WO2025020197A1

WO2025020197A1 - Devices and methods for integrated sensing and communication

Info

Publication number: WO2025020197A1
Application number: PCT/CN2023/109672
Authority: WO
Inventors: Minghui XU; Gang Wang; Lin Liang
Original assignee: NEC Corp
Current assignee: NEC Corp
Priority date: 2023-07-27
Filing date: 2023-07-27
Publication date: 2025-01-30
Anticipated expiration: 2026-01-27

Abstract

Embodiments of the present disclosure relate to devices and methods for ISAC. A network device transmits, to a terminal device, a configuration comprising at least one of an SCS, a CP type, time domain information or frequency domain information of a pattern of an RS for a sensing operation. The terminal device performs a transmission or reception of the RS based on the configuration. In this way, a pattern of a sensing RS and related signaling may be defined. Complexity and flexibility of framework on designing a sensing RS may be considered and sensing performance may be ensured.

Description

DEVICES AND METHODS FOR INTEGRATED SENSING AND COMMUNICATION

TECHNICAL FIELD

Embodiments of the present disclosure generally relate to the field of telecommunication, and in particular, to methods, devices and computer storage media of for integrated sensing and communication (ISAC) .

BACKGROUND

Many new emerging businesses require sensing capability to provide accurate and timely services. However, traditional radar technology is high cost to deploy and not flexible enough to extent to current diverse services. ISAC has been proposed to provide high quality services. With the ISAC, a network (NW) or user equipment (UE) may have capabilities to sense their surroundings and exchange their observations through communication.

SUMMARY

In general, embodiments of the present disclosure provide methods, devices and computer storage media for ISAC.

In a first aspect, there is provided a terminal device. The terminal device comprises a processor. The processor is configured to cause the terminal device to: receive, from a network device, a configuration comprising at least one of a subcarrier spacing, a cyclic prefix type, time domain information or frequency domain information of a pattern of a reference signal for a sensing operation; and perform a transmission or reception of the reference signal based on the configuration, wherein the time domain information indicates number of symbols for the reference signal, and at least one of the following: a set of muted symbols among the symbols, a set of muted portions among portions in one of the symbols, a gap among the symbols, a gap among portions in one of the symbols, or a gap after the symbols; and wherein the frequency domain information indicates at least one of the following: number of resource block groups for the reference signal, a size of one of the resource block groups, a location of one of the resource block groups, or a comb size of resource elements in the one of the resource block groups.

In a second aspect, there is provided a network device. The network device comprises a processor. The processor is configured to cause the network device to: determine a configuration comprising at least one of a subcarrier spacing, a cyclic prefix type, time domain information or frequency domain information of a pattern of a reference signal for a sensing operation of a terminal device; and transmit the configuration to the terminal device, wherein the time domain information indicates number of symbols for the reference signal, and at least one of the following: a set of muted symbols among the symbols, a set of muted portions among portions in one of the symbols, a gap among the symbols, a gap among portions in one of the symbols, or a gap after the symbols; and wherein the frequency domain information indicates at least one of the following: number of resource block groups for the reference signal, a size of one of the resource block groups, a location of one of the resource block groups, or a comb size of resource elements in the one of the resource block groups.

In a third aspect, there is provided a method of communication. The method comprises: receiving, at a terminal device and from a network device, a configuration comprising at least one of a subcarrier spacing, a cyclic prefix type, time domain information or frequency domain information of a pattern of a reference signal for a sensing operation; and performing a transmission or reception of the reference signal based on the configuration, wherein the time domain information indicates number of symbols for the reference signal, and at least one of the following: a set of muted symbols among the symbols, a set of muted portions among portions in one of the symbols, a gap among the symbols, a gap among portions in one of the symbols, or a gap after the symbols; and wherein the frequency domain information indicates at least one of the following: number of resource block groups for the reference signal, a size of one of the resource block groups, a location of one of the resource block groups, or a comb size of resource elements in the one of the resource block groups.

In a fourth aspect, there is provided a method of communication. The method comprises: determining, at a network device, a configuration comprising at least one of a subcarrier spacing, a cyclic prefix type, time domain information or frequency domain information of a pattern of a reference signal for a sensing operation of a terminal device; and transmitting the configuration to the terminal device, wherein the time domain information indicates number of symbols for the reference signal, and at least one of the following: a set of muted symbols among the symbols, a set of muted portions among portions in one of the symbols, a gap among the symbols, a gap among portions in one of the symbols, or a gap after the symbols; and wherein the frequency domain information indicates at least one of the following: number of resource block groups for the reference signal, a size of one of the resource block groups, a location of one of the resource block groups, or a comb size of resource elements in the one of the resource block groups.

In a fifth aspect, there is provided a computer readable medium having instructions stored thereon. The instructions, when executed on at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to perform the method according to the third or fourth aspect of the present disclosure.

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

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

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

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

FIG. 2 illustrates a schematic diagram illustrating a process of communication for a sensing operation according to embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 3 illustrates a diagram illustrating an example scenario of reference signal (RS) reception in accordance with related technologies;

FIG. 4 illustrates a diagram illustrating an example pattern of a sensing RS in time domain in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 5 illustrates a diagram illustrating an example sensing RS reception in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 6A illustrates a diagram illustrating an example configuration for a beam of a sensing RS in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 6B illustrates a diagram illustrating another example configuration for a beam of a sensing RS in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 7 illustrates a diagram illustrating another example pattern of a sensing RS in time domain in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 8 illustrates a diagram illustrating an example pattern of a sensing RS in frequency domain in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 9 illustrates a diagram illustrating an example transmission of a sensing RS in time domain in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 10 illustrates a diagram illustrating an example beam switching in an intra-symbol level in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 11A illustrates a diagram illustrating an example configuration for a sensing RS transmission and reception in a same sensing node in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 11B illustrates a diagram illustrating another example configuration for a sensing RS transmission and reception in a same sensing node in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 11C illustrates a diagram illustrating still another example configuration for a sensing RS transmission and reception in a same sensing node in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 11D illustrates a diagram illustrating an example beam switching in an intra-symbol level for sensing RS transmission and reception at the same sensing node in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 12 illustrates a diagram illustrating an example configuration for sensing RSs in downlink and uplink in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 13 illustrates a diagram illustrating an example dynamic configuration for a sensing RS in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 14 illustrates a schematic diagram illustrating another process of communication for a sensing operation according to embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 15 illustrates a diagram illustrating example configurations for a sequence of a sensing RS in an inter-symbol level in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 16A illustrates a diagram illustrating an example configuration for a sequence of a sensing RS in an intra-symbol level in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 16B illustrates a diagram illustrating another example configuration for a sequence of a sensing RS in an intra-symbol level in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 17 illustrates a diagram illustrating an example transmission of a sequence of a sensing RS in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 18 illustrates a diagram illustrating an example reception of a sequence of a sensing RS in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 19 illustrates a diagram illustrating an example generation of a sequence of a sensing RS in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 20 illustrates an example method of communication implemented at a terminal device in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 21 illustrates an example method of communication implemented at a network device in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure; and

FIG. 22 illustrates a simplified block diagram of a device that is suitable for implementing embodiments of the present disclosure.

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

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Principle of the present disclosure will now be described with reference to some 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 limitations 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.

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

The term “core network element” refers to any device or entity that provides access and mobility management function (AMF) , network exposure function (NEF) , authentication server function (AUSF) , unified data management (UDM) , session management function (SMF) , user plane function (UPF) , a location management function (LMF) , sensing function (SF) , etc.. In other embodiments, the core network element may be any other suitable device or entity providing any other suitable functionality.

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

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

The terminal or the network device or the core network element may work on several frequency ranges, e.g. FR1 (410 MHz to 7125 MHz) , FR2 (24.25GHz to 71GHz) , frequency band larger than 100GHz as well as Tera Hertz (THz) . It can further work on licensed/unlicensed/shared spectrum. The terminal device may have more than one connections with the network devices or the core network elements under Multi-Radio Dual Connectivity (MR-DC) application scenario. The terminal device or the network device or the core network element can work on full duplex, flexible duplex and cross division duplex modes.

The embodiments of the present disclosure may be performed in test equipment, e.g. signal generator, signal analyzer, spectrum analyzer, network analyzer, test terminal device, test network device, channel emulator.

In one embodiment, the terminal device may be connected with a first network device and a second network device. One of the first network device and the second network device may be a master node and the other one may be a secondary node. The first network device and the second network device may use different radio access technologies (RATs) . In one embodiment, the first network device may be a first RAT device and the second network device may be a second RAT device. In one embodiment, the first RAT device is eNB and the second RAT device is gNB. Information related with different RATs may be transmitted to the terminal device from at least one of the first network device or the second network device. In one embodiment, first information may be transmitted to the terminal device from the first network device and second information may be transmitted to the terminal device from the second network device directly or via the first network device. In one embodiment, information related with configuration for the terminal device configured by the second network device may be transmitted from the second network device via the first network device. Information related with reconfiguration for the terminal device configured by the second network device may be transmitted to the terminal device from the second network device directly or via the first network device.

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

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

In the context of the present disclosure, the term “sensing operation” may refer to a functionality to get information about characteristics of an environment and/or objects within the environment (e.g. shape, size, orientation, speed, location, distance or relative motion between objects, etc. ) using new radio (NR) radio frequency (RF) signal and, in some cases, previously defined information available in evolved packet core (EPC) and/or evolved universal terrestrial radio access (E-UTRA) . The term “a sensing transmitter” may be an entity that sends out a sensing signal which a sensing service will use in its operation. The term “a sensing receiver” may be an entity that receives a sensing signal which a sensing service will use in its operation. The sensing transmitter may be located in the same or different entity as the sensing receiver. The term “a sensing transmitter” may be interchangeably used with “a transmitting (Tx) sensing node” and the term “asensing receiver” may be interchangeably used with “a receiving (Rx) sensing node” . The term “a sensing transmitter” or “a sensing receiver” may be interchangeably used with “asensing node” .

For a sensing transmitter, a sensing signal may be a wireless signal sent by the sensing transmitter, such as a synchronization signal block (SSB) , a positioning reference signal (PRS) , a sounding reference signal (SRS) , a channel state information-reference signal (CSI-RS) , a demodulation reference signal (DMRS) , a remote interference management reference signal (RIM-RS) or any other suitable signals. For a sensing receiver, a sensing signal may be a directly received or impacted (e.g., reflected, refracted or diffracted) wireless signal received by the sensing receiver. For convenience, in the following description, the term “sensing signal” refers to an RF signal used for a sensing service, and the term “wireless signal” refers to an RF signal used for a communication service. The term “sensing operation” may include transmission and/or reception of a sensing signal, and the term “communication operation” may include transmission and/or reception of a wireless signal. The term “a sensing signal” may also be referred to as “areference signal (RS) for a sensing operation” or “a sensing RS” or “a signal including data for a sensing operation” .

Embodiments of the present disclosure provide solutions of designing an RS for a sensing operation. In one aspect, a network device transmits, to a terminal device, a configuration comprising at least one of a subcarrier spacing (SCS) , a cyclic prefix (CP) type, time domain information or frequency domain information of a pattern of an RS for a sensing operation. Based on the configuration, the terminal device performs a transmission or reception of the RS. In some embodiments, the time domain information may indicate number of symbols for the RS, and at least one of the following: a set of muted symbols among the symbols, a set of muted portions among portions in one of the symbols, a gap among the symbols, a gap among portions in one of the symbols, or a gap after the symbols. In some embodiments, the frequency domain information may indicate at least one of the following: number of resource block group (RBG) s for the RS (e.g., a chunk number or a block number) , a size of one of the RBGs (e.g., a chunk size or a block size) , a location of one of the RBGs, or a comb size of resource elements (REs) in the one of RBGs.

In this way, a pattern of a sensing RS and related signaling may be defined. Complexity and flexibility of framework on designing a sensing RS may be considered and sensing performance may be ensured.

In another aspect, a network device transmits, to a terminal device, a configuration indicating an RS for a sensing operation, the configuration being associated with assistance information comprising at least one of requirements of the sensing operation, capability of the terminal device for the sensing operation, a condition of a sensing channel, or a sensing waveform for the sensing operation. Based on the configuration, the terminal device transmits the RS for the sensing operation.

In this way, a sensing RS may be dynamically chosen, and thus sensing performance may be improved with a controllable RS overhead.

According to embodiments of the present disclosure, the sensing RS may be an existing RS, e.g., PRS or SRS or any other existing RSs. Alternatively, the sensing RS may be a new or dedicated RS for a sensing operation.

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

EXAMPLE OF COMMUNICATION NETWORK

FIG. 1 illustrates a schematic diagram of an example communication network 100 in which some embodiments of the present disclosure can be implemented. As shown in FIG. 1, the communication network 100 may include a terminal device 110, a network device 120, a core network (CN) element 130 and an object 140.

In some embodiments, the network device 120 may provide one or more serving cells (not shown) to serve the terminal device 110. In the example of FIG. 1, the terminal device 110 may have sensing and communication functionalities (i.e., support ISAC) , and the network device 120 may have sensing and communication functionalities (i.e., support ISAC) . In some embodiments, the terminal device 110 may transmit a wireless signal to the network device 120, and/or receive a wireless signal from the network device 120.

In the example of FIG. 1, the terminal device 110 may be a sensing transmitter or a sensing receiver or both. The network device 120 may also be a sensing transmitter or a sensing receiver or both. A sensing transmitter may transmit a sensing signal towards the object 140, and the object 140 may reflect or refract or diffract the sensing signal to a sensing receiver.

There may be various sensing modes. In some embodiments, the sensing transmitter may be the network device 120, and the sensing receiver may be the terminal device 110. In some embodiments, the sensing transmitter may be the terminal device 110, and the sensing receiver may be the network device 120. In some embodiments, the sensing transmitter may be the network device 120, and the sensing receiver may be another network device not shown. In some embodiments, the sensing receiver may be the network device 120, and the sensing transmitter may be another network device not shown. In some embodiments, the sensing transmitter may be the terminal device 110, and the sensing receiver may be another terminal device not shown. In some embodiments, the sensing receiver may be the terminal device 110, and the sensing transmitter may be another terminal device not shown. In some embodiments, the sensing receiver and the sensing transmitter may be the same network device 120. In some embodiments, the sensing receiver and the sensing transmitter may be the same terminal device 110.

The core network element 130 may have an SF. In some embodiments, the terminal device 110 may communicate with the core network element 130 via the network device 120.

The terminal device 110 may communicate with the network device 120 via a Uu interface. The network device 120 may communicate with the core network element 130 via an Ng interface. The communications in the communication network 100 may conform to any suitable standards including, but not limited to, global system for mobile communications (GSM) , long term evolution (LTE) , LTE-evolution, LTE-advanced (LTE-A) , NR, wideband code division multiple access (WCDMA) , code division multiple access (CDMA) , GSM EDGE radio access network (GERAN) , machine type communication (MTC) and the like. The embodiments of the present disclosure may be performed according to any generation communication protocols either currently known or to be developed in the future. Examples of the communication protocols include, but not limited to, the first generation (1G) , the second generation (2G) , 2.5G, 2.75G, the third generation (3G) , the fourth generation (4G) , 4.5G, the fifth generation (5G) communication protocols, 5.5G, 5G-Advanced networks, or the sixth generation (6G) networks.

It is to be understood that the number of devices and/or objects in FIG. 1 is given for the purpose of illustration without suggesting any limitations to the present disclosure. The communication network 100 may include any suitable number of network devices and/or terminal devices and/or core network elements and/or objects adapted for implementing implementations of the present disclosure.

Currently, it is still unclear how to design and configure an RS for a sensing operation in ISAC. In view of this, embodiments of the present disclosure provide solutions of communication so as to facilitate determination of an RS for a sensing operation in ISAC. The detailed description will be made with reference to FIGs. 2 to 19 below.

EXAMPLE IMPLEMENTATION OF RS PATTERN AND RELATED SIGNALING

FIG. 2 illustrates a schematic diagram illustrating a process 200 of communication for a sensing operation according to embodiments of the present disclosure. For the purpose of discussion, the process 200 will be described with reference to FIG. 1. The process 200 may involve the terminal device 110 and the network device 120 as illustrated in FIG. 1.

As shown in FIG. 2, the terminal device 110 may transmit 210, to the network device 120, capability of the terminal device 110. In some embodiments, the terminal device 110 may transmit the capability of the terminal device 110 via an RRC signaling, e.g., UECapabilityInformation message or any other suitable messages.

In some embodiments, the capability of the terminal device 110 may indicate whether the terminal device 110 supports a plurality of time windows for receiving a signal and/or demodulating an OFDM signal. In other words, the terminal device 110 may indicate whether the terminal device 110 supports sliding windows for signal reception and/or OFDM signal demodulation. In some embodiments, the capability of the terminal device 110 may indicate a step size of the plurality of time windows supported by the terminal device 110. In some embodiments, the capability of the terminal device 110 may indicate maximum number of the plurality of time windows supported by the terminal device 110. In some embodiments, the capability of the terminal device 110 may indicate a time interval between a starting time window and an ending time window among the plurality of time windows.

In some embodiments, the capability of the terminal device 110 may indicate a transceiver mode switching delay for the sensing operation. In other words, the terminal device 110 may report downlink and uplink switching time of sensing separately.

In some embodiments, the capability of the terminal device 110 may indicate whether the terminal device 110 supports both the transmission and the reception of the RS. In other words, the terminal device 110 may indicate whether the terminal device 110 supports a sensing mode in which a sensing RS is transmitted and received at the same sensing node (i.e., at the terminal device 110) . In some embodiments, the capability of the terminal device 110 may further indicate whether the terminal device 110 supports both the transmission and the reception of the RS simultaneously. In other words, the terminal device 110 may indicate whether the terminal device 110 supports a sensing mode in which a sensing RS is transmitted and received at the same sensing node (i.e., at the terminal device 110) at the same time.

In some embodiments, the terminal device 110 may report one or more SCSs supported by the terminal device 110 for a sensing operation. In some embodiments, the terminal device 110 may report a subset of a whole set of SCSs. It is to be understood that the capabilities of the terminal device 110 may comprise any other suitable information.

Continuing to refer to FIG. 2, the network device 120 may determine 220 a configuration for ISAC. In some embodiments, the configuration may comprise an SCS of an RS (i.e., a sensing RS) for a sensing operation. In some embodiments, the SCS supported for the sensing RS may be selected from a whole set or a subset of {15 kHz, 30 kHz, 60 kHz, 120 kHz, 240 kHz, 480 kHz, 960 kHz, 1920 kHz, 3840 kHz} . In some embodiments, the selection of the SCS may be associated with capability of TX/Rx sensing nodes.

In some embodiments, the configuration may comprise a CP type of an RS for a sensing operation. In some embodiments, the CP type may indicate a normal CP or an extended cyclic prefix (ECP) having a length longer than a length the normal CP. In some embodiments, the ECP may be selected from a group comprising multiple ECPs for the SCS. In some embodiments, the multiple ECPs have different lengths.

For illustration, an example relationship between CP lengths and related sensing distances of a single side for SCS {120 kHz, 240 kHz, 480 kHz, 960 kHz, 3840 kHz} is shown in Table 1 below.

Table 1

In the example of Table 1, ECP lengths are derived or designed for SCSs larger than or equal to 120 kHz. It is assumed that number of fast Fourier transform (FFT) points is N. For ECP1, 3×N samples are allocated to CP for 12 orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbols uniformly, and number of samples for CP of each symbol is 3×N/12=N/4. For ECP2, 5×N samples are allocated to CP for 10 OFDM symbols uniformly, and number of samples for CP of each symbol is 5×N/10 = N/2. For ECP3, 7×N sample are allocated to CP for 8 OFDM symbols uniformly, and number of samples for CP of each symbol is 7×N/8. An absolute time duration/length of CP is derived according to the number of samples and a time duration/length of each sample under a given SCS.

In some embodiments, the CP type of the RS may be associated with the SCS of the RS. In some embodiments, different ECP types may be applied to different SCSs. For example, only NCP and ECP1 is supported for {120 kHz, 240 kHz} , only NCP and ECP2 are supported for {480 kHz, 960 kHz} , and only NCR and ECP3 are supported for {1920 kHz, 3840 kHz} for sensing operation.

In some embodiments, the configuration may comprise time domain information of a pattern of an RS for a sensing operation. In some embodiments, the configuration may comprise frequency domain information of a pattern of an RS for a sensing operation.

In some embodiments, the pattern of the RS for the sensing operation may be associated with requirements of the sensing operation. In some embodiments, the network device 120 may receive the requirement of the sensing operation from a sensing server or an SF of the CN element 130. In some embodiments, the requirements may comprise at least one of a sensing distance, a sensing velocity, or a sensing angle. It is to be understood that the requirements may also comprise any other suitable information.

In some embodiments, the time domain information may indicate number of symbols for the RS. In some embodiments, the number of symbols for the RS may be configured in consideration that a sensing distance between a sensing object and a sensing node is limited due to the transmit power of the Tx sensing node.

In some embodiments where the RS is a positioning reference signal (PRS) , the number of symbols for the RS may be selected from a group comprising 1 and at least one of 2, 4, 6 or 12. For example, the number of symbols for the RS may be selected from {1, 2, 4, 6, 12} . In some embodiments where the RS is a sounding reference signal (SRS) , the number of symbols for the RS may be selected from a group comprising 1 and at least one of 2, 4, 8 or 12. For example, the number of symbols for the RS may be selected from {1, 2, 4, 8, 12} . It is to be understood that the number of symbols for the RS may be determined as any suitable numbers.

In some embodiments, the number of PRS symbols for sensing and positioning of communication may be in different value sets. A PRS for sensing may be used for sensing other objects except a receiving node itself, and A PRS for positioning via legacy communication may be used for positioning the receiving node itself. For example, number of symbols with set being {1, 2, 4, 8} are used for sensing, and number of symbols with set being {2, 4, 6, 12} are used for communication. In another example, number of symbols with set being {1, 8} are used only for sensing, and number of symbols with set being {6, 12} are used only for communication. In still another example, number of symbols with set being {2, 4} are used for both sensing and communication. It is to be understood that these examples are merely for illustration, and are not intended for limitation.

For illustration, an example PRS configuration may be described as below.

In this example, an information element (IE) “dl-PRS-NumSymbols-r19” refers to the number of symbols for PRS. In some embodiments, the information element “dl-PRS-NumSymbols-r19” can be replaced by two separate IE with different value sets indicating number of PRS for sensing and communication separately.

In some scenarios, a signal reflected by object A may be received fully, but a part of the signal reflected by object B may be missed. Thus, a detection of object B may be missed. FIG. 3 illustrates a diagram 300 illustrating an example scenario of RS reception in accordance with related technologies. As shown in FIG. 3, an OFDM symbol received from the first path may be fully received within a receiving window of a receiving node, and an OFDM symbol received from the n-th path via object A whose delay is less than the CP length may also be fully received within the receiving window of the receiving node. However, an OFDM symbol received from the m-th path via object B whose delay is larger than the CP length may not be fully received within the receiving window of the receiving node. Specifically, an object with a transmission delay out of a CP length with a legacy mechanism of signal transmission and reception, especially when the SCS is larger, for example, when the SCS is larger than or equal to 240 kHz, the detection or sensing of the object will be missed.

In view of these scenarios, the RS may be located at the symbol with long CP length. In some embodiments where the RS is a PRS, when the number of symbols is 1, a starting symbol in the symbols is fixed at a symbol with a long CP. In some embodiments where the RS is a PRS, when the number of symbols is 1 and the SCS is larger than a given SCS, for example, 120 kHz, the starting symbol in the symbols is fixed at a symbol with a long CP. The longer CP length may cover an object with a longer distance when compared with a normal symbol under a normal CP length. In some embodiments, a symbol offset and a slot offset are expected to be aligned with a frame structure of 0.5 ms.

In view of these scenarios, a muting option may be applied when the number of symbols is larger than 1. In this way, a gap may be introduced among symbols or symbol groups, and missed detection of an object may be reduced. In some embodiments, the time domain information may indicate a set of muted symbols among the symbols. No signals for communication or sensing operation are expected to be transmitted on the set of muted symbols.

In some embodiments, the set of muted symbols may be comprised in the number of symbols of the RS with an indication of muting the set of muted symbols (e.g., muting the even symbols or the odd symbols) . In some embodiments, the network device 120 may transmit, to the terminal device 110, downlink control information (DCI) comprising a field to activate the muting behavior. The DCI may be associated with the RS used for sensing other objects. In some embodiments, the network device 120 may indicate the muting behavior to the terminal device 110 via a radio resource control (RRC) signaling.

In some embodiments where the RS is a sounding reference signal (SRS) , an example configuration for the muting option may be described as below.

In some embodiments, the muting symbols are included in the symbols indicated for SRS, and a length of a bit string of “MutingOption” is equal to the number of symbols indicated by the IE “nrofSymbols-r19” . The bit value in the bit string indicates whether the symbol is to be muted or not. It is to be understood that the muting option is optional. In some alternative embodiments, the muting option may be not configured.

FIG. 4 illustrates a diagram 400 illustrating an example pattern of a sensing RS in time domain in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG. 4, the even symbols are muted, and the odd symbols are used for a sensing RS. It is to be understood that FIG. 4 is merely for illustration, and does not make limitation for the present disclosure.

In some embodiments, sliding windows may be applied when the number of symbols for sensing RS is larger than 1, which may include the muting symbols. That is, a plurality of time windows may be used for sensing RS reception. In this way, missed detection of an object may also be reduced. FIG. 5 illustrates a diagram 500 illustrating an example sensing RS reception in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG. 5, an OFDM symbol received from the first path and an OFDM symbol received from the n-th path via object A whose delay is less than CP length are fully received within the first receiving window of a receiving node. An OFDM symbol received from the m-th path via object B and an OFDM symbol received from the m-th path via object C are fully received within the second receiving window of the receiving node, wherein both the delay of object B and object C are larger than CP length, and a given delay exists between the second receiving window and the first receiving window. Thus, no object detection is missed.

In some embodiments, by selecting a suitable ECP for the sensing RS, missed detection of an object may also be reduced. In some embodiments, when a sensing distance is short, a larger SCS with ECP may be chosen for the sensing RS. In some embodiments, when a sensing distance is long, a smaller SCS with ECP may be chosen for the sensing RS.

In some embodiments, time for receiving a sensing RS may need to be reserved for a sensing node when the sensing node performs both transmission and reception of the sensing RS. In some embodiments, the time domain information may further indicate a gap among the symbols. In some embodiments, the time domain information may indicate a gap after the symbols. That is, a gap among symbols or symbol groups may be introduced when the number of symbols is larger than 1. In some embodiments, the gap or reserved symbol (s) may be used for receiving an echo signal from an object. In some embodiments, the length of the gap is larger than the length of signal, when the sensing node can’ t transmit and receive sensing signal at the same time.

In some embodiments, one beam corresponds to two symbols (one for sensing RS transmission and one for sensing RS reception) when the sensing node can’ t transmit and receive sensing signal at the same time. After the sensing RS transmission and reception via a same beam, beam switching may be performed. In this way, beam switching time may be saved. FIG. 6A illustrates a diagram 600A illustrating an example configuration for a beam of a sensing RS in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG. 6A, a gap of one symbol are introduced between two even symbols. The first symbol is used for sensing RS transmission via Beam#1. The second symbol is used for sensing RS reception via Beam#1. The third symbol is used for sensing RS transmission via Beam#2. The fourth symbol is used for sensing RS reception via Beam#2. The fifth symbol is used for sensing RS transmission via Beam#3. The sixth symbol is used for sensing RS reception via Beam#3. The seventh symbol is used for sensing RS transmission via Beam#4. The eighth symbol is used for sensing RS reception via Beam#4.

In some embodiments, one beam corresponds to 2N symbols, where N is a positive integer. After the sensing RS transmission and reception via a same beam, beam switching may be performed. Signals of the 2N symbols are the same. FIG. 6B illustrates a diagram 600B illustrating another example configuration for a beam of a sensing RS in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG. 6B, the first symbol is used for sensing RS transmission via Beam#1. The second symbol is used for sensing RS reception via Beam#1. The third symbol is used for sensing RS transmission via Beam#1. The fourth symbol is used for sensing RS reception via Beam#1. The fifth symbol is used for sensing RS transmission via Beam#2. The sixth symbol is used for sensing RS reception via Beam#2. The seventh symbol is used for sensing RS transmission via Beam#2. The eighth symbol is used for sensing RS reception via Beam#2. In some embodiments, the received signal from multiple symbols with a same beam can be combined to detect or sense the object.

In some embodiments, the number of valid symbols and the number of muted symbols are configured according to sensing requirement, channel condition and sensing capability of the sensing node. For example, the number of muted symbols is less than the number of valid symbols if the sensing node is able of transmission and reception simultaneously.

In some embodiments, multiple beams may be used and gaps for sensing or detecting multiple objects may be reserved within one symbol. In some embodiments, the time domain information may indicate a set of muted portions among portions in one of the symbols. In some embodiments, the time domain information may indicate a gap among portions in one of the symbols. In some embodiments, number of the portions is associated with the comb size of REs in frequency domain for the sensing RS.

In some embodiments, the mapping relationship between the Tx/Rx beam and portion is configured, and the behavior of using which beam to transmit/receive sensing signal is without ambiguity.

FIG. 7 illustrates a diagram 700 illustrating another example pattern of a sensing RS in time domain in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG. 7, time unit of a portion may be 1/F of an OFDM symbol, where F is a positive integer. In some embodiments, F is equal to the comb size of REs for the sensing RS. The Tx sensing node and Rx sensing node is a same node, and the node is capable of transmitting and receiving sensing signal simultaneously. Sensing area is associated with beam due to the different beam directions. By considering target’s number and location of each sensing area is different, overlap may occur between the echo signal from different area. Then which beam is used for echo signal receiving in the overlapping duration should be defined. In some embodiments, the Rx beam for echo signal receiving is associated with the Tx beam, for example, the Rx beam has same direction with the Tx beam. For example, Rx beam with the same direction of Tx beam#2 is used for echo signal receiving in the overlapping duration#1, and Rx beam with the same direction of Tx beam#3 is used for echo signal receiving in the overlapping duration#2.

In some embodiments, an additional delay between the Tx beam application time and Rx beam application time is introduced by considering the transmission delay due to the sensing object. For example, the Rx beam with same direction of Tx beam#2 is applied after a pre-defined/configured time delay from the application time of Tx beam#2. In some embodiments, the time delay is determined by the minimum distance of the object within the coverage of the Tx beam#2.

A mapping between portions and beams may be indicated or configured. In some embodiments, a portion’s location in time domain for each beam may be configured. For example, number of portions for beams in order may be configured if all the portions are uniformly located. In some embodiments, beam information is indicated via QCL information, and a beam index may be determined by QCL information or a spatial relationship with an ascending order. For example, the QCL information or a spatial relationship may indicate SSB indexes and/or CSI-RS indexes of the beams. These indexes may be ordered by first ranking the SSB indexes in an ascending order, and then ranking the CSI-RS indexes in an ascending order. Then the beam index ranked first may be considered as the first beam corresponding to the first portion of the portions and the beam index ranked last may be considered as the last beam corresponding to the last portion of the portions. In this way, the mapping between portions and beams may be determined. This may also be applied for the mapping relationship between multiple beams and symbols.

In this case, number of portions mapped to each beam is the same. In another example, one or more portion indexes for each beam may be configured if the portions are uniformly located. In still another example, a starting time and a duration length for each beam may be configured.

In some embodiments, the frequency domain information may indicate at least one of the following: number of RBGs for the RS, a size of one of the RBGs, a location of one of the RBGs, or a comb size of REs in the one of the BRGs. FIG. 8 illustrates a diagram 800 illustrating an example pattern of a sensing RS in frequency domain in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG. 8, each column denotes one pattern or one comb size in a resource block in frequency domain. All or part of REs corresponding a symbol are used for a sensing RS.

In some embodiments, the comb size of REs may be selected from a group comprising 1 RE and at least one of 2, 3, 4, 6, 8 or 12 REs. For example, the comb size of REs may be selected from {1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 8, 12} REs. This may be applied when the RS is configured for sensing other objects. In this case, other REs may be muted and no data or RS are mapped on REs except RS REs. In some embodiments, power of muted REs may be added to the RS REs for power boosting.

For illustration, an example configuration of comb size of REs for PRS may be described as below.

In this example, IE “dl-PRS-CombSizeN-AndReOffset-r19” indicates a comb size of REs for a sensing RS. The comb size may be selected from {1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 8, 12} . In some embodiments, the value sets for sensing and communication are different. For example, {2, 4, 8} may be used for communication, and {1, 2, 3, 4, 6} may be used for sensing. In some embodiments, two separate IEs may be used for replacing “dl-PRS-CombSizeN-AndReOffset-r19” to indicate comb size of RS for sensing and communication separately.

An example configuration of comb size of REs for SRS may comprise the following contents.

It is to be noted that the value range of cyclic shift values shown in this example are merely examples, and do not make limitation for the present disclosure.

An example RE offset for each symbol of RS under different comb sizes of REs may be described as shown in Table 2 below.

Table 2

Table 2 shows an RE offset corresponding to a comb size of REs (in column) and a symbol offset corresponding to the first RS symbol (in row) . denotes a comb size of REs. It is to be understood that Table 2 is merely for illustration, and is not intended for limitation.

In some embodiments, a size of downlink PRS resource for sensing in time domain L_PRS∈ {1, 2, 4, 6, 12} , and comb sizeThe combination may be one of {1, 1} , {2, 1} , {3, 1} , {4, 1} , {6, 1} , {8, 1} , {12, 1} , {2, 2} , {4, 2} , {6, 2} , {8, 2} , {12, 2} , {4, 4} , {8, 4} , {12, 4} , {6, 6} , {12, 6} and {12, 12} .

In some embodiments where the comb size of REs is 1 RE, the combination may be designed as one of {2, 1} , {3, 1} , {4, 1} , {6, 1} , {8, 1} , {12, 1} . FIG. 9 illustrates a diagram 900 illustrating an example transmission of a sensing RS in time domain in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG. 9, reference sign 910 denotes a transmission of one symbol in the given SCS SCS₁ with a comb size of 2 in frequency domain. The OFDM symbol are divided into the first part and the second part having the same or similar contents. Reference sign 920 denotes a transmission of two symbols in a larger SCS as 2*SCS₁, where the CP length for the larger SCS is reduced from a length of CP to a length of CP1 or a length of CP2. Comparing with the transmission of two symbols shown by the reference sign 920, the transmission of one symbol shown by the reference sign 910 may be flexible at choosing a suitable effective CP length between 0 and a length of CP. For example, a FFT window with flexible starting and ending points may be designed according to sensing requirements and sensing scenarios.

In some embodiments, an effective CP length of a transmitting signal may be determined by a delay between the first path of a receiving node and a path via an object. In some embodiments, the effective CP length of the transmitting signal may be indicated to the receiving node.

In some embodiments, maximum number of beams switched within a symbol may be equal toIn this way, beam switching is ensured within a single symbol. FIG. 10 illustrates a diagram 1000 illustrating an example beam switching in an intra-symbol level in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure. In this example, As shown by reference sign 1010, beam switching is performed for each of portions among one symbol. As shown by reference sign 1020, beam switching is performed per two portions among one symbol.

In some embodiments, a part of symbols muted may be used for receiving an echo signal if the echo signal has a delay larger than a CP length, or transmission and reception of the echo signal is performed at the same sensing node. FIG. 11A illustrates a diagram 1100A illustrating an example configuration for a sensing RS transmission and reception in a same sensing node in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG. 11A, the first part of an original signal is used for a sensing RS transmission, and the second part of the original signal is used for a sensing RS reception. The signal is received during the whole symbol, and a sliding window of signal processing is applied based on the received signal to find out an echo signal.

In some embodiments, a length of a transmitting part and a receiving part within one symbol may be dynamically configured according to a distance of an object. In this way, transmission and reception at the same sensing node may be ensured. In some embodiments, for a shorter sensing distance, a larger comb size of REs may be configured. In some embodiments, for a longer sensing distance, a smaller comb size of REs may be configured. FIG. 11B illustrates a diagram 1100B illustrating another example configuration for a sensing RS transmission and reception in a same sensing node at different time in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG. 11B, the first part of an original signal is used for a sensing RS transmission, and the second part of the original signal is used for a sensing RS reception. The ending point of the first part or the starting point of the second part (i.e., time A) may be dynamically configured.

FIG. 11C illustrates a diagram 1100C illustrating still another example configuration for a sensing RS transmission and reception in a same sensing node in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure. As shown by reference sign 1131 of FIG. 11C, the first part of an original signal is used for a sensing RS transmission, and the second and third parts of the original signal are used for a sensing RS reception. As shown by reference sign 1132 of FIG. 11C, a comb size of REs is 12 REs. The first part of an original signal is used for a first sensing RS transmission, and the second part of the original signal and a portion of the third part of the original signal (i.e., Rx window 1) are used for a first sensing RS reception. Remaining portion of the third part and the fourth part of the original signal are used for a second sensing RS transmission. The fifth part of the original signal and a portion of the sixth part of the original signal (i.e., Rx window 2) are used for a second sensing RS reception. Remaining portion of the sixth part and the seventh part of the original signal are used for a third sensing RS transmission. The eighth part of the original signal and a portion of the ninth part of the original signal (i.e., Rx window 3) are used for a third sensing RS reception. Remaining portion of the ninth part and the tenth part of the original signal are used for a fourth sensing RS transmission. The eleventh part of the original signal and a portion of the twelfth part of the original signal (i.e., Rx window 4) are used for a fourth sensing RS reception. In this example, different Tx/Rx pairs may use different beams.

In some embodiments, a beam switching may be ensured within a single symbol. In some embodiments, a beam switching may be done among beams in the same horizontal plane. In some embodiments, a beam switching may be done among beams in an angle range. FIG. 11D illustrates a diagram 1100D illustrating an example beam switching in an intra-symbol level for sensing RS transmission in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure. As shown by reference sign 1141, beam switching is performed for each of portions among one symbol. As shown by reference sign 1142, beam switching is performed per two portions among one symbol.

In some embodiments where PRS serves as a sensing RS, more than one quasi co-location (QCL) information may be indicated in one PRS resource if more than one beam is needed. For illustration, an example PRS configuration may be described as below.

In this example, IE “dl-PRS-QCL-Info-list-r19” indicates the number of QCL information for a PRS resource with multiple symbols.

In some embodiments, a time duration for applying each QCL information is uniquely determined by the number of QCL information and a comb size of REs indicated for the PRS resource. The QCL information may be ordered according to the SSB index and CSI-RS index included in the QCL information, wherein SSB index first with an ascending order, then CSI-RS index with an ascending order. The ordered QCL information may be mapped to portions or symbols groups. For example, if four QCL information is indicated, and comb size is 12 or number of symbols is 12, then each QCL information is applied to 3 consecutive portions within a signal symbol, or applied to 3 consecutive symbols.

In some embodiments where the sensing RS is a PRS used for sensing an object other than the terminal device 110, a sequence of the sensing RS is a Zadoff-Chu (ZC) sequence.

In some embodiments, a PRS and an SRS may be used in combination for a sensing RS transmission and reception. In some embodiments, the number of symbols for the PRS and the SRS may be the same, i.e., L_SRS=L_PRS. In some embodiments, a comb size of REs for the PRS and the SRS may be the same, i.e., In some embodiments, beam switching in a sensing RS transmission and reception may be aligned. In some embodiments, a sensing RS transmission and reception at the same sensing node and a sensing RS transmission and reception at different sensing nodes may be combined based on the same RS configuration.

FIG. 12 illustrates a diagram 1200 illustrating an example configuration for sensing RSs in downlink and uplink in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure. As shown by reference sign 1210 in FIG. 12, for each of gNB and UE, DL beam and UL beam are the same. In this example, beam switching is performed per symbol. As shown by reference sign 1220 in FIG. 12, for each of gNB and UE, DL beam and UL beam are the same. In this example, beam switching is performed per two symbols.

In some embodiments, a symbol in FIG. 12 may be replaced with a portion of a symbol with a comb size of REs larger than 1, if UL/DL switching time for sensing is shorter enough.

As mentioned above, a dedicated RS may be defined for a sensing operation. The dedicated RS may be called as sensing/state tracking reference signal (STRS) , or sensing state/related information-reference signal (SRI-RS/SSI-RS) , or additional/dedicated/special or separate/integrated sensing reference signal (ASRS/DRRS/SSRS/ISRS) .

In some embodiments, a pattern of the dedicated RS in time domain may be designed in inter-symbol level as being localized. In some embodiments, the number of symbols may be selected from a group comprising 1 and at least one of 2, 4, 6 or 12. For example, the number of symbols may be selected from {1, 2, 4, 6, 12} .

In some embodiments, a pattern of the dedicated RS in time domain may be designed in inter-symbol level as being distributed. In some embodiments, the symbols index is M: N: K according to the configuration, where M denotes the start symbol index for the RS, and N denotes the step in terms of RS for the distributed RS, and K denotes the end symbol index for the RS. In some embodiments, the configuration may include {M, N, K} . In some other embodiments, the configuration may indicate {M, N, L} , wherein L denotes the number of effective symbols or groups of {effective symbol, muted symbol} or repetitions of {1, N-1} symbols, where N-1 means the number of muted symbols between two effective symbols. For example, M=2, N=2, K=13 means the symbol indexes of RS are {2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12} , totally 6 effective symbols, and the other symbols between symbol#2 and symbol#13 is muted symbols.

In some embodiments, a pattern of the dedicated RS in time domain may be designed in intra-symbol level as being chunk-based or block-based. For example, a size, number or location of a chunk or block may be configured.

In some embodiments, a pattern of the dedicated RS in frequency domain may be designed as being distributed. In some embodiments, a density of REs (i.e., a comb size of REs) may be selected from a group comprising 1 and at least one of 2, 3, 4, 6, 8 or 12 REs. For example, the density of REs may be selected from {1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 8, 12} REs.

In some embodiments, a pattern of the dedicated RS in frequency domain may be designed as being localized. In some embodiments, {1/2, 1/4, 1/8} of bandwidth may be configured.

In some embodiments, a pattern of the dedicated RS in frequency domain may be designed as being chunk-based or block-based. That is, a size, number or location of a chunk or block may be configured. For example, a chunk size may be selected from {1, 2, 4, 8} physical resource blocks (PRBs) , and a chunk number may be selected from {8, 16, 32, 64} .

In some embodiments, a pattern of the dedicated RS may be dynamically configured according to sensing requirements. In some embodiments, the network device 120 may indicate a type of the pattern to the terminal device 110 by an RRC signaling. For example, the pattern is in time domain or in frequency domain within a symbol. In some embodiments, the network device 120 may use DCI to indicate a detailed pattern based on the indicated type.

In some embodiments, the type of the pattern may be associated with a sensing target or sensing measurement. In some embodiments, if a distance is to be sensed, a pattern distributed with multiple symbols or chunk-based within a single symbol in time domain may be configured. In this way, a distance of an object may be accurately sensed. In some embodiments, if a velocity is to be sensed, a pattern with a large chunk size in frequency domain may be configured. In this way, a velocity of an object may be accurately sensed. In some embodiments, if an angle is to be sensed, a pattern distributed in frequency domain may be configured. In this way, an angle of an object may be accurately sensed.

FIG. 13 illustrates a diagram 1300 illustrating an example dynamic configuration for a sensing RS in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG. 13, a time domain pattern distributed in symbol level may be configured, as shown by reference sign 1310. In this example, two of four effective symbols for the RS are separated by one muted symbol. Alternatively, a time domain pattern localized in symbol level may be configured, as shown by reference sign 1320. In this example, four effective symbols for the RS are consecutive.

As shown by reference sign 1330 in FIG. 13, for each effective symbol in 1310 or 1320, the whole symbol may be used for the RS in time domain. Alternatively, for each effective symbol in 1310 or 1320, parts of the symbol may be used for the RS in time domain. As shown by reference sign 1340 in FIG. 13, four blocks separated by a gap equal to a size of one block are used for the RS in time domain. As shown by reference sign 1350 in FIG. 13, four blocks separated by a gap larger than a size of one block are used for the RS in time domain. As shown by reference sign 1360 in FIG. 13, four blocks separated by a gap smaller than a size of one block are used for the RS in time domain.

A frequency domain pattern may also be configured. As shown by reference sign 1361 in FIG. 13, the whole bandwidth may be configured for the RS in an RB level. Alternatively, as shown by reference sign 1362 in FIG. 13, chunks may be configured for the RS in an RB level. Alternatively, as shown by reference sign 1363 in FIG. 13, a localized block may be configured for the RS in an RB level.

For each effective RB or in an RE level, different densities of REs (i.e., different comb sizes of REs) may be configured. As shown by reference signs 1371 in FIG. 13, all REs in an RB may be used for the RS. Alternatively, a part of REs in an RB may be used for the RS. As shown by reference signs 1372, 1373, 1374, 1375, 1376 or 1377 in FIG. 13, different densities of RS REs may be configured, or different comb size of REs may be configured.

In this way, a sensing RS may be flexibly configured, and sensing performance may be improved.

Continuing to refer to FIG. 2, upon determination of the configuration, the network device may transmit 230 the configuration to the terminal device 110. Based on the configuration, the terminal device 110 may perform 240 a transmission or reception of the RS for the sensing operation.

In some embodiments, the terminal device 110 may apply a first beam to a first set of symbols in the symbols and a second beam to a second set of symbols in the symbols. In this way, the terminal device 110 may perform a beam switching among symbols or symbol groups.

In some embodiments, the terminal device 110 may apply a third beam to a first set of portions of the portions in the one of the symbols and a fourth beam to a second set of portions of the portions in the one of the symbols. In this way, the terminal device 110 may perform a beam switching among portions of a symbol or portion groups.

So far, a design of a sensing RS is described in connection with process 200. With the process 200, a sensing RS may be configured and a sensing operation may be enhanced.

It is to be understood that operations in the process 200 may be carried out in any suitable combination or order and are not limited to the above examples. It is also to be understood that the process 200 may include one or more additional operations or omit one or more of the operations shown.

EXAMPLE IMPLEMENTATION OF RS SEQUENCE AND RELATED SIGNALING

FIG. 14 illustrates a schematic diagram illustrating another process 1400 of communication for a sensing operation according to embodiments of the present disclosure. For the purpose of discussion, the process 1400 will be described with reference to FIG. 1. The process 1400 may involve the terminal device 110, the network device 120 and the CN element 130 as illustrated in FIG. 1.

With reference to FIG. 14, the network device 120 may determine 1410 assistance information comprising at least one of requirements of the sensing operation, capability of the terminal device 110 for the sensing operation, a condition of a sensing channel, or a sensing waveform for the sensing operation.

As shown in FIG. 14, the terminal device 110 may transmit 1411, to the network device 120, capability of the terminal device 110. In some embodiments, the terminal device 110 may transmit the capability of the terminal device 110 via an RRC signaling, e.g., UECapabilityInformation message or any other suitable messages.

In some embodiments, the capability of the terminal device 110 may indicate an SCS supported for the sensing operation. In some embodiments, the capability of the terminal device 110 may indicate whether the terminal device 110 supports both transmission and reception of the reference signal at the same sensing node. In some embodiments, the capability of the terminal device 110 may indicate a time delay of a switching between the transmission and the reception of the RS. In some embodiments, the capability of the terminal device 110 may indicate number of times of the switching during a time duration. It is to be understood that the terminal device 110 may report any other suitable capability information.

Continuing to refer to FIG. 14, the CN element 130 may transmit 1412, to the network device 120, requirements (also referred to as sensing requirements herein) of the sensing operation. In some embodiments, the CN element 130 may be a sensing server or an SF. In some embodiments, the requirements of the sensing operation may comprise a sensing mode of the sensing operation. In some embodiments, the requirements of the sensing operation may comprise a type of a sensing measurement for the sensing operation. In some embodiments, the requirements of the sensing operation may comprise an accuracy requirement for the sensing measurement. In some embodiments, the requirements of the sensing operation may comprise a resolution requirement for the type of the sensing measurement. In some embodiments, the requirements of the sensing operation may comprise a range of the sensing measurement for the sensing operation. It is to be understood that any other suitable sensing requirements may also be feasible.

Continuing to refer to FIG. 14, based on the assistance information from the terminal device 110 and/or the CN element 130, the network device 120 may determine 1420 a RS for a sensing operation of the terminal device 110. In some embodiments, the network device 120 may determine the RS based on an application scenario.

In some embodiments, if a short sensing distance is required, the network device 120 may apply a π/2-binary phase shift keying (BPSK) sequence based on pseudo-random bits or pre-defined bits for the RS. In some embodiments, if a medium sensing distance is required, the network device 120 may apply a quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM) sequence based on pseudo-random bits for the RS. In some embodiments, if a long sensing distance is required, the network device 120 may apply a ZC sequence for the RS.

In some embodiments, if a sensing channel has high quality, the network device 120 may apply the π/2-BPSK sequence based on pseudo-random bits or pre-defined bits for the RS. In some embodiments, if a sensing channel has low quality, the network device 120 may apply the ZC sequence for the RS.

In some embodiments, if low flexibility on switching an SCS of the RS is enabled, the network device 120 may apply the π/2-BPSK sequence based on pseudo-random bits or pre-defined bits for the RS. In some embodiments, if high flexibility on switching an SCS of the RS is enabled, the network device 120 may apply the ZC sequence for the RS.

In some embodiments, the network device 120 may determine the RS based on a direction of a sensing signal. In some embodiments, if a sensing signal is received by the network device 120 (i.e., uplink) , the network device 120 may apply the π/2-BPSK sequence based on pseudo-random bits or pre-defined bits for the RS. In some embodiments, if a sensing signal is received by the terminal device 110 (i.e., downlink) , the network device 120 may apply the ZC sequence for the RS.

In some embodiments, the network device 120 may determine the RS based on a sensing mode. In some embodiments, if the sensing operation occurs between the terminal device 110 and a further terminal device, the network device 120 may apply the π/2-BPSK sequence based on pseudo-random bits or pre-defined bits for the RS. In some embodiments, if the sensing operation occurs between the terminal device 110 and the network device 120, the network device 120 may apply the ZC sequence or the QAM sequence for the RS.

In some embodiments, the network device 120 may determine the RS based on a sensing waveform. In some embodiments, if the sensing waveform is a discrete Fourier transform-spread-orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (DFT-s-OFDM) waveform, the network device 120 may apply the π/2-BPSK sequence based on pseudo-random bits or pre-defined bits for the RS. In some embodiments, if the sensing waveform is a cyclic prefix-orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (CP-OFDM) waveform, the network device 120 may apply the ZC sequence or the QAM sequence for the RS.

Continuing to refer to FIG. 14, upon determination of the RS, the network device 120 may transmit 1430, to the terminal device 110, a configuration indicating the RS. In some embodiments, the configuration may indicate a type of the RS. In some embodiments, the type may comprise a ZC sequence. In some embodiments, the type may comprise a π/2-BPSK sequence. In some embodiments, the type may comprise a QAM sequence based on pseudo-random bits. It is to be understood that any other suitable sequences may also be feasible.

In some embodiments, the terminal device 110 may determine a group index or a base sequence index or a scramble index of the RS based on at least one of the following: an identity of a serving cell of the terminal device 110, an identity of the terminal device, a slot index, a sensing mode of the sensing operation, a symbol index associated with the RS, or a beam index associated with the RS.

In some embodiments for π/2-BPSK sequence, π/2-BPSK sequence may be generated based on equation (1) below.

where r_u, v (n) denotes π/2-BPSK sequence, M denotes a sequence length, u denotes a group index of an RS, and v denotes a base sequence index of the RS.

In some embodiments, M=12, 18, 24 and v = 0. In these embodiments, the terminal device 110 may determine a group index of the RS based on an identity of a serving cell of the terminal device 110. For example, the group index may be determined based on equation (2) below.
u=mod (N_ID, 30) (2)

where u denotes a group index of an RS, and N_ID denotes an identity of a serving cell or an identity of the terminal device 110.

In some embodiments, the terminal device 110 may determine a group index of the RS based on an identity of a serving cell of the terminal device 110 and a sensing mode of the sensing operation. For example, the group index may be determined based on equation (3) below.
u=mod (N_ID+SM_ID, 30) (3)

where u denotes a group index of an RS, and N_ID denotes an identity of a serving cell or an identity of the terminal device 110. SM_ID=0, if RS is transmitted from a network device; SM_ID=1, otherwise (if RS is transmitted from a terminal device) .

In another example, the group index may be determined based on equation (4) below.
u=mod (N_ID+15*SM_ID, 30) (4)

In some embodiments, the terminal device 110 may determine a group index of the RS based on an identity of a serving cell of the terminal device 110 and a symbol index associated with the RS. For example, the group index may be determined based on equation (5) below.
u=mod (N_ID+l′, 30) (5)

where u denotes a group index of an RS, and N_ID denotes an identity of a serving cell or an identity of the terminal device 110. l′=l-l₀, where l denotes a symbol index associated with the RS or an index of the first symbol for energy aggregation of echo signal from a same direction, and l₀ denotes the first symbol index of all the RS symbols.

In some embodiments, the terminal device 110 may determine a group index of the RS based on an identity of a serving cell of the terminal device 110 and a beam index associated with the RS. For example, the group index may be determined based on equation (6) below.
u=mod (N_ID+Beam_id, 30) (6)

where u denotes a group index of an RS, N_ID denotes an identity of a serving cell or an identity of the terminal device 110, and Beam_id denotes a beam index associated with the RS. In some embodiments, Beam_id may be determined by QCL information or a spatial relationship with an ascending order as mentioned above. For example, an SSB index may be firstly considered and then a CSI-RS index may be considered. In some embodiments, Beam_id may be determined by SSB index or CSI-RS index. For example, Beam_id may be SSB index or CSI-RS index or CSI-RS index adding an integer directly.

In some embodiments, the terminal device 110 may determine a group index of the RS based on an identity of a serving cell of the terminal device 110, a sensing mode of the sensing operation and a symbol index associated with the RS. For example, the group index may be determined based on equation (7) or (7’) below.
u=mod (N_ID+4*l′+SM_ID, 30) (7)

or u=mod (N_ID+l′+15*SM_ID, 30) (7’ )

where u denotes a group index of an RS, and N_ID denotes an identity of a serving cell or an identity of the terminal device 110. SM_ID=0, if RS is transmitted from a network device; SM_ID=1, otherwise (if RS is transmitted from a terminal device) . l′=l-l₀, where l denotes a symbol index associated with the RS or an index of the first symbol for energy aggregation of echo signal from a same direction, and l₀ denotes the first symbol index of all the RS symbols. In some embodiments, the terminal device 110 may determine a base sequence index (i.e., v) based on a sensing mode of the sensing operation. For example, for each group (u) , more than one base sequence may be defined. If RS is transmitted from a network device, v=0. If RS is transmitted from a terminal device, v=1. For each group of pre-defined sequences, two base sequences are defined.

For illustration, an example definition of base sequence b (i) may be described in Table 3 below.

Table 3

In some embodiments, when M≥30, the pi/2-BPSK sequence are generated based on a pseudo-random sequence defined by an initial random sequence, and the initial random sequence may be determined by at least one of a scramble index of the RS, an identity of a serving cell of the terminal device 110, a symbol index of the RS or a beam index of the RS. For example, the initial random sequence may be determined based on equation (8) below.

where c_init denotes an initial random sequence, denotes the number of symbols in a slot, denotes the slot index or slot number under the subcarrier spacing associated with μ , N_scram denotes a scramble index configured via high layer parameters, denotes. SM_ID=0, if RS is transmitted from a network device; SM_ID=1, otherwise (if RS is transmitted from a terminal device) . l denotes a symbol index associated with the RS or an index of the first symbol for energy aggregation of echo signal from a same direction. Beam_id denotes a beam index associated with the RS. In some embodiments, Beam_id may be determined by QCL information or a spatial relationship with an ascending order as mentioned above. For example, an SSB index may be firstly considered and then a CSI-RS index may be considered. In some embodiments, Beam_id may be determined by SSB index or CSI-RS index. For example, Beam_id may be SSB index or CSI-RS index or CSI-RS index adding an integer directly.

In some embodiments, the scramble index of the RS may be determined based on at least one of the following: an identity of a serving cell of the terminal device 110, an identity of the terminal device, a slot index, a sensing mode of the sensing operation, a symbol index associated with the RS, or a beam index associated with the RS.

FIG. 15 illustrates a diagram 1500 illustrating example configurations for a sequence of a sensing RS in an inter-symbol level in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure. As shown by reference sign 1510 in FIG. 15, different symbols are not combined or aggregated for target sensing, for example, beams with different directions are applied for different symbols and different sequences are applied for different symbols due to different starting points of symbol index (i.e., l) for each symbol. As shown by reference sign 1520 in FIG. 15, multiple symbols (e.g., the first and third symbols, or the fifth and seventh symbols) may combined or aggregated for target sensing, for example, a beam with the same direction is applied for the multiple symbols, and thus use the same sequence, by considering the same starting point of symbol index for the multiple aggregative symbols.

FIG. 16A illustrates a diagram 1600A illustrating an example configuration for a sequence of a sensing RS in an intra-symbol level in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure. As shown by reference sign 1610 in FIG. 16A, different portions within one OFDM symbol use different beams and different sequences, and correspond to different beam indexes (i.e., Beam_id) . As shown by reference sign 1620 in FIG. 16A, two or more of the portions within one OFDM symbol (e.g., the first and third portions, or the fifth and seventh portions) may use the same beam and thus use the same sequence, and correspond to the same beam index. As shown by reference sign 1630 in FIG. 16A, the portions within one OFDM symbol (e.g., the first, third, fifth and seventh portions) may use the same beam and thus use the same sequence, and correspond to the same beam index.

Although gaps between two effective symbols or portions shown in FIG. 15 and FIG. 16A are equal to a symbol length or a portion length, these gaps are merely examples. The lengths of the gaps may be larger than or smaller than a length of an effective RS portion. FIG. 16B illustrates a diagram 1600B illustrating another example configuration for a sequence of a sensing RS in an intra-symbol level in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG. 16B, a gap among the portions within a symbol is equal to a total length of two portions.

FIG. 17 illustrates a diagram 1700 illustrating an example transmission of a sequence of a sensing RS in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure. As shown by reference sign 1710 in FIG. 17, after bit generating of a sequence, π/2-BPSK modulation may be performed at a Tx sensing node. A discrete Fourier transform (DFT) may be performed on π/2-BPSK modulated signal. After DFT, RE mapping and OFDM modulation are performed. OFDM modulated signal is added with CP and then transmitted. A Rx sensing node may receive the signal reflected by an object. After processing comprising removing CP, OFDM demodulation and RE demapping, an inverse discrete Fourier transform (IDFT) is performed on the processed signal. Then a measurement estimation may be done.

As shown by reference sign 1720 in FIG. 17, after bit generating, multiple sequences for the RS are generated within a single symbol, each sequence corresponds to one effective portion, and padding with zero may be done among the multiple sequences. Then the whole signal with a length N is obtained. DFT is performed on the whole signal including the padded zeros for muted samples. In some embodiments, the length N is equal to number DFT points. N includes the muted samples within an OFDM symbol when π/2-BPSK sequence is composed of several portions.

In some embodiments, if Tx sensing node and Rx sensing node are different nodes, or if Tx sensing node and Rx sensing node are the same node and the node is able to simultaneously transmit and receive a sensing RS, the terminal device 110 may slide the receiving window after IDFT to get each Rx sensing signal corresponding to each effective portion.

In some embodiments, if Tx sensing node and Rx sensing node are the same node but the node is unable to simultaneously transmit and receive a sensing RS, the terminal device 110 may pad zero to a duration of a Tx sensing signal and a duration of a switching between Tx and Rx for receiving the signal before OFDM demodulation. FIG. 18 illustrates a diagram 1800 illustrating an example reception of a sequence of a sensing RS in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG. 18, zero is padded to a duration of a Tx sensing signal and a duration of a switching between Tx and Rx for receiving the signal before OFDM demodulation.

In some embodiments, the configuration may indicate that the RS is a π/2-BPSK sequence, and may further indicate a power boosting value determined based on a ratio of a length of samples for the RS to a length of muted samples in a symbol. In other words, when gaps or muted samples exist within a symbol, power boosting may be applied in time domain according to a radio of a length of a gap to a length of an effective sequence.

In some embodiments, the configuration may further indicate that the length of muted samples is longer than the length of samples for the effective RS when the terminal device 110 is applied to transmit and receive the RS but unable to transmit and receive the RS simultaneously.

In some embodiments, a sequence type and a scramble index for the sequence may be comprised in a configuration of RS sequence, and other parameters may be indicated by a configuration of RS pattern. In some embodiments, a configuration of RS sequence may comprise a sequence type and a scramble index and a length of an effective sequence for each portion and a location of an effective sequence for each portion. Alternatively, a sequence of all the samples within a symbol including zero samples may be considered as an entirety.

With π/2-BPSK sequence as a sensing RS, low peak to average power ratio (PAPR) may be achieved, and good correlation performance with random gold sequence may be obtained.

In some embodiments, the RS may be a ZC sequence. In some embodiments, a ZC sequence of the RS may be determined based on equation (9) below.

whereδ equals to the comb size of REs for the RS in frequency domain, anddenotes a phase shift factor of the RS, denotes a maximum number of cyclic shift values, denotes the cyclic shift value for the sequence indicated by high layer parameters, u denotes a group index of the RS, and v denotes a base sequence index of the RS. In some embodiments, v = 0.

In some embodiments, the terminal device 110 may determine the phase shift factor of the RS based on a cyclic shift value associated with a comb size of REs in one of resource block groups for the RS. In some embodiments, if the comb size is 1, the cyclic shift valuemay be selected from a range 0-15, 0-23, 0-31 or 0-47, wherein the maximum number of cyclic shift valuesis 16, 24, 32 or 48 respectively. In some embodiments, if the comb size is 3, the cyclic shift valuemay be selected from a range 0-11 or 0-15, wherein the maximum number of cyclic shift valuesis 12 or 16 respectively. In some embodiments, if the comb size is 6, the cyclic shift valuemay be selected from a range 0-5 or 0-7, wherein the maximum number of cyclic shift valuesis 6 or 8 respectively. In some embodiments, if the comb size is 12, the cyclic shift valuemay be selected from a range 0-1 or 0-3, wherein the maximum number of cyclic shift valuesis 2 or 4 respectively.

An example mapping between δ and a maximum number of cyclic shift values may be described as in Table 4 below. In some embodiments, δ may correspond to a comb size of REs for the RS.

Table 4

In some embodiments, the terminal device 110 may determine the group index of the RS based on at least one of the following: a hopping configuration, an identity of a serving cell of the terminal device 110, a sensing mode of the sensing operation, a symbol index associated with the RS, or a beam index associated with the RS.

In some embodiments, the terminal device 110 may determine the group index of the RS based on the sensing mode of the sensing operation. For example, the group index may be determined based on equation (10) or (10’) below.

orwhere u denotes a group index of an RS, anddenotes indicated sequence ID for the RS. SM_ID=0, if RS is transmitted from a network device; SM_ID=1, otherwise (if RS is transmitted from a terminal device) . l′=l-l₀, where l denotes a symbol index associated with the RS or an index of the first symbol for energy aggregation of echo signal from a same direction, and l₀ denotes the first symbol index of all the RS symbols.

In some embodiments, the terminal device 110 may determine the group index of the RS based on a symbol index associated with the RS. For example, the group index may be determined based on equation (11) or (11’) below.

orwhere u denotes a group index of an RS, anddenotes indicated sequence ID for the RS. l′=l-l₀, where l denotes a symbol index associated with the RS or an index of the first symbol for energy aggregation of echo signal from a same direction, and l₀ denotes the first symbol index of all the RS symbols.

In some embodiments, the terminal device 110 may determine the group index of the RS based on a beam index associated with the RS. For example, the group index may be determined based on equation (12) or (12’) below.

or

where u denotes a group index of an RS, denotes indicated sequence ID for the RS, and Beam_id denotes a beam index associated with the RS. In some embodiments, Beam_id may be determined by QCL information or a spatial relationship with an ascending order of associated resource’s index. For example, an SSB index may be firstly considered and then a CSI-RS index may be considered.

In some embodiments, the terminal device 110 may determine the group index of the RS based on a symbol index associated with the RS and a sensing mode of the sensing operation. For example, the group index may be determined based on equation (13) or (13’) or (13”) below.

or

where u denotes a group index of an RS, anddenotes indicated sequence ID for the RS.SM_ID=0, if RS is transmitted from a network device; SM_ID=1, otherwise (if RS is transmitted from a terminal device) . l′=l-l₀, where l denotes a symbol index associated with the RS or an index of the first symbol for energy aggregation of echo signal from a same direction, and l₀ denotes the first symbol index of all the RS symbols.

In some embodiments, the terminal device 110 may determine the base sequence index (i.e., v) based on a sensing mode of the sensing operation. For example, for each group (u) , more than one base sequence may be defined. If RS is transmitted from a network device, v=0. If RS is transmitted from a terminal device, v=1.

FIG. 19 illustrates a diagram 1900 illustrating an example generation of a sequence of a sensing RS in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure. As shown by reference sign 1910 in FIG. 19, the same sequence may be used for all the symbols for the RS. As shown by reference sign 1920 in FIG. 19, energy accumulation for a given sensing area or target is considered, and thus the same sequence is used for symbols in a symbol group. As shown by reference sign 1930 in FIG. 19, different sequences are used for different symbols. As shown by reference sign 1940 in FIG. 19, different sequences with different beams are used for different symbols. As shown by reference sign 1950 in FIG. 19, different sequences are used for different symbols, but the same beam may be used for a symbol group among symbols.

It is to be understood that the sequence for the RS may also be similarly determined at NW side.

Continuing to refer to FIG. 14, the terminal device 110 may transmit 1440 the RS for the sensing operation based on the configuration. In some embodiments, the terminal device 110 may apply the power boosting value for transmission of the RS.

So far, a design of sequence of a sensing RS is described in connection with process 1400. With the process 1400, a sequence of sensing RS may be dynamically configured and a sensing operation may be enhanced.

It is to be understood that the operations described in connection with the process 200 and the process 1400 may be carried out separately or in any suitable combination.

EXAMPLE IMPLEMENTATION OF METHODS

Accordingly, embodiments of the present disclosure provide methods of communication implemented at a terminal device and a network device. These methods will be described below with reference to FIGs. 20 and 21.

FIG. 20 illustrates an example method 2000 of communication implemented at a terminal device in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure. For example, the method 2000 may be performed at the terminal device 110 as shown in FIG. 1. For the purpose of discussion, in the following, the method 2000 will be described with reference to the terminal device 110 in FIG. 1. It is to be understood that the method 2000 may include additional blocks not shown and/or may omit some blocks as shown, and the scope of the present disclosure is not limited in this regard.

At block 2010, the terminal device 110 receives, from the network device 120, a configuration comprising at least one of a subcarrier spacing, a cyclic prefix type, time domain information or frequency domain information of a pattern of a reference signal for a sensing operation.

In some embodiments, the time domain information may indicate number of symbols for the reference signal, and at least one of the following: a set of muted symbols among the symbols, a set of muted portions among portions in one of the symbols, a gap among the symbols, a gap among portions in one of the symbols, or a gap after the symbols.

In some embodiments, the reference signal may be a PRS, and the number of symbols may be selected from a group comprising 1 and at least one of 2, 4, 6 or 12. In some embodiments, the reference signal may be an SRS, and the number of symbols may be selected from a group comprising 1 and at least one of 2, 4, 8 or 12.

In some embodiments where the reference signal is a PRS and the number of symbols is 1, a starting symbol in the symbols is fixed at a symbol with a long cyclic prefix.

In some embodiments, the cyclic prefix type of the reference signal may be associated with the subcarrier spacing of the reference signal. The cyclic prefix type may indicate a normal cyclic prefix or an extended cyclic prefix having a length longer than a length the normal cyclic prefix. The extended cyclic prefix may be selected from a group comprising multiple extend cyclic prefixes for the subcarrier spacing.

In some embodiments, the frequency domain information may indicate at least one of the following: number of resource block groups for the reference signal, a size of one of the resource block groups, a location of one of the resource block groups, or a comb size of resource elements in the one of the resource block groups. In some embodiments, the comb size of resource elements may be selected from a group comprising 1 and at least one of 2, 3, 4, 6, 8 or 12 resource elements. In some embodiments, number of the portions in the one of the symbols may be associated with the comb size of resource elements.

At block 2020, the terminal device 110 performs a transmission or reception of the reference signal based on the configuration.

In some embodiments, the terminal device 110 may further transmit, to the network device 120, capability of the terminal device 110 for the sensing operation. In some embodiments, the capability may indicate at least one of the following: whether the terminal device 110 supports a plurality of time windows for receiving a signal; a step size of the plurality of time windows supported by the terminal device 110; maximum number of the plurality of time windows supported by the terminal device 110; a time interval between a starting time window and an ending time window among the plurality of time windows; a transceiver mode switching delay for the sensing operation; or whether the terminal device 110 supports both the transmission and the reception of the reference signal.

In some embodiments, the pattern of the reference signal for the sensing operation may be associated with requirements of the sensing operation. In some embodiments, the requirements may comprise at least one of a sensing distance, a sensing velocity, or a sensing angle.

In some embodiments where the reference signal is a PRS used for sensing an object other than the terminal device 110, a sequence of the reference signal is a ZC sequence.

In some embodiments, the terminal device 110 may perform the transmission or the reception of the reference signal by: applying a first beam to a first set of symbols in the symbols and a second beam to a second set of symbols in the symbols; or applying a third beam to a first set of portions of the portions in the one of the symbols and a fourth beam to a second set of portions of the portions in the one of the symbols.

With the method 2000, a pattern of a sensing RS and related signaling may be defined. Complexity and flexibility of framework on designing a sensing RS may be considered and sensing performance may be ensured.

FIG. 21 illustrates an example method 2100 of communication implemented at a network device in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure. For example, the method 2100 may be performed at the network device 120 as shown in FIG. 1. For the purpose of discussion, in the following, the method 2100 will be described with reference to the network device 120 in FIG. 1. It is to be understood that the method 2100 may include additional blocks not shown and/or may omit some blocks as shown, and the scope of the present disclosure is not limited in this regard.

As shown in FIG. 21, at block 2110, the network device 120 determines a configuration comprising at least one of a subcarrier spacing, a cyclic prefix type, time domain information or frequency domain information of a pattern of a reference signal for a sensing operation of the terminal device 110.

At block 2120, the network device 120 transmits the configuration to the terminal device 110.

In some embodiments, the network device 120 may further receive, from the terminal device 110, capability of the terminal device 110 for the sensing operation. In some embodiments, the capability may indicate at least one of the following: whether the terminal device 110 supports a plurality of time windows for receiving a signal; a step size of the plurality of time windows supported by the terminal device 110; maximum number of the plurality of time windows supported by the terminal device 110; a time interval between a starting time window and an ending time window among the plurality of time windows; a transceiver mode switching delay for the sensing operation; or whether the terminal device 110 supports both the transmission and the reception of the reference signal.

In some embodiments, the network device 120 may determine the configuration based on requirements of the sensing operation, the requirements comprising at least one of a sensing range, a sensing velocity, or a sensing angle.

With the method 2100, a pattern of a sensing RS and related signaling may be defined. Complexity and flexibility of framework on designing a sensing RS may be considered and sensing performance may be ensured.

It is to be understood that operations of the methods 2000 and 2100 at least correspond to the process described in connection with FIG. 2, and thus other details are omitted here for conciseness.

EXAMPLE IMPLEMENTATION OF DEVICES

FIG. 22 is a simplified block diagram of a device 2200 that is suitable for implementing embodiments of the present disclosure. The device 2200 can be considered as a further example implementation of the terminal device 110 or the network device 120 as shown in FIG. 1. Accordingly, the device 2200 can be implemented at or as at least a part of the terminal device 110 or the network device 120 or the core network element 130.

As shown, the device 2200 includes a processor 2210, a memory 2220 coupled to the processor 2210, a suitable transceiver 2240 coupled to the processor 2210, and a communication interface coupled to the transceiver 2240. The memory 2210 stores at least a part of a program 2230. The transceiver 2240 may be for bidirectional communications or a unidirectional communication based on requirements. The transceiver 2240 may include at least one of a transmitter 2242 or a receiver 2244. The transmitter 2242 and the receiver 2244 may be functional modules or physical entities. The transceiver 2240 has at least one antenna to facilitate communication, though in practice an Access Node mentioned in this application may have several ones. The communication interface may represent any interface that is necessary for communication with other network elements, such as X2/Xn interface for bidirectional communications between eNBs/gNBs, S1/NG interface for communication between a Mobility Management Entity (MME) /Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF) /SGW/UPF and the eNB/gNB, Un interface for communication between the eNB/gNB and a relay node (RN) , or Uu interface for communication between the eNB/gNB and a terminal device.

The program 2230 is assumed to include program instructions that, when executed by the associated processor 2210, enable the device 2200 to operate in accordance with the embodiments of the present disclosure, as discussed herein with reference to FIGs. 1 to 21. The embodiments herein may be implemented by computer software executable by the processor 2210 of the device 2200, or by hardware, or by a combination of software and hardware. The processor 2210 may be configured to implement various embodiments of the present disclosure. Furthermore, a combination of the processor 2210 and memory 2220 may form processing means 2250 adapted to implement various embodiments of the present disclosure.

The memory 2220 may be of any type suitable to the local technical network and may be implemented using any suitable data storage technology, such as a non-transitory computer readable storage medium, semiconductor based memory devices, magnetic memory devices and systems, optical memory devices and systems, fixed memory and removable memory, as non-limiting examples. While only one memory 2220 is shown in the device 2200, there may be several physically distinct memory modules in the device 2200. The processor 2210 may be of any type suitable to the local technical network, and may include one or more of general purpose computers, special purpose computers, microprocessors, digital signal processors (DSPs) and processors based on multicore processor architecture, as non-limiting examples. The device 2200 may have multiple processors, such as an application specific integrated circuit chip that is slaved in time to a clock which synchronizes the main processor.

In some embodiments, a terminal device comprises a circuitry configured to: receive, from a network device, a configuration comprising at least one of a subcarrier spacing, a cyclic prefix type, time domain information or frequency domain information of a pattern of a reference signal for a sensing operation; and perform a transmission or reception of the reference signal based on the configuration, wherein the time domain information indicates number of symbols for the reference signal, and at least one of the following: a set of muted symbols among the symbols, a set of muted portions among portions in one of the symbols, a gap among the symbols, a gap among portions in one of the symbols, or a gap after the symbols; and wherein the frequency domain information indicates at least one of the following: number of resource block groups for the reference signal, a size of one of the resource block groups, a location of one of the resource block groups, or a comb size of resource elements in the one of the resource block groups.

In some embodiments, a network device comprises a circuitry configured to: determine a configuration comprising at least one of a subcarrier spacing, a cyclic prefix type, time domain information or frequency domain information of a pattern of a reference signal for a sensing operation of a terminal device; and transmit the configuration to the terminal device, wherein the time domain information indicates number of symbols for the reference signal, and at least one of the following: a set of muted symbols among the symbols, a set of muted portions among portions in one of the symbols, a gap among the symbols, a gap among portions in one of the symbols, or a gap after the symbols; and wherein the frequency domain information indicates at least one of the following: number of resource block groups for the reference signal, a size of one of the resource block groups, a location of one of the resource block groups, or a comb size of resource elements in the one of the resource block groups.

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

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

The present disclosure also provides at least one computer program product tangibly stored on a non-transitory computer readable storage medium. The computer program product includes computer-executable instructions, such as those included in program modules, being executed in a device on a target real or virtual processor, to carry out the process or method as described above with reference to FIGs. 1 to 21. Generally, program modules include routines, programs, libraries, objects, classes, components, data structures, or the like that perform particular tasks or implement particular abstract data types. The functionality of the program modules may be combined or split between program modules as desired in various embodiments. Machine-executable instructions for program modules may be executed within a local or distributed device. In a distributed device, program modules may be located in both local and remote storage media.

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

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

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

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

Claims

A terminal device, comprising:

a processor configured to cause the terminal device to:

receive, from a network device, a configuration comprising at least one of a subcarrier spacing, a cyclic prefix type, time domain information or frequency domain information of a pattern of a reference signal for a sensing operation; and

perform a transmission or reception of the reference signal based on the configuration,

wherein the time domain information indicates number of symbols for the reference signal, and at least one of the following:

a set of muted symbols among the symbols,

a set of muted portions among portions in one of the symbols,

a gap among the symbols,

a gap among portions in one of the symbols, or

a gap after the symbols; and

wherein the frequency domain information indicates at least one of the following:

number of resource block groups for the reference signal,

a size of one of the resource block groups,

a location of one of the resource block groups, or

a comb size of resource elements in the one of the resource block groups.
The terminal device of claim 1, wherein number of the portions is associated with the comb size of resource elements.
The terminal device of claim 1, wherein the reference signal is a positioning reference signal (PRS) , and the number of symbols is selected from a group comprising 1 and at least one of 2, 4, 6 or 12, or

wherein the reference signal is a sounding reference signal (SRS) , and the number of symbols is selected from a group comprising 1 and at least one of 2, 4, 8 or 12.
The terminal device of claim 3, wherein the comb size of resource elements is selected from a group comprising 1 and at least one of 2, 3, 4, 6, 8 or 12 resource elements.
The terminal device of claim 1, wherein the reference signal is a positioning reference signal (PRS) , and the number of symbols is 1, and a starting symbol in the symbols is fixed at a symbol with a long cyclic prefix.
The terminal device of claim 1, wherein the cyclic prefix type of the reference signal is associated with the subcarrier spacing of the reference signal, and the cyclic prefix type indicates a normal cyclic prefix or an extended cyclic prefix having a length longer than a length the normal cyclic prefix, the extended cyclic prefix being selected from a group comprising multiple extend cyclic prefixes for the subcarrier spacing.
The terminal device of claim 1, wherein the terminal device is further caused to:

transmit, to the network device, capability of the terminal device for the sensing operation, the capability indicating at least one of the following:

whether the terminal device supports a plurality of time windows for receiving a signal;

a step size of the plurality of time windows supported by the terminal device;

maximum number of the plurality of time windows supported by the terminal device;

a time interval between a starting time window and an ending time window among the plurality of time windows;

a transceiver mode switching delay for the sensing operation; or

whether the terminal device supports both the transmission and the reception of the reference signal.
The terminal device of claim 1, wherein the pattern of the reference signal for the sensing operation is associated with requirements of the sensing operation, the requirements comprising at least one of a sensing distance, a sensing velocity, or a sensing angle.
The terminal device of claim 1, wherein the reference signal is a positioning reference signal (PRS) used for sensing an object other than the terminal device, and a sequence of the reference signal is a Zadoff-Chu (ZC) sequence.
The terminal device of claim 1, wherein the terminal device is caused to perform the transmission or the reception of the reference signal by:

applying a first beam to a first set of symbols in the symbols and a second beam to a second set of symbols in the symbols; or

applying a third beam to a first set of portions of the portions in the one of the symbols and a fourth beam to a second set of portions of the portions in the one of the symbols.
A network device, comprising:

a processor configured to cause the network device to:

determine a configuration comprising at least one of a subcarrier spacing, a cyclic prefix type, time domain information or frequency domain information of a pattern of a reference signal for a sensing operation of a terminal device; and

transmit the configuration to the terminal device,

wherein the time domain information indicates number of symbols for the reference signal, and at least one of the following:

a set of muted symbols among the symbols,

a set of muted portions among portions in one of the symbols,

a gap among the symbols,

a gap among portions in one of the symbols, or

a gap after the symbols; and

wherein the frequency domain information indicates at least one of the following:

number of resource block groups for the reference signal,

a size of one of the resource block groups,

a location of one of the resource block groups, or

a comb size of resource elements in the one of the resource block groups.
The network device of claim 11, wherein number of the portions is associated with the comb size of resource elements.
The network device of claim 11, wherein the reference signal is a positioning reference signal (PRS) , and the number of symbols is selected from a group comprising 1 and at least one of 2, 4, 6 or 12, or

wherein the reference signal is a sounding reference signal (SRS) , and the number of symbols is selected from a group comprising 1 and at least one of 2, 4, 8 or 12.
The network device of claim 13, wherein the comb size of resource elements is selected from a group comprising 1 and at least one of 2, 3, 4, 6, 8 or 12 resource elements.
The network device of claim 11, wherein the reference signal is a positioning reference signal (PRS) , and the number of symbols is 1, and a starting symbol in the symbols is fixed at a symbol with a long cyclic prefix.
The network device of claim 11, wherein the cyclic prefix type of the reference signal is associated with the subcarrier spacing of the reference signal, and the cyclic prefix type indicates a normal cyclic prefix or an extended cyclic prefix having a length longer than a length the normal cyclic prefix, the extended cyclic prefix being selected from a group comprising multiple extend cyclic prefixes for the subcarrier spacing.
The network device of claim 11, wherein the network device is further caused to:

receive, from the terminal device, capability of the terminal device for the sensing operation, the capability indicating at least one of the following:

whether the terminal device supports a plurality of time windows for receiving a signal;

a step size of the plurality of time windows supported by the terminal device;

maximum number of the plurality of time windows supported by the terminal device;

a time interval between a starting time window and an ending time window among the plurality of time windows;

a transceiver mode switching delay for the sensing operation; or

whether the terminal device supports both the transmission and the reception of the reference signal.
The network device of claim 11, wherein the network device is caused to determine the configuration by:

determining the configuration based on requirements of the sensing operation, the requirements comprising at least one of a sensing range, a sensing velocity, or a sensing angle.
The network device of claim 11, wherein the reference signal is a positioning reference signal (PRS) used for sensing an object other than the terminal device, and a sequence of the reference signal is a Zadoff-Chu (ZC) sequence.
A method performed by a terminal device, comprising:

receiving, from a network device, a configuration comprising at least one of a subcarrier spacing, a cyclic prefix type, time domain information or frequency domain information of a pattern of a reference signal for a sensing operation; and

performing a transmission or reception of the reference signal based on the configuration,

wherein the time domain information indicates number of symbols for the reference signal, and at least one of the following:

a set of muted symbols among the symbols,

a set of muted portions among portions in one of the symbols,

a gap among the symbols,

a gap among portions in one of the symbols, or

a gap after the symbols; and

wherein the frequency domain information indicates at least one of the following:

number of resource block groups for the reference signal,

a size of one of the resource block groups,

a location of one of the resource block groups, or

a comb size of resource elements in the one of the resource block groups.