WO2024239174A1

WO2024239174A1 - Devices and methods for communication

Info

Publication number: WO2024239174A1
Application number: PCT/CN2023/095397
Authority: WO
Inventors: Gang Wang
Original assignee: NEC Corp
Current assignee: NEC Corp
Priority date: 2023-05-19
Filing date: 2023-05-19
Publication date: 2024-11-28
Anticipated expiration: 2025-11-19

Abstract

Embodiments of the present disclosure provide a solution for multi-frequency sensing. In the solution, a first device determines a first configuration for a sensing service to be performed on a plurality of frequency ranges and a time-domain sensing resource; and transmits at least one of a plurality of signals based on the first configuration, to cause a plurality of measurement results of the plurality of signals to be provided to a sensing function device, the plurality of signals being transmitted on the plurality of frequency ranges and the time-domain sensing resource.

Description

DEVICES AND METHODS FOR COMMUNICATION

FIELDS

Example embodiments of the present disclosure generally relate to the field of communication techniques and in particular, to devices and methods for multi-frequency sensing.

BACKGROUND

Sensing technologies are adopted in various applications, and accurate sensing results are desired. For example, to support smart transportation and/or autonomous driving, more vehicles and devices are equipped with sensing technologies. In the transportation environment, the cameras, Radar, and Lidar systems are the most used sensors by the automotive industry to maintain the perception for autonomous vehicles at various levels of autonomy. Accurate sensing results are important to enable the safe and reliable control of the vehicles.

SUMMARY

In general, embodiments of the present disclosure provide methods, devices and computer storage medium for multi-frequency sensing.

In a first aspect, there is provided a communication method performed by a first device. The method comprises: determining a first configuration for a sensing service to be performed on a plurality of frequency ranges and a time-domain sensing resource; and transmitting at least one of a plurality of signals based on the first configuration, to cause a plurality of measurement results of the plurality of signals to be provided to a sensing function device, the plurality of signals being transmitted on the plurality of frequency ranges and the time-domain sensing resource.

In a second aspect, there is provided a communication method performed by a sensing function device. The method comprises: transmitting, to a first device, information about a sensing service to be performed on a plurality of frequency ranges and a time-domain sensing resource, the information comprising at least one of: a trigger of the sensing service, a requirement of the sensing service, or a second configuration for the sensing service; and receiving a plurality of measurement results of a plurality of signals, at least one of the plurality of signals being transmitted by the first device based on the information about the sensing service, the plurality of signals being transmitted on the plurality of frequency ranges and the time-domain sensing resource.

In a third aspect, there is provided a communication method performed by a target device. The method comprises: receiving, from a first device, a third configuration for a sensing service to be performed on a plurality of frequency ranges and a time-domain sensing resource, the target device having a measurement capability, wherein the third configuration is determined based a first configuration used by the first device to transmit at least one of a plurality of signals, and the plurality of signals are transmitted on the plurality of frequency ranges and the time-domain sensing resource.

In a fourth aspect, there is provided a first device comprising: a processor configured to cause the first device to: determine a first configuration for a sensing service to be performed on a plurality of frequency ranges and a time-domain sensing resource; and transmit at least one of a plurality of signals based on the first configuration, to cause a plurality of measurement results of the plurality of signals to be provided to a sensing function device, the plurality of signals being transmitted on the plurality of frequency ranges and the time-domain sensing resource.

In a fifth aspect, there is provided a sensing function device comprising: a processor configured to cause the sensing function device to: transmit, to a first device, information about a sensing service to be performed on a plurality of frequency ranges and a time-domain sensing resource, the information comprising at least one of: a trigger of the sensing service, a requirement of the sensing service, or a second configuration for the sensing service; and receive a plurality of measurement results of a plurality of signals, at least one of the plurality of signals being transmitted by the first device based on the information about the sensing service, the plurality of signals being transmitted on the plurality of frequency ranges and the time-domain sensing resource.

In a sixth aspect, there is provided a target device comprising: a processor configured to cause the target device to: receive, from a first device, a third configuration for a sensing service to be performed on a plurality of frequency ranges and a time-domain sensing resource, the target device having a measurement capability, wherein the third configuration is determined based a first configuration used by the first device to transmit at least one of a plurality of signals, and the plurality of signals are transmitted on the plurality of frequency ranges and the time-domain sensing resource.

In a seventh aspect, there is provided a computer readable medium having instructions stored thereon, the instructions, when executed on at least one processor, causing the at least one processor to carry out the method according to the first, second, or third aspect.

Other features of the present disclosure will become easily comprehensible through the following description.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Through the more detailed description of some example embodiments of the present disclosure in the accompanying drawings, the above and other objects, features and advantages of the present disclosure will become more apparent, wherein:

FIG. 1A illustrates an example communication environment in which example embodiments of the present disclosure can be implemented;

FIG. 1B illustrates a general communication environment in which example embodiments of the present disclosure can be implemented;

FIG. 2 illustrates a schematic diagram of traditional sensing signal transmission;

FIG. 3 illustrates a signaling flow for multi-frequency sensing in accordance with some example embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 4A and FIG. 4B illustrate schematic diagrams for multi-frequency sensing in accordance with some example embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 5 illustrates schematic diagrams of six example sensing modes in accordance with some example embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIGS. 6A-6H illustrate schematic diagrams for example interactions between devices for multi-frequency sensing in accordance with some example embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 7 illustrates a signaling flow for multi-frequency sensing involved an intermediate device in accordance with some example embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 8 illustrates a signaling flow in a network device for multi-frequency sensing in accordance with some example embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 9 illustrates a flowchart of a method implemented at a first device in accordance with some example embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 10 illustrates a flowchart of a method implemented at a sensing function device in accordance with some example embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 11 illustrates a flowchart of a method implemented at a target device with a measurement capability in accordance with some example embodiments of the present disclosure; and

FIG. 12 is a simplified block diagram of a device that is suitable for implementing embodiments of the present disclosure.

Throughout the drawings, the same or similar reference numerals represent the same or similar element.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Principle of the present disclosure will now be described with reference to some example embodiments. It is to be understood that these embodiments are described only for the purpose of illustration and help those skilled in the art to understand and implement the present disclosure, without suggesting any limitation as to the scope of the disclosure. Embodiments described herein can be implemented in various manners other than the ones described below.

In the following description and claims, unless defined otherwise, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skills in the art to which this disclosure belongs.

As used herein, the term ‘terminal device’ refers to any device having wireless or wired communication capabilities. Examples of the terminal device include, but not limited to, user equipment (UE) , personal computers, desktops, mobile phones, cellular phones, smart phones, personal digital assistants (PDAs) , portable computers, tablets, wearable devices, internet of things (IoT) devices, Ultra-reliable and Low Latency Communications (URLLC) devices, Internet of Everything (IoE) devices, machine type communication (MTC) devices, devices on vehicle for V2X communication where X means pedestrian, vehicle, or infrastructure/network, devices for Integrated Access and Backhaul (IAB) , Space borne vehicles or Air borne vehicles in Non-terrestrial networks (NTN) including Satellites and High Altitude Platforms (HAPs) encompassing Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) , eXtended Reality (XR) devices including different types of realities such as Augmented Reality (AR) , Mixed Reality (MR) and Virtual Reality (VR) , the unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) commonly known as a drone which is an aircraft without any human pilot, devices on high speed train (HST) , or image capture devices such as digital cameras, sensors, gaming devices, music storage and playback appliances, or Internet appliances enabling wireless or wired Internet access and browsing and the like. The ‘terminal device’ can further has ‘multicast/broadcast’ feature, to support public safety and mission critical, V2X applications, transparent IPv4/IPv6 multicast delivery, IPTV, smart TV, radio services, software delivery over wireless, group communications and IoT applications. It may also incorporate one or multiple Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) as known as Multi-SIM. The term “terminal device” can be used interchangeably with a UE, a mobile station, a subscriber station, a mobile terminal, a user terminal or a wireless device.

The definitions of Ambient IoT Device A, Device B, and Device C are as follows. Device A has no energy storage, no independent signal generation, i.e. backscattering transmission. Device B has energy storage, no independent signal generation, i.e. backscattering transmission, and the use of stored energy can include amplification for reflected signals. Device C has energy storage, has independent signal generation, i.e. active RF component for transmission.

The term “network device” refers to a device which is capable of providing or hosting a cell or coverage where terminal devices can communicate. Examples of a network device include, but not limited to, a Node B (NodeB or NB) , an evolved NodeB (eNodeB or eNB) , a next generation NodeB (gNB) , a transmission reception point (TRP) , a remote radio unit (RRU) , a radio head (RH) , a remote radio head (RRH) , an IAB node, a low power node such as a femto node, a pico node, a reconfigurable intelligent surface (RIS) , and the like.

The terminal device or the network device may have Artificial intelligence (AI) or Machine learning capability. It generally includes a model which has been trained from numerous collected data for a specific function, and can be used to predict some information.

The terminal or the network device may work on several frequency ranges, e.g., FR1 (e.g., 450 MHz to 6000 MHz) , FR2 (e.g., 24.25GHz to 52.6GHz) , frequency band larger than 100 GHz as well as Tera Hertz (THz) . It can further work on licensed/unlicensed/shared spectrum. The terminal device may have more than one connection with the network devices under Multi-Radio Dual Connectivity (MR-DC) application scenario. The terminal device or the network device can work on full duplex, flexible duplex and cross division duplex modes.

The embodiments of the present disclosure may be performed in test equipment, e.g., signal generator, signal analyzer, spectrum analyzer, network analyzer, test terminal device, test network device, channel emulator. In some example embodiments, the terminal device may be connected with a first network device and a second network device. One of the first network device and the second network device may be a master node and the other one may be a secondary node. The first network device and the second network device may use different radio access technologies (RATs) . In some example embodiments, the first network device may be a first RAT device and the second network device may be a second RAT device. In some example embodiments, the first RAT device is eNB and the second RAT device is gNB. Information related with different RATs may be transmitted to the terminal device from at least one of the first network device or the second network device. In some example embodiments, first information may be transmitted to the terminal device from the first network device and second information may be transmitted to the terminal device from the second network device directly or via the first network device. In some example embodiments, information related with configuration for the terminal device configured by the second network device may be transmitted from the second network device via the first network device. Information related with reconfiguration for the terminal device configured by the second network device may be transmitted to the terminal device from the second network device directly or via the first network device.

As used herein, the singular forms ‘a’ , ‘an’ and ‘the’ are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. The term ‘includes’ and its variants are to be read as open terms that mean ‘includes, but is not limited to. ’ The term ‘based on’ is to be read as ‘at least in part based on. ’ The term ‘one embodiment’ and ‘an embodiment’ are to be read as ‘at least one embodiment. ’ The term ‘another embodiment’ is to be read as ‘at least one other embodiment. ’ The terms ‘first, ’ ‘second, ’ and the like may refer to different or same objects. Other definitions, explicit and implicit, may be included below.

In some examples, values, procedures, or apparatus are referred to as ‘best, ’ ‘lowest, ’ ‘highest, ’ ‘minimum, ’ ‘maximum, ’ or the like. It will be appreciated that such descriptions are intended to indicate that a selection among many used functional alternatives can be made, and such selections need not be better, smaller, higher, or otherwise preferable to other selections.

As used herein, the term “resource, ” “transmission resource, ” “uplink resource, ” or “downlink resource” may refer to any resource for performing a communication, such as a resource in time domain, a resource in frequency domain, a resource in space domain, a resource in code domain, or any other resource enabling a communication, and the like. In the following, unless explicitly stated, a resource in both frequency domain and time domain will be used as an example of a transmission resource for describing some example embodiments of the present disclosure. It is noted that example embodiments of the present disclosure are equally applicable to other resources in other domains.

FIG. 1A illustrates a schematic diagram of an example communication environment 100 in which example embodiments of the present disclosure can be implemented. The communication environment 100 shows a transportation scenario where sensing technologies are needed. As illustrated, to support smart transportation and/or autonomous driving, one or more of network devices 102-1, 102-2, terminal devices 103-1, 103-2, and vehicles 104-1, 104-2 are equipped with sensing technologies, to sense the traffic conditions. Accurate sensing results are important to enable the safe and reliable control of the vehicles and to avoid accidents in the environment. One or more of the network devices 102-1, 102-2, terminal devices 103-1, 103-2, and vehicles 104-1, 104-2 may transmit signals for sensing certain objects in the environment. One or more of the network devices 102-1, 102-2, terminal devices 103-1, 103-2, and vehicles 104-1, 104-2 may collect measurement results of the sensing signals for use in the smart transportation and/or autonomous driving.

In some example embodiments, the network devices 102-1, 102-2 and the terminal devices 103-1, 103-2 are in a radio access network (RAN) . The terminal devices 103-1, 103-2 may communicate with the network device (s) 102-1 and/or the network device 102-2. The network devices 102-1, 102-2 may communicatively connect with a core network (CN) 106, which may further connect with one or more third-party applications 108. The third-party applications 108 may include one or more applications which support the smart transportation and/or autonomous driving, such as the map service provider, the Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) management platform, and the like. In some example embodiments, the vehicles 104-1, 104-2 may comprise communication devices which communicatively connect to the network devices 102-1, 102-2 or directly communicate with the third-party applications 108.

The various ways of transportation objects (e.g., vehicles, walking people, motor vehicles, non-motor vehicles, and the like) and the dense buildings make the traffic condition complicated. Typically, traffic accidents often happen at the crossroads for example the pedestrians suddenly rush to the road from the invisible place (e.g., behind the high buildings, behind the tall trees) , which cause an urgent need to monitor the real-time road status for all days. Thus, accurate sensing results are needed in order to provide driving warning or assistant driving information timely to the vehicles.

Without loss of generality, FIG. 1B illustrates a schematic diagram of a general communication environment 105 in which example embodiments of the present disclosure can be implemented. The communication environment 105 illustrates integrated sensing and communication (ISAC) , which aims to integrate sensing functions into the communication system. The sensing functions are expected to enable the network to “see” the world through the wireless signals and other inputs to connect the physical world with the digital world.

The communication environment 105 includes one or more communication devices 110-1, 110-2, …, 110-N which may communicate with a sensing function device 130. As illustrated, one or more communication devices 110-1, 110-2, …, 110-N are configured to transmit one or more signals to sense a target 120. For the purpose of discussion, the communication devices 110-1, 110-2, …, 110-N may be collectively or individually referred to as communication devices 110. Measurement result (s) of the transmitted signal (s) may be collected and provided to the sensing function device 130. In some example embodiments, the target 120 may have communication capability, and may communicate with one or more communication devices 110 and/or the sensing function device 130. In some example embodiments, the target 120 may collect the measurement result (s) of the transmitted signal (s) and provide it to the sensing function device 130.

The sensing function device 130 may determine a sensing result based on the received measurement result (s) . The sensing result may be used for various purposes depending on the actual use cases. For example, in the use cases of smart transportation and/or autonomous driving, the sensing result may be used to provide driving warning or assistant driving information to the vehicles.

The communication devices 110 may include various types of devices in different use cases for sensing. In some example embodiments, the communication devices 110 may include but are not limited to network devices (e.g., ng-eNB or gNB or a distributed unit (DU) of an ng-eNB/gNB) , terminal devices, and/or any other devices which are equipped with sensing technologies and have communication capabilities.

The target 120 may be any object or device to be sensed. In some examples, the target 120 may be a human body, car, building, animal, Ambient IoT Device A and/or Device B, which has no measurement capability to obtain a measurement result of a sensing signal. In some examples, the target 120 may have the measurement capability to obtain a measurement result of a sensing signal, for example, a terminal device or other device specific for sensing measurement. Such target 120 may sometimes referred to as a “target device” with a measurement capability. Some examples of the target device with the measurement capability may include mobile phones, enhanced Machine-Type Communication (eMTC) devices, Narrow Band Internet of Things (NB-IoT) devices, Redcap devices, Ambient IoT Devices C, and the like.

The sensing function device 130 may be any suitable types of devices which can receive measurement results of the signals and provide the sensing result. In some examples, the sensing function device 130 may include or be implemented as a CN function or entity in the CN or a network device in the RAN. Although the term “sensing function device” is used herein, it may be interchangeably used with any other terms.

The signal transmitted for sensing (sometimes referred to as “sensing signal” ) may include any suitable types of signal, including but not limited to, Synchronization Signal Block (SSB) , Channel-State-Information Reference Signal (CSI-RS) , Positioning Reference Signal (PRS) , DeModulation Reference Signal (DMRS) , Sounding Reference Signal (SRS) , communication signal such as Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) signal, specific sensing signal (s) , or any other signal.

A measurement result of a signal for sensing may include the final sensing result such as the target distance, speed, dynamic maps, Reference Signal Received Power (RSPR) , Reference Signal Received Quality (RSRQ) , channel information etc., intermediate results such as point cloud information based on the sensing measurement, preliminary results such as delay spread spectrum, Doppler spectrum and other information, and/or raw measurements of the signal such as the in-phase/quadrature (I/Q) stream, or the like. The type of the measurement result may be flexibly configured for different use cases.

A sensing result may include any desired information that can be derived from the measurement result (s) of the signal (s) . As some examples, the sensing result may include a distance of the target, a size of the target, a velocity of the target, a position of the target, a moving direction of the target, a surrounding environment of the target, real-time map, or the like.

The communications in the communication environments 100 and 105 may conform to any suitable standards including, but not limited to, Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) , Long Term Evolution (LTE) , LTE-Evolution, LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) , New Radio (NR) , Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA) , Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) , GSM EDGE Radio Access Network (GERAN) , Machine Type Communication (MTC) and the like. The embodiments of the present disclosure may be performed according to any generation communication protocols either currently known or to be developed in the future. Examples of the communication protocols include, but not limited to, the first generation (1G) , the second generation (2G) , 2.5G, 2.75G, the third generation (3G) , the fourth generation (4G) , 4.5G, the fifth generation (5G) communication protocols, 5.5G, 5G-Advanced networks, or the sixth generation (6G) networks.

It is to be understood that the number of devices and their connections shown in FIG. 1A and FIG. 1B are only for the purpose of illustration without suggesting any limitation. The communication environments 100 and 105 may include any suitable number of devices configured to implementing example embodiments of the present disclosure. Although not shown, it would be appreciated that one or more additional devices may be located in the cell, and one or more additional cells may be deployed in the communication environment 100. It is noted that although illustrated as a network device, the network device 120 may be another device than a network device. Although illustrated as a terminal device, the terminal device 110 may be other device than a terminal device, such as a positioning reference unit (PRU) .

High reliability and low latency sensing service are desired. For example, Automated Driving needs high precision of position/velocity/surrounding environment etc.

In the current development of ISAC, some methods may be applicable to provide high reliability and low latency service, for example, increasing the number of sensing signal transmission occasions for low latency and combine the measurement results of multiple sensing events to increase the reliability. The multiple sensing events involves multiple transmissions of sensing signals. FIG. 2 illustrates a schematic diagram of traditional sensing signal transmission. As shown, a communication device 210 may transmit a sensing signal in three slots, Slot 1, Slot 4, and Slot 7 in Band 1, to sense a target 220. A sensing result is determined by combing measurements results obtained for the receptions of the sensing signals in the three slots. However, such transmission scheme is not desirable in various practical applications.

In a first example, if an SSB is used as a sensing signal, the SSB transmission can currently be configured from 5 ms to 160 ms. If 5 ms is used for low latency and two sensing measurement results are used for high reliability. It still needs at least 10ms to get the sensing result. In a second example, if CSI-RS is used as a sensing signal, the minimum period of CSI-RS is 4 slots for low latency and 2 sensing measurement results for high reliability. It still needs at least eight slots to get sensing results. For aperiodic CSI-RS, RRC messages are configured, and DCI is used to inform UE, which also introduces some latency. In a third example, for distance or position measurement, increasing the number of sensing signal transmission occasions may not be applicable because the distance changes with time; combining measurements from different times will bring some errors. Also, higher frequency transmission of sensing signals requires higher hardware capability.

Example embodiments of the present disclosure provide a solution for multi-frequency sensing. According to this solution, a sensing service is configured to be performed on a plurality of frequency ranges and a time-domain sensing resource. Such sensing is referred to as “multi-frequency sensing” or “multi-band sensing. ” To perform the sensing service, a plurality of signals are transmitted on the plurality of frequency ranges and the time-domain sensing resource, and a plurality of measurement results of the plurality of signals are obtained. The transmission of the plurality of signals may involve one or more devices which are configured for sensing. The plurality of measurement results may be obtained by one or more devices which may be the same or different from the devices that transmit the signals. The plurality of measurement results are provided to a sensing function device for determining a sensing result related to a certain target.

Principles and implementations of the present disclosure will be described in detail below with reference to the figures.

FIG. 3 illustrates a signaling flow 300 for multi-frequency sensing in accordance with some example embodiments of the present disclosure. For the purpose of discussion and without loss of generality, the signaling flow 300 is described with reference to FIG. 1B. The signaling flow 300 involves one or more communication devices 110, the target 120 (when involved, the target 120 is a target device with a measurement capability) , and the sensing function device 130.

In the signaling flow 300, the one or more communication devices 110 are configured to transmit one or more of a plurality of signals for sensing, and a plurality of measurement results of the plurality of signals are provided to the sensing function device 130 for determining a sensing result.

From the perspective of one communication device 110 (which is sometimes referred to as a “first device” herein) , the communication device 110 determines (330) a first configuration for a sensing service to be performed on a plurality of frequency ranges and a time-domain sensing resource. Then the communication device 110 transmits (340) at least one of a plurality of signals based on the first configuration, to cause a plurality of measurement results of the plurality of signals to be provided to the sensing function device 130. The plurality of signals are transmitted on the plurality of frequency ranges and the time-domain sensing resource.

Depending on whether a communication device 110 is configured to obtain a measurement result (s) of a signal (s) , the communication device 110 may transmit (342) the obtained measurement result (s) of the signal (s) to the sensing function device 130. In some example embodiments, if the target 120 has a measurement capability, the target 120 may obtain (346) a measurement result (s) of a signal (s) and transmit (348) the obtained measurement result (s) of the signal (s) to the sensing function device 130.

The sensing function device 130 may receive (344) the measurement result (s) of the signal (s) from the communication device (s) 110, and/or receive (350) the measurement result (s) of the signal (s) from the target 120. The sensing function device 130 determines (352) a sensing result based on the received measurement results of the plurality of signals.

In example embodiments of the present disclosure, multiple frequency ranges in sensing techniques can be used for transmitting a plurality of signals, for example, to achieve high reliability of the sensing results by combining the measurement results of the plurality of signals. Using two or more different frequency ranges for transmitting the sensing signals to provide a sensing service is a good option for low latency and high-reliability services. Different sensing signals may be transmitted on different frequency ranges simultaneously or almost simultaneously in the time domain, to reduce the sensing latency, and multiple measurement results of these signals can be combined for high reliability. In addition, sensing signals on different frequency ranges may have different channel information, and a combination of them may achieve better results.

Also, in the use case of sensing an environment, the low band can provide large coverage sensing (may be applicable for Line-Of-Sight (LOS) and None-Line-Of-Sight (NLOS) ) , and the high band can provide high precision sensing (may only be applicable for LOS) ; combing them can get more rich environment information. For this kind of service, sensing signals on different frequency ranges may be transmitted simultaneously or not. In addition, different bands can provide different channel information, which may be better than different signals at the same band.

FIG. 4A and FIG. 4B illustrate schematic diagrams for multi-frequency sensing in accordance with some example embodiments of the present disclosure. In examples 401 and 402 shown in FIG. 4A and FIG. 4B, a plurality of signals may be transmitted by one or more communication devices 110 to sense a target 120. The plurality of signals may be transmitted) on three different frequency ranges, i.e., Frequency Range 1, Frequency Range 2, and Frequency Range 3. In FIG. 4A, the plurality of signals are transmitted in the same slot (Slot 1) , and in FIG. 4B, the plurality of signals are transmitted in two adjacent slots (Slot 1 and Slot 2) .

It would be appreciated that the number of signals, frequency ranges and slots shown in FIG. 4A and FIG. 4B are provided for the purpose of illustration only. The granularities of the “same” time-domain sensing resource and the frequency range in the frequency domain will be further discussed below.

The transmission of the plurality of signals on the plurality of frequency ranges and the time-domain sensing resource may involve only one communication device 110 or more than one communication device 110. The measurement results of the signals may be obtained in various ways.

In general, depending on whether the communication device 110 is a network device or a terminal device, and depending on whether the communication device 110 acts as a transmitter for a signal or a receiver for a measurement result of the signals, there may be six sensing modes. FIG. 5 illustrates schematic diagrams of six example sensing modes in accordance with some example embodiments of the present disclosure.

As shown, in Sensing Mode (A) 501, a signal for sensing a target 530 is transmitted by a network device 510 and received or measured by the network device510 itself. In Sensing Mode (B) 502, a signal for sensing the target 530 is transmitted by the network device 510 and received or measured by another network device 512. In Sensing Mode (C) 503, a signal for sensing the target 530 is transmitted by the network device 510 and received or measured by a terminal device 520.

In Sensing Mode (D) 504, a signal for sensing the target 530 is transmitted by the terminal device 520 and received or measured by the terminal device 520 itself. In Sensing Mode (E) 505, a signal for sensing the target 530 is transmitted by the terminal device 520 and received or measured by the network device 510. In Sensing Mode (F) 506, a signal for sensing the target 530 is transmitted by the terminal device 520 and received or measured by another terminal device 522.

According to the different sensing modes, in the embodiments of transmitting a plurality of signals on a plurality of frequency ranges, there may be various interactions between the related devices. FIGS. 6A-6H illustrate schematic diagrams for example interactions between devices for multi-frequency sensing in accordance with some example embodiments of the present disclosure.

In the examples shown in FIGS. 6A-6H, for the purpose of illustrations only, it is assumed that two signals (Signal 1 and Signal 2) are transmitted on two different frequency ranges for sensing, and at most two communication devices 110 are involved in some examples. However, it would be appreciated that more than two signals may be transmitted for sensing, and more than two communication devices 110 may be involved for the transmission of the more than two signals, with each communication device 110 transmitting one or more signals.

Before describing FIGS. 6A-6H, some terms used in the related embodiments are defined first.

In the examples of FIGS. 6A-6H, the communication device 110-1 may be a terminal device or a network device, and the communication device 110-2 may be another terminal device or another network device that is different from the communication device 110-1. It would be appreciated that although the communication devices 110-1 and 110-2 are discussed here, any other communication devices 110 may perform similar operations as the communication devices 110-1 and 110-2.

In the examples of FIGS. 6A-6H, Signal 1 is transmitted by the communication device 110-1 in a frequency range for sensing, and Signal 2 is transmitted by the communication device 110-1 or the communication device 110-2 for the same sensing service as Signal 1.

In the frequency domain, Signal 1 and Signal 2 may be transmitted on different frequency ranges. As used herein, a “frequency range” may be any suitable frequency granularity in the frequency domain for signal transmission. A frequency range may be a frequency (or frequency point) , a frequency sub-band, a frequency band, or the like. Accordingly, in some example embodiments, the different frequency ranges may be different frequency bands, for example, one is in Band n1, and another is in Band n257. In some example embodiments, the different frequency ranges may be in an intra band but are different frequencies or bandwidths (BWPs) . For example, the different frequency ranges may be in Band n257, and on is transmitted in Frequency 26500MHz –27000MHz, and another is in frequency 29000MHz –29500MHz. In some example embodiments, the different frequency ranges may be both in a licensed frequency range. In some example embodiments, the different frequency ranges may be both the unlicensed frequency. In some example embodiments, one of the different frequency ranges may be in the licensed frequency range, and the other one of the different frequency ranges may be in an unlicensed frequency range.

In the time domain, Signal 1 and Signal 2 may be transmitted on a same time-domain sensing resource. In some example embodiments, the plurality of signals, e.g., Signal 1 and Signal 2, may be transmitted at the same time. In some example embodiments, the plurality of signals, e.g., Signal 1 and Signal 2, may be transmitted in the same resource block (RB) . In some example embodiments, the plurality of signals, e.g., Signal 1 and Signal 2, may be transmitted in the same slot or sub-slot. In some example embodiments, the plurality of signals, e.g., Signal 1 and Signal 2, may be transmitted in the same frame. In some example embodiments, the plurality of signals, e.g., Signal 1 and Signal 2, may be transmitted in a sensing service period or time.

In some example embodiments, the plurality of signals for sensing, e.g., Signal 1 and Signal 2, may include any suitable types of signals for sensing. As some examples, the plurality of signals, e.g., Signal 1 and Signal 2, may include SSB, CSI-RS, PRS, DMRS, SRS, OFDM signal, specific sensing signal (s) , or communication signal.

In the examples of FIGS. 6A-6H, Signal 3 and Signal 4 are illustrated. Signal 3 may be the reflected and/or refracted and/or diffracted signal of Signal 1, and/or may be the amplified reflected and/or refracted and/or diffracted signal by target, and/or independent signal generated by the target. Signal 4 may be the reflected and/or refracted and/or diffracted signal of Signal 2, and/or may be the amplified reflected and/or refracted and/or diffracted signal by target, and/or independent signal generated by target. As used herein, the independent signal may generated by a device which receives the signal for sensing (e.g., Ambient IoT device) . For example, the Ambient IoT devices may receive a OFDM signal, and then it can generate other OFDM signal which is not the amplified signal of the received signal.

A measurement result of a signal for sensing may include the final sensing result such as the target distance, speed, dynamic maps, RSPR, RSRQ, channel information etc., intermediate results such as point cloud information based on the sensing measurement, preliminary results such as delay spread spectrum, Doppler spectrum and other information, and/or raw measurements of the signal such as the I/Q stream, or the like. The type of the measurement result may be flexibly configured for different use cases.

In some example embodiments, a communication device 110 may transmit the plurality of signals on the plurality of frequency ranges and the time-domain sensing resource. This communication device 110 may obtain the plurality of measurement results of the plurality of signals, and transmit the plurality of measurement results to the sensing function device 130. That is, the communication device 110 may be configured to transmit all the signals for sensing and receive the measurement results.

As shown in an example 601 of FIG. 6A, the communication device 110-1 is configured to transmit Signal 1 and Signal 2 for a sensing service. Then the communication device 110-1 transmits Signal 1 and Signal 2 generated for the same sensing service on the corresponding frequency ranges and the time-domain sensing resource. The communication device 110-1 receives Signal 3 and Signal 4 where Signal 3 and Signal 4 are the reflected and/or refracted and/or diffracted signal of Signal 1 and Signal 2 by the target 120 and/or other obstacles, respectively. By receiving Signal 3 and Signal 4, the communication device 110-1 may determine measurement results of Signal 3 and Signal 4, which are also considered as measurement results of the transmitted Signal 1 and Signal 2, respectively. The communication device 110-1 transmits or delivers the measurement results to the sensing function device 130. The sensing function device 130 determines a sensing result 611 based on the received measurement results.

In some example embodiments, a communication device 110-1 may transmit the plurality of signals, to cause another communication device 110-2 (also referred to as a “second device” ) to obtain the plurality of measurement results of the plurality of signals and to transmit the plurality of measurement results to the sensing function device 130.

As shown in an example 602 of FIG. 6B, the communication device 110-1 is configured to transmit Signal 1 and Signal 2 for a sensing service. The communication device 110-1 transmits Signal 1 and Signal 2 generated for the same sensing service on the corresponding frequency ranges and the time-domain sensing resource.

The communication device 110-2 detects Signal 1 and Signal 2, and may receive Signal 3 and Signal 4 which are the reflected and/or refracted and/or diffracted signal of Signal 1 and Signal 2 by the target 120 and/or other obstacles, respectively. By receiving Signal 3 and Signal 4, the communication device 110-2 may determine measurement results of Signal 3 and Signal 4, which are also considered as measurement results of the transmitted Signal 1 and Signal 2, respectively.

The communication device 110-2 transmits or delivers the measurement results to the sensing function device 130. In some example embodiments, the measurement results may be transmitted to the communication device 110-1 and then the communication device 110-1 delivers the measurement results to the sensing function device 130. The sensing function device 130 determines a sensing result 612 based on the received measurement results.

In some example embodiments, a communication device 110-1 may transmit the plurality of signals, to cause another communication device 110-2 (also referred to as a “second device” ) to obtain a second plurality of measurement results and to transmit the second plurality of measurement results to the sensing function device 130. The communication device 110 may obtain a first plurality of measurement results of the plurality of signals and transmit the first plurality of measurement results to the sensing function device 130.

As shown in an example 603 of FIG. 6C, the communication device 110-1 is configured to transmit Signal 1 and Signal 2 for a sensing service. The communication device 110-1 transmits Signal 1 and Signal 2, which are generated for the same sensing service, on the corresponding frequency ranges and the time-domain sensing resource. Signal 1 and Signal 2, or more specifically, Signal 3 and Signal 4, are received by the communication device 110-1 and the communication device 110-2 both. Here Signal 3 and Signal 4 are the reflected and/or refracted and/or diffracted signal of Signal 1 and Signal 2 by the target 120 and/or other obstacles, respectively.

The communication device 110-1 transmits or delivers the measurement results of Signal 3 and Signal 4, which are also considered as measurement results of the transmitted Signal 1 and Signal 2, to the sensing function device 130. The communication device 110-2 transmits or delivers the measurement results of Signal 3 and Signal 4, which are also considered as measurement results of the transmitted Signal 1 and Signal 2, to the sensing function device 130. The sensing function device 130 determines a sensing result 613 based on the received measurement results.

In some example embodiments, a communication device 110-1 may transmit at least one of the plurality of signals, and obtain at least one measurement result of the at least one signal. The communication device 110-1 may transmit the at least one measurement result to the sensing function device 130. In this case, another communication device 110-2 (also referred to as a “second device” ) may transmit at least one further signal of the plurality of signal, obtain the at least one further measurement result of the at least one further signal, and transmit the at least one further measurement result to the sensing function device 130.

As shown in an example 604 of FIG. 6D, the communication device 110-1 is configured to transmit Signal 1 for a sensing service, and the communication device 110-2 is configured to transmit Signal 2, where Signal 1 and Signal 2 are configured for the same sensing service and transmitted on the different frequency ranges and a time-domain sensing resource. Signal 1 and Signal 2, (or more specifically, Signal 3 and Signal 4) are received by the communication device 110-1 and the communication device 110-2, respectively. Signal 3 and Signal 4 are the reflected and/or refracted and/or diffracted signal of Signal 1 and Signal 2 by the target 120 and/or other obstacles, respectively. The communication device 110-1 transmits or delivers the measurement result of Signal 3 (which is considered as the measurement result of Signal 1) to the sensing function device 130, and the communication device 110-2 transmits or delivers the measurement result of Signal 4 (which is considered as the measurement result of Signal 2) to the sensing function device 130. The sensing function device 130 determines a sensing result 614 based on the received measurement results.

In some example embodiments, a communication device 110-1 may transmit at least one of the plurality of signals to cause a second device (i.e., another communication device 110-2) to obtain the at least one measurement result of the at least one signal. This communication device 110-1 may obtain at least one further measurement result of at least one further signal of the plurality of signals transmitted by the communication device 110-2 and transmit the at least one further measurement result to the sensing function device 130. In this case, the communication device 110-2 may transmit the at least one measurement result to the sensing function device 130.

As shown in an example 605 of FIG. 6E, the communication device 110-1 is configured to transmit Signal 1 for a sensing service, and the communication device 110-2 is configured to transmit Signal 2, where Signal 1 and Signal 2 are configured for the same sensing service, and are transmitted on the corresponding frequency ranges and the time-domain sensing resource. Signal 3 and Signal 4 are received by the communication device 110-1 and the communication device 110-2, respectively. Signal 3 and Signal 4 are the reflected and/or refracted and/or diffracted signal of Signal 1 and Signal 2 by the target 120 and/or other obstacles, respectively.

The communication device 110-1 transmits or delivers the measurement results of Signal 2 to the sensing function device 130, and the communication device 110-2 transmits or delivers the measurement result of Signal 1 to the sensing function device 130. That is, each of the communication devices 110-1 and 110-2 receives the measurement result of the signal transmitted by the other communication device. The sensing function device 130 determines a sensing result 615 based on the measurement result (s) of Signal 3 and Signal 4.

In some example embodiments, a communication device 110-1 may transmit at least one of the plurality of signals. The communication device 110-1 may obtain a first plurality of measurement results of the plurality of signals. In this case, at least one further signal of the plurality of signals is transmitted by a second device (i.e., another communication device 110-2) . The communication device 110-1 may transmit the first plurality of measurement results to the sensing function device 130. The communication device 110-2 may obtain a second plurality of measurement results of the plurality of signals and transmit the second plurality of measurement results to the sensing function device 130.

As shown in an example 606 of FIG. 6F, the communication device 110-1 is configured to transmit Signal 1 for a sensing service, and the communication device 110-2 is configured to transmit Signal 2, where Signal 1 and Signal 2 are configured for the same sensing service. Signal 1 and Signal 2 (or more specifically, Signal 3 and Signal 4) are received by the communication device 110-1 and/or the communication device 110-2. Signal 3 and Signal 4 are the reflected and/or refracted and/or diffracted signal of Signal 1 and Signal 2 by the target 120 and/or other obstacles, respectively. The communication device 110-1 transmits or delivers the measurement results of Signal 3 and Signal 4 to the sensing function device 130. The communication device 110-2 transmits or delivers the measurement results of Signal 3 and Signal 4 to the sensing function device 130. That is, although the plurality of signals are transmitted by different communication devices, each communication device may obtain the measurement results of the signals. The sensing function device 130 determines a sensing result 616 based on the received measurement results.

In some example embodiments, the target 120 may have a measurement capability and also a communication capability. In those embodiments, the target 120 (also referred to as a target device) may obtain a measurement result (s) of one or more signals.

In some example embodiments, a communication device 110-1 may transmit the plurality of signals. A target device 120 with a measurement capability may obtain the plurality of measurement results of the plurality of signals, and the target device 120 is to be sensed for the sensing service; receive the plurality of measurement results from the target device 120; and transmit the plurality of measurement results to the sensing function device 130.

As shown in an example 607 of FIG. 6G, the communication device 110-1 is configured to transmit Signal 1 and Signal 2 for a sensing service. Then the communication device 110-1 transmits Signal 1 and Signal 2 generated for the same sensing service on the corresponding frequency ranges and the time-domain sensing resource. The target 120 with the measurement capability receives Signal 3 and Signal 4, where Signal 3 and Signal 4 are the reflected and/or refracted and/or diffracted signal of Signal 1 and Signal 2 by the target 120 and/or other obstacles, respectively. By receiving Signal 3 and Signal 4, the target 120 may determine measurement results of Signal 3 and Signal 4, which are also considered as measurement results of the transmitted Signal 1 and Signal 2, respectively.

The target 120 transmits the measurement results to the communication device 110-1. The communication device 110-1 transmits or delivers the measurement results to the sensing function device 130. In some other embodiments, the target 120 may directly transmit the measurement results to the sensing function device 130. The sensing function device 130 determines a sensing result 617 based on the received measurement results.

In some example embodiments, a communication device 110-1 may transmit at least one of the plurality of signals. A target device 120 with a measurement capability may obtain at least one measurement result of the at least one signal, and the target device 120 is to be sensed for the sensing service. The target 120 may receive the at least one measurement result of the at least one signal from the target device 120; and transmit the at least one measurement result to the sensing function device 130. In this case another communication device 110-2 may transmit at least one further signal of the plurality of signals, receive at least one further measurement result of the at least one further signal from the target device 120 and transmit the at least one further measurement result to the sensing function device 130.

As shown in an example 608 of FIG. 6H, the communication device 110-1 is configured to transmit Signal 1, and the communication device 110-2 is configured to transmit Signal 2. The Target 120 with the measurement capability receives Signal 3 and Signal 4, where Signal 3 and Signal 4 are the reflected and/or refracted and/or diffracted signal of Signal 1 and Signal 2 by the target 120 and/or other obstacles, respectively. The target 120 measures Signal 3 and Signal 4. The target 120 transmits the measurement result of Signal 3 (which is considered as the measurement result of Signal 1) to the communication device 110-1, and transmits the measurement result of Signal 4 (which is considered as the measurement result of Signal 2) to the communication device 110-2.

The communication device 110-1 transmits or delivers the measurement result of Signal 3 to the sensing function device 130 and the communication device 110-2 transmits or delivers the measurement result of Signal 4 to the sensing function device 130. In some other embodiments, the target 120 may directly transmit the measurement results to the sensing function device 130. The sensing function device 130 determines a sensing result 618 based on the received measurement results.

Various embodiments related to the sensing modes for the multi-frequency sensing are discussed above. In some example embodiments, the first configuration used by a communication device 110 (e.g., each of the communication devices 110-1 and 110-2 in FIGS. 6A-6H) for transmitting one or more signals may indicate the number of frequency ranges used for the sensing service, to configure how many frequencies/bands are used for this service. Alternatively, or in addition, the first configuration may indicate a combination of frequency ranges of multi-frequency sensing, or the specific frequency ranges for the multi-frequency sensing, to configure possible frequency/band combination of multi-frequency sensing.

Alternatively, or in addition, the first configuration may indicate the time-domain sensing resource for transmitting the at least one of the plurality of signals, to configure time domain information of each frequency/band and/or each frequency/band combination, e.g. the time to sending a sensing signal and/or which slot/frame to send the sensing signal.

Alternatively, or in addition, the first configuration may indicate the number of times for transmitting the at least one of the plurality of signals within a period of time, to configure how frequent the one or more signals for sensing are transmitted. Alternatively, or in addition, the first configuration may indicate a measurement event, a measurement gap, and/or a measurement period for measuring the signal (s) for sensing.

It would be appreciated that separate configurations may be configured for each of the communication devices 110 involved in the multi-frequency sensing.

To support the multi-frequency sensing, the configurations and signaling procedures are provided for the communication devices (for example, those involved in RAN and UE) . Referring back to FIG. 3, the signaling flow 300 may include a sensing capability reporting procedure.

Specifically, in some example embodiments, a communication device 110 may transmit (306) , to the sensing function device 130, information about sensing capability of the communication device 110. The information about sensing capability may be actively transmitted by the communication device 110 to the sensing function 130. In some example embodiments, the sensing function device 130 may transmit (302) a request for sensing capability of the communication device 110. In response to receiving (304) a request for sensing capability from the sensing function device, a communication device 110 may transmit (306) , to the sensing function device 130, information about the sensing capability of the communication device 110. By receiving (308) the information about the sensing capability of the communication device 110, the sensing function device 130 may determine whether and/or how this communication device 110 supports the multi-frequency sensing.

In some example embodiments, the information about the sensing capability of a communication device 110 may indicate whether multi-frequency sensing is supported by the communication device 110. Alternatively, or in addition, the information about the sensing capability of a communication device 110 may indicate the number of frequency ranges are supported for multi-frequency sensing, e.g., to indicate how many frequencies and/or bands are supported for multiple-frequency sensing. Alternatively, or in addition, the information about the sensing capability of a communication device 110 may indicate one or more frequency ranges supported for multi-frequency sensing, e.g., to indicate which frequencies and/or bands are supported for multi-frequency sensing. Alternatively, or in addition, the information about the sensing capability of a communication device 110 may indicate one or more combinations of frequency ranges supported for multi-frequency sensing, e.g., to indicate which frequency and/or band combination are supported for multiple-frequency sensing.

Alternatively, or in addition, the information about the sensing capability of a communication device 110 may indicate one or more capability categories of the communication device 110. Each capability category may correspond to or may be defined as all the types of information about the sensing capability of the communication device 110. For example, the information about the sensing capability may indicate what the capability category of the communication device 110, and different categories may indicate the different capabilities of the communication device 110, which also may indicate if the frequency/frequencies and/or band (s) are supported.

Alternatively, or in addition, the information about the sensing capability of a communication device 110 may indicate one or more time granularities supported for the multi-frequency sensing, e.g., what granularity of time to support for multiple-frequency sensing.

Alternatively, or in addition, the information about the sensing capability of a communication device 110 may indicate whether a time granularity of at least one of a resource block (RB) , a slot or a frame is supported.

Alternatively, or in addition, the information about the sensing capability of a communication device 110 may indicate whether at least one of a licensed frequency range or an unlicensed frequency range is allowed for the multi-frequency sensing. Alternatively, or in addition, the information about the sensing capability of a communication device 110 may indicate one or more reference signals supported for the multi-frequency sensing, or one or more sensing services that are provided for the multi-frequency sensing.

One or more of the communication devices 110 may send information about the sensing capability to indicate that the communication devices 110 have multi-frequency sensing capabilities, where the sensing capability indications correspond to those as discussed above. For example, the communication devices 110may send information indicating that it is not supported by multi-frequency sensing or does not support the required sensing capability. Then, no following procedures are to be performed.

In some example embodiments, the signaling flow 300 may include a sensing service trigger procedure. Specifically, in some example embodiments, a communication device 110 may transmit (310) , to the sensing function device 130, a request for the sensing service. In some example embodiments, in response to receiving (312) the request for the sensing service, the sensing function device 130 may transmit a trigger of the sensing service to the communication device 110, e.g., in the information about the sensing service transmitted (318) to the communication device 110. In some example embodiments, if the target 120 with the measurement capability is involved, the target 120 may transmit (314) , to the sensing function device 130, a request for the sensing service. In response to receiving (316) the request for the sensing service from the target 120, the sensing function device 130 may determine that following measurement results may be received from the target 120.

In some example embodiments, the signaling flow 300 may include a sensing configuration preparation procedure. Specifically, in some example embodiments, a communication device 110 may obtain (320) information about the sensing service, the information about the sensing service comprising at least one of: a trigger of the sensing service, a requirement of the sensing service, or a second configuration for the sensing service. The communication device 110 may determine (330) the first configuration based on the information about the sensing service.

In some example embodiments, the sensing function device 130 may transmit (318) the information about the sensing service to the communication device 110. The communication device 110 may receive (320) the information about the sensing service from the sensing function device 130 and determine the first configuration accordingly.

In some example embodiments, if the information about the sensing service indicates a trigger of the sensing service, the communication device 110 may trigger the multi-frequency sensing and may prepare the first configuration for the sensing service.

In some example embodiments, if the information about the sensing service indicates a requirement of the sensing service, the communication device 110 may decide when to trigger the multi-frequency sensing and may prepare the first configuration for the sensing service accordingly. In some example embodiments, the requirement of the sensing service may comprise at least one of a quality requirement, or a latency requirement, and/or any other requirements. The communication device 110 may prepare the resources based on the requirement. For example, if lower latency or higher precise modelling is needed, more frequencies/bands are configured and/or more transmission occasions are required to configure.

In some example embodiments, if the information about the sensing service indicates a second configuration for the sensing service, the communication device 110 may determine the first configuration based on the indicated second configuration.

In some example embodiments, the second configuration may indicate at least one of the following: the number of frequency ranges used for the sensing service, a plurality of candidate frequency ranges used for the sensing service, one or more combinations of frequency ranges of multi-frequency sensing, the time-domain sensing resource for transmitting the at least one of the plurality of signals, the number of times for transmitting the at least one of the plurality of signals within a period of time, a measurement event, a measurement gap, or a measurement period.

It is noted that the trigger of the sensing service, the requirement of the sensing service, and the second configuration for the sensing service may be transmitted to a communication device 110 in separate messages or in the same message. The scope of the present disclosure is not limited in this regard.

In some example embodiments, a communication device 110 may transmit (332) , to a target device 120 with a measurement capability, a third configuration for the sensing service based on the first configuration. The third configuration may be used to indicate the target device 120 on which frequency-domain and/or time-domain resources to receive the signal (s) transmitted by the communication device 110. In some example embodiments, the third configuration may indicate information about any other aspects of measurements of the signals and/or the transmissions of the measurement results. By receiving (334) the third configuration, the target device 120 may receive one or more measurement results of one or more signals transmitted by the communication device (s) 110.

In some example embodiments, the sensing function device 130 may not exchange signalling directly with one or more communication devices 110 and/or the target 120. In this case, at least one of transmission and reception between the communication device 110 and the sensing function device 130 is performed through an intermediate device. In some example embodiments, the intermediate device comprises an Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF) or a User Plane Function (UPF) . FIG. 7 illustrates a signaling flow 700 for multi-frequency sensing involved an intermediate device in accordance with some example embodiments of the present disclosure. As illustrated, an AMF/UPF 710 acts as an intermediate device, to forward the information/requests that are needed to be exchanged between the communication device (s) 110 and the sensing function device 130, and/or between the target 120 and the sensing function device 130.

In some example embodiments, a communication device 110 may comprise a network device which includes a Centralized Unit (CU) and a Distributed Unit (DU) . In some example embodiments, the first configuration may be determined by the CU and provided from the CU to the DU. The CU may decide to trigger multi-frequency sensing and/or preparing the first configuration.

FIG. 8 illustrates a signaling flow 800 in a network device including a CU 802 and a DU 804 for multi-frequency sensing in accordance with some example embodiments of the present disclosure. As shown, in some example embodiments, if the CU 802 obtains a trigger of a sensing service, the CU 802 determines (805) the first configuration and transmits (810) the first configuration to the DU 804. The DU 804 receives (815) the first configuration and may perform the transmission of one or more signals for sensing based on the first configuration.

In some example embodiments, if the CU 802 obtains a requirement for a sensing service, the CU 802 determines (820) the first configuration based on the requirement for the sensing service and transmits (825) the first configuration to the DU 804. The DU 804 receives (830) the first configuration and may perform the transmission of one or more signals for sensing based on the first configuration.

In some example embodiments, if the CU 802 obtains a second configuration for the sensing service, the CU 802 determines (835) the first configuration based on the second configuration and transmits (840) the first configuration to the DU 804. The DU 804 receives (845) the first configuration and may perform the transmission of one or more signals for sensing based on the first configuration.

FIG. 9 illustrates a flowchart of a communication method 900 implemented at a first device in accordance with some example embodiments of the present disclosure. For the purpose of discussion, the method 900 will be described from the perspective of a communication device 110 in FIG. 1A.

At block 910, the communication device 110 determines a first configuration for a sensing service to be performed on a plurality of frequency ranges and a time- domain sensing resource.

At block 920, the communication device 110 transmits at least one of a plurality of signals based on the first configuration, to cause a plurality of measurement results of the plurality of signals to be provided to a sensing function device, the plurality of signals being transmitted on the plurality of frequency ranges and the time-domain sensing resource.

In some example embodiments, the method 900 further comprises: obtaining information about the sensing service, the information about the sensing service comprising at least one of: a trigger of the sensing service, a requirement of the sensing service, or a second configuration for the sensing service; and determining the first configuration based on the information about the sensing service.

In some example embodiments, the method 900 further comprises: receiving the information about the sensing service from the sensing function device.

In some example embodiments, the method 900 further comprises: transmitting, to the sensing function device, information about sensing capability of the first device.

In some example embodiments, the method 900 further comprises: in response to receiving a request for sensing capability from the sensing function device, transmitting, to the sensing function device, information about the sensing capability of the first device.

In some example embodiments, the information about the sensing capability of the first device indicates at least one of: whether multi-frequency sensing is supported, the number of frequency ranges are supported for multi-frequency sensing, one or more frequency ranges supported for multi-frequency sensing, one or more combinations of frequency ranges supported for multi-frequency sensing, one or more capability categories of the first device, one or more time granularities supported for the multi-frequency sensing, whether a time granularity of at least one of a resource block (RB) , a slot or a frame is supported, whether at least one of a licensed frequency range or an unlicensed frequency range is allowed for the multi-frequency sensing, one or more reference signals supported for the multi-frequency sensing, or one or more services provided for the multi-frequency sensing.

In some example embodiments, the method 900 further comprises: transmitting, to the sensing function device, a request for the sensing service; and receiving the information comprising the trigger of the sensing service from the sensing function device.

In some example embodiments, the second configuration indicates at least one of the following: the number of frequency ranges used for the sensing service, a plurality of candidate frequency ranges used for the sensing service, one or more combinations of frequency ranges of multi-frequency sensing, the time-domain sensing resource for transmitting the at least one of the plurality of signals, the number of times for transmitting the at least one of the plurality of signals within a period of time, a measurement event, a measurement gap, or a measurement period.

In some example embodiments, the first configuration indicates at least one of the following: the number of frequency ranges used for the sensing service, a combination of frequency ranges of multi-frequency sensing, the time-domain sensing resource for transmitting the at least one of the plurality of signals, the number of times for transmitting the at least one of the plurality of signals within a period of time, a measurement event, a measurement gap, or a measurement period.

In some example embodiments, the method 900 further comprises: transmitting, to a target device with a measurement capability, a third configuration for the sensing service based on the first configuration.

In some example embodiments, the method 900 further comprises: transmitting the plurality of signals; obtaining the plurality of measurement results of the plurality of signals; and transmitting the plurality of measurement results to the sensing function device.

In some example embodiments, the method 900 further comprises: transmitting the plurality of signals, to cause a second device to obtain the plurality of measurement results of the plurality of signals and to transmit the plurality of measurement results to the sensing function device.

In some example embodiments, the method 900 further comprises: transmitting the plurality of signals, to cause a second device to obtain a second plurality of measurement results and to transmit the second plurality of measurement results to the sensing function device; obtaining a first plurality of measurement results of the plurality of signals; and transmitting the first plurality of measurement results to the sensing function device.

In some example embodiments, the method 900 further comprises: transmitting at least one of the plurality of signals; obtaining at least one measurement result of the at least one signal; and transmitting the at least one measurement result to the sensing function device, wherein a second device is caused to transmit at least one further signal of the plurality of signal, obtain the at least one further measurement result of the at least one further signal, and transmit the at least one further measurement result to the sensing function device.

In some example embodiments, the method 900 further comprises: transmitting at least one of the plurality of signals to cause a second device to obtain the at least one measurement result of the at least one signal; obtaining at least one further measurement result of at least one further signal of the plurality of signals transmitted by the second device; and transmitting the at least one further measurement result to the sensing function device, wherein the second device is caused to transmit the at least one measurement result to the sensing function device.

In some example embodiments, the method 900 further comprises: transmitting at least one of the plurality of signals; obtain a first plurality of measurement results of the plurality of signals, wherein at least one further signal of the plurality of signals is transmitted by a second device; and transmit the first plurality of measurement results to the sensing function device, wherein the second device is caused to obtain a second plurality of measurement results of the plurality of signals and transmit the second plurality of measurement results to the sensing function device.

In some example embodiments, the method 900 further comprises: transmitting the plurality of signals, wherein a target device with a measurement capability obtains the plurality of measurement results of the plurality of signals, and the target device is to be sensed for the sensing service; receive the plurality of measurement results from the target device; and transmit the plurality of measurement results to the sensing function device.

In some example embodiments, the method 900 further comprises: transmitting at least one of the plurality of signals, wherein a target device with a measurement capability obtains at least one measurement result of the at least one signal, and the target device is to be sensed for the sensing service; receiving the at least one measurement result of the at least one signal from the target device; and transmitting the at least one measurement result to the sensing function device, wherein a second device is caused to transmit at least one further signal of the plurality of signals, receive at least one further measurement result of the at least one further signal from the target device and transmit the at least one further measurement result to the sensing function device.

In some example embodiments, at least one of transmission and reception between the first device and the sensing function device is performed through an intermediate device.

In some example embodiments, the intermediate device comprises an Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF) or a User Plane Function (UPF) .

In some example embodiments, the first device comprises a Centralized Unit (CU) and a Distributed Unit (DU) , and the first configuration is determined by the CU and provided from the CU to the DU.

FIG. 10 illustrates a flowchart of a communication method 1000 implemented at a sensing function device in accordance with some example embodiments of the present disclosure. For the purpose of discussion, the method 1000 will be described from the perspective of the sensing function device 130 in FIG. 1.

At block 1010, the sensing function device 130 transmits, to a first device, information about a sensing service to be performed on a plurality of frequency ranges and a time-domain sensing resource, the information comprising at least one of: a trigger of the sensing service, a requirement of the sensing service, or a second configuration for the sensing service.

At block 1020, the sensing function device 130 receives a plurality of measurement results of a plurality of signals, at least one of the plurality of signals being transmitted by the first device based on the information about the sensing service, the plurality of signals being transmitted on the plurality of frequency ranges and the time-domain sensing resource.

In some example embodiments, the method 1000 further comprises receiving, from the first device, information about sensing capability of the first device.

In some example embodiments, the method 1000 further comprises transmitting, to the first device, a request for sensing capability; and receiving, from the first device, information about the sensing capability of the first device.

In some example embodiments, transmitting the information about the sensing service comprises, in response to receiving, from the first device, a request for the sensing service, transmitting the information comprising the trigger of the sensing service to the first device.

In some example embodiments, the requirement of the sensing service comprises at least one of the following: a quality requirement, or a latency requirement.

In some example embodiments, the method 1000 further comprises receiving, from the first device, the plurality of measurement results of the plurality of signals, wherein the plurality of signals are transmitted by the first device; and determining a sensing result based on the plurality of measurement results.

In some example embodiments, the method 1000 further comprises receiving, from a second device, the plurality of measurement results, wherein the plurality of signals are transmitted by the first device, and the plurality of measurement result are obtained by the second device; and determining a sensing result based on the plurality of measurement results.

In some example embodiments, the method 1000 further comprises receiving, from the first device, a first plurality of measurement results of the plurality of signals; receive, from a second device, a second plurality of measurement results of the plurality of signals; and determining a sensing result based on the first plurality of measurement result and the second plurality of measurement results, wherein the plurality of signals are transmitted by the first device.

In some example embodiments, the method 1000 further comprises receiving, from the first device, at least one measurement result of at least one of the plurality of signals; receive, from a second device, at least one further second measurement result of at least one further signal of the plurality of signals; and determining a sensing result based on the at least one measurement result and the at least one further measurement result, wherein the at least one signal is transmitted by the first device and the at least one further signal is transmitted by the second device.

In some example embodiments, the method 1000 further comprises receiving, from the first device, at least one further measurement result of at least one further signal of the plurality of signals, wherein the at least one further signal is transmitted by a second device; receiving, from the second device, at least one measurement result of at least one of the plurality of signals, wherein the at least one signal is transmitted by the first device; and determining a sensing result based on the at least one measurement result and the at least one further measurement result.

In some example embodiments, the method 1000 further comprises receiving, from the first device, a first plurality of measurement results of the plurality of signals; receiving, from a second device, a second plurality of measurement results of the plurality of signals; and determining a sensing result based on the first plurality of measurement results and the second plurality of measurement results, wherein at least one of the plurality of signals is transmitted by the first device and at least one further signal of the plurality of signals is transmitted by the second device.

In some example embodiments, the method 1000 further comprises receiving, from the first device, the plurality of measurement results of the plurality of signals; and determining a sensing result based on the plurality of measurement results, wherein the plurality of signals are transmitted by the first device, and the plurality of measurement results of the plurality of signals are obtained by a target device with a measurement capability and transmitted to the first device from the target device.

In some example embodiments, the method 1000 further comprises receiving, from the first device, at least one measurement result of at least one of the plurality of signals; receive, from a second device, at least one further measurement result of at least one further signal of the plurality of signals; and determining a sensing result based on the at least one measurement result and the at least one further measurement result, wherein the at least one signal is transmitted by the first device, the at least one further signal is transmitted by the second device, and the at least one measurement result and the at least one further measurement are obtained by a target device with a measurement capability and transmitted to the first device and second device, respectively.

FIG. 11 illustrates a flowchart of a communication method 1100 implemented at a target device in accordance with some example embodiments of the present disclosure. For the purpose of discussion, the method 1100 will be described from the perspective of the target 120 (referred to as the target device 120) in FIG. 1B.

At block 1110, the target device 120 receives, from a first device, a third configuration for a sensing service to be performed on a plurality of frequency ranges and a time-domain sensing resource. The target device has a measurement capability. The third configuration is determined based a first configuration used by the first device to transmit at least one of a plurality of signals, and the plurality of signals are transmitted on the plurality of frequency ranges and the time-domain sensing resource.

In some example embodiments, the method 1100 further comprises: obtaining a plurality of measurement results of the plurality of signals, the plurality of signals being transmitted by the first device; and transmitting, to the first device, the plurality of measurement results.

In some example embodiments, the method 1100 further comprises: obtaining at least one measurement result of at least one of the plurality of signals transmitted by the first device; obtaining at least one further measurement result of at least one further signal of the plurality of signals transmitted by a second device; transmitting the at least one measurement result to the first device; and transmitting the at least one further measurement result to the second device.

FIG. 12 is a simplified block diagram of a device 1200 that is suitable for implementing embodiments of the present disclosure. The device 1200 can be considered as a further example implementation of any of the devices as shown in FIG. 1A and FIG. 1B. Accordingly, the device 1200 can be implemented at or as at least a part of the communication devices 110, the sensing function device 130, or the target 120.

As shown, the device 1200 includes a processor 1210, a memory 1220 coupled to the processor 1210, a suitable transceiver 1240 coupled to the processor 1210, and a communication interface coupled to the transceiver 1240. The memory 1210 stores at least a part of a program 1230. The transceiver 1240 may be for bidirectional communications or a unidirectional communication based on requirements. The transceiver 1240 may include at least one of a transmitter 1242 and a receiver 1244. The transmitter 1242 and the receiver 1244 may be functional modules or physical entities. The transceiver 1240 has at least one antenna to facilitate communication, though in practice an Access Node mentioned in this application may have several ones. The communication interface may represent any interface that is necessary for communication with other network elements, such as X2/Xn interface for bidirectional communications between eNBs/gNBs, S1/NG interface for communication between a Mobility Management Entity (MME) /Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF) /SGW/UPF and the eNB/gNB, Un interface for communication between the eNB/gNB and a relay node (RN) , or Uu interface for communication between the eNB/gNB and a terminal device.

The program 1230 is assumed to include program instructions that, when executed by the associated processor 1210, enable the device 1200 to operate in accordance with the embodiments of the present disclosure, as discussed herein with reference to FIGS. 1A to 11. The embodiments herein may be implemented by computer software executable by the processor 1210 of the device 1200, or by hardware, or by a combination of software and hardware. The processor 1210 may be configured to implement various embodiments of the present disclosure. Furthermore, a combination of the processor 1210 and memory 1220 may form processing means 1250 adapted to implement various embodiments of the present disclosure.

The memory 1220 may be of any type suitable to the local technical network and may be implemented using any suitable data storage technology, such as a non-transitory computer readable storage medium, semiconductor based memory devices, magnetic memory devices and systems, optical memory devices and systems, fixed memory and removable memory, as non-limiting examples. While only one memory 1220 is shown in the device 1200, there may be several physically distinct memory modules in the device 1200. The processor 1210 may be of any type suitable to the local technical network, and may include one or more of general purpose computers, special purpose computers, microprocessors, digital signal processors (DSPs) and processors based on multicore processor architecture, as non-limiting examples. The device 1200 may have multiple processors, such as an application specific integrated circuit chip that is slaved in time to a clock which synchronizes the main processor.

According to embodiments of the present disclosure, a first device comprising a circuitry is provided. The circuitry is configured to: determine a first configuration for a sensing service to be performed on a plurality of frequency ranges and a time-domain sensing resource; and transmit at least one of a plurality of signals based on the first configuration, to cause a plurality of measurement results of the plurality of signals to be provided to a sensing function device, the plurality of signals being transmitted on the plurality of frequency ranges and the time-domain sensing resource. According to embodiments of the present disclosure, the circuitry may be configured to perform any method implemented by the first device as discussed above.

According to embodiments of the present disclosure, a sensing function device comprising a circuitry is provided. The circuitry is configured to: transmit, to a first device, information about a sensing service to be performed on a plurality of frequency ranges and a time-domain sensing resource, the information comprising at least one of: a trigger of the sensing service, a requirement of the sensing service, or a second configuration for the sensing service; and receive a plurality of measurement results of a plurality of signals, at least one of the plurality of signals being transmitted by the first device based on the information about the sensing service, the plurality of signals being transmitted on the plurality of frequency ranges and the time-domain sensing resource. According to embodiments of the present disclosure, the circuitry may be configured to perform any method implemented by the sensing function device as discussed above.

According to embodiments of the present disclosure, a target device comprising a circuitry is provided. The circuitry is configured to: receive, from a first device, a third configuration for a sensing service to be performed on a plurality of frequency ranges and a time-domain sensing resource, the target device having a measurement capability, wherein the third configuration is determined based a first configuration used by the first device to transmit at least one of a plurality of signals, and the plurality of signals are transmitted on the plurality of frequency ranges and the time-domain sensing resource. According to embodiments of the present disclosure, the circuitry may be configured to perform any method implemented by the target device as discussed above.

The term “circuitry” used herein may refer to hardware circuits and/or combinations of hardware circuits and software. For example, the circuitry may be a combination of analog and/or digital hardware circuits with software/firmware. As a further example, the circuitry may be any portions of hardware processors with software including digital signal processor (s) , software, and memory (ies) that work together to cause an apparatus, such as a terminal device or a network device, to perform various functions. In a still further example, the circuitry may be hardware circuits and or processors, such as a microprocessor or a portion of a microprocessor, that requires software/firmware for operation, but the software may not be present when it is not needed for operation. As used herein, the term circuitry also covers an implementation of merely a hardware circuit or processor (s) or a portion of a hardware circuit or processor (s) and its (or their) accompanying software and/or firmware.

In summary, embodiments of the present disclosure provide the following aspects.

In an aspect, it is proposed a first device comprising: a processor configured to cause the first device to: determine a first configuration for a sensing service to be performed on a plurality of frequency ranges and a time-domain sensing resource; and transmit at least one of a plurality of signals based on the first configuration, to cause a plurality of measurement results of the plurality of signals to be provided to a sensing function device, the plurality of signals being transmitted on the plurality of frequency ranges and the time-domain sensing resource.

In some example embodiments, the processor is further configured to cause the first device to: obtain information about the sensing service, the information about the sensing service comprising at least one of: a trigger of the sensing service, a requirement of the sensing service, or a second configuration for the sensing service; and determine the first configuration based on the information about the sensing service.

In some example embodiments, the processor is further configured to cause the first device to: receive the information about the sensing service from the sensing function device.

In some example embodiments, the processor is further configured to cause the first device to: transmit, to the sensing function device, information about sensing capability of the first device.

In some example embodiments, the processor is further configured to cause the first device to: in response to receiving a request for sensing capability from the sensing function device, transmit, to the sensing function device, information about the sensing capability of the first device.

In some example embodiments, the information about the sensing capability of the first device indicates at least one of: whether multi-frequency sensing is supported, the number of frequency ranges are supported for multi-frequency sensing, one or more frequency ranges supported for multi-frequency sensing, one or more combinations of frequency ranges supported for multi-frequency sensing, one or more capability categories of the first device, one or more time granularities supported for the multi-frequency sensing, whether a time granularity of at least one of a resource block (RB) , a slot or a frame is supported, whether at least one of a licensed frequency range or an unlicensed frequency range is allowed for the multi-frequency sensing, one or more reference signals supported for the multi-frequency sensing, or one or more sensing services provided for the multi-frequency sensing.

In some example embodiments, the processor is further configured to cause the first device to: transmit, to the sensing function device, a request for the sensing service; and receive the information comprising the trigger of the sensing service from the sensing function device.

In some example embodiments, the processor is further configured to cause the first device to: transmit, to a target device with a measurement capability, a third configuration for the sensing service based on the first configuration.

In some example embodiments, the processor is further configured to cause the first device to: transmit the plurality of signals; obtain the plurality of measurement results of the plurality of signals; and transmit the plurality of measurement results to the sensing function device.

In some example embodiments, the processor is further configured to cause the first device to: transmit the plurality of signals, to cause a second device to obtain the plurality of measurement results of the plurality of signals and to transmit the plurality of measurement results to the sensing function device.

In some example embodiments, the processor is further configured to cause the first device to: transmit the plurality of signals, to cause a second device to obtain a second plurality of measurement results and to transmit the second plurality of measurement results to the sensing function device; obtain a first plurality of measurement results of the plurality of signals; and transmit the first plurality of measurement results to the sensing function device.

In some example embodiments, the processor is further configured to cause the first device to: transmit at least one of the plurality of signals; obtain at least one measurement result of the at least one signal; and transmit the at least one measurement result to the sensing function device, wherein a second device is caused to transmit at least one further signal of the plurality of signal, obtain the at least one further measurement result of the at least one further signal, and transmit the at least one further measurement result to the sensing function device.

In some example embodiments, the processor is further configured to cause the first device to: transmit at least one of the plurality of signals to cause a second device to obtain the at least one measurement result of the at least one signal; obtain at least one further measurement result of at least one further signal of the plurality of signals transmitted by the second device; and transmit the at least one further measurement result to the sensing function device, wherein the second device is caused to transmit the at least one measurement result to the sensing function device.

In some example embodiments, the processor is further configured to cause the first device to: transmit at least one of the plurality of signals; obtain a first plurality of measurement results of the plurality of signals, wherein at least one further signal of the plurality of signals is transmitted by a second device; and transmit the first plurality of measurement results to the sensing function device, wherein the second device is caused to obtain a second plurality of measurement results of the plurality of signals and transmit the second plurality of measurement results to the sensing function device.

In some example embodiments, the processor is further configured to cause the first device to: transmit the plurality of signals, wherein a target device with a measurement capability obtains the plurality of measurement results of the plurality of signals, and the target device is to be sensed for the sensing service; receive the plurality of measurement results from the target device; and transmit the plurality of measurement results to the sensing function device.

In some example embodiments, the processor is further configured to cause the first device to: transmit at least one of the plurality of signals, wherein a target device with a measurement capability obtains at least one measurement result of the at least one signal, and the target device is to be sensed for the sensing service; receive the at least one measurement result of the at least one signal from the target device; and transmit the at least one measurement result to the sensing function device, wherein a second device is caused to transmit at least one further signal of the plurality of signals, receive at least one further measurement result of the at least one further signal from the target device and transmit the at least one further measurement result to the sensing function device.

In an aspect, it is proposed a sensing function device comprising: a processor configured to cause the sensing function device to: transmit, to a first device, information about a sensing service to be performed on a plurality of frequency ranges and a time-domain sensing resource, the information comprising at least one of: a trigger of the sensing service, a requirement of the sensing service, or a second configuration for the sensing service; and receive a plurality of measurement results of a plurality of signals, at least one of the plurality of signals being transmitted by the first device based on the information about the sensing service, the plurality of signals being transmitted on the plurality of frequency ranges and the time-domain sensing resource.

In some example embodiments, the processor is further configured to cause the sensing function device to: receive, from the first device, information about sensing capability of the first device.

In some example embodiments, the processor is further configured to cause the sensing function device to: transmit, to the first device, a request for sensing capability; and receive, from the first device, information about the sensing capability of the first device.

In some example embodiments, the processor is further configured to cause the sensing function device to: in response to receiving, from the first device, a request for the sensing service, transmit the information comprising the trigger of the sensing service to the first device.

In some example embodiments, the processor is further configured to cause the sensing function device to: receive, from the first device, the plurality of measurement results of the plurality of signals, wherein the plurality of signals are transmitted by the first device; and determine a sensing result based on the plurality of measurement results.

In some example embodiments, the processor is further configured to cause the sensing function device to: receive, from a second device, the plurality of measurement results, wherein the plurality of signals are transmitted by the first device, and the plurality of measurement result are obtained by the second device; and determine a sensing result based on the plurality of measurement results.

In some example embodiments, the processor is further configured to cause the sensing function device to: receive, from the first device, a first plurality of measurement results of the plurality of signals; receive, from a second device, a second plurality of measurement results of the plurality of signals; and determine a sensing result based on the first plurality of measurement result and the second plurality of measurement results, wherein the plurality of signals are transmitted by the first device.

In some example embodiments, the processor is further configured to cause the sensing function device to: receive, from the first device, at least one measurement result of at least one of the plurality of signals; receive, from a second device, at least one further second measurement result of at least one further signal of the plurality of signals; and determine a sensing result based on the at least one measurement result and the at least one further measurement result, wherein the at least one signal is transmitted by the first device and the at least one further signal is transmitted by the second device.

In some example embodiments, the processor is further configured to cause the sensing function device to: receive, from the first device, at least one further measurement result of at least one further signal of the plurality of signals, wherein the at least one further signal is transmitted by a second device; receive, from the second device, at least one measurement result of at least one of the plurality of signals, wherein the at least one signal is transmitted by the first device; and determine a sensing result based on the at least one measurement result and the at least one further measurement result.

In some example embodiments, the processor is further configured to cause the sensing function device to: receive, from the first device, a first plurality of measurement results of the plurality of signals; receive, from a second device, a second plurality of measurement results of the plurality of signals; and determine a sensing result based on the first plurality of measurement results and the second plurality of measurement results, wherein at least one of the plurality of signals is transmitted by the first device and at least one further signal of the plurality of signals is transmitted by the second device.

In some example embodiments, the processor is further configured to cause the sensing function device to: receive, from the first device, the plurality of measurement results of the plurality of signals; and determine a sensing result based on the plurality of measurement results, wherein the plurality of signals are transmitted by the first device, and the plurality of measurement results of the plurality of signals are obtained by a target device with a measurement capability and transmitted to the first device from the target device.

In some example embodiments, the processor is further configured to cause the sensing function device to: receive, from the first device, at least one measurement result of at least one of the plurality of signals; receive, from a second device, at least one further measurement result of at least one further signal of the plurality of signals; and determine a sensing result based on the at least one measurement result and the at least one further measurement result, wherein the at least one signal is transmitted by the first device, the at least one further signal is transmitted by the second device, and the at least one measurement result and the at least one further measurement are obtained by a target device with a measurement capability and transmitted to the first device and second device, respectively.

In an aspect, it is proposed a target device comprising: a processor configured to cause the target device to: receive, from a first device, a third configuration for a sensing service to be performed on a plurality of frequency ranges and a time-domain sensing resource, the target device having a measurement capability, wherein the third configuration is determined based a first configuration used by the first device to transmit at least one of a plurality of signals, and the plurality of signals are transmitted on the plurality of frequency ranges and the time-domain sensing resource.

In some example embodiments, the processor is further configured to cause the target device to: obtain a plurality of measurement results of the plurality of signals, the plurality of signals being transmitted by the first device; and transmit, to the first device, the plurality of measurement results.

In some example embodiments, the processor is further configured to cause the target device to: obtain at least one measurement result of at least one of the plurality of signals transmitted by the first device; obtain at least one further measurement result of at least one further signal of the plurality of signals transmitted by a second device; transmit the at least one measurement result to the first device; and transmit the at least one further measurement result to the second device.

In an aspect, a first device comprises: at least one processor; and at least one memory coupled to the at least one processor and storing instructions thereon, the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, causing the device to perform the method implemented by the first device discussed above.

In an aspect, a sensing function device comprises: at least one processor; and at least one memory coupled to the at least one processor and storing instructions thereon, the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, causing the device to perform the method implemented by the sensing function device discussed above.

In an aspect, a target device comprises: at least one processor; and at least one memory coupled to the at least one processor and storing instructions thereon, the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, causing the device to perform the method implemented by the target device discussed above.

In an aspect, it is proposed a communication method comprising: determining, by a first device, a first configuration for a sensing service to be performed on a plurality of frequency ranges and a time-domain sensing resource; and transmitting at least one of a plurality of signals based on the first configuration, to cause a plurality of measurement results of the plurality of signals to be provided to a sensing function device, the plurality of signals being transmitted on the plurality of frequency ranges and the time-domain sensing resource.

In an aspect, it is proposed a communication method comprising: transmitting, by a sensing function device and to a first device, information about a sensing service to be performed on a plurality of frequency ranges and a time-domain sensing resource, the information comprising at least one of: a trigger of the sensing service, a requirement of the sensing service, or a second configuration for the sensing service; and receiving a plurality of measurement results of a plurality of signals, at least one of the plurality of signals being transmitted by the first device based on the information about the sensing service, the plurality of signals being transmitted on the plurality of frequency ranges and the time-domain sensing resource.

In an aspect, it is proposed a communication method comprising: receiving, by a target device with a measurement capability and from a first device, a third configuration for a sensing service to be performed on a plurality of frequency ranges and a time-domain sensing resource, wherein the third configuration is determined based a first configuration used by the first device to transmit at least one of a plurality of signals, and the plurality of signals are transmitted on the plurality of frequency ranges and the time-domain sensing resource.

In an aspect, a computer readable medium having instructions stored thereon, the instructions, when executed on at least one processor, causing the at least one processor to perform the method implemented by the first device discussed above.

In an aspect, a computer readable medium having instructions stored thereon, the instructions, when executed on at least one processor, causing the at least one processor to perform the method implemented by the sensing function device discussed above.

In an aspect, a computer readable medium having instructions stored thereon, the instructions, when executed on at least one processor, causing the at least one processor to perform the method implemented by the target device discussed above.

In an aspect, a computer program comprising instructions, the instructions, when executed on at least one processor, causing the at least one processor to perform the method implemented by the first device discussed above.

In an aspect, a computer program comprising instructions, the instructions, when executed on at least one processor, causing the at least one processor to perform the method implemented by the sensing function device discussed above.

In an aspect, a computer program comprising instructions, the instructions, when executed on at least one processor, causing the at least one processor to perform the method implemented by the target device discussed above.

Generally, various embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented in hardware or special purpose circuits, software, logic or any combination thereof. Some aspects may be implemented in hardware, while other aspects may be implemented in firmware or software which may be executed by a controller, microprocessor or other computing device. While various aspects of embodiments of the present disclosure are illustrated and described as block diagrams, flowcharts, or using some other pictorial representation, it will be appreciated that the blocks, apparatus, systems, techniques or methods described herein may be implemented in, as non-limiting examples, hardware, software, firmware, special purpose circuits or logic, general purpose hardware or controller or other computing devices, or some combination thereof.

The present disclosure also provides at least one computer program product tangibly stored on a non-transitory computer readable storage medium. The computer program product includes computer-executable instructions, such as those included in program modules, being executed in a device on a target real or virtual processor, to carry out the process or method as described above with reference to FIGS. 1 to 10. Generally, program modules include routines, programs, libraries, objects, classes, components, data structures, or the like that perform particular tasks or implement particular abstract data types. The functionality of the program modules may be combined or split between program modules as desired in various embodiments. Machine-executable instructions for program modules may be executed within a local or distributed device. In a distributed device, program modules may be located in both local and remote storage media.

Program code for carrying out methods of the present disclosure may be written in any combination of one or more programming languages. These program codes may be provided to a processor or controller of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, or other programmable data processing apparatus, such that the program codes, when executed by the processor or controller, cause the functions/operations specified in the flowcharts and/or block diagrams to be implemented. The program code may execute entirely on a machine, partly on the machine, as a stand-alone software package, partly on the machine and partly on a remote machine or entirely on the remote machine or server.

The above program code may be embodied on a machine readable medium, which may be any tangible medium that may contain, or store a program for use by or in connection with an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device. The machine readable medium may be a machine readable signal medium or a machine readable storage medium. A machine readable medium may include but not limited to an electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system, apparatus, or device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing. More specific examples of the machine readable storage medium would include an electrical connection having one or more wires, a portable computer diskette, a hard disk, a random access memory (RAM) , a read-only memory (ROM) , an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or Flash memory) , an optical fiber, a portable compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM) , an optical storage device, a magnetic storage device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing.

Further, while operations are depicted in a particular order, this should not be understood as requiring that such operations be performed in the particular order shown or in sequential order, or that all illustrated operations be performed, to achieve desirable results. In certain circumstances, multitasking and parallel processing may be advantageous. Likewise, while several specific implementation details are contained in the above discussions, these should not be construed as limitations on the scope of the present disclosure, but rather as descriptions of features that may be specific to particular embodiments. Certain features that are described in the context of separate embodiments may also be implemented in combination in a single embodiment. Conversely, various features that are described in the context of a single embodiment may also be implemented in multiple embodiments separately or in any suitable sub-combination.

Although the present disclosure has been described in language specific to structural features and/or methodological acts, it is to be understood that the present disclosure defined in the appended claims is not necessarily limited to the specific features or acts described above. Rather, the specific features and acts described above are disclosed as example forms of implementing the claims.

Claims

A first device comprising:

a processor configured to cause the first device to:

determine a first configuration for a sensing service to be performed on a plurality of frequency ranges and a time-domain sensing resource; and

transmit at least one of a plurality of signals based on the first configuration, to cause a plurality of measurement results of the plurality of signals to be provided to a sensing function device, the plurality of signals being transmitted on the plurality of frequency ranges and the time-domain sensing resource.
The device of claim 1, wherein the processor is further configured to cause the first device to:

obtain information about the sensing service, the information about the sensing service comprising at least one of: a trigger of the sensing service, a requirement of the sensing service, or a second configuration for the sensing service; and

determine the first configuration based on the information about the sensing service.
The device of claim 2, wherein the processor is further configured to cause the first device to:

receive the information about the sensing service from the sensing function device.
The device of claim 1, wherein the processor is further configured to cause the first device to:

transmit, to the sensing function device, information about sensing capability of the first device.
The device of claim 1, wherein the processor is further configured to cause the first device to:

in response to receiving a request for sensing capability from the sensing function device, transmit, to the sensing function device, information about the sensing capability of the first device.
The device of claim 4 or 5, wherein the information about the sensing capability of the first device indicates at least one of:

whether multi-frequency sensing is supported,

the number of frequency ranges are supported for multi-frequency sensing,

one or more frequency ranges supported for multi-frequency sensing,

one or more combinations of frequency ranges supported for multi-frequency sensing,

one or more capability categories of the first device,

one or more time granularities supported for the multi-frequency sensing,

whether a time granularity of at least one of a resource block (RB) , a slot or a frame is supported,

whether at least one of a licensed frequency range or an unlicensed frequency range is allowed for the multi-frequency sensing,

one or more reference signals supported for the multi-frequency sensing, or

one or more sensing services provided for the multi-frequency sensing.
The device of claim 2, wherein the processor is further configured to cause the first device to:

transmit, to the sensing function device, a request for the sensing service; and

receive the information comprising the trigger of the sensing service from the sensing function device.
The device of claim 1, wherein the first configuration indicates at least one of the following:

the number of frequency ranges used for the sensing service,

a combination of frequency ranges of multi-frequency sensing,

the time-domain sensing resource for transmitting the at least one of the plurality of signals,

the number of times for transmitting the at least one of the plurality of signals within a period of time,

a measurement event,

a measurement gap, or

a measurement period.
The device of any of claims 1 to 8, wherein the processor is further configured to cause the first device to:

transmit the plurality of signals;

obtain the plurality of measurement results of the plurality of signals; and

transmit the plurality of measurement results to the sensing function device.
The device of any of claims 1 to 9, wherein the processor is further configured to cause the first device to:

transmit the plurality of signals, to cause a second device to obtain the plurality of measurement results of the plurality of signals and to transmit the plurality of measurement results to the sensing function device.
The device of any of claims 1 to 9, wherein the processor is further configured to cause the first device to:

transmit the plurality of signals, to cause a second device to obtain a second plurality of measurement results and to transmit the second plurality of measurement results to the sensing function device;

obtain a first plurality of measurement results of the plurality of signals; and

transmit the first plurality of measurement results to the sensing function device.
The device of any of claims 1 to 9, wherein the processor is further configured to cause the first device to:

transmit at least one of the plurality of signals;

obtain at least one measurement result of the at least one signal; and

transmit the at least one measurement result to the sensing function device,

wherein a second device is caused to transmit at least one further signal of the plurality of signal, obtain the at least one further measurement result of the at least one further signal, and transmit the at least one further measurement result to the sensing function device.
The device of any of claims 1 to 9, wherein the processor is further configured to cause the first device to:

transmit at least one of the plurality of signals to cause a second device to obtain the at least one measurement result of the at least one signal;

obtain at least one further measurement result of at least one further signal of the plurality of signals transmitted by the second device; and

transmit the at least one further measurement result to the sensing function device, wherein the second device is caused to transmit the at least one measurement result to the sensing function device.
The device of any of claims 1 to 9, wherein the processor is further configured to cause the first device to:

transmit at least one of the plurality of signals;

obtain a first plurality of measurement results of the plurality of signals, wherein at least one further signal of the plurality of signals is transmitted by a second device; and

transmit the first plurality of measurement results to the sensing function device,

wherein the second device is caused to obtain a second plurality of measurement results of the plurality of signals and transmit the second plurality of measurement results to the sensing function device.
The device of any of claims 1 to 9, wherein the processor is further configured to cause the first device to:

transmit the plurality of signals, wherein a target device with a measurement capability obtains the plurality of measurement results of the plurality of signals, and the target device is to be sensed for the sensing service;

receive the plurality of measurement results from the target device; and

transmit the plurality of measurement results to the sensing function device.
The device of any of claims 1 to 9, wherein the processor is further configured to cause the first device to:

transmit at least one of the plurality of signals, wherein a target device with a measurement capability obtains at least one measurement result of the at least one signal, and the target device is to be sensed for the sensing service;

receive the at least one measurement result of the at least one signal from the target device; and

transmit the at least one measurement result to the sensing function device,

wherein a second device is caused to transmit at least one further signal of the plurality of signals, receive at least one further measurement result of the at least one further signal from the target device and transmit the at least one further measurement result to the sensing function device.
The device of any of claims 1 to 16, wherein at least one of transmission and reception between the first device and the sensing function device is performed through an intermediate device.
The device of claim 17, wherein the intermediate device comprises an Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF) or a User Plane Function (UPF) .
The device of any of claims 1 to 18, wherein the first device comprises a Centralized Unit (CU) and a Distributed Unit (DU) , and the first configuration is determined by the CU and provided from the CU to the DU.
A sensing function device comprising:

a processor configured to cause the sensing function device to:

transmit, to a first device, information about a sensing service to be performed on a plurality of frequency ranges and a time-domain sensing resource, the information about the sensing service comprising at least one of: a trigger of the sensing service, a requirement of the sensing service, or a second configuration for the sensing service; and

receive a plurality of measurement results of a plurality of signals, at least one of the plurality of signals being transmitted by the first device based on the information about the sensing service, the plurality of signals being transmitted on the plurality of frequency ranges and the time-domain sensing resource.