WO2025176552A1

WO2025176552A1 - Wireless telecommunications apparatuses, methods and circuitry

Info

Publication number: WO2025176552A1
Application number: PCT/EP2025/053928
Authority: WO
Inventors: Vivek Sharma; Yassin Aden Awad; Yuxin Wei
Original assignee: Sony Europe Bv; Sony Group Corp
Current assignee: Sony Europe Bv; Sony Group Corp
Priority date: 2024-02-23
Filing date: 2025-02-13
Publication date: 2025-08-28
Anticipated expiration: 2026-08-23

Abstract

A wireless telecommunications apparatus comprising circuitry configured to: receive, from a wireless telecommunications network, a sensing resource configuration configuring communication resources for use in sensing; perform data communication using the configured communication resources; receive, from the wireless telecommunications network, a sensing start signal indicating use of the configured communication resources for sensing is to be started; and in response to receiving the sensing start signal, refrain from using the configuration communication resources for data communication.

Description

WIRELESS TELECOMMUNICATIONS APPARATUSES, METHODS AND CIRCUITRY

BACKGROUND

Field of the Disclosure

The present disclosure relates to wireless telecommunications apparatuses, methods and circuitry.

Description of the Related Art

The “background” description provided is for the purpose of generally presenting the context of the disclosure. Work of the presently named inventors, to the extent it is described in the background section, as well as aspects of the description which may not otherwise qualify as prior art at the time of filing, are neither expressly or impliedly admitted as prior art against the present disclosure.

Mobile telecommunication systems, such as those based on the 3GPP defined UMTS and Long Term Evolution (LTE) architecture, are able to support a wider range of services than simple voice and messaging services offered by previous generations of mobile telecommunication systems. For example, with the improved radio interface and enhanced data rates provided by LTE systems, a user is able to enjoy high data rate applications such as mobile video streaming and mobile video conferencing that would previously only have been available via a fixed line data connection. The demand to deploy such networks is therefore strong and the coverage area of these networks, i.e. geographic locations where access to the networks is possible, is expected to continue to increase rapidly.

Current and future wireless communications networks are expected to routinely and efficiently support communications with an ever-increasing range of devices associated with a wider range of data traffic profiles and types than existing systems are optimised to support. For example, such wireless communications networks will be expected to efficiently support communications with devices including reduced complexity devices, machine type communication (MTC) devices, high resolution video displays, virtual reality headsets, extended Reality (XR) and so on. Some of these different types of devices may be deployed in very large numbers, for example low complexity devices for supporting the “The Internet of Things”, and may typically be associated with the transmissions of relatively small amounts of data with relatively high latency tolerance. Other types of device, for example supporting high-definition video streaming, may be associated with transmissions of relatively large amounts of data with relatively low latency tolerance. Other types of device, for example used for autonomous vehicle communications and for other critical applications, may be characterised by data that should be transmitted through the network with low latency and high reliability. A single device type might also be associated with different traffic profiles / characteristics depending on the application(s) it is running. For example, different considerations may apply for efficiently supporting data exchange with a smartphone when it is running a video streaming application (high downlink data) as compared to when it is running an Internet browsing application (sporadic uplink and downlink data) or being used for voice communications by an emergency responder in an emergency scenario (data subject to stringent reliability and latency requirements).

In view of this there is expected to be a desire for current wireless communications networks, for example those which may be referred to as 5G or new radio (NR) systems I new radio access technology (RAT) systems, or indeed future 6G wireless communications, as well as future iterations I releases of existing systems, to efficiently support connectivity for a wide range of devices associated with different applications and different characteristic data traffic profiles and requirements.

One example of a new service is referred to as Ultra Reliable Low Latency Communications (URLLC) services which, as its name suggests, requires that a data unit or packet be communicated with a high reliability and with a low communications delay. Another example of a new service is enhanced Mobile Broadband (eMBB) services, which are characterised by a high capacity with a requirement to support up to 20 Gb/s. URLLC and eMBB type services therefore represent challenging examples for both LTE type communications systems and 5G/NR communications systems.

5G NR has continuously evolved and the current work plan includes 5G-NR-Advanced in which some further enhancements are expected, especially to support new use- cases/scenarios with higher requirements. The desire to support these new use-cases and scenarios gives rise to new challenges for efficiently handling communications in wireless communications systems that need to be addressed.

SUMMARY

The present disclosure is defined by the claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Non-limiting embodiments and advantages of the present disclosure are explained with reference to the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Fig. 1 schematically shows a first example wireless telecommunications network;

Fig. 2 schematically shows a second example wireless telecommunications network;

Fig. 3 schematically shows example wireless telecommunications apparatuses;

Figs. 4A-D schematically show examples of monostatic and bistatic radar arrangements; Figs. 5A-F schematically show examples of different monostatic and bistatic sensing modes; Fig. 6 shows a first example signalling flow;

Fig. 7 shows a second example signalling flow;

Figs. 8A-Bshow third example signalling flows;

Figs. 9A-B show example methods.

Like reference numerals designate identical or corresponding parts throughout the drawings.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

Long Term Evolution Advanced Radio Access Technology (4G)

Fig. 1 provides a schematic diagram illustrating some basic functionality of a mobile telecommunications network I system 6 operating generally in accordance with LTE principles, but which may also support other radio access technologies, and which may be adapted to implement embodiments of the disclosure as described herein. Various elements of Fig. 1 and certain aspects of their respective modes of operation are well- known and defined in the relevant standards administered by the 3GPP (RTM) body, and also described in many books on the subject, for example, Holma H. and Toskala A [1], It will be appreciated that operational aspects of the telecommunications networks discussed herein which are not specifically described (for example in relation to specific communication protocols and physical channels for communicating between different elements) may be implemented in accordance with any known techniques, for example according to the relevant standards and known proposed modifications and additions to the relevant standards.

The network 6 includes a plurality of base stations 1 connected to a core network (CN) 2. Each base station provides a coverage area 3 (i.e. a cell) within which data can be communicated to and from communications devices 4. Although each base station 1 is shown in Fig. 1 as a single entity, the skilled person will appreciate that some of the functions of the base station may be carried out by disparate, inter-connected elements, such as antennas (or antennae), remote radio heads, amplifiers, etc. Collectively, one or more base stations may form a radio access network.

Data is transmitted from base stations 1 to communications devices 4 within their respective coverage areas 3 via a radio downlink (DL). Data is transmitted from communications devices 4 to the base stations 1 via a radio uplink (UL). The core network 2 routes data to and from the communications devices 4 via the respective base stations 1 and provides functions such as authentication, mobility management, charging and so on. Communications devices may also be referred to as mobile stations, user equipment (UEs), user terminals, mobile radios, mobile terminals, terminal devices, wireless transmit and receive units (WTRUs), and so forth. Services provided by the core network 2 may include connectivity to the internet or to external telephony services. The core network 2 may further track the location of the communications devices 4 so that it can efficiently contact (i.e. page) the communications devices 4 for transmitting downlink data towards the communications devices 4.

Base stations, which are an example of network infrastructure equipment, may also be referred to as transceiver stations, nodeBs, e-nodeBs, eNB, g-nodeBs, gNBs and so forth. In this regard different terminology is often associated with different generations of wireless telecommunications systems for elements providing broadly comparable functionality. However, certain embodiments of the disclosure may be equally implemented in different generations of wireless telecommunications systems, and for simplicity certain terminology may be used regardless of the underlying network architecture. That is to say, the use of a specific term in relation to certain example implementations is not intended to indicate these implementations are limited to a certain generation of network that may be most associated with that particular terminology.

New Radio Access Technology (5G)

Systems incorporating NR technology are expected to support different services (or types of services), which may be characterised by different requirements for latency, data rate and/or reliability. For example, Enhanced Mobile Broadband (eMBB) services are characterised by high capacity with a requirement to support up to 20 Gb/s. The requirements for Ultra Reliable and Low Latency Communications (URLLC) services are for one transmission of a 32 byte packet to be transmitted from the radio protocol layer 2/3 SDU ingress point to the radio protocol layer 2/3 SDU egress point of the radio interface within 1 ms with a reliability of 1 — 10⁵ (99.999 %) or higher (99.9999%) [2],

Massive Machine Type Communications (mMTC) is another example of a service which may be supported by NR-based communications networks. In addition, systems may be expected to support further enhancements related to Industrial Internet of Things (HoT) in order to support services with new requirements of high availability, high reliability, low latency, and in some cases, high-accuracy positioning.

An example configuration of a wireless communications network which uses some of the terminology proposed for and used in NR and 5G is shown in Fig. 2. In Fig. 2 a plurality of transmission and reception points (TRPs) 10 are connected to distributed control units (DUs) 41 , 42 by a connection interface represented as a line 16. Each of the TRPs 10 is arranged to transmit and receive signals via a wireless access interface within a radio frequency bandwidth available to the wireless communications network. Thus, within a range for performing radio communications via the wireless access interface, each of the TRPs 10, forms a cell of the wireless communications network as represented by a circle 12. As such, wireless communications devices 14 which are within a radio communications range provided by the cells 12 can transmit and receive signals to and from the TRPs 10 via the wireless access interface. Each of the distributed units 41 , 42 are connected to a central unit (CU) 40 (which may be referred to as a controlling node) via an interface 46. The central unit 40 is then connected to the core network 20 which may contain all other functions required to transmit data for communicating to and from the wireless communications devices and the core network 20 may be connected to other networks 25.

The elements of the wireless access network shown in Fig. 2 may operate in a similar way to corresponding elements of an LTE network as described with regard to the example of Fig. 1 . It will be appreciated that operational aspects of the telecommunications network represented in Fig. 2, and of other networks discussed herein in accordance with embodiments of the disclosure, which are not specifically described (for example in relation to specific communication protocols and physical channels for communicating between different elements) may be implemented in accordance with any known techniques, for example according to currently used approaches for implementing such operational aspects of wireless telecommunications systems, e.g. in accordance with the relevant standards.

The TRPs 10 of Fig. 2 may in part have a corresponding functionality to a base station or eNodeB of an LTE network. Similarly, the communications devices 14 may have a functionality corresponding to the UE devices 4 known for operation with an LTE network. It will be appreciated therefore that operational aspects of a new RAT network (for example in relation to specific communication protocols and physical channels for communicating between different elements) may be different to those known from LTE or other known mobile telecommunications standards. However, it will also be appreciated that each of the core network component, base stations and communications devices of a new RAT network will be functionally similar to, respectively, the core network component, base stations and communications devices of an LTE wireless communications network.

In terms of broad top-level functionality, the core network 20 connected to the new RAT telecommunications system represented in Fig. 2 may be broadly considered to correspond with the core network 2 represented in Fig. 1 , and the respective central units 40 and their associated distributed units 41 , 42 / TRPs 10 may be broadly considered to provide functionality corresponding to the base stations 1 of Fig. 1. The term network infrastructure equipment I access node may be used to encompass these elements and more conventional base station type elements of wireless telecommunications systems. Depending on the application at hand the responsibility for scheduling transmissions which are scheduled on the radio interface between the respective distributed units and the communications devices may lie with the controlling node I central unit and I or the distributed units I TRPs. A communications device 14 is represented in Fig. 2 within the coverage area of a communication cell 12. This communications device 14 may thus exchange signalling with the central unit 40 via one of the distributed units I TRPs 10 associated with the communication cell 12.

It will further be appreciated that Fig. 2 represents merely one example of a proposed architecture for a new RAT based telecommunications system in which approaches in accordance with the principles described herein may be adopted, and the functionality disclosed herein may also be applied in respect of wireless telecommunications systems having different architectures.

Thus, certain embodiments of the disclosure as discussed herein may be implemented in wireless telecommunication systems I networks according to various different architectures, such as the example architectures shown in Figs. 1 and 2. It will thus be appreciated the specific wireless telecommunications architecture in any given implementation is not of primary significance to the principles described herein. In this regard, certain embodiments of the disclosure may be described generally in the context of communications between network infrastructure equipment I access nodes and a communications device, wherein the specific nature of the network infrastructure equipment I access node and the communications device will depend on the network infrastructure for the implementation at hand. For example, in some scenarios the network infrastructure equipment I access node may comprise a base station, such as an LTE- type base station 1 as shown in Fig. 1 which is adapted to provide functionality in accordance with the principles described herein, and in other examples the network infrastructure equipment may comprise a control unit I controlling node 40, distributed unit 41 , 42 and I or a TRP 10 of the kind shown in Fig. 2 which is adapted to provide functionality in accordance with the principles described herein.

A more detailed diagram of some of the components of the network shown in Fig. 2 is provided by Fig. 3. In Fig. 3, a TRP 10 as shown in Fig. 2 comprises, as a simplified representation, a wireless transmitter 30, a wireless receiver 32 and a controller or controlling processor 34 which is configured to control the transmitter 30 and the receiver 32 to transmit and receive radio signals to one or more UEs 14 within a cell 12 formed by the TRP 10. As shown in Fig. 3, an example UE 14 is shown to include a corresponding wireless transmitter 49, wireless receiver 48 and controller or controlling processor 44 which is configured to control the transmitter 49 and the receiver 48 to transmit and receive radio signals to the TRP 10. Signals transmitted from the transmitter 49 to the receiver 32 may represent uplink data. Signals transmitted from the transmitter 30 to the receiver 48 may represent downlink data. These signals are transmitted via the wireless access interface of the TRP 10.

The transmitters 30, 49 and the receivers 32, 48 (as well as other transmitters, receivers and transceivers described in relation to examples and embodiments of the present disclosure) may include radio frequency filters and amplifiers as well as signal processing components and devices in order to transmit and receive radio signals in accordance for example with the 5G / NR standard(s). The controllers 34, 44 (as well as other controllers described in relation to examples and embodiments of the present disclosure) may be, for example, a microprocessor, a CPU, or a dedicated chipset, etc., configured to carry out instructions which are stored on a computer readable medium, such as a non-volatile memory. The processing steps described herein may be carried out by, for example, a microprocessor in conjunction with a random access memory, operating according to instructions stored on a computer readable medium. The transmitters, the receivers and the controllers are schematically shown in Fig. 3 as separate elements for ease of representation. However, it will be appreciated that the functionality of these elements can be provided in various different ways, for example using one or more suitably programmed computers, or one or more suitably configured application-specific integrated circuit(s) I circuitry I chip(s) I chipset(s). As will be appreciated the infrastructure equipment I TRP I base station as well as the UE I communications device will in general comprise various other elements associated with their operating functionality.

As shown in Fig. 3, the TRP 10 also includes a network interface 50 which connects to the DU 42 via a physical interface 16. The network interface 50 therefore provides a communication link for data and signalling traffic from the TRP 10 via the DU 42 and the CU 40 to the core network 20.

The interface 46 between the DU 42 and the CU 40 is known as the F1 interface which can be a physical or a logical interface. The F1 interface 46 between CU and DU may operate in accordance with specifications 3GPP TS 38.470 and 3GPP TS 38.473, for example, and may be formed from a fibre optic or other wired or wireless high bandwidth connection. In one example the connection 16 from the TRP 10 to the DU 42 is via fibre optic. The connection between a TRP 10 and the core network 20 can be generally referred to as a backhaul, which comprises the interface 16 from the network interface 50 of the TRP 10 to the DU 42 and the F1 interface 46 from the DU 42 to the CU 40.

In order for a UE such as UE 4 or 14 to transmit uplink data to the network (e.g. on a Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH) or a Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH)) to, for example, base station 1 or TRP 10, the UE must first ensure it is synchronised with the network on the uplink. Since a particular eNB or gNB expects to be receiving communications from many UEs, it needs to ensure that it shares a common timing understanding with each of these UEs (i.e. that they are synchronised in terms of the starting times of frames and Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) symbols). This is so the eNB is able to schedule communication with each UE in a manner that avoids collisions and ensures orthogonality of uplink signals such that inter-subcarrier interference is avoided or mitigated.

Integrated Sensing and Communication (ISAC)

As 5G NR evolves towards 5G-Advanced (5G-NR-Advanced), there is the possibility of new features being included in future releases. One possible new feature for 5G- Advanced and beyond is Integrated Sensing and Communication (ISAC). ISAC uses radio wave transmissions from a 5G wireless network to acquire information from the environment. Although positioning features in 5G, for example those utilizing techniques including Observed Time Difference of Arrival (OTDOA) and Uplink Time Difference of Arrival (UTDOA), are already available, these features are only able to determine the location of UE devices. This is because the 5G network requires information from the device it is trying to locate. The device must therefore be an active object (i.e. an object having a direct radio connection to the wireless communications (e.g. 5G) network). The existing positioning features thus cannot locate passive objects (e.g. non-UE objects) that do not have direct communication with the 5G network.

In contrast, ISAC employs echolocation using radio frequency (RF) waves, similar to that used by radar and LIDAR, to detect passive objects. This does not require direct communication between the object of interest and the 5G network. Since a cellular network, such as a 5G wireless network, may have wide coverage, covering urban, highway, rural and even indoor environments, ISAC can provide sensing services for many different applications.

ISAC is considered to be a system which combines sensing and communication functionalities by reusing the same hardware on the network side in order to save resources and reduce power consumption. A development introduced by ISAC is that sensing signals and communication signals can be practically implemented into a single system, with either the same or different transmit waveforms. 3GPP has agreed to study ISAC [3] with the justification that the current 5G-Advanced network design focuses primarily on data transmission. The radio channel model defined to cover frequencies up to 100 GHz was developed with this in mind. Although RAT-based positioning is supported, the specifications do not currently offer the in-built capability to detect objects not connected to the network. If sensing capability is integrated into the design of the system, sensing may be offered as a service alongside communications.

In the new RAN (Radio Access Network) study item [3], the focus is to define channel modelling aspects to support object detection and/or tracking (as per the SA1 meaning in [4]). The study aims at a common modelling framework capable of detecting and/or tracking non-UE objects such as the following example objects and to enable them to be distinguished from unintended objects:

• UAVs;

• Humans (indoors and outdoors);

• Automotive vehicles (at least outdoors);

• Automated guided vehicles (e.g., in indoor factories); and

• Objects creating hazards on roads I railways, with a minimum size dependent on frequency.

Example applications of ISAC include: intruder detection inside or in the vicinity of a building I house; rainfall monitoring that detects the intensity of rain in a wide area such as a farm (utilising the characteristics of a particular frequency of radio waves that experience higher attenuation due to water absorption); and pedestrian or animal detection in a motorway or railway [4], ISAC may also utilise existing sensing technology such as radar or LIDAR that may be installed in a device or area. For example, ISAC may use the sensing information from LIDAR and radar units that are installed in numerous automobiles and, together with the 5G wireless sensing, provide an accurate picture of the motorway or the traffic situation in a city. As mentioned above, ISAC employs echolocation using radio frequency (RF) waves, similarto mechanisms that are used by radarand LIDAR, to detect passive objects. These radar techniques include at least one transmitter sending a sensing (i.e. initial) RF wave and at least one receiver receiving the reflected RF wave (reflected off the passive object being detected) where the locations and orientations of the transmitter and receiver are known. Arrangements where the transmitter and receiver are co-located (i.e. are included in the same device) are known as monostatic and arrangements where the transmitter and receiver are separated in distance (i.e. not co-located) are known as bistatic.

Fig. 4A shows an example of a monostatic arrangement. Here, a transceiver 420 (comprising a transmitter and receiver) emits a sensing RF wave 452 (which may be referred to as an RF wave, RF signal or sensing signal) at time to which is reflected by an object 410. The reflected RF wave (which may be referred to as a reflected RF signal or reflected signal) 454 is then received at the transceiver 420 at time ti. The distance Do from the transceiver 420 to the object 410 may be determined based on the Round-Trip Time (RTT) when the sensing wave is transmitted at time to and the reflected wave is received at time fi , i.e., D_o where c is the speed of light. That is, the detected object is located on a circle (or, in three dimensions, a sphere) with radius D_o from the transceiver 420. The location of the object can be further determined by the angle at which the reflected RF wave 454 is received at the transceiver 420 and/or the angle of departure of the transmitted wave 452 (e.g. if a narrow RF beam focused at a known angle is used).

Fig. 4B shows an example of a bistatic arrangement. Here, a transmitter 422 emits an RF wave 456 at time to which is reflected by an object 410 at an angle of /3. The reflected RF wave 458 is then received at a receiver 424 at time ti . The sum of the distances D_Tx (the distance from the transmitter 422 to the object 410) and D_Rx (the distance from the object 410 to the receiver 424) can be calculated using the RTT, i.e., D_Tx + D_Rx = c (fi - fo). The distance between the transmitter and receiver D_Tx~_Rx can be known a-priori. The bistatic range is defined as D_Tx + D_Rx - D_Tx~_Rx. The detected object can therefore be determined to be located on an ellipse with the foci at the locations of the transmitter 422 and receiver 424, and with a constant bistatic range. The location of the object 410 on the ellipse can be further determined by the angle of arrival of the reflected wave 458 at the receiver 424 and/or the angle of departure of the transmitted RF wave 456 at the transmitter 422 (e.g. if a narrow RF beam focused at a known angle is used).

The bistatic angle, labelled as /Jin Fig. 4B, is the angle subtended between the transmitter 422, the object 410 and the receiver 424. If the bistatic angle /Jis close to zero, the sensor resembles a monostatic arrangement, which may be referred to as a pseudo-monostatic arrangement. A pseudo-monostatic arrangement, where /J ® 0°, is shown in Fig. 4C, where the numbered components correspond to those shown in Fig. 4B. Conversely, if the bistatic angle /J is close to 180°, then the arrangement may behave as a forward scatter arrangement. A forward scatter arrangement with //- 180° is shown in Fig. 4D, where the numbered components correspond to those shown in Figs. 4B and 4C. Here, the object 410 can be detected at the receiver 424 by detecting a diffracted wave 459 using Babinet’s principle, where the silhouette 415 of the object is projected at the receiver 424 by the diffracted wave 459. Certain objects, such as an airplane with stealth capability, may absorb RF waves (e.g. emitted by a radar) instead of reflecting them, thereby avoiding detection. However, forward scatter is advantageous in detecting objects with such stealth capabilities, as forward scatter techniques rely on the target object blocking the emitted wave, thereby forming a silhouette 415 at the receiver. The drawback of forward scatter, however, is that it is difficult to detect the speed of the object (e.g. via the Doppler effect) if the object is moving along the path between the transmitter 422 and receiver 424.

In [3], six sensing modes are considered, and these are shown in Figs. 5A to 5F. Fig. 5A shows an example of a TRP-TRP bistatic mode scenario, in which a first TRP 511 transmits a sensing signal 514 to a device or object (which may be an active device such as a UE 512 or a passive device or object) which then reflects 515 the sensing signal to a second TRP 513. Fig. 5B shows an example of a TRP monostatic mode scenario, in which a TRP 521 transmits a sensing signal 523 to a device or object (which may be an active device such as a UE 522 or a passive device or object) which then reflects 524 the sensing signal back to the TRP 521. Fig. 5C shows an example of a TRP-UE bistatic mode scenario, in which a TRP 531 transmits a sensing signal 534 towards another (active or passive) device or object (such as bus 532) which then reflects 535 the sensing signal to a UE 533. Fig. 5D shows an example of a UE-TRP bistatic mode scenario, in which a UE 541 transmits a sensing signal 544 towards another (active or passive) device or object (such as bus 542) which then reflects 545 the sensing signal to a TRP 543. Fig. 5E shows an example of a UE-UE bistatic mode scenario, in which a first UE 551 transmits a sensing signal 554 towards another (active or passive) device or object (such as bus 552) which then reflects 555 the sensing signal to a second UE 553. Fig. 5F shows an example of a UE monostatic scenario, in which a UE 561 transmits a sensing signal 563 towards another (active or passive) device or object (such as bus 562) which then reflects 564 the sensing signal back to the UE 561 .

As noted above, in monostatic scenarios, such as those shown in Figs. 5B and 5F, the transmitter and receiver of the sensing signals are co-located (that is, both within the same equipment or located at the same location I site) whereas in bistatic scenarios, such as those shown in Figs. 5A, 5C, 5D, and 5F, the transmitter and receiver of the sensing signals are not co-located (that is, geographically separated).

Data Scheduling Methods in NR (5G)

Traditionally, cellular networks are designed for multi-user scenarios, in which multiple users are served at the same time and/or different times. Therefore, by employing traditional multiplexing schemes, it is feasible that users for communication services (for transmitting data over the network) and users for sensing services (such as those using the monostatic and/or bistatic arrangements exemplified in Figs. 5A to 5F) are served simultaneously and/or in different times within the same cell by using an appropriate multiplexing method. Examples of such multiplexing methods include:

• Time division multiplexing: In this method, communication services and sensing services are provided using different slots within a radio frame or bandwidth part (BWP). In this case, the waveforms used for sensing and communication can be the same or different. In an example, a first UE may be assigned a first time resource set (e.g. time range to- ti) for either sensing or communications, a second UE may be assigned a second time resource set (e.g. time range ti- 1₂) for either sensing or communications, a third UE may be assigned a third time resource set (e.g. time range t₂- 1₃) for either sensing or communications, and so on.

• Frequency division multiplexing: In this method, communication services and sensing services are provided using different frequencies (e.g. different BWPs) within a slot in a radio frame. This means that different subcarriers must be allocated for sensing and communication services. Again, in this case, the waveforms used for sensing and communication can be the same or different. In an example, a first UE may be assigned a first frequency resource set (e.g. frequency range f₀- fi) for either sensing or communications, a second UE may be assigned a second frequency resource set (e.g. frequency range T- f₂) for either sensing or communications, a third UE may be assigned a third frequency resource set (e.g. frequency range f₂- f₃) for either sensing or communications, and so on.

• Spatial division multiplexing: In this method, communication services and sensing services are provided using different beams and/or in different spatial layers within a BWP. In this case, different antenna array configurations for beamforming (in which, for each configuration, the antennas of the antenna array are associated with a different set of phases to direct the beam accordingly) can be employed to provide communication services and sensing services. Once again, in this case, the waveforms used for sensing and communication can be the same or different. In an example, a first UE may be assigned a first spatial layer or beam for either sensing or communications, a second UE may be assigned a second spatial layer or beam for either sensing or communications, a third UE may be assigned a third spatial layer or beam for either sensing or communications, and so on.

It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that sensing technologies may be applied differently for different applications, even within the same cell. For example, object and intruder detection may require a different construction of the sensing signals compared to rainfall monitoring. In other words, by using various properties of the received, reflected signal (i.e. the received echo), various parameters associated with the reflecting object (e.g. the UE or bus in the examples of Figs. 5A to 5F) can be extracted (such as the object velocity, position, spatial range of the object, etc.).

A problem, however, is that a static configuration for sensing services (i.e. one in which time, frequency and/or spatial resources are unusable for communication services due to being statically configured for sensing services) may result in unnecessary and inefficient resource configuration when no sensing services are being used. When a UE is the receiver of the reflected signal (e.g. as in the scenarios of Figs. 5C, 5E or 5F), there is also the problem of how to enable a UE to report measurement(s) of the reflected signal to the network in a timely and efficient way.

ISAC Configurations and Measurement Reporting

Fig. 6 shows a first example signalling flow according to the present technology which allows resources to be configured for a UE depending on whether or not a sensing service is active. This means resources are configured for the sensing service only when necessary. When no sensing service is active, those resources are made available for communication services. This allows more efficient use of communication resources.

The example of Fig. 6 is applied to the TRP-TRP bistatic mode scenario of Fig. 5A. Fig. 6 thus shows UE 512 (which reflects the RF wave) together with gNB1 (an example of the TRP 511 which transmits the sensing RF wave) and gNB2 (an example of TRP 513 which receives the reflected RF wave). Fig. 6 also shows an Application Function (AF) 600. The AF 600 is an example of a Network Function (NF) of the network and is implemented by appropriate hardware and/or software of the network (e.g. a suitably configured processor, memory and computer-readable medium of one or more nodes of the network). In one example, the AF 600 is implemented as part of the core network 20.

At step 601 , the AF 600 configures a sensing service to gNB1 (either directly or via the core network, the core network not being shown in Fig. 6 for simplicity). This procedure is carried out in a similar way to that of Multicast-Broadcast Services (MBS) service configuration, for example. In the sensing service configuration, the AF 600 may include service parameters such as an area scope of the sensing service, a type of device to which the sensing service may be applied (e.g. active and/or passive devices), whether measurement reports are to be marked with a UE ID or Group ID and/or any resource configuration if resources for sensing are centrally managed by the AF 600.

At step 602, gNB1 provides its sensing resource configuration information to gNB2 and, in turn, gNB2 provides its sensing resource configuration information to gNB1. This information also indicates, for example, if gNB2 and gNB1 should act as a receiver for a particular sensing resource configuration.

At step 603, gNB1 provides the UE 512 (which is, in this case, is an active rather than passive device to be detected) with the sensing service configuration. This is done using access stratum (AS) signalling. For example, radio resource control (RRC), medium access control (MAC), radio link control (RCL) and/or physical layer (PHY) signalling may be used. Alternatively, if the core network is involved, then sensing service configuration can be provided to the UE 512 using non-access stratum (NAS) signalling. After step 603, configuration of the sensing service is complete. At a later stage, the AF 600 determines that the sensing service should be started. At step 604, this is therefore indicated (as an instruction) to gNB1 (either directly or via the CN, for example). gNB1 , in turn, indicates to gNB2 (e.g. over the Xn interface) that the sensing service is to be started. In another example, AF 600 may indicate that the sensing service is to be started to both gNB1 and gNB2 (directly or via the CN, for example). It may also indicate the sensing service is to be started to the UE 512 (via the CN and/or RAN, for example).

At step 605, gNB1 then transmits a message to the UE 512 (which, again, is an active rather than passive device to be detected, in this example) to activate the sensing service resources. The sensing signal is also transmitted by gNB1. Sensing service resource activation is needed so that resources are released from use for normal Uu transmission (if they are already being used for Uu data transmission or reception).

In an example, priorto the start of the sensing service, a cell scheduler of gNB1 and gNB2 may use a set of resources including the resources configured for the sensing service for normal data transmission and reception. This improves the spectrum utilisation when no sensing service has yet been started. Once the sensing service has been started, however, the scheduler releases the resources configured for the sensing service (i.e. those used for transmitting the sensing signal and receiving the reflected signal).

In an example, even if the UE 512 is not informed of the sensing service resource configuration at step 603 (and may or may not be actively transmitting or receiving user data), it may still be beneficial to inform the UE when the sensing service is started and stopped. This means that, while the sensing service is active, the UE knows not to decode any received signal and that, instead, the signal is a sensing signal intended to be reflected or a reflected signal intended to be measured. This helps avoid any false interference detection by the UE, for example. This is applicable to the UE 512 when it is a passive (rather than active) object to be detected, for example. It may also be applied to any other UE(s) in the vicinity.

At step 606, the UE 512 reflects the sensing signal transmitted by gNB1. The reflected signal is then detected by gNB2, which performs measurement(s) on the reflected signal.

At step 607, gNB2 informs the AF 600 of the measurement result(s). This helps the AF 600 determine information about the location of the UE 512 (e.g. using the technique(s) described with references to Figs. 4B to 4D, for example).

At a later stage, the AF 600 determines that the sensing service should be stopped. At step 608, this is therefore indicated (as an instruction) to gNB1 . gNB1 , in turn, indicates to gNB2 and the UE 512 (and any other UE(s) in the vicinity) that the sensing service is to be stopped. The sensing service resources can thus once again be used for communication instead of sensing. The AF 600 may also indicate to both gNB1 and gNB2 and/or UE 512 that the sensing service is to be stopped (in similar way(s) as discussed for indicating the sensing service is to be started in step 604, for example).

At step 609, once the sensing service has been stopped, gNB1 and gNB2 once again reconcile their respective resource configurations. This helps ensure there is no mismatch and resources are not unnecessarily reserved for sensing, in particular if more than one sensing service is configured each with a different respective set of sensing service resources.

In an example, the resource allocation update transmitted from gNB1 to gNB2 at step 609 (in response to gNB1 receiving the sensing service stop indication at step 608) indicates which sensing service is to be stopped and/or the set of sensing service resources which no longer need to be used for sensing (and which can thus be used for data communication). This helps ensure that both gNB1 and gNB2 know which configured sensing service resources are currently being used for sensing and which configured sensing service resources are not currently being used for sensing (and can thus be used for communication instead), even if there are multiple sensing services (using different configured sensing service resources) which start and stop at different times.

In an example, sensing service start indication (step 604) and sensing service stop indication (step 608) also indicate which sensing service and/or which set of sensing service resources the start and stop indications refer to.

In the above example, although the UE 512 is a UE which reflects the sensing signal, the UE may also be informed of the sensing service configuration (step 603), informed of the sensing resource activation (step 605) and informed of the sensing resource de-activation (step 608) in the ways described if it is an active UE in another role (such as a transmitter of the sensing signal or receiver of the reflected signal).

Fig. 7 shows a second example signalling flow according to the present technology. The signalling flow of Fig. 7 corresponds to that of Fig. 6 but takes into account the use of CU- DU split architecture. In particular, it is considered that gNB1 511 is connected to DU1 701 A which, in turn, is connected to CU1 702A. Similarly, it is considered that gNB2 513 is connected to DU2 701 B which, in turn, is connected to CU2 702B. Each of steps 601 to 609 in Fig. 6 has a corresponding step 601 ’ to 609’ in Fig. 7.

Some of these steps in Fig. 7 include further sub-steps. For instance, the service configuration of step 601’ includes the transmission of a first service configuration signal from AF 600 to CU1 702A and a second service configuration signal from CU1 702A to DU1 701A. Similarly, the exchange of sensing resource configuration information at step 602’, the service start and stop indications of steps 604’ and 608’, the transfer of measurement(s) at step 607’ and the exchange of resource allocation update information at step 609’ all include the transmission of additional signals between CU1 , CU2, DU1 and/or DU2. Fig. 7 assumes that the service start I stop messages of steps 604’ and 608’ will also activate I deactivate relevant sensing resources in CU2 I DU2 and that the sensing resource activation and sensing signal transmission of step 605’ are combined into one transmission over the Uu interface. However, the present technology is not limited to this. For example, there could be separate message(s) to activate and deactivate resources. This also applies to Fig. 6. For example, gNB1 may be configured to send separate resource activation and/or deactivation messages to gNB2 and the UE 512.

When a UE receives and performs a measurement (or measurements) on a reflected signal, stores this measurement in a buffer (e.g. a new physical layer buffer different from the UE data buffer) and wishes to report this measurement to the network (for example, in the scenarios of Figs. 5C and 5E), it needs to indicate to the network that it has such a measurement available and requires the network to extract the measurement.

In an example, a new logical channel and Scheduling Request (SR) are defined for transmitting measurement(s) of a reflected signal (the measurement(s) being indicated as sensing measurement data). The new SR is configured by the network along with an optional threshold (e.g. a minimum amount of measurement data to be sent before the new SR can be transmitted) and/or priority indicator (e.g. “high” or “low” priority) for the measurement data (e.g. so the measurement data is only sent after higher priority data, e.g. that with a lower latency requirement, has been sent). When the UE has measurement data to transmit (and, if present, the configured threshold and/or priority are satisfied), the UE transmits the measurement data to the network. The new SR is triggered if there are no resources already available to the UE for transmission of the measurement data. In response to the UE transmitting the new SR, the network schedules resources for transmission of the measurement data. The UE then transmits the measurement data using the newly scheduled resources.

In another example, the sensing measurement data is stored in a new buffer at the UE. Once there is measurement data to be transmitted in this buffer, the UE transmits a Buffer Status Report (BSR). In response to the UE transmitting the BSR, the network schedules resources for transmission of the measurement data (with the resources being configured according to the amount of measurement data that needs to be transmitted as indicated in the BSR). The UE then transmits the measurement data using the newly scheduled resources. A threshold and/or priority (e.g. as exemplified above) may again be configured by the network with the BSR so the measurement data is only transmitted when these are satisfied. A new BSR table and/or trigger(s) may be configured for the transmission of the BSR. Alternatively, an existing BSR table and/or trigger(s) (such as those used for Packet Data Unit (PDU) Session or Quality of Service (QoS) Flow related data) may be used.

Fig. 8A shows some example signalling flows between a UE 801 and its serving gNB 802. At step 803, the gNB configures the UE with an SR or BSR for notifying the network that the UE has sensing measurement data to transmit.

Steps 804 and 805 show a first example in which a configured SR is used. At step 804, the UE determines that it has measurement data to transmit but that no resources are available to transmit the measurement data. The UE thus transmits the SR at step 805. The UE may then transmit the measurement data using resources scheduled by the network in response to the SR.

Steps 806 and 807 show a second example in which a configured BSR is used. At step 806, the UE determines that it has measurement data to transmit. This triggers transmission of the BSR at step 807. The UE may then transmit the measurement data using resources scheduled by the network in response to the BSR.

In another example, rather than defining new buffer handling and an associated SR and/or BSR mechanism, the UE stores the sensing measurement data in an internal buffer and reports the measurement data to the network using a suitable RRC procedure. For example, the measurement data may be transmitted as part of UE Assistance Information, as part of an L3 measurement report, as part of L1 measurements reported in a T ransport Block (TB) or as part of a Channel State Information (CSI) report.

The network may configure one or more criteria indicating when the measurement data is to be transmitted (reported) in this way. For example, the network may indicate a threshold for the minimum amount of measurement data above the measurement data should be reported, may indicate a time period for which the measurement data should be periodically reported, may indicate that the measurement data should be reported as soon as it is available (a so-called aperiodic one shot report), may indicate event-triggered periodic reporting (whereby, for example, measurement data is reported periodically but, for a given period, only if the amount of measurement data is above a threshold) and/or may indicate a priority of the measurement data (so the measurement data is only sent after higher priority data, e.g. that with a lower latency requirement, has been sent). The same or similar criteria may also be used for the reporting of the measurement data from the gNB to the AF 600.

In another example, if the UE is in idle or inactive mode (rather than in RRC connected mode, as in the examples above), the measurement may be extracted in a similar way to a Minimization of Drive Test (MDT) measurement. In this case, the UE makes the measurement while in idle or inactive mode, when it moves to connected mode, indicates to the network it has a measurement available. The network then extracts the measurement after UE security has been activated.

The UE may thus make a measurement of a reflected signal when in connected mode or when in idle or inactive mode according to the above examples. Fig. 8B shows an example signalling flow between the UE 801 and its serving gNB 802. At step 808, the gNB configures the UE with the one or more criteria for reporting the measurement data. At step 809, the UE measures the reflected signal and stores the measurement data. At step 810, the UE reports the measurement data in accordance with the configured one or more criteria.

In the above examples, measurement(s) of a reflected signal (which may be performed by the UE and/or the gNB) are sensing measurements and include, for example, one or more of a signal strength of the reflected signal (e.g. Reference Signal Received Power, RSRP) and an angle at which the reflected signal is received.

Fig. 9A shows an example method performed by a wireless telecommunications apparatus (such as UE 512 in the above examples). The method is executed under control of the controller 44 which controls the receiver 48 and transmitter 49, for example.

The method starts at step 901 .

At step 902, the receiver 48 is controlled to receive, from a wireless telecommunications network, a sensing resource configuration (e.g. as exemplified in steps 601 and 601 ’) configuring communication resources for use in sensing.

At step 903, the receiver 48 and/or transmitter 49 are controlled to perform data communication using the configured communication resources. This is acceptable because the sensing service has not yet started.

At step 904, the receiver 48 is controlled to receive, from the wireless telecommunications network, a sensing start signal (e.g. as exemplified in steps 605 and 605’) indicating use of the configured communication resources for sensing is to be started.

At step 905, in response to receiving the sensing start signal, the receiver 48 and/or transmitter 49 are controlled to refrain from using the configuration communication resources for data communication. This is because these resources are now used for the transmission and reception of sensing and reflected signals rather than for data communication.

The method ends at step 906.

The receiver 48 and/or transmitter 49 are controlled to continue to refrain from using the configured communication resources for data communication until a sensing stop signal (e.g. as exemplified in steps 608 and 608’) indicating use of the configured communication resources for sensing is to be stopped is received. In response to receiving the sensing stop signal, the receiver 48 and/or transmitter 49 may once again be controlled to perform data communication using the configured communication resources. Fig. 9B shows an example method performed by a wireless telecommunications apparatus (such as gNB1 511 in the above examples). The method is executed under control of the controller 34 which controls the receiver 32 and transmitter 30, for example.

The method starts at step 907.

At step 908, the transmitter 30 is controlled to transmit, to a second wireless telecommunications apparatus (e.g. UE 512), a sensing resource configuration (e.g. as exemplified in steps 601 and 601 ’) configuring communication resources for use in sensing.

At step 909, the receiver 32 and/or transmitter 30 are controlled to perform data communication using the configured communication resources. This is acceptable because the sensing service has not yet started.

At step 910, the transmitter 30 is controlled to transmit, to the second wireless telecommunications apparatus, a sensing start signal (e.g. as exemplified in steps 605 and 605’) indicating use of the configured communication resources for sensing is to be started.

At step 911 , upon transmitting the sensing start signal, the receiver 32 and/or transmitter 30 are controlled to refrain from using the configuration communication resources for data communication. This is because these resources are now used for the transmission and reception of sensing and reflected signals rather than for data communication.

The method ends at step 912.

The receiver 32 and/or transmitter 30 are controlled to continue to refrain from using the configured communication resources for data communication until a sensing stop signal (e.g. as exemplified in steps 608 and 608’) indicating use of the configured communication resources for sensing is to be stopped is transmitted to the second wireless telecommunications apparatus. Upon transmitting the sensing stop signal, the receiver 32 and/or transmitter 30 may once again be controlled to perform data communication using the configured communication resources.

Example(s) of the present disclosure are defined by the following numbered clauses:

1 . A wireless telecommunications apparatus comprising circuitry configured to: receive, from a wireless telecommunications network, a sensing resource configuration configuring communication resources for use in sensing; perform data communication using the configured communication resources; receive, from the wireless telecommunications network, a sensing start signal indicating use of the configured communication resources for sensing is to be started; and in response to receiving the sensing start signal, refrain from using the configuration communication resources for data communication.

2. A wireless telecommunications apparatus according to clause 1 , wherein the circuitry is configured to: receive a sensing stop signal indicating use of the configured communication resources for sensing is to be stopped; and in response to receiving the sensing stop signal, perform data communication using the configured communication resources.

3. A wireless telecommunications apparatus according to clause 1 or 2, wherein, in response to receiving the sensing start signal, the circuitry is configured to refrain from performing a decoding operation using the configured communication resources.

4. A wireless telecommunications apparatus according to any preceding clause, wherein, in response to receiving the sensing start signal, the circuitry is configured to perform one or more sensing measurements on the configured communication resources.

5. A wireless telecommunications apparatus according to clause 4, wherein the circuitry is configured to report the one or more sensing measurements to the wireless telecommunications network.

6. A wireless telecommunications apparatus according to clause 5, wherein the circuitry is configured to: receive, from the wireless telecommunications network, a configuration indicating one or more criterion for reporting the one or more sensing measurements to the wireless telecommunications network; and report the one or more sensing measurements to the wireless telecommunications network according to the one or more criterion.

7. A wireless telecommunications apparatus according to clause 6, wherein the one or more criteria comprises a threshold for a minimum amount of measurement data to be included in a report.

8. A wireless telecommunications apparatus according to clause 6 or 7, wherein the one or more criteria comprises a priority indicator of the measurement data.

9. A wireless telecommunications apparatus comprising circuitry configured to: transmit a scheduling request to a wireless telecommunications network requesting a grant of communication resources for reporting one or more sensing measurements performed on communication resources configured for use in sensing; in response to transmitting the scheduling request, receive a grant of communication resources; and report the one or more sensing measurements to the wireless telecommunications network using the granted communication resources.

10. A wireless telecommunications apparatus comprising circuitry configured to: transmit a buffer status report to a wireless telecommunications network requesting a grant of communication resources for reporting one or more sensing measurements performed on communication resources configured for use in sensing; in response to transmitting the buffer status report, receive a grant of communication resources; and report the one or more sensing measurements to the wireless telecommunications network using the granted communication resources.

11. A wireless telecommunications apparatus comprising circuitry configured to: transmit, to a second wireless telecommunications apparatus, a sensing resource configuration configuring communication resources for use in sensing; perform data communication using the configured communication resources; transmit, to the second wireless telecommunications apparatus, a sensing start signal indicating use of the configured communication resources for sensing is to be started; and upon transmitting the sensing start signal, refrain from using the configuration communication resources for data communication.

12. A wireless telecommunications apparatus according to clause 11 , wherein the circuitry is configured to: transmit, to the second wireless telecommunications apparatus, a sensing stop signal indicating use of the configured communication resources for sensing is to be stopped; and upon transmitting the sensing stop signal, perform data communication using the configured communication resources.

13. A wireless telecommunications apparatus according to clause 11 or 12, wherein, upon transmitting the sensing start signal, the circuitry is configured to perform one or more sensing measurements on the configured communication resources.

14. A wireless telecommunications apparatus according to any one of clauses 11 to 13, wherein the circuitry is configured to receive, from the second wireless telecommunications apparatus, a report of one or more sensing measurements performed on the configured communication resources by the second wireless telecommunications apparatus.

15. A wireless telecommunications apparatus according to clause 12, wherein the circuitry is configured to: transmit, to the second wireless telecommunications apparatus, a configuration indicating one or more criterion for reporting the one or more sensing measurements to the wireless telecommunications network; and receive the report of the one or more sensing measurements according to the one or more criterion.

16. A wireless telecommunications apparatus according to clause 15, wherein the one or more criteria comprises a threshold for a minimum amount of measurement data to be included in a report.

17. A wireless telecommunications apparatus according to clause 15 or 16, wherein the one or more criteria comprises a priority indicator of the measurement data.

18. A wireless telecommunications apparatus according to any one of clauses 11 to 17, wherein the circuitry is configured to receive an instruction to transmit the sensing resource configuration, sensing start signal and sensing stop signal from an Application Function, AF, of the wireless telecommunications network.

19. A wireless telecommunications apparatus comprising circuitry configured to: receive a scheduling request from a second wireless telecommunications apparatus requesting a grant of communication resources for reporting one or more sensing measurements performed on communication resources configured for use in sensing; in response to receiving the scheduling request, transmit a grant of communication resources to the second wireless telecommunications apparatus; and receive the report of the one or more sensing measurements using the granted communication resources.

20. A wireless telecommunications apparatus comprising circuitry configured to: receive a buffer status report from a second wireless telecommunications apparatus requesting a grant of communication resources for reporting one or more sensing measurements performed on communication resources configured for use in sensing; in response to receiving the buffer status report, transmit a grant of communication resources to the second wireless telecommunications apparatus; and receive the report of the one or more sensing measurements using the granted communication resources.

21 . A method of controlling a wireless telecommunications apparatus, the method comprising controlling the wireless telecommunications apparatus to: receive, from a wireless telecommunications network, a sensing resource configuration configuring communication resources for use in sensing; perform data communication using the configured communication resources; receive, from the wireless telecommunications network, a sensing start signal indicating use of the configured communication resources for sensing is to be started; and in response to receiving the sensing start signal, refrain from using the configuration communication resources for data communication.

22. A program for controlling a computer to perform a method according to clause 21.

23. A computer-readable storage medium storing a program according to clause 22.

24. A method of controlling a wireless telecommunications apparatus, the method comprising controlling the wireless telecommunications apparatus to: transmit a scheduling request to a wireless telecommunications network requesting a grant of communication resources for reporting one or more sensing measurements performed on communication resources configured for use in sensing; in response to transmitting the scheduling request, receive a grant of communication resources; and report the one or more sensing measurements to the wireless telecommunications network using the granted communication resources.

25. A program for controlling a computer to perform a method according to clause 24.

26. A computer-readable storage medium storing a program according to clause 25.

27. A method of controlling a wireless telecommunications apparatus, the method comprising controlling the wireless telecommunications apparatus to: transmit a buffer status report to a wireless telecommunications network requesting a grant of communication resources for reporting one or more sensing measurements performed on communication resources configured for use in sensing; in response to transmitting the buffer status report, receive a grant of communication resources; and report the one or more sensing measurements to the wireless telecommunications network using the granted communication resources.

28. A program for controlling a computer to perform a method according to clause 27.

29. A computer-readable storage medium storing a program according to clause 28.

30. A method of controlling a wireless telecommunications apparatus, the method comprising controlling the wireless telecommunications apparatus to: transmit, to a second wireless telecommunications apparatus, a sensing resource configuration configuring communication resources for use in sensing; perform data communication using the configured communication resources; transmit, to the second wireless telecommunications apparatus, a sensing start signal indicating use of the configured communication resources for sensing is to be started; and upon transmitting the sensing start signal, refrain from using the configuration communication resources for data communication.

31 . A program for controlling a computer to perform a method according to clause 30.

32. A computer-readable storage medium storing a program according to clause 31 .

33. A method of controlling a wireless telecommunications apparatus, the method comprising controlling the wireless telecommunications apparatus to: receive a scheduling request from a second wireless telecommunications apparatus requesting a grant of communication resources for reporting one or more sensing measurements performed on communication resources configured for use in sensing; in response to receiving the scheduling request, transmit a grant of communication resources to the second wireless telecommunications apparatus; and receive the report of the one or more sensing measurements using the granted communication resources.

34. A program for controlling a computer to perform a method according to clause 33.

35. A computer-readable storage medium storing a program according to clause 34.

36. A method of controlling a wireless telecommunications apparatus, the method comprising controlling the wireless telecommunications apparatus to: receive a buffer status report from a second wireless telecommunications apparatus requesting a grant of communication resources for reporting one or more sensing measurements performed on communication resources configured for use in sensing; in response to receiving the buffer status report, transmit a grant of communication resources to the second wireless telecommunications apparatus; and receive the report of the one or more sensing measurements using the granted communication resources.

37. A program for controlling a computer to perform a method according to clause 36.

38. A computer-readable storage medium storing a program according to clause 37. 39. Circuitry for a wireless telecommunications apparatus, the circuitry being configured to: receive, from a wireless telecommunications network, a sensing resource configuration configuring communication resources for use in sensing; perform data communication using the configured communication resources; receive, from the wireless telecommunications network, a sensing start signal indicating use of the configured communication resources for sensing is to be started; and in response to receiving the sensing start signal, refrain from using the configuration communication resources for data communication.

40. Circuitry for a wireless telecommunications apparatus, the circuitry being configured to: transmit a scheduling request to a wireless telecommunications network requesting a grant of communication resources for reporting one or more sensing measurements performed on communication resources configured for use in sensing; in response to transmitting the scheduling request, receive a grant of communication resources; and report the one or more sensing measurements to the wireless telecommunications network using the granted communication resources.

41 . Circuitry for a wireless telecommunications apparatus, the circuitry being configured to: transmit a buffer status report to a wireless telecommunications network requesting a grant of communication resources for reporting one or more sensing measurements performed on communication resources configured for use in sensing; in response to transmitting the buffer status report, receive a grant of communication resources; and report the one or more sensing measurements to the wireless telecommunications network using the granted communication resources.

42. Circuitry for a wireless telecommunications apparatus, the circuitry being configured to: transmit, to a second wireless telecommunications apparatus, a sensing resource configuration configuring communication resources for use in sensing; perform data communication using the configured communication resources; transmit, to the second wireless telecommunications apparatus, a sensing start signal indicating use of the configured communication resources for sensing is to be started; and upon transmitting the sensing start signal, refrain from using the configuration communication resources for data communication.

43. Circuitry for a wireless telecommunications apparatus, the circuitry being configured to: receive a scheduling request from a second wireless telecommunications apparatus requesting a grant of communication resources for reporting one or more sensing measurements performed on communication resources configured for use in sensing; in response to receiving the scheduling request, transmit a grant of communication resources to the second wireless telecommunications apparatus; and receive the report of the one or more sensing measurements using the granted communication resources.

44. Circuitry for a wireless telecommunications apparatus, the circuitry being configured to: receive a buffer status report from a second wireless telecommunications apparatus requesting a grant of communication resources for reporting one or more sensing measurements performed on communication resources configured for use in sensing; in response to receiving the buffer status report, transmit a grant of communication resources to the second wireless telecommunications apparatus; and receive the report of the one or more sensing measurements using the granted communication resources.

Numerous modifications and variations of the present disclosure are possible in light of the above teachings. It is therefore to be understood that, within the scope of the claims, the disclosure may be practiced otherwise than as specifically described herein.

In so far as embodiments of the disclosure have been described as being implemented, at least in part, by one or more software-controlled information processing apparatuses, it will be appreciated that a machine-readable medium (in particular, a non-transitory machine-readable medium) carrying such software, such as an optical disk, a magnetic disk, semiconductor memory or the like, is also considered to represent an embodiment of the present disclosure. In particular, the present disclosure should be understood to include a non-transitory storage medium comprising code components which cause a computer to perform any of the disclosed method(s).

It will be appreciated that the above description for clarity has described embodiments with reference to different functional units, circuitry and/or processors. However, it will be apparent that any suitable distribution of functionality between different functional units, circuitry and/or processors may be used without detracting from the embodiments.

Described embodiments may be implemented in any suitable form including hardware, software, firmware or any combination of these. Described embodiments may optionally be implemented at least partly as computer software running on one or more computer processors (e.g. data processors and/or digital signal processors). The elements and components of any embodiment may be physically, functionally and logically implemented in any suitable way. Indeed, the functionality may be implemented in a single unit, in a plurality of units or as part of other functional units. As such, the disclosed embodiments may be implemented in a single unit or may be physically and functionally distributed between different units, circuitry and/or processors.

Although the present disclosure has been described in connection with some embodiments, it is not intended to be limited to these embodiments. Additionally, although a feature may appear to be described in connection with particular embodiments, one skilled in the art would recognize that various features of the described embodiments may be combined in any manner suitable to implement the present disclosure.

REFERENCES

[1 ] Holma H. and Toskala A, “LTE for UMTS OFDMA and SC-FDMA based radio access”, John Wiley and Sons, 2009.

[2] TR 38.913, “3rd Generation Partnership Project; Technical Specification Group Radio Access Network; Study on Scenarios and Requirements for Next Generation Access Technologies (Release 14)”, 3GPP, v14.3.0, August 2017.

[3] RP-234069, “New SID: Study on channel modelling for Integrated Sensing And Communication (ISAC) for NR”, Nokia, Nokia Shanghai Bell, 3GPP TSG RAN Meeting #102, December 2023.

[4] TR 22.837 V19.2.0 (2023-12), “Feasibility Study on Integrated Sensing and Communication (Release 19)”.

Claims

2. A wireless telecommunications apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the circuitry is configured to: receive a sensing stop signal indicating use of the configured communication resources for sensing is to be stopped; and in response to receiving the sensing stop signal, perform data communication using the configured communication resources.

3. A wireless telecommunications apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein, in response to receiving the sensing start signal, the circuitry is configured to refrain from performing a decoding operation using the configured communication resources.

4. A wireless telecommunications apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein, in response to receiving the sensing start signal, the circuitry is configured to perform one or more sensing measurements on the configured communication resources.

5. A wireless telecommunications apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the circuitry is configured to report the one or more sensing measurements to the wireless telecommunications network.

6. A wireless telecommunications apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the circuitry is configured to: receive, from the wireless telecommunications network, a configuration indicating one or more criterion for reporting the one or more sensing measurements to the wireless telecommunications network; and report the one or more sensing measurements to the wireless telecommunications network according to the one or more criterion.

7. A wireless telecommunications apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the one or more criteria comprises a threshold for a minimum amount of measurement data to be included in a report.

8. A wireless telecommunications apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the one or more criteria comprises a priority indicator of the measurement data.

12. A wireless telecommunications apparatus according to claim 11 , wherein the circuitry is configured to: transmit, to the second wireless telecommunications apparatus, a sensing stop signal indicating use of the configured communication resources for sensing is to be stopped; and upon transmitting the sensing stop signal, perform data communication using the configured communication resources.

13. A wireless telecommunications apparatus according to claim 11 , wherein, upon transmitting the sensing start signal, the circuitry is configured to perform one or more sensing measurements on the configured communication resources.

14. A wireless telecommunications apparatus according to claim 11 , wherein the circuitry is configured to receive, from the second wireless telecommunications apparatus, a report of one or more sensing measurements performed on the configured communication resources by the second wireless telecommunications apparatus.

15. A wireless telecommunications apparatus according to claim 12, wherein the circuitry is configured to: transmit, to the second wireless telecommunications apparatus, a configuration indicating one or more criterion for reporting the one or more sensing measurements to the wireless telecommunications network; and receive the report of the one or more sensing measurements according to the one or more criterion.

16. A wireless telecommunications apparatus according to claim 15, wherein the one or more criteria comprises a threshold for a minimum amount of measurement data to be included in a report.

17. A wireless telecommunications apparatus according to claim 15, wherein the one or more criteria comprises a priority indicator of the measurement data.

18. A wireless telecommunications apparatus according to claim 11 , wherein the circuitry is configured to receive an instruction to transmit the sensing resource configuration, sensing start signal and sensing stop signal from an Application Function, AF, of the wireless telecommunications network.

22. A program for controlling a computer to perform a method according to claim 21.

23. A computer-readable storage medium storing a program according to claim 22.

25. A program for controlling a computer to perform a method according to claim 24.

26. A computer-readable storage medium storing a program according to claim 25.

28. A program for controlling a computer to perform a method according to claim 27.

29. A computer-readable storage medium storing a program according to claim 28.

31 . A program for controlling a computer to perform a method according to claim 30.

32. A computer-readable storage medium storing a program according to claim 31 .

34. A program for controlling a computer to perform a method according to claim 33.

35. A computer-readable storage medium storing a program according to claim 34.

37. A program for controlling a computer to perform a method according to claim 36.

38. A computer-readable storage medium storing a program according to claim 37.

39. Circuitry for a wireless telecommunications apparatus, the circuitry being configured to: receive, from a wireless telecommunications network, a sensing resource configuration configuring communication resources for use in sensing; perform data communication using the configured communication resources; receive, from the wireless telecommunications network, a sensing start signal indicating use of the configured communication resources for sensing is to be started; and in response to receiving the sensing start signal, refrain from using the configuration communication resources for data communication.