WO2025073177A1

WO2025073177A1 - Sensing measuremnet and reporting

Info

Publication number: WO2025073177A1
Application number: PCT/CN2024/097459
Authority: WO
Inventors: Min Zhang; Yan Chen; Jianglei Ma; Peiying Zhu
Original assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Current assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Priority date: 2023-10-05
Filing date: 2024-06-05
Publication date: 2025-04-10
Anticipated expiration: 2026-04-05

Abstract

Example embodiments relate to sensing measurement and reporting. In an aspect, a first device transmits a first configuration for allocating at least one of (i) a set of sensing measurement resources or (ii) a set of sensing measurement ports for performing at least one sensing measurement operation. The first device transmits at least one second configuration for configuring the at least one sensing measurement operation to be performed on the at least one of (i) the set of sensing measurement resources or (ii) the set of sensing measurement ports. The first device transmits a third configuration for reporting sensing measurement data of the at least one sensing measurement operation. Therefore, the set of sensing measurement resources or ports may be configured for the sensing measurement and reporting, thereby improving efficiency and flexibility of configurations of sensing measurement.

Description

SENSING MEASUREMNET AND REPORTING

FIELD

Example embodiments of the present disclosure generally relate to the field of communication and in particular, to methods, devices, apparatuses and a computer readable storage medium for sensing measurement and reporting.

BACKGROUND

User Equipment (UE) position information is often used in cellular communication networks to improve various performance metrics for the network. Such performance metrics may, for example, include capacity, agility, and efficiency. The improvement may be achieved when elements of the network exploit the position, the behavior, the mobility pattern, etc., of the UE in the context of a priori information describing a wireless environment in which the UE is operating. A sensing system may be used to help gather UE pose information, including its location in a global coordinate system, its velocity and direction of movement in the global coordinate system, orientation information, and the information about the wireless environment. In the sensing system, there are still some issues associated with sensing operations to be addressed.

SUMMARY

In general, example embodiments of the present disclosure provide a solution for sensing measurement and reporting, especially for sensing measurement and reporting based on multiple sensing ports or resources.

In a first aspect, there is provided a method at a first device. The method comprises transmitting a first configuration for allocating at least one of (i) a set of sensing measurement resources or (ii) a set of sensing measurement ports for performing at least one sensing measurement operation; transmitting at least one second configuration for configuring the at least one sensing measurement operation to be performed on the at least one of (i) the set of sensing measurement resources or (ii) the set of sensing measurement ports; and transmitting a third configuration for reporting sensing measurement data of the at least one sensing measurement operation. As such, the set of sensing measurement resources or ports may be configured for the sensing measurement and reporting. Therefore, the performance for the sensing operation is improved.

In some embodiments, the first device may further receive a sensing measurement report of the sensing measurement data. In this way, the sensing measurement data may be conveyed based on the third configuration.

In some embodiments, the first configuration may allocate a set of sensing measurement ports; and the at least one second configuration may comprise a set of second configurations for the set of sensing measurement ports, respectively. In this way, the at least one second configuration is associated with the set of sensing measurement ports.

In some embodiments, the first configuration may allocate a set of sensing measurement resources; and the at least one second configuration may comprise a set of second configurations for the set of sensing measurement resources, respectively. In this way, the at least one second configuration is associated with the set of sensing measurement resources.

In some embodiments, a sensing measurement resource among the set of sensing measurement resources may comprise one or more sensing measurement ports. In this way, the sensing measurement resource may be configured in different ways.

In some embodiments, one or more sensing measurement resources among the set of sensing measurement resources may overlap or non-overlap in at least one of time domain or frequency domain; or one or more sensing measurement ports among the set of sensing measurement ports may overlap or non-overlap in at least one of time domain or frequency domain. In this way, the overhead of the sensing measurement may be reduced.

In some embodiments, the at least one of (i) the set of sensing measurement resources or (ii) the set of sensing measurement ports may be configured for a usage other than a sensing usage. In this way, the sensing measurement resources or the sensing measurement ports may be used for several usages.

In some embodiments, the set of sensing measurement resources may comprise at least one of the following: a long term evolution (LTE) channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) resource; a new radio (NR) CSI-RS resource, a sounding reference signal (SRS) resource, or a demodulation reference signal (DMRS) resource. In this way, multiple kinds of resources may be used for the sensing measurement.

In some embodiments, the set of sensing measurement ports may comprise at least one of the following: an LTE CSI-RS port; an NR CSI-RS port, an SRS port, or a DMRS port. In this way, multiple kinds of ports may be used for the sensing measurement.

In some embodiments, a second configuration among the at least one second configuration may comprise at least one of the following: assistance information for performing the at least one sensing measurement operation; or priority information for performing the at least one sensing measurement operation. In this way, the sensing measurement behaviors may be regulated.

In some embodiments, the second configuration may be applied to a sensing measurement port or a sensing measurement resource; the second configuration may be applied to a subset of the set of sensing measurement resources; the second configuration may be applied to a subset of the set of sensing measurement ports; or the second configuration may be applied to the set of sensing measurement resources. In this way, the second configuration may be applied to multiple resources or ports.

In some embodiments, the assistance information may comprise at least one of the following: a reference resource for the at least one sensing measurement operation; a reference port for the at least one sensing measurement operation; or at least one type of the assistance information. In this way, an anchor point is provided for other sensing measurement resource (s) /port (s) , and the sensing operation efficiency is improved.

In some embodiments, the reference resource may comprise at least one of the following: a resource with a predetermined index; a resource with a predefined local index among the set of sensing measurement resources; a resource with an index indicated by a received message; a resource for a usage other than a sensing usage; an LTE CSI-RS resource; an NR CSI-RS resource; an SRS resource; or a DMRS resource. In this way, multiple kinds of resources may be used for the sensing measurement.

In some embodiments, the reference port may comprise at least one of the following: a port with a predetermined index; a port with a predefined local index among the set of sensing measurement ports; a port with an index indicated by a received message; a port for a usage other than a sensing usage; an LTE CSI-RS port; an NR CSI-RS port; an SRS port; or a DMRS port. In this way, multiple kinds of ports may be used for the sensing measurement.

In some embodiments, a reference port and a sensing measurement port anchored to the reference port may be associated with a same sensing measurement resource or different sensing measurement resources; a reference port and a sensing measurement resource anchored to the reference port may be associated with a same sensing measurement resource or different sensing measurement resources; or a reference resource and a sensing measurement resource anchored to the reference resource may be associated with a same set of sensing measurement resources or different sets of sensing measurement resources. In this way, the reference port may be an anchor point for the sensing measurement resource or the reference port.

In some embodiments, in the case that a sensing measurement port among a plurality of sensing measurement ports included in a sensing measurement resource among the set of sensing measurement resources may be configured as the reference port, the sensing measurement resource including the reference port may be determined as the reference resource. In this way, the reference resource may be associated with the reference port.

In some embodiments, the at least one type of the assistance information may comprise at least one of the following: an indication of whether delay profile or power delay profile is common for the set of sensing measurement resources or the set of sensing measurement ports relative to the reference port or the reference resource; an indication of whether delay profile or power delay profile of selective channel paths is common for the set of sensing measurement resources or the set of sensing measurement ports relative to the reference port or the reference resource; an indication of whether Doppler shift is common for the set of sensing measurement resources or the set of sensing measurement ports relative to the reference port or the reference resource; one or more degree offsets of azimuth or elevation relative to a beamforming direction of the reference port; one or more degree offsets of azimuth or elevation relative to a beamforming direction of the reference resource; one or more offsets of power boosting relative to the reference port; one or more offsets of power boosting relative to the reference resource; a second number of times of beam width in azimuth relative to the reference port; a third number of times of beam width in azimuth relative to the reference resource; a fourth number of times of beam width in elevation relative to the reference port; a fifth number of times of beam width in elevation relative to the reference resource; one or more Doppler shifts relative to a beamforming direction of the reference port; one or more Doppler shifts relative to a beamforming direction of the reference resource; one or more offsets of phase rotation relative to the reference port; or one or more offsets of phase rotation relative to the reference resource. In this way, the assistance information may be provided in several manners.

In some embodiments, the at least one type of the assistance information may be pre-defined; or at least one index of the at least one type of the assistance information may be transmitted to a sensing receiving device to perform the at least one sensing measurement operation. In this way, the assistance information may be obtained by the sensing receiving device in several manners.

In some embodiments, the priority information may indicate at least one of the following: prioritizing or de-prioritizing the at least one sensing measurement operation over the reference resource or the reference port in the case that the reference resource or allocated resource of the reference port overlaps with the at least one sensing measurement operation; prioritizing or de-prioritizing the at least one sensing measurement operation over the reference resource or the reference port in the case that the reference resource or allocated resource of the reference port overlaps with allocated resource of a data channel or a control channel; prioritizing or de-prioritizing a sensing measurement port with a predefined local index among one or more sensing measurement ports comprised in a same sensing measurement resource; prioritizing or de-prioritizing a sensing measurement resource with a predefined local index among one or more sensing measurement resources comprised in a same sensing measurement resource set; prioritizing or de-prioritizing one or more sensing measurement ports based on one or more priority indexes of the one or more sensing measurement ports; prioritizing or de-prioritizing one or more sensing measurement resources based on one or more priority indexes of the one or more sensing measurement resources; prioritizing or de-prioritizing one or more sensing measurement ports based on a trigger type of the one or more sensing measurement ports; prioritizing or de-prioritizing one or more sensing measurement resources based on a trigger type of the one or more sensing measurement resources; prioritizing or de-prioritizing one or more sensing measurement ports based on historical information of the one or more sensing measurement ports; prioritizing or de-prioritizing one or more sensing measurement resources based on historical information of the one or more sensing measurement resources; transmitting one or more indexes of one or more sensing measurement resources prioritized or de-prioritized; or transmitting one or more indexes of one or more sensing measurement ports prioritized or de-prioritized. In this way, conflicted sensing measurement resources/ports may be effectively managed.

In some embodiments, the first device 201 may receive a sensing measurement report of one or more sensing measurement ports in the case that the one or more sensing measurement ports may be prioritized; receive a sensing measurement report of one or more sensing measurement resources in the case that the one or more sensing measurement resources may be prioritized; receive a sensing measurement report of at least one sensing measurement port among one or more sensing measurement ports and indexes of other sensing measurement ports among the one or more sensing measurement ports other than the at least one sensing measurement port in the case that the one or more sensing measurement ports may be prioritized; receive a sensing measurement report of at least one sensing measurement resource among one or more sensing measurement resources and indexes of other sensing measurement resources among the one or more sensing measurement resources other than the at least one sensing measurement resource in the case that the one or more sensing measurement resources may be prioritized; receive one or more indexes of one or more sensing measurement ports in the case that the one or more sensing measurement ports may be de-prioritized; receive one or more indexes of one or more sensing measurement resources in the case that the one or more sensing measurement resources may be de-prioritized; receive a sensing measurement report of one or more sensing measurement ports and an indication that the sensing measurement report are invalid in the case that the one or more sensing measurement ports may be de-prioritized; or receive a sensing measurement report of one or more sensing measurement resources and an indication that the sensing measurement report are invalid in the case that the one or more sensing measurement resources may be de-prioritized. In this way, the sensing measurement report may be sent in a more efficient way.

In some embodiments, a value of a priority index may be associated with an index of a sensing measurement resource; a value of a priority index may be associated with an index of a sensing measurement port; or a value of a priority index may be associated with an urgency level of a sensing measurement operation. In this way, the value of the priority may be determined in a variety of ways.

In some embodiments, the third configuration may indicate at least one of the following: at least one reporting quantity type for the sensing measurement data; timing for reporting the sensing measurement data; or a manner in which the sensing measurement data is reported. In this way, the sensing measurement report may be conveyed based on the third configuration.

In some embodiments, the at least one reporting quantity type may comprise at least one of the following: a power delay profile; a Doppler shift profile; a reference signal received power; a Rician factor; a probability of non-light of sight (NLOS) ; a probability of light of sight (LOS) ; a number of dominant paths; or a confidence level for the at least one sensing measurement data. In this way, the sensing measurement report may be conveyed in a variety of ways.

In some embodiments, one or more sensing measurement resources may be of a same reporting quantity type; one or more sensing measurement resources may be of different reporting quantity types; one or more sensing measurement ports may be of a same reporting quantity type; or one or more sensing measurement ports may be of different reporting quantity types. In this way, the reporting quantity types of associated with one or more sensing measurement resources or one or more sensing measurement ports may be determined flexibly.

In some embodiments, the at least one reporting quantity type may be applied to a sensing measurement port or a sensing measurement resource; the at least one reporting quantity type may be applied to a subset of the set of sensing measurement ports; or the at least one reporting quantity type may be applied to a subset of the set of sensing measurement resources. In this way, the reporting efficiency is improved.

In some embodiments, the at least one reporting quantity type may be based on a difference between at least one sensing measurement data derived from at least one sensing measurement resource or port and the sensing measurement data derived from the reference resource or port. In this way, the overhead of the sensing measurement report is improved.

In some embodiments, the first device may further transmit at least one sensing signal on the at least one of (i) the set of sensing measurement resources or (ii) the set of sensing measurement ports. In this way, the at least one sensing signal may be transmitted based on the first configuration.

In some embodiments, the first configuration, the second configuration, and the third configuration may be transmitted to a sensing receiving device which is to perform the at least one sensing measurement operation. In this way, the at least one sensing measurement operation may be performed based on the first configuration, the second configuration, and the third configuration.

In some embodiments, the first device may further transmit at least one of the first configuration, the second configuration, or the third configuration to a sensing transmitting device which is to transmit at least one sensing signal for the at least one sensing measurement operation. In this way, the configuration of the sensing transmitting device may be flexible.

In a second aspect, there is provided a method at a second device. The method comprises receiving a first configuration for allocating at least one of (i) a set of sensing measurement resources or (ii) a set of sensing measurement ports for performing at least one sensing measurement operation; receiving at least one second configuration for configuring the at least one sensing measurement operation to be performed on the at least one of (i) the set of sensing measurement resources or (ii) the set of sensing measurement ports; receiving a third configuration for reporting sensing measurement data of the at least one sensing measurement operation; and transmitting a sensing measurement report of the sensing measurement data. As such, the set of sensing measurement resources or ports may be configured for the sensing measurement and reporting. Therefore, the performance for the sensing operation is improved.

In some embodiments, a sensing measurement resource among the set of sensing measurement resources may comprise one or more sensing measurement ports.

In some embodiments, one or more sensing measurement resources among the set of sensing measurement resources may overlap or non-overlap in at least one of time domain or frequency domain; or one or more sensing measurement ports among the set of sensing measurement ports may overlap or non-overlap in at least one of time domain or frequency domain.

In some embodiments, the at least one of (i) the set of sensing measurement resources or (ii) the set of sensing measurement ports may be configured for a usage other than a sensing usage. In this way, the sensing measurement resource may be configured in different ways.

In some embodiments, in order to transmit the sensing measurement report, the second device may transmit a sensing measurement report of one or more sensing measurement ports in the case that the one or more sensing measurement ports are prioritized; transmit a sensing measurement report of one or more sensing measurement resources in the case that the one or more sensing measurement resources are prioritized; transmit a sensing measurement report of at least one sensing measurement port among one or more sensing measurement ports and indexes of other sensing measurement ports among the one or more sensing measurement ports other than the at least one sensing measurement port in the case that the one or more sensing measurement ports are prioritized; transmit a sensing measurement report of at least one sensing measurement resource among one or more sensing measurement resources and indexes of other sensing measurement resources among the one or more sensing measurement resources other than the at least one sensing measurement resource in the case that the one or more sensing measurement resources are prioritized; transmit one or more indexes of one or more sensing measurement ports in the case that the one or more sensing measurement ports are de-prioritized; transmit one or more indexes of one or more sensing measurement resources in the case that the one or more sensing measurement resources are de-prioritized; transmit a sensing measurement report of one or more sensing measurement ports and an indication that the sensing measurement report are invalid in the case that the one or more sensing measurement ports are de-prioritized; or transmit a sensing measurement report of one or more sensing measurement resources and an indication that the sensing measurement report are invalid in the case that the one or more sensing measurement resources are de-prioritized. In this way, the sensing measurement report may be sent in a more efficient way.

In some embodiments, the at least one reporting quantity type may be based on a difference between at least one sensing measurement data derived from at least one sensing measurement resource or port and the sensing measurement data derived from of the reference resource or port. In this way, the overhead of the sensing measurement report is improved.

In some embodiments, the second device may further receive at least one sensing signal on the at least one of (i) the set of sensing measurement resources or (ii) the set of sensing measurement ports. In this way, the at least one sensing signal may be received based on the first configuration.

In some embodiments, the first configuration, the second configuration, and the third configuration may be transmitted to a sensing transmitting device which is to transmit at least one sensing signal for the at least one sensing measurement operation. In this way, the at least one sensing measurement operation may be performed based on the first configuration, the second configuration, and the third configuration.

In some embodiments, the sensing measurement report may be transmitted to a different device than a device from which the first configuration, the second configuration, and the third configuration are received. In this way, the configuration of the device receiving the sensing measurement report may be flexible.

In a third aspect, there is provided a first device. The first device comprises a transceiver and a processor communicatively coupled with the transceiver. The processor is configured to transmit a first configuration for allocating at least one of (i) a set of sensing measurement resources or (ii) a set of sensing measurement ports for performing at least one sensing measurement operation; transmit at least one second configuration for configuring the at least one sensing measurement operation to be performed on the at least one of (i) the set of sensing measurement resources or (ii) the set of sensing measurement ports; and transmit a third configuration for reporting sensing measurement data of the at least one sensing measurement operation.

In a fourth aspect, there is provided a second device. The second device comprises a transceiver and a processor communicatively coupled with the transceiver. The processor is configured to receive a first configuration for allocating at least one of (i) a set of sensing measurement resources or (ii) a set of sensing measurement ports for performing at least one sensing measurement operation; receive at least one second configuration for configuring the at least one sensing measurement operation to be performed on the at least one of (i) the set of sensing measurement resources or (ii) the set of sensing measurement ports; receive a third configuration for reporting sensing measurement data of the at least one sensing measurement operation; and transmit a sensing measurement report of the sensing measurement data.

In a fifth aspect, there is provided a non-transitory computer readable medium comprising computer program stored thereon, the computer program, when executed on at least one processor, causing the at least one processor to perform the method of any one of the first aspect or second aspect.

In a sixth aspect, there is provided a chip comprising at least one processing circuit configured to perform the method of any one of the first aspect or second aspect.

In a seventh aspect, there is provided a computer program product tangibly stored on a computer-readable medium and comprising computer-executable instructions which, when executed, cause an apparatus to perform the method of any one of the first aspect or second aspect.

It is to be understood that the summary section is not intended to identify key or essential features of embodiments of the present disclosure, nor is it intended to be used to limit the scope of the present disclosure. Other features of the present disclosure will become easily comprehensible through the following description.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Some example embodiments will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

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

FIG. 1B illustrates an example communication system in which example embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented;

FIG. 1C illustrates an example of an electronic device (ED) and base stations related to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 1D illustrates an example of units or modules in a device related to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 2A illustrates an example signaling chart illustrating an example process according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 2B illustrates another example signaling chart illustrating an example process according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 3 illustrates an example of the first configuration according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 4 illustrates an example of the second configuration according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 5 illustrates an example of the sensing measurement reporting according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 6 illustrates an example procedure of proposed solution according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 7 illustrates another example procedure of proposed solution according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 8 illustrates yet another example procedure of proposed solution according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 9 illustrates an example process of proposed solution according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 10 illustrates a flowchart of a method implemented at a first device according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 11 illustrates a flowchart of a method implemented at a second device according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 12 is a block diagram of a device that may be used for implementing some embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 13 is a schematic diagram of a structure of an apparatus in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure; and

FIG. 14 is a schematic diagram of a structure of an apparatus in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure

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

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Principles 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. The disclosure 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.

References in the present disclosure to “one embodiment” , “an embodiment” , “an example embodiment” , and the like indicate that the embodiment described may include a particular feature, structure, or characteristic, but it is not necessary that every embodiment includes the particular feature, structure, or characteristic. Moreover, such phrases are not necessarily referring to the same embodiment. Further, when a particular feature, structure, or characteristic is described in connection with an embodiment, it is submitted that it is within the knowledge of one skilled in the art to affect such feature, structure, or characteristic in connection with other embodiments whether or not explicitly described.

It shall be understood that although the terms “first” and “second” etc. may be used herein to describe various elements, these elements should not be limited by these terms. These terms are only used to distinguish one element from another. For example, a first element could be termed a second element, and similarly, a second element could be termed a first element, without departing from the scope of example embodiments. As used herein, the term “and/or” includes any and all combinations of one or more of the listed terms.

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of example embodiments. 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. It will be further understood that the terms “comprises” , “comprising” , “has” , “having” , “includes” and/or “including” , when used herein, specify the presence of stated features, elements, and/or components etc., but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, elements, components and/or combinations thereof.

FIG. 1A illustrates an example communication system 100A in which example embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented. Referring to FIG. 1A, as an illustrative example without limitation, a simplified schematic illustration of a communication system is provided. The communication system 100A comprises a radio access network 120. The radio access network 120 may be a next generation (e.g. sixth generation (6G) or later) radio access network, or a legacy (e.g. 5G, 4G, 3G or 2G) radio access network. One or more communication electric device (ED) 110a, 110b, 110c, 110d, 110e, 110f, 110g, 110h, 110i, 110j (generically referred to as 110) may be interconnected to one another or connected to one or more network nodes (170a, 170b, generically referred to as 170) in the radio access network 120. A core network 130 may be a part of the communication system and may be dependent or independent of the radio access technology used in the communication system 100A. Also the communication system 100A comprises a public switched telephone network (PSTN) 140, the internet 150, and other networks 160.

FIG. 1B illustrates an example communication system in which example embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented. In general, the communication system 100B enables multiple wireless or wired elements to communicate data and other content. The purpose of the communication system 100B may be to provide content, such as voice, data, video, signaling and/or text, via broadcast, multicast and unicast, etc. The communication system 100B may operate by sharing resources, such as carrier spectrum bandwidth, between its constituent elements. The communication system 100B may include a terrestrial communication system and/or a non-terrestrial communication system. The communication system 100B may provide a wide range of communication services and applications (such as earth monitoring, remote sensing, passive sensing and positioning, navigation and tracking, autonomous delivery and mobility, etc. ) . The communication system 100B may provide a high degree of availability and robustness through a joint operation of a terrestrial communication system and a non-terrestrial communication system. For example, integrating a non-terrestrial communication system (or components thereof) into a terrestrial communication system can result in what may be considered a heterogeneous network comprising multiple layers. Compared to conventional communication networks, the heterogeneous network may achieve better overall performance through efficient multi-link joint operation, more flexible functionality sharing, and faster physical layer link switching between terrestrial networks and non-terrestrial networks.

The terrestrial communication system and the non-terrestrial communication system could be considered sub-systems of the communication system. In the example shown in FIG. 1B, the communication system 100B includes electronic devices (ED) 110a, 110b, 110c, 110d (generically referred to as ED 110) , radio access networks (RANs) 120a-120b, a non-terrestrial communication network 120c, a core network 130, a public switched telephone network (PSTN) 140, the Internet 150, and other networks 160. The RANs 120a-120b include respective base stations (BSs) 170a-170b, which may be generically referred to as terrestrial transmit and receive points (T-TRPs) 170a-170b. The non-terrestrial communication network 120c includes an access node 172, which may be generically referred to as a non-terrestrial transmit and receive point (NT-TRP) 172, or a sensing agent 172.

Any ED 110 may be alternatively or additionally configured to interface, access, or communicate with any T-TRP 170a-170b and NT-TRP 172, the Internet 150, the core network 130, the PSTN 140, the other networks 160, or any combination of the preceding. In some examples, ED 110a may communicate an uplink and/or downlink transmission over a terrestrial air interface 190a with T-TRP 170a. In some examples, the EDs 110a, 110b, 110c and 110d may also communicate directly with one another via one or more sidelink air interfaces 190b. In some examples, ED 110d may communicate an uplink and/or downlink transmission over a non-terrestrial air interface 190c with NT-TRP 172.

The air interfaces 190a and 190b may use similar communication technology, such as any suitable radio access technology. For example, the communication system 100B may implement one or more channel access methods, such as code division multiple access (CDMA) , space division multiple access (SDMA) , time division multiple access (TDMA) , frequency division multiple access (FDMA) , orthogonal FDMA (OFDMA) , Direct Fourier Transform spread OFDMA (DFT-OFDMA) or single-carrier FDMA (SC-FDMA) in the air interfaces 190a and 190b. The air interfaces 190a and 190b may utilize other higher dimension signal spaces, which may involve a combination of orthogonal and/or non-orthogonal dimensions.

The non-terrestrial air interface 190c can enable communication between the ED 110d and one or multiple NT-TRPs 172 via a wireless link or simply a link. For some examples, the link is a dedicated connection for unicast transmission, a connection for broadcast transmission, or a connection between a group of EDs 110 and one or multiple NT-TRPs 172for multicast transmission.

The RANs 120a and 120b are in communication with the core network 130 to provide the EDs 110a 110b, and 110c with various services such as voice, data, and other services. The RANs 120a and 120b and/or the core network 130 may be in direct or indirect communication with one or more other RANs (not shown) , which may or may not be directly served by core network 130, and may or may not employ the same radio access technology as RAN 120a, RAN 120b or both. The core network 130 may also serve as a gateway access between (i) the RANs 120a and 120b or EDs 110a 110b, and 110c or both, and (ii) other networks (such as the PSTN 140, the Internet 150, the sensing agent 172, and the other networks 160) . In addition, some or all of the EDs 110a 110b, and 110c may include functionality for communicating with different wireless networks over different wireless links using different wireless technologies and/or protocols. Instead of wireless communication (or in addition thereto) , the EDs 110a 110b, and 110c may communicate via wired communication channels to a service provider or switch (not shown) , and to the Internet 150. PSTN 140 may include circuit switched telephone networks for providing plain old telephone service (POTS) . Internet 150 may include a network of computers and subnets (intranets) or both, and incorporate protocols, such as Internet Protocol (IP) , Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) , User Datagram Protocol (UDP) . EDs 110a 110b, and 110c may be multimode devices capable of operation according to multiple radio access technologies, and incorporate multiple transceivers necessary to support such.

FIG. 1C illustrates an example of an electronic device (ED) and a base station related to some embodiments of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG. 1C, another example of an ED 110 and a base station 170a, 170b and/or 170c is provided. The ED 110 is used to connect persons, objects, machines, etc. The ED 110 may be widely used in various scenarios, for example, cellular communications, device-to-device (D2D) , vehicle to everything (V2X) , peer-to-peer (P2P) , machine-to-machine (M2M) , machine-type communications (MTC) , Internet of things (IOT) , virtual reality (VR) , augmented reality (AR) , mixed reality (MR) , metaverse, digital twin, industrial control, self-driving, remote medical, smart grid, smart furniture, smart office, smart wearable, smart transportation, smart city, drones, robots, remote sensing, passive sensing, positioning, navigation and tracking, autonomous delivery and mobility, etc.

Each ED 110 represents any suitable end user device for wireless operation and may include such devices (or may be referred to) as a user equipment/device (UE) , a wireless transmit/receive unit (WTRU) , a mobile station, a fixed or mobile subscriber unit, a cellular telephone, a station (STA) , a machine type communication (MTC) device, a personal digital assistant (PDA) , a smartphone, a laptop, a computer, a tablet, a wireless sensor, a consumer electronics device, a smart book, a vehicle, a car, a truck, a bus, a train, or an IoT device, wearable devices such as a watch, head mounted equipment, a pair of glasses, an industrial device, or apparatus (e.g. communication module, modem, or chip) in the forgoing devices, among other possibilities. Future generation EDs 110 may be referred to using other terms. Each base station 170a and 170b is a T-TRP and will hereafter be referred to as T-TRP 170. Also shown in FIG. 1C, a NT-TRP will hereafter be referred to as NT-TRP 172. Each ED 110 connected to T-TRP 170 and/or NT-TRP 172 can be dynamically or semi-statically turned-on (i.e., established, activated, or enabled) , turned-off (i.e., released, deactivated, or disabled) and/or configured in response to one of more of: connection availability and connection necessity.

The ED 110 includes a transmitter 111 and a receiver 113 coupled to one or more antennas 104. Only one antenna 104 is illustrated. One, some, or all of the antennas 104 may alternatively be panels. The transmitter 111 and the receiver 113 may be integrated, e.g. as a transceiver. The transceiver is configured to modulate data or other content for transmission by at least one antenna 104 or network interface controller (NIC) . The transceiver is also configured to demodulate data or other content received by the at least one antenna 104. Each transceiver includes any suitable structure for generating signals for wireless or wired transmission and/or processing signals received wirelessly or by wire. Each antenna 104 includes any suitable structure for transmitting and/or receiving wireless or wired signals.

The ED 110 includes at least one memory 115. The memory 115 stores instructions and data used, generated, or collected by the ED 110. For example, the memory 115 could store software instructions or modules configured to implement some or all of the functionality and/or embodiments described herein and that are executed by one or more processing unit (s) (e.g., a processor 117) . Each memory 115 includes any suitable volatile and/or non-volatile storage and retrieval device (s) . Any suitable type of memory may be used, such as random access memory (RAM) , read only memory (ROM) , hard disk, optical disc, subscriber identity module (SIM) card, memory stick, secure digital (SD) memory card, on-processor cache, and the like.

The ED 110 may further include one or more input/output devices (not shown) or interfaces (such as a wired interface to the Internet 150 in FIG. 1) . The input/output devices permit interaction with a user or other devices in the network. Each input/output device includes any suitable structure for providing information to or receiving information from a user, such as through operation as a speaker, a microphone, a keypad, a keyboard, a display, or a touch screen, etc.

The ED 110 includes the processor 117 for performing operations including those operations related to preparing a transmission for uplink transmission to the NT-TRP 172 and/or the T-TRP 170, those operations related to processing downlink transmissions received from the NT-TRP 172 and/or the T-TRP 170, and those operations related to processing sidelink transmission to and from another ED 110. Processing operations related to preparing a transmission for uplink transmission may include operations such as encoding, modulating, transmit beamforming, and generating symbols for transmission. Processing operations related to processing downlink transmissions may include operations such as receive beamforming, demodulating and decoding received symbols. Depending upon the embodiment, a downlink transmission may be received by the receiver 113, possibly using receive beamforming, and the processor 117 may extract signaling from the downlink transmission (e.g. by detecting and/or decoding the signaling) . An example of signaling may be a reference signal transmitted by the NT-TRP 172 and/or by the T-TRP 170. In some embodiments, the processor 117 implements the transmit beamforming and/or the receive beamforming based on the indication of beam direction, e.g. beam angle information (BAI) , received from the T-TRP 170. In some embodiments, the processor 117 may perform operations relating to network access (e.g. initial access) and/or downlink synchronization, such as operations relating to detecting a synchronization sequence, decoding and obtaining the system information, etc. In some embodiments, the processor 117 may perform channel estimation, e.g. using a reference signal received from the NT-TRP 172 and/or from the T-TRP 170.

Although not illustrated, the processor 117 may form part of the transmitter 111 and/or part of the receiver 113. Although not illustrated, the memory 115 may form part of the processor 117.

The processor 117, the processing components of the transmitter 111 and the processing components of the receiver 113 may each be implemented by the same or different one or more processors that are configured to execute instructions stored in a memory (e.g. in the memory 115) . Alternatively, some or all of the processor 117, the processing components of the transmitter 111 and the processing components of the receiver 113 may each be implemented using dedicated circuitry, such as a programmed field-programmable gate array (FPGA) , a graphical processing unit (GPU) , a Central Processing Unit (CPU) or an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) .

The T-TRP 170 may be known by other names in some implementations, such as a base station, a base transceiver station (BTS) , a radio base station, a network node, a network device, a device on the network side, a transmit/receive node, a Node B, an evolved NodeB (eNodeB or eNB) , a Home eNodeB, a next Generation NodeB (gNB) , a transmission point (TP) , a site controller, an access point (AP) , a wireless router, a relay station, a remote radio head, a terrestrial node, a terrestrial network device, a terrestrial base station, a base band unit (BBU) , a remote radio unit (RRU) , an active antenna unit (AAU) , a remote radio head (RRH) , a central unit (CU) , a distributed unit (DU) , a positioning node, among other possibilities. The T-TRP 170 may be a macro BS, a pico BS, a relay node, a donor node, or the like, or combinations thereof. The T-TRP 170 may refer to the forgoing devices or refer to apparatus (e.g. a communication module, a modem, or a chip) in the forgoing devices.

In some embodiments, the parts of the T-TRP 170 may be distributed. For example, some of the modules of the T-TRP 170 may be located remote from the equipment that houses the antennas 256 for the T-TRP 170, and may be coupled to the equipment that houses the antennas 256 over a communication link (not shown) sometimes known as front haul, such as common public radio interface (CPRI) . Therefore, in some embodiments, the term T-TRP 170 may also refer to modules on the network side that perform processing operations, such as determining the location of the ED 110, resource allocation (scheduling) , message generation, and encoding/decoding, and that are not necessarily part of the equipment that houses the antennas 256 of the T-TRP 170. The modules may also be coupled to other T-TRPs. In some embodiments, the T-TRP 170 may actually be a plurality of T-TRPs that are operating together to serve the ED 110, e.g. through the use of coordinated multipoint transmissions.

The T-TRP 170 includes at least one transmitter 181 and at least one receiver 183 coupled to one or more antennas 256. Only one antenna 256 is illustrated. One, some, or all of the antennas 256 may alternatively be panels. The transmitter 181 and the receiver 183 may be integrated as a transceiver. The T-TRP 170 further includes a processor 182 for performing operations including those related to: preparing a transmission for downlink transmission to the ED 110, processing an uplink transmission received from the ED 110, preparing a transmission for backhaul transmission to the NT-TRP 172, and processing a transmission received over backhaul from the NT-TRP 172. Processing operations related to preparing a transmission for downlink or backhaul transmission may include operations such as encoding, modulating, precoding (e.g. multiple input multiple output (MIMO) precoding) , transmit beamforming, and generating symbols for transmission. Processing operations related to processing received transmissions in the uplink or over backhaul may include operations such as receive beamforming, demodulating received symbols and decoding received symbols. The processor 182 may also perform operations relating to network access (e.g. initial access) and/or downlink synchronization, such as generating the content of synchronization signal blocks (SSBs) , generating the system information, etc. In some embodiments, the processor 182 also generates an indication of beam direction, e.g. BAI, which may be scheduled for transmission by a scheduler 184. The processor 182 performs other network-side processing operations described herein, such as determining the location of the ED 110, determining where to deploy the NT-TRP 172, etc. In some embodiments, the processor 182 may generate signaling, e.g. to configure one or more parameters of the ED 110 and/or one or more parameters of the NT-TRP 172. Any signaling generated by the processor 182 is sent by the transmitter 181. Note that “signaling” , as used herein, may alternatively be called control signaling. Signaling may be transmitted in a physical layer control channel, e.g. a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) , in which case the signaling may be known as dynamic signaling. Signaling transmitted in a downlink physical layer control channel may be known as Downlink Control Information (DCI) . Signaling transmitted in an uplink physical layer control channel may be known as Uplink Control Information (UCI) . Signaling transmitted in a sidelink physical layer control channel may be known as Sidelink Control Information (SCI) . Signaling may be included in a higher-layer (e.g., higher than physical layer) packet transmitted in a physical layer data channel, e.g. in a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) , in which case the signaling may be known as higher-layer signaling, static signaling, or semi-static signaling. Higher-layer signaling may also refer to Radio Resource Control (RRC) protocol signaling or Media Access Control –Control Element (MAC-CE) signaling.

The scheduler 184 may be coupled to the processor 182. The scheduler 184 may be included within or operated separately from the T-TRP 170. The scheduler 184 may schedule uplink, downlink, and/or backhaul transmissions, including issuing scheduling grants and/or configuring scheduling-free ( “configured grant” ) resources. The T-TRP 170 further includes a memory 185 for storing information and data. The memory 185 stores instructions and data used, generated, or collected by the T-TRP 170. For example, the memory 185 could store software instructions or modules configured to implement some or all of the functionality and/or embodiments described herein and that are executed by the processor 182.

Although not illustrated, the processor 182 may form part of the transmitter 181 and/or part of the receiver 183. Also, although not illustrated, the processor 182 may implement the scheduler 184. Although not illustrated, the memory 185 may form part of the processor 182.

The processor 182, the scheduler 184, the processing components of the transmitter 181 and the processing components of the receiver 183 may each be implemented by the same or different one or more processors that are configured to execute instructions stored in a memory, e.g. in the memory 185. Alternatively, some or all of the processor 182, the scheduler 184, the processing components of the transmitter 181 and the processing components of the receiver 183 may be implemented using dedicated circuitry, such as a FPGA, a GPU, a CPU, or an ASIC.

Although the NT-TRP 172 is illustrated as a drone only as an example, the NT-TRP 172 may be implemented in any suitable non-terrestrial form, such as high altitude platforms, satellite, high altitude platform as international mobile telecommunication base stations and unmanned aerial vehicles, which forms will be discussed hereinafter. Also, the NT-TRP 172 may be known by other names in some implementations, such as a non-terrestrial node, a non-terrestrial network device, or a non-terrestrial base station. The NT-TRP 172 includes a transmitter 186 and a receiver 187 coupled to one or more antennas 108. Only one antenna 108 is illustrated. One, some, or all of the antennas may alternatively be panels. The transmitter 186 and the receiver 187 may be integrated as a transceiver. The NT-TRP 172 further includes a processor 188 for performing operations including those related to: preparing a transmission for downlink transmission to the ED 110, processing an uplink transmission received from the ED 110, preparing a transmission for backhaul transmission to T-TRP 170, and processing a transmission received over backhaul from the T-TRP 170. Processing operations related to preparing a transmission for downlink or backhaul transmission may include operations such as encoding, modulating, precoding (e.g. MIMO precoding) , transmit beamforming, and generating symbols for transmission. Processing operations related to processing received transmissions in the uplink or over backhaul may include operations such as receive beamforming, demodulating received symbols and decoding received symbols. In some embodiments, the processor 188 implements the transmit beamforming and/or receive beamforming based on beam direction information (e.g. BAI) received from the T-TRP 170. In some embodiments, the processor 188 may generate signaling, e.g. to configure one or more parameters of the ED 110. In some embodiments, the NT-TRP 172 implements physical layer processing, but does not implement higher layer functions such as functions at the medium access control (MAC) or radio link control (RLC) layer. As this is only an example, more generally, the NT-TRP 172 may implement higher layer functions in addition to physical layer processing.

The NT-TRP 172 further includes a memory 189 for storing information and data. Although not illustrated, the processor 188 may form part of the transmitter 186 and/or part of the receiver 187. Although not illustrated, the memory 189 may form part of the processor 188.

The processor 188, the processing components of the transmitter 186 and the processing components of the receiver 187 may each be implemented by the same or different one or more processors that are configured to execute instructions stored in a memory, e.g. in the memory 189. Alternatively, some or all of the processor 188, the processing components of the transmitter 186 and the processing components of the receiver 187 may be implemented using dedicated circuitry, such as a programmed FPGA, a GPU, a CPU, or an ASIC. In some embodiments, the NT-TRP 172 may actually be a plurality of NT-TRPs that are operating together to serve the ED 110, e.g. through coordinated multipoint transmissions.

The T-TRP 170, the NT-TRP 172, and/or the ED 110 may include other components, but these have been omitted for the sake of clarity.

FIG. 1D illustrates an example of units or modules in a device related to some embodiments of the present disclosure. One or more steps of the embodiment methods provided herein may be performed by corresponding units or modules, according to FIG. 1D. FIG. 1D illustrates units or modules in a device, such as in the ED 110, in the T-TRP 170, or in the NT-TRP 172. For example, a signal may be transmitted by a transmitting unit or by a transmitting module. A signal may be received by a receiving unit or by a receiving module. A signal may be processed by a processing unit or a processing module. Other steps may be performed by an artificial intelligence (AI) or machine learning (ML) module. The respective units or modules may be implemented using hardware, one or more components or devices that execute software, or a combination thereof. For instance, one or more of the units or modules may be an integrated circuit, such as a programmed FPGA, a GPU, a CPU, or an ASIC. It will be appreciated that where the modules are implemented using software for execution by a processor for example, the modules may be retrieved by a processor, in whole or part as needed, individually or together for processing, in single or multiple instances, and that the modules themselves may include instructions for further deployment and instantiation.

While not shown, the transmitting module and the receiving module may be part of, or combined into, a transceiver module. A transceiver module may also be known as an interface module, or simply an interface, for inputting and outputting operations.

Additional details regarding the EDs 110, the T-TRP 170, and the NT-TRP 172 are known to those of skill in the art. As such, these details are omitted here.

A sensing system may be used to help gather UE pose information, including its location in a global coordinate system, its velocity and direction of movement in the global coordinate system, orientation information, and the information about the wireless environment. “Location” is also known as “position” and these two terms may be used interchangeably herein. Examples of well-known sensing systems include radio detection and ranging (RADAR) and light detection and ranging (LIDAR) . While the sensing system may be separate from the communication system, it could be advantageous to gather the information using an integrated system, which reduces the hardware (and cost) in the system as well as the time, frequency, or spatial resources needed to achieve both functionalities. However, using the communication system hardware to perform sensing of UE pose and environment information is a highly challenging and open problem. The difficulty of the problem relates to factors such as the limited resolution of the communication system, the dynamicity of the environment, and the huge number of objects whose electromagnetic properties and position are to be estimated.

Accordingly, integrated sensing and communication (also known as integrated communication and sensing, joint sensing and communication, and other similar names) is a desirable feature in existing and future communication systems.

According to embodiments of the present disclosure, there is provided a solution for the sensing measurement and reporting. In an aspect, a first device transmits a first configuration for allocating at least one of (i) a set of sensing measurement resources or (ii) a set of sensing measurement ports for performing at least one sensing measurement operation. In addition, the first device transmits at least one second configuration for configuring the at least one sensing measurement operation to be performed on the at least one of (i) the set of sensing measurement resources or (ii) the set of sensing measurement ports. Also, the first device transmits a third configuration for reporting sensing measurement data of the at least one sensing measurement operation. Therefore, the set of sensing measurement resources or ports may be configured for the sensing measurement and reporting, thereby improving efficiency and flexibility of configurations of sensing measurement. Principles and implementations of embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in detail below with reference to FIGS. 2A-14.

FIG. 2A illustrates an example signaling chart illustrating an example process according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. The process 200A may involve a first device 201 and a second device 202. The first device 201 in FIG. 2A may be an example of the communication electric device 110 or the network node 170 in FIG. 1A. The second device 202 in FIG. 2A may be an example of the communication electric device 110 or the network node 170 in FIG. 1A. It would be appreciated that although the process flow 200A has been described in the communication system 100A of FIG. 1A, this process may be likewise applied to other communication scenarios.

In the process flow 200A, the first device 201 transmits 210 a first configuration 212 to the second device 202. The first configuration 212 allocates a set of sensing measurement resources, a set of sensing measurement ports for performing at least one sensing measurement operation, or a combination of above two items. In other words, the first configuration 212 may indicate which resources or ports to be scheduled. For instance, the first configuration 212 may involve a number of resource allocations for some sensing operations, such as detecting the presence of a sensing target, locating the coordinates of a sensing target, or identifying the shape or dimension of a sensing target. Based on the first configuration 212, a set of sensing measurement resources/ports, with a signal bandwidth, beam switch/repetition pattern, waveform, etc., may be optimized and configured for a given sensing operation.

The first configuration 212 may be sensing measurement resources/ports configuration. As shown in FIG. 3, at 311, the node2 302 (e.g., an example of the second device 202) receives sensing measurement resources/ports configuration from the node1 301 (e.g., an example of the first device 201) . The sensing measurement resources/ports configuration may indicate sensing measurement resources {0, P, P_max-1} in a sensing measurement resource set, sensing measurement ports {0, p, p_max-1} in a sensing measurement resource, or a combination of above two items. P_max refers to the number of the sensing measurement resources, and p_max refers to the number of the sensing measurement ports, thus the P_max and p_max are greater than or equal to 1.

Reference is made back to FIG. 2A, the second device 202 receives 215 the first configuration 212 from the first device 201. In addition, the first device 201 or the second device 202 may be a sensing node including the sensing transmitting node or receiving node. The sensing node is not limited to a UE or a BS, and the sensing node may further be a transmission reception point (TRP) .

In some embodiments, the set of sensing measurement resources may comprise a long term evolution (LTE) channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) resource, a new radio (NR) CSI-RS resource, a sounding reference signal (SRS) resource, or a demodulation reference signal (DMRS) resource, or any combination of two or more of the above-mentioned items. In addition, the set of sensing measurement ports may comprise an LTE CSI-RS port, an NR CSI-RS port, an SRS port, a DMRS port, or any combination of two or more of the above-mentioned items.

Continuing with reference to FIG. 2A, the first device 201 transmits 217 at least one second configuration 220 to the second device 202. The at least one second configuration 220 configures the at least one sensing measurement operation to be performed on the set of sensing measurement resources, the set of sensing measurement ports or above two items. On the other side of the communication, the second device 202 receives 223 at least one second configuration 220 from the first device 201. In other words, the at least one second configuration 220 may provide methods to regulate and assist sensing measurement behaviors over configured sensing measurement resources/ports at the sensing receiving node (e.g., the second device) . the at least one second configuration 220 may be a sensing measurement mechanism/configuration. In this way, common understanding between sensing nodes is ensured and misinterpreting sensing measurement data is avoided. The at least one second configuration 220 may be pre-defined implicitly or configured by an RRC message or MAC-CE explicitly. Moreover, the at least one second configuration 220 may provide valuable assistance, without exposure of detailed implementation of sensing transmitting nodes (e.g., the first device 201) , to assist the sensing receiving node deriving sensing measurement data with improved accuracy and efficiency.

In some embodiments, the second configuration among the at least one second configuration 220 may comprise assistance information for performing the at least one sensing measurement operation, priority information for performing the at least one sensing measurement operation, or a combination of the above-mentioned items.

The assistance information may be sensing spatial information parameters enabling the sensing receiving node (e.g., the second device) to exploit differential signal propagation and spatial diversity using multiple sensing measurement resources/ports simultaneously. This could be a compromise of beamforming gain for better sensing operation efficiency. The sensing spatial information parameters may be conveyed to the sensing receiving node to help the node combining sensing measurement data effectively from multiple resources/ports. The possible benefit can be improved performance over key performance indicator (KPI) , for example missed detection and false alarm, since a sensing target may be detected more likely by one of multiple sensing resources/ports. Alternatively, a detection of the sensing measurement may be a line of sight (LOS) detection so that range estimation of that sensing measurement target may be relatively more accurate.

Moreover, integrated sensing and communication can give a rise to conflicts of interest in terms of sensing operations, among multiple sensing services or among sensing and communication services. For example, a sensing measurement on a stationary and roughly known sensing target may be a relatively long-term sensing operation with a lower priority. On the other hand, a sensing measurement on an unknown intruder can be relatively bursty with a higher priority or higher urgency. The configured sensing measurement ports/resources may not always be non-overlapped from the point of view of sensing receiving node, and the sensing receiving node may not be able to simultaneously receive sensing measurement ports/resources depending on the receiver design. Therefore, to ensure mutual understanding of measurement behavior, rules of priority handling, i.e., the priority information, may be pre-defined to handle conflicted measurement behaviors.

FIG. 4 illustrates an example of the second configuration according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG. 4, at 411, the node2 402 (e.g., an example of the second device 202) receives sensing measurement mechanism/configuration (e.g., an example of the second configuration) from the node1 401 (e.g., an example of the first device 201) . The sensing measurement mechanism/configuration may comprise sensing spatial information parameter (s) , priority handling of sensing measurements, or a combination of above two items. The sensing measurement mechanism/configuration parameters may be provided to a sensing receiving node to regulate measurement behaviors, which must be mutually understood. The node2 402 may be provided with sensing measurement mechanism/configuration per measurement resource to reuse resource-level resource allocation across multiple sensing operations in the system, whereas the number of the sensing measurement resources is greater than or equal to 1. At 413, the node2 402 performs the sensing measurement.

In an example, the second configuration may be applied to a sensing measurement port or a sensing measurement resource. In another example, the second configuration may be applied to a subset of the set of sensing measurement resources. In yet another example, the second configuration may be applied to a subset of the set of sensing measurement ports. In a further example, the second configuration may be applied to the set of sensing measurement resources. In another words, the second configuration may be applied to a target sensing measurement port/resource, e.g., a sensing measurement resource P or a sensing measurement port p. The second configuration may further be commonly applied to a subset of sensing measurement ports in a resource and the size of subset can be 1, or a subset of sensing measurement resources in a set and the size of subset can be 1, or commonly applied to multiple measurement ports in a resource or multiple measurement resources in a set.

In some embodiments, the assistance information may comprise a reference resource for the at least one sensing measurement operation, a reference port for the at least one sensing measurement operation, at least one type of the assistance information, or any combination of two or more of the above-mentioned items. For instance, the sensing spatial information parameters may comprise sensing reference resource/port, or sensing spatial information type, or a combination of above two items.

The reference resource or reference port may provide an anchor point whilst providing or defining sensing measurement mechanism/configuration parameters for other sensing measurement resource (s) /port (s) among configured sensing measurement resource (s) /port (s) . It is unnecessary or impossible to obtain detailed implementation of sensing transmitting node over sensing measurement resource (s) /port (s) . Instead, the sensing transmitting node may instruct what the sensing receiving node can assume for other sensing measurement resource (s) /port (s) with respect to sensing reference resource/port. In other words, for sensing operation, the difference or variation among configured sensing measurement resource (s) /port (s) after passing through sensing propagation channel matters mostly.

Additionally, the reference resource may comprise a resource with a predetermined index, e.g., sensing measurement resource 0, a resource with a predefined local index among the set of sensing measurement resources, e.g., the lowest/highest indexed resource from a sensing measurement resource set, a resource with an index indicated by a received message, e.g., the resource index indicated by the RRC/MAC-CE/DCI from a sensing measurement resource set, a resource for a usage other than a sensing usage, an LTE CSI-RS resource, an NR CSI-RS resource, an SRS resource, a DMRS resource, or any combination of two or more of the above-mentioned items. In addition, the reference port may comprise a port with a predetermined index, e.g., sensing measurement port 0, a port with a predefined local index among the set of sensing measurement ports, e.g., the lowest/highest indexed port from a sensing measurement resource/resource set, a port with an index indicated by a received message, e.g., the port index indicated by the RRC/MAC-CE/DCI from a sensing measurement resource/resource set, a port for a usage other than a sensing usage, an LTE CSI-RS port, an NR CSI-RS port, an SRS port, a DMRS port, or any combination of two or more of the above-mentioned items.

In an example, a reference port and a sensing measurement port anchored to the reference port are associated with a same sensing measurement resource or different sensing measurement resources. In another example, a reference port and a sensing measurement resource anchored to the reference port are associated with a same sensing measurement resource or different sensing measurement resources. For instance, a reference port and a sensing measurement resource P/port p anchored to that reference port may come from the same sensing measurement resource or two different sensing measurement resources.

In yet another example, a reference resource and a sensing measurement resource anchored to the reference resource are associated with a same set of sensing measurement resources or different sets of sensing measurement resources. For instance, a reference resource and a sensing measurement resource P, anchored to that reference resource may come from the same sensing measurement resource set or two different sensing measurement resource sets.

Alternatively or additionally, if a sensing measurement port among a plurality of sensing measurement ports included in a sensing measurement resource among the set of sensing measurement resources is configured as the reference port, the sensing measurement resource including the reference port is determined as the reference resource. In another words, a sensing measurement resource may comprise multiple sensing measurement ports and one of them is configured as a reference port, then the sensing measurement resource may be considered as a reference resource.

In some embodiments, at least one type of the assistance information may comprise an indication of whether delay profile or power delay profile is common for the set of sensing measurement resources or the set of sensing measurement ports relative to the reference port or the reference resource. In an example, for a given sensing measurement resource P/port p, it can assume the common channel power delay profile/delay profile with respect to the reference resource/port. In another example, for a given sensing measurement resource P/port p, it cannot assume the common channel power delay profile/delay profile with respect to the reference resource/port.

In some embodiments, at least one type of the assistance information may comprise an indication of whether delay profile or power delay profile of selective channel paths is common for the set of sensing measurement resources or the set of sensing measurement ports relative to the reference port or the reference resource. In an example, for a given sensing measurement resource P/port p, it can assume the common channel power delay profile/delay profile of the most N strongest channel path with respect to the reference port. In another example, for a given sensing measurement resource P/port p, it cannot assume the common channel power delay profile/delay profile of the most N strongest channel path with respect to the reference port. The value of N may be 1 or infinite or any pre-defined or configured positive integer.

In some embodiments, at least one type of the assistance information may comprise an indication of whether Doppler shift is common for the set of sensing measurement resources or the set of sensing measurement ports relative to the reference port or the reference resource. In an example, for a given sensing measurement resource P/port p, it can assume the common Doppler shift with respect to the reference resource/port. In another example, for a given sensing measurement resource P/port p, it cannot assume the common Doppler shift with respect to the reference resource/port.

In some embodiments, at least one type of the assistance information may comprise one or more degree offsets of azimuth or elevation relative to a beamforming direction of the reference port. In some embodiments, at least one type of the assistance information may comprise one or more degree offsets of azimuth or elevation relative to a beamforming direction of the reference resource. In an example, for a given sensing measurement resource P/port p, it can assume X degree offset in azimuth and Y degree offset in elevation for its beamforming direction with respect to the reference resource/port. Values of X and Y may be pre-defined or configured within a range of (-90, 90) .

In some embodiments, at least one type of the assistance information may comprise one or more offsets of power boosting relative to the reference port. In some embodiments, at least one type of the assistance information may comprise one or more offsets of power boosting relative to the reference resource. For example, for a given sensing measurement resource P/port p, it can assume X dB power boosting with respect to the reference resource/port. The value of X may be a pre-defined or configured number.

In some embodiments, at least one type of the assistance information may comprise a first number of times of beam width in azimuth relative to the reference port, a second number of times of beam width in azimuth relative to the reference resource, a third number of times of beam width in elevation relative to the reference port, a fourth number of times of beam width in elevation relative to the reference resource, or any combination of two or more of the above-mentioned items. For example, for a given sensing measurement resource P/port p, it can assume X times of beamwidth in in azimuth and Y times of beamwidth in elevation with respect to the reference resource/port. The values of X and Y may be pre-defined or configured.

In some embodiments, at least one type of the assistance information may comprise one or more Doppler shifts relative to a beamforming direction of the reference port. In some embodiments, at least one type of the assistance information may comprise one or more Doppler shifts relative to a beamforming direction of the reference resource. For example, for a given sensing measurement resource P/port p, it can assume additional X Hz Doppler shift with respect to the reference resource/port. The value of X may be configured by an RRC message or indicated by the MAC-CE/DCI.

In some embodiments, at least one type of the assistance information may comprise one or more offsets of phase rotation relative to the reference port, one or more offsets of phase rotation relative to the reference resource, or any combination of the above-mentioned items. For example, for given sensing measurement resource P/port p, it can assume additional X Hz/degree frequency offset/phase rotation with respect to sensing reference resource/port. The value of X can be configured by the RRC or indicated by MAC-CE/DCI.

Additionally, the at least one type of the assistance information may be pre-defined. For the reference resource/port, the type of the assistance information, i.e., sensing spatial information type, provides detailed spatial channel information, which can be exploited by sensing receiving node. For higher flexibility of implementation and the support of a wide range of sensing services, multiple sensing spatial information types may be pre-defined. The sensing receiving node operates on a need-to-know basis. In addition, at least one index of the at least one type of the assistance information may be transmitted to a sensing receiving device to perform the at least one sensing measurement operation. For instance, if the plural of sensing spatial information types is pre-defined, the type of the assistance information may be pre-defined or informed to sensing receiving node using the index/indices of information type (s) .

Integrated sensing and communication need to support a wide range of sensing services in addition to data communication. This demands high flexibility of configurations and utilization of sensing measurement resources/ports to address different sensing operations and coexistence with data communication. High flexibility may eventually lead to severe signaling overhead due to frequent configuration, re-configuration, activation, and deactivation, etc. of sensing measurement resources/ports. From a system design perspective, this may not be desirable. Therefore, rules of priority handling may be pre-defined to effectively manage conflicted sensing measurement resources/ports if such conflict arise.

In some embodiments, if the reference resource or allocated resource of the reference port overlaps with the at least one sensing measurement operation, the priority information may indicate prioritizing or de-prioritizing the at least one sensing measurement operation over the reference resource or the reference port. For example, if a resource allocation of reference resource/port overlaps with that of another measurement resource/port, a sensing receiving node (e.g., the second device 202) may prioritize or de-prioritize a sensing measurement over sensing reference resources/ports.

In some embodiments, if the reference resource or allocated resource of the reference port overlaps with allocated resource of a data channel or a control channel, the priority information may indicate prioritizing or de-prioritizing the at least one sensing measurement operation over the reference resource or the reference port.

In some embodiments, the priority information may indicate prioritizing or de-prioritizing a sensing measurement port with a predefined local index among one or more sensing measurement ports comprised in a same sensing measurement resource. For example, a sensing receiving node may prioritize or de-prioritize the lowest indexed sensing measurement port within a sensing measurement resource, and the sensing receiving node may further prioritize or de-prioritize the highest indexed sensing measurement port within a sensing measurement resource.

In some embodiments, the priority information may indicate prioritizing or de-prioritizing a sensing measurement resource with a predefined local index among one or more sensing measurement resources comprised in a same sensing measurement resource set. For example, a sensing receiving node may prioritize or de-prioritize the lowest indexed sensing measurement resource within a sensing measurement resource set, and the sensing receiving node may further prioritize or de-prioritize the highest indexed sensing measurement resource within a sensing measurement resource set.

In some embodiments, the priority information may indicate prioritizing or de-prioritizing one or more sensing measurement ports based on one or more priority indexes of the one or more sensing measurement ports. For example, a sensing receiving node may prioritize or de-prioritize sensing port (s) according to the value of priority index. The priority index may be given per port and the value of priority index may be associated with the index of port. In addition, the value of priority index may be associated with the urgency level of given sensing operation.

In some embodiments, the priority information may indicate prioritizing or de-prioritizing one or more sensing measurement resources based on one or more priority indexes of the one or more sensing measurement resources. For example, a sensing receiving node may prioritize or de-prioritize sensing resource (s) according to the value of priority index. The priority index may be given per resource and the value of priority index may be associated with the index of resource. In addition, the value of priority index may be associated with the urgency level of given sensing operation.

In some embodiments, the priority information may indicate prioritizing or de-prioritizing one or more sensing measurement ports based on a trigger type of the one or more sensing measurement ports. In some embodiments, the priority information may indicate prioritizing or de-prioritizing one or more sensing measurement resources based on a trigger type of the one or more sensing measurement resources. For instance, a sensing receiving node may prioritize or de-prioritize sensing measurement resource (s) /port (s) according to triggering type (s) of resource (s) /port (s) . In an example, the priority of aperiodic resource is higher than the priority of semi-static resource, and the priority of semi-static resource is higher than the priority of periodic resource.

In some embodiments, the priority information may indicate prioritizing or de-prioritizing one or more sensing measurement ports based on historical information of the one or more sensing measurement ports. In some embodiments, the priority information may indicate prioritizing or de-prioritizing one or more sensing measurement resources based on historical information of the one or more sensing measurement resources. For example, a sensing receiving node may prioritize or de-prioritize sensing measurement resource (s) /port (s) based on historical information available at the sensing receiving node.

In some embodiments, the priority information may indicate transmitting one or more indexes of one or more sensing measurement resources prioritized or de-prioritized. In some embodiments, the priority information may indicate transmitting one or more indexes of one or more sensing measurement ports prioritized or de-prioritized. In other words, the index/indices of prioritized/de-prioritized sensing measurement resource (s) /port (s) may be reported.

In some embodiments, the first configuration may allocate a set of sensing measurement ports, and the at least one second configuration may comprise a set of second configurations for the set of sensing measurement ports, respectively. For example, the second configuration may be provided per sensing measurement port to assist sensing operation for better sensing accuracy and efficiency. Alternatively, the first configuration may allocate a set of sensing measurement resources, and the at least one second configuration may comprise a set of second configurations for the set of sensing measurement resources, respectively.

Additionally, a sensing measurement resource among the set of sensing measurement resources may comprise one or more sensing measurement ports. In some embodiments, one or more sensing measurement resources among the set of sensing measurement resources may overlap or non-overlap in at least one of time domain or frequency domain. In some embodiments, one or more sensing measurement ports among the set of sensing measurement ports may overlap or non-overlap in at least one of time domain or frequency domain. For example, sensing measurement resources within a corresponding sensing measurement resource set may overlap or non-overlap at time and/or frequency domains, and sensing measurement ports within a corresponding sensing measurement resource can overlap or non-overlap at time and/or frequency domains.

In some embodiments, the at least one of (i) the set of sensing measurement resources or (ii) the set of sensing measurement ports may be configured for a usage other than a sensing usage. For instance, a first configuration may comprise sensing measurement resource (s) and/or sensing measurement port (s) . The sensing measurement resource (s) /port (s) may be configured for other usages, for example they may be re-used as positioning, synchronization, demodulation of data/control channel, and vice versa.

Continuing with reference to FIG. 2A, the first device 201 transmits 225 a third configuration 227 to the second device 202. The third configuration 227 is for reporting sensing measurement data of the at least one sensing measurement operation. In some embodiments, the third configuration 227 may indicate at least one reporting quantity type for the sensing measurement data, timing for reporting the sensing measurement data, a manner in which the sensing measurement data is reported, or any combination of two or more of the above-mentioned items. In other words, the third configuration 227 may involve determining the sensing reporting quantity over configured sensing measurement resources/ports, and when or how to report sensing measurement data by the sensing receiving node. The third configuration 227 may be a sensing reporting configuration.

Sensing receiving node may be provided with sensing reporting configuration parameters, which specify the sensing reporting quantity in order to quantize sensing measurement. The result of a quantization may be formatted into sensing measurement data to be reported by sensing measurement reporting. The sensing reporting configuration may also inform the sensing receiving node about when and how sensing measurement data can be reported back through associated reporting resource allocation. The simplest way is to report all raw channel coefficients of the measured resource (s) /ports in floating point. However, this approach is generally inefficient as the payload may be enormous with plenty of redundant information from the perspective of deriving sensing result.

The sensing reporting configuration parameters associated with a sensing quantization represents a form of information compression designed to quantize and report the most useful sensing information for deriving sensing result. Moreover, depending on the sensing operation, preferred sensing reporting quantity may vary significantly. Therefore, the sensing reporting quantity may be classified and represented by a few reporting quantity types.

In some embodiments, the at least one reporting quantity type may comprise a power delay profile, a Doppler shift profile, a reference signal received power (RSRP) , a Rician factor, a probability of non-light of sight (NLOS) , a probability of light of sight (LOS) , a number of dominant paths, a confidence level for the at least one sensing measurement data, or any combination of two or more of the above-mentioned items.

For the power delay profile (or delay profile) , X_1, n bits may be used for quantizing the amplitude or power of an individual path n within a value range from Y_1, n to Z_1, n, and X_2, n bits may be used for quantizing extra delay of individual path n with respect to the first path or the strongest path within a value range from Y_2, n to Z_2, n, whereas n is from 1 to N. X_1, n, Y_1, n , Z_1, n, X_2, n, Y_2, n and Z_2, n may be same or different with respect to the value of n, and according to X_1, n, Y_1, n , Z_1, n, X_2, n, Y_2, n and Z_2, n, the same or different quantization ranges and quantization granularity among total N paths may be represented. X_1, n, and X_2, n may be 0 or be any pre-defined or configured non-negative integer. Y_1, n, Z_1, n, Y_2, n and Z_2, n may be pre-defined or configured. In addition, N may be 1 or a pre-defined/configured positive integer. The value of the amplitude/power of the first path or the strongest path may be normalized to 1. The actual delay of the first path or the strongest path may be normalized to 0. The value of amplitude/power/extra delay may include NULL for abnormal path. N paths may be sorted based on the amplitude/power/delay of paths in a descending or ascending order.

For the Doppler shift profile, X_n bits may be used for quantizing relative Doppler shift of an individual path n with respect to the first path or the strongest path within a value range from Y_n to Z_n in Hz, whereas n is from 1 to N. X_n, Y_n, Z_n may be same or different with respect to the value of n, and according to X_n, Y_n, Z_n, same or different quantization ranges and quantization granularity among total N paths may be represented. In addition, N may be 1 or a pre-defined/configured positive integer. N paths may be sorted based on the amplitude/power/delay of paths in a descending or ascending order.

For a reference signal received power in dB, X bits may be used for quantizing the value of RSRP within in a value range from Y to Z. For the Rician factor in dB, X bits may be used for quantizing the value of Rician factor within in a value range from Y to Z. For the probability of NLOS or LOS, X bits may be used for quantizing the value of the probability within in a value range from 0%to 100%.

For the number of dominant paths, X bits may be used for quantizing the value of the number within a value range from 1 to Y. The amplitude threshold or the power threshold defining a dominant path may be pre-defined or configured, and Y can be pre-defined or configured. For the confidence level for a given sensing operation, X bits may be used for quantizing the value of the level within in a value range from 0 to 100%.

In some embodiments, one or more sensing measurement resources may be of a same reporting quantity type. In some embodiments, one or more sensing measurement resources may be of different reporting quantity types. In some embodiments, one or more sensing measurement ports may be of a same reporting quantity type. In some embodiments, one or more sensing measurement ports may be of different reporting quantity types. For example, sensing reporting quantity types for a sensing reference resource/port and other sensing measurement resources/ports can be same or different.

In some embodiments, the at least one reporting quantity type may be applied to a sensing measurement port or a sensing measurement resource. In some embodiments, the at least one reporting quantity type may be applied to a subset of the set of sensing measurement ports. In some embodiments, the at least one reporting quantity type may be applied to a subset of the set of sensing measurement resources.

For instance, sensing reporting quantity type (s) may be applied to a sensing measurement port/resource, for example, sensing measurement resource P or port p, or commonly applied to a subset of sensing measurement ports in a resource and the size of subset can be 1. The sensing reporting quantity type (s) may also be commonly applied to a subset of sensing measurement resources in a set and the size of subset can be 1. The sensing reporting quantity type (s) may further be applied to commonly applied to multiple measurement ports in a resource or multiple measurement resources in a set.

In addition, the at least one reporting quantity type may be based on a difference between at least one sensing measurement data derived from at least one sensing measurement resource or port and the sensing measurement data derived from the reference resource or port. For example, for each measured sensing measurement resource P/port p other than the reference resource/port, a sensing reporting quantity type may be based on a differential mechanism with respect to that reference resource/port.

In an example, the differential mechanism may be associated with power delay profile/delay profile up to N dominant paths, whereas each path n has amplitude/power X_1, n dB higher than reference resource/port, and relative delay X_2, n ns with respect to the reference resource/port. X_1, n may be quantized by Y_1, n bits within a value range from Z1_1, n to Z2_1, n, and Y_1, n, Z1_1, n, Z2_1, n may be pre-defined or configured. X_2, n may be quantized by Y_2, n bits within a value range from Z1_2, n to Z2_2, n, and Y_2, n, Z1_2, n, Z2_2, n may be pre-defined or configured. In addition, Y_1, n and Y_2, n may be 0 or be any pre-defined or configured non-negative integer. Y_1, n, Z1_1, n, Z2_1, n, Y_2, n, Z1_2, n and Z2_2, n may be same or different with respect to the value of n. Same or different quantization ranges and quantization granularity among N paths may be represented based on Y_1, n, Z1_1, n, Z2_1, n, Y_2, n, Z1_2, n and Z2_2, n. For example, the most dominant path may use more quantization bits for amplitude and delay. The least dominant path may use no bit for amplitude and 2 bits for delay. Additionally, N can be 1 or a pre-defined/configured positive integer. The amplitude/power threshold defining a dominant path may/may not be pre-defined or configured. The value of amplitude/power/relative delay may include NULL for abnormal path. N paths may be sorted based on the amplitude/power/delay of paths in a descending or an ascending order.

In another example, the differential mechanism may be associated with phase rotation or Doppler shift profile up to N dominant paths. X_n bits may be used for quantizing relative Phase rotation or Doppler shift of individual path n with respect to N strongest paths measured from reference resource/port. A value range from Y_n to Z_n in Degree/Hz, whereas n is from 1 to N. X_n, Y_n and Z_n may be same or different with respect to the value of n, representing same or different quantization ranges and quantization granularity among total N paths. N paths may be sorted in a descending order or an ascending order based on the amplitude, power, or delay of paths. N may be 1 or a pre-defined or configured positive integer. The amplitude threshold and the power threshold defining a dominant path may be pre-defined or configured, and the amplitude threshold and the power threshold may also not be pre-defined or configured. The value of relative Doppler shift may include NULL for abnormal path.

In yet another example, the differential mechanism may be associated with the RSRP which is XdB higher than a RSRP from sensing reference resource/port. X is quantized by Y bits within a value range from Z1 to Z2, and Y, Z1, and Z2 may be pre-defined or configured. The differential mechanism may be further associated with the Rician factor which is XdB higher than a Rician factor from sensing reference resource/port. X is quantized by Y bits within a value range from Z1 to Z2, and Y, Z1, and Z2 may be pre-defined or configured. In addition, the differential mechanism may be further associated with the probability of NLOS/LOS which is X%higher than that from sensing reference resource/port, whereas X is quantized by Y bits within a value range from Z1 to Z2, and Y, Z1, and Z2 may be pre-defined or configured.

In a further example, the differential mechanism may be associated with the number of dominant paths which is X higher than that from sensing reference resource/port. X is quantized by Y bits within a value range from Z1 to Z2, and Y, Z1, and Z2 may be pre-defined or configured, and the amplitude threshold or the power threshold defining a dominant path may be pre-defined or configured. Additionally, the differential mechanism may be associated with the confidence level which is X higher than a confidence level from sensing reference resource/port. X is quantized by Y bits within a value range from Z1 to Z2, and Y, Z1, and Z2 may be pre-defined or configured.

Continuing with reference to FIG. 2A, after receiving 230 the third configuration 227, the second device 202 transmits 233 a sensing measurement report of the sensing measurement data 235 to the first device 201. The reporting of sensing measurements involves reporting sensing measurement data back to a sensing node (e.g., the first device) according to associated the third configuration 227. Correspondingly, the first device 201 may receive 237 the sensing measurement report of the sensing measurement data 235 from the second device 202.

FIG. 5 illustrates an example of the sensing measurement reporting according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG. 5, at 511, the node2 502 (e.g., an example of the second device 202) receives sensing reporting configuration from the node1 501 (e.g., an example of the first device 201) . The node2 502 may be provided with sensing reporting configuration parameters, and at 513, the node2 502 performs sensing quantization based on the sensing reporting configuration parameters. At 515, the node2 502 formats the result of quantization into sensing measurement data. At 517, the node2 502 reports the sensing measurement data by sensing measurement reporting.

In some embodiments, if one or more sensing measurement ports are prioritized, the second device 202 may transmit a sensing measurement report of the one or more sensing measurement ports, and the first device 201 may receive a sensing measurement report of the one or more sensing measurement ports. For example, prioritizing sensing measurement port (s) means that sensing receiving node may measure and report sensing measurement data over those sensing measurement port (s) . In some embodiments, if one or more sensing measurement resources are prioritized, the second device 202 may transmit a sensing measurement report of the one or more sensing measurement resources, and the first device 201 may receive a sensing measurement report of the one or more sensing measurement resources. For example, prioritizing sensing measurement resource (s) means that sensing receiving node should measure and report sensing measurement data over those sensing measurement resource (s) .

In some embodiments, if one or more sensing measurement ports are prioritized, the second device 202 may transmit a sensing measurement report of at least one sensing measurement port among the one or more sensing measurement ports and indexes of other sensing measurement ports among the one or more sensing measurement ports other than the at least one sensing measurement port, and the first device 201 may receive a sensing measurement report of the at least one sensing measurement port among the one or more sensing measurement ports and indexes of other sensing measurement ports among the one or more sensing measurement ports other than the at least one sensing measurement port. For example, prioritizing sensing measurement port (s) means that the sensing receiving node should measure and report sensing measurement data over those sensing measurement port (s) at its best effort. If the sensing receiving node cannot, the index/indices of omitted sensing measurement port (s) may be reported.

In some embodiments, if the one or more sensing measurement resources are prioritized, the second device 202 may transmit a sensing measurement report of at least one sensing measurement resource among one or more sensing measurement resources and indexes of other sensing measurement resources among the one or more sensing measurement resources other than the at least one sensing measurement resource, and the first device 201 may receive a sensing measurement report of at least one sensing measurement resource among one or more sensing measurement resources and indexes of other sensing measurement resources among the one or more sensing measurement resources other than the at least one sensing measurement resource. For example, prioritizing sensing measurement resource (s) means that the sensing receiving node should measure and report sensing measurement data over those sensing measurement resource (s) at its best effort. If the sensing receiving node cannot, the index/indices of omitted sensing measurement resource (s) may be reported.

In some embodiments, if one or more sensing measurement ports are de-prioritized, the second device 202 may transmit one or more indexes of the one or more sensing measurement ports, and the first device 201 may receive the one or more indexes of the one or more sensing measurement ports. In some embodiments, if the one or more sensing measurement resources are de-prioritized, the second device 202 may transmit one or more indexes of one or more sensing measurement resources, and the first device 201 may receive one or more indexes of one or more sensing measurement resources. In some embodiments, if one or more sensing measurement ports are de-prioritized, the second device 202 may transmit a sensing measurement report of the one or more sensing measurement ports and an indication that the sensing measurement report are invalid, and the first device 201 may receive a sensing measurement report of the one or more sensing measurement ports and an indication that the sensing measurement report are invalid. In some embodiments, if one or more sensing measurement resources are de-prioritized, the second device 202 may transmit a sensing measurement report of the one or more sensing measurement resources and an indication that the sensing measurement report are invalid, and the first device 201 may receive a sensing measurement report of the one or more sensing measurement resources and an indication that the sensing measurement report are invalid.

For example, de-prioritizing sensing measurement resource (s) /port (s) means that the sensing receiving node may omit measuring those resource (s) /port (s) . If the sensing receiving node cannot measure those resource (s) /port (s) , the index/indices of omitted sensing measurement resource (s) /port (s) may be reported, or the sensing measurement report associated with the de-prioritized sensing measurement resource (s) /port (s) may be omitted for reporting. Alternatively, the sensing measurement report associated with de-prioritized sensing measurement resource (s) /port (s) may be invalid if the sensing measurement report is reported.

In an example, a value of a priority index may be associated with an index of a sensing measurement resource. In another example, a value of a priority index may be associated with an index of a sensing measurement port. In yet another example, a value of a priority index may be associated with an urgency level of a sensing measurement operation.

As shown in FIG. 2A, the first device 201 may be a sensing transmitting device involving sensing signal transmission over configured sensing measurement resource (s) /port (s) , and the first device 201 may also be a sensing node configuring sensing measurement resources/ports. The second device 202 may be a sensing receiving node for receiving sensing measurement resources/ports configuration, which is expected to conduct sensing measurement over configured resources/ports.

In some embodiments, the first device 201 may transmit at least one sensing signal on the set of sensing measurement resources, the set of sensing measurement ports, or a combination of above two items. Correspondingly, the second device 202 may receive at least one sensing signal on the set of sensing measurement resources, the set of sensing measurement ports, or a combination of above two items.

In some embodiments, the sensing node involving transmitting sensing signal can be same or different from the sensing node configuring sensing measurement resources/ports. For example, the first device 201 may not be a sensing transmitting device. In some embodiments, the first device 201 may transmit at least one of the first configuration, the second configuration, or the third configuration to a sensing transmitting device which is to transmit at least one sensing signal for the at least one sensing measurement operation. For example, the second device 202 may not be the sensing receiving device, and the second device 202 may be a sensing transmitting device. The first configuration, the second configuration, and the third configuration may be transmitted from the first device 201 to the second device 202, and the second device 202 then may transmit the first configuration, the second configuration, and the third configuration to the sensing receiving device.

In some embodiments, the sensing measurement report may be transmitted to a different device than a device from which the first configuration, the second configuration, and the third configuration are received. For example, the second device 202 may receive a sensing measurement report and forward it to the first device 201.

FIG. 2B illustrates another example process according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. The process 200B may involve a first device 201, a second device 202 and a third device 203. The first device 201 is a sensing node configuring sensing measurement resources/ports, the second device 202 is a sensing transmitting device involving sensing signal transmission over the configured sensing measurement resource (s) /port (s) , and the third device 203 is a sensing receiving node for receiving sensing measurement resources/ports configuration. The first device 201, the second device 202, or the third device 203 in FIG. 2B may be an example of the communication electric device 110 or the network node 170 in FIG. 1A. It would be appreciated that although the process flow 200B has been described in the communication system 100A of FIG. 1A, this process may be likewise applied to other communication scenarios.

In the process flow 200B, the first device 201 transmits 250 at least one of the first configuration, the second configuration or the third configuration 252 to the third device 203. Correspondingly, the third device 203 receives 255 at least one of the first configuration, the second configuration or the third configuration 252 from the first device 201. In other words, the first configuration, the second configuration, and the third configuration may be transmitted to a sensing receiving device which is to perform the at least one sensing measurement operation.

The second device 202 transmits 257 at least one sensing signal 260 to the third device 203. After receiving the at least one sensing signal 260 from the second device 202, the third device 203 transmits 265 sensing measurement report 267 to the second device 202.

FIG. 6 illustrates an example procedure of proposed solution according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. The procedure 600 may involve a node1 601, a node2 602, and a node3 603. It is understood that the process 600 can be considered as a more specific example of the process 200A in FIG. 2A or the process 200B in FIG. 2B. Thus, the node 601 in FIG. 6 may be an example of the first device 201 in FIG. 2A or FIG. 2B, the node 602 in FIG. 6 may be an example of the second device 202 in FIG. 2A or FIG. 2B, and the node 603 may be an example of the third device 203 in FIG. 2B.

As shown in FIG. 6, The node1 601 is a sensing node configuring sensing measurement resources/ports, the node2 602 is a sensing transmitting device involving sensing signal transmission over the configured sensing measurement resource (s) /port (s) , and the node3 603 is a sensing receiving node for receiving sensing measurement resources/ports configuration.

At 610, the node1 601 may transmit the sensing measurement resource/port configuration to the node2 602. Alternatively, at 620, the node1 601 may transmit the sensing measurement resource/port configuration to the node3 603. At 630, the node2 602 performs sensing signal transmission with the node3 603.

In view of the procedure 600, the sensing transmitting device transmitting sensing signal can be same or different from the sensing node configuring sensing measurement resources/ports.

FIG. 7 illustrates an example procedure of proposed solution according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. The procedure 700 may involve a node1 701, a node2 702, and a node3 703. It is understood that the process 700 can be considered as a more specific example of the process 200B in FIG. 2B. Thus, the node1 701 in FIG. 7 may be an example of the first device 201 in FIG. 2B, the node2 702 in FIG. 7 may be an example of the second device 202 in FIG. 2B, and the node3 703 may be an example of the third device 203 in FIG. 2B.

As shown in FIG. 7, the node1 701 is a sensing node configuring sensing measurement resources/ports, the node2 702 is a sensing transmitting device involving sensing signal transmission over the configured sensing measurement resource (s) /port (s) , and the node3 703 is a sensing receiving node for receiving sensing measurement resources/ports configuration.

At 710, the node1 701 transmits the sensing measurement mechanism/configuration to the node3 703. At 720, the node2 702 performs sensing signal transmission with the node3 703.

In view of the procedure 700, the sensing transmitting device transmitting sensing signal can be same or different from the sensing node providing sensing measurement mechanism/configuration parameters.

FIG. 8 illustrates an example procedure of proposed solution according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. The procedure 800 may involve a node1 801, a node2 802, and a node3 803. It is understood that the process 800 can be considered as a more specific example of the process 200B in FIG. 2B. Thus, the node1 801 in FIG. 8 may be an example of the first device 201 in FIG. 2B, the node2 802 in FIG. 8 may be an example of the second device 202 in FIG. 2B, and the node3 803 may be an example of the third device 203 in FIG. 2B.

As shown in FIG. 8, The node1 801 is a sensing node configuring sensing measurement resources/ports, the node2 802 is a sensing transmitting device involving sensing signal transmission over the configured sensing measurement resource (s) /port (s) , and the node3 803 is a sensing receiving node for receiving sensing measurement resources/ports configuration.

At 810, the node1 801 transmits the sensing reporting configuration to the node3 803. At 820, the node3 803 transmits sensing measurement reporting to the node2 802.

In view of the procedure 800, the sensing node sending sensing reporting configuration can be same or different from the sensing node receiving sensing measurement reporting.

FIG. 9 illustrates an example procedure of proposed solution according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. The procedure 900 may involve a node1 901 and a node2 902. It is understood that the process 900 can be considered as a more specific example of the process 200A in FIG. 2A. Thus, the node1 901 in FIG. 9 may be an example of the first device 201 in FIG. 2A, and the node2 902 in FIG. 9 may be an example of the second device 202 in FIG. 2A.

At 911, the node1 901 transmits the sensing measurement resource/port configuration to the node2 902. At 913, the node1 901 transmits the sensing measurement mechanism/configuration to the node3 903. At 915, the node1 901 transmits the sensing reporting configuration to the node3 903. In addition, the node1 901 performs sensing signal transmission with the node3 903. At 917, the node2 802 transmits sensing measurement reporting to the node1 901.

FIG. 10 shows a flowchart of an example method 1000 implemented at a first device 201 in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure. For the purpose of discussion, the method 1000 will be described from the perspective of the communication electric device 110 or the network node 170. It is to be understood that the method 1000 may include additional acts not shown and/or may omit some shown acts, and the scope of the present disclosure is not limited in this regard.

At block 1010, the first device 201 transmits a first configuration for allocating at least one of (i) a set of sensing measurement resources or (ii) a set of sensing measurement ports for performing at least one sensing measurement operation. At block 1020, the first device 201 transmits at least one second configuration for configuring the at least one sensing measurement operation to be performed on the at least one of (i) the set of sensing measurement resources or (ii) the set of sensing measurement ports. At block 1030, the first device 201 transmits a third configuration for reporting sensing measurement data of the at least one sensing measurement operation. It should be noted that the method 1000 may further include various other operations which may be performed by the first device 201 as described above with reference to FIGS. 2A to 9.

FIG. 11 shows a flowchart of an example method 1100 implemented at a second device 202 in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure. For the purpose of discussion, the method 1100 will be described from the perspective of the communication electric device 110 or the network node 170 with reference to FIG. 1A. It is to be understood that the method 1100 may include additional acts not shown and/or may omit some shown acts, and the scope of the present disclosure is not limited in this regard.

At block 1110, the second device 202 receives a first configuration for allocating at least one of (i) a set of sensing measurement resources or (ii) a set of sensing measurement ports for performing at least one sensing measurement operation. At block 1120, the second device 202 receives at least one second configuration for configuring the at least one sensing measurement operation to be performed on the at least one of (i) the set of sensing measurement resources or (ii) the set of sensing measurement ports. At block 1130, the second device 202 receives a third configuration for reporting sensing measurement data of the at least one sensing measurement operation. At block 1140, the second device 202 transmits a sensing measurement report of the sensing measurement data. It should be noted that the method 1100 may further include various other operations which may be performed by the second device 202 as described above with reference to FIGS. 2A to 9.

FIG. 12 is a block diagram of a device 1200 that may be used for implementing some embodiments of the present disclosure. In some embodiments, the device 1200 may be an element of communications network infrastructure, such as a base station (for e12ample, a NodeB, an evolved Node B (eNodeB, or eNB) , a ne12t generation NodeB (sometimes referred to as a gNodeB or gNB) , a home subscriber server (HSS) , a gateway (GW) such as a packet gateway (PGW) or a serving gateway (SGW) or various other nodes or functions within a core network (CN) or a Public Land Mobility Network (PLMN) . In other embodiments, the device 1200 may be a device that connects to the network infrastructure over a radio interface, such as a mobile phone, smart phone or other such device that may be classified as a User Equipment (UE) . In some embodiments, the device 1200 may be a Machine Type Communications (MTC) device (also referred to as a machine-to-machine (M2M) device) , or another such device that may be categorized as a UE despite not providing a direct service to a user. In some embodiments, the device 1200 may be a road side unit (RSU) , a vehicle UE (V-UE) , pedestrian UE (P-UE) or an infrastructure UE (I-UE) . In some scenarios, the device 1200 may also be referred to as a mobile device, a term intended to reflect devices that connect to mobile network, regardless of whether the device itself is designed for, or capable of, mobility. Specific devices may utilize all of the components shown or only a subset of the components, and levels of integration may vary from device to device. Furthermore, the device 1200 may contain multiple instances of a component, such as multiple processors, memories, transmitters, receivers, etc.

The device 1200 typically includes a processor 1202, such as a Central Processing Unit (CPU) , and may further include specialized processors such as a Graphics Processing Unit (GPU) or other such processor, a memory 1204, a network interface 1206 and a bus 1208 to connect the components of the device 1200. The device 1200 may optionally also include components such as a mass storage device 1210, a video adapter 1212, and an I/O interface 1216 (shown in dashed lines) .

The memory 1204 may comprise any type of non-transitory system memory, readable by the processor 1202, such as static random access memory (SRAM) , dynamic random access memory (DRAM) , synchronous DRAM (SDRAM) , read-only memory (ROM) , or a combination thereof. In an embodiment, the memory 1204 may include more than one type of memory, such as ROM for use at boot-up, and DRAM for program and data storage for use while e12ecuting programs. The bus 1208 may be one or more of any type of several bus architectures including a memory bus or memory controller, a peripheral bus, or a video bus.

The device 1200 may also include one or more network interfaces 1206, which may include at least one of a wired network interface and a wireless network interface. As illustrated in FIG. 12, network interface 1206 may include a wired network interface to connect to a network 1222, and also may include a radio access network interface 1220 for connecting to other devices over a radio link. When the device 1200 is a network infrastructure element, the radio access network interface 1220 may be omitted for nodes or functions acting as elements of the PLMN other than those at the radio edge (e.g., an eNB) . When the device 1200 is infrastructure at the radio edge of a network, both wired and wireless network interfaces may be included. When the device 1200 is a wirelessly connected device, such as a User Equipment, radio access network interface 1220 may be present and it may be supplemented by other wireless interfaces such as WiFi network interfaces. The network interfaces 1206 allow the device 1200 to communicate with remote entities such as those connected to network 1222.

The mass storage 1210 may comprise any type of non-transitory storage device configured to store data, programs, and other information and to make the data, programs, and other information accessible via the bus 1208. The mass storage 1210 may comprise, for e12ample, one or more of a solid state drive, hard disk drive, a magnetic disk drive, or an optical disk drive. In some embodiments, the mass storage 1210 may be remote to the device 1200 and accessible through use of a network interface such as interface 1206. In the illustrated embodiment, the mass storage 1210 is distinct from memory 1204 where it is included, and may generally perform storage tasks compatible with higher latency, but may generally provide lesser or no volatility. In some embodiments, the mass storage 1210 may be integrated with a heterogeneous memory 1204.

The optional video adapter 1212 and the I/O interface 1216 (shown in dashed lines) provide interfaces to couple the device 1200 to e12ternal input and output devices. E12amples of input and output devices include a display 1214 coupled to the video adapter 1212 and an I/O device 1218 such as a touch-screen coupled to the I/O interface 1216. Other devices may be coupled to the device 1200, and additional or fewer interfaces may be utilized. For e12ample, a serial interface such as Universal Serial Bus (USB) (not shown) may be used to provide an interface for an e12ternal device. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that in embodiments in which the device 1200 is part of a data center, I/O interface 1216 and Video Adapter 1212 may be virtualized and provided through network interface 1206.

FIG. 13 is a schematic diagram of a structure of an apparatus 1300 in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG. 13, the apparatus 1300 includes a first transmitting unit 1302, a second transmitting unit 1304, and a third transmitting unit 1306. The apparatus 1300 may be applied to the communication system as shown in FIG. 1A, and may implement any of the methods provided in the foregoing embodiments. Optionally, a physical representation form of the apparatus 1300 may be a communication device, for example, a network device or UE. Alternatively, the apparatus 1300 may be another apparatus that can implement a function of a communication device, for example, a processor or a chip inside the communication device. Specifically, the apparatus 1300 may be some programmable chips such as a field-programmable gate array (field-programmable gate array, FPGA) , a complex programmable logic device (complex programmable logic device, CPLD) , an application-specific integrated circuit (application-specific integrated circuits, ASIC) , or a system on a chip (System on a chip, SOC) .

In some embodiments, the first transmitting unit 1302 may be configured to transmit a first configuration for allocating at least one of (i) a set of sensing measurement resources or (ii) a set of sensing measurement ports for performing at least one sensing measurement operation. The second transmitting unit 1304 may be configured to transmit at least one second configuration for configuring the at least one sensing measurement operation to be performed on the at least one of (i) the set of sensing measurement resources or (ii) the set of sensing measurement ports. The third transmitting unit 1306 may be configured to transmit a third configuration for reporting sensing measurement data of the at least one sensing measurement operation.

In some other embodiments, the apparatus 1300 can include various other units or modules which may be configured to perform various operations or functions as described in connection with the foregoing method embodiments. The details can be obtained referring to the detailed description of the foregoing method embodiments and are not described herein again.

FIG. 14 is a schematic diagram of a structure of an apparatus 1400 in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG. 14, the apparatus 1400 includes a first receiving unit 1402, a second receiving unit 1404, a third receiving unit 1406, and a transmitting unit 1408. The apparatus 1400 may be applied to the communication system as shown in FIG. 1A, and may implement any of the methods provided in the foregoing embodiments. Optionally, a physical representation form of the apparatus 1400 may be a communication device, for example, a network device or UE. Alternatively, the apparatus 1400 may be another apparatus that can implement a function of a communication device, for example, a processor or a chip inside the communication device. Specifically, the apparatus 1400 may be some programmable chips such as a field-programmable gate array (field-programmable gate array, FPGA) , a complex programmable logic device (complex programmable logic device, CPLD) , an application-specific integrated circuit (application-specific integrated circuits, ASIC) , or a system on a chip (System on a chip, SOC) .

In some embodiments, the first receiving unit 1402 may be configured to receive a first configuration for allocating at least one of (i) a set of sensing measurement resources or (ii) a set of sensing measurement ports for performing at least one sensing measurement operation. The second receiving unit 1404 may be configured to receive at least one second configuration for configuring the at least one sensing measurement operation to be performed on the at least one of (i) the set of sensing measurement resources or (ii) the set of sensing measurement ports. The third receiving unit 1406 may be configured to receive a third configuration for reporting sensing measurement data of the at least one sensing measurement operation. The transmitting unit 1408 may be configured to transmit a sensing measurement report of the sensing measurement data.

In some other embodiments, the apparatus 1400 can include various other units or modules which may be configured to perform various operations or functions as described in connection with the foregoing method embodiments. The details can be obtained referring to the detailed description of the foregoing method embodiments and are not described herein again.

It should be noted that division into the units or modules in the foregoing embodiments of the present disclosure is an example, and is merely logical function division. In actual implementation, there may be another division manner. In addition, function units in embodiments of the present disclosure may be integrated into one processing unit, or may exist alone physically, or two or more units may be integrated into one unit. The integrated unit may be implemented in a form of hardware, or may be implemented in a form of a software function unit.

When the integrated unit is implemented in a form of a software function unit and sold or used as an independent product, the integrated unit may be stored in a computer-readable storage medium. Based on such an understanding, the technical solutions of the present disclosure essentially, or all or some of the technical solutions may be implemented in a form of a software product. The computer software product is stored in a storage medium and includes several instructions for instructing a computer device (which may be a personal computer, a server, or a network device) or a processor (processor) to perform all or some of the steps of the methods described in embodiments of the present disclosure. The foregoing storage medium includes any medium that can store program code, such as a USB flash drive, a removable hard disk, a read-only memory (Read-Only Memory, ROM) , a random access memory (Random Access Memory, RAM) , a magnetic disk, or an optical disc.

Based on the foregoing embodiments, an embodiment of this application further provides a computer program. When the computer program is run on a computer, the computer is enabled to perform any of the methods provided in the foregoing embodiments.

Based on the foregoing embodiments, an embodiment of this application further provides a computer-readable storage medium. The computer-readable storage medium stores a computer program. When the computer program is executed by a computer, the computer is enabled to perform the any of the methods provided in the foregoing embodiments. The storage medium may be any usable medium that can be accessed by a computer. By way of example and not limitation, the computer-readable medium may include a RAM, a ROM, an EEPROM, a CD-ROM or another optical disk storage, a magnetic disk storage medium or another magnetic storage device, or any other medium that can be used to carry or store expected program code in a form of an instruction or a data structure and that can be accessed by a computer.

Based on the foregoing embodiments, an embodiment of the present disclosure further provides a chip. The chip is configured to read a computer program stored in a memory, to implement any of the methods provided in the foregoing embodiments.

Based on the foregoing embodiments, an embodiment of the present disclosure provides a chip system. The chip system includes a processor, configured to support a computer apparatus in implementing functions related to communication devices in the foregoing embodiments. In a possible design, the chip system further includes a memory, and the memory is configured to store a program and data that are necessary for the computer apparatus. The chip system may include a chip, or may include a chip and another discrete component.

A person skilled in the art should understand that embodiments of the present disclosure may be provided as a method, a system, or a computer program product. Therefore, the present disclosure may be in a form of a hardware-only embodiment, a software-only embodiment, or an embodiment combining software and hardware aspects. In addition, the present disclosure may be in a form of a computer program product implemented on one or more computer-usable storage media (including but not limited to a magnetic disk memory, a CD-ROM, an optical memory, and the like) including computer-usable program code.

The present disclosure is described with reference to the flowcharts and/or block diagrams of the method, the device (system) , and the computer program product according to the present disclosure. It should be understood that computer program instructions may be used to implement each process and/or each block in the flowcharts and/or the block diagrams and a combination of a process and/or a block in the flowcharts and/or the block diagrams. These computer program instructions may be provided for a general-purpose computer, a dedicated computer, an embedded processor, or a processor of another programmable data processing device to generate a machine, so that the instructions executed by a computer or a processor of another programmable data processing device generate an apparatus for implementing a specific function in one or more processes in the flowcharts and/or in one or more blocks in the block diagrams.

These computer program instructions may alternatively be stored in a computer-readable memory that can indicate a computer or another programmable data processing device to work in a specific manner, so that the instructions stored in the computer-readable memory generate an artifact that includes an instruction apparatus. The instruction apparatus implements a specific function in one or more processes in the flowcharts and/or in one or more blocks in the block diagrams.

These computer program instructions may alternatively be loaded onto a computer or another programmable data processing device, so that a series of operations and steps are performed on the computer or the another programmable device, to generate computer-implemented processing. Therefore, the instructions executed on the computer or the another programmable device provide steps for implementing a specific function in one or more processes in the flowcharts and/or in one or more blocks in the block diagrams.

It is clear that a person skilled in the art may make various modifications and variations to the present disclosure without departing from the protection scope of the present disclosure. Thus, the present disclosure is intended to cover these modifications and variations, provided that they fall within the scope of the claims of the present disclosure and their equivalent technologies.

Claims

A method comprising:

transmitting a first configuration for allocating at least one of (i) a set of sensing measurement resources or (ii) a set of sensing measurement ports for performing at least one sensing measurement operation;

transmitting at least one second configuration for configuring the at least one sensing measurement operation to be performed on the at least one of (i) the set of sensing measurement resources or (ii) the set of sensing measurement ports; and

transmitting a third configuration for reporting sensing measurement data of the at least one sensing measurement operation.
The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving a sensing measurement report of the sensing measurement data.
The method of claim 1 or 2, wherein:

the first configuration allocates a set of sensing measurement ports; and

the at least one second configuration comprises a set of second configurations for the set of sensing measurement ports, respectively.
The method of claim 1 or 2, wherein:

the first configuration allocates a set of sensing measurement resources; and

the at least one second configuration comprises a set of second configurations for the set of sensing measurement resources, respectively.
The method of any of claims 1-4, wherein a sensing measurement resource among the set of sensing measurement resources comprises one or more sensing measurement ports.
The method of any of claims 1-5, wherein one of the following:

one or more sensing measurement resources among the set of sensing measurement resources overlap or non-overlap in at least one of time domain or frequency domain; or

one or more sensing measurement ports among the set of sensing measurement ports overlap or non-overlap in at least one of time domain or frequency domain.
The method of any of claims 1-6, wherein the at least one of (i) the set of sensing measurement resources or (ii) the set of sensing measurement ports is configured for a usage other than a sensing usage.
The method of any of claims 1-7, wherein the set of sensing measurement resources comprises at least one of the following:

a long term evolution (LTE) channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) resource;

a new radio (NR) CSI-RS resource,

a sounding reference signal (SRS) resource, or

a demodulation reference signal (DMRS) resource.
The method of any of claims 1-7, wherein the set of sensing measurement ports comprises at least one of the following:

an LTE CSI-RS port;

an NR CSI-RS port,

an SRS port, or

a DMRS port.
The method of any of claims 1-9, wherein a second configuration among the at least one second configuration comprises at least one of the following:

assistance information for performing the at least one sensing measurement operation; or

priority information for performing the at least one sensing measurement operation.
The method of claim 10, wherein:

the second configuration is applied to a sensing measurement port or a sensing measurement resource;

the second configuration is applied to a subset of the set of sensing measurement resources;

the second configuration is applied to a subset of the set of sensing measurement ports; or

the second configuration is applied to the set of sensing measurement resources.
The method of claim 10 or 11, wherein the assistance information comprises at least one of the following:

a reference resource for the at least one sensing measurement operation;

a reference port for the at least one sensing measurement operation; or

at least one type of the assistance information.
The method of claim 12, wherein the reference resource comprises at least one of the following:

a resource with a predetermined index;

a resource with a predefined local index among the set of sensing measurement resources;

a resource with an index indicated by a received message;

a resource for a usage other than a sensing usage;

an LTE CSI-RS resource;

an NR CSI-RS resource;

an SRS resource; or

a DMRS resource.
The method of claim 12 or 13, wherein the reference port comprises at least one of the following:

a port with a predetermined index;

a port with a predefined local index among the set of sensing measurement ports;

a port with an index indicated by a received message;

a port for a usage other than a sensing usage;

an LTE CSI-RS port;

an NR CSI-RS port;

an SRS port; or

a DMRS port.
The method of any of claims 12-14, wherein at least one of the following:

a reference port and a sensing measurement port anchored to the reference port are associated with a same sensing measurement resource or different sensing measurement resources;

a reference port and a sensing measurement resource anchored to the reference port are associated with a same sensing measurement resource or different sensing measurement resources; or

a reference resource and a sensing measurement resource anchored to the reference resource are associated with a same set of sensing measurement resources or different sets of sensing measurement resources.
The method of any of claims 12-15, wherein:

in the case that a sensing measurement port among a plurality of sensing measurement ports included in a sensing measurement resource among the set of sensing measurement resources is configured as the reference port, the sensing measurement resource including the reference port is determined as the reference resource.
The method of any of claims 12-16, wherein the at least one type of the assistance information comprises at least one of the following:

an indication of whether delay profile or power delay profile is common for the set of sensing measurement resources or the set of sensing measurement ports relative to the reference port or the reference resource;

an indication of whether delay profile or power delay profile of selective channel paths is common for the set of sensing measurement resources or the set of sensing measurement ports relative to the reference port or the reference resource;

an indication of whether Doppler shift is common for the set of sensing measurement resources or the set of sensing measurement ports relative to the reference port or the reference resource;

one or more degree offsets of azimuth or elevation relative to a beamforming direction of the reference port;

one or more degree offsets of azimuth or elevation relative to a beamforming direction of the reference resource;

one or more offsets of power boosting relative to the reference port;

one or more offsets of power boosting relative to the reference resource;

a first number of times of beam width in azimuth relative to the reference port;

a second number of times of beam width in azimuth relative to the reference resource;

a third number of times of beam width in elevation relative to the reference port;

a fourth number of times of beam width in elevation relative to the reference resource;

one or more Doppler shifts relative to a beamforming direction of the reference port;

one or more Doppler shifts relative to a beamforming direction of the reference resource;

one or more offsets of phase rotation relative to the reference port; or

one or more offsets of phase rotation relative to the reference resource.
The method of any of claims 10-17, wherein at least one of the following:

the at least one type of the assistance information is pre-defined; or

at least one index of the at least one type of the assistance information is transmitted to a sensing receiving device to perform the at least one sensing measurement operation.
The method of any of claims 10-18, wherein the priority information indicates at least one of the following:

prioritizing or de-prioritizing the at least one sensing measurement operation over the reference resource or the reference port in the case that the reference resource or allocated resource of the reference port overlaps with the at least one sensing measurement operation;

prioritizing or de-prioritizing the at least one sensing measurement operation over the reference resource or the reference port in the case that the reference resource or allocated resource of the reference port overlaps with allocated resource of a data channel or a control channel;

prioritizing or de-prioritizing a sensing measurement port with a predefined local index among one or more sensing measurement ports comprised in a same sensing measurement resource;

prioritizing or de-prioritizing a sensing measurement resource with a predefined local index among one or more sensing measurement resources comprised in a same sensing measurement resource set;

prioritizing or de-prioritizing one or more sensing measurement ports based on one or more priority indexes of the one or more sensing measurement ports;

prioritizing or de-prioritizing one or more sensing measurement resources based on one or more priority indexes of the one or more sensing measurement resources;

prioritizing or de-prioritizing one or more sensing measurement ports based on a trigger type of the one or more sensing measurement ports;

prioritizing or de-prioritizing one or more sensing measurement resources based on a trigger type of the one or more sensing measurement resources;

prioritizing or de-prioritizing one or more sensing measurement ports based on historical information of the one or more sensing measurement ports;

prioritizing or de-prioritizing one or more sensing measurement resources based on historical information of the one or more sensing measurement resources;

transmitting one or more indexes of one or more sensing measurement resources prioritized or de-prioritized; or

transmitting one or more indexes of one or more sensing measurement ports prioritized or de-prioritized.
The method of claim 19, wherein at least one of the following:

receiving a sensing measurement report of one or more sensing measurement ports in the case that the one or more sensing measurement ports are prioritized;

receiving a sensing measurement report of one or more sensing measurement resources in the case that the one or more sensing measurement resources are prioritized;

receiving a sensing measurement report of at least one sensing measurement port among one or more sensing measurement ports and indexes of other sensing measurement ports among the one or more sensing measurement ports other than the at least one sensing measurement port in the case that the one or more sensing measurement ports are prioritized;

receiving a sensing measurement report of at least one sensing measurement resource among one or more sensing measurement resources and indexes of other sensing measurement resources among the one or more sensing measurement resources other than the at least one sensing measurement resource in the case that the one or more sensing measurement resources are prioritized;

receiving one or more indexes of one or more sensing measurement ports in the case that the one or more sensing measurement ports are de-prioritized;

receiving one or more indexes of one or more sensing measurement resources in the case that the one or more sensing measurement resources are de-prioritized;

receiving a sensing measurement report of one or more sensing measurement ports and an indication that the sensing measurement report are invalid in the case that the one or more sensing measurement ports are de-prioritized; or

receiving a sensing measurement report of one or more sensing measurement resources and an indication that the sensing measurement report are invalid in the case that the one or more sensing measurement resources are de-prioritized.
The method of claim 19 or 20, wherein at least one of the following:

a value of a priority index is associated with an index of a sensing measurement resource;

a value of a priority index is associated with an index of a sensing measurement port; or

a value of a priority index is associated with an urgency level of a sensing measurement operation.
The method of any of claims 1-21, wherein the third configuration indicates at least one of the following:

at least one reporting quantity type for the sensing measurement data;

timing for reporting the sensing measurement data; or

a manner in which the sensing measurement data is reported.
The method of claim 22, wherein the at least one reporting quantity type comprises at least one of the following:

a power delay profile;

a Doppler shift profile;

a reference signal received power;

a Rician factor;

a probability of non-light of sight (NLOS) ;

a probability of light of sight (LOS) ;

a number of dominant paths; or

a confidence level for the at least one sensing measurement data.
The method of claim 22 or 23, wherein at least one of the following:

one or more sensing measurement resources are of a same reporting quantity type;

one or more sensing measurement resources are of different reporting quantity types;

one or more sensing measurement ports are of a same reporting quantity type; or

one or more sensing measurement ports are of different reporting quantity types.
The method of any of claims 22-24, wherein at least one of the following:

the at least one reporting quantity type is applied to a sensing measurement port or a sensing measurement resource;

the at least one reporting quantity type is applied to a subset of the set of sensing measurement ports; or

the at least one reporting quantity type is applied to a subset of the set of sensing measurement resources.
The method of any of claims 22-25, wherein the at least one reporting quantity type is based on a difference between at least one sensing measurement data derived from at least one sensing measurement resource or port and the sensing measurement data derived from the reference resource or port.
The method of any of claims 1-26, further comprising:

transmitting at least one sensing signal on the at least one of (i) the set of sensing measurement resources or (ii) the set of sensing measurement ports.
The method of any of claims 1-27, wherein the first configuration, the second configuration, and the third configuration are transmitted to a sensing receiving device which is to perform the at least one sensing measurement operation.
The method of claim 28, further comprising:

transmitting at least one of the first configuration, the second configuration, or the third configuration to a sensing transmitting device which is to transmit at least one sensing signal for the at least one sensing measurement operation.
A method comprising:

receiving a first configuration for allocating at least one of (i) a set of sensing measurement resources or (ii) a set of sensing measurement ports for performing at least one sensing measurement operation;

receiving at least one second configuration for configuring the at least one sensing measurement operation to be performed on the at least one of (i) the set of sensing measurement resources or (ii) the set of sensing measurement ports;

receiving a third configuration for reporting sensing measurement data of the at least one sensing measurement operation; and

transmitting a sensing measurement report of the sensing measurement data.
The method of claim 30, wherein:

the first configuration allocates a set of sensing measurement ports; and

the at least one second configuration comprises a set of second configurations for the set of sensing measurement ports, respectively.
The method of claim 30, wherein:

the first configuration allocates a set of sensing measurement resources; and

the at least one second configuration comprises a set of second configurations for the set of sensing measurement resources, respectively.
The method of any of claims 30-32, wherein a sensing measurement resource among the set of sensing measurement resources comprises one or more sensing measurement ports.
The method of any of claims 30-33, wherein one of the following:

one or more sensing measurement resources among the set of sensing measurement resources overlap or non-overlap in at least one of time domain or frequency domain; or

one or more sensing measurement ports among the set of sensing measurement ports overlap or non-overlap in at least one of time domain or frequency domain.
The method of any of claims 30-34, wherein the at least one of (i) the set of sensing measurement resources or (ii) the set of sensing measurement ports is configured for a usage other than a sensing usage.
The method of any of claims 30-35, wherein the set of sensing measurement resources comprises at least one of the following:

a long term evolution (LTE) channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) resource;

a new radio (NR) CSI-RS resource,

a sounding reference signal (SRS) resource, or

a demodulation reference signal (DMRS) resource.
The method of any of claims 30-35, wherein the set of sensing measurement ports comprises at least one of the following:

an LTE CSI-RS port;

an NR CSI-RS port,

an SRS port, or

a DMRS port.
The method of any of claims 30-37, wherein a second configuration among the at least one second configuration comprises at least one of the following:

assistance information for performing the at least one sensing measurement operation; or

priority information for performing the at least one sensing measurement operation.
The method of claim 38, wherein:

the second configuration is applied to a sensing measurement port or a sensing measurement resource;

the second configuration is applied to a subset of the set of sensing measurement resources;

the second configuration is applied to a subset of the set of sensing measurement ports; or

the second configuration is applied to the set of sensing measurement resources.
The method of claim 38 or 39, wherein the assistance information comprises at least one of the following:

a reference resource for the at least one sensing measurement operation;

a reference port for the at least one sensing measurement operation; or

at least one type of the assistance information.
The method of claim 40, wherein the reference resource comprises at least one of the following:

a resource with a predetermined index;

a resource with a predefined local index among the set of sensing measurement resources;

a resource with an index indicated by a received message;

a resource for a usage other than a sensing usage;

an LTE CSI-RS resource;

an NR CSI-RS resource;

an SRS resource; or

a DMRS resource.
The method of claim 40 or 41, wherein the reference port comprises at least one of the following:

a port with a predetermined index;

a port with a predefined local index among the set of sensing measurement ports;

a port with an index indicated by a received message;

a port for a usage other than a sensing usage;

an LTE CSI-RS port;

an NR CSI-RS port;

an SRS port; or

a DMRS port.
The method of any of claims 40-42, wherein at least one of the following:

a reference port and a sensing measurement port anchored to the reference port are associated with a same sensing measurement resource or different sensing measurement resources;

a reference port and a sensing measurement resource anchored to the reference port are associated with a same sensing measurement resource or different sensing measurement resources; or

a reference resource and a sensing measurement resource anchored to the reference resource are associated with a same set of sensing measurement resources or different sets of sensing measurement resources.
The method of any of claims 40-43, wherein:

in the case that a sensing measurement port among a plurality of sensing measurement ports included in a sensing measurement resource among the set of sensing measurement resources is configured as the reference port, the sensing measurement resource including the reference port is determined as the reference resource.
The method of any of claims 40-44, wherein the at least one type of the assistance information comprises at least one of the following:

an indication of whether delay profile or power delay profile is common for the set of sensing measurement resources or the set of sensing measurement ports relative to the reference port or the reference resource;

an indication of whether delay profile or power delay profile of selective channel paths is common for the set of sensing measurement resources or the set of sensing measurement ports relative to the reference port or the reference resource;

an indication of whether Doppler shift is common for the set of sensing measurement resources or the set of sensing measurement ports relative to the reference port or the reference resource;

one or more degree offsets of azimuth or elevation relative to a beamforming direction of the reference port;

one or more degree offsets of azimuth or elevation relative to a beamforming direction of the reference resource;

one or more offsets of power boosting relative to the reference port;

one or more offsets of power boosting relative to the reference resource;

a first number of times of beam width in azimuth relative to the reference port;

a second number of times of beam width in azimuth relative to the reference resource;

a third number of times of beam width in elevation relative to the reference port;

a fourth number of times of beam width in elevation relative to the reference resource;

one or more Doppler shifts relative to a beamforming direction of the reference port;

one or more Doppler shifts relative to a beamforming direction of the reference resource;

one or more offsets of phase rotation relative to the reference port; or

one or more offsets of phase rotation relative to the reference resource.
The method of any of claims 38-45, wherein at least one of the following:

the at least one type of the assistance information is pre-defined; or

at least one index of the at least one type of the assistance information is transmitted to a sensing receiving device to perform the at least one sensing measurement operation.
The method of any of claims 38-46, wherein the priority information indicates at least one of the following:

prioritizing or de-prioritizing the at least one sensing measurement operation over the reference resource or the reference port in the case that the reference resource or allocated resource of the reference port overlaps with the at least one sensing measurement operation;

prioritizing or de-prioritizing the at least one sensing measurement operation over the reference resource or the reference port in the case that the reference resource or allocated resource of the reference port overlaps with allocated resource of a data channel or a control channel;

prioritizing or de-prioritizing a sensing measurement port with a predefined local index among one or more sensing measurement ports comprised in a same sensing measurement resource;

prioritizing or de-prioritizing a sensing measurement resource with a predefined local index among one or more sensing measurement resources comprised in a same sensing measurement resource set;

prioritizing or de-prioritizing one or more sensing measurement ports based on one or more priority indexes of the one or more sensing measurement ports;

prioritizing or de-prioritizing one or more sensing measurement resources based on one or more priority indexes of the one or more sensing measurement resources;

prioritizing or de-prioritizing one or more sensing measurement ports based on a trigger type of the one or more sensing measurement ports;

prioritizing or de-prioritizing one or more sensing measurement resources based on a trigger type of the one or more sensing measurement resources;

prioritizing or de-prioritizing one or more sensing measurement ports based on historical information of the one or more sensing measurement ports;

prioritizing or de-prioritizing one or more sensing measurement resources based on historical information of the one or more sensing measurement resources;

transmitting one or more indexes of one or more sensing measurement resources prioritized or de-prioritized; or

transmitting one or more indexes of one or more sensing measurement ports prioritized or de-prioritized.
The method of claim 47, wherein transmitting the sensing measurement report comprises at least one of the following:

transmitting a sensing measurement report of one or more sensing measurement ports in the case that the one or more sensing measurement ports are prioritized;

transmitting a sensing measurement report of one or more sensing measurement resources in the case that the one or more sensing measurement resources are prioritized;

transmitting a sensing measurement report of at least one sensing measurement port among one or more sensing measurement ports and indexes of other sensing measurement ports among the one or more sensing measurement ports other than the at least one sensing measurement port in the case that the one or more sensing measurement ports are prioritized;

transmitting a sensing measurement report of at least one sensing measurement resource among one or more sensing measurement resources and indexes of other sensing measurement resources among the one or more sensing measurement resources other than the at least one sensing measurement resource in the case that the one or more sensing measurement resources are prioritized;

transmitting one or more indexes of one or more sensing measurement ports in the case that the one or more sensing measurement ports are de-prioritized;

transmitting one or more indexes of one or more sensing measurement resources in the case that the one or more sensing measurement resources are de-prioritized;

transmitting a sensing measurement report of one or more sensing measurement ports and an indication that the sensing measurement report are invalid in the case that the one or more sensing measurement ports are de-prioritized; or

transmitting a sensing measurement report of one or more sensing measurement resources and an indication that the sensing measurement report are invalid in the case that the one or more sensing measurement resources are de-prioritized.
The method of claim 47 or 48, wherein at least one of the following:

a value of a priority index is associated with an index of a sensing measurement resource;

a value of a priority index is associated with an index of a sensing measurement port; or

a value of a priority index is associated with an urgency level of a sensing measurement operation.
The method of any of claims 30-49, wherein the third configuration indicates at least one of the following:

at least one reporting quantity type for the sensing measurement data;

timing for reporting the sensing measurement data; or

a manner in which the sensing measurement data is reported.
The method of claim 50, wherein the at least one reporting quantity type comprises at least one of the following:

a power delay profile;

a Doppler shift profile;

a reference signal received power;

a Rician factor;

a probability of non-light of sight (NLOS) ;

a probability of light of sight (LOS) ;

a number of dominant paths; or

a confidence level for the at least one sensing measurement data.
The method of claim 50 or 51, wherein at least one of the following:

one or more sensing measurement resources are of a same reporting quantity type;

one or more sensing measurement resources are of different reporting quantity types;

one or more sensing measurement ports are of a same reporting quantity type; or

one or more sensing measurement ports are of different reporting quantity types.
The method of any of claims 50-52, wherein at least one of the following:

the at least one reporting quantity type is applied to a sensing measurement port or a sensing measurement resource;

the at least one reporting quantity type is applied to a subset of the set of sensing measurement ports; or

the at least one reporting quantity type is applied to a subset of the set of sensing measurement resources.
The method of any of claims 50-53, wherein the at least one reporting quantity type is based on a difference between at least one sensing measurement data derived from at least one sensing measurement resource or port and the sensing measurement data derived from of the reference resource or port.
The method of any of claims 30-54, further comprising:

receiving at least one sensing signal on the at least one of (i) the set of sensing measurement resources or (ii) the set of sensing measurement ports.
The method of any of claims 30-55, wherein the first configuration, the second configuration, and the third configuration are transmitted to a sensing transmitting device which is to transmit at least one sensing signal for the at least one sensing measurement operation.
The method of claim 1-56, wherein the sensing measurement report is transmitted to a different device than a device from which the first configuration, the second configuration, and the third configuration are received.
A first device comprising:

a transceiver; and

a processor communicatively coupled with the transceiver,

wherein the processor is configured to:

transmit, via the transceiver, a first configuration for allocating at least one of (i) a set of sensing measurement resources or (ii) a set of sensing measurement ports for performing at least one sensing measurement operation;

transmit, via the transceiver, at least one second configuration for configuring the at least one sensing measurement operation to be performed on the at least one of (i) the set of sensing measurement resources or (ii) the set of sensing measurement ports; and

transmit, via the transceiver, a third configuration for reporting sensing measurement data of the at least one sensing measurement operation.
A second device comprising:

a transceiver; and

a processor communicatively coupled with the transceiver,

wherein the processor is configured to:

receive, via the transceiver, a first configuration for allocating at least one of (i) a set of sensing measurement resources or (ii) a set of sensing measurement ports for performing at least one sensing measurement operation;

receive, via the transceiver, at least one second configuration for configuring the at least one sensing measurement operation to be performed on the at least one of (i) the set of sensing measurement resources or (ii) the set of sensing measurement ports;

receive, via the transceiver, a third configuration for reporting sensing measurement data of the at least one sensing measurement operation; and

transmit, via the transceiver, a sensing measurement report of the sensing measurement data.
A non-transitory computer readable medium storing instructions, which when executed by at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to perform the method of any of claims 1-57.
An apparatus comprising a processor configured to cause the apparatus to perform the method of any of claims 1-57.
A computer program product tangibly stored on a computer-readable medium and comprising computer-executable instructions which, when executed, cause an apparatus to perform the method of any of claims 1-57.