Control and configurations for aerial user equipment emissions for positioning- and integrated sensing and communication (ISAC)

Abstract

Disclosed are techniques for wireless sensing or positioning. In some aspects, an aerial user equipment (UE) may receive a configuration for obtaining one or more sensing measurements or one or more positioning measurements, the configuration including an indication that the aerial UE is permitted to relax emission control for the one or more sensing measurements or the one or more positioning measurements. The aerial UE may transmit one or more reference signals for sensing or positioning according to an emission level for the one or more sensing measurements or the one or more positioning measurements based on the indication that the aerial UE is permitted to relax the emission control for the one or more sensing measurements or the one or more positioning measurements.

Description

Qualcomm Ref. No. 2501342WO1 / 74CONTROL AND CONFIGURATIONS FOR AERIAL USER EQUIPMENT EMISSIONS FOR POSITIONING AND INTEGRATED SENSING AND COMMUNICATION (ISAC)TECHNICAL FIELD

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

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

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

[0004] The following presents a simplified summary relating to one or more aspects disclosed herein. Tirus, the following summary should not be considered an extensive overview¬ relating to all contemplated aspects, nor should the following summary- be considered toQC2501342WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2501342WO2 / 74identify key or critical elements relating to all contemplated aspects or to delineate the scope associated with any particular aspect. Accordingly, tire following summary has the sole purpose to present certain concepts relating to one or more aspects relating to the mechanisms disclosed herein in a simplified form to precede the detailed description presented below.

[0005] In some aspects, a method of wireless sensing or positioning includes receiving a configuration for obtaining one or more sensing measurements or one or more positioning measurements, the configuration including an indication that the aerial UE is permitted to relax emission control for the one or more sensing measurements or the one or more positioning measurements; and transmitting one or more reference signals for sensing or positioning according to an emission level for the one or more sensing measurements or the one or more positioning measurements based on the indication that the aerial UE is permitted to relax the emission control for the one or more sensing measurements or the one or more positioning measurements.

[0006] In some aspects, a m ethod of wireless sensing or positioning includes receiving, from an aerial user equipment (UE), one or more capabilities of the aerial UE associated with transmitting one or more reference signals for one or more sensing measurements or one or more positioning measurements; and transmitting, to the aerial UE, a configuration for obtaining the one or more sensing measurements or the one or more positioning measurements, the configuration including an indication that the aerial UE is permited to relax emission control for the one or more sensing measurements or the one or more positioning measurements.

[0007] In some aspects, an aerial user equipment (UE) includes one or more memories; one or more transceivers; and one or more processors communicatively coupled to the one or more memories and the one or more transceivers, tire one or more processors, either alone orin combination, configured to: receive, viathe one or more transceivers, a configuration for obtaining one or more sensing measurements or one or more positioning measurements, the configuration including an indication that the aerial UE is permited to relax emission control for the one or more sensing measurements or the one or more positioning measurements; and transmit, via the one or more transceivers, one or more reference signals for sensing or positioning according to an emission level for the one or more sensing measurements or the one or more positioning measurements based on theQC2501342WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2501342WO3 / 74indication that the aerial UE is permited to relax the emission control for the one or more sensing measurements or the one or more positioning measurements.

[0008] In some aspects, a network entity includes one or more memories; one or more transceivers; and one or more processors communicatively coupled to the one or more memories and the one or more transcei vers, the one or more processors, either alone or in combination, configured to: receive, via the one or more transceivers, from an aerial user equipment (UE), one or more capabilities of the aerial UE associated with transmitting one or more reference signals for one or more sensing measurements or one or more positioning measurements; and transmit, via the one or more transceivers, to the aerial UE, a configuration for obtaining the one or more sensing measurements or the one or more positioning measurements, the configuration including an indication that the aerial UE is permitted to relax emission control for the one or more sensing measurements or the one or more positioning measurements.

[0009] in some aspects, an aerial user equipment (UE) includes means for receiving a configuration for obtaining one or more sensing measurements or one or more positioning measurements, the configuration including an indication that the aerial UE is permitted to relax emission control for the one or more sensing measurements or the one or more positioning measurements; and means for transmitting one or more reference signals for sensing or positioning according to an emission level for the one or more sensing measurements or the one or more positioning measurements based on the indication that the aerial UE is permitted to relax the emission control for the one or more sensing measurements or the one or more positioning measurements.

[0010] In some aspects, a network entity includes means for receiving, from an aerial user equipment (UE), one or more capabilities of the aerial UE associated with transmi tting one or more reference signals for one or more sensing measurements or one or more positioning measurements; and means for transmitting, to the aerial UE, a configuration for obtaining the one or more sensing measurements or the one or more positioning measurements, the configuration including an indication that the aerial LIE is permitted to relax emission control for the one or more sensing measurements or the one or more positioning measurements.

[0011] In some aspects, a non-transitory computer-readable medium stores computer-executable instructions that, when executed by an aerial user equipment (UE), cause the UE to:QC2501342WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2501342WO4 / 74receive a configuration for obtaining one or more sensing measurements or one or more positioning measurements, the configuration including an indication that the aerial UE is permitted to relax emission control for the one or more sensing measurements or the one or more positioning measurements; and transmit one or more reference signals for sensing or positioning according to an emission level for the one or more sensing measurements or the one or more positioning measurements based on the indication that tire aerial UE is permitted to relax the emission control for the one or more sensing measurements or the one or more positioning measurements,

[0012] In some aspects, a non-transitory computer-readable medium stores computer-executable instructions that, when executed by a network entity, cause the network entity to: receive, from an aerial user equipment (UE), one or more capabilities of the aerial UE associated with transmitting one or more reference signals for one or more sensing measurements or one or more positioning measurements; and transmit, to the aerial UE, a configuration for obtaining the one or more sensing measurements or the one or more positioning measurements, the configuration including an indication that the aerial UE is permitted to relax emission control for the one or more sensing measurements or the one or more positioning measurements.

[0013] Other objects and advantages associated with the aspects disclosed herein will be apparent to those skilled in the art based on the accompanying drawings and detailed description,BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0014] The accompanying drawings are presented to aid in the description of various aspects of the disclosure and are provided solely for illustration of the aspects and not limitation thereof.

[0015] FIG. 1 illustrates an example wireless communications system, according to aspects of the disclosure,

[0016] FIGS. 2A, 2B, and 2C illustrate example wireless network structures, according to aspects of the disclosure.

[0017] FIGS. 3A, 3B, and 3C are simplified block diagrams of several sample aspects of components that may be employed in a user equipment (UE), a base station, and a network entity, respectively, and configured to support communications as taught herein.QC2501342WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2501342WO5 / 74

[0018] FIGS, 4A and 4B illustrate different types of wireless sensing, according to aspects of the disclosure.

[0019] FIGS. 5A to 5F illustrate various example monostatic and bistatic sensing use cases, according to aspects of the disclosure.

[0020] FIG. 6 illustrates an example call flow for a New Radio (NR)-based sensing procedure in which the network configures the sensing parameters, according to aspects of the disclosure.

[0021] FIG. 7 illustrates examples of various positioning methods supported in New Radio (NR), according to aspects of the disclosure.

[0022] FIG. 8 illustrates an example of a wireless network with aerial UEs serving as sensing or positioning nodes, according to aspects of the disclosure.

[0023] FIG. 9 illustrates an example of a spectral mask for an out-of-band (OOB) emission requirement for aerial UE positioning or sensing operations, according to aspects of the disclosure.

[0024] FIG. 10 illustrates an example of limits on frequency spectrum and power spectral density for aerial UE positioning or sensing operations, according to aspects of the disclosure.

[0025] FIG. 11 illustrates an example method of wireless sensing or positioning, according to aspects of the disclosure.

[0026] FIG. 12 illustrates an example method of wireless sensing or positioning, according to aspects of the disclosure.DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0027] Aspects of the disclosure are provided in the following description and related drawings directed to various examples provided for illustration purposes. Alternate aspects may be devised without departing from the scope of the disclosure. Additionally, well-known elements of the disclosure will not be described in detail or will be omitted so as not to obscure the relevant details of the disclosure.

[0028] Various aspects relate generally to wireless sensing and positioning. Some aspects more specifically relate to radio frequency (RF) emission control for aerial user equipment (UE) in sensing and / or positioning operations. In some examples, the aerial UE may receive a configuration for obtaining sensing and / or positioning measurements, the configuration including an indication that the aerial UE is permitted to relax its emissionQC2501342WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2501342WO6 / 74control for sensing and / or positioning, and transmit one or more reference signals for sensing and / or positioning according to an emission level based on the indication that the aerial UE is permitted to relax its emission control.[0029j Particular aspects of the subject matter described in this disclosure can be implemented to realize one or more of the following potential advantages. In some examples, by dynamically relaxing (or tightening) emission control for the aerial UE in sensing and / or positioning operations, the described techniques can be used to allow the aerial UE to utilize the available radio resources efficiently while avoiding interference with other sensing and / or positioning nodes in the wireless network.

[0030] The words “exemplary” and / or “example” are used herein to mean “serving as an example, instance, or illustration.” Any aspect described herein as “exemplary” and / or “example” is not necessarily to be construed as preferred or advantageous over other aspects. Likewise, the term “aspects of the disclosure” does not require that all aspects of tire disclosure include the discussed feature, advantage or mode of operation.

[0031] Those of skill in the art will appreciate that the information and signals described below may be represented using any of a variety of different technologies and techniques. For example, data, instructions, commands, information, signals, bits, symbols, and chips that may be referenced throughout the description below may be represented by voltages, currents, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or particles, optical fields or particles, or any combination thereof, depending in part on the particular application, in part on the desired design, in part on the corresponding technology, etc.

[0032] Further, many aspects are described in terms of sequences of actions to be performed by, for example, elements of a computing device. It will be recognized that various actions described herein can be performed by specific circuits (e.g., application specific integrated circuits (ASICs)), by program instructions being executed by one or more processors, or by a combination of both. Additionally, the sequence(s) of actions described herein can be considered to be embodied entirely within any form of non- transitory computer-readable storage medium having stored therein a corresponding set of computer instructions that, upon execution, would cause or instruct an associated processor of a device to perform the functionality described herein. Thus, the various aspects of the disclosure may be embodied in a number of different forms, all of w hich have been contemplated to be within the scope of the claimed subject matter. In addition,QC2501342WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2501342WO7 / 74for each of the aspects described herein, the corresponding form of any such aspects may be described herein as, for example, “logic configured to” perform the described action,

[0033] As used herein, the terms “user equipment” (UE) and “base station” are not intended to be specific or otherwise limited to any particular radio access technology (RAT), unless otherwise noted. In general, a UE may be any wireless communication device (e.g., a mobile phone, router, tablet computer, laptop computer, consumer asset locating device, wearable (e.g., smartwatch, glasses, augmented reality (AR) / virtual reality (VR) headset, etc.), vehicle (e.g., automobile, motorcycle, bicycle, etc.), Internet of Things (loT) device, etc.) used by a user to communicate over a wireless communications network. A UE may be mobile or may (e.g., at certain times) be stationary, and may communicate with a radio access network (RAN). As used herein, the term “UE” may be referred to interchangeably as an “access terminal” or “AT,” a “client device,” a “wireless device,” a “subscriber device,” a “subscriber terminal,” a “subscriber station,” a “user terminal” or “UT,” a “mobile device,” a “mobile terminal,” a “mobile station,” or variations thereof. Generally, UEs can communicate with a core network via a RAN, and through the core network the UEs can be connected with external networks such as the Internet and with other UEs. Of course, other mechanisms of connecting to the core network and / or the Internet are also possible for the UEs, such as over wired access networks, wireless local area network (WLAN) networks (e.g., based on the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 specification, etc.) and so on.

[0034] A base station may operate according to one of several RATs in communication with UEs depending on tire network in which it is deployed, and may be alternatively referred to as an access point (AP), a network node, a NodeB, an evolved NodeB (eNB), a next generation eNB (ng-eNB), a New Radio (NR) Node B (also referred to as a gNB or gNodeB), etc. A base station may be used primarily to support wireless access by UEs, including supporting data, voice, and / or signaling connections for the supported UEs. In some systems a base station may provide purely edge node signaling functions while in other systems it may provide additional control and / or network management functions. A communication link through which UEs can send signals to a base station is called an uplink (UL) channel (e.g., a reverse traffic channel, a reverse control channel, an access channel, etc.). A communication link through which the base station can send signals to UEs is called a downlink (DL) or forward link channel (e.g., a paging channel, a controlQC2501342WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2501342WO8 / 74channel, a broadcast channel, a forward traffic channel, etc.). As used herein the term traffic channel (TCH) can refer to either an uplink / reverse or downlink / forward traffic channel.

[0035] The term “base station” may refer to a single physical transmission-reception point (TRI3) or to multiple physical TRPs that may or may not be co-located. For example, where the term “base station” refers to a single physical TRP, the physical TRP may be an antenna of the base station corresponding to a cell (or several cell sectors) of the base station. Where the term “base station” refers to multiple co-located physical TRPs, the physical TRPs may be an array of antennas (e.g., as in a multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) system or where the base station employs beamforming) of the base station. Where tire term “base station” refers to multiple non-co-located physical TRPs, the physical TRPs may be a distributed antenna system (DAS) (a network of spatially separated antennas connected to a common source via a transport medium) or a remote radio head (RRH) (a remote base station connected to a serving base station). Alternatively, the non-co-located physical TRPs may be the serving base station receiving the measurement report from the UE and a neighbor base station whose reference radio frequency (RF) signals the UE is measuring. Because a TRP is the point from which a base station transmits and receives wireless signals, as used herein, references to transmission from or reception at a base station are to be understood as referri ng to a particular TRP of the base station,

[0036] In some implementations that support positioning of UEs, a base station may not support wireless access by UEs (e.g., may not support data, voice, and / or signaling connections for UEs), but may instead transmit reference signals to UEs to be measured by the UEs, and / or may receive and measure signals transmitted by the UEs. Such a base station may be referred to as a positioning beacon (e.g., when transmitting signals to UEs) and / or as a location measurement unit (e.g., when receiving and measuring signals from UEs).

[0037] An “RF signal” comprises an electromagnetic wave of a given frequency that transports information through the space between a transmitter and a receiver. As used herein, a transmitter may transmit a single “RF signal” or multiple “RF signals” to a receiver. However, the receiver may receive multiple “RF signals” corresponding to each transmitted RF signal due to the propagation characteristics of RF signals through multipath channels. Tire same transmitted RF signal on different paths between the transmitter and receiver may be referred to as a “multipath” RF signal. As used herein,QC2501342WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2501342WO9 / 74an RF signal may also be referred to as a “wireless signal” or simply a “signal” where it is clear from the context that the term “signal” refers to a wireless signal or an RF signal.

[0038] FIG. 1 illustrates an example wireless communications system 100, according to aspects of the disclosure, lire wireless communications system 100 (which may also be referred to as a wireless wide area network (WWAN)) may include various base stations 102 (labeled “BS”) and various UEs 104. The base stations 102 may include macro cell base stations (high power cellular base stations) and / or small cell base stations (low' power cellular base stations). In some aspects, the macro cell base stations may include eNBs and / or ng -eNBs where the wireless communications system 100 corresponds to an LTE network, or gNBs where the wireless communications system 100 corresponds to a NR network, or a combination of both, and the small cell base stations may include femtocells, picocells, microcells, etc.

[0039] Tire base stations 102 may collectively form a RAN and interface with a core network- 170 (e.g., an evolved packet core (EPC) or a 5G core (5GC)) through backhaul links 122, and through the core network 170 to one or more location servers 172 (e.g,, a location management function (LMF) or a secure user plane location (SUPL) location platform (SLP)). The location server(s) 172 may be part of core netw ork 170 or may be external to core network 170. A location server 172 may be integrated with a base station 102. A UE 104 may communicate with a location server 172 directly or indirectly. For example, a UE 104 may communicate with a location server 172 via the base station 102 that is currently serving that UE 104. A UE 104 may also communicate with a location server 172 through another path, such as via an application server (not shown), via another network, such as via a wireless local area network (WLAN) access point (AP) (e.g., AP 150 described below), and so on. For signaling purposes, communication between a UE 104 and a location server 172 may be represented as an indirect connection (e.g., through the core network 170, etc.) or a direct connection (e.g., as shown via direct connection 128), with the intervening nodes (if any) omited from a signaling diagram for clarity.

[0040] in addition to other functions, the base stations 102 may perform functions that relate to one or more of transferring user data, radio channel ciphering and deciphering, integrity protection, header compression, mobility’ control functions (e.g., handover, dual connectivity), inter-cell interference coordination, connection setup and release, load balancing, distribution for non-access stratum (NAS) messages, NAS node selection,QC2501342WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2501342WO10 / 74synchronization, RAN sharing, multimedia broadcast multicast service (MBMS), subscriber and equipment trace, RAN information management (RIM), paging, positioning, and delivery of warning messages. The base stations 102 may communicate with each other directly or indirectly (e.g., through the EPC / 5GC) over backhaul links 134, which may be wired or wireless.

[0041] Tire base stations 102 may wirelessly communicate with the UEs 104. Each of the base stations 102 may provide communication coverage for a respective geographic coverage area 110. In some aspects, one or more cells may be supported by a base station 102 in each geographic coverage area 110. A “cell” is a logical communication entity used for communication with a base station (e.g., over some frequency resource, referred to as a carrier frequency, component carrier, carrier, band, or the like), and may be associated with an identifier (e.g,, a physical cell identifier (PCI), an enhanced cell identifier (ECI), a virtual cell identifier (VCI), a cell global identifier (CGI), etc.) for distinguishing cells operating via the same or a different carrier frequency. In some cases, different cells may be configured according to different protocol types (e.g., machine-type communication (MTC), narrowband loT (NB-IoT), enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB), or others) that may provide access for different types of UEs. Because a cell is supported by a specific base station, the term “cell” may refer to either or both of the logical communication entity and the base station that supports it, depending on the context. In addition, because a TRP is typically the physical transmission point of a cell, the terms “cell” and “TRP” may be used interchangeably. In some cases, the term “cell” may also refer to a geographic coverage area of a base station (e.g., a sector), insofar as a carrier frequency can be detected and used for communication within some portion of geographic coverage areas 110.

[0042] While neighboring macro cell base station 102 geographic coverage areas 110 may partially overlap (e.g,, in a handover region), some of the geographic coverage areas 110 may be substantially overlapped by a larger geographic coverage area 110. For example, a small cell base station 102' (labeled “SC” for “small cell”) may have a geographic coverage area 110' that substantially overlaps with the geographic coverage area 110 of one or more macro cell base stations 102. A network that includes both small cell and macro cell base stations may be known as a heterogeneous network. A heterogeneousQC2501342WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2501342WO11 / 74network may also include home eNBs (HeNBs), which may provide service to a restricted group known as a closed subscriber group (CSG).

[0043] The communication links 120 between the base stations 102 and the UEs 104 may include uplink (also referred to as reverse link) transmissions from a UE 104 to a base station 102 and / or downlink (DL) (also referred to as forward link) transmissions from a base station 102 to a UE 104. The communication links 120 may use MIMO antenna technology, including spatial multiplexing, beamforming, and / or transmit diversity. The communication links 120 may be through one or more carrier frequencies. Allocation of carriers may be asymmetric with respect to downlink and uplink (e.g., more or less carriers may be allocated for downlink than for uplink).

[0044] The wireless communications system 100 may further include a wireless local area network (WLAN) access point (AP) 150 in communication with WLAN stations (STAs) 152 via communication links 154 in an unlicensed frequency spectrum (e.g., 5 GHz). When communicating in an unlicensed frequency spectrum, the WLAN STAs 152 and / or the WLAN AP 150 may perform a clear channel assessment (CCA) or listen before talk (LBT) procedure prior to communicating in order to determine whether the channel is available.

[0045] The small cell base station 102' may operate in a licensed and / or an unlicensed frequency spectrum. When operating in an unlicensed frequency spectrum, the small cell base station 102' may employ LTE or NR technology and use the same 5 GHz unlicensed frequency spectrum as used by the WLAN AP 150. The small cell base station 102', employing LTE / 5G in an unlicensed frequency spectrum, may boost coverage to and / or increase capacity of the access network, NR in unlicensed spectrum may be referred to as NR-U. LTE in an unlicensed spectrum may be referred to as LTE-U, licensed assisted access (LAA), or MULTEFIRE®.

[0046] The wireless communications system 100 may further include a millimeter wave (mmW) base station 180 that may operate in mmW frequencies and / or near mmW frequencies in communication with a UE 182. Extremely high frequency (EHF) is part of the RF in the electromagnetic spectrum. EHF has a range of 30 GHz to 300 GHz and a wavelength between 1 millimeter and 10 millimeters. Radio waves in this band may be referred to as a millimeter wave. Near mmW may extend down to a frequency of 3 GHz with a wavelength of 100 millimeters. The super high frequency (SHF) band extends between 3QC2501342WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2501342WO12 / 74GHz and 30 GHz, also referred to as centimeter wave. Communications using the mmW / near mmW radio frequency band have high path loss and a relatively short range. The mmW base station 180 and the UE 182 may utilize beamforming (transmit and / or receive) over a mmW communication link 184 to compensate for the extremely high path loss and short range. Further, it will be appreciated that in alternative configurations, one or more base stations 102 may also transmit using mmW or near mmW and beamforming. Accordingly, it will be appreciated that the foregoing illustrations are merely examples and should not be construed to limit the various aspects disclosed herein.

[0047] Transmit beamforming is a technique for focusing an RF signal in a specific direction.Traditionally, when a network node (e.g., a base station) broadcasts an RF signal, it broadcasts tire signal in all directions (omni-directionally). With transmit beamforming, the network node determines where a given target device (e.g., a UE) is located (relative to the transmitting network node) and projects a stronger downlink RF signal in that specific direction, thereby providing a faster (in terms of data rate) and stronger RF signal for the receiving device(s). To change the directionality of the RF signal when transmitting, a network node can control the phase and relative amplitude of the RF signal at each of the one or more transmitters that are broadcasting the RF signal. For example, a network node may use an array of antennas (referred to as a “phased array” or an “antenna array”) that creates a beam of RF waves that can be “steered” to point in different directions, without actually moving the antennas. Specifically, the RF current from the transmitter is fed to the individual antennas with the correct phase relationship so that the radio waves from tire separate antennas add together to increase the radiation in a desired direction, while cancelling to suppress radiation in undesired directions,

[0048] Transmit beams may be quasi-co-located, meaning that they appear to the receiver (e.g., a UE) as having the same parameters, regardless of whether or not the transmitting antennas of the network node themselves are physically co-located. In NR, there are four types of quasi-co-location (QCL) relations. Specifically, a QCL relation of a given type means that certain parameters about a second reference RF signal on a second beam can be derived from information about a source reference RF signal on a source beam. Thus, if the source reference RF signal is QCL Type A, the receiver can use the source reference RF signal to estimate the Doppler shift, Doppler spread, average delay, and delay spread of a second reference RF signal transmitted on the same channel, if the source referenceQC2501342WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2501342WO13 / 74RF signal is QCL Type B, the receiver can use the source reference RF signal to estimate the Doppler shift and Doppler spread of a second reference RF signal transmitted on the same channel. If the source reference RF signal is QCL Type C, the receiver can use the source reference RF signal to estimate the Doppler shift and average delay of a second reference RF signal transmitted on the same channel. If the source reference RF signal is QCL Type D, the receiver can use the source reference RF signal to estimate the spatial receive parameter of a second reference RF signal transmitted on the same channel.

[0049] In receive beam forming, the receiver uses a receive beam to amplify RF signals detected on a given channel. For example, the receiver can increase the gain setting and / or adjust the phase setting of an array of antennas in a particular direction to amplify (e.g., to increase the gain level of) the RF signals received from that direction. Thus, when a receiver is said to beamform in a certain direction, it means the beam gain in that direction is high relative to the beam gain along other directions, or the beam gain in that direction is the highest compared to the beam gain in that direction of all other receive beams available to the receiver. This results in a stronger received signal strength (e.g., reference signal received power (RSRP), reference signal received quality (RSRQ), signal-to- interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR), etc.) of the RF signals received from that direction.

[0050] Transmit and receive beams may be spatially related. A spatial relation means that parameters for a second beam (e.g., a transmit or receive beam) for a second reference signal can be derived from information about a first beam (e.g., a receive beam or a transmit beam) for a first reference signal. For example, a UE may use a particular receive beam to receive a reference downlink reference signal (e.g., synchronization signal block (SSB)) from a base station. The UE can then form a transmit beam for sending an uplink reference signal (e.g., sounding reference signal (SRS)) to that base station based on the parameters of the receive beam.

[0051] Note that a “downlink” beam may be either a transmit beam or a receive beam, depending on the entity forming it. For example, if a base station is forming the downlink beam to transmit a reference signal to a UE, the downlink beam is a transmit beam. If the UE is forming the downlink beam, however, it is a receive beam to receive the downlink reference signal, Similarly, an “uplink” beam may be either a transmit beam or a receive beam, depending on the entity forming it. For example, if a base station is forming theQC2501342WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2501342WO14 / 74uplink beam, it is an uplink receive beam, and if a UE is forming the uplink beam, it is an uplink transmit beam.

[0052] The electromagnetic spectrum is often subdivided, based on frequency / wavelength, into various classes, bands, channels, etc. In 5G NR two initial operating bands have been identified as frequency range designations FR1 (410 MHz - 7.125 GHz) and FR2 (24.25 GHz - 52.6 GHz). It should be understood that although a portion of FR1 is greater than 6 GHz, FR1 is often referred to (interchangeably) as a “Sub-6 GHz” band in various documents and articles, A similar nomenclature issue sometimes occurs with regard to FR2, which is often referred to (interchangeably) as a “millimeter wave” band in documents and articles, despite being different from the extremely high frequency (EHF) band (30 GHz - 300 GHz) which is identified by tire INTERNATIONAL TELECOMMUNICATION UNION® as a “millimeter wave” band.

[0053] Tire frequencies between FR1 and FR2 are often referred to as mid-band frequencies.Recent 5G NR studies have identified an operating band for these mid-band frequencies as frequency range designation FR3 (7.125 GHz - 24.25 GHz), Frequency bands falling within FR3 may inherit FR1 characteristics and / or FR2 characteristics, and thus may effectively extend features of FR1 and / or FR2 into mid-band frequencies. In addition, higher frequency bands are currently being explored to extend 5G NR operation beyond 52.6 GHz. For example, three higher operating bands have been identified as frequency range designations FR4a or FR4-1 (52.6 GHz - 71 GHz), FR4 (52.6 GHz - 114.25 GHz), and FR5 (114.25 GHz - 300 GHz). Each of these higher frequency bands falls within the EHF band.

[0054] With the above aspects in mind, unless specifically stated otherwise, it should be understood that the term “sub-6 GHz” or the like if used herein may broadly represent frequencies that may be less than 6 GHz, may be within FR1, or may include mid-band frequencies. Further, unless specifically stated otherwise, it should be understood that the term “millimeter wave” or the like if used herein may broadly represent frequencies that may include mid-band frequencies, may be within FR2, FR4, FR4-a or FR4-1, and / or FR5, or may be within the EHF band.

[0055] In a multi-carrier system, such as 5G, one of the carrier frequencies is referred to as the “primary'- carrier” or “anchor carrier” or “primary serving cell” or “PCell,” and the remaining carrier frequencies are referred to as “secondary carriers” or “secondaryQC2501342WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2501342WO15 / 74serving ceils” or “SCells.” In carrier aggregation, the anchor carrier is the carrier operating on the primary frequency (e.g., FR1) utilized by a UE 104 / 182 and the cell in which the UE 104 / 182 either performs the initial radio resource control (RRC) connection establishment procedure or initiates the RRC connection re-establishment procedure, lire primary carrier carries all common and UE-specific control channels, and may be a carrier in a licensed frequency (however, this is not always the case). A secondary carrier is a carrier operating on a second frequency (e.g., FR2) that may be configured once the RRC connection is established between the UE 104 and the anchor carrier and that may be used to provide additional radio resources. In some cases, the secondary carrier may be a carrier in an unlicensed frequency. The secondary carrier may contain only necessary signaling information and signals, for example, those that are UE-specific may not be present in the secondary carrier, since both primary uplink and downlink carriers are typically UE-specific. This means that different UEs 104 / 182 in a cell may have different downlink primary carriers. The same is true for the uplink primary carriers. The network is able to change the primary carrier of any UE 104 / 182 at any time. This is done, for example, to balance the load on different carriers. Because a “serving cell” (whether a PCell or an SCell) corresponds to a carrier frequency / component carrier over which some base station is communicating, the term “cell,” “serving cell,” “component carrier,” “carrier frequency,” and the like can be used interchangeably,

[0056] For example, still referring to FIG. 1, one of the frequencies utilized by the macro cell base stations 102 may be an anchor carrier (or “PCell”) and other frequencies utilized by the macro cell base stations 102 and / or the mmW base station 180 may be secondary carriers (“SCells”). The simultaneous transmission and / or reception of multiple carriers enables the UE 104 / 182 to significantly increase its data transmission and / or reception rates. For example, two 20 MHz aggregated carriers in a multi-carrier system would theoretically lead to a two-fold increase in data rate (i.e., 40 MHz), compared to that attained by a single 20 MHz carrier.

[0057] The wireless communications system 100 may further include a UE 164 that may communicate with a macro cell base station 102 over a communication link 120 and / or the mmW base station 180 over a mmW communication link 184. For example, the macro cell base station 102 may support a PCell and one or more SCells for the UE 164 and the mmW base station 180 may support one or more SCells for the UE 164.QC2501342WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2501342WO16 / 74

[0058] In some cases, the UE 164 and the UE 182 may be capable of sidelink communication.Sidelink-capable UEs (SL-UEs) may communicate with base stations 102 over communication links 120 using the Uu interface (i.e., the air interface between a UE and a base station). SL-UEs (e.g., UE 164, UE 182) may also communicate directly with each other over a wireless side link 160 using the PC5 interface (i.e., the air interface between sidelink-capable UEs). A wireless sidelink (or just “sidelink ’) is an adaptation of the core cellular (e.g., LTE, NR) standard that allows direct communication between two or more UEs without the communication needing to go through a base station. Sidelink communication may be unicast or multicast, and may be used for device-to-device (D2D) media-sharing, vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communication, vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communication (e.g., cellular V2X (cV2X) communication, enhanced V2X (eV2X) communication, etc.), emergency rescue applications, etc. One or more of a group of SL- UEs utilizing sidelink communications may be within the geographic coverage area 110 of a base station 102. Other SL-UEs in such a group may be outside the geographic coverage area 110 of a base station 102 or be otherwise unable to receive transmissions from a base station 102. In some cases, groups of SL-UEs communicating via sidelink communications may utilize a one-to-many (1: M) system in which each SL-UE transmits to every other SL-UE in the group. In some cases, a base station 102 facilitates the scheduling of resources for sidelink communications. In other cases, sidelink communications are carried out between SL-UEs without the involvement of a base station 102.

[0059] In some aspects, the sidelink 160 may operate over a wireless communication medium of interest, which may be shared with other wireless communications between other vehicles and / or infrastructure access points, as well as other RATs. A “medium” may be composed of one or more time, frequency, and / or space communication resources (e.g., encompassing one or more channels across one or more carriers) associated with wireless communication between one or more transmitter / receiver pairs. In some aspects, the medium of interest may correspond to at least a portion of an unlicensed frequency band shared among various RATs. Although different licensed frequency bands have been reserved for certain communication systems (e.g,, by a government entity such as the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in the United States), these systems, in particular those employing small cell access points, have recently extended operation intoQC2501342WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2501342WO17 / 74unlicensed frequency bands such as the Unlicensed National Information Infrastructure (U-NII) band used by wireless local area network (WLAN) technologies, most notably IEEE 802.1 lx WLAN technologies generally referred to as “Wi-Fi.” Example systems of this type include different variants of CDMA systems, TDMA systems, FDMA systems, orthogonal FDMA (OFDMA) systems, single-carrier FDMA (SC-FDMA) systems, and so on.

[0060] Note that although FIG. 1 only illustrates two of the UEs as SL-UEs (i.e., UEs 164 and 182), any of the illustrated UEs may be SL-UEs. Further, although only UE 182 was described as being capable of beamforming, any of the illustrated UEs, including UE 164, may be capable of beamforming. Where SL-UEs are capable of beamforming, they may beamform towards each other (i.e., towards other SL-UEs), towards other UEs (e.g., UEs 104), towards base stations (e.g., base stations 102, 180, small cell 102’, access point 150), etc. Thus, in some cases, UEs 164 and 182 may utilize beamforming over sidelink 160.

[0061] In the example of FIG. 1, any of the illustrated UEs (shown in FIG. 1 as a single UE 104 for simplicity) may receive signals 124 from one or more Earth orbiting space vehicles (SVs) 112 (e.g., satellites). In some aspects, the SVs 112 may be part of a satellite positioning system that a UE 104 can use as an independent source of location information. A satellite positioning system typically includes a system of transmitters (e.g., SVs 112) positioned to enable receivers (e.g., UEs 104) to determine their location on or above the Earth based, at least in part, on positioning signals (e.g., signals 124) received from the transmitters. Such a transmitter typically transmits a signal marked with a repeating pseudo-random noise (PN) code of a set number of chips. While typically located in SVs 112, transmitters may sometimes be located on ground-based control stations, base stations 102, and / or other UEs 104. A UE 104 may include one or more dedicated receivers specifically designed to receive signals 124 for deriving geo location information from the SVs 112.

[0062] In a satellite positioning system, the use of signals 124 can be augmented by various satellite-based augmentation systems (SBAS) that may be associated with or otherwise enabled for use with one or more global and / or regional navigation satellite systems. For example an SBAS may include an augmentation system(s) that provides integrity information, differential corrections, etc., such as the Wide Area Augmentation SystemQC2501342WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2501342WO18 / 74(WAAS), the European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service (EGNOS), the Multifunctional Satellite Augmentation System (MSAS), the Global Positioning System (GPS) Aided Geo Augmented Navigation or GPS and Geo Augmented Navigation system (GAGAN), and / or the like. Thus, as used herein, a satellite positioning system may include any combination of one or more global and / or regional navigation satellites associated with such one or more satellite positioning systems.

[0063] in some aspects, SVs 112 may additionally or alternatively be part of one or more nonterrestrial networks (NTNs), In an NTN, an SV 112 is connected to an earth station (also referred to as a ground station, NTN gateway, or gateway), which in turn is connected to an element in a 5G network, such as a modified base station 102 (without a terrestrial antenna) or a network node in a 5GC. This element would in turn provide access to other elements in the 5G network and ultimately to entities external to the 5G network, such as Internet web servers and other user devices. In that way, a UE 104 may receive communication signals (e.g., signals 124) from an SV 112 instead of, or in addition to, communication signals from a terrestrial base station 102,

[0064] The wireless communications system 100 may further include one or more UEs, such as UE 190, that connects indirectly to one or more communication netw orks via one or more device -to-de vice (D2D) peer-to-peer (P2P) links (referred to as “sidelinks”). In die example of FIG. 1, UE 190 has a D2D P2P link 192 w ith one of the UEs 104 connected to one of the base stations 102 (e.g., through which UE 190 may indirectly obtain cellular connectivity) and a D2D P2P link 194 with WLAN STA 152 connected to the WLAN AP 150 (through which UE 190 may indirectly obtain WLAN-based Internet connectivity). In an example, the D2D P2P links 192 and 194 may be supported with any well-known D2D RAT, such as LTE Direct (LTE-D), WI-FI DIRECT®, BLUETOOTH ^ and so on.

[0065] FIG. 2A illustrates an example w ireless netw ork structure 200. For example, a 5GC 210 (also referred to as a Next Generation Core (NGC)) can be viewed functionally as control plane (C-plane) functions 214 (e.g., UE registration, authentication, network access, gateway selection, etc.) and user plane (U-plane) functions 212, (e.g., UE gateway function, access to data networks, IP routing, etc.) which operate cooperatively to form the core network. User plane interface (NG-U) 213 and control plane interface (NG-C) 215 connect the gNB 222 to the 5GC 210 and specifically to the user plane functions 212QC2501342WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2501342WO19 / 74and control plane functions 214, respectively. In an additional configuration, an ng-eNB 224 may also be connected to the 5GC 210 viaNG-C 215 to the control plane functions 214 and NG-U 213 to user plane functions 212. Further, ng-eNB 224 may directly communicate with gNB 222 via a backhaul connection 223. In some configurations, a Next Generation RAN (NG-RAN) 220 may have one or more gNBs 222, while other configurations include one or more of both ng-eNBs 224 and gNBs 222. Either (or both) gNB 222 or ng-eNB 224 may communicate with one or more UEs 204 (e.g., any of the UEs described herein).

[0066] Another optional aspect may include a location server 230, which may be in communication with the 5GC 210 to provide location assistance for UE(s) 204. The location server 230 can be implemented as a plurality of separate servers (e.g., physically separate servers, different software modules on a single server, different software modules spread across multiple physical servers, etc.), or alternately may each correspond to a single server. The location server 230 can be configured to support one or more location sendees for UEs 204 that can connect to the location server 230 via the core network, 5GC 210, and / or via the Internet (not illustrated). Further, the location server 230 may be integrated into a component of the core network, or alternatively may be external to the core network (e.g., a third party server, such as an original equipment manufacturer (OEM) server or service server).

[0067] FIG. 2B illustrates another example wireless network structure 240. A 5GC 260 (which may correspond to 5GC 210 in FIG. 2A) can be viewed functionally as control plane functions, provided by an access and mobility management function (AMF) 264, and user plane functions, provided by a user plane function (UPF) 262, which operate cooperatively to form the core network (i.e., 5GC 260). Tire functions of the AMF 264 include registration management, connection management, reachability management, mobility management, lawful interception, transport for session management (SM) messages between one or more UEs 204 (e.g., any of the UEs described herein) and a session management function (SMF) 266, transparent proxy services for routing SM messages, access authentication and access authorization, transport for short message service (SMS) messages between the UE 204 and the short message service function (SMSF) (not shown), and security anchor functionality (SEAF). The AMF 264 also interacts with an authentication server function (AUSF) (not shown) and the UE 204, andQC2501342WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2501342WO20 / 74receives the intermediate key that was established as a result of the UE 204 authentication process. In the case of authentication based on a UMTS (universal mobile telecommunications system) subscriber identity module (USIM), the AMF 264 retrieves the security material from the AUSF. The functions of the AMF 264 also include security context management (SCM). The SCM receives a key from the SEAF that it uses to derive access-network specific keys. The functionality of the AMF 264 also includes location services management for regulatory services, transport for location services messages between the UE 204 and a location management function (LMF) 270 (which acts as a location server 230), transport for location services messages between the NG-RAN 220 and the LMF 270, evolved packet system (EPS) bearer identifier allocation for interworking with the EPS, and UE 204 mobility event notification. In addition, the AMF 264 also supports functionalities for non-3GPP® (Third Generation Partnership Project) access networks.

[0068] Functions of the UPF 262 include acting as an anchor point for intra / inter-RAT mobility (when applicable), acting as an external protocol data unit (PDU) session point of interconnect to a data network (not shown), providing packet routing and forwarding, packet inspection, user plane policy rule enforcement (e.g., gating, redirection, traffic steering), lawful interception (user plane collection), traffic usage reporting, quality of service (QoS) handling for the user plane (e.g,, uplink / downlink rate enforcement, reflective QoS marking in the downlink), uplink traffic verification (service data flow (SDF) to QoS flow mapping), transport level packet marking in the uplink and downlink, downlink packet buffering and downlink data notification triggering, and sending and forwarding of one or more "‘end markers” to the source RAN node, Tire UPF 262 may also support transfer of location services messages over a user plane between the UE 204 and a location server, such as an SEP 272.

[0069] Tire functions of the SMF 266 include session management, UE Internet protocol (IP) address allocation and management, selection and control of user plane functions, configuration of traffic steering at the UPF 262 to route traffic to the proper destination, control of part of policy enforcement and QoS, and downlink data notification. The interface over which the SMF 266 communicates with the AMF 264 is referred to as the N11 interface.QC2501342WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2501342WO21 / 74

[0070] Another optional aspect may include an LMF 270, which may be in communication with the 5GC 260 to provide location assistance for UEs 204. The LMF 270 can be implemented as a plurality of separate servers (e.g., physically separate servers, different software modules on a single server, different software modules spread across multiple physical servers, etc,), or alternately may each correspond to a single server. The LMF 270 can be configured to support one or more location services for UEs 204 that can connect to the LMF 270 via the core network, 5GC 260, and / or via the Internet (not illustrated). The SLP 272 may support similar functions to the LMF 270, but whereas the LMF 270 may communicate with the AMF 264, NG-RAN 220, and UEs 204 over a control plane (e.g., using interfaces and protocols intended to convey signaling messages and not voice or data), the SLP 272 may communicate with UEs 204 and external clients (e.g., third-party server 274) over a user plane (e.g., using protocols intended to cany’ voice and / or data like the transmission control protocol (TCP) and / or IP).

[0071] Yet another optional aspect may include a third-party server 274, which may be in communication with the LMF 270, the SLP 272, the 5GC 260 (e.g., via the AMF 264 and / or the UPF 262), the NG-RAN 220, and / or the UE 204 to obtain location information (e.g., a location estimate) for the UE 204. As such, in some cases, the third-party server 274 may be referred to as a location services (LCS) client or an external client, The third-party server 274 can be implemented as a plurality’ of separate servers (e.g., physically separate servers, different software modules on a single server, different software modules spread across multiple physical servers, etc.), or alternately may each correspond to a single server.

[0072] User plane interface 263 and control plane interface 265 connect the 5GC 260, and specifically the UPF 262 and AMF 264, respectively, to one or more gNBs 222 and / or ng-eNBs 224 in the NG-RAN 220. The interface between gNB(s) 222 and / or ng-eNB(s) 224 and the AMF 264 is referred to as the “N2” interface, and the interface between gNB(s) 222 and / or ng-eNB(s) 224 and the UPF 262 is referred to as the “N3” interface. The gNB(s) 222 and / or ng-eNB(s) 224 of the NG-RAN 220 may communicate directly with each other via backhaul connections 223, referred to as the “Xn-C” interface. One or more of gNBs 222 and / or ng-eNBs 224 may communicate with one or more UEs 204 over a wireless interface, referred to as the “Uu?’ interface.QC2501342WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2501342WO22 / 74

[0073] The functionality of a gNB 222 may be divided between a gNB central unit (gNB-CU) 226. one or more gNB distributed units (gNB-DUs) 228, and one or more gNB radio units (gNB-RUs) 229. A gNB-CU 226 is a logical node that includes the base station functions of transferring user data, mobility control, radio access network sharing, positioning, session management, and the like, except for those functions allocated exclusively to the gNB-DU(s) 228. More specifically, the gNB-CU 226 generally host the radio resource control (RRC), service data adaptation protocol (SDAP), and packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) protocols of the gNB 222, A gNB-DU 228 is a logical node that generally hosts the radio link control (RLC) and medium access control (MAC) layer of the gNB 222. Its operation is controlled by the gNB-CU 226. One gNB-DU 228 can support one or more cells, and one cell is supported by only one gNB-DU 228. The interface 232 between the gNB-CU 226 and the one or more gNB-DUs 228 is referred to as the “Fl” interface. The physical (PHY) layer functionality of a gNB 222 is generally hosted by one or more standalone gNB-RUs 229 that perform functions such as power amplification and signal transmission / reception. The interface between a gNB-DU 228 and a gNB-RU 229 is referred to as the “Fx” interface. Thus, a UE 204 communicates with the gNB-CU 226 via the RRC, SDAP, and PDCP layers, with a gNB-DU 228 via the RLC and MAC layers, and with a gNB-RU 229 via the PHY layer.

[0074] Deployment of communication systems, such as 5G NR systems, may be arranged in multiple manners with various components or constituent parts. In a 5G NR system, or network, a network node, a network entity, a mobility element of a netw ork, a RAN node, a core network node, a network element, or a network equipment, such as a base station, or one or more units (or one or more components) performing base station functionality, may be implemented in an aggregated or disaggregated architecture. For example, a base station (such as a Node B (NB), evolved NB (eNB), NR base station, 5G NB, AP, TRP, cell, etc.) may be implemented as an aggregated base station (also known as a standalone base station or a monolithic base station) or a disaggregated base station.

[0075] An aggregated base station may be configured to utilize a radio protocol stack that is physically or logically integrated within a single RAN node. A disaggregated base station may be configured to utilize a protocol stack that is physically or logically distributed among two or more units (such as one or more central or centralized units (CUs), one or more distributed units (DUs), or one or more radio units (RUs)). In some aspects, a CUQC2501342WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2501342WO23 / 74may be implemented within a RAN node, and one or more DUs may be co-located with the CU, or alternatively, may be geographically or virtually distributed throughout one or multiple other RAN nodes. The DUs may be implemented to communicate with one or more RUs. Each of the CU, DU and RU also can be implemented as virtual units, i.e., a virtual central unit (V CU), a virtual distributed unit (VDU), or a virtual radio unit (VRU).

[0076] Base station-type operation or network design may consider aggregation characteristics of base station functionality. For example, disaggregated base stations may be utilized in an integrated access backhaul (IAB) network, an open radio access network (0-RAN (such as the network configuration sponsored by the O-RAN ALLIANCE®)), or a virtualized radio access network (vRAN, also known as a cloud radio access network (C- RAN)). Disaggregation may include distributing functionality across two or more units at various physical locations, as well as distributing functionality for at least one unit virtually, which can enable flexibility in network design. The various units of the disaggregated base station, or disaggregated RAN architecture, can be configured for wired or wireless communication with at least one other unit.

[0077] FIG. 2C illustrates an example disaggregated base station architecture 250, according to aspects of the disclosure. The disaggregated base station architecture 250 may include one or more central units (CUs) 280 (e.g., gNB-CU 226) that can communicate directly with a core network 267 (e.g., 5GC 210, 5GC 260) via a backhaul link, or indirectly with the core network 267 through one or more disaggregated base station units (such as a Near-Real Time (Near-RT) RAN Intelligent Controller (RIC) 259 via an E2 link, or a Non-Real Time (Non-RT) RIC 257 associated with a Service Management and Orchestration (SMO) Framework 255, or both). A CU 280 may communicate with one or more DUs 285 (e.g., gNB-DUs 228) via respective midhaul links, such as an Fl interface. The DUs 285 may communicate with one or more radio units (RUs) 287 (e.g., gNB-RUs 229) via respective fronthaul links. The RUs 287 may communicate with respective UEs 204 via one or more radio frequency (RF) access links. In some implementations, the UE 204 may be simultaneously served by multiple RUs 287.

[0078] Each of the units, i.e., the CUs 280, the DUs 285, the RUs 287, as well as the Near-RT RICs 259, the Non-RT RICs 257 and the SMO Framework 255, may include one or more interfaces or be coupled to one or more interfaces configured to receive or transmit signals, data, or information (collectively, signals) via a wired or wireless transmissionQC2501342WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2501342WO24 / 74medium. Each of the units, or an associated processor or controller providing instructions to the communication interfaces of the units, can be configured to communicate with one or more of the other units via the transmission medium. For example, the units can include a wired interface configured to receive or transmit signals over a wired transmission medium to one or more of the other units. Additionally, the units can include a wireless interface, which may include a receiver, a transmitter or transceiver (such as a RF transceiver), configured to receive or transmit signals, or both, over a wireless transmission medium to one or more of the other units,

[0079] In some aspects, the CU 280 may host one or more higher layer control functions. Such control functions can include RRC, PDCP, service data adaptation protocol (SDAP), or the like. Each control function can be implemented with an interface configured to communicate signals with other control functions hosted by the CU 280. The CU 280 maybe configured to handle user plane functionality (i.e., Central Unit -User Plane (CU- UP)), control plane functionality (i.e., Central Unit - Control Plane (CU-CP)), or a combination thereof. In some implementations, the CU 280 can be logically split into one or more CU-UP units and one or more CU-CP units. The CU-UP unit can communicate bidirectionally with the CU-CP unit via an interface, such as the El interface when implemented in an O-RAN configuration. The CU 280 can be implemented to communicate with the DU 285, as necessary, for network control and signaling.

[0080] The DU 285 may correspond to a logical unit that includes one or more base station functions to control the operation of one or more RUs 287. In some aspects, the DU 285 may host one or more of a RLC layer, a MAC layer, and one or more high PHY layers (such as modules for forward error correction (FEC) encoding and decoding, scrambling, modulation and demodulation, or the like) depending, at least in part, on a functional split, such as those defined by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP®). In some aspects, the DU 285 may further host one or more low PHY layers. Each layer (or module) can be implemented with an interface configured to communicate signals with other layers (and modules) hosted by the DU 285, or with the control functions hosted by the CU 280,

[0081] Lower-layer functionality can be implemented by one or more RUs 287. In some deployments, an RU 287, controlled by a DU 285, may correspond to a logical node thatQC2501342WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2501342WO25 / 74hosts RF processing functions, or low-PHY layer functions (such as performing fast Fourier transform (FFT), inverse FFT (iFFT), digital beamforming, physical random access channel (PRACH) extraction and filtering, or the like), or both, based at least in part on the functional split, such as a lower layer functional split. In such an architecture, the RU(s) 287 can be implemented to handle over the air (OTA) communication with one or more UEs 204. In some implementations, real-time and non-real-time aspects of control and user plane communication with the RU(s) 287 can be controlled by the corresponding DU 285. In some scenarios, this configuration can enable the DU(s) 285 and the CU 280 to be implemented in a cloud-based RAN architecture, such as a vRAN architecture.[0082j The SMO Framework 255 may be configured to support RAN deployment and provisioning of non-virtualized and virtualized network elements. For non-virtualized network elements, the SMO Framework 255 may be configured to support the deployment of dedicated physical resources for RAN coverage requirements which may be managed via an operations and maintenance interface (such as an 01 interface). For virtualized network elements, the SMO Framework 255 may be configured to interact with a cloud computing platform (such as an open cloud (O-Cloud) 269) to perform network element life cycle management (such as to instantiate virtualized network elements) via a cloud computing platform interface (such as an 02 interface). Such virtualized network elements can include, but are not limited to, CUs 280, DUs 285, RUs 287 and Near-RT RICs 259. In some implementations, the SMO Framework 255 can communicate with a hardware aspect of a 4G RAN, such as an open eNB (O-eNB) 261, via an 01 interface. Additionally, in some implementations, the SMO Framework 255 can communicate directly with one or more RUs 287 via an 01 interface. The SMO Framework 255 also may include a Non-RT RIC 257 configured to support functionality of the SMO Framework 255.

[0083] The Non-RT RIC 257 may be configured to include a logical function that enables non-real-time control and optimization of RAN elements and resources, artificial intelligence / machine learning (AI / ML) workflows including model training and updates, or policy-based guidance of applications / features in the Near-RT RIC 259, The Non-RT RIC 257 may be coupled to or communicate with (such as via an Al interface) the Near- RT RIC 259. The Near-RT RIC 259 may be configured to include a logical function thatQC2501342WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2501342WOenables near-real-time control and optimization of RAN elements and resources via data collection and actions over an interface (such as via an E2 interface) connecting one or more CUs 280, one or more DUs 285, or both, as well as an O-eNB, with the Near-RT RIC 259.

[0084] In some implementations, to generate AI / ML models to be deployed in the Near-RT RIC 259, the Non-RT RIC 257 may receive parameters or external enrichment information from external servers. Such information may be utilized by the Near-RT RIC 259 and may be received at the SMO Framework 255 or the Non-RT RIC 257 from non-network data sources or from network functions. In some examples, the Non-RT RIC 257 or the Near-RT RIC 259 may be configured to tune RAN behavior or performance. For example, the Non-RT RIC 257 may monitor long-term trends and patterns for performance and employ AI / ML models to perform corrective actions through the SMO Framework 255 (such as reconfiguration via 01) or via creation of RAN management policies (such as Al policies).

[0085] FIGS, 3A, 3B, and 3C illustrate several example components (represented by corresponding blocks) that may be incorporated into a UE 302 (which may correspond to any of the UEs described herein), a base station 304 (which may correspond to any of the base stations described herein), and a network entity 306 (which may correspond to or embody any of the network functions described herein, including the location server 230 and the LMF 270, or alternatively may be independent from the NG-RAN 220 and / or 5GC 210 / 260 infrastructure depicted in FIGS. 2 A and 2B, such as a private network) to support the operations described herein. It will be appreciated that these components may be implemented in different types of apparatuses in different implementations (e.g,, in an ASIC, in a system-on-chip (SoC), etc.). Tire illustrated components may also be incorporated into other apparatuses in a communication system. For example, other apparatuses in a system may include components similar to those described to provide similar functionality. Also, a given apparatus may contain one or more of the components. For example, an apparatus may include multiple transceiver components that enable the apparatus to operate on multiple carriers and / or communicate via different technologies.

[0086] The UE 302 and the base station 304 each include one or more wireless wide area network (WWAN) transceivers 310 and 350, respectively, providing means for communicating (e.g., means for transmitting, means for receiving, means for measuring, means for tuning,QC2501342WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2501342WO27 / 74means for refraining from transmitting, etc.) via one or more wireless communication networks (not shown), such as an NR network, an LTE network, a GSM network, and / or the like. The WWAN transceivers 310 and 350 may each be connected to one or more antennas 316 and 356, respectively, for communicating with other network nodes, such as other UEs, access points, base stations (e.g., eNBs, gNBs), etc,, via at least one designated RAT (e.g., NR, LTE, GSM, etc.) over a wireless communication medium of interest (e.g., some set of time / frequency resources in a particular frequency spectrum). The WWAN transceivers 310 and 350 may be variously configured for transmitting and encoding signals 318 and 358 (e.g., messages, indications, information, and so on), respectively, and, conversely, for receiving and decoding signals 318 and 358 (e.g., messages, indications, information, pilots, and so on), respectively, in accordance with the designated RAT. Specifically, the WAN transceivers 310 and 350 include one or more transmitters 314 and 354, respectively, for transmitting and encoding signals 318 and 358, respectively, and one or more receivers 312 and 352, respectively, for receiving and decoding signals 318 and 358, respectively,

[0087] The UE 302 and the base station 304 each also include, at least in some cases, one or more short-range wireless transceivers 320 and 360, respectively. The short-range wireless transceivers 320 and 360 may be connected to one or more antennas 326 and 366, respectively, and provide means for communicating (e.g,, means for transmitting, means for receiving, means for measuring, means for tuning, means for refraining from transmitting, etc.) with other network nodes, such as other UEs, access points, base stations, etc., via at least one designated RA T (e.g., Wi-Fi, LTE Direct, BLUETOOTH®, ZIGBEE®, Z-WAVE®, PC5, dedicated short-range communications (DSRC), wireless access for vehicular environments (WAVE), near-field communication (NFC), ultra- wideband (UWB), etc.) over a wireless communication medium of interest. The short- range wireless transceivers 320 and 360 may be variously configured for transmitting and encoding signals 328 and 368 (e.g., messages, indications, information, and so on), respectively, and, conversely, for receiving and decoding signals 328 and 368 (e.g., messages, indications, information, pilots, and so on), respectively, in accordance with the designated RAT, Specifically, the short-range wireless transceivers 320 and 360 include one or more transmitters 324 and 364, respectively, for transmitting and encoding signals 328 and 368, respectively, and one or more receivers 322 and 362, respectively,QC2501342WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2501342WO28 / 74for receiving and decoding signals 328 and 368, respectively. As specific examples, the short-range wireless transceivers 320 and 360 may be Wi-Fi transceivers, BLUETOOTH® transceivers, ZIGBEE® and / or Z-WAVE® transceivers, NFC transceivers, UWB transceivers, or vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) and / or vehicle-to- everything (V2X) transceivers,

[0088] The UE 302 and the base station 304 also include, at least in some cases, satellite signal interfaces 330 and 370, which each include one or more satellite signal receivers 332 and 372, respectively, and may optionally include one or more satellite signal transmitters 334 and 374, respectively. In some cases, the base station 304 may be a terrestrial base station that may communicate with space vehicles (e.g., space vehicles 112) via the satellite signal interface 370. In other cases, the base station 304 may be a space vehicle (or other non-terrestrial entity) that uses the satellite signal interface 370 to communicate with terrestrial networks and / or other space vehicles.

[0089] The satellite signal receivers 332 and 372 may be connected to one or more antennas 336 and 376, respectively, and may provide means for receiving and / or measuring satellite positioning / communication signals 338 and 378, respectively. Where the satellite signal receiver(s) 332 and 372 are satellite positioning system receivers, the satellite positioning / communication signals 338 and 378 may be global positioning system (GPS) signals, global navigation satellite system (GLONASS) signals, Galileo signals, Beidou signals, Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (NAVIC), Quasi-Zenith Satellite System (QZSS) signals, etc. Where the satellite signal receiver(s) 332 and 372 are non¬ terrestrial network (NTN) receivers, the satellite positioning / communication signals 338 and 378 may be communication signals (e.g,, carrying control and / or user data) originating from a 5G network. The satellite signal receiver(s) 332 and 372 may comprise any suitable hardware and / or software for receiving and processing satellite positioning / communication signals 338 and 378, respectively. The satellite signal receiver(s) 332 and 372 may request information and operations as appropriate from the other systems, and, at least in some cases, perform calculations to determine locations of the UE 302 and the base station 304, respectively, using measurements obtained by any suitable satellite positioning system algorithm,

[0090] The optional satellite signal transmitter(s) 334 and 374, when present, may be connected to the one or more antennas 336 and 376, respectively, and may provide means forQC2501342WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2501342WO29 / 74transmitting satellite positioning / communication signals 338 and 378, respectively. Where the satellite signal transmitter(s) 374 are satellite positioning system transmitters, the satellite positioning / communication signals 378 may be GPS signals, GLONASS® signals, Galileo signals, Beidou signals, NAVIC, QZSS signals, etc. Where the satellite signal transmitter(s) 334 and 374 are NTN transmitters, the satellite positioning / communication signals 338 and 378 may be communication signals (e.g., carrying control and / or user data) originating from a 5G network. The satellite signal transmitter(s) 334 and 374 may comprise any suitable hardware and / or software for transmitting satellite positioning / communication signals 338 and 378, respectively. The satellite signal transmitter(s) 334 and 374 may request information and operations as appropriate from the other systems.

[0091] The base station 304 and the network entity 306 each include one or more network transceivers 380 and 390, respectively, providing means for communicating (e.g., means for transmitting, means for receiving, etc.) with other network entities (e.g., other base stations 304, other network entities 306). For example, the base station 304 may employ the one or more network transceivers 380 to communicate with other base stations 304 or network entities 306 over one or more wired or wireless backhaul links. As another example, the network entity 306 may employ the one or more network transceivers 390 to communicate with one or more base station 304 over one or more wired or wireless backhaul links, or with other network entities 306 over one or more wired or wireless core network interfaces.

[0092] A transceiver may be configured to communicate over a wired or wireless link. A transceiver (whether a wired transceiver or a wireless transceiver) includes transmitter circuitry (e.g., transmitters 314, 324, 354, 364) and receiver circuitry (e.g., receivers 312, 322, 352, 362). A transceiver may be an integrated device (e.g., embodying transmitter circuitry and receiver circuitry in a single device) in some implementations, may comprise separate transmitter circuitry and separate receiver circuitry in some implementations, or may be embodied in other ways in other implementations. The transmitter circuitry and receiver circuitry of a wired transceiver (e.g., network transceivers 380 and 390 in some implementations) may be coupled to one or more w ired network interface ports. Wireless transmitter ci rcuitry (e.g., transmitters 314, 324, 354, 364) may include or be coupled to a plurality of antennas (e.g., antennas 316, 326, 356, 366), such as an antenna array, thatQC2501342WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2501342WO30 / 74permits the respective apparatus (e.g., UE 302, base station 304) to perform transmit “beamforming,” as described herein. Similarly, wireless receiver circuitry (e.g., receivers 312, 322, 352, 362) may include or be coupled to a plurality of antennas (e.g., antennas 316, 326, 356, 366), such as an antenna array, that permits the respective apparatus (e.g., UE 302, base station 304) to perform receive beamforming, as described herein. In some aspects, the transmitter circuitry and receiver circuitry may share the same plurality of antennas (e.g., antennas 316, 326, 356, 366), such that the respective apparatus can only receive or transmit at a given time, not both at the same time. A wireless transceiver (e.g., WWAN transceivers 310 and 350, short-range wireless transceivers 320 and 360) may also include a network listen module (NLM) or the like for performing various measurements.

[0093] As used herein, the various wireless transceivers (e.g,, transceivers 310, 320, 350, and 360, and network transceivers 380 and 390 in some implementations) and wired transceivers (e.g., network transceivers 380 and 390 in some implementations) may generally be characterized as “a transceiver,” “at least one transceiver,” or “one or more transceivers.” As such, whether a particular transceiver is a wired or wireless transceiver may be inferred from the type of communication performed. For example, backhaul communication between network devices or servers will generally relate to signaling via a wired transceiver, whereas wireless communication between a UE (e.g., UE 302) and a base station (e.g., base station 304) will generally relate to signaling via a wireless transceiver.

[0094] The UE 302, tire base station 304, and the network entity 306 also include other components that may be used in conjunction with the operations as disclosed herein. The UE 302, the base station 304, and the network entity 306 include one or more processors 342, 384, and 394, respectively, for providing functionality relating to, for example, wireless communication, and for providing other processing functionality. The processors 342, 384, and 394 may therefore provide means for processing, such as means for determining, means for calculating, means for receiving, means for transmitting, means for indicating, etc. In some aspects, the processors 342, 384, and 394 may include, for example, one or more general purpose processors, multi-core processors, central processing units (CPUs), ASICs, digital signal processors (DSPs), field programmableQC2501342WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2501342WO31 / 74gate arrays (FPGAs), other programmable logic devices or processing circuitry, or various combinations thereof.

[0095] The UE 302, the base station 304, and the network entity 306 include memory circuitry implementing memories 340, 386, and 396 (e.g., each including a memory device), respectively, for maintaining information (e.g., information indicative of reserved resources, thresholds, parameters, and so on). The memories 340, 386, and 396 may therefore provide means for storing, means for retrieving, means for maintaining, etc. in some cases, the UE 302, the base station 304, and the network entity 306 may include positioning / sensing component 348, 388, and 398, respectively. The positioning / sensing component 348, 388, and 398 may be hardware circuits that are part of or coupled to the processors 342, 384, and 394, respectively, that, when executed, cause the UE 302, the base station 304, and the network entity 306 to perform the functionality described herein. In other aspects, the positioning / sensing component 348, 388, and 398 may be external to the processors 342, 384, and 394 (e.g., part of a modem processing system, integrated with another processing system, etc.). Alternatively, the positioning / sensing component 348, 388, and 398 may be memory modules stored in the memories 340, 386, and 396, respectively, that, when executed by the processors 342, 384, and 394 (or a modem processing system, another processing system, etc.), cause the UE 302, the base station 304, and the network entity 306 to perform the functionality described herein. FIG. 3A illustrates possible locations of the positioning / sensing component 348, which may be, for example, part of the one or more WWAN transceivers 310, the memory 340, the one or more processors 342, or any combination thereof, or may be a standalone component. FIG. 3B illustrates possible locations of the positioning / sensing component 388, which may be, for example, part of the one or more WWAN transceivers 350, the memory 386, the one or more processors 384, or any combination thereof, or may be a standalone component. FIG. 3C illustrates possible locations of the positioning / sensing component 398, which may be, for example, part of the one or more network transceivers 390, the memory 396, the one or more processors 394, or any combination thereof, or may be a standalone component.

[0096] The UE 302 may include one or more sensors 344 coupled to the one or more processors 342 to provide means for sensing or detecting movement and / or orientation information that is independent of motion data derived from signals received by the one or moreQC2501342WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2501342WO32 / 74WWAN transceivers 310, the one or more short-range wireless transceivers 320, and / or the satellite signal interface 330. By way of example, the sensor(s) 344 may include an accelerometer (e.g., a micro-electrical mechanical systems (MEMS) device), a gyroscope, a geomagnetic sensor (e.g., a compass), an altimeter (e.g., a barometric pressure altimeter), and / or any other type of movement detection sensor. Moreover, the sensor(s) 344 may include a plurality of different types of devices and combine their outputs in order to provide motion information. For example, the sensor(s) 344 may use a combination of a multi-axis accelerometer and orientation sensors to provide the ability to compute positions in two-dimensional (2D) and / or three-dimensional (3D) coordinate systems.

[0097] In addition, the UE 302 includes a user interface 346 providing means for providing indications (e.g., audible and / or visual indications) to a user and / or for receiving user input (e.g., upon user actuation of a sensing device such a keypad, a touch screen, a microphone, and so on). Although not shown, the base station 304 and the network entity 306 may also include user interfaces,

[0098] Referring to the one or more processors 384 in more detail, in the downlink, IP packets from the network entity 306 may be provided to the processor 384. The one or more processors 384 may implement functionality for an RRC layer, a packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) layer, a radio link control (RLC) layer, and a medium access control (MAC) layer. The one or more processors 384 may provide RRC layer functionality associated with broadcasting of system information (e.g., master information block (MIB), system information blocks (SIBs)), RRC connection control (e.g., RRC connection paging, RRC connection establishment, RRC connection modification, and RRC connection release), inter-RAT mobility, and measurement configuration for UE measurement reporting; PDCP layer functionality associated with header compression / decompression, security (ciphering, deciphering, integrity’ protection, integrity verification), and handover support functions; RLC layer functionality associated with the transfer of upper layer PDUs, error correction through automatic repeat request (ARQ), concatenation, segmentation, and reassembly of RLC service data units (SDUs), re-segmentation of RLC data PDUs, and reordering of RLC data PDUs; and MAC layer functionality associated with mapping between logical channels andQC2501342WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2501342WO33 / 74transport channels, scheduling information reporting, error correction, priority handling, and logical channel prioritization.

[0099] The transmitter 354 and the receiver 352 may implement Layer-1 (LI) functionality associated with various signal processing functions. Layer-1, which includes a physical (PHY) layer, may include error detection on the transport channels, forward error correction (FEC) coding / decoding of the transport channels, interleaving, rate matching, mapping onto physical channels, modulation / demodulation of physical channels, and MIMO antenna processing. The transmitter 354 handles mapping to signal constellations based on various modulation schemes (e.g., binary phase-shift keying (BPSK), quadrature phase-shift keying (QPSK), M-phase-shift keying (M-PSK), M-quadrature amplitude modulation (M-QAM)). The coded and modulated symbols may then be split into parallel streams. Each stream may then be mapped to an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) subcarrier, multiplexed with a reference signal (e.g., pilot) in the time and / or frequency domain, and then combined together using an inverse fast Fourier transform (IFFT) to produce a physical channel carrying a time domain OFDM symbol stream. The OFDM symbol stream is spatially precoded to produce multiple spatial streams. Channel estimates from a channel estimator may be used to determine the coding and modulation scheme, as well as for spatial processing. The channel estimate may be derived from a reference signal and / or channel condition feedback transmitted by the UE 302. Each spatial stream may then be provided to one or more different antennas 356. The transmitter 354 may modulate an RF carrier with a respective spatial stream for transmission.

[0100] At the UE 302, the receiver 312 receives a signal through its respective antenna(s) 316.The receiver 312 recovers information modulated onto an RF carrier and provides the information to the one or more processors 342. The transmitter 314 and the receiver 312 implement Layer- 1 functionality associated with various signal processing functions. The receiver 312 may perform spatial processing on the information to recover any spatial streams destined for the UE 302. If multiple spatial streams are destined for the UE 302, they may be combined by the receiver 312 into a single OFDM symbol stream. The receiver 312 then converts the OFDM symbol stream from the time-domain to the frequency domain using a fast Fourier transform (FFT). The frequency domain signal comprises a separate OFDM symbol stream for each subcarrier of the OFDM signal. TheQC2501342WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2501342WO34 / 74symbols on each subcarrier, and the reference signal, are recovered and demodulated by determining the most likely signal constellation points transmitted by the base station 304. These soft decisions may be based on channel estimates computed by a channel estimator. The soft decisions are then decoded and de-interleaved to recover the data and control signals that were originally transmitted by the base station 304 on the physical channel. The data and control signals are then provided to the one or more processors 342, which implements Layer-3 (L3) and Layer-2 (L2) functionality.

[0101] In the downlink, the one or more processors 342 provides demultiplexing between transport and logical channels, packet reassembly, deciphering, header decompression, and control signal processing to recover IP packets from the core network. The one or more processors 342 are also responsible for error detection.

[0102] Similar to the functionality described in connection with the downlink transmission by the base station 304, the one or more processors 342 provides RRC layer functionality associated with system information (e.g., MIB, SIBs) acquisition, RRC connections, and measurement reporting; PDCP layer functionality associated with header compression / decompression, and security (ciphering, deciphering, integrity protection, integrity verification); RLC layer functionality associated with the transfer of upper layer PDUs, error correction through ARQ, concatenation, segmentation, and reassembly of RLC SDUs, re-segmentation of RLC data PDUs, and reordering of RLC data PDUs; and MAC layer functionality associated with mapping between logical channels and transport channels, multiplexing of MAC SDUs onto transport blocks (TBs), demultiplexing of MAC SDUs from TBs, scheduling information reporting, error correction through hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ), priority handling, and logical channel prioritization,

[0103] Channel estimates derived by the channel estimator from a reference signal or feedback transmitted by the base station 304 may be used by the transmitter 314 to select tire appropriate coding and modulation schemes, and to facilitate spatial processing. The spatial streams generated by the transmitter 314 may be provided to different antenna(s) 316. The transmitter 314 may modulate an RF carrier with a respective spatial stream for transmission.

[0104] The uplink transmission is processed at the base station 304 in a manner similar to that described in connection with the receiver function at the UE 302. The receiver 352 receives a signal through its respective antenna(s) 356. The receiver 352 recoversQC2501342WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2501342WO35 / 74information modulated onto an RF carrier and provides the information to the one or more processors 384.

[0105] In the uplink, the one or more processors 384 provides demultiplexing between transport and logical channels, packet reassembly, deciphering, header decompression, control signal processing to recover IP packets from the UE 302. IP packets from the one or more processors 384 may be provided to the core network. The one or more processors 384 are also responsible for error detection.

[0106] For convenience, the UE 302, the base station 304, and / or the network entity 306 are shown in FIGS. 3A, 3B, and 3C as including various components that may be configured according to the various examples described herein. It will be appreciated, however, that the illustrated components may have different functionality in different designs. In particular, various components in FIGS. 3A to 3C are optional in alternative configurations and the various aspects include configurations that may vary due to design choice, costs, use of the device, or other considerations. For example, in case of FIG. 3A, a particular implementation of UE 302 may omit the WWAN transceiver(s) 310 (e.g., a wearable device or tablet computer or personal computer (PC) or laptop may have Wi-Fi and / or BLUETOOTH®1capability without cellular capability), or may omit the short- range wireless transceiver(s) 320 (e.g., cellular-only, etc.), or may omit the satellite signal interface 330, or may omit the sensor(s) 344, and so on. In another example, in case of FIG. 3B, a particular implementation of the base station 304 may omit the WWAN transceiver(s) 350 (e.g., a Wi-Fi ‘"hotspot” access point without cellular capability), or may omit the short-range wireless transceiver(s) 360 (e.g., cellular-only, etc.), or may omit the satellite signal interface 370, and so on. For brevity, illustration of the various alternative configurations is not provided herein, but would be readily understandable to one skilled in the art.

[0107] Hie various components of the UE 302, the base station 304, and the network entity 306 may be communicatively coupled to each other over data buses 308, 382, and 392, respectively, in some aspects, the data buses 308, 382, and 392 may form, or be part of, a communication interface of the UE 302, the base station 304, and the network entity 306, respectively. For example, where different logical entities are embodied in the same device (e.g., gNB and location server functionality incorporated into the same base station 304), the data buses 308, 382, and 392 may provide communication between them.QC2501342WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2501342WO36 / 74

[0108] The components of FIGS. 3A, 3B, and 3C may be implemented in various ways. In some implementations, the components of FIGS. 3A, 3B, and 3C may be implemented in one or more circuits such as, for example, one or more processors and / or one or more ASICs (which may include one or more processors). Here, each circuit may use and / or incorporate at least one memory component for storing information or executable code used by tire circuit to provide this functionality. For example, some or all of the functionality represented by blocks 310 to 346 may be implemented by processor and memory component(s) of the UE 302 (e.g., by execution of appropriate code and / or by appropriate configuration of processor components). Similarly, some or all of the functionality represented by blocks 350 to 388 may be implemented by processor and memory component(s) of the base station 304 (e.g., by execution of appropriate code and / or by appropriate configuration of processor components). Also, some or all of the functionality represented by blocks 390 to 398 may be implemented by processor and memory component(s) of the network entity 306 (e.g., by execution of appropriate code and / or by appropriate configuration of processor components). For simplicity, various operations, acts, and / or functions are described herein as being performed “by a UE,” “by a base station,” “by a network entity,” etc. However, as will be appreciated, such operations, acts, and / or functions may actually be performed by specific components or combinations of components of the UE 302, base station 304, network entity 306, etc., such as the processors 342, 384, 394, the transceivers 310, 320, 350, and 360, the memories 340, 386, and 396, the positioning / sensing component 348, 388, and 398, etc.

[0109] In some designs, the network entity 306 may be implemented as a core network component. In other designs, the network entity 306 may be distinct from a network operator or operation of the cellular network infrastructure (e.g., NG RAN 220 and / or 5GC 210 / 260). For example, the network entity 306 may be a component of a private network that may be configured to communicate with the UE 302 via the base station 304 or independently from the base station 304 (e.g., over a non-cellular communication link, such as Wi-Fi).

[0110] Wireless communication signals (e.g., radio frequency (RF) signals configured to carry orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbols in accordance with a wireless communications standard, such as LTE, NR, etc.) transmitted between a UE and a base station can be used for environment sensing (also referred to as “RF sensing” orQC2501342WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2501342WO37 / 74"‘wireless sensing”). Using wireless communication signals for environment sensing can be regarded as consumer-level wireless sensing with advanced detection capabilities that enable, among other things, touchless / device-free interaction with a device / system. The wireless communication signals may be cellular communication signals, such as LTE or NR signals, WLAN signals, such as Wi-Fi signals, etc. As a particular example, the wireless communication signals may be an OFDM waveform as utilized in LTE and NR. High-frequency communication signals, such as millimeter wave (mmW) RF signals, are especially beneficial to use as sensing signals because the higher frequency provides, at least, more accurate range (distance) detection.

[0111] Possible use cases of RF sensing include health monitoring use cases, such as heartbeat detection, respiration rate monitoring, and the like, gesture recognition use cases, such as human activity recognition, keystroke detection, sign language recognition, and the like, contextual information acquisition use cases, such as location detection / tracking, direction finding, range estimation, and the like, and automotive sensing use cases, such as smart cruise control, collision avoidance, and the like,

[0112] There are different types of sensing, including monostatic sensing (also referred to as “active sensing”) and bistatic sensing (also referred to as “passive sensing”). FIGS. 4A and 4B illustrate these different types of sensing. Specifically, FIG. 4A is a diagram 400 illustrating a monostatic sensing scenario and FIG, 4B is a diagram 430 illustrating a bistatic sensing scenario. In FIG. 4A, the transmitter (Tx) and receiver (Rx) are co¬ located in the same sensing device 404 (e.g., a UE). The sensing device 404 transmits one or more RF sensing signals 434 (e.g., uplink or sidelink positioning reference signals (PRS) where the sensing device 404 is a UE), and some of the RF sensing signals 434 reflect off a target object 406 (e.g., an aerial UE). The sensing device 404 can measure various properties (e.g., times of arrival (ToAs), angles of arrival (AoAs), phase shift, etc.) of the reflections 436 of the RF sensing signals 434 to determine characteristics of the target object 406 (e.g., size, shape, speed, motion state, etc.).

[0113] In FIG. 4B, the transmitter (Tx) and receiver (Rx) are not co-located, that is, they are separate devices (e.g., a UE and a base station). Note that while FIG. 4B illustrates using a downlink RF signal as the RF sensing signal 432, uplink RF signals or sidelink RF signals can also be used as RF sensing signals 432. In a downlink scenario, as shown, the transmitter device 402 is a base station (e.g., a gNB) and the receiver device 408 is a UEQC2501342WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2501342WO38 / 74(e.g., a mobile phone, a V2X-capable vehicle, a roadside unit (RSU), etc,), whereas in an uplink scenario, the transmitter device 402 is a UE and the receiver device 408 is a base station. Where the transmitter device 402 is a base station and the receiver device 408 a UE, the sensing is referred to as UE-assisted sensing. In UE-assisted sensing, the position of receiver device 408 should be known by the network (e.g., by GPS or other UE positioning method).

[0114] Referring to FIG. 4B in greater detail, the transmitter device 402 transmits RF sensing signals 432 and 434 (e.g., positioning reference signals (PRS)) to the receiver device 408, but some of the RF sensing signals 434 reflect off a target object 406. The receiver device 408 (also referred to as the “sensing device”) can measure the times of arrival (ToAs) of the RF' sensing signals 432 received directly from the transmitter device 402 and the ToAs of the reflections 436 of the RF sensing signals 434 reflected from the target object 406.

[0115] More specifically, as described above, a transmitter device (e.g., a base station) may transmit a single RF signal or multiple RF signals to a receiver device (e.g., a UE). However, the receiver may recei ve multiple RF signals corresponding to each transmitted RF signal due to the propagation characteristics of RF signals through multipath channels. Each path may be associated with a cluster of one or more channel taps. Generally, the time at which the receiver detects the first cluster of channel taps is considered the ToA of the RF signal on the line-of-sight (LOS) path (i.e., the shortest path between the transmitter and the receiver). Later clusters of channel taps are considered to have reflected off objects between the transmitter and the receiver and therefore to have followed non-LOS (NLOS) paths between the transmitter and the receiver.

[0116] Thus, referring back to FIG. 4B, the RF sensing signals 432 followed the LOS path between the transmitter device 402 and the receiver device 408, and the RF sensing signals 434 followed an NLOS path between the transmitter device 402 and tire receiver device 408 due to reflecting off the target object 406. The transmitter device 402 may have transmitted multiple RF sensing signals 432, 434, some of w'hich followed the LOS path and others of which follow ed the NLOS path. Alternatively, the transmitter device 402 may have transmitted a single RF' sensing signal in a broad enough beam that a portion of the RF sensing signal followed the LOS path (RF sensing signal 432) and a portion of the RF sensing signal followed the NLOS path (RF sensing signal 434).QC2501342WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2501342WO39 / 74

[0117] Based on the ToA of the LOS path, the ToA of the NLOS path, and the speed of light, the receiver device 408 can determine the distance to the target object(s). For example, the receiver device 408 can calculate the distance to the target object as the difference between the ToA of the LOS path and the ToA of the NLOS path multiplied by the speed of light. In addition, if the receiver device 408 is capable of receive beamforming, the receiver device 408 may be able to determine the general direction to a target object 406 as the direction (angle) of the receive beam on which the RF sensing signal following the NLOS path was received. That is, the receiver device 408 may determine the direction to the target object 406 as the AoA of the RF sensing signal, which is the angle of the receive beam used to receive the RF sensing signal. The receiver device 408 may then optionally report this information to the transmitter device 402, its serving base station, an application server associated with the core network, an external client, a third-party application, or some other sensing entity. Alternatively, the receiver device 408 may report the ToA measurements to the transmitter device 402, or other sensing entity (e.g., if the receiver device 408 does not have the processing capability to perform the calculations itself), and the transmitter device 402 may determine the distance and, optionally, the direction to the target object 406.

[0118] Note that if the RF sensing signals are uplink RF signals transmitted by a UE to a base station, the base station would perform object detection based on the uplink RF signals just like the UE does based on the downlink RF signals.

[0119] Like conventional wireless sensing, wireless communication-based sensing signals can be used to estimate the range (distance), velocity (Doppler), and angle (AoA) of a target object. However, the performance (e.g., resolution and maximum values of range, velocity, and angle) may depend on the design of the reference signal.

[0120] FIGS. 5 A to 5F illustrate various example monostatic and bistatic sensing use cases, according to aspects of the disclosure. In FIG. 5A, a gNB1-to-gNB1 monostatic sensing use case 500 is depicted. In FIG. 5B, a UEl-to-UEl monostatic sensing use case 510 is depicted. In FIG. 5C, a gNB1-to-gNB2 bistatic sensing use case 520 is depicted. In FIG.5D, agNBl-to-UEl bistatic sensing use case 530 is depicted. In FIG. 5E, a UE1-to-gNB1 bistatic sensing use case 540 is depicted. In FIG. 5F, a UE1-to-UE2 bistatic sensing use case 550 is depicted.QC2501342WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2501342WO40 / 74

[0121] FIG. 6 illustrates an example call flow 600 for an NR-based sensing procedure (e.g,, a bistatic sensing procedure) in which the network configures the sensing parameters, according to aspects of the disclosure. Although FIG. 6 illustrates a network-coordinated sensing procedure, the sensing procedure could be coordinated over sidelink channels.

[0122] At stage 605, a sensing server 670 (e.g., inside or outside the core network) sends a request for network (NW) information to a gNB 622 (e.g., the serving gNB of a UE 604). The request may be for a list of the UE’s 604 serving cell and any neighboring cells. At stage 610, the gNB 622 sends the requested information to the sensing server 670. At stage 615, the sensing server 670 sends a request for sensing capabilities to the UE 604. At stage 620, the UE 604 provides its sensing capabilities to the sensing server 670.

[0123] At stage 625, the sensing server 670 sends a configuration to the UE 604 indicating one or more reference signal (RS) resources that will be transmitted for sensing, Tire reference signal resources may be transmitted by the serving and / or neighboring cells identified at stage 610. In some cases, the NR-based sensing procedure illustrated in FIG.6 may be a sensing-only procedure or a joint communication and sensing (JCS) procedure. In the case of a sensing -only procedure, the reference signal resources may be reference signal resources specifically configured for sensing purposes. In the case of a JCS procedure, the reference signal resources may be reference signal resources for communication that can also be used for sensing purposes. Alternatively, the reference signal resources for sensing may be multiplexed (e.g., time-division multiplexed) with reference signal resources for communication. For example, the reference signal resources for communication may be an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) waveform, while the reference signal resources for sensing may be a frequency modulation continuous wave (FMCW) waveform.

[0124] At stage 630, the sensing server 670 sends a request for sensing information to the UE 604, The UE 604 then measures the transmitted reference signals and, at stage 635, sends the measurements, or any sensing results determined from the measurements, to the sensing server 670.

[0125] In some aspects, the communication between the UE 604 and the sensing server 670 may be via the LTE positioning protocol (LPP). The communication between the sensing server 670 and the gNB may be via NR positioning protocol type A (NRPPa).QC2501342WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2501342WO41 / 74

[0126] NR supports a number of cellular network-based positioning technologies, including downlink-based, uplink-based, and downlink-and-uplink-based positioning methods. Downlink-based positioning methods include observed time difference of arrival (OTDOA) in LTE, downlink time difference of arrival (DL-TDOA) in NR, and downlink angle-of-departure (DL-AoD) in NR. FIG. 7 illustrates examples of various positioning methods, according to aspects of the disclosure. In an OTDOA or DL-TDOA positioning procedure, illustrated by scenario 710, a UE measures the differences between the times of arrival (ToAs) of reference signals (e.g., positioning reference signals (PRS)) received from pairs of base stations, referred to as reference signal time difference (RSTD) or time difference of arrival (TDOA) measurements, and reports them to a positioning entity. More specifically, the UE receives the identifiers (IDs) of a reference base station (e.g., a serving base station) and multiple non-reference base stations in assistance data. The UE then measures the RSTD between the reference base station and each of the non-reference base stations. Based on the known locations of the involved base stations and the RSTD measurements, the positioning entity (e.g., the UE for UE-based positioning or a location server for UE-assisted positioning) can estimate the UE’s location.

[0127] For DL-AoD positioning, illustrated by scenario 720, the positioning entity uses a measurement report from the UE of received signal strength measurements of multiple downlink transmit beams to determine the angle(s) between the UE and the transmitting base station(s). The positioning entity can then estimate the location of tire UE based on the determined angle(s) and the known location(s) of the transmitting base station(s).

[0128] Uplink-based positioning methods include uplink time difference of arrival (UL-TDOA) and uplink angle -of-arrival (UL-AoA). UL-TDOA is similar to DL-TDOA, but is based on uplink reference signals (e.g., sounding reference signals (SRS)) transmitted by the UE to multiple base stations. Specifically, a UE transmits one or more uplink reference signals that are measured by a reference base station and a plurality of non-reference base stations. Each base station then reports the reception time (referred to as the relative time of arrival (RTOA)) of tire reference signal(s) to a positioning entity (e.g., a location server) that knows the locations and relative timing of the involved base stations. Based on the reception-to-reception (Rx-Rx) time difference between the reported RTOA of the reference base station and the reported RTOA of each non-reference base station, theQC2501342WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2501342WO42 / 74known locations of the base stations, and their known timing offsets, the positioning entity can estimate the location of the UE using TDOA.

[0129] For UL-AoA positioning, one or more base stations measure the received signal strength of one or more uplink reference signals (e.g., SRS) received from a UE on one or more uplink receive beams. Tire positioning entity’ uses the signal strength measurements and the angle(s) of the receive beam(s) to determine the angle(s) between the UE and the base station(s). Based on the determined angle(s) and the known location(s) of the base station(s), the positioning entity can then estimate the location of the UE.

[0130] Downlink-and-uplink-based positioning methods include enhanced cell-ID (E-CID) positioning and multi-round-trip-time (RTT) positioning (also referred to as “multi-cell RTT” and “multi-RTT”). In an RTT procedure, a first entity (e.g., a base station or a UE) transmits a first RTT-related signal (e.g., a PRS or SRS) to a second entity' (e.g., a UE or base station), which transmits a second RTT-related signal (e.g., an SRS or PRS) back to the first entity. Each entity measures the time difference between the time of arrival (ToA) of the received RTT-related signal and the transmission time of the transmitted RTT-related signal. This time difference is referred to as a reception-to-transmission (Rx- Tx) time difference. The Rx-Tx time difference measurement may be made, or may be adjusted, to include only a time difference between nearest slot boundaries for tire received and transmitted signals. Both entities may then send their Rx-Tx time difference measurement to a location server (e.g., an LMF 270), which calculates the round trip propagation time (i.e., RTT) between the two entities from the two Rx-Tx time difference measurements (e.g., as the sum of the two Rx-Tx time difference measurements). Alternatively, one entity may send its Rx-Tx time difference measurement to the other entity, which then calculates tire RTT. The distance between the two entities can be determined from the RTT and the known signal speed (e.g., the speed of light). For multi- RTT positioning, illustrated by scenario 730, a first entity’ (e.g., a UE or base station) performs an RTT positioning procedure w'ith multiple second entities (e.g., multiple base stations or UEs) to enable the location of the first entity to be determined (e.g., using multilateration) based on distances to, and the known locations of, the second entities. RTT and multi-RTT methods can be combined w'ith other positioning techniques, such as UL-AoA and DL-AoD, to improve location accuracy, as illustrated by scenario 740.QC2501342WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2501342WO43 / 74

[0131] The E-CID positioning method is based on radio resource management (RRM) measurements. In E-CID, the UE reports the serving cell ID, the timing advance (TA), and the identifiers, estimated timing, and signal strength of detected neighbor base stations. The location of the UE is then estimated based on this information and the known locations of the base station(s),

[0132] To assist positioning operations, a location server (e.g., location server 230, LMF 270, SLP 272) may provide assistance data to the UE. For example, the assistance data may include identifiers of the base stations (or the cells / TRPs of the base stations) from which to measure reference signals, the reference signal configuration parameters (e.g., the number of consecutive slots including PRS, periodicity of the consecutive slots including PRS, muting sequence, frequency hopping sequence, reference signal identifier, reference signal bandwidth, etc.), and / or other parameters applicable to the particular positioning method. Alternatively, the assistance data may originate directly from the base stations themselves (e.g., in periodically broadcasted overhead messages, etc.). In some cases, the UE may be able to detect neighbor network nodes itself without the use of assistance data,

[0133] In the case of an OTDOA or DL-TDOA positioning procedure, tire assistance data may further include an expected RSTD value and an associated uncertainty, or search window, around the expected RSTD In some cases, the value range of the expected RSTD may be + / - 500 microseconds (ps). In some cases, when any of the resources used for the positioning measurement are in FR1, the value range for the uncertainty of the expected RSTD may be + / - 32 µs. In other cases, when all of the resources used for the positioning measurement(s) are in FR2, the value range for the uncertainty of the expected RSTD may be + / - 8 ps.

[0134] A location estimate may be referred to by other names, such as a position estimate, location, position, position fix, fix, or the like. A location estimate may be geodetic and comprise coordinates (e.g., latitude, longitude, and possibly altitude) or may be civic and comprise a street address, postal address, or some other verbal description of a location. A location estimate may further be defined relative to some other known location or defined in absolute terms (e.g., using latitude, longitude, and possibly altitude). A location estimate may include an expected error or uncertainty (e.g., by including an area or volume within -which the location is expected to be included with some specified or default level of confidence).QC2501342WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2501342WO44 / 74

[0135] In some aspects, aerial UEs may be used for enhanced sensing and positioning in a wireless network. For example, in addition to providing sensing measurements, aerial UEs may serve as anchors for positioning and / or sensing measurements. The RF interference profiles of aerial UEs may be highly dynamic and much different from typical ground-based UEs due to dynamic changes in their antenna beamforming and / or tilting configurations. The antenna beams of aerial UEs may change rapidly due to their vertical and horizontal mobility. Thus, the RF emission levels of aerial UEs may be restricted to reduce interference with other transmit / receive nodes in the network.

[0136] In some aspects, a relaxation of the RF emission level of an aerial UE may be allowed if the interference caused by the RF emission is relatively small while the aerial UE is involved in a positioning or sensing operation. In some implementations, a network entity (e.g., a gNB, an LMF, or a sensing management function (SnMF)) may configure a relaxation or a tightening of emission control for the aerial UE to perform one or more positioning or sensing operations. In some implementations, the aerial UE may autonomously relax or tighten its emission relaxation or tightening based on predefined or preconfigured conditions related to positioning or sensing operations.

[0137] FIG. 8 illustrates an example of a wireless network with aerial UEs serving as sensing or positioning nodes, according to aspects of tire disclosure. In the example illustrated in FIG. 8, a base station 802 (e.g., a gNB or TRP) may serve as a fixed ground-based sensing or positioning node. In this example, the base station 802 has a height (HBS) of about 25 meters. Also shown in FIG. 8 is a terrestrial UE (TUE) 804 (e.g., a handheld mobile device) that has a height (HTUE) of about 1.5 meters, lire TUE 804 may also serve as a sensing or positioning node.

[0138] In the example shown in FIG. 8, a first aerial UE 806, which may serve as an aerial sensing or positioning node, may be flying at a height (HAUE) in the range of about 1.5 meters to about 300 meters. Likewise, a second aerial UE 808 may also serve as an aerial sensing or positioning node flying at various heights. Various types of target objects may be sensed in a given environment. For example, aerial objects such as another aerial UE 810 and an animal 812 may be target objects for sensing, as shown in FIG. 8.

[0139] In some aspects, aerial UEs may perform monostatic, bistatic, or multistatic sensing operations. In the example illustrated in FIG. 8, the second aerial UE 808 may perform a monostatic sensing operation on the aerial UE 810, and may also serve as a transmitQC2501342WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2501342WO45 / 74sensing node for bistatic sensing operations in which the base station 802 and / or the TUE 804 may serve as receive sensing nodes.

[0140] In typical situations, an aerial UE flying at a greater height from the ground may have a higher probability of being within the line of sight (LOS) of ground-based sensing or positioning nodes (e.g., base stations and / or TUEs), Depending on the terrain and the presence of building, trees, or other obstacles in a given environment, an aerial UE may have a 100% probability of LOS if it is flying above a certain threshold height. On the other hand, if the aerial UE is flying below that threshold height, there may be a non-zero probability that the aerial UE is not in LOS of ground-based sensing or positioning nodes.

[0141] FIG. 9 illustrates an example of a spectral mask for an out-of-band (OOB) emission requirement for aerial UE positioning or sensing operations, according to aspects of tire disclosure. In the example illustrated in FIG. 9, the horizontal axis represents the frequency while the vertical axis represents the power spectral density (e.g., in units of dBm / MHz, i.e., power in milliwatt decibels (dBm) per million cycles per second (MHz)). In the example shown in FIG. 9, an OOB limit is imposed by an adjacent band 902 at a higher frequency spectrum than a frequency band 904 that is allocated for positioning or sensing operations by aerial UEs. Additionally or alternatively, there may be another adjacent band at a lower frequency spectrum that may also impose an OOB limit.

[0142] In some aspects, the PRSs for positioning or sensing operations by aerial UEs may be assigned different PRS states within the frequency band 904. In some aspects, each PRS state may correspond to a distinct power spectral density range. In the example illustrated in FIG. 9, a first PRS state (denoted as “Aerial UE PRS State 1”) corresponds to a first power spectral density block 906, a second PRS state (denoted as “Aerial UE PRS State 2”) corresponds to a second power spectral density block 908, and an Mth PRS state (denoted as “Aerial UE PRS State M”) corresponds to an Mth power spectral density¬ block 910.

[0143] In this example, assuming that the baseline power spectral density is -60 dBm / MHz for aerial UE positioning or sensing operations, the upper limit of power spectral density for State 1 is -60+X1 dBm / MHz, the upper limit of power spectral density for State 2 is - 60+X2 dBm / MHz, and the upper limit of power spectral density for State M is -60+Xm dBm / MHz, where XI, X2,... Xm are predetermined fixed numbers. In some aspects, an aerial UE may dynamically switch between these states (e.g., State 1, State 2,... State M)QC2501342WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2501342WO46 / 74for PRS transmissions based on an indication of whether its emission control is relaxed or tightened.

[0144] FIG. 10 illustrates an example of limits on frequency spectrum and power spectral density for aerial UE positioning or sensing operations, according to aspects of the disclosure. In the example illustrated in FIG. 10, the horizontal axis represents the frequency while the vertical axis represents the power spectral density. In some situations, one or more nodes in the wireless network (e.g., one or more TUEs) may be transmitting uplink communication and / or positioning or sensing signals in an uplink cellular spectrum. In the example shown in FIG. 10, one or more TUEs may be transmitting uplink signals using some or all of the resources within a cellular spectrum with a power spectral density- represented by block 1002.

[0145] In some aspects, the PRSs for positioning or sensing operations by aerial UEs may share some of the spectral and power spectral density resources used by the TUEs for transmitting uplink communication and / or positioning or sensing signals, in the example illustrated in FIG, 10, a first PRS state (denoted as “Aerial UE PRS State 1”) represented by block 1004 may occupy the entire uplink cellular spectrum used by TUEs but only a portion of the power spectral density. A second PRS state (denoted as “Aerial UE PRS State 2”) represented by block 1006 and a third PRS state (denoted as “Aerial UE PRS State 3”) represented by block 1008 may occupy different portions of the uplink cellular spectrum with the same portion of power spectral density.

[0146] Spectral and power spectral density resources for aerial UE positioning or sensing operations may be allocated in various manners to avoid conflict or interference with signal transmissions by other nodes (e.g., TUEs) within the scope of the disclosure. In some aspects, an aerial UE may dynamically switch between these states (e.g., State 1, State 2, State 3) for PRS transmissions based on an indication of whether its emission control is relaxed or tightened,

[0147] In some aspects, aerial UEs may include various types of vehicles that may travel between different heights and different horizontal locations. In some aspects, relaxation and / or tightening of RF emission levels for the transmission of positioning or sensing reference signals (e.g., PRSs) by aerial UEs may- depend on one or more of the following factors:« Location of the aerial UE (e.g., height, aerial segment and / or area information);• Reference signal periodicity, repetition and / or duty' cycle;QC2501342WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2501342WO47 / 74• Reference signal bandwidth information;® Number of aerial and / or terrestrial UEs that are transmitting reference signals in an area of interest;• Priority of positioning and / or sensing operations relative to other sendees and network activities (e.g., data transmissions, voice calls, etc.);• Sharing of channel(s) in which the reference signals are transmitted (e.g., whether the reference signals use dedicated resources or shared resources);• Transmission scheme of reference signals (e.g,, measurement gap (MG) or PRS processing window (PPW)); and / or• Frequency band or positioning frequency layer (PFL) (e.g., FR1, FR3, FR2, or FR2-2x frequency bands).

[0148] Tire above-listed factors are examples of factors that may be considered in determining the relaxation or tightening of emission control for aerial UEs in positioning or sensing operations. Other positioning or sensing related factors may be considered in addition or as alternatives to the above-listed factors within the scope of the disclosure,

[0149] In some aspects, an aerial UE may be allowed to transmit reference signals for positioning or sensing operations in one of the emission states (e.g., one of the PRS emission states as shown in FIG. 9 or 10 and described above). In some aspects, the aerial UE may switch between these emission states which may be predefined (e.g., as specified in one or more specifications) or configured by the network (e.g., by a gNB, a location server (e.g., LMF), or a sensing server (e.g., SnMF)).

[0150] In some aspects, the aerial UE may switch between various emission states based on one or more of the following:• Conditions that are predefined (e.g., in one or more specifications) and / or preconfigured and tested (e.g., tested by RAN Working Group 4 (RAN4) tests);• Conditions that are considered by the network (e.g., a network entity such as a gNB, an LMF, or an SnMF) and communicated to the aerial UE; and / or ® Logic index (or indices), threshold(s), range(s) and / or value(s) of condition(s) that the aerial UE may consider in determining whether to switch its reference signal transmission to a different emission state.

[0151] In some aspects, a determination for an aerial UE to switch to a different emission state (e.g., by relaxing or tightening emission control) may depend at last in part on the MG,QC2501342WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2501342WO48 / 74the PPW (in case of reference signals being PRSs), the frequency band, and / or other factors.

[0152] In some aspects, the aerial UE may switch its emission state for transmitting reference signals for positioning or sensing operations based on thresholds or ranges of various parameters related to positioning or sensing. Examples of conditions for determining whether to relax or tighten emission control for an aerial UE may include tire following:• If the height (or the aerial segment) is above threshold XI or within range X2, then relax emission control to state Y or by value Z® If the reference signal periodicity is above threshold XI or within range X2, then tighten emission control to state Y or by value Z• If the reference signal repetition is above threshold XI or within range X2, then tighten emi ssion to state Y or by value Z• If reference signal duty cycle (or comb structure) is above threshold XI or within range X2, then tighten emission to state Y or by value Z• If the reference signal bandwidth is above threshold XI or within range X2, then tighten emission to state Y or by value Z• If the number of neighboring aerial UEs is above threshold XI or within range X2, then tighten emission to state Y or by value Z• If the positioning and / or sensing QoS requirement is above threshold XI orwitlnn range X2, then relax emission to state Y or by value Z• If the reference signal is sent over a shared resource, then tighten emission to state Y or by value Z« If the reference signal is sent over a shared resource, which is shared by more than a threshold X 1 number of users or within a range X2 number of users, then tighten emission to state Y or by value Z

[0153] In some aspects, the emission level may be expressed as transmit power relative to an OOB requirement or a maximum power reduction (MPR) limit, for example. Configurations for relaxing or tightening emission control for the aerial UE may be provided by the network and signaled to the aerial UE. In some aspects, relaxation or tightening of aerial UE emission control may be configured by an LMF (for positioning) or SnMF (for sensing) and signaled to the aerial UE through a system information block (SIB) via a base station (e.g., gNB) or through dedicated signaling (e.g., positioning orQC2501342WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2501342WO49 / 74sensing request, or positioning or sensing assistance data). In some aspects, relaxation or tightening of aerial UE emission control may be configured by a gNB (e.g., through SIB, MAC-control element (MAC-CE), or downlink control information (DCI) commands).[01541 In some aspects, the aerial UE may signal its capabilities for supporting relaxation or tightening of emission control to the network. For example, the aerial UE may indicate to a network entity (e.g., gNB, LMF or SnMF) its capability for supporting adaptations to various levels of emission control for positioning or sensing operations, capability for receiving commands to relax or tighten its emission control, capability for supporting increments or decrements of emission levels at a given level of granularity, and / or other capabilities related to supporting emission control. In some implementations, the aerial UE may indicate its capabilities to the network in response to a request (e.g., from a gNB, LMF, or SnMF).

[0155] In some aspects, the network may signal assistance data associated with expected emissions and transmit power to positioning or sensing nodes (e.g., aerial UEs and / or TUEs) that may be performing or expected to perform positioning or sensing operations. In some implementations, the network may transmit assistance data to UEs in response to requests by those UEs for assistance data.

[0156] FIG. 11 illustrates an example method 1100 of wireless sensing or positioning, according to aspects of the disclosure. In some aspects, method 1100 may be performed by an aerial UE (e.g., UE 302 described herein).

[0157] At 1110, the aerial UE may receive a configuration for obtaining one or more sensing measurements or one or more positioning measurements, the configuration including an indication that the aerial UE is permitted to relax emission control for the one or more sensing measurements or the one or more positioning measurements.

[0158] Means for performing the operation of block 1110 may include the processor(s), memory, or transceiver(s) of any of the UE 302 described herein. For example, the operation of block 1110 may be performed by the one or more WWAN transceivers 310, the one or more short-range wireless transceivers 320, the one or more processors 342, memory 340, and / or positioning / sensing component 348, any or all of which may be considered means for performing this operation.

[0159] At 1120, the aerial UE may transmit one or more reference signals for sensing or positioning according to an emission level for the one or more sensing measurements orQC2501342WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2501342WO50 / 74the one or more positioning measurements based on the indication that the aerial UE is permitted to relax the emission control for the one or more sensing measurements or the one or more positioning measurements.[0160j Means for performing the operation of block 1120 may include the processor(s), memory', or transceiver(s) of any of the UE 302 described herein. For example, the operation of block 1120 may be performed by the one or more WWAN transceivers 310, the one or more short-range wireless transceivers 320, the one or more processors 342, memory 340, and / or positioning / sensing component 348, any or all of which may be considered means for performing this operation.[0161 J Method 1100 may include additional implementations, such as any single implementation or any combination of implementations described below and / or in connection with one or more other processes described elsewhere herein,

[0162] In some aspects, the emission control is based at least in part on an out-of-band (OOB) limit by a frequency band adjacent to a sensing or positioning frequency band in which the one or more reference signals are transmitted.

[0163] In some aspects, the emission control is based at least in part on a limit on a power spectral density for transmitting each reference signal of the one or more reference signals.

[0164] In some aspects, the sensing or positioning is performed within a frequency band or a resource shared by one or more additional sensing or positioning nodes.

[0165] In some aspects, the sensing or positioning is performed within a frequency band or a resource adjacent to one or more frequency bands or one or more resources used by one or more additional sensing or positioning nodes.

[0166] In some aspects, the emission control is based at least in part on a height or an aerial segment of the aerial UE, a periodicity, a repetition rate, or a duty cycle of the one or more reference signals, a bandwidth of the one or more reference signals, a number of UEs transmitting one or more additional reference signals in an area of interest, a priority’ of the one or more sensing measurements or the one or more positioning measurements relative to other network services or activities, a quality of service (QoS) requirement for the one or more sensing measurements or the one or more positioning measurements, sharing of one or more channel s by the one or more reference signals with other signals, a measurement gap or a processing window' of the one or more reference signals, a frequency band of the one or more reference signals, or any combination thereof.QC2501342WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2501342WO51 / 74

[0167] In some aspects, the emission level is selected from a plurality of emission states that are predefined or configured by a network entity.

[0168] In some aspects, the emission level is switchable between the plurality of emission states based on one or more conditions.

[0169] In some aspects, the one or more conditions are based at least in part on a height or an aerial segment of the aerial UE, a periodicity, a repetition rate, or a duty cycle of the one or more reference signals, a bandwidth of the one or more reference signals, a number of UEs transmitting one or more additional reference signals in an area of interest, a priority of the one or more sensing measurements or the one or more positioning measurements relative to other network services or activities, a quality of service (QoS) requirement for the one or more sensing measurements or the one or more positioning measurements, sharing of one or more channels by the one or more reference signals with other signal s, a measurement gap or a processing window of the one or more reference signals, a frequency band of the one or more reference signals, or any combination thereof.

[0170] In some aspects, method 1100 includes transmitting one or more capabilities of the aerial UE associated with transmitting the one or more reference signals.

[0171] In some aspects, the one or more capabilities include a capability to transmit the one or more reference signals according to the emission level, a capability to receive a command to relax or to tighten the emission control, a capability to adapt to a granularity of change in the emission level, a capability to support one or more aspects of the emission control, or any combination thereof.

[0172] In some aspects, method 1100 includes receiving a request for the one or more capabilities,

[0173] In some aspects, method 1100 includes receiving assistance data associated with transmitting the one or more reference signals.

[0174] In some aspects, the assistance data includes expected emission levels or transmit power of one or more additional UEs in an area of interest.

[0175] In some aspects, the emission level is expressed as transmit power relative to an out-of- band (OOB) limit or a maximum power reduction (MPR) limit.

[0176] Although FIG, 11 shows example operations of method 1100, in some implementations, method 1100 may include additional operations, fewer operations, different operations, or differently arranged operations than those depicted in FIG. 11. Additionally, orQC2501342WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2501342WO52 / 74alternatively, two or more of the operations of method 1100 may be performed in parallel, or performed in a sequence different from the sequence listed in FIG. 11.

[0177] As will be appreciated, a technical advantage of the method 1100 is that, by dynamically relaxing (or tightening) emission control for the aerial UE in sensing and / or positioning operations, the described techniques can be used to allow the aerial UE to utilize the available radio resources efficiently while avoiding interference with other sensing and / or positioning nodes in the wireless network. Another advantage of the method 1100 is to enhance the SINR, accuracy, and other key performance indicators (KPIs) related to positioning or sensing operations.

[0178] FIG. 12 illustrates an example method 1200 of wireless sensing or positioning, according to aspects of the disclosure. In some aspects, method 1200 may be performed by a base station (e.g., base station 304 described herein) or a network entity (e.g., network entity 306 described herein).

[0179] At 1210, the base station or network entity may receive, from an aerial user equipment (UE), one or more capabilities of the aerial UE associated with transmitting one or more reference signals for one or more sensing measurements or one or more positioning measurements.

[0180] Where method 1200 is performed by a base station (e.g., a gNB), means for performing the operation of block 1210 may include the processor(s), memory, or transceiver(s) of any of the base station 304 described herein. For example, the operation of block 1210 may be performed by the one or more WWAN transceivers 350, the one or more short- range wireless transceivers 360, the one or more processors 384, memory 386, and / or positioning / sensing component 388, any or all of which may be considered means for performing this operation.

[0181] Where method 1200 is performed by a network entity (e.g., an LMF or SnMF), means for performing the operation of block 1210 may include the processor(s), memory, or transceiver(s) of any of the network entity 306 described herein. For example, the operation of block 1210 may be performed by the one or more network transceivers 390, the one or more processors 394, memory 396, and / or positioning / sensing component 398, any or all of which may be considered means for performing this operation.

[0182] At 1220, the base station or network entity may transmit, to the aerial UE, a configuration for obtaining the one or more sensing measurements or the one or more positioningQC2501342WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2501342WO53 / 74measurements, the configuration including an indication that the aerial UE is permitted to relax emission control for the one or more sensing measurements or the one or more positioning measurements.

[0183] Where method 1200 is performed by a base station (e.g., a gNB), means for performing the operation of block 1220 may include the processor(s), memory, or transceiver(s) of any of the base station 304 described herein. For example, the operation of block 1220 may be performed by the one or more WWAN transceivers 350, the one or more short-range wireless transceivers 360, the one or more processors 384, memory 386, and / or positioning / sensing component 388, any or all of which may be considered means for performing this operation.

[0184] Where method 1200 is performed by a network entity (e.g., an LMF or SnMF), means for performing the operation of block 1220 may include the processor(s), memory', or transceiver(s) of any of the network entity 306 described herein. For example, the operation of block 1220 may be performed by the one or more network transceivers 390, the one or more processors 394, memory’ 396, and / or positioning / sensing component 398, any or all of which may be considered means for performing this operation.

[0185] Method 1200 may include additional implementations, such as any single implementation or any combination of implementations described below and / or in connection with one or more other processes described elsewhere herein,

[0186] In some aspects, the emission control is based at least in part on an out-of-band (OOB) limit by a frequency band adjacent to a sensing or positioning frequency band in which the one or more reference signals are transmitted.

[0187] In some aspects, the emission control is based at least in part on a limit on a power spectral density for transmitting each reference signal of the one or more reference signals.

[0188] In some aspects, the configuration further includes receiving assistance data associated with transmitting the one or more reference signals,

[0189] Although FIG. 12 shows example operations of method 1200, in some implementations, method 1200 may include additional operations, fewer operations, different operations, or differently arranged operations than those depicted in FIG. 12. Additionally, or alternatively, two or more of the operations of method 1200 may be performed in parallel, or performed in a sequence different from the sequence listed in FIG. 12.QC2501342WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2501342WO54 / 74

[0190] As will be appreciated, a technical advantage of the method 1200 is that, by dynamically relaxing (or tightening) emission control for the aerial UE in sensing and / or positioning operations, the described techniques can be used to allow the aerial UE to utilize the available radio resources efficiently while avoiding interference with other sensing and / or positioning nodes in the wireless network. Another advantage of the method 1200 is to enhance the SINR, accuracy, and other KPIs related to positioning or sensing operations.

[0191] In the detailed description above it can be seen that different features are grouped together in examples. This manner of disclosure should not be understood as an intention that the example clauses have more features than are explicitly mentioned in each clause. Rather, the various aspects of the disclosure may include fewer than all features of an individual example clause disclosed. Therefore, the following clauses should hereby be deemed to be incorporated in the description, wherein each clause by itself can stand as a separate example. Although each dependent clause can refer in the clauses to a specific combination with one of the other clauses, the aspect(s) of that dependent clause are not limited to the specific combination. It will be appreciated that other example clauses can also include a combination of the dependent clause aspect(s) with the subject matter of any other dependent clause or independent clause or a combination of any feature with other dependent and independent clauses. The various aspects disclosed herein expressly include these combinations, unless it is explicitly expressed or can be readily inferred that a specific combination is not intended (e.g., contradictory aspects, such as defining an element as both an electrical insulator and an electrical conductor). Furthermore, it is also intended that aspects of a clause can be included in any other independent clause, even if the clause is not directly dependent on the independent clause,

[0192] Implementation examples are described in the following numbered clauses:

[0193] Clause 1. A method of wireless sensing or positioning, performed by an aerial user equipment (UE), comprising: receiving a configuration for obtaining one or more sensing measurements or one or more positioning measurements, the configuration including an indication that the aerial UE is permitted to relax emission control for the one or more sensing measurements or the one or more positioning measurements; and transmitting one or more reference signals for sensing or positioning according to an emission level for the one or more sensing measurements or the one or more positioning measurementsQC2501342WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2501342WO55 / 74based on the indication that the aerial UE is permitted to relax the emission control for the one or more sensing measurements or the one or more positioning measurements.[0194J Clause 2. The method of clause 1, wherein the emission control is based at least in part on an out-of-band (OOB) limit by a frequency band adjacent to a sensing or positioning frequency band in which the one or more reference signals are transmitted.

[0195] Clause 3. The method of any of clauses 1 to 2, wherein the emission control is based at least in part on a limit on a power spectral density for transmitting each reference signal of the one or more reference signals.

[0196] Clause 4. The method of any of clauses 1 to 3, wherein the sensing or positioning is performed within a frequency band or a resource shared by one or more additional sensing or positioning nodes.

[0197] Clause 5. The method of any of clauses 1 to 4, wherein the sensing or positioning is performed wi thin a frequency band or a resource adjacent to one or more frequency bands or one or more resources used by one or more additional sensing or positioning nodes.

[0198] Clause 6. The method of any of clauses 1 to 5, wherein the emission control is based at least in part on: a height or an aerial segment of the aerial UE; a periodicity, a repetition rate, or a duty cycle of the one or more reference signals; a bandwidth of the one or more reference signals; a number of UEs transmitting one or more additional reference signals in an area of interest; a priority of the one or more sensing measurements or the one or more positioning measurements relative to other network services or activities; a quality of service (QoS) requirement for the one or more sensing measurements or the one or more positioning measurements; sharing of one or more channels by the one or more reference signals with other signals; a measurement gap or a processing window of the one or more reference signals; a frequency band of the one or more reference signals; or any combination thereof.

[0199] Clause 7. The method of any of clauses 1 to 6, wherein the emission level is selected from a plurality of emission states that are predefined or configured by a network entity.

[0200] Clause 8. The method of clause 7, wherein the emission level is switchable between the plurality of emission states based on one or more conditions.

[0201] Clause 9. The method of clause 8, wherein the one or more conditions are based at least in part on: a height or an aerial segment of the aerial UE; a periodicity, a repetition rate, or a duty cycle of the one or more reference signals; a bandwidth of the one or moreQC2501342WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2501342WO56 / 74reference signals; a number of UEs transmitting one or more additional reference signals in an area of interest; a priority of the one or more sensing measurements or the one or more positioning measurements relative to other network services or activities; a quality of service (QoS) requirement for the one or more sensing measurements or the one or more positioning measurements; sharing of one or more channels by the one or more reference signals with other signals; a measurement gap or a processing window of the one or more reference signals; a frequency band of the one or more reference signals; or any combination thereof.

[0202] Clause 10. The method of any of clauses 1 to 9, further comprising: transmitting one or more capabilities of the aerial UE associated with transmitting the one or more reference signals.

[0203] Clause 11. The method of clause 10, wherein the one or more capabilities include: a capability to transmit the one or more reference signals according to the emission level; a capability to receive a command to relax or to tighten the emission control; a capability to adapt to a granularity of change in the emission level; a capability to support one or more aspects of the emission control; or any combination thereof.

[0204] Clause 12. The method of any of clauses 10 to 11, further comprising: receiving a request for the one or more capabilities.

[0205] Clause 13. The method of any of clauses 1 to 12, further comprising: receiving assistance data associated with transmitting the one or more reference signals.

[0206] Clause 14. The method of clause 13, wherein the assistance data includes expected emission levels or transmit power of one or more additional UEs in an area of interest.

[0207] Clause 15. The method of any of clauses 1 to 14, wherein the emission level is expressed as transmit power relative to an out-of-band (OOB) limit or a maximum power reduction (MPR) limit.

[0208] Clause 16. A method of wireless sensing or positioning, performed by a network entity, comprising: receiving, from an aerial user equipment (UE), one or more capabilities of the aerial UE associated with transmitting one or more reference signals for one or more sensing measurements or one or more positioning measurements; and transmitting, to the aerial UE, a configuration for obtaining the one or more sensing measurements or the one or more positioning measurements, the configuration including an indication that theQC2501342WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2501342WO57 / 74aerial UE is permitted to relax emission control for the one or more sensing measurements or the one or more positioning measurements.

[0209] Clause 17. The method of clause 16, wherein the emission control is based at least in part on an out-of-band (OOB) limit by a frequency band adjacent to a sensing or positioning frequency band in which the one or more reference signals are transmitted.

[0210] Clause 18. The method of any of clauses 16 to 17, wherein the emission control is based at least in part on a limit on a power spectral density for transmitting each reference signal of the one or more reference signals.

[0211] Clause 19. The method of any of clauses 16 to 18, wherein the one or more sensing measurements or the one or more positioning measurements are performed within a frequency band or a resource shared by one or more additional sensing or positioning nodes.

[0212] Clause 20. An aerial user equipment (UE), comprising: one or more memories; one or more transceivers; and one or more processors communicatively coupled to the one or more memories and the one or more transceivers, the one or more processors, either alone or in combination, configured to: receive, via the one or more transceivers, a configuration for obtaining one or more sensing measurements or one or more positioning measurements, the configuration including an indication that the aerial UE is permitted to relax emission control for the one or more sensing measurements or the one or more positioning measurements; and transmit, via the one or more transceivers, one or more reference signals for sensing or positioning according to an emission level for the one or more sensing measurements or the one or more positioning measurements based on the indication that the aerial UE is permitted to relax the emission control for the one or more sensing measurements or the one or more positioning measurements.

[0213] Clause 21. The UE of clause 20, wherein the emission control is based at least in part on an out-of-band (OOB) limit by a frequency band adjacent to a sensing or positioning frequency band in which the one or more reference signals are transmitted.

[0214] Clause 22. The UE of any of clauses 20 to 21, wherein the emission control is based at least in part on a limit on a power spectral density for transmitting each reference signal of the one or more reference signals.QC2501342WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2501342WO58 / 74

[0215] Clause 23. The UE of any of clauses 20 to 22, wherein the sensing or positioning is performed within a frequency band or a resource shared by one or more additional sensing or positioning nodes.

[0216] Clause 24. The UE of any of clauses 20 to 23, wherein the sensing or positioning is performed within a frequency band or a resource adjacent to one or more frequency bands or one or more resources used by one or more additional sensing or positioning nodes.

[0217] Clause 25. The UE of any of clauses 20 to 24, wherein the emission control is based at least in part on: a height or an aerial segment of the aerial UE; a periodicity, a repetition rate, or a duty cycle of tire one or more reference signals; a bandwidth of the one or more reference signals; a number of UEs transmitting one or more additional reference signals in an area of interest; a priority of the one or more sensing measurements or the one or more positioning measurements relative to other network services or activities; a quality of service (QoS) requirement for the one or more sensing measurements or the one or more positioning measurements; sharing of one or more channels by the one or more reference signals with other signals; a measurement gap or a processing window of the one or more reference signals; a frequency band of the one or more reference signals; or any combination thereof.

[0218] Clause 26. The UE of any of clauses 20 to 25, wherein the emission level is selected from a plurality of emission states that are predefined or configured by a network entity,

[0219] Clause 27. The UE of clause 26, wherein the emission level is switchable between the plurality of emission states based on one or more conditions.

[0220] Clause 28. The UE of clause 27, wherein the one or more conditions are based at least in part on: a height or an aerial segment of the aerial UE; a periodicity, a repetition rate, or a duty cycle of the one or more reference signals; a bandwidth of the one or more reference signals; a number of UEs transmitting one or more additional reference signals in an area of interest; a priority of the one or more sensing measurements or the one or more positioning measurements relative to other network services or activities; a quality of service (QoS) requirement for the one or more sensing measurements or the one or more positioning measurements; sharing of one or more channels by the one or more reference signals with other signals; a measurement gap or a processing window of the one or more reference signals; a frequency band of the one or more reference signals; or any combination thereof.QC2501342WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2501342WO59 / 74

[0221] Clause 29. The UE of any of clauses 20 to 28, wherein the one or more processors, either alone or in combination, are further configured to: transmit, via the one or more transceivers, one or more capabilities of the aerial UE associated with transmitting the one or more reference signals.

[0222] Clause 30. The UE of clause 29, wherein the one or more capabilities include: a capability to transmit the one or more reference signals according to the emission level; a capability to receive a command to relax or to tighten the emission control; a capability to adapt to a granularity of change in the emission level; a capability to support one or more aspects of the emission control; or any combination thereof.

[0223] Clause 31. The UE of any of clauses 29 to 30, wherein the one or more processors, either alone or in combination, are further configured to: receive, via the one or more transceivers, a request for the one or more capabilities.

[0224] Clause 32. The UE of any of clauses 20 to 31, wherein the one or more processors, ei ther alone or in combination, are further configured to: receive, via the one or more transceivers, assistance data associated with transmitting the one or more reference signals.

[0225] Clause 33. The UE of clause 32, wherein the assistance data includes expected emission levels or transmit power of one or more additional UEs in an area of interest.

[0226] Clause 34. The UE of any of clauses 20 to 33, wherein the emi ssion level is expressed as transmit power relative to an out-of-band (OOB) limit or a maximum power reduction (MPR) limit.

[0227] Clause 35. A network entity, comprising: one or more memories; one or more transceivers; and one or more processors communicatively coupled to the one or more memories and the one or more transceivers, the one or more processors, either alone or in combination, configured to: receive, via the one or more transceivers, from an aerial user equipment (UE), one or more capabilities of the aerial UE associated with transmitting one or more reference signals for one or more sensing measurements or one or more positioning measurements; and transmit, via the one or more transceivers, to the aerial UE, a configuration for obtaining the one or more sensing measurements or the one or more positioning measurements, the configuration including an indication that the aerial UE is permitted to relax emission control for the one or more sensing measurements or the one or more positioning measurements.QC2501342WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2501342WO60 / 74

[0228] Clause 36. The network entity of clause 35, wherein the emission control is based at least in part on an out-of-band (OOB) limit by a frequency band adjacent to a sensing or positioning frequency band in which the one or more reference signals are transmitted.

[0229] Clause 37. The network entity of any of clauses 35 to 36, wherein the emission control is based at least in part on a limit on a power spectral density for transmitting each reference signal of the one or more reference signals.

[0230] Clause 38. The network entity of any of clauses 35 to 37, wherein the one or more sensing measurements or the one or more positioning measurements are performed within a frequency band or a resource shared by one or more additional sensing or positioning nodes.

[0231] Clause 39. An aerial user equipment (UE), comprising: means for receiving a configuration for obtaining one or more sensing measurements or one or more positioning measurements, the configuration including an indication that the aerial UE is permitted to relax emission control for the one or more sensing measurements or the one or more positioning measurements; and means for transmitting one or more reference signals for sensing or positioning according to an emission level for the one or more sensing measurements or the one or more positioning measurements based on the indication that the aerial UE is permitted to relax the emission control for the one or more sensing measurements or the one or more positioning measurements,

[0232] Clause 40. The UE of clause 39, wherein the emission control is based at least in part on an out-of-band (OOB) limit by a frequency band adjacent to a sensing or positioning frequency band in which the one or more reference signals are transmitted.

[0233] Clause 41. The UE of any of clauses 39 to 40, wherein the emission control is based at least in part on a limit on a power spectral density for transmitting each reference signal of the one or more reference signals.

[0234] Clause 42. The UE of any of clauses 39 to 41, wherein the sensing or positioning is performed within a frequency band or a resource shared by one or more additional sensing or positioning nodes.

[0235] Clause 43. The UE of any of clauses 39 to 42, wherein the sensing or positioning is performed within a frequency band or a resource adjacent to one or more frequency bands or one or more resources used by one or more additional sensing or positioning nodes.QC2501342WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2501342WO61 / 74

[0236] Clause 44. The UE of any of clauses 39 to 43, wherein the emission control is based at least in part on: a height or an aerial segment of the aerial UE; a periodicity, a repetition rate, or a duty cycle of the one or more reference signals; a bandwidth of the one or more reference signals; a number of UEs transmitting one or more additional reference signals in an area of interest; a priority of the one or more sensing measurements or the one or more positioning measurements relative to other network services or activities; a quality of service (QoS) requirement for the one or more sensing measurements or the one or more positioning measurements; sharing of one or more channels by the one or more reference signals with other signals; a measurement gap or a processing window of the one or more reference signals; a frequency band of the one or more reference signals; or any combination thereof.

[0237] Clause 45. The UE of any of clauses 39 to 44, wherein the emission level is selected from a plurality of emission states that are predefined or configured by a network entity.

[0238] Clause 46. The UE of clause 45, wherein the emission level is switchable between the plurality’ of emission states based on one or more conditions,

[0239] Clause 47. Tire UE of clause 46, wherein the one or more conditions are based at least in part on: a height or an aerial segment of the aerial UE; a periodicity, a repetition rate, or a duty cycle of the one or more reference signals; a bandwidth of the one or more reference signals; a number of UEs transmitting one or more additional reference signals in an area of interest; a priority of the one or more sensing measurements or the one or more positioning measurements relative to other network services or activities; a quality of service (QoS) requirement for the one or more sensing measurements or the one or more positioning measurem ents; sharing of one or more channel s by the one or more reference signals with other signals; a measurement gap or a processing window' of the one or more reference signals; a frequency band of the one or more reference signals; or any combination thereof.

[0240] Clause 48. The UE of any of clauses 39 to 47, further comprising: means for transmitting one or more capabilities of the aerial UE associated with transmitting the one or more reference signals.

[0241] Clause 49. The UE of clause 48, w'herein the one or more capabilities include: a capability to transmit the one or more reference signals according to the emission level; a capability to receive a command to relax or to tighten the emission control; a capability to adapt toQC2501342WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2501342WO62 / 74a granularity of change in the emission level; a capability to support one or more aspects of the emission control; or any combination thereof.

[0242] Clause 50. The UE of any of clauses 48 to 49, further comprising: means for receiving a request for the one or more capabilities.

[0243] Clause 51. The UE of any of clauses 39 to 50, further comprising: means for receiving assistance data associated with transmitting the one or more reference signals.

[0244] Clause 52. The UE of clause 51, wherein the assistance data includes expected emission levels or transmit power of one or more additional UEs in an area of interest,

[0245] Clause 53. Tire UE of any of clauses 39 to 52, wherein the emission level is expressed as transmit power relative to an out-of-band (OOB) limit or a maximum power reduction (MPR) limit.

[0246] Clause 54. A network entity, comprising: means for receiving, from an aerial user equipment (UE), one or more capabilities of tire aerial UE associated with transmitting one or more reference signals for one or more sensing measurements or one or more positioning measurements; and means for transmitting, to the aerial UE, a configuration for obtaining the one or more sensing measurements or the one or more positioning measurements, the configuration including an indication that the aerial UE is permitted to relax emission control for the one or more sensing measurements or the one or more positioning measurements,

[0247] Clause 55. The netw ork entity of clause 54, wherein the emission control is based at least in part on an out-of-band (OOB) limit by a frequency band adjacent to a sensing or positioning frequency band in which the one or more reference signals are transmitted.

[0248] Clause 56. The network entity of any of clauses 54 to 55, wherein the emission control is based at least in part on a limit on a power spectral density for transmitting each reference signal of the one or more reference signals.

[0249] Clause 57. The network entity of any of clauses 54 to 56, wherein the one or more sensing measurements or the one or more positioning measurements are performed within a frequency band or a resource shared by one or more additional sensing or positioning nodes.

[0250] Clause 58. A non -transitory computer-readable medium stores computer-executable instructions that, when executed by an aerial user equipment (UE), cause the UE to: receive a configuration for obtaining one or more sensing measurements or one or moreQC2501342WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2501342WO63 / 74positioning measurements, the configuration including an indication that the aerial UE is permitted to relax emission control for the one or more sensing measurements or the one or more positioning measurements; and transmit one or more reference signals for sensing or positioning according to an emission level for the one or more sensing measurements or the one or more positioning measurements based on the indication that the aerial UE is permitted to relax the emission control for the one or more sensing measurements or the one or more positioning measurements.

[0251] Clause 59. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of clause 58, wherein the emission control is based at least in part on an out-of-band (OOB) limit by a frequency band adjacent to a sensing or positioning frequency band in which the one or more reference signals are transmitted.

[0252] Clause 60. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 58 to 59, wherein the emission control is based at least in part on a limit on a power spectral density for transmitting each reference signal of the one or more reference signals.

[0253] Clause 61, The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 58 to 60, wherein the sensing or positioning is performed within a frequency band or a resource shared by one or more additional sensing or positioning nodes.

[0254] Clause 62. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 58 to 61, wherein the sensing or positioning is performed within a frequency band or a resource adjacent to one or more frequency bands or one or more resources used by one or more additional sensing or positioning nodes.

[0255] Clause 63. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 58 to 62, wherein the emission control is based at least in part on: a height or an aerial segment of the aerial UE; a periodicity, a repetition rate, or a duty cycle of the one or more reference signals; a bandwidth of the one or more reference signals; a number of UEs transmitting one or more additional reference signals in an area of interest; a priority of the one or more sensing measurements or the one or more positioning measurements relative to other network services or activities; a quality of service (QoS) requirement for the one or more sensing measurements or the one or more positioning measurements; sharing of one or more channels by the one or more reference signals with other signals; a measurement gap or a processing window of the one or more reference signals; a frequency band of the one or more reference signals; or any combination thereof.QC2501342WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2501342WO64 / 74

[0256] Clause 64, The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 58 to 63, wherein the emission level is selected from a plurality of emission states that are predefined or configured by a network entity.

[0257] Clause 65. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of clause 64, wherein the emission level is switchable between the plurality of emission states based on one or more conditions.

[0258] Clause 66. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of clause 65, wherein the one or more conditions are based at least in part on: a height or an aerial segment of the aerial UE; a periodicity, a repetition rate, or a duty cycle of the one or more reference signals; a bandwidth of the one or more reference signals; a number of UEs transmitting one or more additional reference signals in an area of interest; a priority of the one or more sensing measurements or the one or more positioning measurements relative to other network services or activi ties; a quality of service (QoS) requirement for the one or more sensing measurements or the one or more positioning measurements; sharing of one or more channels by the one or more reference signals with other signals; a measurement gap or a processing window of the one or more reference signals; a frequency band of the one or more reference signals; or any combination thereof.

[0259] Clause 67. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 58 to 66, further comprising computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the UE, cause the UE to: transmit one or more capabilities of tire aerial UE associated with transmitting the one or more reference signals.

[0260] Clause 68. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of clause 67, wherein the one or more capabilities include: a capability to transmit the one or more reference signals according to the emission level; a capability to receive a command to relax or to tighten the emission control; a capability to adapt to a granularity of change in the emission level; a capability to support one or more aspects of the emission control; or any combination thereof.

[0261] Clause 69. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 67 to 68, further comprising computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the UE, cause the UE to: receive a request for the one or more capabilities.

[0262] Clause 70. The non-transitory' computer-readable medium of any of clauses 58 to 69, further comprising computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the UE,QC2501342WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2501342WO65 / 74cause the UE to: receive assistance data associated with transmitting the one or more reference signals.

[0263] Clause 71. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of clause 70, wherein the assistance data includes expected emission levels or transmit power of one or more additional UEs in an area of interest.

[0264] Clause 72. Tire non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 58 to 71, wherein the emission level is expressed as transmit power relative to an out-of-band (OOB) limit or a maximum power reduction (MPR) limit.

[0265] Clause 73. A non-transitory computer-readable medium stores computer-executable instructions that, when executed by a network entity, cause the network entity to: receive, from an aerial user equipment (UE), one or more capabilities of the aerial UE associated with transmitting one or more reference signals for one or more sensing measurements or one or more positioning measurements; and transmit, to the aerial UE, a configuration for obtaining the one or more sensing measurements or the one or more positioning measurements, the configuration including an indication that the aerial UE is permitted to relax emission control for the one or more sensing measurements or the one or more positioning measurements.

[0266] Clause 74. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of clause 73, wherein the emission control is based at least in part on an out-of-band (OOB) limit by a frequency band adjacent to a sensing or positioning frequency band in which the one or more reference signals are transmitted.

[0267] Clause 75. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 73 to 74, wherein the emission control is based at least in part on a limit on a power spectral density for transmitting each reference signal of the one or more reference signals.

[0268] Clause 76. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 73 to 75, wherein the one or more sensing measurements or the one or more positioning measurements are performed within a frequency band or a resource shared by one or more additional sensing or positioning nodes.

[0269] Those of skill in the art will appreciate that information and signals may be represented using any of a variety of different technologies and techniques. For example, data, instructions, commands, information, signals, bits, symbols, and chips that may be referenced throughout the above description may be represented by voltages, currents,QC2501342WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2501342WO66 / 74electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or particles, optical fields or particles, or any combination thereof.

[0270] Further, those of skill in the art will appreciate that the various illustrative logical blocks, modules, circuits, and algorithm steps described in connection with the aspects disclosed herein may be implemented as electronic hardware, computer software, or combinations of both. To clearly illustrate this interchangeability of hardware and software, various illustrative components, blocks, modules, circuits, and steps have been described above generally in terms of their functionality. Whether such functionality is implemented as hardware or software depends upon the particular application and design constraints imposed on the overall system. Skilled artisans may implement the described functionality in varying ways for each particular application, but such implementation decisions should not be interpreted as causing a departure from the scope of the present disclosure.

[0271] The various illustrative logical blocks, modules, and circuits described in connection with the aspects disclosed herein may be implemented or performed with a general purpose processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an ASIC, a field-programmable gate array (FPGA), or other programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof designed to perform the functions described herein, A general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor, but in the alternative, the processor may be any conventional processor, controller, microcontroller, or state machine. A processor may also be implemented as a combination of computing devices, for example, a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, a plurality of microprocessors, one or more microprocessors in conjunction with a DSP core, or any other such configuration.

[0272] The methods, sequences and / or algorithms described in connection with the aspects disclosed herein may be embodied directly in hardware, in a software module executed by a processor, or in a combination of the two. A software module may reside in random access memory (RAM), flash memory, read-only memory (ROM), erasable programmable ROM (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable ROM (EEPROM), registers, hard disk, a removable disk, a CD-ROM, or any other form of storage medium known in the art. An example storage medium is coupled to the processor such that the processor can read information from, and write information to, the storage medium. InQC2501342WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2501342WO67 / 74the alternative, the storage medium may be integral to the processor, Tire processor and the storage medium may reside in an ASIC. Tire ASIC may reside in a user terminal (e.g., UE). In the alternative, the processor and the storage medium may reside as discrete components in a user terminal.

[0273] In one or more example aspects, the functions described may be implemented in hardware, software, firmware, or any combination thereof. If implemented in software, the functions may be stored on or transmitted over as one or more instructions or code on a computer-readable medium. Computer-readable media includes both computer storage media and communication media including any medium that facilitates transfer of a computer program from one place to another. A storage media may be any available media that can be accessed by a computer. By way of example, and not limitation, such computer-readable media can comprise RAM, ROM, EEPROM, CD-ROM or other optical disk storage, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium that can be used to carry or store desired program code in the form of instructions or data structures and that can be accessed by a computer. Also, any connection is properly termed a computer-readable medium. For example, if the software is transmitted from a website, server, or other remote source using a coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, digital subscriber line (DSL), or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio, and microwave, then the coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, DSL, or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio, and microwave are included in the definition of medium. Disk and disc, as used herein, includes compact disc (CD), laser disc, optical disc, digital versatile disc (DVD), floppy disk and Blu-ray disc where disks usually reproduce data magnetically, while discs reproduce data optically with lasers. Combinations of the above should also be included within the scope of computer-readable media.

[0274] While the foregoing disclosure shows illustrative aspects of the disclosure, it should be noted that various changes and modifications could be made herein without departing from the scope of the disclosure as defined by the appended claims. For example, the functions, steps and / or actions of the method claims in accordance with the aspects of the disclosure described herein need not be performed in any particular order. Further, no component, function, action, or instruction described or claimed herein should be constiued as critical or essential unless explicitly described as such. Furthermore, as usedQC2501342WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2501342WO68 / 74herein, the terms “set,” “group,” and the like are intended to include one or more of the stated elements. Also, as used herein, the terms “has,” “have,” “having,” “comprises,” “comprising,” “includes,” “including,” and the like does not preclude the presence of one or more additional elements (e.g., an element “having” A may also have B). Further, the phrase “based on” is intended to mean “based, at least in part, on” unless explicitly stated otherwise. Also, as used herein, the term “or” is intended to be inclusive when used in a series and may be used interchangeably with “and / or,” unless explicitly stated otherwise (e.g., if used in combination with “either” or “only one of’) or the alternatives are mutually exclusive (e.g., “one or more” should not be interpreted as “one and more”). Furthermore, although components, functions, actions, and instructions may be described or claimed in the singular, the plural is contemplated unless limitation to the singular is explicitly stated. Accordingly, as used herein, the articles “a,” “an,” “the,” and “said” are intended to include one or more of the stated elements. Additionally, as used herein, the terms “at least one” and “one or more” encompass “one” component, function, action, or instruction performing or capable of performing a described or claimed functionality and also “two or more” components, functions, actions, or instructions performing or capable of performing a described or claimed functionality in combination.QC2501342WO

Claims

Qualcomm Ref. No. 2501342WO69 / 74CLAIMSWhat is claimed is:

1. An aerial user equipment (UE), comprising:one or more memories;one or more transceivers; andone or more processors communicatively coupled to the one or more memories and the one or more transceivers, the one or more processors, either alone or in combination, configured to:receive, via the one or more transceivers, a configuration for obtaining one or more sensing measurements or one or more positioning measurements, the configuration including an indication that the aerial UE is permitted to relax emission control for the one or more sensing measurements or the one or more positioning measurements; andtransmit, via the one or more transceivers, one or more reference signals for sensing or positioning according to an emission level for the one or more sensing measurements or the one or more positioning measurements based on the indication that the aerial UE is permitted to relax the emission control for the one or more sensing measurements or the one or more positioning measurements.

2. Tlie aerial UE of claim 1, wherein the emission control is based at least in part on an out-of-band (OOB) limit by a frequency band adjacent to a sensing or positioning frequency band in which the one or more reference signals are transmitted.

3. The aerial UE of claim 1, wherein the emission control is based at least in part on a limit on a power spectral density for transmitting each reference signal of the one or more reference signals.

4. The aerial UE of claim 1, wherein the sensing or positioning is performed within a frequency band or a resource shared by one or more additional sensing or positioning nodes.QC2501342WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2501342WO70 / 745. The aerial UE of claim 1, wherein the sensing or positioning is performed within a frequency band or a resource adjacent to one or more frequency bands or one or more resources used by one or more additional sensing or positioning nodes.

6. Tire aerial UE of claim 1, wherein the emission control is based at least in part on:a height or an aerial segment of the aerial UE;a periodicity', a repetition rate, or a duty cycle of the one or more reference signals;a bandwidth of the one or more reference signals;a number of UEs transmitting one or more additional reference signals in an area of interest;a priority of the one or more sensing measurements or the one or more positioning measurements relative to other network services or activities;a quality' of service (QoS) requirement for the one or more sensing measurements or the one or more positioning measurements;sharing of one or more channels by the one or more reference signals with other signals;a measurement gap or a processing window of the one or more reference signals; a frequency band of the one or more reference signals;or any combination thereof.

7. The aerial UE of claim 1, wherein the emission level is selected from a plurality of emission states that are predefined or configured by a network entity.

8. Tire aerial UE of claim 7, wherein the emission level is switchable between the plurality of emission states based on one or more conditions.

9. The aerial UE of claim 8, w herein the one or more conditions are based at least in part on:a height or an aerial segment of the aerial UE;QC2501342WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2501342WO71 / 74a periodicity, a repetition rate, or a duty cycle of the one or more reference signals;a bandwidth of the one or more reference signals;a number of UEs transmitting one or more additional reference signals in an area of interest;a priority of the one or more sensing measurements or the one or more positioning measurements relative to other network services or activities;a quality of service (QoS) requirement for the one or more sensing measurements or the one or more positioning measurements;sharing of one or more channels by the one or more reference signals with other signals;a measurement gap or a processing window of the one or more reference signals; a frequency band of the one or more reference signals;or any combination thereof.

10. The aerial UE of claim 1, wherein the one or more processors, either alone or in combination, are further configured to:transmit, via the one or more transceivers, one or more capabilities of the aerial UE associated with transmitting the one or more reference signals,11. The aerial UE of claim 10, wherein the one or more capabilities include:a capability to transmit the one or more reference signals according to the emission level;a capability to receive a command to relax or to tighten the emission control; a capability to adapt to a granularity of change in the emission level;a capability to support one or more aspects of the emission control;or any combination thereof.

12. The aerial UE of claim 10, wherein the one or more processors, either alone or in combination, are further configured to:receive, via the one or more transceivers, a request for the one or more capabilities.QC2501342WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2501342WO72 / 7413. The aerial UE of claim 1, wherein the one or more processors, either alone or in combination, are farther configured to:receive, via the one or more transceivers, assistance data associated with transmitting the one or more reference signals.

14. The aerial UE of claim 13, wherein the assistance data includes expected emission levels or transmit power of one or more additional UEs in an area of interest,15. The aerial UE of claim 1, wherein the emission level is expressed as transmit power relative to an out-of-band (OOB) limit or a maximum power reduction (MPR) limit,16. A network entity, comprising:one or more memories;one or more transceivers; andone or more processors communicatively coupled to the one or more memories and the one or more transceivers, the one or more processors, either alone or in combination, configured to:receive, via the one or more transceivers, from an aerial user equipment (UE), one or more capabilities of the aerial UE associated with transmitting one or more reference signals for one or more sensing measurements or one or more positioning measurements; andtransmit, via the one or more transceivers, to the aerial UE, a configuration for obtaining the one or more sensing measurements or the one or more positioning measurements, the configuration including an indication that the aerial UE is permitted to relax emission control for the one or more sensing measurements or the one or more positioning measurements.

17. The network entity of claim 16, wherein the emission control is based at least in part on an out-of-band (OOB) limit by a frequency band adjacent to a sensing or positioning frequency band in which the one or more reference signals are transmitted.QC2501342WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2501342WO73 / 7418. The network entity of claim 16, wherein the emission control is based at least in part on a limit on a power spectral density for transmitting each reference signal of the one or more reference signals.

19. Tire network entity of claim 16, wherein the one or more sensing measurements or the one or more positioning measurements are performed within a frequency band or a resource shared by one or more additional sensing or positioning nodes.

20. A method of wireless sensing or positioning, performed by an aerial user equipment (UE), comprising:receiving a configuration for obtaining one or more sensing measurements or one or more positioning measurements, the configuration including an indication that the aerial UE is permitted to relax emission control for the one or more sensing measurements or the one or more positioning measurements; andtransmitting one or more reference signals for sensing or positioning according to an emission level for the one or more sensing measurements or the one or more positioning measurements based on the indication that the aerial UE is permitted to relax the emission control for the one or more sensing measurements or the one or more positioning measurements.QC2501342WO

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