WO2025189426A1

WO2025189426A1 - Systems and methods for performing sensing, beam management, channel state information, and positioning

Info

Publication number: WO2025189426A1
Application number: PCT/CN2024/081710
Authority: WO
Inventors: Yu Ngok Li; Chuangxin JIANG; Minqiang ZOU; Junchen Liu; Lun Li
Original assignee: ZTE Corp
Current assignee: ZTE Corp
Priority date: 2024-03-14
Filing date: 2024-03-14
Publication date: 2025-09-18
Anticipated expiration: 2026-09-14

Abstract

Presented are systems and methods for performing sensing, beam management, channel state information, and positioning. A wireless communication node can send a request for feedback based on a reference signal to a second network node. The wireless communication node can receive a response to the request from the second network node. The wireless communication node can receive the feedback based on the reference signal from a wireless communication device or the second network node.

Description

SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR PERFORMING SENSING, BEAM MANAGEMENT, CHANNEL STATE INFORMATION, AND POSITIONING

TECHNICAL FIELD

The disclosure relates generally to wireless communications, including but not limited to systems and methods for performing sensing, beam management, channel state information, and/or positioning.

BACKGROUND

Coverage is a key consideration in cellular network deployments. With the rise of interconnected devices, there is a growing focus on effective device communication. The current 3GPP standards, spanning from 3G to 5G and beyond, focus on the importance of seamless communication among various devices, from smart home devices to wearable devices. In industrial settings, the complexity of tasks often requires collaboration. This calls for several cooperative operational management systems, with the aim of creating workgroups and managing different types of devices to complete the required tasks.

SUMMARY

The example embodiments disclosed herein are directed to solving the issues relating to one or multiple of the problems presented in the prior art, as well as providing additional features that will become readily apparent by reference to the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompany drawings. In accordance with various embodiments, example systems, methods, devices and computer program products are disclosed herein. It is understood, however, that these embodiments are presented by way of example and are not limiting, and it will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art who read the present disclosure that various modifications to the disclosed embodiments can be made while remaining within the scope of this disclosure.

At least one aspect is directed to a system, method, apparatus, or a computer-readable medium. A wireless communication node (e.g., BS) can send/transmit/provide a request for feedback (e.g., CSI feedback, a new physical layer report for beam management, or sensing/positioning results) based on a reference signal (RS) (e.g., sensing/positional RS) to a second network node (e.g., SF or another core network (CN) function) . The wireless communication node can receive/acquire/obtain a response to the request from the second network node. The wireless communication node can receive/acquire/obtain the feedback based on the RS from a wireless communication device (e.g., a UE (as a sensing receiver device) ) or the second network node. In certain implementations, the second network node can include a sensing function (SF) , a location management function (LMF) , a combination of the sensing function and the positioning function, or another function of core network.

In certain implementations, the RS can include at least one of the following: a RS having a usage other than for measurement of channel state information (CSI) ; a RS having a usage other than for beam management; a RS for sensing; a RS for locationing; a RS for beam management; a RS for radio resource management (RRM) ; a RS for tracking; a RS for time or frequency synchronization; and/or a RS of only one port.

In certain implementations, the feedback can include one or more reports from the wireless communication device in physical layer or medium access control (MAC) layer or radio resource control (RRC) layer. In certain implementations, the feedback can include channel state information (CSI) feedback. In certain implementations, the CSI feedback can include a precoding matrix indicator (PMI) . In certain implementations, the CSI feedback can include one or more channel quality indicator (CQI) or reference signal received power (RSRP) values corresponding to the PMI. In certain implementations, the feedback can include at least one of the following: one or more Doppler vectors; one or more Doppler vectors and a corresponding scaling factor matrix; one or more delay vectors; one or more delay vectors and a corresponding scaling factor matrix; one or more Doppler vectors and one or more delay vectors; and/or one or more Doppler vectors, one or more delay vectors, and a corresponding scaling factor matrix.

In certain implementations, a codebook for the feedback can be represented by CB = [F_DFT] [C_F, _T] [T_DFT] , where F_DFT includes one or more selected frequency domain vectors among frequency resource elements (REs) or resource blocks (RBs) or subbands from candidate frequency domain vectors, T_DFT includes one or more selected Doppler domain vectors from candidate Doppler domain vectors, and C_F,T is a matrix for one or more scaling factors of selected vectors. In certain implementations, the RS is the RS of one port.

In certain implementations, the request or response can include at least one of the following: information of the RS including at least one of the following: one or more resource identifiers (IDs) , one or more resource set IDs, an indication of a beam, an indication of a direction, an identifier of a transmit-reception point (TRP) , frequency layer information, or other information about the RS; an indication of one or more measurement result types of reporting; an indication of periodic, semi-persistent or aperiodic type of reporting; and/or time stamp or time duration of measurement results.

In certain implementations, the wireless communication node can determine that/whether the response confirms or allows part or all of the request. In certain implementations, the wireless communication node or the second network node can send/transmit/provide a radio access network (RAN) level measurement request including at least one of the following: a configuration for the RS, or one or more types of reports (e.g., Doppler vectors, Doppler vectors and the corresponding scaling factor matrix, delay vectors, delay vectors and the corresponding scaling factor matrix, Doppler vectors and delay vectors, or Doppler vectors, delay vectors, and corresponding scaling factor matrix) to be included in the feedback to the wireless communication device.

In certain implementations, the second network node can directly perform an authentication or authorization check in response to the request or can request another network node to perform an authentication or authorization check in response to the request. In certain implementations, the one or more measurement result types of reporting, to be included in the feedback, can include an indication of at least one of the following: a frequency vector; a delay vector; a Doppler vector; a reference signal received power (RSRP) ; a path-specific RSRP (RSRPP) ; a reference signal timing difference (RSTD) ; a time of arrival (TOA) ; a user equipment (UE) timing difference between transmission and reception; one or more Doppler measurement results; a channel impulse response (CIR) ; a power delay profile (PDP) ; timing difference between two RS resources within one RS resource set, or between two RS resource sets; and/or a channel correlation property between two RS occasions of a same RS resource or between two RS resource sets.

In certain implementations, the feedback can include at least one of the following: a first part including CIR or PDP or delay profile (DP) information of a first or strongest set of non-zero power paths, and a number of remaining non-zero power paths, and a second part comprising CIR or PDP or DP information of the remaining non-zero power paths; a first part comprising CIR or PDP or DP information of a first set of resources or antennas of a transmission-reception point (TRP) , and a number of remaining resources or antennas, and a second part comprising CIR or PDP or DP information of the remaining resources or antennas; a first part comprising CIR or PDP or DP information of a first slot, and a number of remaining slots, and a second part comprising CIR or PDP or DP information of the remaining slots; and/or a first part comprising CIR or PDP or DP information of a first set of TRPs or frequency layers or component carriers (CCs) , and a second part comprising CIR or PDP or DP information of the remaining TRPs or frequency layers or CCs.

In certain implementations, a first network node (e.g., LMF in solution 1, or SF (first network unit) ) can send/transmit a measurement request or configuration of a RS for at least a first measurement usage (e.g., positioning) to the second network node (e.g., LMSF in solution 1; LMF in solution 2) . In certain implementations, the second network node (e.g., LMSF in solution 1; second network unit (e.g., LMF) in solution 2) can send/transmit one or more measurement requests or configurations of at least one RS for a first measurement usage (e.g., sensing) and a second measurement usage (e.g., positioning) to the wireless communication node or the wireless communication device (e.g., UE) .

In certain implementations, a third network node (e.g., SF in solution 1) can send/transmit a measurement request or configuration of a RS for a second measurement usage (e.g., sensing) to the second network node. In certain implementations, the second network node or the wireless communication node can determine a configuration of a common RS that is common or for both the first measurement usage and the second measurement usage. In certain implementations, the wireless communication node can send/transmit the common RS. In certain implementations, the wireless communication node can report the configuration of the common RS to the second network node. In certain implementations, the second network node can send/transmit the configuration of the common RS to the wireless communication device. In certain implementations, the first measurement usage can correspond to positioning, and the second measurement usage can correspond to sensing.

In certain implementations, the at least one measurement request can be grouped. In certain implementations, each of the at least one measurement request can be associated with a respective RS resource or resource set for a respective measurement usage. In certain implementations, the respective measurement usage can correspond to sensing or positioning. In certain implementations, for each respective RS resource or resource set, a respective measurement request can indicate that a corresponding measurement report unit is to include at least one of the following: Doppler information, timing or path information, a reference signal received power (RSRP) , a path-specific RSRP (RSRPP) , angle information, or at least one range thereof.

In certain implementations, the wireless communication device can send/transmit one or more measurement results to the second network node. In certain implementations, the wireless communication device can indicate one or more associated measurement usages for one or more measurement units of the one or more measurement results. In certain implementations, the second network node can communicate with different network nodes for performing authentication or authorization for sensing function and positioning function, respectively. In certain implementations, the second network node can forward the one or more measurement results to at least one of the first network node or the third network node.

In certain implementations, the request can be a request for a desired portion of sensing or positioning measurement results related to the wireless communication device (e.g., UE) . In certain implementations, the second network node can communicate with another network node to perform an authentication or authorization check in response to the request. In certain implementations, the second network node can send/transmit a response to the request to indicate whether the desired portion of sensing or positioning measurement results can be provided to the wireless communication node. In certain implementations, the second network node or the wireless communication node can send/transmit a message to the wireless communication device to report the desired portion directly to the wireless communication node. In certain implementations, the wireless communication device can report a first part of the desired portion directly to the wireless communication node. In certain implementations, the wireless communication device can report a second part of the desired portion to the second network node.

In certain implementations, the request or the response can include at least one of the following specific to the desired portion of the sensing or positioning measurement results: a resource identifier (ID) ; a resource set ID; a transmit-reception point (TRP) ID; a cell IDS; frequency information; a measurement characteristic; a channel impulse response (CIR) or power delay profile (PDP) or delay profile (DP) ; or channel correlation information between different time occasions.

In certain implementations, the wireless communication node can transmit/send a plurality of sets of assistance information or measurement requests for one RS resource or resource set, each set including a respective indication of at least one of: an expected timing of the RS, or an uncertainty range for different usages to the wireless communication device. In certain implementations, a wireless communication device can receive information from a second network node or a wireless communication node, including at least one of the following: at least one list of candidate frequency domain vectors; at least one list of restricted candidate frequency domain vectors; at least one list of candidate time domain vectors; at least one list of restricted candidate time domain vectors; at least one list of candidate spatial domain vectors; at least one list of restricted candidate spatial domain vectors, or a corresponding timestamp or time duration for at least one list thereof. In certain implementations, the term “restricted” may refer to limitations placed on the candidate frequency domain vectors. The limitations can include, but are not limited to, a predefined frequency/time domain range/restriction/exclusion, a predefined list of approved/selected/chosen vectors based on validity, availability or other parameters, or other considerations such as power limitations or signal robustness, among others.

In certain implementations, the wireless communication node can receive information from a second network node, including at least one of the following: the at least one list of candidate frequency domain vectors; the at least one list of restricted candidate frequency domain vectors; the at least one list of candidate time domain vectors; the at least one list of restricted candidate time domain vectors; the at least one list of candidate spatial domain vectors; or the at least one list of restricted candidate spatial domain vectors, or the corresponding timestamp or time duration of at least one list thereof. In certain implementations, the wireless communication device can send/transmit the information selected from the candidate vectors in the corresponding time stamp or time duration to the second network node. In certain implementations, the wireless communication node can send/transmit codebook configuration information of the wireless communication device to the second network node. In certain implementations, the codebook configuration information can include an indication of at least one of the following: a time, a frequency or time domain vector length, one or more oversampling factors, or an antenna configuration.

In certain implementations, each list of the at least one list can correspond to a respective usage (e.g., CSI feedback, sensing) . In certain implementations, each set of the plurality of sets of oversampling factors can correspond to a respective usage. In certain implementations, each list of the at least one list can correspond to a respective RS resource level or RS resource set level or RS configuration level.

In certain implementations, a second network node (e.g., SF or another core network (CN) function) can receive a request for feedback (e.g., CSI feedback; a new physical layer report for beam management; sensing/positioning results) based on a reference signal (RS) (e.g., sensing/positional RS) from a wireless communication node (e.g., BS) . In certain implementations, the second network node can send/transmit a response to the request to the wireless communication node. In certain implementations, the wireless communication node can receive the feedback based on the RS from a wireless communication device (e.g., UE) or the second network node.

Although the examples provided herein are directed towards integrating the measurement report for sensing, positioning, channel state information (CSI) , and beam management (BM) , the systems and methods of the present disclosure are applicable to various aspects of wireless communication systems. In certain implementations, the system of the technical solution disclosed herein can support integrating measurement reports and requests, reducing latency, and/or optimizing resource usage, according to at least one of the following example configurations (e.g., features or solutions) :

● Example configuration 1: Sending a Request Message from BS to SF/LMF.

● Example configuration 2: Combining the Measurement Request and/or Report from Positioning and Sensing.

● Example configuration 3: Introducing a New Codebook and Codebook Subset Restriction Design.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Various example embodiments of the present solution are described in detail below with reference to the following figures or drawings. The drawings are provided for purposes of illustration only and merely depict example embodiments of the present solution to facilitate the reader’s understanding of the present solution. Therefore, the drawings should not be considered limiting of the breadth, scope, or applicability of the present solution. It should be noted that for clarity and ease of illustration, these drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale.

FIG. 1 illustrates an example cellular communication network in which techniques disclosed herein may be implemented, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 2 illustrates a block diagram of an example base station and a user equipment device, in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 3 illustrates an example arrangement/configuration of a base station based mono-static sensing mode, in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 4 illustrates an example arrangement/configuration of a base station based bi-static sensing mode, in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 5 illustrates an example arrangement/configuration of new radio (NR) positioning, in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 6 illustrates an example arrangement/configuration of an NR positioning reference signal pattern with a single port, in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 7 illustrates an example arrangement/configuration of an NR channel state information-reference signal (CSI-RS) with multi-ports for CSI feedback, in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 8 illustrates an example arrangement/configuration of an NR CSI-RS with a single port for tracking, in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 9 illustrates an example arrangement/configuration of authorization/authentication for particular RS measurement, in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 10 illustrates mapping between frequency domain vectors and a time domain path, in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 11 illustrates an example arrangement/configuration of report measurement results for different network units, in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 12 illustrates an example arrangement/configuration of joint processing for sensing and positioning, in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 13 illustrates an example arrangement/configuration of joint reporting for sensing and positioning, in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 14 illustrates another example arrangement/configuration of joint processing for sensing and positioning, in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 15 illustrates yet another example arrangement/configuration of joint processing for sensing and positioning, in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 16 illustrates an example arrangement/configuration for sensing or positioning to assist communication with low latency, in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure; and

FIG. 17 illustrates a flow diagram of an example method for performing sensing, beam management, channel state information, and/or positioning, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

1. Mobile Communication Technology and Environment

FIG. 1 illustrates an example wireless communication network, and/or system, 100 in which techniques disclosed herein may be implemented, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure. In the following discussion, the wireless communication network 100 may be any wireless network, such as a cellular network or a narrowband Internet of things (NB-IoT) network, and is herein referred to as “network 100. ” Such an example network 100 includes a base station 102 (hereinafter “BS 102” ; also referred to as wireless communication node) and a user equipment device 104 (hereinafter “UE 104” ; also referred to as wireless communication device) that can communicate with each other via a communication link 110 (e.g., a wireless communication channel) , and a cluster of cells 126, 130, 132, 134, 136, 138 and 140 overlaying a geographical area 101. In FIG. 1, the BS 102 and UE 104 are contained within a respective geographic boundary of cell 126. Each of the other cells 130, 132, 134, 136, 138 and 140 may include at least one base station operating at its allocated bandwidth to provide adequate radio coverage to its intended users.

For example, the BS 102 may operate at an allocated channel transmission bandwidth to provide adequate coverage to the UE 104. The BS 102 and the UE 104 may communicate via a downlink radio frame 118, and an uplink radio frame 124 respectively. Each radio frame 118/124 may be further divided into sub-frames 120/127 which may include data symbols 122/128. In the present disclosure, the BS 102 and UE 104 are described herein as non-limiting examples of “communication nodes, ” generally, which can practice the methods disclosed herein. Such communication nodes may be capable of wireless and/or wired communications, in accordance with various embodiments of the present solution.

FIG. 2 illustrates a block diagram of an example wireless communication system 200 for transmitting and receiving wireless communication signals (e.g., OFDM/OFDMA signals) in accordance with some embodiments of the present solution. The system 200 may include components and elements configured to support known or conventional operating features that need not be described in detail herein. In one illustrative embodiment, system 200 can be used to communicate (e.g., transmit and receive) data symbols in a wireless communication environment such as the wireless communication environment 100 of FIG. 1, as described above.

System 200 generally includes a base station 202 (hereinafter “BS 202” ) and a user equipment device 204 (hereinafter “UE 204” ) . The BS 202 includes a BS (base station) transceiver module 210, a BS antenna 212, a BS processor module 214, a BS memory module 216, and a network communication module 218, each module being coupled and interconnected with one another as necessary via a data communication bus 220. The UE 204 includes a UE (user equipment) transceiver module 230, a UE antenna 232, a UE memory module 234, and a UE processor module 236, each module being coupled and interconnected with one another as necessary via a data communication bus 240. The BS 202 communicates with the UE 204 via a communication channel 250, which can be any wireless channel or other medium suitable for transmission of data as described herein.

As would be understood by persons of ordinary skill in the art, system 200 may further include any number of modules other than the modules shown in FIG. 2. Those skilled in the art will understand that the various illustrative blocks, modules, circuits, and processing logic described in connection with the embodiments disclosed herein may be implemented in hardware, computer-readable software, firmware, or any practical combination thereof. To clearly illustrate this interchangeability and compatibility of hardware, firmware, and software, various illustrative components, blocks, modules, circuits, and steps are described generally in terms of their functionality. Whether such functionality is implemented as hardware, firmware, or software can depend upon the particular application and design constraints imposed on the overall system. Those familiar with the concepts described herein may implement such functionality in a suitable manner for each particular application, but such implementation decisions should not be interpreted as limiting the scope of the present disclosure.

In accordance with some embodiments, the UE transceiver 230 may be referred to herein as an “uplink” transceiver 230 that includes a radio frequency (RF) transmitter and a RF receiver each comprising circuitry that is coupled to the antenna 232. A duplex switch (not shown) may alternatively couple the uplink transmitter or receiver to the uplink antenna in time duplex fashion. Similarly, in accordance with some embodiments, the BS transceiver 210 may be referred to herein as a “downlink” transceiver 210 that includes a RF transmitter and a RF receiver each comprising circuity that is coupled to the antenna 212. A downlink duplex switch may alternatively couple the downlink transmitter or receiver to the downlink antenna 212 in time duplex fashion. The operations of the two transceiver modules 210 and 230 may be coordinated in time such that the uplink receiver circuitry is coupled to the uplink antenna 232 for reception of transmissions over the wireless transmission link 250 at the same time that the downlink transmitter is coupled to the downlink antenna 212. Conversely, the operations of the two transceivers 210 and 230 may be coordinated in time such that the downlink receiver is coupled to the downlink antenna 212 for reception of transmissions over the wireless transmission link 250 at the same time that the uplink transmitter is coupled to the uplink antenna 232. In some embodiments, there is close time synchronization with a minimal guard time between changes in duplex direction.

The UE transceiver 230 and the base station transceiver 210 are configured to communicate via the wireless data communication link 250, and cooperate with a suitably configured RF antenna arrangement 212/232 that can support a particular wireless communication protocol and modulation scheme. In some illustrative embodiments, the UE transceiver 210 and the base station transceiver 210 are configured to support industry standards such as the Long Term Evolution (LTE) and emerging 5G standards, and the like. It is understood, however, that the present disclosure is not necessarily limited in application to a particular standard and associated protocols. Rather, the UE transceiver 230 and the base station transceiver 210 may be configured to support alternate, or additional, wireless data communication protocols, including future standards or variations thereof.

In accordance with various embodiments, the BS 202 may be an evolved node B (eNB) , a serving eNB, a target eNB, a femto station, or a pico station, for example. In some embodiments, the UE 204 may be embodied in various types of user devices such as a mobile phone, a smart phone, a personal digital assistant (PDA) , tablet, laptop computer, wearable computing device, etc. The processor modules 214 and 236 may be implemented, or realized, with a general purpose processor, a content addressable memory, a digital signal processor, an application specific integrated circuit, a field programmable gate array, any suitable programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof, designed to perform the functions described herein. In this manner, a processor may be realized as a microprocessor, a controller, a microcontroller, a state machine, or the like. A processor may also be implemented as a combination of computing devices, e.g., a combination of a digital signal processor and a microprocessor, a plurality of microprocessors, one or multiple microprocessors in conjunction with a digital signal processor core, or any other such configuration.

Furthermore, the steps of a method or algorithm described in connection with the embodiments disclosed herein may be embodied directly in hardware, in firmware, in a software module executed by processor modules 214 and 236, respectively, or in any practical combination thereof. The memory modules 216 and 234 may be realized as RAM memory, flash memory, ROM memory, EPROM memory, EEPROM memory, registers, a hard disk, a removable disk, a CD-ROM, or any other form of storage medium known in the art. In this regard, memory modules 216 and 234 may be coupled to the processor modules 210 and 230, respectively, such that the processors modules 210 and 230 can read information from, and write information to, memory modules 216 and 234, respectively. The memory modules 216 and 234 may also be integrated into their respective processor modules 210 and 230. In some embodiments, the memory modules 216 and 234 may each include a cache memory for storing temporary variables or other intermediate information during execution of instructions to be executed by processor modules 210 and 230, respectively. Memory modules 216 and 234 may also each include non-volatile memory for storing instructions to be executed by the processor modules 210 and 230, respectively.

The network communication module 218 generally represents the hardware, software, firmware, processing logic, and/or other components of the base station 202 that enable bi-directional communication between base station transceiver 210 and other network components and communication nodes configured to communicate with the base station 202. For example, network communication module 218 may be configured to support internet or WiMAX traffic. In a typical deployment, without limitation, network communication module 218 provides an 802.3 Ethernet interface such that base station transceiver 210 can communicate with a conventional Ethernet based computer network. In this manner, the network communication module 218 may include a physical interface for connection to the computer network (e.g., Mobile Switching Center (MSC) ) . The terms “configured for, ” “configured to” and conjugations thereof, as used herein with respect to a specified operation or function, refer to a device, component, circuit, structure, machine, signal, etc., that is physically constructed, programmed, formatted and/or arranged to perform the specified operation or function.

The Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) Model (referred to herein as, “open system interconnection model” ) is a conceptual and logical layout that defines network communication used by systems (e.g., wireless communication device, wireless communication node) open to interconnection and communication with other systems. The model is broken into seven subcomponents, or layers, each of which represents a conceptual collection of services provided to the layers above and below it. The OSI Model also defines a logical network and effectively describes computer packet transfer by using different layer protocols. The OSI Model may also be referred to as the seven-layer OSI Model or the seven-layer model. In some embodiments, a first layer may be a physical layer. In some embodiments, a second layer may be a Medium Access Control (MAC) layer. In some embodiments, a third layer may be a Radio Link Control (RLC) layer. In some embodiments, a fourth layer may be a Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) layer. In some embodiments, a fifth layer may be a Radio Resource Control (RRC) layer. In some embodiments, a sixth layer may be a Non-Access Stratum (NAS) layer or an Internet Protocol (IP) layer, and the seventh layer being the other layer.

Various example embodiments of the present solution are described below with reference to the accompanying figures to enable a person of ordinary skill in the art to make and use the present solution. As would be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art, after reading the present disclosure, various changes or modifications to the examples described herein can be made without departing from the scope of the present solution. Thus, the present solution is not limited to the example embodiments and applications described and illustrated herein. Additionally, the specific order or hierarchy of steps in the methods disclosed herein are merely example approaches. Based upon design preferences, the specific order or hierarchy of steps of the disclosed methods or processes can be re-arranged while remaining within the scope of the present solution. Thus, those of ordinary skill in the art will understand that the methods and techniques disclosed herein present various steps or acts in a sample order, and the present solution is not limited to the specific order or hierarchy presented unless expressly stated otherwise.

2. Systems and Methods for Performing Sensing, Beam Management, Channel State Information, and/or Positioning

In 5G-A/6G for instance, incorporation of integrated sensing and communication (ISAC) can be significantly beneficial. The ISAC can provide a sensing function (SF) . In certain implementations, to sense one or more potential targets, a mobile node or device can measure the reflected sensing signal and report the sensing results to a sensing function (SF) . The SF can compute and determine the presence, location, and/or shape of the sensing targets. For each sensing target or sensing environment object, a plurality of paths of reflected sensing signals may be detectable and reported to SF. In certain implementations, the measurement report overhead can be huge/significant or unaffordable for the communication (e.g., 5G-A/6G) system. Additionally, similar measurement results/findings may be reported to other network units (e.g., BS and/or LMF) , and the overlapping report can cause huge/significant overhead. In certain implementations, achieving efficient integration between sensing, positioning, and/or communication remains unclear.

In certain implementations, to lower/reduce costs, reduce power use/consumption, and/or improve/optimize resource efficiency/utilization, integrating communication and sensing into a single/unified system through signal joint design and/or shared hardware can be beneficial/important, as opposed to maintaining separate systems for each function. For example, a wireless communication system (e.g., 5G-A/6G) can transmit wireless signals to target areas or objects, can analyze/process the received reflected wireless signals to obtain corresponding sensing measurement data, and can further provide sensing services to third-party applications. In some implementations, the wireless communication system can aggregate the sensing measurement data from other sensing technologies (such as cameras, radars, etc. ) to jointly provide sensing services.

In certain implementations, wireless sensing can operate similarly to radar, using reflected signals to detect the presence, location, and/or velocity of the sensing target, as illustrated in FIGS. 3 and 4. As shown in FIG. 3, in a mono-static sensing mode, a base station (BS) and/or user equipment (UE) can transmit multiple signal resources for different beams and receive the reflected signals from a strong beam. Additionally, as shown in FIG. 4, in a bi-static sensing mode, a BS and/or UE can transmit multiple signal resources for different beams. Another BS and/or UE can receive the reflected signals and perform sensing measurements in the direction of the strong beam.

In certain implementations, for DL wireless positioning, the UE can receive positioning reference signals from multiple TRPs, e.g., from gNB0 and/or gNB1, as illustrated in FIG. 5, and can report the measurement results to LMF. For UL, the base stations can receive positioning reference signals from the UE and report the measurement results to LMF via LPP signaling. In certain implementations, the measurement results can include, but are not limited to, RSRP/RSRPP, timing of arrival (e.g., TOA, TDOA, Rx-Tx timing difference) , AOA, resource ID (or beam ID) , and/or TRP ID.

In certain implementations, for the high-frequency band, beam sweeping can be used. For example, multiple beams can be transmitted by the transmitter side to get/achieve high beam-forming gain. In certain implementations, a staggered RS pattern for positioning can be adopted/employed/configured in NR, as illustrated in FIG. 6.

In certain implementations, for communication, SSB and/or CSI-RS can be used for beam management, similar to the approach used in beam sweeping for sensing and/or positioning. The serving cell can transmit multiple beams, and the UE can select and/or report one or more best/optimal beam IDs along with the corresponding RSRP. In certain implementations, the measurement results can include, but are not limited to, RSRP, resource ID (or beam ID) , and/or probably TRP ID (or cell ID) .

In certain implementations, for CSI feedback, one or more CSI resources with multiple antenna ports can be configured for UE. The UE can measure the CSI-RS resources and report the CSI information, including RI, PMI, and/or CQI. As illustrated in FIG. 7, eight ports of CSI-RS are for instance used for CSI measurement, where four ports are multiplexed in one CDM group.

In certain implementations, for CSI-RS used for tracking, the UE may not need to report anything, as the use case is configured for tracking, for example, to get/obtain Doppler and delay tracking on the UE side. As illustrated in FIG. 8, NR CSI-RS with a single port for tracking may serve different purposes. The UE can conduct separate measurements for different RS and, if necessary/required, can separately report the measurement results. In some implementations, this may affect system overhead from the RS and/or measurement report perspectives.

In certain implementations, how to utilize sensing/positioning results to assist communication, and vice versa, can still be unclear. For example, sensing results can be reported to the core network, which can be transparent to the BS, causing large/significant latency. However, for communication, resource allocation or scheduling can be done by the BS at the physical layer or MAC layer. In some implementations, it may be challenging for the BS to schedule based on sensing results.

In certain implementations/embodiments, in NR, based on multi-port CSI-RS resources for CSI feedback, the UE can do/perform the measurement and report the CSI via the quantized CSI codebook. In some implementations, the configuration can be useful/beneficial for FDD systems, as the UL and/or DL channels are unsymmetrical. The codebook structure can be as follows:

Where, S_DFT is the spatial domain vectors or selected spatial domain vectors among transmit antenna ports from the candidate spatial domain vectors, F_DFT is the frequency domain vectors or selected frequency domain vectors among frequency Res, RBs, or subbands from the candidate frequency domain vectors, T_DFT is the Doppler domain vectors or selected Doppler domain vectors from the candidate Doppler domain vectors, and C_S, _F, _T (e.g., corresponds to or is analogous to RSRP) is the matrix for scaling factors of the selected three-dimensional vectors.

In certain implementations, based on the aforementioned structure, the UE can provide feedback on the indices of three domain vectors and/or the scaling factors for the C_S, _F, _T matrix. The report overhead can reach or amount to hundreds of bits for example. In some implementations, for Doppler estimation, the periodic CSI-RS can be transmitted for UEs with high speed/frequency, causing a large RS overhead.

In certain implementations, to address overhead issues, a configuration can define CSI feedback based on RS with usage other than CSI measurement. In some implementations, CSI feedback can include PMI. In certain implementations, RS used for functions other than CSI measurement can refer to RS used for other purposes, such as sensing, positioning, beam management, RRM, tracking, or time/frequency synchronization. In certain implementations, RS can be an RS configured for or associated with a single port.

In certain implementations, RS can include/occupy (or extend over) multiple symbols, for example, for sensing RS, positioning RS, tracking RS, and/or time/frequency synchronization. BS or SF can configure the UE to provide feedback via a new CSI report, which includes a new type of PMI. The new type of PMI can include Doppler vectors, Doppler vectors with their corresponding scaling factor matrix, delay vectors, delay vectors with their corresponding scaling factor matrix, Doppler vectors and delay vectors, and/or Doppler vectors, delay vectors, and their corresponding scaling factor matrix. In some implementations, the new codebook structure can be defined as CB = [F_DFT] [C_F, _T] [T_DFT] . With the new CSI feedback based on RS other than CSI-RS for CSI, the BS can get/obtain/receive channel information in the Doppler and/or frequency domain. For traditional CSI-RS, the CSI-RS time periodicity can be configured sparsely since/because the Doppler information can be achieved through other/another type of RS. In some implementations, the CSI-RS frequency domain density can be reduced because the frequency domain information can be achieved/obtained through other/another type of RS. The new CSI feedback can include one or more CQI or RSRP values corresponding to the PMI.

In certain implementations, positioning or sensing services can be triggered/initiated by the core network or UE itself. However, measurement and/or reporting can involve privacy issues. As a result, getting/obtaining authentication or authorization from the core network or the UE can be advisable/useful. In certain implementations, the procedure can follow one or more steps.

In step 1, the BS can send/transmit a request message to SF or another network unit to enable the network to permit/allow the UE to report CSI based on sensing RS. In another case/scenario, the BS can transmit a request message to LMF or another network unit to enable the network to allow/admit/permit the UE to report CSI based on positioning RS. The request message can include at least one of the following elements:

● RS information, e.g., resource IDs, resource set IDs, beam, or direction.

● CSI report types, e.g., Doppler vectors, Doppler vectors with their corresponding scaling factor matrix, delay vectors, delay vectors with their corresponding scaling factor matrix, Doppler vectors and delay vectors, and/or Doppler vectors, delay vectors, and their corresponding scaling factor matrix.

● Reporting type/scheme, e.g., periodicity, semi-persistent, or dynamic.

● Time stamp or time duration, indicating the time at which measurement results are requested.

In step 2, the SF, LMF, or another network unit can perform the authentication and/or authorization check. In step 3, the SF, LMF, or another network unit can transmit a response to the request. In some implementations, if there are no privacy or security issues, the responding entity can confirm the request. Otherwise, the responding entity can reject the request or reject part of the request. For example, the responding entity can allow/enable a portion of the positioning RS resources to be used for physical layer CSI measurement. The response information can include at least one of the following:

● The allowed (e.g., valid/permitted/authorized/available) RS information, e.g., resource IDs, resource set IDs, beam, or direction.

● CSI report types (e.g., that are valid/permitted/authorized/available) , e.g., Doppler vectors, Doppler vectors with their corresponding scaling factor matrix, delay vectors, delay vectors with their corresponding scaling factor matrix, Doppler vectors and delay vectors, and/or Doppler vectors, delay vectors, and their corresponding scaling factor matrix.

● The allowed/permitted reporting type/scheme, e.g., periodicity, semi-persistent, or dynamic.

● The allowed time stamp or time duration, indicating the time at which measurement results are requested.

In step 4, the BS can send/transmit the RAN level request (e.g., the new physical layer measurement request, MAC CE request, or RRC request) for the UE. The new measurement request can include the configuration of positioning RS or sensing RS. The new CSI measurement request information can include, but is not limited to, Doppler vectors, Doppler vectors with their corresponding scaling factor matrix, delay vectors, delay vectors with their corresponding scaling factor matrix, Doppler vectors and delay vectors, and/or Doppler vectors, delay vectors, and their corresponding scaling factor matrix.

Although the purposes of different types of RS vary, there can be some overlap. For example, after receiving a request and confirmation from the SF, LMF, or core network unit, the BS can request that the UE perform a new physical CSI measurement based on sensing RS or positioning RS (PRS) . In certain implementations, the new CSI measurement content can include a subset of the traditional CSI measurement content. For example, the new CSI measurement content can exclude spatial domain vectors. It is to be noted that all the vectors mentioned can be DFT vectors.

In certain implementations/embodiments, for ISAC and positioning, beam sweeping can be performed in high-frequency bands. In some implementations, beam selection or beam management can be included in the positioning or sensing procedure. The purpose can overlap with beam management based on CSI-RS to some extent. To address the overhead issues, one configuration can include defining physical feedback based on RS used for purposes other than CSI measurement or BM management. The RS can refer to the RS used for other purposes, such as sensing, positioning, or tracking. The new type of physical layer feedback can include RS resource set index (es) , RS resource index (es) , RSRP, and/or power.

In certain implementations, positioning or sensing services can be triggered/initiated by the core network or UE itself. However, the measurement and/or reporting may involve privacy issues. As a result, getting/obtaining authentication or authorization from the core network or UE can be advisable/useful. In certain implementations, the procedure can follow one or more steps, as illustrated in FIG. 9.

In step 1, the BS can send/transmit a request message to SF or another network unit to enable the network to permit/allow/admit the UE to report/submit a new physical layer report based on a specific type of RS (e.g., sensing RS) . In another case/scenario, the BS can send/transmit a request message to LMF or another network unit to enable the network to permit/allow/admit the UE to report/submit the new physical layer feedback based on a specific type of RS (e.g., positioning RS) . The request message can include at least one of the following elements:

● The RS configuration information, e.g., resource IDs, resource set IDs, beam, or direction.

● Reporting type/scheme, e.g., periodicity, semi-persistent, or dynamic

In step 2, the SF, LMF, or another network unit can perform the authentication and/or authorization check. In step 3, the SF, LMF, or another network unit can send/transmit a response to the request. In some implementations, if there are no privacy or security issues, the responding entity can confirm the request. Otherwise, the responding entity can reject the request or reject part of the request. For example, the responding entity can allow/enable a portion of positioning RS resources to be used for physical layer CSI measurement. In step 4, the BS can send/transmit the new physical layer measurement request for the UE. The new measurement request can include the configuration of positioning or sensing RS.

In certain implementations/embodiments, a new physical layer measurement can be defined based on sensing RS or positioning RS. The physical layer measurement can include a new CSI measurement, an RSRP-related measurement, or a beam measurement. However, the configuration can increase the UE complexity, as the UE usually does not perform the new measurement based on sensing RS or positioning RS.

● Step 1: The BS can send/transmit the request message to SF or another network unit to get/obtain a set of sensing results, which can mean some, a subset, or all sensing results. In some implementations, the BS can send/transmit the request message to LMF or another network unit to get/obtain a set of positioning results. The request message can include at least one of the following elements:

■ The RS configuration information, e.g., resource IDs, resource set IDs, beam, direction, TRP ID, frequency layer information, etc.

■ The measurement result types, e.g., one or more of RSRP, RSRPP, RSTD, TOA, UE Rx-Tx timing difference, Doppler measurement results, CIR, or PDP.

■ The measurement result types can include the timing difference between two RS resources within one RS resource set or difference between two RS resource sets.

■ The measurement result types can include/cover the channel correlation property between two RS occasions of the same RS resource or between two RS resources. The configuration can reflect the rate of channel variation, which is helpful/useful for BS scheduling, such as increasing UL SRS periodicity if channel remains relatively stable.

■ Reporting type/scheme, e.g., periodicity, semi-persistent, or dynamic.

■ Time stamp or time duration, i.e., indicating the time at which measurement results are requested.

● Step 2: The SF, LMF, or another network unit can perform the authentication and/or authorization check.

● Step 3: The SF, LMF, or another network unit can send/transmit the response to the request. In some implementations, if there are no privacy or security issues, the responding entity can confirm the request. Otherwise, the responding entity can reject the request or reject part of the request. For example, the responding entity can allow/enable a portion of positioning (or other type of) RS resources to be used for physical layer CSI measurement. The response information can include at least one of the following elements:

■ The measurement result types, e.g., one or more of RSRP, RSRPP, RSTD, TOA, UE Rx-Tx timing difference, and/or Doppler measurement results.

■ Reporting type/scheme, e.g., periodicity, semi-persistent, or dynamic.

■ Time stamp or time duration, indicating the time at which measurement results are requested.

● Step 4a: The SF, LMF, or another network unit can send/transmit the allowed results (e.g., allowed sensing results or positioning results) to the BS.

● Step 4b: In some implementations, instead of step 4a, the BS or SF or LMF or another network unit can send a request for the UE. The UE can report the allowed results (e.g., allowed sensing results or positioning results) to the BS via physical layer, MAC signaling, or RRC signaling.

In certain implementations, a BS can send/transmit a request message to get/obtain specific type (s) of results (e.g., positioning results) . The request message can include a TRP ID and/or a PRS resource set ID. After the core network performs the authentication and confirms the request, the BS can schedule the UE to feedback the positioning results of the TRP and/or PRS resource set to the BS.

In certain implementations, a BS can send/transmit a request message to get/obtain other type (s) of results, e.g., sensing results. The request message can include a TRP ID = {2, 3} . However, after the core network performs the authentication procedure and confirms that the sensing results of TRP ID = 2 can be disclosed to the BS, the BS can schedule the UE to feedback the sensing results of TRP ID = 2 via physical layer, MAC signaling, or RRC signaling. In some implementations, the SF can directly forward the sensing results of TRP ID = 2 to the BS. However, since the interaction between the SF and BS may be based on NAS signaling, the latency of the interaction may be too large/significant.

In certain implementations, a BS can send/transmit a request message to get/obtain sensing results. The request message can include a TRP ID = 2 with a duration between time stamp a and time stamp ‘b’. However, after the core network performs the authentication procedure and confirms that the sensing results with a duration between time stamp ‘c’ and time stamp ‘d’ can be disclosed to the BS, the BS can schedule the UE to feedback the sensing results between time stamp ‘c’ and ‘d’ , or a duration even shorter than between ‘c’ and ‘d’ , via physical layer, MAC signaling, or RRC signaling.

In some cases, the measurement result type (e.g., in the new feedback) for sensing or positioning or other usage/purpose can be CIR (channel impulse response) or PDP (power delay profile) information or DP (delay profile) . If UE is configured or scheduled to feedback CIR or PDP or DP to the BS, the CIR or PDP or DP report information can be grouped into at least two parts.

Solution 1:

● Report part 1 can include at least: CIR/PDP/DP information about the first/strongest non-zero power path (e.g., among a plurality of paths that has non-zero power values/metrics) , and the number of all other non-zero power paths.

● Report part 2 can include at least: CIR/PDP/DP information of all other non-zero power paths.

■ Here, CIR for a path can mean/represent/include the amplitude and phase of the path, and PDP for a path can mean/represent/include the amplitude of the path. DP mean/represent/include the time domain sample indices with non-zero power.

Solution 2:

● Report part 1 can include at least: the CIR/PDP/DP of a first resource or antenna (s) of a TRP, and the number of other resources or antennas for CIR/PDP/DP report.

● Report part 2 can include at least: CIR/PDP/DP information of all other resources or antennas of the TRP.

Solution 3:

● Report part 1 can include at least: the CIR/PDP/DP of a first slot, and the number of other slots for CIR/PDP report.

● Report part 2 can include at least: CIR/PDP/DP information of all other slots.

In certain implementations/embodiments, for MIMO, the further enhanced type II codebook in 5G-Acan be shown/represented in formula (1-1) . The following formula (1-2) , which is the same/similar as (1-1) , can also represent it:

Where W1, W_f, and W_d refer to the spatial domain vector, frequency domain vector, and time domain vector, respectively. is the matrix for scaling factors of selected three-dimensional vectors.

In certain implementations, the motivation for MIMO CSI feedback based on the codebook can overlap with sensing or positioning to some extent. As a result, CSI feedback based on the type II codebook can be used for sensing and/or positioning. However, the number of candidates for the frequency domain vectors and time domain vectors can be too large/significant to make the system affordable due to the corresponding UL feedback overhead. As illustrated in FIG. 10, the frequency domain vectors and time domain paths can be associated via one-to-one mapping. For one UE, downlink channel path/delay information can be achieved/obtained based on the positioning/sensing reference signal measurement. In certain implementations, the selection of frequency domain vectors can be based on sensing RS or positioning RS and is not limited to CSI-RS for CSI feedback.

In certain implementations, to save CSI feedback overhead, one configuration/solution can be to provide a list of (e.g., allowed/available/valid/approved) candidate frequency domain vectors or a list of restricted (e.g., unallowed/unavailable/invalid/non-approved) candidate frequency domain vectors. The SF, LMF, or another network unit can provide a list of candidate or restricted candidate frequency domain vectors for a UE to a BS. In some implementations, the LMF, SF, or core network unit can determine the environment scenario, location of the UE, and/or the path/delay information between the UE and the BS.

In certain implementations, for Doppler domain vectors or time domain vectors, the solution/configuration can be to provide a list of candidate time domain vectors or a list of restricted candidate time domain vectors. The SF, LMF, or another network unit may provide a list of candidate or restricted candidate time domain vectors for a UE to a BS. In some implementations, the LMF, SF, or core network unit can determine the environment scenario, location of the UE, and/or the Doppler information between the UE and the BS. In certain implementations, the vector can include spatial domain vectors. In certain implementations, the vectors can be other values or some information related to timing, direction, beam, or Doppler. In certain implementations, the BS can configure the UE with a list of candidate or restricted time and/or frequency domain vectors. For CSI feedback, UE can select one or more time and/or frequency domain vectors from the ones configured.

In certain implementations, AI/ML can be used at the BS and/or the SF, LMF, or another network unit. In some implementations, the network side (e.g., utilizing AI/ML) can predict candidate vectors for future times. As a result, another solution/configuration can include providing a set of candidate or restricted candidate vector lists, where one list in the set corresponds to one time stamp or time duration. The SF, LMF, or another network unit can provide the set of candidate or restricted candidate vector lists for a UE to a BS. In some implementations, the set can be provided from the BS to the UE. In such cases/scenarios, the mentioned vector can include spatial domain vectors. In certain implementations, the time stamp or time duration can refer to the time in the future. The BS or SF/LMF/another network unit may be able to predict the vectors. In certain implementations, the vectors can be replaced by specific values. For example, a list of Doppler values is provided, which may correspond to time domain vectors.

In certain implementations, a vector can represent an index value. For example, a vector index can represent a frequency domain vector. Assuming a total of 64 vectors, the provided candidate or restricted candidate vector lists can include vector indices ranging from 0 to 63. In certain implementations, to save power or reduce the complexity of the BS, the BS can provide the LMF, SF, or another network unit with the codebook configuration information of a UE. The codebook configuration information can include time, frequency/time domain vector length, oversampling factors, the antenna configuration, etc.

In certain implementations, the network can provide a set of candidate or restricted candidate vector lists where different lists in the set correspond to different usages/applications/purposes. For example, one list can be for CSI feedback communication and another for sensing. Additionally, multiple sets of oversampling factors can be configured for the UE. For example, one set of oversampling factors can be for CSI feedback communication and another for sensing. For spatial domain vectors, the oversampling factors can refer to (O₁, O₂) specified in 3GPP TS 38.214. In some implementations, oversampling factors can be introduced/used for frequency domain or time domain vectors.

In certain implementations, different RS resources can be directed to different directions or refer to different beams. In some implementations, the provided candidate or restricted candidate vector list (s) can be configured at the RS resource level or RS resource set level. In some implementations, MAC signaling, e.g., MAC CE signaling, can transmit the configuration from the BS to the UE.

In certain embodiments/implementations, for MIMO, PMI feedback can be based on the measurement multi-port CSI-RS resources. As shown in formula (1-2) , W₁ can include spatial vectors, e.g., DFT vectors used for multiple transmission antenna ports. However, spatial domain vectors are not reported at the UE side. In some implementations, one configuration/solution can be to report spatial domain vectors based on a 1-port RS resource. The vector length can be based on the UE antenna configuration. For example, the vector length can be N/2, where N is the number of UE antennas. As a result, the codebook structure can remain the same as in formula (1-1) or (1-2) , where W_f or W_d may or may not be reported. In some implementations, a new codebook structure is shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, as shown below:

Where W₁ and W₃ are two spatial domain vectors corresponding to multi-port transmit RS resources and multi-antennas at the receiver side, respectively. It is to be noted that W_f or W_d may or may not be reported. For example, a BS can transmit an 8-port CSI-RS resource to a UE with 4 antennas. W₁ includes spatial vectors corresponding to the 8 ports of the CSI-RS resource, indicating that the length of the spatial vector in W₁ can be 8 or 8/2 = 4, where the division 2 is because of cross polarization. W₃ includes spatial vectors corresponding to the 4 receive antennas, indicating that the length of the spatial vector in W₃ is 4 or 4/2 = 4, also due to cross polarization. The aforementioned structure can be beneficial for V2X use cases, where the transmit side can be a UE instead of a BS. W_f can be used for reporting frequency domain vectors, and W_d can be used for Doppler domain or time domain vectors.

In certain implementations/embodiments, the measurement results are to be reported to different network units for different purposes. For example, as illustrated in FIG. 11, the UE can report measurement results to LMF, SF, and/or BS based on the same set of RS resources. Additionally, as illustrated in FIG. 11, the BS can report the measurement results to LMF and/or SF. In some implementations, report overhead can be huge/significant since part of the results reported to different network units can be similar/duplicative.

In certain implementations, for sensing, one or more sensing RS resources can be configured to a UE. Based on the measurement of those resources, the UE can report a plurality of measurement units to SF or BS, where each measurement unit can include at least one of the following metrics: one or more of RSRPP (per path RSRP) or RSRP; one or more of timing information, e.g., timing of arrival (TOA) , timing difference of arrival (TDOA) , or Rx-Tx timing difference; one or more of Doppler information or speed or phase rotation; one or more of angle of arrival (AOA) ; and/or one or more of angle of departure (AOD) .

In certain implementations, for positioning, one or more positioning RS resources can be configured to a UE. Based on the measurement of those resources, the UE can report a plurality of measurement units to LMF or BS, where each measurement unit can include the same or similar metrics. In some implementations, for 6G, a common RS can be designed for sensing and/or positioning to reduce RS transmission overhead.

In such scenarios/cases, to minimize/reduce measurement report overhead, several solutions can be implemented, as shown below:

● Solution 1: Introduce a new network unit called LSMF

Step 1: Assistance Data Configuration

■ LMF (e.g., a third network node) can request or recommend positioning-related reference signal configurations to LSMF, as illustrated in FIG. 12.

■ SF (e.g., a third network node) can request or recommend sensing-related reference signal configurations to LSMF.

■ LSMF (e.g., a second network node) can request or recommend positioning-related reference signal configuration to BSs.

■ BSs can determine the RS configuration that is common for sensing and/or positioning and transmit the common RS.

■ BSs can report the common RS configuration to LSMF.

■ LSMF can inform UE about the common RS configuration.

Step 2: Measurement Request

■ LMF can send/transmit the positioning measurement request to LSMF.

■ SF can send/transmit the sensing measurement request to LSMF.

■ LSMF can send/transmit the location measurement request to UE, considering and balancing (e.g., prioritizing and/or combining) between the LMF and/or SF requests.

○ The measurement request can be for each common RS resource or resource set. The measurement requests can be grouped and associated with different common RS resources or resource sets.

○ The measurement request can include at least one of the following:

◆ One aspect of the measurement function’s usage, whether for sensing or positioning, can be indicated/specified. For example, for each common RS resource or resource set, the measurement request can indicate if it is for sensing, positioning, or both types of measurements.

◆ For a resource or resource set, whether the measurement report unit is to include one or more of the information elements, such as Doppler information, timing/path information, RSRPP, angle, RSRP, or one or more ranges of one or more of the above elements (e.g., one Doppler range can be [0, 20] Hz) .

Step 3: Measurement Report

■ UE can report the measurement results (e.g., via a BS) to LSMF, as illustrated in FIG. 13 for instance.

○ For a measurement unit, the UE can further report whether it is for sensing, positioning, or both.

■ LSMF can interact with another/other network units for authentication and/or authorization for positioning functions and/or sensing functions, respectively.

■ LSMF can split the results and forward the related/relevant/corresponding results to LMF and/or SF, respectively. For example, the measurement results for resource 1 can be reported to LMF, and the measurement results for resource 2 can be reported to SF. In certain implementations and by way of example, for resource 1, the LSMF can report the measurement results of paths 1-10 to LMF and the results of paths 1-5 to the SF. It is to be noted that the results for LMF and SF can be overlapped.

● Solution 2: Coordinate between LMF and SF

Another solution is not to introduce an indeterminate network unit, the LSMF. Instead, one of the core network functions may interface with one or more base stations (e.g., on behalf of an least one other core network function) .

Step 1: Assistance Data Configuration

■ A first network unit or node (e.g., SF, as illustrated on the left side of FIG. 14) can request or recommend sensing-related reference signal configurations to a second network unit or node (e.g., LMF, as illustrated on the left side of FIG. 14) . It is to be noted that the first network unit can transmit the request/recommendation to the second network unit via an intermediate network unit, e.g., AMF. In certain implementations, the roles of the two network units can be swapped/exchanged. For example, the LMF (e.g., the first network unit in this example) can request or recommend position-related reference signal configurations to the SF (e.g., the second network unit in this example) .

■ The second network unit can request or recommend positioning and/or sensing-related reference signal configurations to BSs. The reference signal can be common or shared for sensing and/or positioning.

■ BSs or the second network unit can determine the RS configuration (e.g., of a common RS) , which can be common for and/or used for sensing and/or positioning (as examples) , and can transmit the common RS.

■ BSs can report the common RS configuration to the second network unit.

■ The second network unit can inform UE about the common RS configuration.

Step 2: Measurement Request

■ The first network unit can send/transmit the sensing measurement request to the second network unit. It is to be noted that the first network unit can transmit the request/recommendation to the second network unit via an intermediate network unit, e.g., AMF.

■ The second can send/transmit the location measurement request to UE, considering and balancing for sensing and/or positioning requests.

○ The measurement request can be for each common RS resource or resource set. The measurement requests can be grouped and associated with different common RS resources or resource sets for different purposes /measurement usages.

○ The measurement request can include at least one of the following:

◆ One aspect of the measurement function’s usage, whether for sensing or positioning, can be indicated/specified/configured. For example, for each common RS resource or resource set, the measurement request can indicate if it is for sensing, positioning, or both measurements.

Step 3: Measurement Report

■ UE can report the measurement results to the second network (e.g., SF) unit, as illustrated on the right side of FIG. 14. For a measurement unit, the UE can further report whether it is for sensing, positioning, or both.

■ The second network unit can interact with another/other network unit for authentication or authorization for positioning functions and/or sensing functions, respectively. In some implementations, the first and/or second network units can interact with another/other network unit for authentication or authorization.

■ The second network unit can forward related results to the first network unit (e.g., LMF) . The first network unit can be SF, and the second network unit can be LMF. In some implementations, the first network unit can be LMF, and the second network unit can be SF, as illustrated in FIG. 15.

In certain implementations/embodiments, the UE can directly report the positioning measurement results to the LMF via NAS signaling, as the LMF can be located in the core network. Due to security or privacy issues, the report results can be transparent to gNB, and, as a result, gNB may not be aware of the positioning measurement results. For sensing, a similar procedure may be used, as the SF may also be located in the core network. Since the LMF, SF, or LSMF are located in the core network, the transmission latency between UE and/or the LMF/SF/LSMF can be large/significant.

In certain implementations, multiple steps can be implemented to address latency issues, as illustrated in FIG. 16.

Step 1: Request from BS to LSMF/LMF/SF.

■ BS can send/transmit a request for sensing or positioning measurement results related to a UE. The BS can be the serving cell of the UE. The request can include at least one of the following: resource ID, resource set ID, TRP ID, cell ID, frequency information, measurement characteristic (e.g., including one or more of RSRP, timing, Doppler, and angle) , CIR/PDP, and/or the channel correlation information between different time occasions. In some implementations, with specific request signals, the BS can request partial or interested sensing/positioning results to assist in communication (e.g., BM) or mobility management. For example, the BS can request one TRP’s positioning/sensing results. In certain implementations, the BS can request the RSRP results of some PRS resources of one TRP.

Step 2: LSMF/LMF/SF can interact with another/other network unit for authorization/authentication.

■ LSMF/LMF/SF can interact with other/another network unit for authorization/authentication, e.g., with UDM, to check whether transmitting a portion of sensing/positioning results to the BS is allowed/permitted/configured, indicating the requested sensing results.

Step 3: LSMF/LMF/SF can respond to a request from the BS to inform the BS whether and/or which requested sensing/positioning results can be delivered to the BS.

■ The request can include at least one of the following: resource ID, resource set ID, TRP ID, cell ID, frequency information, measurement characteristic (e.g., including one or more of RSRP, timing, Doppler, angle) , and/or CIR/PDP/DP.

Step 4: LSMF/LMF/SF or BS can request the UE to report some of the sensing/positioning measurement results directly to gNB via RRC signaling, physical layer signaling, MAC signaling, or NAS signaling. As a result, the BS can quickly get/obtain some useful sensing/positioning results from the UE, significantly reducing latency. The report sensing/positioning results can be limited/specific to some TRPs or some RS resources, referred to as result set A’ .

Step 5: UE can report sensing/positioning measurement result set A directly to gNB via RRC signaling, physical layer signaling, MAC signaling, or NAS signaling. As a result, the BS can quickly get some useful sensing/positioning results from the UE, significantly reducing latency. The report sensing/positioning results can be limited to some TRPs or some RS resources, referred to as result set A. In certain implementations, set A can be different from set A’ , as the UE may not be able to get/obtain some results of set A’ .

Step 6: UE can report the sensing/positioning measurement result set B to the LSMF/LMF/SF.

■ One option is that set B includes set A.

■ The other option is that set B does not include set A. In some implementations, BS is to forward the set A results to LSMF/LMF/SF.

In certain implementations/embodiments, for one RS resource or resource set, more than one (e.g., M > 1) set of measurement request signaling or assistance data signaling can be indicated. For example, for one RS configuration, such as the PRS configuration for a TRP, for example a PRS configuration refers to one PRS resource or resource set or PRS configuration or frequency layer, more than one (M > 1) set of assistance data signaling or measurement request signaling can be indicated. For example, each set of assistance data signaling or measurement request signaling can include {RS expected timing, uncertainty} , indicating that the UE can expect to measure/determine the RS at the time of RS expected timing, with an uncertain range of uncertainty. The multiple sets (e.g., M sets) can be for different purposes. For example, one set can be for positioning, and another/other set can be for sensing.

Referring now to FIG. 17, which illustrates a flow diagram of a method 1700 for performing sensing, beam management, channel state information, and/or positioning. The method 1700 may be implemented using any of the components and devices detailed herein in conjunction with FIGS. 1 to 16. In an overview, the method 1700 may include a wireless communication node sending a request for feedback based on a reference signal (RS) (STEP 1702) . The method may include the wireless communication node receiving a response to the request from the second network node (STEP 1704) . The method may include the wireless communication node receiving the feedback based on the RS from the second network or a wireless communication device (STEP 1706) . The method may include the second network node receiving the request for feedback based on RS (STEP 1708) . The method may include the second network node sending the response to the request (STEP 1710) . The method may include the second network node sending the feedback based on the RS (STEP 1712) . The method may include the wireless communication device sending the feedback based on the RS (STEP 1714) .

In certain configurations, a wireless communication node (e.g., BS) can send/transmit/provide a request for feedback (e.g., CSI feedback, a new physical layer report for beam management, or sensing/positioning results) based on a reference signal (RS) (e.g., sensing/positional RS) to a second network node (e.g., SF or another core network (CN) function) (STEP 1702) . In certain configurations, the wireless communication node can receive/acquire/obtain a response to the request from the second network node (STEP 1704) . In certain configurations, the wireless communication node can receive/acquire/obtain the feedback based on the RS from a wireless communication device (e.g., a UE (as a sensing receiver device) ) or the second network node (STEP 1706) . In certain configurations, the second network node can include a sensing function (SF) , a location management function (LMF) , a combination of the sensing function and the positioning function, or another function of core network.

In certain configurations, the RS can include at least one of the following: a RS having a usage other than for measurement of channel state information (CSI) ; a RS having a usage other than for beam management; a RS for sensing; a RS for locationing/positioning; a RS for beam management; a RS for radio resource management (RRM) ; a RS for tracking; a RS for time or frequency synchronization; and/or a RS of only one port.

In certain configurations, the feedback can include one or more reports from the wireless communication device in physical layer or medium access control (MAC) layer or radio resource control (RRC) layer. In certain implementations, the feedback can include channel state information (CSI) feedback. In certain implementations, the CSI feedback can include a precoding matrix indicator (PMI) . In certain implementations, the CSI feedback can include one or more channel quality indicator (CQI) or reference signal received power (RSRP) values corresponding to the PMI. In certain configurations, the feedback can include at least one of the following: one or more Doppler vectors; one or more Doppler vectors and a corresponding scaling factor matrix; one or more delay vectors; one or more delay vectors and a corresponding scaling factor matrix; one or more Doppler vectors and one or more delay vectors; and/or one or more Doppler vectors, one or more delay vectors, and a corresponding scaling factor matrix.

In certain configurations, a codebook for the feedback can be represented by CB = [F_DFT] [C_F, _T] [T_DFT] , where F_DFT includes one or more selected frequency domain vectors among frequency resource elements (Res) or resource blocks (RBs) or subbands from candidate frequency domain vectors, T_DFT includes one or more selected Doppler domain vectors from candidate Doppler domain vectors, and C_F,T is a matrix for one or more scaling factors of selected vectors. In certain implementations, the RS is the RS of one port.

In certain configurations, the request or response can include at least one of the following: information of the RS including at least one of the following: one or more resource identifiers (IDs) , one or more resource set IDs, an indication of a beam, an indication of a direction, an identifier of a transmit-reception point (TRP) , frequency layer information, or other information about the RS; an indication of one or more measurement result types of reporting; an indication of periodic, semi-persistent or aperiodic type of reporting; and/or time stamp or time duration of measurement results.

In certain configurations, the wireless communication node can determine that/whether the response confirms or allows part or all of the request. In certain implementations, the wireless communication node or the second network node can send/transmit/provide a radio access network (RAN) level measurement request including at least one of the following: a configuration for the RS, or one or more types of reports (e.g., Doppler vectors, Doppler vectors and the corresponding scaling factor matrix, delay vectors, delay vectors and the corresponding scaling factor matrix, Doppler vectors and delay vectors, or Doppler vectors, delay vectors, and corresponding scaling factor matrix) to be included in the feedback to the wireless communication device.

In certain configurations, the second network node can directly perform an authentication or authorization check in response to the request or can request another network node to perform an authentication or authorization check in response to the request. In certain configurations, the one or more measurement result types of reporting, to be included in the feedback, can include an indication of at least one of the following: a frequency vector; a delay vector; a Doppler vector; a reference signal received power (RSRP) ; a path-specific RSRP (RSRPP) ; a reference signal timing difference (RSTD) ; a time of arrival (TOA) ; a user equipment (UE) timing difference between transmission and reception; one or more Doppler measurement results; a channel impulse response (CIR) ; a power delay profile (PDP) ; timing difference between two RS resources within one RS resource set, or between two RS resource sets; and/or a channel correlation property between two RS occasions of a same RS resource or between two RS resource sets.

In certain configurations, the feedback can include at least one of the following: a first part including CIR or PDP or delay profile (DP) information of a first or strongest set of non-zero power paths, and a number of remaining non-zero power paths, and a second part comprising CIR or PDP or DP information of the remaining non-zero power paths; a first part comprising CIR or PDP or DP information of a first set of resources or antennas of a transmission-reception point (TRP) , and a number of remaining resources or antennas, and a second part comprising CIR or PDP or DP information of the remaining resources or antennas; a first part comprising CIR or PDP or DP information of a first slot, and a number of remaining slots, and a second part comprising CIR or PDP or DP information of the remaining slots; and/or a first part comprising CIR or PDP or DP information of a first set of TRPs or frequency layers or component carriers (CCs) , and a second part comprising CIR or PDP or DP information of the remaining TRPs or frequency layers or CCs.

In certain configurations, a first network node (e.g., LMF in solution 1, or SF (first network unit) ) can send/transmit a measurement request or configuration of a RS for at least a first measurement usage (e.g., positioning) to the second network node (e.g., LMSF in solution 1; LMF in solution 2) . In certain implementations, the second network node (e.g., LMSF in solution 1; second network unit (e.g., LMF) in solution 2) can send/transmit one or more measurement requests or configurations of at least one RS for a first measurement usage (e.g., sensing) and a second measurement usage (e.g., positioning) to the wireless communication node or the wireless communication device (e.g., UE) .

In certain configurations, a third network node (e.g., SF in solution 1) can send/transmit a measurement request or configuration of a RS for a second measurement usage (e.g., sensing) to the second network node. In certain configurations, the second network node or the wireless communication node can determine a configuration of a common RS that is common or for both the first measurement usage and the second measurement usage. In certain implementations, the wireless communication node can send/transmit the common RS. In certain implementations, the wireless communication node can report the configuration of the common RS to the second network node. In certain implementations, the second network node can send/transmit the configuration of the common RS to the wireless communication device. In certain configurations, the first measurement usage can correspond to positioning, and the second measurement usage can correspond to sensing.

In certain configurations, the at least one measurement request can be grouped. In certain implementations, each of the at least one measurement request can be associated with a respective RS resource or resource set for a respective measurement usage. In certain implementations, the respective measurement usage can correspond to sensing or positioning. In certain implementations, for each respective RS resource or resource set, a respective measurement request can indicate that a corresponding measurement report unit is to include at least one of the following: Doppler information, timing or path information, a reference signal received power (RSRP) , a path-specific RSRP (RSRPP) , angle information, or at least one range thereof.

In certain configurations, the wireless communication device can send/transmit one or more measurement results to the second network node. In certain implementations, the wireless communication device can indicate one or more associated measurement usages for one or more measurement units of the one or more measurement results. In certain implementations, the second network node can communicate with different network nodes for performing authentication or authorization for sensing function and positioning function, respectively. In certain implementations, the second network node can forward the one or more measurement results to at least one of the first network node or the third network node.

In certain configurations, the request can be a request for a desired portion of sensing or positioning measurement results related to the wireless communication device (e.g., UE) . In certain configurations, the second network node can communicate with another network node to perform an authentication or authorization check in response to the request. In certain implementations, the second network node can send/transmit a response to the request to indicate whether the desired portion of sensing or positioning measurement results can be provided to the wireless communication node. In certain implementations, the second network node or the wireless communication node can send/transmit a message to the wireless communication device to report the desired portion directly to the wireless communication node. In certain implementations, the wireless communication device can report a first part of the desired portion directly to the wireless communication node. In certain implementations, the wireless communication device can report a second part of the desired portion to the second network node.

In certain configurations, the request or the response can include at least one of the following specific to the desired portion of the sensing or positioning measurement results: a resource identifier (ID) ; a resource set ID; a transmit-reception point (TRP) ID; a cell IDS; frequency information; a measurement characteristic; a channel impulse response (CIR) or power delay profile (PDP) or delay profile (DP) ; or channel correlation information between different time occasions.

In certain configurations, the wireless communication node can transmit/send a plurality of sets of assistance information or measurement requests for one RS resource or resource set, each set including a respective indication of at least one of: an expected timing of the RS, or an uncertainty range for different usages to the wireless communication device. In certain configurations, a wireless communication device can receive information from a second network node or a wireless communication node, including at least one of the following: at least one list of candidate frequency domain vectors; at least one list of restricted candidate frequency domain vectors; at least one list of candidate time domain vectors; at least one list of restricted candidate time domain vectors; at least one list of candidate spatial domain vectors; at least one list of restricted candidate spatial domain vectors, or a corresponding timestamp or time duration for at least one list thereof. In certain implementations, the term “restricted” may refer to limitations placed on the candidate frequency domain vectors. The limitations can include, but are not limited to, a predefined frequency/time domain range/restriction, a predefined list of approved/selected/chosen vectors that may be based on efficiency or other parameters, or other considerations such as power limitations or signal robustness, among others.

In certain configurations, the wireless communication node can receive information from a second network node, including at least one of the following: the at least one list of candidate frequency domain vectors; the at least one list of restricted candidate frequency domain vectors; the at least one list of candidate time domain vectors; the at least one list of restricted candidate time domain vectors; the at least one list of candidate spatial domain vectors; or the at least one list of restricted candidate spatial domain vectors, or the corresponding timestamp or time duration of at least one list thereof. In certain implementations, the wireless communication device can send/transmit the information selected from the candidate vectors in the corresponding time stamp or time duration to the second network node. In certain implementations, the wireless communication node can send/transmit codebook configuration information of the wireless communication device to the second network node. In certain configurations, the codebook configuration information can include an indication of at least one of the following: a time, a frequency or time domain vector length, one or more oversampling factors, or an antenna configuration.

In certain configurations, each list of the at least one list can correspond to a respective usage (e.g., CSI feedback, sensing) . In certain implementations, each set of the plurality of sets of oversampling factors can correspond to a respective usage. In certain implementations, each list of the at least one list can correspond to a respective RS resource level or RS resource set level or RS configuration level.

At least one aspect is directed to a system, method, apparatus, or a computer-readable medium. In certain configurations, the second network node (e.g., SF or another core network (CN) function) can receive a request for feedback (e.g., CSI feedback; a new physical layer report for beam management; sensing/positioning results) based on a reference signal (RS) (e.g., sensing/positional RS) from the wireless communication node (e.g., BS) (STEP 1708) . In certain implementations, the second network node can send/transmit the response to the request to the wireless communication node (STEP 1710) . In certain implementations, the second network node can send/transmit the feedback based on the RS to the wireless communication node (STEP 1712) . In certain implementations, a wireless communication device (e.g., UE (a sensing receiver device) ) can send/transmit the feedback based on the RS to the wireless communication node (STEP 1714) .

While various embodiments/implementations of the present solution have been described above, it should be understood that they have been presented by way of example only, and not by way of limitation. Likewise, the various diagrams may depict an example architecture or configuration, which are provided to enable persons of ordinary skill in the art to understand example features and functions of the present solution. Such persons would understand, however, that the solution is not restricted to the illustrated example architectures or configurations but can be implemented using a variety of alternative architectures and configurations. Additionally, as would be understood by persons of ordinary skill in the art, one or multiple features of one embodiment/implementation can be combined with one or multiple features of another embodiment/implementation described herein. Thus, the breadth and scope of the present disclosure should not be limited by any of the above-described illustrative embodiments.

It is also understood that any reference to an element herein using a designation such as “first, ” “second, ” and so forth does not generally limit the quantity or order of those elements. Rather, these designations can be used herein as a convenient means of distinguishing between two or more elements or instances of an element. Thus, a reference to first and second elements does not mean that only two elements can be employed, or that the first element must precede the second element in some manner.

Additionally, a person having ordinary skill in the art would understand that information and signals can be represented using any of a variety of different technologies and techniques. For example, data, instructions, commands, information, signals, bits, and symbols, which may be referenced in the above description, can be represented by voltages, currents, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or particles, optical fields or particles, or any combination thereof.

A person of ordinary skill in the art would further appreciate that any of the various illustrative logical blocks, modules, processors, means, circuits, methods and functions described in connection with the aspects disclosed herein can be implemented by electronic hardware (e.g., a digital implementation, an analog implementation, or a combination of the two) , firmware, various forms of program or design code incorporating instructions (which can be referred to herein, for convenience, as “software” or a “software module) , or any combination of these techniques. To clearly illustrate this interchangeability of hardware, firmware and software, various illustrative components, blocks, modules, circuits, and steps have been described above generally in terms of their functionality. Whether such functionality is implemented as hardware, firmware or software, or a combination of these techniques, depends upon the particular application and design constraints imposed on the overall system. Skilled artisans can implement the described functionality in various ways for each particular application, but such implementation decisions do not cause a departure from the scope of the present disclosure.

Furthermore, a person of ordinary skill in the art would understand that various illustrative logical blocks, modules, devices, components, and circuits described herein can be implemented within or performed by an integrated circuit (IC) that can include a general purpose processor, a digital signal processor (DSP) , an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC) , a field programmable gate array (FPGA) or other programmable logic device, or any combination thereof. The logical blocks, modules, and circuits can further include antennas and/or transceivers to communicate with various components within the network or within the device. A general purpose processor can be a microprocessor, but in the alternative, the processor can be any conventional processor, controller, or state machine. A processor can also be implemented as a combination of computing devices, e.g., a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, a plurality of microprocessors, one or multiple microprocessors in conjunction with a DSP core, or any other suitable configuration to perform the functions described herein.

If implemented in software, the functions can be stored as one or multiple instructions or code on a computer-readable medium. Thus, the steps of a method or algorithm disclosed herein can be implemented as software stored on a computer-readable medium. Computer-readable media includes both computer storage media and communication media including any medium that can be enabled to transfer a computer program or code from one place to another. A storage media can be any available media that can be accessed by a computer. By way of example, and not limitation, such computer-readable media can include RAM, ROM, EEPROM, CD-ROM or other optical disk storage, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium that can be used to store desired program code in the form of instructions or data structures and that can be accessed by a computer.

In this document, the term “module” as used herein, refers to software, firmware, hardware, and any combination of these elements for performing the associated functions described herein. Additionally, for purpose of discussion, the various modules are described as discrete modules; however, as would be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art, two or more modules may be combined to form a single module that performs the associated functions according to embodiments of the present solution.

Additionally, memory or other storage, as well as communication components, may be employed in embodiments of the present solution. It will be appreciated that, for clarity purposes, the above description has described embodiments of the present solution with reference to different functional units and processors. However, it will be apparent that any suitable distribution of functionality between different functional units, processing logic elements or domains may be used without detracting from the present solution. For example, functionality illustrated to be performed by separate processing logic elements, or controllers, may be performed by the same processing logic element, or controller. Hence, references to specific functional units are only references to a suitable means for providing the described functionality, rather than indicative of a strict logical or physical structure or organization.

Various modifications to the embodiments described in this disclosure will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and the general principles defined herein can be applied to other embodiments without departing from the scope of this disclosure. Thus, the disclosure is not intended to be limited to the embodiments shown herein but is to be accorded the widest scope consistent with the novel features and principles disclosed herein, as recited in the claims below.

Claims

A method comprising:

sending, by a wireless communication node to a second network node, a request for feedback based on a reference signal (RS) ;

receiving, by the wireless communication node from the second network node, a response to the request; and

receiving, by the wireless communication node from a wireless communication device or the second network node, the feedback based on the RS.
The method of claim 1, wherein the second network node comprises a sensing function (SF) , a location management function (LMF) , a combination of the sensing function and the positioning function, or another function of core network.
The method of claim 1, wherein the RS comprises at least one of:

a RS having a usage other than for measurement of channel state information (CSI) ;

a RS having a usage other than for beam management;

a RS for sensing;

a RS for locationing;

a RS for beam management;

a RS for radio resource management (RRM) ;

a RS for tracking;

a RS for time or frequency synchronization; or

a RS of only one port.
The method of claim 1, wherein at least one of:

the feedback comprises one or more reports from the wireless communication device in physical layer or medium access control (MAC) layer or radio resource control (RRC) layer;

the feedback comprises channel state information (CSI) feedback;

the CSI feedback comprises a precoding matrix indicator (PMI) ; or

the CSI feedback comprises one or more channel quality indicator (CQI) or reference signal received power (RSRP) values corresponding to the PMI.
The method of claim 1, wherein the feedback comprises at least one of:

one or more Doppler vectors;

one or more Doppler vectors and a corresponding scaling factor matrix;

one or more delay vectors;

one or more delay vectors and a corresponding scaling factor matrix;

one or more Doppler vectors and one or more delay vectors; or

one or more Doppler vectors, one or more delay vectors, and a corresponding scaling factor matrix.
The method of claims 1, 4, or 5, wherein a codebook for the feedback is represented by:
CB = [F_DFT] [C_F, T] [T_DFT]

where F_DFT includes one or more selected frequency domain vectors among frequency resource elements (Res) or resource blocks (RBs) or subbands from candidate frequency domain vectors, T_DFT includes one or more selected Doppler domain vectors from candidate Doppler domain vectors, And C_F, T is a matrix for one or more scaling factors of selected vectors,

and wherein the RS is a RS of one port.
The method of claim 1, wherein the request or response comprises at least one of:

information of the RS comprising at least one of: one or more resource identifiers (IDs) , one or more resource set IDs, an indication of a beam, an indication of a direction, an identifier of a transmit-reception point (TRP) , frequency layer information, or other information about the RS;

an indication of one or more measurement result types of reporting;

an indication of periodic, semi-persistent or aperiodic type of reporting; or

time stamp or time duration of measurement results.
The method of claim 1, comprising at least one of:

determining, by the wireless communication node, that the response confirms or allows part or all of the request; or

sending, by the wireless communication node or the second network node to the wireless communication device, a radio access network (RAN) level measurement request comprising at least one of: a configuration for the RS, or one or more types of report to be included in the feedback.
The method of claim 1, wherein the second network node directly performs an authentication or authorization check in response to the request, or requests another network node to perform an authentication or authorization check in response to the request.
The method of claim 7, wherein the one or more measurement result types of reporting, to be included in the feedback, comprises an indication of at least one of:

a frequency vector;

a delay vector;

a Doppler vector;

a reference signal received power (RSRP) ;

a path-specific RSRP (RSRPP) ;

a reference signal timing difference (RSTD) ;

a time of arrival (TOA) ;

a user equipment (UE) timing difference between transmission and reception;

one or more Doppler measurement results;

a channel impulse response (CIR) ;

a power delay profile (PDP) ;

timing difference between two RS resources within one RS resource set, or between two RS resource sets; or

a channel correlation property between two RS occasions of a same RS resource or between two RS resource sets.
The method of claim 10, wherein the feedback includes one of:

a first part comprising CIR or PDP or delay profile (DP) information of a first or strongest set of non-zero power paths, and a number of remaining non-zero power paths, and a second part comprising CIR or PDP or DP information of the remaining non-zero power paths;

a first part comprising CIR or PDP or DP information of a first set of resources or antennas of a transmission-reception point (TRP) , and a number of remaining resources or antennas, and a second part comprising CIR or PDP or DP information of the remaining resources or antennas;

a first part comprising CIR or PDP or DP information of a first slot, and a number of remaining slots, and a second part comprising CIR or PDP or DP information of the remaining slots; or

a first part comprising CIR or PDP or DP information of a first set of TRPs or frequency layers or component carriers (CCs) , and a second part comprising CIR or PDP or DP information of the remaining TRPs or frequency layers or CCs.
The method of claim 1, wherein a first network node sends to the second network node a measurement request or configuration of a RS for at least a first measurement usage.
The method of claim 12, wherein the second network node sends to the wireless communication node or the wireless communication device, one or more measurement requests or configurations of at least one RS for a first measurement usage and a second measurement usage.
The method of claim 12, wherein a third network node sends to the second network node a measurement request or configuration of a RS for a second measurement usage.
The method of claim 13, comprising at least one of:

determining, by the second network node or the wireless communication node, a configuration of a common RS that is common or for both the first measurement usage and the second measurement usage;

sending, by the wireless communication node, the common RS; or

reporting, by the wireless communication node to the second network node, the configuration of the common RS, wherein the second network node sends to the wireless communication device the configuration of the common RS.
The method of claim 15, wherein:

the first measurement usage corresponds to positioning, and the second measurement usage corresponds to sensing.
The method of claim 16, wherein at least one of:

the at least one measurement request is grouped;

each of the at least one measurement request is associated with a respective RS resource or resource set for a respective measurement usage;

the respective measurement usage corresponds to sensing or positioning; or

for each respective RS resource or resource set, a respective measurement request indicates that a corresponding measurement report unit is to include at least one of: Doppler information, timing or path information, a reference signal received power (RSRP) , a path-specific RSRP (RSRPP) , angle information, or at least one range thereof.
The method of claim 15, wherein at least one of:

the wireless communication device sends one or more measurement results to the second network node;

the wireless communication device indicates one or more associated measurement usages for one or more measurement units of the one or more measurement results;

the second network node communicates with different network nodes for performing authentication or authorization for sensing function and positioning function, respectively; or

the second network node forwards the one or more measurement results to at least one of: the first network node or the third network node.
The method of claim 1, wherein the request is a request for a desired portion of sensing or positioning measurement results related to the wireless communication device.
The method of claim 1, wherein at least one of:

the second network node communicates with another network node to perform an authentication or authorization check in response to the request;

the second network node sends a response to the request, to indicate whether desired portion of sensing or positioning measurement results can be provided to the wireless communication node;

the second network node or the wireless communication node sends a message to the wireless communication device to report the desired portion directly to the wireless communication node;

the wireless communication device reports a first part of the desired portion directly to the wireless communication node; or

the wireless communication device reports a second part of the desired portion to the second network node.
The method of claim 19 or 20, wherein the request or the response comprises at least one of following specific to the desired portion of the sensing or positioning measurement results:

a resource identifier (ID) ;

a resource set ID;

a transmit-reception point (TRP) ID;

a cell IDS;

frequency information;

a measurement characteristic;

a channel impulse response (CIR) or power delay profile (PDP) or delay profile (DP) ; or

channel correlation information between different time occasions.
The method of claim 1, comprising:

sending, by the wireless communication node to the wireless communication device, a plurality of sets of assistance information or measurement requests for one RS resource or resource set, each set comprising a respective indication of at least one of: an expected timing of the RS, or an uncertainty range for different usages.
A method, comprising at least one of:

receiving, by a wireless communication device from a second network node or a wireless communication node, information comprising at least one of:

at least one list of candidate frequency domain vectors;

at least one list of restricted candidate frequency domain vectors;

at least one list of candidate time domain vectors;

at least one list of restricted candidate time domain vectors;

at least one list of candidate spatial domain vectors;

at least one list of restricted candidate spatial domain vectors, or

a corresponding timestamp or time duration for at least one list thereof.
The method of claim 23, comprising at least one of:

receiving, by the wireless communication node from a second network node the information comprising at least one of:

the at least one list of candidate frequency domain vectors;

the at least one list of restricted candidate frequency domain vectors;

the at least one list of candidate time domain vectors;

the at least one list of restricted candidate time domain vectors;

the at least one list of candidate spatial domain vectors; or

the at least one list of restricted candidate spatial domain vectors, or

the corresponding timestamp or time duration of at least one list thereof;

sending, by the wireless communication device to the second network node, the information selected from the candidate vectors in corresponding time stamp or time duration; or

sending, by the wireless communication node to the second network node, codebook configuration information of the wireless communication device.
The method of claim 24, wherein the codebook configuration information includes an indication of at least one of: a time, a frequency or time domain vector length, one or more oversampling factors, or an antenna configuration.
The method of claim 23 or 24, wherein at least one of:

each list of the at least one list corresponds to a respective usage;

each set of the plurality of sets of oversampling factors corresponds to a respective usage; or

each list of the at least one list corresponds to a respective RS resource level or RS resource set level or RS configuration level.
A method comprising:

receiving, by a second network node from a wireless communication node, a request for feedback based on a reference signal (RS) ; and

sending, by the second network node to the wireless communication node, a response to the request, wherein the wireless communication node receives from a wireless communication device or the second network node, the feedback based on the RS.
A non-transitory computer readable medium storing instructions, which when executed by at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to perform the method of any one of claims 1 to 27.
An apparatus comprising:

at least one processor configured to implement the method of any one of claims 1 to 27.