1D, two dimensional, 2D, fast Fourier transform, FFT, three dimensional, 3D, FFT or N dimensional, N-D, FFT, doppler frequency, doppler-delay measurements, delay-doppler plane, angular pseudo-spectrum estimates, and / or other doppler-based measurements.

9. A method performed by a second network node (22) for handling sensing in a wireless communication network, the method comprising:- performing (412) a sensing procedure based on a configuration to obtain a result indication comprising one or more sensing measurements, one or more sensing results, or a result of processing one or more sensing measurements, wherein the one or more sensing measurements, the one or more sensing results, or the result comprises a doppler based measurement for a detected sensing target object.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the doppler based measurement comprises one or more of: Doppler estimate, Doppler frequency or shift, Delay or range, velocity, one or multiple angles, a power per detected path, peak, or object, and / or a time stamp of detection of the detected sensing target object.

11. The method according to any of the claims 9-10, wherein the one or more radio sensing measurements, the one or more sensing results, or the result are for a number of paths, peaks, and / or measurements of the detected sensing target object.

12. The method according to any of the claims 9-11, wherein the one or more radio sensing measurements, the one or more sensing results, or the result of processing one or more sensing measurements are obtained over a time window.

13. The method according to any of the claims 9-12, wherein the one or more sensing results are based on one or more of the following: one dimensional, 1D, two dimensional, 2D, fast Fourier transform, FFT, three dimensional, 3D, FFT or N dimensional, N-D, FFT, doppler frequency, doppler-delay measurements, delay-doppler plane, angular pseudo-spectrum estimates, and / or other doppler-based measurements.

14. The method according to any of the claims 9-13, further comprisingobtaining (410) a configuration, wherein the configuration is for obtaining the one or more radio sensing measurements, the one or more sensing results, or the result.

15. The method according to any of the claims 9-13, wherein the second network node comprises:• a sensing receiver node receiving a radio signal for performing a sensing measurement and / or obtaining a sensing result, or• both a sensing receiver node receiving a radio signal for performing a sensing measurement or obtaining a sensing result and a sensing transmitter node transmitting the radio signal.

16. The method according to any of the claims 9-15, further comprising transmitting (413) the result indication to a third network node (23) and / or a first network node (21).

17. The method according to claim 16, wherein the first network node (21) is sensing managing function, SeMF, in a core network, CN, and the second network node (22) and the result indication is transmitted via a radio access network, RAN, -CN interface.

18. The method according to claim 16, wherein the first network node (21) is a RAN node and the second network node (22) is a user equipment, UE, and the result indication is transmitted via radio resource control, RRC, protocol.

19. The method according to claim 16, wherein the first network node (21) is a SeMF node and the second network node (22) is a user equipment, UE, and the result indication is transmitted via higher layer protocol.

20. The method according to any of the claims 9-19, further comprisingtransmitting (411) to a sensing node, an indication of Sensing Reference Signals, SeRS, resources for configuring the sensing node, which SeRS resources are to be measured by the second network node to generate one or more channel impulse responses, CIR.

21. A method performed by a third network node (23) for handling sensing in a wireless communication network, the method comprising:obtaining (422) a result of a sensing procedure based on a result indication from a second network node (22), wherein the result indication comprises one or more sensing measurements, one or more sensing results, or a result of processing one or more sensing measurements, wherein the one or more sensing measurements, the one or more sensing results, or the result comprises a doppler based measurement for a detected sensing target object.

22. The method of claim 21, wherein the doppler based measurement comprises one or more of: Doppler estimate, Doppler frequency or shift, Delay or range, velocity, one or multiple angles, a power per detected path, peak, or object, and / or a time stamp of detection of the detected sensing target object.

23. The method according to any of the claims 21-22, wherein the one or more sensing measurements, the one or more sensing results, or the result are for a number of paths, peaks, and / or measurements of the detected sensing target object.

24. The method according to any of the claims 21-23, wherein the one or more sensing measurements, the one or more sensing results, or the result of processing one or more sensing measurements are obtained over a time window.

25. The method according to any of the claims 21-24, wherein the result indication comprises one or more sensing measurement results further comprising channel impulse response, and / or a result of processing of sensing measurement results, further comprising 2D, fast Fourier transform, FFT, three dimensional, 3D, FFT or N dimensional, N-D, FFT, results, doppler frequency, delay-doppler plane, angular pseudo-spectrum estimates, and / or doppler-delay measurements.

26. The method according to any of the claims 21-25, further comprisingsending (423) the result of the sensing procedure to a sensing client, an application requesting sensing-related results, or to another node.

27. A computer program product comprising instructions, which, when executed on at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to carry out the method according to any of the claims 1-26, as performed by the first network node, the second network node and the third network node, respectively.

28. A computer-readable storage medium, having stored thereon a computer program product comprising instructions which, when executed on at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to carry out the method according to any of the claims 1-26, as performed by the first network node, the second network node and the third network node, respectively.

29. A first network node (21) for handling sensing in a wireless communication network, wherein the first network node is configured to:transmit a configuration to a second network node (22), wherein the configuration is for obtaining one or more sensing results comprising a doppler based measurement for a detected sensing target object.

30. The first network node (21) according to claim 29, configured to perform the method according to any of the claims 2-8.

31. A second network node (22) for handling sensing in a wireless communication network, wherein the second network node is configured to:perform a sensing procedure based on a configuration to obtain a result indication comprising one or more sensing measurements, one or more sensing results, or a result of processing one or more sensing measurements, wherein the one or more sensing measurements, the one or more sensing results, or the result comprises a doppler based measurement for a detected sensing target object.

32. The second network node (22) according to claim 31 , configured to perform the method according to any of the claims 10-20.

33. A third network node (23) for handling sensing in a wireless communication network, wherein the third network node is configured to:obtain a result of a sensing procedure based on a result indication from a second network node (22), wherein the result indication comprises one or more sensing measurements, one or more sensing results, or a result of processing one or more sensing measurements, wherein the one or more sensing measurements, the one or more sensing results, or the result comprises a doppler based measurement for a detected sensing target object.

34. The third network node (23) according to claim 33, configured to perform the method according to any of the claims 22-26.

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