WO2025081780A1

WO2025081780A1 - Methods, devices, and computer readable storage medium for sensing services

Info

Publication number: WO2025081780A1
Application number: PCT/CN2024/091684
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: 2023-10-18
Filing date: 2024-05-08
Publication date: 2025-04-24
Anticipated expiration: 2026-04-18

Abstract

Example embodiments relate to methods, devices and a computer readable storage medium for sensing services. In an aspect, a first device transmits to a second device, a first request that requests the second device to be a transceiver, a transmitter, or a receiver for sensing operation targeting at least one of a sensing direction or a sensing area. Furthermore, the first device receives from the second device, a first response to the first request. This way, the first device can properly determine the second device as a transmitter, a receiver, or a transceiver according the request and the response, for achieving reliable sensing operation targeting at least one of a sensing direction or a sensing area, thereby managing devices such as the second device efficiently and flexibly.

Description

METHODS, DEVICES, AND COMPUTER READABLE STORAGE MEDIUM FOR SENSING SERVICES

FIELD

Example embodiments of the present disclosure generally relate to the field of communication, and in particular, to methods, devices and a computer readable storage medium for sensing services, for example, for sensing candidate transceiver selection and maintenance.

BACKGROUND

With the development of communication technology, future wireless network such as 6G network may support an important feature: integrated sensing and communication (ISAC) . ISAC is expected to provide a wide range of sensing services, which can be vastly different from each other in terms of detailed sensing operations in a radio access network (RAN) . However, either in ISAC networks or in any other sensing networks, various technologies related to the sensing services or operations may need to be further improved or optimized, so as to enhance performance of the sensing services or operations.

SUMMARY

In general, example embodiments of the present disclosure provide a solution for sensing services, for example, for selecting and maintaining a sensing candidate transceiver, transmitter, or receiver.

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.

In a first aspect, there is provided a method performed by a first device. In the method, the first device transmits to a second device, a first request that requests the second device to be a transceiver, a transmitter, or a receiver for sensing operation targeting at least one of a sensing direction or a sensing area. The first device further receives from the second device, a first response to the first request. This way, the first device can properly determine the second device as a transmitter, a receiver, or a transceiver according to the request and the response, for achieving reliable sensing operation targeting at least one of a sensing direction or a sensing area, thereby managing devices such as the second device efficiently and flexibly.

In some implementations, the first device further determines a second device based on a sensing map. This way, based on the sensing map, the first device can determine the second device accurately.

In some implementations, the first device further transmits to the second device, a second request for sensing capability information of the second device. The first device further receives from the second device, a report including the sensing capability information of the second device. This way, the first device can get capability information from the second device, thereby determining the second device accurately for sensing operation targeting at least one of a sensing direction or a sensing area.

In some implementations, the sensing capability information indicates a capability of being at least one of a transceiver, a transmitter, or a receiver. Additionally or alternatively, the sensing capability information indicates the availability of one or more of a sensing timing, a sensing duration, at least one sensing direction, or at least one sensing area. This way, the second device can inform the first device about its detailed capability information, such as the capability of being a transmitter, a receive, or a transmitter or a receiver at the same time. The capability information can also be the availability for the sensing time, the sensing, duration, the sensing direction, and the sensing area. The capability and the availability can be combined, such as being a transmitter at a sensing direction. With the detailed capability information, the first device can determine the second device more accurately, thereby managing the devices such as the second device efficiently and flexibly.

In some implementations, the sensing area comprises a set of points with coordinates representing vertices of the sensing area. Additionally or alternatively, the sensing area comprises a set of points with a defined shape. This way, the sensing area can be achieved in different schemes flexibly, such as according to different using scenarios.

In some implementations, the sensing capability information further comprises one or more of coordinates of the second device, a sensing beam pattern of the second device, a beam width (BW) of a beam of the second device, a beam main lobe direction of the beam, maximal sensing transmission power of the second device, an available maximal sensing BW per component carrier of the second device. This way, the radio capability of the second device can be described accurately in details, thereby making the determination efficiently and accurately at the first device.

In some implementations, the first request requests the second device to be the transmitter, the receiver, or the transceiver based on the capability of the second device, for one or more of at least one sensing time period, at least one sensing direction, or at least one sensing area. This way, the first device can request the second device to achieve different functionality at different time, directions or areas, to achieve the sensing service flexibly.

In some implementations, the first request further requests the second device to be the transmitter and the transceiver simultaneously, or the receiver and the transceiver simultaneously, or the transceiver based on the capability of the second device, for at least one of a sensing time period, at least one sensing direction, or at least one sensing area. This way, the first device can request the second device to detect more objects based on the capability, such as acting as a transmitter for one direction and a transceiver for another direction, or acting as a receiver for one area and a transceiver for another area, thus to make the sensing operation flexibly and efficiently.

In some implementations, the first response comprises an acknowledgment or a rejection. This way, the first device can get accurate response from the second device, thereby managing the devices such as the second device accurately, and making accurate and reliably sensing operation targeting at least one of the direction or the area.

In some implementations, the first device further receives from the second device, a reason of the rejection. The reason comprises one or more of resource occupancy or traffic for data communication, or requesting a back-off timing for a next request, for availability of the second device after a back-off time. This way, the second device can avoid conflict between communication and sensing, thereby integrating the capability of communication and sensing seamlessly.

In some implementations, the first device further creates a list of at least one candidate device based on a capability of the candidate device for at least one of the transmitter, the receiver, or the transceiver, for at least one of the sensing time period, at least one sensing direction, or at least one sensing area. The first device further updates the list by adding or removing a candidate device. This way, with the list, the first device can manage the devices such as the second device efficiently, thereby determining the second device for sensing the direction or the area accurately.

In some implementations, the candidate device belongs to at least one list of candidate devices. The at least one list corresponds to one or more of at least one sensing time period, at least one sensing direction, or at least one sensing area. This way, the candidate device can belong to different lists according to different time period, or different directions, or different areas. The candidate device can be managed flexibly.

In some implementations, the sensing map is created based one or more of sensing capability of the first device, sensing capability of the second device, a pre-defined channel modeling, or a prior information of environment. This way, the sensing map can describe the accurate information of the devices and the wireless environment around the devices. With the accurate sensing map, the first device can determine the second device accurately for sensing.

In some implementations, updating the list comprises transmitting to the second device, a third request for requesting the second device to transmit a first sensing testing signal toward one or more of at least one sensing direction, or at least one sensing area. Updating the list further comprises transmitting to a third device in the list, a fourth request for requesting the third device to receive the first sensing testing signal from the second device. Updating the list further comprises receiving from the third device, a first measurement report for the first sensing testing signal. Updating the list further comprises updating the list based on the first measurement report. This way, the list can be updated based on the testing between the second device and the third device. The list can be kept accurate according to the changing, such as moving of the devices, or changing of the wireless environment. The sensing service can remain reliable with the updated list in the changing.

In some implementations, the first sensing testing signal is based on one or more of a synchronization signal block (SSB) , a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) , a sounding reference signal (SRS) , a positioning reference signal (PRS) , or a demodulation reference signal (DMRS) . This way, reference signal can be re-used for sensing testing, thereby reducing resource and make the system design more simple, or keeping compatibility with the existing wireless system. It is to be understood that other reference signal or new signal can also be used as sensing testing signal.

In some implementations, the first sensing testing signal can be aperiodically, semi-statically, or periodically. This way, the first sensing testing signal can be scheduled dynamically or statically flexibly.

In some implementations, the second device and the third device are the same devices. This way, the sensing testing signal transmission and reception can be implemented in the same device, thereby making the deployment of sensing flexible.

In some implementations, the first measurement report comprises one or more of a reference signal received power (RSRP) of the first sensing testing signal, a Rician factor of the first sensing testing signal, a probability of being non-line of sight (NLOS) of the first sensing testing signal, a probability of being line of signal (LOS) of the first sensing testing signal, a shadow fading parameter of the sensing first testing signal, presence of at least one of mobile sensing object or stationary sensing object, or an identifier of the third device. This way, the measurement report describes the detailed features of the wireless channel between the second device and the third device, thus making the list updating accurate, finally implementing sensing reliably and flexibly for at least one direction or at least one area.

In some implementations, updating the list based on the first measurement report comprises updating the list based on one or more of the RSRP is greater than a first threshold, or the probability of being LOS of the first sensing testing signal is greater than a second threshold. This way, the list can be updated with the changing of the wireless environment, to make the sensing reliable. With threshold and comparison, the updating can be achieved simply and efficiently.

In some implementations, in updating the list, the first device transmits to a first group of devices in the list, a fifth request that requests a first group of devices to transmit a second sensing testing signal toward at least one of at least one sensing direction, or at least one sensing area, wherein the first group of devices comprises the second device. In updating the list, the first device further transmits to the third device in the list, a sixth request for requesting the third device to receive the second sensing testing signal from the first group of devices. In updating the list, the first device further receives from the third device, a second measurement report for the second sensing testing signal. In updating the list, the first device further updates the list based on the second measurement report. This way, the second sensing testing signal can be transmitted by multiple devices, to make the testing faster, or cover more directions, or cover larger area. Thus the list updating can be achieved efficiently.

In some implementations, the second measurement report comprises one of more of measurement data for an individual device in the first group of devices, measurement data for a subset of the first group of devices, or an identifier of a device in the subset of the first group of devices. This way, the measurement data can be reported one by one, or in group flexibly according to requirement. The measurement data can also be identified accurately by the device identifier.

In some implementations, the subset is selected based one or more of criteria based on a threshold of the second sensing testing signal, or at least one device determined based on the criteria of the threshold. The threshold comprises at least one of RSRP or probability of being LOS. This way, the subset or the at least one device is selected based on the threshold for RSRP or LOS, to make the report match the wireless environment accurately.

In some implementations, in updating the list, the first device transmits to the second device, a seventh request that requests the second device to transmit a third sensing testing signal toward at least one of at least one sensing direction, or at least one sensing area. In updating the list, the first device further transmits to a second group of devices in the list, an eighth request for requesting the second group of devices to receive the third sensing testing signal from the second device. The second group of devices comprises the third device. In updating the list, the first device further receives from the second group of devices, third measurement reports for the third sensing testing signal. In updating the list, the first device further updates the list based on the third measurement reports. This way, the third sensing testing signal can be received by multiple devices, to make the testing faster, cover more directions, or cover a larger area. Thus the list updating can be achieved efficiently.

In some implementations, in updating the list, the first device transmits to a third group of devices, a ninth request that requests the third group of devices to transmit a fourth sensing testing signal toward at least one of at least one sensing direction, or at least one sensing area, and request the third group of devices to receive the third sensing testing signal. The third group comprises at least one of the second device and the third device. In updating the list, the first device further receives from the third group of devices, fourth measurement reports for the fourth sensing testing signal. In updating the list, the first device further updates the list based on the fourth measurement reports. This way, each of the multiple devices can send and receive the sensing testing signal, to make the testing faster, or cover more directions, or cover larger areas. Thus the list updating can be achieved efficiently.

In some implementations, one or more of the third request, the fourth request, the fifth request, the sixth request, the seventh request, the eighth request, or the ninth request comprises one or more of a group identifier, a configuration of the second sensing testing signal, or the third sensing testing signal, or the fourth sensing testing signal. The configuration includes one or more of a corresponding time, or duration, or resource allocation of the second sensing testing signal, or the third sensing testing signal, or the fourth sensing testing signal, at least one sensing direction, at least one sensing area, a contention-based resource allocated for the second test report, the third test report, or the fourth test report, or a contention-free resource allocated for the second test report, the third test report, or the fourth test report. This way, multiple devices can be configured with group-casting request, thus achieving the request efficiently.

In some implementations, one or more of the first group of devices, the second group of devices, the third group of devices is differentiated by one or more of a group capability of being sensing transmitter, a group capability of being sensing receiver, or a group capability of being sensing transceiver. This way, the devices can be divided into different groups according to transmission and reception capability, thereby making the group division and management accurate and efficient.

In some implementations, the second device belongs to multiple groups. Additionally or alternatively, the third device belongs to multiple groups. Each group of the multiple groups corresponds to one or more of the first group, the second group, or the third group. This way, the second device or the third device can belong to multiple groups flexibly, thus making the device management and sensing testing flexible.

In some implementations, the first device further transmits to the third device, a tenth request for requesting the third device to receive a sensing signal. The first device further receives from the third device, a sensing data obtained based on the sensing signal. The first device further transmits to the third device, an eleventh request for activating the third device to receive the sensing signal, when the second device is receiving the sensing signal. The first device further transmits to the second device, a twelfth request for forwarding a historical sensing data from the second device to the third device. This way, the third device can be activated, and make sensing with the second device together, thereby making the sensing reliable, such as in reliability sensitive scenarios.

In some implementations, in the case that the second device moves away from the sensing area or a sensing signal quality is below a threshold, the first device further transmits the eleventh request to the third device. This way, the third device can be activated when the sensing signal quality of the second device is not good enough, to make the sensing reliable.

In some implementations, the historical sensing data comprises one or more of sensing measurement reports collected by the second device up to pre-defined number or time period of historical reports, processed, or partially processed, or unprocessed sensing data collected by the second device, configurations of sensing resource allocation used by the second device, at least one of a beam pattern, or a beam width, or a beam spatial direction used by the second device, a priority of the sensing data for a sensing service conducted by the second device. This way, detailed information can be transmitted from the second device to the third device in the historical sensing data, to make the sensing reliable, or to make the third device get the sensing result quickly.

In some implementations, the first device further receives from the third device, the second sensing data obtained based on the sensing signal. The first device further selects the third device for activation, based on comparison between the first sensing data and the second sensing data. This way, the third device with better sensing data can be selected for activation, thereby making the sensing reliable.

In some implementations, the eleventh request requests for activating the third device at a given time or a given duration as at least one of a transmitter, a receiver, or a transceiver. This way, the third device can be activated flexibly.

In some implementations, in updating the list, the first device transmits to the third device, for deactivating the third device, and updating the list by removing the third device from the list. This way, the space can be saved in the first device, by removing the third device after deactivating, and make the devices management efficient.

In some implementations, the first device comprises a network function in a core network. Additionally or alternatively, the second device comprises a network device in an access network. Additionally or alternatively, the third device comprises a terminal device. This way, the first device can manage the second device and the third device for sensing efficiently and flexibly in a large area. It is to be understood that the first device, the second device, or the third device can be implemented in other format, such as implement the first device, the second device, and the third device in terminal devices in a Mesh network, thereby making the sensing implementation more flexibly.

In a second aspect, there is provided a method performed by a second device. In the method, the second device receives from a first device, a first request that requests the second device to be a transceiver, or a transmitter, or a receiver for sensing operation targeting at least one of a sensing direction or a sensing area. The second device further transmits to the first device, a first response to the first request. This way, the second device can send accurate response to the first device. Thus the first device can properly determine the second device as a transmitter, a receiver, or a transceiver according the response, for achieving reliable sensing operation targeting at least one of a sensing direction or a sensing area, thereby managing devices such as the second device efficiently and flexibly.

In some implementations, the second device further receives from the first device, a second request for sensing capability information of the second device. The second device further transmits to the first device, a report including the sensing capability information of the second device. This way, the second device can send capability information to the first device, thus making the first device determine the second device accurately for sensing operation targeting at least one of a sensing direction or a sensing area.

In some implementations, the first response comprises an acknowledgment, or a rejection. The reason comprises one or more of resource occupancy or traffic for data communication, or requesting a back-off timing for a next request, for availability of the second device after a back-off time. This way, the conflict can be avoided between communication and sensing, and communication and sensing can be integrated in the devices seamlessly.

In some implementations, the second device further transmits to the first device, a reason of the rejection. This way, the first device can get detailed reason for rejection, thus make the sensing management efficient.

In some implementations, the second device further receives from the first device, a third request for requesting the second device to transmit a first sensing testing signal toward at least one of at least one sensing direction, or at least one sensing area. This way, the second device can be requested for sending sensing testing signal, to test the wireless environmental changing or device moving, thus making the sensing reliable.

In some implementations, the second device further receives from the first devices, a fifth request that requests a first group of devices to transmit a second sensing testing signal toward one or more of at least one sensing direction, or at least one sensing area. The first group of devices comprises the second device. This way, the second sensing testing signal can be transmitted by multiple devices, thus making the testing faster, or covering more directions, or covering larger area.

In some implementations, the second device further receives from the first devices, a ninth request that requests a third group of devices to transmit a fourth sensing testing signal toward one or more of at least one sensing direction, or at least one sensing area, and request the third group of devices to receive the third sensing testing signal The third group comprises the second device. This way, each of the multiple devices in the third group can send and receive sensing testing signal, thus making the testing faster, or covering more directions, or covering larger area. Thus the list updating can be achieved more efficiently.

In some implementations, the second device further receives from the first device, a twelfth request for forwarding a historical sensing data from the second device to a third device. The second device further transmits the historical sensing data to the third device. This way, the historical sensing data can make the third device to make cooperative sensing with the second device, thereby making the sensing more reliable.

In some implementations, the first device comprises a network function in a core network. Additionally or alternatively, the second device comprises a network device in an access network. Additionally or alternatively, the third device comprises a terminal device. This way, the first device can manage the second device and the third device for sensing efficiently and flexibly in a large area. It is to be understood that the first device, the second device, or the third device can be implemented in other format, such as implement the first device and the second device in terminal devices in a Mesh network, thus making the sensing implementation more flexible.

In a third aspect, there is provided a method performed by a third device. In the method, the third device receives from a first device, a fourth request for requesting the third device to receive a first sensing testing signal from a second device via at least one of a sensing direction or a sensing area. The third device further transmits to the first device, a first measurement report for the first sensing testing signal. This way, the third device can be requested for receiving sensing testing signal, to test the wireless environmental change, thus making the sensing reliable.

In some implementations, the fourth request comprises requesting the third device to receive a second sensing testing signal from a first group of devices. The first group of devices comprises the second device. This way, the second sensing testing signal can be transmitted by multiple devices, thus making the testing faster, or covering more directions, or covering larger area.

In some implementations, the fourth request comprises requesting a second group of devices to receive a third sensing testing signal from the second device. The second group of devices comprises the third device. This way, the third sensing testing signal can be received by multiple devices, thereby making the testing faster, or covering more directions, or covering larger area.

In some implementations, the fourth request comprises requesting a third group of devices to transmit a fourth sensing testing signal toward at least one of at least one sensing direction, or at least one sensing area, and requesting the third group of devices to receive the third sensing testing signal. The third group comprises the third device. This way, each of the multiple devices in the third group can send and receive sensing testing signal, thus making the testing faster, or covering more directions, or covering larger area. Thus the list updating can be achieved efficiently.

In some implementations, the third device further receives from the first device, a tenth request for requesting the third device to receive a sensing signal. The third device further transmits to the first device, a sensing data obtained based on the sensing signal. The third device further receives from the first device, an eleventh request for activating the third device to receive the sensing signal when the second device is receiving the sensing signal. The third device further receives a historical sensing data from the first device. This way, the historical sensing data can make the third device to make co-operative sensing with the second device, to make the sensing service reliable.

In some implementations, the third device further combines the historical sensing data with a sensing data, wherein the sensing data corresponds to the reception of the sensing signal by the third device. This way, the combination can make the third device get the sensing result more quickly and accurately, thereby making the sensing service reliable.

In a fourth aspect, there is provided a first apparatus. The first apparatus comprises an interface, and a processor communicatively coupled with the interface. The processor is configured to transmit to a second apparatus, a first request that requests the second apparatus to be a transceiver, a transmitter, or a receiver for sensing operation targeting at least one of a sensing direction or a sensing area, and receive from the second apparatus, a first response to the first request. This way, the first apparatus can properly determine the second apparatus as a transmitter, a receiver, or a transceiver according the request and the response, for achieving reliable sensing operation targeting at least one of a sensing direction or a sensing area, thereby managing devices such as the second apparatus efficiently and flexibly.

In a fifth aspect, there is provided a second apparatus. The second apparatus comprises an interface, and a processor communicatively coupled with the interface. The processor is configured to receive from a first apparatus, a first request that requests the second apparatus to be a transceiver, or a transmitter, or a receiver for sensing operation targeting at least one of a sensing direction or a sensing area; and transmit to the first apparatus, a first response to the first request. This way, the second apparatus can send accurate response to the first apparatus. Thus the first apparatus can properly determine the second apparatus as a transmitter, a receiver, or a transceiver according to the response, for achieving reliable sensing operation targeting at least one of a sensing direction or a sensing area, thereby managing apparatuses such as the second apparatus efficiently and flexibly.

In a sixth aspect, there is provided a third apparatus. The third apparatus comprises an interface, and a processor communicatively coupled with the interface. The processor is configured to receive from a first apparatus, a fourth request for requesting the third apparatus to receive a first sensing testing signal from a second apparatus via at least one of a sensing direction or a sensing area, and transmit to the first apparatus, a first measurement report for the first sensing testing signal. This way, the third apparatus can be requested for receiving testing signal, to test the wireless environmental changing and device movement, thus making the sensing service reliable.

In a seventh 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 the first, the second, or the third aspect.

In an eighth aspect, there is provided a computer program product tangibly stored on a computer-readable medium and comprising computer-executable instructions. When instructions are executed, an apparatus is caused to perform the method of the first, the second, or the third aspect.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

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

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

FIG. 2 illustrates a detailed example of the communication system of FIG. 1 in which some example embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented;

FIG. 3 illustrates an example of an electronics device and a base station in which some example embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented;

FIG. 4 illustrates example modules in a device or apparatus in which some example embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented;

FIG. 5 illustrates an example of a process flow of a first device requesting a second device for sensing operation in accordance with some example embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 6 illustrates an example of a process flow of requesting for sensing operation in accordance with some example embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 7 illustrates an example of a process flow of requesting for testing in accordance with some example embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 8 illustrates an example of a process flow of requesting testing between two nodes in accordance with some example embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 9 illustrates an example of a process flow of requesting for sending testing signal at multiple nodes, and receiving the testing signal at one node in accordance with some example embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 10 illustrates an example of a process flow of requesting for sending testing signal at one node, and receiving the testing signal at multiple nodes in accordance with some example embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 11 illustrates an example of a process flow of requesting multiple nodes for sending and receiving testing signal in accordance with some example embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 12 illustrates an example of a process flow of redundant sensing measurement in accordance with some example embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 13 illustrates an example of a method implemented at a first device in accordance with some example embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 14 illustrates an example of a method implemented at a second device in accordance with some example embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 15 illustrates an example of a method implemented at a third device in accordance with some example embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 16 illustrates a block diagram of an electronic device that may be used for implementing devices and methods in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 17 illustrates a schematic diagram of a structure of a first apparatus in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 18 illustrates a schematic diagram of a structure of a second apparatus in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure; and

FIG. 19 illustrates a schematic diagram of a structure of a third 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.

When the functions are implemented in the form of a software functional unit and sold or used as an independent product, the functions may be stored in a computer-readable storage medium. Based on such an understanding, the technical solutions of this application essentially, or the part contributing to the prior art, or some of the technical solutions may be implemented in a form of a software product. The 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) to perform all or some of the steps of the methods described in the embodiments of this application. 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.

The foregoing descriptions are merely specific implementations of this application, but are not intended to limit the protection scope of this application. Any variation or replacement readily figured out by a person skilled in the art within the technical scope disclosed in this application shall fall within the protection scope of this application. Therefore, the protection scope of this application shall be subject to the protection scope of the claims.

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. “Location” is also known as “position” and these two terms may be used interchangeably herein. Examples of well-known sensing systems include RADAR (Radio Detection and Ranging) and LIDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) . While the sensing system can 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.

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

Referring to FIG. 1, as an illustrative example without limitation, a simplified schematic illustration of a communication system is provided. The communication system 100 (which may be a wireless system) comprises a radio access network (RAN) 120. The RAN 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 2nd generation (2G) ) radio access network. One or more communication electronic 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 100. The communication system 100 may also comprise a public switched telephone network (PSTN) 140, the internet 150, and other networks 160.

FIG. 2 illustrates a detailed example of the communication system of FIG. 1 in which some example embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented. Communication system 100 in FIG. 2 can be a detailed implementation of the communication system 100 in FIG. 1.

In general, the communication system 100 enables multiple wireless or wired elements to communicate data and other content. The purpose of the communication system 100 may be to provide content, such as voice, data, video, and/or text, via broadcast, multicast, groupcast, unicast, etc. The communication system 100 may operate by sharing resources, such as carrier spectrum bandwidth, between its constituent elements. The communication system 100 may include a terrestrial communication system and/or a non-terrestrial communication system. The communication system 100 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 100 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. Same as in the example shown in FIG. 1, in the example shown in FIG. 2, the communication system 100 may include ED 110a, 110b, 110c, 110d (generically referred to as ED 110) , and terrestrial RAN 120a, 120b. In addition, the communication system 100 may also include a non-terrestrial communication network 120c. The communication system 100 may also include one or more of a core network 130, a public switched telephone network (PSTN) 140, the Internet 150, and other networks 160. The RANs 120a, 120b include respective RAN nodes such as base stations (BSs) 170a, 170b, which may be generically referred to as terrestrial transmit and receive points (T-TRPs) 170a, 170b. In one implementation, the non-terrestrial communication network 120c includes a RAN node such as an access node (or base station) 172, which may be generically referred to as a non-terrestrial transmit and receive point (NT-TRP) 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 100 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) , or single-carrier FDMA (SC-FDMA, also known as discrete Fourier transform spread OFDMA, DFT-s-OFDMA) 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 172 for 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 (which are not shown in FIG. 2) , 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, 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) , and 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. 3 illustrates an example of an electronics device and a base station in which some example embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented. FIG. 3 illustrates another example of an ED 110 and base stations such as T-TRP 170a, 170b and NT-TRP 172. The ED 110 is used to connect persons, objects, machines, etc. The ED 110 may be widely used in various scenarios including, 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, a pair of glasses, head mounted equipment, etc. ) , an industrial device, or an apparatus in (e.g. communication module, modem, or chip) or comprising the forgoing devices, among other possibilities. Future generation EDs 110 may be referred to using other terms. The base station 170a and 170b is a T-TRP and will hereafter be referred to as T-TRP 170. Also shown in FIG. 3, a NT device 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 may include a transmitter 201 and a receiver 203 coupled to one or more antennas 204. Only one antenna 204 is illustrated to avoid congestion in the drawing. One, some, or all of the antennas 204 may alternatively be panels. The transmitter 201 and the receiver 203 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 204 or network interface controller (NIC) . The transceiver is also configured to demodulate data or other content received by the at least one antenna 204. 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 204 includes any suitable structure for transmitting and/or receiving wireless or wired signals.

The ED 110 may include at least one memory 208. The memory 208 stores instructions. The memory 208 may also store data used, generated, or collected by the ED 110. For example, the memory 208 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 210) . Each memory 208 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 or interfaces permit interaction with a user or other devices in the network. Each input/output device or interface includes any suitable structure for providing information to or receiving information from a user, and/or for network interface communications. Suitable structures include, for example, a speaker, microphone, keypad, keyboard, display, touch screen, etc.

The ED 110 includes the processor 210 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. Processing operations related to processing sidelink transmissions may include operations such as transmit/receive beamforming, modulating/demodulating and encoding/decoding symbols. Depending upon the embodiment, a downlink transmission may be received by the receiver 203, possibly using receive beamforming, and the processor 210 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 210 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 210 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 210 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 210 may form part of the transmitter 201 and/or part of the receiver 203. Although not illustrated, the memory 208 may form part of the processor 210.

The processor 210, the processing components of the transmitter 201, and the processing components of the receiver 203 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 208) . Alternatively, some or all of the processor 210, the processing components of the transmitter 201, and the processing components of the receiver 203 may each be implemented using dedicated circuitry, such as a programmed field-programmable gate array (FPGA) , an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) , or a hardware accelerator such as a graphics processing unit (GPU) or an artificial intelligence (AI) accelerator.

When the ED 110 is an apparatus (e.g. communication module, modem, chip, or chipset) in a device, it includes at least one processor, and an interface or at least one pin. In this scenario, the transmitter 201 and receiver 203 may be replaced by the interface or at least one pin, wherein the interface or at least one pin is to connect the apparatus (e.g., chip) and other apparatus (e.g., chip, memory, or bus) . Accordingly, the transmitting information to the NT-TRP 172 and/or the T-TRP 170 and/or another ED 110 may be referred as transmitting information to the interface or at least one pin, and receiving information from the NT-TRP 172 and/or the T-TRP 170 and/or another ED 110 may be referred as receiving information from the interface or at least one pin. The information may include control signaling and/or data.

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 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 may include at least one transmitter 252 and at least one receiver 254 coupled to one or more antennas 256. Only one antenna 256 is illustrated to avoid congestion in the drawing. One, some, or all of the antennas 256 may alternatively be panels. The transmitter 252 and the receiver 254 may be integrated as a transceiver. The T-TRP 170 further includes a processor 260 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 T-TRP 170 and/or NT-TRP 172, and processing a transmission received over backhaul from the T-TRP 170 and/or 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 260 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 260 also generates an indication of beam direction, e.g. BAI, which may be scheduled for transmission by a scheduler 253. The processor 260 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 260 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 260 is sent by the transmitter 252. 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 253 may be coupled to the processor 260 or integrated in the processor 260. The scheduler 253 may be included within or operated separately from the T-TRP 170. The scheduler 253 may schedule uplink, downlink, sidelink, and/or backhaul transmissions, including issuing scheduling grants and/or configuring scheduling-free (e.g., “configured grant” ) resources. The T-TRP 170 may further include a memory 258 for storing information, and optionally data. The memory 258 stores instructions and data used, generated, or collected by the T-TRP 170. For example, the memory 258 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 260.

Although not illustrated, the processor 260 may form part of the transmitter 252 and/or part of the receiver 254. Also, although not illustrated, the processor 260 may implement the scheduler 253. Although not illustrated, the memory 258 may form part of the processor 260.

The processor 260, the scheduler 253, the processing components of the transmitter 252, and the processing components of the receiver 254 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 258. Alternatively, some or all of the processor 260, the scheduler 253, the processing components of the transmitter 252, and the processing components of the receiver 254 may be implemented using dedicated circuitry, such as a programmed FPGA, a hardware accelerator (e.g., a GPU or AI accelerator) , or an ASIC.

When the T-TRP 170 is an apparatus (e.g. communication module, modem, chip, or chipset) in a device, it includes at least one processor, and an interface or at least one pin. In this scenario, the transmitter 252 and receiver 254 may be replaced by the interface or at least one pin, wherein the interface or at least one pin is to connect the apparatus (e.g., chip) and other apparatus (e.g., chip, memory, or bus) . Accordingly, the transmitting information to the NT-TRP 172 and/or the T-TRP 170 and/or ED 110 may be referred as transmitting information to the interface or at least one pin, and receiving information from the NT-TRP 172 and/or the T-TRP 170 and/or ED 110 may be referred as receiving information from the interface or at least one pin. The information may include control signaling and/or data.

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 satellites and high altitude platforms, including international mobile telecommunication base stations and unmanned aerial vehicles, for example. 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 may include a transmitter 272 and a receiver 274 coupled to one or more antennas 280. Only one antenna 280 is illustrated to avoid congestion in the drawing. One, some, or all of the antennas may alternatively be panels. The transmitter 272 and the receiver 274 may be integrated as a transceiver.

The NT-TRP 172 may further include a processor 276 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/or another NT-TRP 172, and processing a transmission received over backhaul from the T-TRP 170 and/or another 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. 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 276 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 276 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 may further include a memory 278 for storing information and optionally data. Although not illustrated, the processor 276 may form part of the transmitter 272 and/or part of the receiver 274. Although not illustrated, the memory 278 may form part of the processor 276.

The processor 276, the processing components of the transmitter 272, and the processing components of the receiver 274 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 278. Alternatively, some or all of the processor 276, the processing components of the transmitter 272, and the processing components of the receiver 274 may be implemented using dedicated circuitry, such as a programmed FPGA, a hardware accelerator (e.g., a GPU or AI accelerator) , 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. 4 illustrates example modules in a device or apparatus in which some example embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented.

One or more steps of the methods provided in this disclosure herein may be performed by corresponding units or modules, according to FIG. 4. FIG. 4 illustrates units or modules in a device or apparatus, 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 410. A signal may be received by a receiving unit or by a receiving module 415. A signal may be processed by a processing unit or a processing module 420. Other steps may be performed by an artificial intelligence (AI) or machine learning (ML) module 425. 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 a circuit such as an integrated circuit. Examples of an integrated circuit includes a programmed FPGA, a GPU, or an ASIC. For instance, one or more of the units or modules may be logical such as a logical function performed by a circuit, by a portion of an integrated circuit, or by software instructions executed by a processor. 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.

Integrated sensing and communication (ISAC) are expected to provide a wide range of sensing services, which can vastly different from each other in terms of detailed sensing operations in RAN. Regardless mono-static, bi-static, multi-static sensing modes, one of critical sensing operations in RAN is to select the proper sensing transceiver, which will be allocated with RAN sensing resources thereafter for sensing a certain direction (s) /area (s) or object (s) in an area. Such selection can be related to requested sensing services themselves in order to meet corresponding requirements of service latency, service continuity, service accuracy, etc. Unlike conventional positioning of UEs or data communication with UEs, objects of a sensing operation ( “sensing objects” ) are normally passive in nature. A sensing object, like a dog or trespassing UAV, cannot or will not communicate with the sensing node as a UE providing data communication or receiving positioning signal. Therefore, ISAC demands a certain new mechanism to consider unique characteristics of sensing services in wireless networks.

The scope of this disclosure is not limited to User Equipment (UE) or Base Station (BS) for a given sensing node, so the sensing transmitting node or receiving node can be a Transmission Reception Point (TRP) , BS, UE or functionality.

FIG. 5 illustrates an example of a process flow 500 of a first device requesting a second device for sensing operation in accordance with some example embodiments of the present disclosure. The first device 501, and the second device 503 can be implemented in devices in FIGS. 1 to 4. In some examples, the first device 501 can be a network function in the core network 130 in FIGS. 1 and 2. The second device 503 can be a network device in RAN such as the network node 170a or 170b in FIGS 1 and 2, T-TRP 170 or NT-TRP 172 in FIG. 3. The second device 503 can also be or a terminal device in 110a-110h in FIGS. 1 and 2, or in ED 110 in FIG. 3. The first device 501 or the second device 503 can include the operating system module 405, the transmitting module 410, the receiving module 415, the processing module 420, and the machine learning module 425 in FIG. 4. This way, the first device 501 such as the network function in the core network can manage devices such as the second device 503 for sensing in a large area efficiently.

The skilled in the art can understand that the first device 501 or the second device 503 can also be implemented in other types of devices. For example, the first device 501 and the second device 503 can be both terminal devices in a Mesh network. Alternatively, the first device 501 can be the ED 110a, and the second device 503 can be the ED 110b, they can communicate with sidelink 190b directly in FIG. 2. Thus sensing service can be achieved flexibly.

As shown, the first device 501 transmits (508) a first request 510 to the second device 503. The first request 510 can request the second device 503 to be a transceiver, a transmitter, or a receiver for sensing operation targeting at least one of a sensing direction or a sensing area. In response to the first request 510, the second device 503 transmits (518) a first response 520 to the first device 501. This way, the first device 501 can properly determine the second device 503 as a transmitter, a receiver, or a transceiver according to the request and the response, for achieving reliable sensing operation targeting at least one of a sensing direction or a sensing area, thereby managing devices such as the second device 503 efficiently and flexibly.

In some implementations, before the first request 510, the first device 501 may send a second request to the second device 503, requesting the second device 503 to report its capability, then receive the report from the second device 503, including the capability of the second device 503. This way, the first device 501 can determine the second device 503 accurately based on its capability.

FIG. 6 illustrates an example of a process flow 600 of requesting for sensing operation in accordance with some example embodiments of the present disclosure. In FIG. 6, node 1 (601) can be an example of the first device 501, while node 2 (603) and node 3 (605) can be two examples of the second device 503.

The process flow in FIG. 6 can be based on a sensing map, which may be created in prior by a sensing planning tool in order to forecast supported sensing services and service quality. Radio frequency (RF) conditions for each potential sensing object or sensing area inside the map may be predicted by pre-defined statistical pathloss channel modeling or ray-tracing channel modeling. Therefore, the prediction accuracy of channel modeling may eventually impact how sensing transmitters, sensing receivers, or sensing transceivers are selected. This way, node 1 (601) can send requests to suitable candidate nodes such as node 2 (603) and node 3 (605) , to make the nodes achieve good sensing functionality and coverage in the sensing map.

Based on such a sensing map, in FIG. 6, node 2 (603) can send (608) to node 1 (601) , report (610) for capability of sensing transmitter (Tx) or sensing receiver (Rx) for direction /area 1, or for at least one of a sensing direction or a sensing area. Node 3 (605) can send (618) report (620) for capability of sensing Tx or sensing Rx for direction /area 1, or for at least one of the sensing direction or the sensing area. Before the report 610 and 620, node 1 (601) may send the second request to node 2 (603) and node 3 (605) , requesting them to report their capability. Node 1 (601) may request node 2 (603) to be a sensing transceiver for given direction/area 1, e.g. mono-static sensing to detect an intruder in the direction or the area. That is, node 1 (601) may transmit (628) request 630 to node 2 (603) , requesting node 2 (603) to be a sensing transceiver for at least one of a direction or an area. Node 2 (603) may be the best candidate based on the prediction of the sensing map. However, node 2 (603) may reject the request, and sends (638) a refuse 640 to node 1 (601) . Thereafter, node 1 (601) may request node 2 (603) and node 3 (605) as a pair of sensing transceivers, as sensing nodes working together may be the next best choice using bi-static sensing to detect an intruder in area 1. Node 1 (601) transmits (648) the request 650 to node 2 (603) , requesting node 2 (603) to be a sensing transmitter, and transmits (668) to node 3 (605) , requesting node 3 (605) to be a sensing receiver. Node 2 (603) and node 3 (605) send ACK (acknowledgment) 660 and ACK 680 individually. This way, node 1 (601) can send request based on the capability of node 2 (603) and node 3 (605) . Node 2 may refuse the request of being the sensing transceiver towards the direction or the area, such as for the conflict of being a sensing receiver and uplink communication. Based on the refuse 640, node 1 (601) can update the sensing request, and request node 2 (603) only to be a sensing transmitter, and request node 3 (605) to be a sensing receiver. Node 1 (601) can assign sensing function to node 2 (603) and node 3 (605) flexibly, to achieve good sensing performance.

In some embodiments, the sensing node such as node 2 (603) or node 3 (605) may report to sensing node 1 (601) for its capability of being a sensing transmitter, and/or a sensing receiver, and/or a sensing transceiver. The report may include additional status information of availability for one or more of specific sensing timing, sensing duration, at least one sensing direction, or at least one sensing area. This way, with the detailed capability information, node 1 (601) can choose node 2 (603) and node 3 (605) accurately, thus managing the nodes such as node 2 (603) and node 3 (605) efficiently and flexibly.

In some implementations, the available sensing direction for a sensing node such as node 2 (603) or node 3 (605) may be relative to the orientation of the node or an absolute direction. For example, sensing direction can be omnidirectional or directional depending on RF design of sensing transceiver. This way, nodes with flexible RF directional features can be used in the sensing, to make the whole sensing system work flexibly and efficiently.

In some implementations, available sensing area for a sensing node such as node 2 (603) or node 3 (605) may be represented by a set of points with corresponding coordinates representing vertices of a sensing area, or by represented by a set of points and other parameters with a defined shape, for example, a circle with center coordinate and a radius. The coordinates can be absolute values or relative values with respect to the node. For example, a sensing area can be 500 meters away from a sensing transceiver with a radius of 50 meters. Such a transmitter may cover that area relatively well with high beamforming gain. This way, the sensing area can be achieved in different schemes flexibly, such as according to different using scenarios.

In some implementations, when node 2 (603) or node 3 (605) involves a user equipment (UE) as a sensing transmitter, it is likely that the UE may not be able to participate in sensing operation due to limited Tx power or whether it is willing to participate at given time. This way, when node 2 (603) or node 3 (605) is a UE, node 1 (601) can schedule node 2 (603) or node 3 (605) according to its capability flexibly.

In some implementations, a sensing node such as node 2 (603) or node 3 (605) may report one or more of its coordinates, sensing beam pattern, beam width, beam main lobe direction, maximal sensing transmission power, available maximal sensing bandwidth (BW) per component carrier, and etc., as supplementary or assistant information for being selected, such as in the capability report 610 or 620. This way, node 2 (603) or node 3 (605) can report its detailed capability to node 1 (601) , thus node 1 (601) can determine node 2 (603) and node 3 (605) accurately, thereby managing the nodes for sensing efficiently and flexibly.

In some implementations, a sensing node such as node 1 (601) may request another sensing node such as node 2 (603) or node 3 (605) to report its latest sensing information including one or more of coordinates, sensing beam pattern, beamwidth, beam mainlobe direction, maximal sensing transmission power, available maximal sensing BW per component carrier, and etc. This way, node 2 (603) or node 3 (605) can report its detailed capability to node 1 (601) , thus node 1 (601) can determine node 2 (603) and node 3 (605) accurately, thereby managing the nodes for sensing efficiently and flexibly.

In some implementations, a sensing node such as node 1 (601) may request another sensing node such as node 2 (603) or node 3 (605) to be a sensing transmitter, or a sensing receiver, or a sensing transceiver, for a specific sensing time period and/or for specific sensing direction (s) /area (s) , subject to sensing node’s capability. This way, node 2 (603) or node 3 (605) may achieve different functionality at different time or towards different directions or areas, according to the capability of node 2 (603) or node 3 (605) . Node 1 (601) may manage the other nodes such as node 2 (603) or node 3 (605) , thereby achieving sensing service flexibly and efficiently.

In some implementations, a sensing node such as node 1 (601) may request another sensing node such as node 2 (603) or node 3 (605) to be a transmitter and also transceiver simultaneously, or a receiver and also transceiver simultaneously, or a transmitter, receiver and also transceiver simultaneously, for one or more of at least one specific sensing time period, or for one or more specific sensing directions or sensing areas, subject to sensing node’s capability. This way, node 2 (603) or node 3 (605) may achieve different functionality at different time or towards different directions or areas, according to the capability of node 2 (603) or node 3 (605) . Node 1 (601) may manage the other nodes such as node 2 (603) or node 3 (605) , thus achieving sensing service flexibly and efficiently.

In some implementations, a sensing node such as node 2 (603) or node 3 (605) may acknowledge or reject the request to be a sensing transmitter, a sensing receiver, or a sensing transceiver, for a specific sensing time period and/or for one or more specific sensing directions or areas. This way, node 1 (601) can get accurate feedback from node 2 (603) or node 3 (605) . Node 1 (601) may manage the other nodes such as node 2 (603) or node 3 (605) , and achieve sensing service flexibly and efficiently.

In some implementations, a sensing node such as node 2 (603) or node 3 (605) may provide the reason of rejection, for example, due to one or more of high resource occupancy, traffic for data communication, or request a back-off timing for next request as it may be available after a back-off time. This way, node 1 (601) can get detailed reason for rejection from node 2 (603) or node 3 (605) . Node 1 (601) may manage the other nodes such as node 2 (603) or node 3 (605) , and achieve sensing service flexibly and efficiently.

In some implementations, node 2 (603) in FIG. 6 may be capable of supporting mono-static sensing. However, for a given sensing direction/area, node 2 (603) may prefer avoiding mono-static sensing due to high uplink traffic it is experiencing. This way, nodes such as node 2 (603) can avoid conflict between communication and sensing, thus communication and sensing can be integrated seamlessly.

In some implementations, a sensing node such as node 1 (601) may create a list of sensing node candidates such as including node 2 (603) or node 3 (605) , each of the sensing node candidates can be a sensing transmitter, or a sensing receiver, or a sensing transceiver, for one or more of the specific sensing time period, for at least one specific sensing direction or sensing area, subject to sensing nodes’ capability, or for at least one of the sensing time period, the at least one sensing direction, or the at least one sensing area. This way, with the list, node 1 (601) can manage node candidates such as node 2 (603) or node 3 (605) efficiently, thereby accurately determining node 2 (603) or node 3 (605) for sensing the direction or the area.

In some implementations, a sensing node such as node 1 (601) may update the list of sensing node candidates, by adding or removing candidates which may not be available, for the specific sensing time period and/or for specific sensing direction (s) /area (s) , or for at least one of the sensing time period, the at least one sensing direction, or the at least one sensing area. This way, the list can be updated according to the change such as the moving of mode 2 (603) and node 3 (605) . The list can be managed accurately, and the sensing service can be achieved accurately.

In some implementations, a UE such as node 3 (605) , as a sensing transmitter, may move far away for a given sensing area, if considering uplink (UL) bi-static sensing mode. This way, node 1 (601) can schedule the UE flexibly according to its movement.

In some implementations, a sensing node such as node 2 (603) or node 3 (605) may belong to a list of sensing node candidates for one or more of specific sensing time period, at least one specific sensing direction or area, and also belong to another list of sensing node candidates for another sensing time period and/or for another sensing direction (s) /area (s) . Alternatively, node 2 (603) or node 3 (605) can belong to one or more lists. This way, the candidate node can belong to different list according to different time periods, or different directions, or different areas. The candidate node can be managed flexibly.

In some implementations, a sensing node such as node 2 (603) or node 3 (605) may be added or removed from the list based on prior information of environmental or propagation landmarks, e.g. a building wall nearby a sensing area and that sensing node. Therefore, the sensing node can be a good or bad candidate depending on whether targeted sensing area is blocked or unblocked by that wall for the sensing node. This way, the list can be updated according to the wireless environment around the nodes, such as obstacles in the wireless environment. The list can be managed accurately, and the sensing service can be achieved accurately.

In some implementations, a sensing node such as node 1 (601) may be added or removed from the list based on geometry information, e.g. absolute distance between that node and target sensing area. Therefore, all sensing nodes closed to the targeted sensing direction/area less than X meters can be good enough. This way, the list can be updated according to changing such as moving of node 2 (603) or node 3 (605) , or the changing between node 2 (603) or node 3 (605) and target sensing area. The list can be managed accurately, and the sensing service can be achieved accurately.

A sensing map can be created in prior based on sensing node’s capability such as capability of node 2 (603) and node 3 (605) , pre-defined channel modeling, or any prior information of environment. The criteria of determining a list of sensing node candidates can be relatively relaxed so that wireless network can accommodate feasible sensing nodes as many as possible, to be selected latter, and the size of the list can be relatively large initially. The list so far may be semi-static. Further confirmation may be conducted to ensure the confidence of the list by further updating. This way, the sensing map can describe the accurate information of the nodes and the wireless environment around the nodes. With the accurate sensing map, node 1 (601) can determine node 2 (603) or node 3 (605) accurately for sensing.

FIG. 7 illustrates an example of a process flow 700 of requesting for testing in accordance with some example embodiments of the present disclosure. In FIG. 7, the process flow 700 illustrates communication among the first device 501, the second device 503, and the third device 505 beside those in FIG. 5.

In process flow 700, in additional to the first request 510 and the first response 520 in FIG. 5, the first device 501 transmits (708) the third request 710 to the second device 503, requesting the second device 503 to transmit the first sensing testing signal towards at least one of at least one sensing direction, or at least one sensing area. The first device 501 transmits (718) the fourth request 720 to the third device 505, requesting the third device 505 to receive the first sensing testing signal from the second device 503 via at least one of at least one sensing direction, or at least one sensing area. After the second device 503 sends the first sensing testing signal and the third device 505 receives the first sensing testing signal, the third device 505 transmits (728) the first measurement report 730 for the first sensing testing signal. This way, the list such as in the first device 501 can be updated based on the testing such as between the second device 503 and the third device 505. The list can keep accurate according to the changing, such as movement of the devices, or changing of the wireless environment. The sensing service can keep reliable, flexible and accurate with the updated list in the changing. It is to be understood that the first device 501 can request the third device 505 to transmit the first sensing testing signal, and request the second device 503 to receive the first sensing testing signal, then the second device 503 sends the report to the first device 501. The first device 501 can request both the second device 503 and the third device 505 to transmit and receive the first sensing testing signal, then second device 503 and the third device 505 both send reports to the first device 501.

FIG. 8 illustrates an example of a process flow 800 of requesting testing between two nodes in accordance with some example embodiments of the present disclosure. Node 1 (801) can be an implementation of the first device 501, node 2 (803) can be an implementation of the second device 503, and node 3 (805) can be an implementation of the third device 505 in FIG. 7.

In process flow 800, such as in order to update the list, node 1 (801) may send (808) a request 810 or the third request to node 2 (803) , requesting node 2 (803) to transmit a sensing testing signal, or the first sensing testing signal toward a sensing Direction/Area 1, or at least of a sensing direction or a sensing area. A coordinate of targeted sensing direction/Area 1 can also be provided to node 2 (803) from node 1 (801) , which strives to beam form the sensing testing signal specifically for that direction/area. At 820, node 2 (803) transmits the testing signal 820, such as the first sensing testing signal. At the meantime, node 1 (801) transmits (828) request 830 or the fourth request to node 3 (805) , requesting node 3 (805) to prepare and receive the signal targeting at direction/area 1 at a given time. After measuring the testing signal, node 3 (805) will transmit (838) the report 840 to node 2 (803) , reporting the measurement data back to node 1 (801) . Node 1 (801) will determine whether nodes 2 (803) and node 3 (805) are a good pair of sensing transceivers or not. This way, the list can be updated based on the testing between node 2 (803) and node 3 (805) . The list can be kept accurate according to the changing, such as moving of the devices, or changing of the wireless environment. The sensing service can remain reliable with the updated list in the changing.

In some implementations, a sensing node such as node 1 (801) may request another sensing node such as node 2 (803) or node 3 (805) , identified by ID of the sensing node, to send a sensing testing signal toward one or more specific directions or sensing areas, at specific timing or duration. This way, the request can be sent to the specific destination node accurately, thus making the sensing management reliable.

In some implementations, a sensing testing signal such as the firs sensing testing signal may be based on one or more of LTE and NR synchronization signal block (SSB) , channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) , or sounding reference signal (SRS) , demodulation reference signal (DMRS) , positioning reference signal (PRS) resource (s) or port (s) . This way, reference signal in communication can be re-used for sensing testing, thus reducing resource and making the system design simple, or keeping compatibility with the existing wireless system. It is to be understood that other reference signal or new signal can also be used as sensing testing signal.

In some implementations, the sensing testing signal such as the first sensing testing signal may be configured as special sensing measurement resource with one or more of low or very low frequency density, or small or very low bandwidth allocation. This way, the sensing testing signal can be allocated with less resource, thus improving the efficiency of sensing.

In some implementations, the sensing testing signal such as the first sensing testing signal may be transmitted or received aperiodically, semi-statically or periodically. This way, the first sensing testing signal can be scheduled dynamically or statically flexibly.

In some embodiments, the sensing testing signal such as the first sensing testing signal may be configured for other usages, for example, they may be re-used as positioning, synchronization, demodulation of data channel or control channel, and vice versa. This way, the sensing testing signal may be used more efficiently, and the resource for sensing may be reduced.

In some implementations, the targeted sensing direction may be relative to the orientation of requested sensing node or an absolute direction. This way, node 1 (801) can manage node 2 (803) or node 3 (805) flexibly in sensing.

In some implementations, the targeted sensing area may be represented by a set of points with corresponding coordinates representing vertices of a sensing area, or by represented by a set of points and other parameters with a defined shape, for example, a circle with a center coordinate and a radius. The coordinates can be absolute values or relative values with respect to the requested sensing node. This way, the sensing area can be described flexibly according to the working scenarios.

In some implementations, the sensing testing signal such as the first sensing testing signal may consider geographical characteristics of one or more targeted directions or areas, for example shape or range of an area or surrounding environmental information in prior, to choose at least one of a proper beam pattern, beamwidth, or mainlobe direction. This way, the sensing testing signal may be generated according to the sensing area, and the wireless environment, thus the sensing service can be achieved accurately and flexibly.

In some implementations, a sending node such as node 1 (801) may request or configure the other sensing node such as node 3 (805) , identified by ID of the other sensing node, to receive and measure a sensing testing signal such as the first sensing testing signal targeting at least one of a specific sensing direction or a specific sensing area at specific timing or duration. The configuration of the sensing testing signal may be also provided to that sensing node such as node 3 (805) . After measuring the sensing testing signal, node 3 (805) may provide corresponding measurement report. This way, with the node ID, the request or the configuration can be sent to node 3 (805) accurately, thus making the sensing management accurate and efficient.

In some implementations, the requested sensing node sending a sensing testing signal such as node 2 (803) , and the requested sensing node receiving the testing signal such as node 3 (805) can be the same sensing node, for example for mono-static sensing. This way, the implementation of sensing service can be simplified, and the cost can be reduced.

In some implementations, the measurement report 840 of the sensing testing signal may include one or more of the following measurement data, such as, RSRP in dB, Rician factor in dB, the probability of being non-line of sight (NLOS) or line of sight (LOS) , whereas X bits are used for quantizing the value of the probability within in a value range from 0%to 100%, shadow fading parameter in dB, presence of at least one mobile or stationary object, ID of sensing node conducting the measurement. This way, the measurement report 840 describes the detailed features of the wireless channel between node 2 (803) and node 3 (805) , thus making the list updating accurate, finally implementing sensing reliably and flexibly for at least one direction or at least one area.

In some implementations, the sensing node such as node 1 (801) may update the list of sensing node candidates such as including node 2 (803) and node 3 (805) by adding or removing sensing nodes, for one or more of specific sensing time period or at least one specific sensing direction or sensing area, based on measurement report of sensing testing signal. The updating criteria can be based on certain signal threshold, such as, greater than X dB in RSRP or X%probability of being LOS. This way, the list can be updated with the changing of the wireless environment, thereby making the sensing reliable. With threshold and comparison, the updating can be implemented simply and efficiently.

In some implementations, process flow 800 in FIG. 8 may be reused for a calibration or confirmation process for sensing specific area, e.g. moving around in that area deliberately to create a hypothetical intruder, so that the sensing node 2 (803) and node 3 (805) as a pair shall be able to detect the presence of “intruder” to confirm that the system is working or probably set up a baseline of detection threshold. This way, the reliability of sensing such as between node 2 (803) and node 3 (805) can be confirmed. With calibration for more nodes, the reliability of the whole sensing service can be confirmed.

FIG. 9 illustrates an example of a process flow 900 of requesting for sending testing signal at multiple nodes, and receiving the testing signal at one node in accordance with some example embodiments of the present disclosure. In FIG. 9, node 1 (901) can be an implementation of the first device 501, node 2 (903) and node 3 (905) can be implementations of the second device 503, and node 4 (907) can be an implementation of the third device 505 in FIG. 7.

In process flow 900, such as in order to update the list, node 1 (901) transmits (908) request 910 or the fifth request to node 2 (903) , requesting a first group of nodes including node 2 (903) to transmit testing signal such as a second sensing testing signal toward one or more of at least one sensing direction, or at least one sensing area. At 920, node 2 (903) sends the testing signal such as the second sensing testing signal. Node 1 (901) transmits (928) request 930 or the fifth request to node 3 (905) , requesting the first group of nodes including node 3 (905) to transmit testing signal such as the second sensing testing signal toward one or more of: at least one sensing direction, or at least one sensing area. At 940, node 3 (905) sends the testing signal such as the second sensing testing signal. Node 1 (901) transmits (948) request 950 or the sixth request to node 4 (907) , requesting node 4 (907) to receive testing signal such as the second sensing testing signal from the first group of devices, such as from node 2 (903) and node 3 (905) , targeted at the at least one sensing direction, or at least one sensing area. Then node 4 (907) transmits (958) report 960 for testing measurement data, according to reception of the second sensing testing signal. This way, the second sensing testing signal can be transmitted by multiple nodes such as node 2 (903) and node 3 (905) , thus making the testing faster, or covering more directions, or covering larger area. Thus the list updating can be achieved more efficiently.

In some implementations, the sensing node such as node 1 (901) may request all sensing nodes such as node 2 (903) and node 3 (905) , by broadcasting in a large geographical area, each of which transmits a sensing testing signal targeting one or more of specific sensing direction or sensing area at specific timing or duration. The group of sensing nodes in a large geographical area can be maintained by a list of sensing node candidates, which can be identified by a group ID of sensing nodes. This way, with the group ID and broadcasting request transmission, the resource for transmitting the request can be reduced, and all the nodes in the group can be managed more efficiently.

In some implementations, a group of sensing nodes such as node 2 (903) and node 3 (905) requested to transmit the sensing testing signal such as the second sensing testing signal may be allocated with orthogonal resources for the testing signal, in a manner of one or more of: time division multiplexing (TDM) , frequency division multiplexing (FDM) , or code division multiplexing (CDM) for the sensing nodes, or with the same resource. This way, the second sensing testing signal can be transmitted from multiple nodes in parallel, thus accelerating the testing process in sensing, and finally improving the efficiency of the list updating.

In some implementations, after measuring the sensing testing signal from a group of sensing nodes such as node 2 (903) and node 3 (905) , the sensing node conducting measurement may provide one or more measurement reports. For example, the sensing node may provide a measurement report including measurement data for individual node in the group. As another example, the sensing node can provide a measurement report including measurement data for a subset of group whereas the selection criteria can be based on certain signal threshold, such as, greater than X dB in RSRP or X%probability of being LOS. The IDs of selected sensing nodes may be reported as well, or a measurement report including measurement data for the best N sensing nodes based on certain signal threshold whereas the value of N is configured. The IDs of selected sensing nodes may be reported as well. This way, the measurement report can be transmitted by each node individually, or by the subset of group according to the RSRP or LOS, or by the best sensing node flexibly, according to such as configuration of node 1 (901) , or the working scenarios.

In some implementations, sensing node 4 (907) in FIG. 9 may be a sensing receiver placed inside a room to detect the intruder around 0～180 degrees (half of circle) . Potentially any sensing transmitter indoor or outdoor, e.g. within 500 meters, might be acceptable due to complex propagation conditions. The selection flow in FIG. 9 is to find out whether one or more of node 2 (903) or node 3 (905) can be a good candidate by striving beamforming the sensing testing signal toward 0～180 degrees of node 4 (907) . This way, the best candidates can be selected according to the specific direction of node 4 (907) . It is to be understood that nodes can also be selected according to a specific area, or other scenarios.

FIG. 10 illustrates an example of a process flow 1000 of requesting for sending testing signal at one node, and receiving the testing signal at multiple nodes in accordance with some example embodiments of the present disclosure. In the process flow 1000, node 1 (1001) can be an implementation of the first device 501, node 2 (1003) can be an implementation of the second device 503, and node 3 (1005) and node 4 (1007) can be implementations of the third device 505 in FIG. 7.

In some implementations, such as in order to update the list, node 1 (1001) transmits (1008) the request 1010 or the seventh request to node 2 (1003) , requesting node 2 (1003) for transmitting a testing signal such as the third sensing testing signal toward direction /area 1, or one or more of: at least one sensing direction, or at least one sensing area. At 1020, node 2 (1003) sends the testing signal such as the third sensing testing signal. Node 1 (1001) transmits (1028) to node 3 (1005) , the request 1030 or the eighth request, requesting the second group of nodes including node 3 (1005) to receive the third sensing testing signal from node 2 (1003) , targeting at one or more of at least one sensing direction, or at least one sensing area. After receiving the third sensing testing signal, node 3 (1005) transmits (1038) the report 1040 to node 1 (1001) , for the testing measurement data. Node 1 (1001) transmits (1048) to node 4 (1007) , the request 1050 or the eighth request, requesting the second group of nodes including node 4 (1007) to receive the third sensing testing signal from node 2 (1003) , targeting at one or more of at least one sensing direction, or at least one sensing area. After receiving the third sensing testing signal, node 4 (1007) transmits (1058) the report 1060 to node 1 (1001) , for the testing measurement data. This way, the third sensing testing signal can be received by multiple nodes, thus making the testing faster. Thus the list updating can be achieved more efficiently.

In some implementations, the sensing node such as node 1 (1001) may request all sensing nodes such as node 3 (1005) and node 4 (1007) by broadcasting in a large geographical area to receive and measure a sensing testing signal such as the third sensing testing signal, targeting at one or more of at least one specific direction or at least one specific area, at specific timing or duration. The group of sensing nodes in a large geographical area can be maintained by a list of sensing node candidates, which can be identified by a group ID of sensing nodes. The configuration of the sensing testing signal may be provided to all sensing nodes in the group by broadcasting. After measuring the sensing testing signal, each node may provide corresponding measurement report for its own measurement. It is illustrated in FIG. 10. This way, the resource for transmitting the request in the group can be reduced, and the list update can be implemented efficiently.

FIG. 11 illustrates an example of a process flow 1100 of requesting multiple nodes for sending and receiving testing signal in accordance with some example embodiments of the present disclosure. In the process flow 1100, node 1 (1101) can be an implementation of the first device 501, node 2 (1103) can be an implementation of the second device 503, and node 3 (1105) can be an implementation of the third device 505 in FIG. 7.

In some embodiments, node 1 (1101) transmits (1108) the request 1110 or the ninth request to node 2 (1103) , requesting the third group of nodes including node 2 (1103) for transmitting and receiving a testing signal such as the third sensing testing signal toward one or more of: at least one sensing direction, or at least one sensing area. At 1120, node 2 (1103) sends and receives the testing signal such as the third sensing testing signal. Node 2 (1103) transmits (1128) the report 1130 to node 1 (1101) , for testing measurement data. Node 1 (1101) transmits (1138) the request 1140 or the ninth request to node 3 (1105) , requesting the third group of nodes including node 3 (1105) for transmitting and receiving a testing signal such as the third sensing testing signal toward one or more of at least one sensing direction, or at least one sensing area. At 1150, node 3 (1105) sends and receives the testing signal such as the third sensing testing signal. Node 3 (1105) transmits (1158) the report 1160 to node 1 (1101) , for testing measurement data. This way, each of the multiple nodes such as node 2 (1103) or node 3 (1105) can send and receive sensing testing signal, thus making the testing faster, or covering more directions, or covering larger area. Thus the list updating can be achieved efficiently.

In some implementations, the sensing node such as node 1 (1101) may request all sensing nodes including node 2 (1103) and node 3 (1105) by broadcasting in a large geographical area to transmit, receive and measure the sensing testing signal such as the third sensing testing signal targeting at one or more of at least one specific direction or at least one sensing area at specific timing or duration. The group of sensing nodes in the large geographical area can be maintained by a list of sensing node candidates, which can be identified by a group ID of sensing nodes. The configuration of the sensing testing signal may be provided to all sensing nodes in the group by broadcasting. After measuring the sensing testing signal, each node may provide corresponding measurement report for its own measurement. It is illustrated in FIG. 11. This way, the request can be transmitted in group with less resource, thus improving the efficiency of the management of sensing testing and list updating.

In some implementations, according to FIGS. 9, 10, or 11, the broadcast message for the request may include one or more of group ID, configuration of sensing testing signal to be received or transmitted, including corresponding time, duration, or resource allocation at least for the testing signal. The testing signal targets one or more of at least one sensing direction or at least one area, contention-based or contention-free resource allocated for reporting testing measurement data. This way, multiple nodes can be configured with group-casting request with less resource, to achieve the request transmission efficiently, thus achieving the list updating efficiently.

In some implementations, a group of sensing nodes may be differentiated by a group capability of being a sensing transmitter or being a sensing receiver or being a sensing transceiver. In some implementations, a sensing node may belong to multiple sensing groups. This way, the nodes can be divided to multiple groups, or one node can belong to several different groups according to the capability. The nodes can be managed flexibly.

In some implementations, different from data communication, redundant sensing measurement or operation may be essential for ensuring sensing contingency, due to the passive nature of sensing. There is a certain trade-off among sensing redundancy, such as, because of required service continuity or reliability, sensing spectrum, or power efficiency. Only limited sensing nodes can be activated simultaneously.

FIG. 12 illustrates an example of a process flow 1200 of redundant sensing measurement in accordance with some example embodiments of the present disclosure. Node 1 (1201) can be an implementation of the first device 501, node 2 (1203) can be an implementation of the second device 503, and node 3 (1205) can be an implementation of the third device 505 in FIG. 7.

In some implementations, at 1210, node 2 (1203) receives sensing signal. Node 1 (1201) transmits (1218) to node 3 (1205) , the request or configuration 1220 such as the tenth request, for requesting node 3 (1205) to receive the sensing signal. Node 3 (1205) transmits (1228) report 1230 of sensing data. Node 1 (1203) transmits (1238) to node 3 (1205) , an activation 1240 or the eleventh request, for reception of sensing signal, in case that node 2 (1203) is receiving the sensing signal. At 1250, node 3 receives the sensing signal. Node 1 (1201) transmits (1258) to node 2 (1203) , request 1260 or the twelfth request, requesting node 2 (1203) for forwarding sensing data toward node 3 (1205) . Node 2 forwards (1268) its own historical sensing data 1270 to node 3 (1205) . At 1280, node 3 (1205) combines its received sensing signal with the historical sensing data 1270 from node 2 (1203) . This way, node 3 (1205) can be activated, and make sensing with node 2 (1203) cooperatively, to make the sensing more reliable, such as in reliability sensitive scenarios.

In some implementations, whilst maintaining a list of sensing node candidates, for one or more specific sensing directions or sensing areas at specific time period, node 1 (1201) may require to activate another sensing node such as node 3 (1205) in advance as contingency. For example, an active sensing node such as node 2 (1203) in FIG. 12 receiving the sensing measurement signal, may be moving away from the targeted sensing area, and experience reduced sensing signal quality. Another sensing node such as node 3 (1205) , from the list designed for that sensing area may be next top choice for receiving sensing signal.

In FIG. 12, node 3 (1205) is requested and configured to receive sensing signal at 1218 and report sensing measurement data 1230. Node 1 (1201) makes a certain comparison between node 2 (1203) and node 3 (1205) , and may (or may not) activate node 3 (1205) for receiving sensing signal as well according to the comparison. Thereafter node 3 (1205) may be redundant or supplementary at the time being for node 2 (1203) . Moreover, node 2 (1203) may be required to forward own historical sensing measurement data 1270 toward node 3 (1205) , as it can be very useful information for node 3 (1205) . This way, the sensing service can be kept reliable in case of node moving. Furthermore, the list can be updated flexibly according to node movement.

Another example is that a sensing object may be moving into an adjacent sensing area, such as, for object tracking. For sensing continuity, one or more sensing node candidates such as node 3 (1205) from the list determined for the adjacent sensing area may be chosen, and activated just in case that the object may move into the adjacent sensing area sooner or later. This way, the sensing service can be kept reliable in case of the sensing object moving.

In some implementations, a sensing node such as node 2 (1203) or node 3 (1205) from the list for one or more specific sensing directions or sensing areas is requested and configured as a sensing transmitter, receiver, or transceiver, and report sensing data, if applicable, whereas sensing data can be processed, partially processed, or unprocessed sensing measurement data collected by node and how to process can pre-defined or configured. This way, the sensing data can be transmitted in different types flexibly, suitable for data processing or combination.

In some implementations, the sensing node such as node 1 (1201) will compare the sensing data reported from new candidate node such as node 3 (1205) , or the sensing data reported from another sensing node such as node 2 (1203) , if the new node such as node 3 (1205) is activated as a sensing transmitter, with certain sensing signal or sensing service threshold. This way, node 1 (1201) can choose good candidate node for activation, thus keeping the sensing service reliable.

In some implementations, the sensing node such as node 3 (1205) from the list for one or more specific sensing directions or sensing areas is activated at given time or duration, as a sensing transmitter, receiver, or transceiver. This way, node 3 (1205) can be used as different Tx or Rx functionality at different time or duration flexibly, and the sensing service can be managed flexibly and reliably.

In some implementations, the sensing node such as node 2 (1203) from the list for one or more specific sensing directions or sensing areas is not activated as a sensing transmitter, receiver, or transceiver, and may be removed from or de-prioritized inside that list. This way, the list can be updated flexibly according to scenarios, such as node moving. Thus the sensing service can keep reliable in the changing scenarios.

In some implementations, the sensing node such as node 2 (1203) may be requested to provide historical sensing data 1270 collected by itself toward another sensing node such as node 3 (1205) , up to X ms or up to Y reports, whereas X and Y can be configured. This way, node 3 (1205) can get enough historical sensing data for combination, thereby improving the reliability of the sensing functionality.

In some implementations, the historical sensing data 1270 from node 2 (1205) may include various types of data. For example, the historical sensing data 1270 may include sensing measurement reports collected by the node up to pre-defined number or time period of historical reports, up to previous X ms or Y reports, processed, partially processed. Additionally or alternatively, the historical sensing data 1270 can include unprocessed sensing measurement data collected by node 2 (1205) , up to previous X ms, whereas how to process can pre-defined or configured. For example, the sensing data can be raw measurement data, or can be a portion of derived power delay profile by partially processing sensing measurement data, or sensing results derived for given sensing service. In some embodiments, the historical sensing data 1270 may also include other data, such as, configurations of sensing resource allocation used by node 2 (1203) ; beam pattern, beam-width, or beam spatial direction used by the node; priority of sensing data for given sensing service conducted by the node; or any combination thereof. This way, the historical data can include detailed information from node 2 (1203) , and help the data combination in node 3 (1205) , to make the sensing service reliable.

In some implementations, the sensing node such as node 3 (1205) may combine the historical sensing data 1270 forwarded from another sensing node such as node 2 (1203) and sensing data collected by itself. This way, node 3 (1205) can get the sensing result quickly, thus make the whole sensing service reliable.

FIG. 13 illustrates an example of a method 1300 implemented at a first device 501 in accordance with some example embodiments of the present disclosure. The first device 501 in FIGS. 5 and 7 can be implemented as node 1 (601) in FIG. 6, node 1 (801) in FIG. 8, node 1 (901) in FIG. 9, node 1 (1001) in FIG. 10, node 1 (1101) in FIG. 11, or node 1 (1201) in FIG. 12.

In method 1300, at 1310, the first device 501 transmits to the second device 503, a first request that requests the second device 503 to be a transceiver, a transmitter, or a receiver for sensing operation targeting at least one of a sensing direction or a sensing area. At 1320, the first device 501 receives from the second device 503, a first response to the first request. It should be noted that the method 1300 may further include various other operations which may be performed by the first device 501 as described above with reference to FIGS. 5 to 12.

FIG. 14 illustrates an example of method 1400 implemented at a second device 503 in accordance with some example embodiments of the present disclosure. The second device 503 in FIGS. 5 and 7 can be implemented as node 2 (603) and node 3 (605) in FIG. 6, node 2 (803) in FIG. 8, node 2 (903) and node 3 (905) in FIG. 9, node 2 (1003) in FIG. 10, node 2 (1103) in FIG. 11, or node 2 (1203) in FIG. 12.

In method 1400, at 1410, the second device 503 receives from the first device 501, a first request that requests the second device 503 to be a transceiver, or a transmitter, or a receiver for sensing operation targeting at least one of a sensing direction or a sensing area. At 1420, the second device 503 transmits to the first device 501, a first response to the first request. It should be noted that method 1400 may further include various other operations which may be performed by the second device 503 as described above with reference to FIGS. 5 to 12.

FIG. 15 illustrates an example of a method 1500 implemented at a third device 505 in accordance with some example embodiments of the present disclosure. The third device 505 in FIG 7 can be implemented as node 3 (805) in FIG. 8, node 4 (907) in FIG. 9, node 3 (1005) , and node 4 (1007) in FIG. 10, node 3 (1105) in FIG. 11, or node 3 (1205) in FIG. 12.

In method 1500, at 1510, the third device 505 receives from the first device 501, a fourth request for requesting the third device 505 to receive a first sensing testing signal from the second device 503 via at least one of a sensing direction or a sensing area. At 1520, the third device 505 transmits to the first device 501, a first measurement report for the first sensing testing signal. It should be noted that method 1500 may further include various other operations that may be performed by the third device 505 as described above with reference to FIGS. 5 to 12.

FIG. 16 is a block diagram of a device 1600 that may be used for implementing the devices, such as the first device 501, the second device 503, or the third device 505 and methods such as 1300, 1400, or 1500 disclosed herein. In some embodiments, the device 1600 may be an element of communications network infrastructure, such as a base station (for example, a NodeB, an evolved Node B (eNodeB, or eNB) , a next 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 electronic device 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 1600 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 1600 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, an ED 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, a device may contain multiple instances of a component, such as multiple processors, memories, transmitters, receivers, etc.

The device 1600 typically includes a processor 1602, 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 1604, a network interface 1606 and a bus 1608 to connect the components of the device 1600. The device 1600 may optionally also include components such as a mass storage device 1610, a video adapter 1612, and an I/O interface 1616 (shown in dashed lines) .

The memory 1604 may comprise any type of non-transitory system memory, readable by the processor 1602, 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 1604 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 executing programs. The bus X08 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 1600 may also include one or more network interfaces 1606, which may include at least one of a wired network interface and a wireless network interface. As illustrated in FIG. 16, network interface 1606 may include a wired network interface to connect to a network 1622, and also may include a radio access network interface 1620 for connecting to other devices over a radio link. When device 1600 is a network infrastructure element, the radio access network interface 1620 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 1600 is infrastructure at the radio edge of a network, both wired and wireless network interfaces may be included. When the device 1600 is a wirelessly connected device, such as a User Equipment, radio access network interface 1620 may be present and it may be supplemented by other wireless interfaces such as WiFi network interfaces. The network interfaces 1606 allows the device 1600 to communicate with remote entities such as those connected to network 1622.

The mass storage 1610 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 1608. The mass storage 1610 may comprise, for example, one or more of a solid state drive, a hard disk drive, a magnetic disk drive, or an optical disk drive. In some embodiments, the mass storage 1610 may be remote to the device 1600 and accessible through use of a network interface such as interface 1606. In the illustrated embodiment, the mass storage 1610 is distinct from memory 1604 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 1610 may be integrated with a heterogeneous memory 1604.

The optional video adapter 1612 and the I/O interface 1616 (shown in dashed lines) provide interfaces to couple the device 1600 to external input and output devices. Examples of input and output devices include a display 1614 coupled to the video adapter 1612 and an I/O device 1618 such as a touch-screen coupled to the I/O interface 1616. Other devices may be coupled to the device 1600, and additional or fewer interfaces may be utilized. For example, a serial interface such as Universal Serial Bus (USB) (not shown) may be used to provide an interface for an external device. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that in embodiments in which the device 1600 is part of a data center, I/O interface 1616 and Video Adapter 1612 may be virtualized and provided through network interface 1606.

FIG. 17 is a schematic diagram of a structure of a first apparatus 1700 in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG. 17, the first apparatus 1700 includes a transmitting unit 1702, and a receiving unit 1704. The first apparatus 1700 may be applied to the communication system as shown in FIG. 1, and may implement any of the methods provided in the foregoing embodiments. Optionally, a physical representation form of the first apparatus 1700 may be a communication device, for example, the first device 501. Alternatively, the first apparatus 1700 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 first apparatus 1700 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, if the first apparatus 1700 implements the first device 501, the transmitting unit 1702 may be configured to transmit to the second device 503, a first request that requests the second device 503 to be a transceiver, a transmitter, or a receiver for sensing operation targeting at least one of a sensing direction or a sensing area. The receiving unit 1704 may be configured to receive from the second device 503, a first response to the first request.

In some other embodiments, the first apparatus 1700 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. 18 is a schematic diagram of a structure of a second apparatus 1800 in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG. 18, the second apparatus 1800 includes a receiving unit 1802, and a transmitting unit 1804. The second apparatus 1800 may be applied to the communication system as shown in FIG. 1, and may implement any of the methods provided in the foregoing embodiments. Optionally, a physical representation form of the second apparatus 1800 may be a communication device, for example, the second device 503. Alternatively, the second apparatus 1800 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 second apparatus 1800 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, if the second apparatus 1800 implements the second device 503, the receiving unit 1802 may be configured to receive from the first device 501, a first request that requests the second device 503 to be a transceiver, or a transmitter, or a receiver for sensing operation targeting at least one of a sensing direction or a sensing area. The transmitting unit 1804 may be configured to transmit to the first device 501, a first response to the first request.

In some other embodiments, the second apparatus 1800 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. 19 is a schematic diagram of a structure of a third apparatus 1900 in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG. 19, the third apparatus 1900 includes a receiving unit 1902, and a transmitting unit 1904. The third apparatus 1900 may be applied to the communication system as shown in FIG. 1, and may implement any of the methods provided in the foregoing embodiments. Optionally, a physical representation form of the third apparatus 1900 may be a communication device, for example, the third device 505. Alternatively, the third apparatus 1900 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 third apparatus 1900 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, if the third apparatus 1900 implements the third device 505, the receiving unit 1902 may be configured to receive from the first device 501, a third fourth request for requesting the third device 505 to receive a first sensing testing signal from the second device 503 via at least one of a sensing direction or a sensing area. The transmitting unit 1904 may be configured to transmit to the first device 501, a first measurement report for the first sensing testing signal.

In some other embodiments, the third apparatus 1900 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, at a first device to a second device, a first request that requests the second device to be a transceiver, a transmitter, or a receiver for sensing operation targeting at least one of a sensing direction or a sensing area; and

receiving, from the second device, a first response to the first request.
The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining, at a first device, a second device based on a sensing map;
The method of claim 1 or 2, further comprising:

transmitting, to the second device, a second request for sensing capability information of the second device; and

receiving, from the second device, a report including the sensing capability information of the second device.
The method of claim 3, wherein the sensing capability information indicates at least one of the following:

a capability of being at least one of a transceiver, or a transmitter, or a receiver; or

availability of at least one of a sensing timing, a sensing duration, at least one sensing direction, or at least one sensing area.
The method of claim 4, wherein the sensing area comprises at least one of the following:

a set of points with coordinates representing vertices of the sensing area, or

a set of points with a defined shape.
The method of any of claims 4-5, wherein the sensing capability information further comprises at least one of the following:

coordinates of the second device, a sensing beam pattern of the second device, a beam width (BW) of a beam of the second device, a beam main lobe direction of the beam, maximal sensing transmission power of the second device, an available maximal sensing BW per component carrier of the second device.
The method of any of claims 1-6, wherein the first request requests the second device to be the transmitter, or the receiver, or the transceiver based on the capability of the second device, for at least one of: at least one sensing time period, at least one sensing direction, or at least one sensing area.
The method of any of claims 1-7, wherein the first request further: requests the second device to be the transmitter and the transceiver simultaneously, or the receiver and the transceiver simultaneously, or the transceiver based on the capability of the second device, for at least one of a sensing time period, at least one sensing direction, or at least one sensing area.
The method of any of claims 1-8, wherein the first response comprises an acknowledgement or a rejection.
The method of claim 9, further comprising:

receiving, from the second device, a reason of the rejection, wherein the reason comprises at least one of the following:

resource occupancy or traffic for data communication, or

requesting a back-off timing for a next request, for availability of the second device after a back-off time.
The method of any of claims 1-10, further comprising:

creating a list of at least one candidate device based on a capability of the candidate device for at least one of the transmitter, the receiver, or the transceiver, for at least one of the sensing time period, at least one sensing direction, or at least one sensing area; and

updating the list by adding or removing a candidate device.
The method of claim 11, wherein the candidate device belongs to at least one list of candidate devices, wherein the at least one list correspond to at least one of the following:

at least one sensing time period,

at least one sensing direction, or

at least one sensing area.
The method of any of claims 1-12, wherein the sensing map is created based on at least one of the following:

sensing capability of the first device,

sensing capability of the second device,

a pre-defined channel modeling, or

a prior information of environment.
The method of any of claims 11-13, wherein updating the list comprises:

transmitting, to the second device, a third request for requesting the second device to transmit a first sensing testing signal toward at least one of: at least one sensing direction, or at least one sensing area;

transmitting, to a third device in the list, a fourth request for requesting the third device to receive the first sensing testing signal from the second device;

receiving, from the third device, a first measurement report for the first sensing testing signal; and

updating the list based on the first measurement report.
The method of claim 14, wherein the first sensing testing signal is based on at least one of the following:

a synchronization signal block (SSB) , a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) , a sounding reference signal (SRS) , a positioning reference signal (PRS) , or a demodulation reference signal (DMRS) .
The method of any of claims 14-15, wherein at least one of the following:

the first sensing testing signal is aperiodically, semi-statically, or periodically.
The method of any of claims 14-16, wherein the second device and the third device are same devices.
The method of any of claims 14-17, wherein the first measurement report comprises at least one of the following:

a reference signal received power (RSRP) of the first sensing testing signal,

a Rician factor of the first sensing testing signal,

a probability of being non-line of sight (NLOS) of the first sensing testing signal,

a probability of being line of signal (LOS) of the first sensing testing signal,

a shadow fading parameter of the sensing first testing signal,

presence of at least one of mobile sensing object or stationary sensing object, or

an identifier of the third device,
The method of claim 18, wherein updating the list based on the first measurement report comprises updating the list based on at least one of the following:

the RSRP is greater than a first threshold, or

the probability of being LOS of the first sensing testing signal is greater than a second threshold.
The method of any of claims 11-13, wherein updating the list comprises:

transmitting, to a first group of devices in the list, a fifth request that requests a first group of devices to transmit a second sensing testing signal toward at least one of: at least one sensing direction, or at least one sensing area, wherein the first group of devices comprises the second device;

transmitting, to the third device in the list, a sixth request for requesting the third device to receive the second sensing testing signal from the first group of devices;

receiving, from the third device, a second measurement report for the second sensing testing signal; and

updating the list based on the second measurement report.
The method of claim 20, wherein the second measurement report comprises one of the following:

measurement data for an individual device in the first group of devices,

measurement data for a subset of the first group of devices, or

an identifier of a device in the subset of the first group of devices.
The method of claim 21, wherein the subset is selected based on at least one of the following:

criteria based on a threshold of the second sensing testing signal, or

at least one device determined based on the criteria of the threshold,

wherein the threshold comprises at least one of RSRP or probability of being LOS.
The method of any of claims 11-13, wherein updating the list comprises:

transmitting, to the second device, a seventh request that requests the second device to transmit a third sensing testing signal toward at least one of: at least one sensing direction, or at least one sensing area;

transmitting, to a second group of devices in the list, an eighth request for requesting the second group of devices to receive the third sensing testing signal from the second device, wherein the second group of devices comprises the third device;

receiving, from the second group of devices, third measurement reports for the third sensing testing signal; and

updating the list based on the third measurement reports.
The method of any of claims 11-13, wherein updating the list comprises:

transmitting, to a third group of devices, a ninth request that requests the third group of devices to transmit a fourth sensing testing signal toward at least one of: at least one sensing direction, or at least one sensing area, and request the third group of devices to receive the third sensing testing signal, wherein the third group comprises at least one of the second device and the third device;

receiving, from the third group of devices, fourth measurement reports for the fourth sensing testing signal; and

updating the list based on the fourth measurement reports.
The method of any of claims 20-24, wherein at least one of the third request, the fourth request, the fifth request, the sixth request, the seventh request, the eighth request, or the ninth request comprises at least one of the following:

a group identifier,

a configuration of the second sensing testing signal, or the third sensing testing signal, or the fourth sensing testing signal, wherein the configuration includes at least one of a corresponding time, or duration, or resource allocation of the second sensing testing signal, or the third sensing testing signal, or the fourth sensing testing signal,

at least one sensing direction,

at least one sensing area,

a contention-based resource allocated for the second test report, the third test report, or the fourth test report, or

a contention-free resource allocated for the second test report, the third test report, or the fourth test report
The method of any of claims 20-25, wherein at least one of the first group of devices, the second group of devices, the third group of devices is differentiated by at least one of the following:

a group capability of being sensing transmitter,

a group capability of being sensing receiver, or

a group capability of being sensing transceiver.
The method of any of claims 20-26, wherein at least one of the following:

the second device belongs to multiple groups, or

the third device belongs to multiple groups, wherein

each group of the multiple groups corresponds to at least one of the following:

the first group, the second group, or the third group.
The method of any of claims 1-13, further comprising:

transmitting, to the third device, a tenth request for requesting the third device to receive a sensing signal;

receiving, from the third device, a sensing data obtained based on the sensing signal;

transmitting, to the third device, an eleventh request for activating the third device to receive the sensing signal when the second device is receiving the sensing signal; and

transmitting, to the second device, a twelfth request for forwarding a historical sensing data from the second device to the third device.
The method of claim 28, further comprising:

in the case that the second device moves away from the sensing area or a sensing signal quality is below a threshold, transmitting the eleventh request to the third device.
The method of any of claims 28-29, wherein the historical sensing data comprises at least one of the following:

sensing measurement reports collected by the second device up to pre-defined number or time period of historical reports,

processed, or partially processed, or unprocessed sensing data collected by the second device,

configurations of sensing resource allocation used by the second device,

at least one of a beam pattern, or a beam width, or a beam spatial direction used by the second device,

a priority of the sensing data for a sensing service conducted by the second device.
The method of any of claims 28-30, further comprising:

receiving, from the third device, the second sensing data obtained based on the sensing signal; and

selecting the third device for activation, based on comparison between the first sensing data and the second sensing data.
The method of any of claims 28-31, wherein the eleventh request requests for activating the third device at a given time or a given duration as at least one of a transmitter, a receiver, or a transceiver.
The method of any of claims 28-32, wherein updating the list comprising:

transmitting, to the third device, for deactivating the third device; and

updating the list by removing the third device from the list.
The method of any of claims 1-33, wherein at least one of the following:

the first device comprises a network function in a core network,

the second device comprises a network device in an access network, or

the third device comprises a terminal device.
A method comprising:

receiving, at a second device from a first device, a first request that requests the second device to be a transceiver, or a transmitter, or a receiver for sensing operation targeting at least one of a sensing direction or a sensing area; and

transmitting, to the first device, a first response to the first request.
The method of claim 35, further comprising:

receiving, from the first device, a second request for sensing capability information of the second device; and

transmitting, to the first device, a report including the sensing capability information of the second device.
The method of claim 35 or 36, wherein the first response comprises:

an acknowledgement, or a rejection, wherein the reason comprises at least one of the following:

resource occupancy or traffic for data communication, or

requesting a back-off timing for a next request, for availability of the second device after a back-off time.
The method of claim 37, further comprising:

transmitting, to the first device, a reason of the rejection.
The method of any of claims 35-38, further comprising:

receiving, from the first device, a third request for requesting the second device to transmit a first sensing testing signal toward at least one of: at least one sensing direction, or at least one sensing area.
The method of any of claims 35-38, further comprising:

receiving, from the first devices, a fifth request that requests a first group of devices to transmit a second sensing testing signal toward at least one of: at least one sensing direction, or at least one sensing area, wherein the first group of devices comprises the second device.
The method of any of claims 35-38, further comprising:

receiving, from the first devices, a ninth request that requests a third group of devices to transmit a fourth sensing testing signal toward at least one of: at least one sensing direction, or at least one sensing area, and request the third group of devices to receive the third sensing testing signal, wherein the third group comprises the second device.
The method of any of claims 35-38, further comprising:

receiving, from the first device, a twelfth request for forwarding a historical sensing data from the second device to a third device; and

transmitting the historical sensing data to the third device.
The method of any of claims 35-42, wherein at least one of:

the first device comprises a network function in a core network,

the second device comprises a network device in an access network, or

the third device comprises a terminal device.
A method comprising:

receiving, at the third device from a first device, a third request for requesting the third device to receive a first sensing testing signal from a second device via at least one of a sensing direction or a sensing area; and

transmitting, to the first device, a first measurement report for the first sensing testing signal.
The method of claim 44, wherein the third request comprises:

requesting the third device to receive a second sensing testing signal from a first group of devices, wherein

the first group of devices comprises the second device.
The method of claim 44, wherein the third request comprises:

requesting a second group of devices to receive a third sensing testing signal from the second device, wherein the second group of devices comprises the third device.
The method of claim 44, wherein the third request comprises:

receiving, requesting a third group of devices to transmit a fourth sensing testing signal toward at least one of: at least one sensing direction, or at least one sensing area, and request the third group of devices to receive the third sensing testing signal,

wherein the third group comprises the third device.
The method of claim 44, further comprising:

receiving, from the first device, a tenth request for requesting the third device to receive a sensing signal;

transmitting, to the third device, a sensing data obtained based on the sensing signal;

receiving, from the first device, an eleventh request for activating the third device to receive the sensing signal when the second device is receiving the sensing signal; and

receiving a historical sensing data from the first device.
The method of claim 48, further comprising:

combining the historical sensing data with a sensing data, wherein the sensing data corresponds to the reception of the sensing signal by the third device.
The method of any of claims 44-49, wherein at least one of:

the first device comprises a network function in a core network,

the second device comprises a network device in an access network, or

the third device comprises a terminal device.
A first apparatus comprising:

an interface; and

a processor communicatively coupled with the interface,

wherein the processor is configured to:

transmit to a second device, a first request that requests the second device to be a transceiver, a transmitter, or a receiver for sensing operation targeting at least one of a sensing direction or a sensing area; and

receive from the second device, a first response to the first request.
A second apparatus comprising:

an interface; and

a processor communicatively coupled with the interface,

wherein the processor is configured to:

receive from a first device, a first request that requests the second device to be a transceiver, or a transmitter, or a receiver for sensing operation targeting at least one of a sensing direction or a sensing area; and

transmit to the first device, a first response to the first request.
A third apparatus comprising:

an interface; and

a processor communicatively coupled with the interface,

wherein the processor is configured to:

receive from a first device, a third request for requesting the third device to receive a first sensing testing signal from a second device via at least one of a sensing direction or a sensing area; and

transmit to the first device, a first measurement report for the first sensing testing signal.
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 of claims 1-50.
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 1-50.