WO2025194326A1

WO2025194326A1 - Vertical sensing capability for integrated sensing and communication

Info

Publication number: WO2025194326A1
Application number: PCT/CN2024/082353
Authority: WO
Inventors: Mingxi YIN; Min Huang; Hao Xu
Original assignee: Qualcomm Inc
Current assignee: Qualcomm Inc
Priority date: 2024-03-19
Filing date: 2024-03-19
Publication date: 2025-09-25
Anticipated expiration: 2026-09-19

Abstract

Disclosed are techniques for sensing. In some aspects, an unmanned aerial vehicle user equipment (UAV-UE) may transmit capability information indicating one or more vertical sensing capabilities of the UAV-UE. The UAV-UE may receive configuration information to perform one or more sensing operations within a target height range. The UAV-UE may perform the one or more sensing operations within the target height range. The UAV-UE may transmit a sensing report indicating one or more results of the one or more sensing operations.

Description

VERTICAL SENSING CAPABILITY FOR INTEGRATED SENSING AND COMMUNICATION

BACKGROUND OF THE DISCLOSURE

1. Field of the Disclosure

Aspects of the disclosure relate generally to wireless technologies.

2. Description of the Related Art

Wireless communication systems have developed through various generations, including a first-generation analog wireless phone service (1G) , a second-generation (2G) digital wireless phone service (including interim 2.5G and 2.75G networks) , a third-generation (3G) high speed data, Internet-capable wireless service and a fourth-generation (4G) service (e.g., Long Term Evolution (LTE) or WiMax) . There are presently many different types of wireless communication systems in use, including cellular and personal communications service (PCS) systems. Examples of known cellular systems include the cellular analog advanced mobile phone system (AMPS) , and digital cellular systems based on code division multiple access (CDMA) , frequency division multiple access (FDMA) , time division multiple access (TDMA) , the Global System for Mobile communications (GSM) , etc.

A fifth generation (5G) wireless standard, referred to as New Radio (NR) , enables higher data transfer speeds, greater numbers of connections, and better coverage, among other improvements. The 5G standard, according to the Next Generation Mobile Networks Alliance, is designed to provide higher data rates as compared to previous standards, more accurate positioning (e.g., based on reference signals for positioning (RS-P) , such as downlink, uplink, or sidelink positioning reference signals (PRS) ) , and other technical enhancements. These enhancements, as well as the use of higher frequency bands, advances in PRS processes and technology, and high-density deployments for 5G, enable highly accurate 5G-based positioning.

SUMMARY

The following presents a simplified summary relating to one or more aspects disclosed herein. Thus, the following summary should not be considered an extensive overview relating to all contemplated aspects, nor should the following summary be considered to identify key or critical elements relating to all contemplated aspects or to delineate the scope associated with any particular aspect. Accordingly, the following summary has the sole purpose to present certain concepts relating to one or more aspects relating to the mechanisms disclosed herein in a simplified form to precede the detailed description presented below.

In an aspect, a method at an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle User Equipment (UAV-UE) comprises: transmitting capability information indicating one or more vertical sensing capabilities of the UAV-UE; receiving configuration information to perform one or more sensing operations within a target height range; performing the one or more sensing operations within the target height range; and transmitting a sensing report indicating one or more results of the one or more sensing operations.

In an aspect, a method at a network entity comprises: receiving capability information indicating one or more vertical sensing capabilities of an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle User Equipment (UAV-UE) ; transmitting configuration information to perform one or more sensing operations within one or more target height ranges for the UAV-UE; and receiving one or more sensing reports indicating results of the one or more sensing operations obtained according to the configuration information.

In an aspect, an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle User Equipment (UAV-UE) includes one or more memories; one or more transceivers; and one or more processors communicatively coupled to the one or more memories and the one or more transceivers, the one or more processors, either alone or in combination, configured to: transmit, via the one or more transceivers, capability information indicating one or more vertical sensing capabilities of the UAV-UE; receive, via the one or more transceivers, configuration information to perform one or more sensing operations within a target height range; perform the one or more sensing operations within the target height range; and transmit, via the one or more transceivers, a sensing report indicating one or more results of the one or more sensing operations.

In an aspect, a network entity includes one or more memories; one or more transceivers; and one or more processors communicatively coupled to the one or more memories and the one or more transceivers, the one or more processors, either alone or in combination, configured to: receive, via the one or more transceivers, capability information indicating one or more vertical sensing capabilities of an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle User Equipment (UAV-UE) ; transmit, via the one or more transceivers, configuration information to perform one or more sensing operations within one or more target height ranges for the UAV-UE; and receive, via the one or more transceivers, one or more sensing reports indicating results of the one or more sensing operations obtained according to the configuration information.

In an aspect, an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle User Equipment (UAV-UE) includes means for transmitting capability information indicating one or more vertical sensing capabilities of the UAV-UE; means for receiving configuration information to perform one or more sensing operations within a target height range; means for performing the one or more sensing operations within the target height range; and means for transmitting a sensing report indicating one or more results of the one or more sensing operations.

In an aspect, a network entity includes means for receiving capability information indicating one or more vertical sensing capabilities of an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle User Equipment (UAV-UE) ; means for transmitting configuration information to perform one or more sensing operations within one or more target height ranges for the UAV-UE; and means for receiving one or more sensing reports indicating results of the one or more sensing operations obtained according to the configuration information.

In an aspect, a non-transitory computer-readable medium stores computer-executable instructions that, when executed by an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle User Equipment (UAV-UE) , cause the UAV-UE to: transmit capability information indicating one or more vertical sensing capabilities of the UAV-UE; receive configuration information to perform one or more sensing operations within a target height range; perform the one or more sensing operations within the target height range; and transmit a sensing report indicating one or more results of the one or more sensing operations.

In an aspect, a non-transitory computer-readable medium stores computer-executable instructions that, when executed by a network entity, cause the network entity to: receive capability information indicating one or more vertical sensing capabilities of an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle User Equipment (UAV-UE) ; transmit configuration information to perform one or more sensing operations within one or more target height ranges for the UAV-UE; and receive one or more sensing reports indicating results of the one or more sensing operations obtained according to the configuration information.

Other objects and advantages associated with the aspects disclosed herein will be apparent to those skilled in the art based on the accompanying drawings and detailed description.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings are presented to aid in the description of various aspects of the disclosure and are provided solely for illustration of the aspects and not limitation thereof.

FIG. 1 illustrates an example wireless communications system, according to aspects of the disclosure.

FIGS. 2A, 2B, and 2C illustrate example wireless network structures, according to aspects of the disclosure.

FIGS. 3A, 3B, and 3C are simplified block diagrams of several sample aspects of components that may be employed in a user equipment (UE) , a base station, and a network entity, respectively, and configured to support communications as taught herein.

FIGS. 4A and 4B illustrate different types of wireless sensing, according to aspects of the disclosure.

FIG. 5 represents an example channel estimate of a multipath channel between a receiver device and a transmitter device, according to aspects of the disclosure.

FIG. 6 illustrates an example call flow for an NR-based sensing procedure, according to aspects of the disclosure.

FIG. 7 illustrates an example sensing environment, according to aspects of the disclosure.

FIGS. 8A and 8B illustrate an example sensing environment and an example process to sense one or more target objects, according to aspects of the disclosure.

FIGS. 9A and 9B illustrate an example sensing environment and an example process to sense one or more target objects, according to aspects of the disclosure.

FIGS. 10A and 10B illustrate an example sensing environment and an example process to sense one or more target objects, according to aspects of the disclosure.

FIG. 11A illustrates an example positioning environment for Round Trip Time (RTT) -based positioning, according to aspects of the disclosure.

FIG. 11B illustrates an example positioning environment for Direction of Arrival (DoA) and RTT-based positioning, according to aspects of the disclosure.

FIGS. 12 and 13 illustrate example methods of sensing, according to aspects of the disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Aspects of the disclosure are provided in the following description and related drawings directed to various examples provided for illustration purposes. Alternate aspects may be devised without departing from the scope of the disclosure. Additionally, well-known elements of the disclosure will not be described in detail or will be omitted so as not to obscure the relevant details of the disclosure.

Various aspects relate generally to sensing techniques. Some aspects more specifically relate to vertical sensing capabilities for Unmanned Aerial Vehicle User Equipments (UAV-UEs) . In some examples, a UAV-UE transmits capability information to one or more network entities. The UAV-UE receives configuration information from one or more network entities, and can perform sensing operations according to the configuration information. In some aspects, the capability information is transmitted prior to receiving the configuration information, while in some aspects the capability information is transmitted after receiving the configuration information.

Particular aspects of the subject matter described in this disclosure can be implemented to realize one or more of the following potential advantages. Aspects of the current disclosure enable accurate positioning of target object (s) positioned above ground level. In general, positioning of objects at or near ground level can be accomplished using established positioning techniques. However, in order to perform accurate sensing of objects positioned above ground level, determination of a three-dimensional position of a sensing entity may be challenging. Further, since different UAV-UEs may have different antenna types, the vertical sensing capability of a particular UAV-UE to sense a target object may be constrained by both its height and antenna sensing direction. In some examples, by providing capability information, the described techniques can be used to enable efficient sensing of objects positioned above ground by UAV-UEs capable of performing sensing operations. One or more network entities can provide configuration information to capable UAV-UEs, or provide configuration to UAV-UEs that then perform sensing operations if their vertical sensing capabilities align with the configured sensing.

The words “exemplary” and/or “example” are used herein to mean “serving as an example, instance, or illustration. ” Any aspect described herein as “exemplary” and/or “example” is not necessarily to be construed as preferred or advantageous over other aspects. Likewise, the term “aspects of the disclosure” does not require that all aspects of the disclosure include the discussed feature, advantage or mode of operation.

Those of skill in the art will appreciate that the information and signals described below may be represented using any of a variety of different technologies and techniques. For example, data, instructions, commands, information, signals, bits, symbols, and chips that may be referenced throughout the description below may be represented by voltages, currents, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or particles, optical fields or particles, or any combination thereof, depending in part on the particular application, in part on the desired design, in part on the corresponding technology, etc.

Further, many aspects are described in terms of sequences of actions to be performed by, for example, elements of a computing device. It will be recognized that various actions described herein can be performed by specific circuits (e.g., application specific integrated circuits (ASICs) ) , by program instructions being executed by one or more processors, or by a combination of both. Additionally, the sequence (s) of actions described herein can be considered to be embodied entirely within any form of non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having stored therein a corresponding set of computer instructions that, upon execution, would cause or instruct an associated processor of a device to perform the functionality described herein. Thus, the various aspects of the disclosure may be embodied in a number of different forms, all of which have been contemplated to be within the scope of the claimed subject matter. In addition, for each of the aspects described herein, the corresponding form of any such aspects may be described herein as, for example, “logic configured to” perform the described action.

As used herein, the terms “user equipment” (UE) and “base station” are not intended to be specific or otherwise limited to any particular radio access technology (RAT) , unless otherwise noted. In general, a UE may be any wireless communication device (e.g., a mobile phone, router, tablet computer, laptop computer, consumer asset locating device, wearable (e.g., smartwatch, glasses, augmented reality (AR) /virtual reality (VR) headset, etc. ) , vehicle (e.g., automobile, motorcycle, bicycle, etc. ) , Internet of Things (IoT) device, etc. ) used by a user to communicate over a wireless communications network. A UE may be mobile or may (e.g., at certain times) be stationary, and may communicate with a radio access network (RAN) . As used herein, the term “UE” may be referred to interchangeably as an “access terminal” or “AT, ” a “client device, ” a “wireless device, ” a “subscriber device, ” a “subscriber terminal, ” a “subscriber station, ” a “user terminal” or “UT, ” a “mobile device, ” a “mobile terminal, ” a “mobile station, ” or variations thereof. Generally, UEs can communicate with a core network via a RAN, and through the core network the UEs can be connected with external networks such as the Internet and with other UEs. Of course, other mechanisms of connecting to the core network and/or the Internet are also possible for the UEs, such as over wired access networks, wireless local area network (WLAN) networks (e.g., based on the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 specification, etc. ) and so on.

A base station may operate according to one of several RATs in communication with UEs depending on the network in which it is deployed, and may be alternatively referred to as an access point (AP) , a network node, a NodeB, an evolved NodeB (eNB) , a next generation eNB (ng-eNB) , a New Radio (NR) Node B (also referred to as a gNB or gNodeB) , etc. A base station may be used primarily to support wireless access by UEs, including supporting data, voice, and/or signaling connections for the supported UEs. In some systems a base station may provide purely edge node signaling functions while in other systems it may provide additional control and/or network management functions. A communication link through which UEs can send signals to a base station is called an uplink (UL) channel (e.g., a reverse traffic channel, a reverse control channel, an access channel, etc. ) . A communication link through which the base station can send signals to UEs is called a downlink (DL) or forward link channel (e.g., a paging channel, a control channel, a broadcast channel, a forward traffic channel, etc. ) . As used herein the term traffic channel (TCH) can refer to either an uplink /reverse or downlink /forward traffic channel.

The term “base station” may refer to a single physical transmission-reception point (TRP) or to multiple physical TRPs that may or may not be co-located. For example, where the term “base station” refers to a single physical TRP, the physical TRP may be an antenna of the base station corresponding to a cell (or several cell sectors) of the base station. Where the term “base station” refers to multiple co-located physical TRPs, the physical TRPs may be an array of antennas (e.g., as in a multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) system or where the base station employs beamforming) of the base station. Where the term “base station” refers to multiple non-co-located physical TRPs, the physical TRPs may be a distributed antenna system (DAS) (anetwork of spatially separated antennas connected to a common source via a transport medium) or a remote radio head (RRH) (a remote base station connected to a serving base station) . Alternatively, the non-co-located physical TRPs may be the serving base station receiving the measurement report from the UE and a neighbor base station whose reference radio frequency (RF) signals the UE is measuring. Because a TRP is the point from which a base station transmits and receives wireless signals, as used herein, references to transmission from or reception at a base station are to be understood as referring to a particular TRP of the base station.

In some implementations that support positioning of UEs, a base station may not support wireless access by UEs (e.g., may not support data, voice, and/or signaling connections for UEs) , but may instead transmit reference signals to UEs to be measured by the UEs, and/or may receive and measure signals transmitted by the UEs. Such a base station may be referred to as a positioning beacon (e.g., when transmitting signals to UEs) and/or as a location measurement unit (e.g., when receiving and measuring signals from UEs) .

An “RF signal” comprises an electromagnetic wave of a given frequency that transports information through the space between a transmitter and a receiver. As used herein, a transmitter may transmit a single “RF signal” or multiple “RF signals” to a receiver. However, the receiver may receive multiple “RF signals” corresponding to each transmitted RF signal due to the propagation characteristics of RF signals through multipath channels. The same transmitted RF signal on different paths between the transmitter and receiver may be referred to as a “multipath” RF signal. As used herein, an RF signal may also be referred to as a “wireless signal” or simply a “signal” where it is clear from the context that the term “signal” refers to a wireless signal or an RF signal.

FIG. 1 illustrates an example wireless communications system 100, according to aspects of the disclosure. The wireless communications system 100 (which may also be referred to as a wireless wide area network (WWAN) ) may include various base stations 102 (labeled “BS” ) and various UEs 104. The base stations 102 may include macro cell base stations (high power cellular base stations) and/or small cell base stations (low power cellular base stations) . In some aspects, the macro cell base stations may include eNBs and/or ng-eNBs where the wireless communications system 100 corresponds to an LTE network, or gNBs where the wireless communications system 100 corresponds to a NR network, or a combination of both, and the small cell base stations may include femtocells, picocells, microcells, etc.

The base stations 102 may collectively form a RAN and interface with a core network 170 (e.g., an evolved packet core (EPC) or a 5G core (5GC) ) through backhaul links 122, and through the core network 170 to one or more location servers 172 (e.g., a location management function (LMF) or a secure user plane location (SUPL) location platform (SLP) ) . The location server (s) 172 may be part of core network 170 or may be external to core network 170. A location server 172 may be integrated with a base station 102. A UE 104 may communicate with a location server 172 directly or indirectly. For example, a UE 104 may communicate with a location server 172 via the base station 102 that is currently serving that UE 104. A UE 104 may also communicate with a location server 172 through another path, such as via an application server (not shown) , via another network, such as via a wireless local area network (WLAN) access point (AP) (e.g., AP 150 described below) , and so on. For signaling purposes, communication between a UE 104 and a location server 172 may be represented as an indirect connection (e.g., through the core network 170, etc. ) or a direct connection (e.g., as shown via direct connection 128) , with the intervening nodes (if any) omitted from a signaling diagram for clarity.

In addition to other functions, the base stations 102 may perform functions that relate to one or more of transferring user data, radio channel ciphering and deciphering, integrity protection, header compression, mobility control functions (e.g., handover, dual connectivity) , inter-cell interference coordination, connection setup and release, load balancing, distribution for non-access stratum (NAS) messages, NAS node selection, synchronization, RAN sharing, multimedia broadcast multicast service (MBMS) , subscriber and equipment trace, RAN information management (RIM) , paging, positioning, and delivery of warning messages. The base stations 102 may communicate with each other directly or indirectly (e.g., through the EPC /5GC) over backhaul links 134, which may be wired or wireless.

The base stations 102 may wirelessly communicate with the UEs 104. Each of the base stations 102 may provide communication coverage for a respective geographic coverage area 110. In some aspects, one or more cells may be supported by a base station 102 in each geographic coverage area 110. A “cell” is a logical communication entity used for communication with a base station (e.g., over some frequency resource, referred to as a carrier frequency, component carrier, carrier, band, or the like) , and may be associated with an identifier (e.g., a physical cell identifier (PCI) , an enhanced cell identifier (ECI) , a virtual cell identifier (VCI) , a cell global identifier (CGI) , etc. ) for distinguishing cells operating via the same or a different carrier frequency. In some cases, different cells may be configured according to different protocol types (e.g., machine-type communication (MTC) , narrowband IoT (NB-IoT) , enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB) , or others) that may provide access for different types of UEs. Because a cell is supported by a specific base station, the term “cell” may refer to either or both of the logical communication entity and the base station that supports it, depending on the context. In addition, because a TRP is typically the physical transmission point of a cell, the terms “cell” and “TRP” may be used interchangeably. In some cases, the term “cell” may also refer to a geographic coverage area of a base station (e.g., a sector) , insofar as a carrier frequency can be detected and used for communication within some portion of geographic coverage areas 110.

While neighboring macro cell base station 102 geographic coverage areas 110 may partially overlap (e.g., in a handover region) , some of the geographic coverage areas 110 may be substantially overlapped by a larger geographic coverage area 110. For example, a small cell base station 102' (labeled “SC” for “small cell” ) may have a geographic coverage area 110' that substantially overlaps with the geographic coverage area 110 of one or more macro cell base stations 102. A network that includes both small cell and macro cell base stations may be known as a heterogeneous network. A heterogeneous network may also include home eNBs (HeNBs) , which may provide service to a restricted group known as a closed subscriber group (CSG) .

The communication links 120 between the base stations 102 and the UEs 104 may include uplink (also referred to as reverse link) transmissions from a UE 104 to a base station 102 and/or downlink (DL) (also referred to as forward link) transmissions from a base station 102 to a UE 104. The communication links 120 may use MIMO antenna technology, including spatial multiplexing, beamforming, and/or transmit diversity. The communication links 120 may be through one or more carrier frequencies. Allocation of carriers may be asymmetric with respect to downlink and uplink (e.g., more or less carriers may be allocated for downlink than for uplink) .

The wireless communications system 100 may further include a wireless local area network (WLAN) access point (AP) 150 in communication with WLAN stations (STAs) 152 via communication links 154 in an unlicensed frequency spectrum (e.g., 5 GHz) . When communicating in an unlicensed frequency spectrum, the WLAN STAs 152 and/or the WLAN AP 150 may perform a clear channel assessment (CCA) or listen before talk (LBT) procedure prior to communicating in order to determine whether the channel is available.

The small cell base station 102'may operate in a licensed and/or an unlicensed frequency spectrum. When operating in an unlicensed frequency spectrum, the small cell base station 102'may employ LTE or NR technology and use the same 5 GHz unlicensed frequency spectrum as used by the WLAN AP 150. The small cell base station 102', employing LTE /5G in an unlicensed frequency spectrum, may boost coverage to and/or increase capacity of the access network. NR in unlicensed spectrum may be referred to as NR-U. LTE in an unlicensed spectrum may be referred to as LTE-U, licensed assisted access (LAA) , or

The wireless communications system 100 may further include a millimeter wave (mmW) base station 180 that may operate in mmW frequencies and/or near mmW frequencies in communication with a UE 182. Extremely high frequency (EHF) is part of the RF in the electromagnetic spectrum. EHF has a range of 30 GHz to 300 GHz and a wavelength between 1 millimeter and 10 millimeters. Radio waves in this band may be referred to as a millimeter wave. Near mmW may extend down to a frequency of 3 GHz with a wavelength of 100 millimeters. The super high frequency (SHF) band extends between 3 GHz and 30 GHz, also referred to as centimeter wave. Communications using the mmW/near mmW radio frequency band have high path loss and a relatively short range. The mmW base station 180 and the UE 182 may utilize beamforming (transmit and/or receive) over a mmW communication link 184 to compensate for the extremely high path loss and short range. Further, it will be appreciated that in alternative configurations, one or more base stations 102 may also transmit using mmW or near mmW and beamforming. Accordingly, it will be appreciated that the foregoing illustrations are merely examples and should not be construed to limit the various aspects disclosed herein.

Transmit beamforming is a technique for focusing an RF signal in a specific direction. Traditionally, when a network node (e.g., a base station) broadcasts an RF signal, it broadcasts the signal in all directions (omni-directionally) . With transmit beamforming, the network node determines where a given target device (e.g., a UE) is located (relative to the transmitting network node) and projects a stronger downlink RF signal in that specific direction, thereby providing a faster (in terms of data rate) and stronger RF signal for the receiving device (s) . To change the directionality of the RF signal when transmitting, a network node can control the phase and relative amplitude of the RF signal at each of the one or more transmitters that are broadcasting the RF signal. For example, a network node may use an array of antennas (referred to as a “phased array” or an “antenna array” ) that creates a beam of RF waves that can be “steered” to point in different directions, without actually moving the antennas. Specifically, the RF current from the transmitter is fed to the individual antennas with the correct phase relationship so that the radio waves from the separate antennas add together to increase the radiation in a desired direction, while cancelling to suppress radiation in undesired directions.

Transmit beams may be quasi-co-located, meaning that they appear to the receiver (e.g., a UE) as having the same parameters, regardless of whether or not the transmitting antennas of the network node themselves are physically co-located. In NR, there are four types of quasi-co-location (QCL) relations. Specifically, a QCL relation of a given type means that certain parameters about a second reference RF signal on a second beam can be derived from information about a source reference RF signal on a source beam. Thus, if the source reference RF signal is QCL Type A, the receiver can use the source reference RF signal to estimate the Doppler shift, Doppler spread, average delay, and delay spread of a second reference RF signal transmitted on the same channel. If the source reference RF signal is QCL Type B, the receiver can use the source reference RF signal to estimate the Doppler shift and Doppler spread of a second reference RF signal transmitted on the same channel. If the source reference RF signal is QCL Type C, the receiver can use the source reference RF signal to estimate the Doppler shift and average delay of a second reference RF signal transmitted on the same channel. If the source reference RF signal is QCL Type D, the receiver can use the source reference RF signal to estimate the spatial receive parameter of a second reference RF signal transmitted on the same channel.

In receive beamforming, the receiver uses a receive beam to amplify RF signals detected on a given channel. For example, the receiver can increase the gain setting and/or adjust the phase setting of an array of antennas in a particular direction to amplify (e.g., to increase the gain level of) the RF signals received from that direction. Thus, when a receiver is said to beamform in a certain direction, it means the beam gain in that direction is high relative to the beam gain along other directions, or the beam gain in that direction is the highest compared to the beam gain in that direction of all other receive beams available to the receiver. This results in a stronger received signal strength (e.g., reference signal received power (RSRP) , reference signal received quality (RSRQ) , signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR) , etc. ) of the RF signals received from that direction.

Transmit and receive beams may be spatially related. A spatial relation means that parameters for a second beam (e.g., a transmit or receive beam) for a second reference signal can be derived from information about a first beam (e.g., a receive beam or a transmit beam) for a first reference signal. For example, a UE may use a particular receive beam to receive a reference downlink reference signal (e.g., synchronization signal block (SSB) ) from a base station. The UE can then form a transmit beam for sending an uplink reference signal (e.g., sounding reference signal (SRS) ) to that base station based on the parameters of the receive beam.

Note that a “downlink” beam may be either a transmit beam or a receive beam, depending on the entity forming it. For example, if a base station is forming the downlink beam to transmit a reference signal to a UE, the downlink beam is a transmit beam. If the UE is forming the downlink beam, however, it is a receive beam to receive the downlink reference signal. Similarly, an “uplink” beam may be either a transmit beam or a receive beam, depending on the entity forming it. For example, if a base station is forming the uplink beam, it is an uplink receive beam, and if a UE is forming the uplink beam, it is an uplink transmit beam.

The electromagnetic spectrum is often subdivided, based on frequency/wavelength, into various classes, bands, channels, etc. In 5G NR two initial operating bands have been identified as frequency range designations FR1 (410 MHz –7.125 GHz) and FR2 (24.25 GHz –52.6 GHz) . It should be understood that although a portion of FR1 is greater than 6 GHz, FR1 is often referred to (interchangeably) as a “Sub-6 GHz” band in various documents and articles. A similar nomenclature issue sometimes occurs with regard to FR2, which is often referred to (interchangeably) as a “millimeter wave” band in documents and articles, despite being different from the extremely high frequency (EHF) band (30 GHz –300 GHz) which is identified by the INTERNATIONAL TELECOMMUNICATIONas a “millimeter wave” band.

The frequencies between FR1 and FR2 are often referred to as mid-band frequencies. Recent 5G NR studies have identified an operating band for these mid-band frequencies as frequency range designation FR3 (7.125 GHz –24.25 GHz) . Frequency bands falling within FR3 may inherit FR1 characteristics and/or FR2 characteristics, and thus may effectively extend features of FR1 and/or FR2 into mid-band frequencies. In addition, higher frequency bands are currently being explored to extend 5G NR operation beyond 52.6 GHz. For example, three higher operating bands have been identified as frequency range designations FR4a or FR4-1 (52.6 GHz –71 GHz) , FR4 (52.6 GHz –114.25 GHz) , and FR5 (114.25 GHz –300 GHz) . Each of these higher frequency bands falls within the EHF band.

With the above aspects in mind, unless specifically stated otherwise, it should be understood that the term “sub-6 GHz” or the like if used herein may broadly represent frequencies that may be less than 6 GHz, may be within FR1, or may include mid-band frequencies. Further, unless specifically stated otherwise, it should be understood that the term “millimeter wave” or the like if used herein may broadly represent frequencies that may include mid-band frequencies, may be within FR2, FR4, FR4-a or FR4-1, and/or FR5, or may be within the EHF band.

In a multi-carrier system, such as 5G, one of the carrier frequencies is referred to as the “primary carrier” or “anchor carrier” or “primary serving cell” or “PCell, ” and the remaining carrier frequencies are referred to as “secondary carriers” or “secondary serving cells” or “SCells. ” In carrier aggregation, the anchor carrier is the carrier operating on the primary frequency (e.g., FR1) utilized by a UE 104/182 and the cell in which the UE 104/182 either performs the initial radio resource control (RRC) connection establishment procedure or initiates the RRC connection re-establishment procedure. The primary carrier carries all common and UE-specific control channels, and may be a carrier in a licensed frequency (however, this is not always the case) . A secondary carrier is a carrier operating on a second frequency (e.g., FR2) that may be configured once the RRC connection is established between the UE 104 and the anchor carrier and that may be used to provide additional radio resources. In some cases, the secondary carrier may be a carrier in an unlicensed frequency. The secondary carrier may contain only necessary signaling information and signals, for example, those that are UE-specific may not be present in the secondary carrier, since both primary uplink and downlink carriers are typically UE-specific. This means that different UEs 104/182 in a cell may have different downlink primary carriers. The same is true for the uplink primary carriers. The network is able to change the primary carrier of any UE 104/182 at any time. This is done, for example, to balance the load on different carriers. Because a “serving cell” (whether a PCell or an SCell) corresponds to a carrier frequency /component carrier over which some base station is communicating, the term “cell, ” “serving cell, ” “component carrier, ” “carrier frequency, ” and the like can be used interchangeably.

For example, still referring to FIG. 1, one of the frequencies utilized by the macro cell base stations 102 may be an anchor carrier (or “PCell” ) and other frequencies utilized by the macro cell base stations 102 and/or the mmW base station 180 may be secondary carriers ( “SCells” ) . The simultaneous transmission and/or reception of multiple carriers enables the UE 104/182 to significantly increase its data transmission and/or reception rates. For example, two 20 MHz aggregated carriers in a multi-carrier system would theoretically lead to a two-fold increase in data rate (i.e., 40 MHz) , compared to that attained by a single 20 MHz carrier.

The wireless communications system 100 may further include a UE 164 that may communicate with a macro cell base station 102 over a communication link 120 and/or the mmW base station 180 over a mmW communication link 184. For example, the macro cell base station 102 may support a PCell and one or more SCells for the UE 164 and the mmW base station 180 may support one or more SCells for the UE 164.

In some cases, the UE 164 and the UE 182 may be capable of sidelink communication. Sidelink-capable UEs (SL-UEs) may communicate with base stations 102 over communication links 120 using the Uu interface (i.e., the air interface between a UE and a base station) . SL-UEs (e.g., UE 164, UE 182) may also communicate directly with each other over a wireless sidelink 160 using the PC5 interface (i.e., the air interface between sidelink-capable UEs) . A wireless sidelink (or just “sidelink” ) is an adaptation of the core cellular (e.g., LTE, NR) standard that allows direct communication between two or more UEs without the communication needing to go through a base station. Sidelink communication may be unicast or multicast, and may be used for device-to-device (D2D) media-sharing, vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communication, vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communication (e.g., cellular V2X (cV2X) communication, enhanced V2X (eV2X) communication, etc. ) , emergency rescue applications, etc. One or more of a group of SL-UEs utilizing sidelink communications may be within the geographic coverage area 110 of a base station 102. Other SL-UEs in such a group may be outside the geographic coverage area 110 of a base station 102 or be otherwise unable to receive transmissions from a base station 102. In some cases, groups of SL-UEs communicating via sidelink communications may utilize a one-to-many (1: M) system in which each SL-UE transmits to every other SL-UE in the group. In some cases, a base station 102 facilitates the scheduling of resources for sidelink communications. In other cases, sidelink communications are carried out between SL-UEs without the involvement of a base station 102.

In some aspects, the sidelink 160 may operate over a wireless communication medium of interest, which may be shared with other wireless communications between other vehicles and/or infrastructure access points, as well as other RATs. A “medium” may be composed of one or more time, frequency, and/or space communication resources (e.g., encompassing one or more channels across one or more carriers) associated with wireless communication between one or more transmitter /receiver pairs. In some aspects, the medium of interest may correspond to at least a portion of an unlicensed frequency band shared among various RATs. Although different licensed frequency bands have been reserved for certain communication systems (e.g., by a government entity such as the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in the United States) , these systems, in particular those employing small cell access points, have recently extended operation into unlicensed frequency bands such as the Unlicensed National Information Infrastructure (U-NII) band used by wireless local area network (WLAN) technologies, most notably IEEE 802.11x WLAN technologies generally referred to as “Wi-Fi. ” Example systems of this type include different variants of CDMA systems, TDMA systems, FDMA systems, orthogonal FDMA (OFDMA) systems, single-carrier FDMA (SC-FDMA) systems, and so on.

Note that although FIG. 1 only illustrates two of the UEs as SL-UEs (i.e., UEs 164 and 182) , any of the illustrated UEs may be SL-UEs. Further, although only UE 182 was described as being capable of beamforming, any of the illustrated UEs, including UE 164, may be capable of beamforming. Where SL-UEs are capable of beamforming, they may beamform towards each other (i.e., towards other SL-UEs) , towards other UEs (e.g., UEs 104) , towards base stations (e.g., base stations 102, 180, small cell 102’ , access point 150) , etc. Thus, in some cases, UEs 164 and 182 may utilize beamforming over sidelink 160.

In the example of FIG. 1, any of the illustrated UEs (shown in FIG. 1 as a single UE 104 for simplicity) may receive signals 124 from one or more Earth orbiting space vehicles (SVs) 112 (e.g., satellites) . In some aspects, the SVs 112 may be part of a satellite positioning system that a UE 104 can use as an independent source of location information. A satellite positioning system typically includes a system of transmitters (e.g., SVs 112) positioned to enable receivers (e.g., UEs 104) to determine their location on or above the Earth based, at least in part, on positioning signals (e.g., signals 124) received from the transmitters. Such a transmitter typically transmits a signal marked with a repeating pseudo-random noise (PN) code of a set number of chips. While typically located in SVs 112, transmitters may sometimes be located on ground-based control stations, base stations 102, and/or other UEs 104. A UE 104 may include one or more dedicated receivers specifically designed to receive signals 124 for deriving geo location information from the SVs 112.

In a satellite positioning system, the use of signals 124 can be augmented by various satellite-based augmentation systems (SBAS) that may be associated with or otherwise enabled for use with one or more global and/or regional navigation satellite systems. For example an SBAS may include an augmentation system (s) that provides integrity information, differential corrections, etc., such as the Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS) , the European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service (EGNOS) , the Multi-functional Satellite Augmentation System (MSAS) , the Global Positioning System (GPS) Aided Geo Augmented Navigation or GPS and Geo Augmented Navigation system (GAGAN) , and/or the like. Thus, as used herein, a satellite positioning system may include any combination of one or more global and/or regional navigation satellites associated with such one or more satellite positioning systems.

In some aspects, SVs 112 may additionally or alternatively be part of one or more non-terrestrial networks (NTNs) . In an NTN, an SV 112 is connected to an earth station (also referred to as a ground station, NTN gateway, or gateway) , which in turn is connected to an element in a 5G network, such as a modified base station 102 (without a terrestrial antenna) or a network node in a 5GC. This element would in turn provide access to other elements in the 5G network and ultimately to entities external to the 5G network, such as Internet web servers and other user devices. In that way, a UE 104 may receive communication signals (e.g., signals 124) from an SV 112 instead of, or in addition to, communication signals from a terrestrial base station 102.

The wireless communications system 100 may further include one or more UEs, such as UE 190, that connects indirectly to one or more communication networks via one or more device-to-device (D2D) peer-to-peer (P2P) links (referred to as “sidelinks” ) . In the example of FIG. 1, UE 190 has a D2D P2P link 192 with one of the UEs 104 connected to one of the base stations 102 (e.g., through which UE 190 may indirectly obtain cellular connectivity) and a D2D P2P link 194 with WLAN STA 152 connected to the WLAN AP 150 (through which UE 190 may indirectly obtain WLAN-based Internet connectivity) . In an example, the D2D P2P links 192 and 194 may be supported with any well-known D2D RAT, such as LTE Direct (LTE-D) , WI-FI and so on.

FIG. 2A illustrates an example wireless network structure 200. For example, a 5GC 210 (also referred to as a Next Generation Core (NGC) ) can be viewed functionally as control plane (C-plane) functions 214 (e.g., UE registration, authentication, network access, gateway selection, etc. ) and user plane (U-plane) functions 212, (e.g., UE gateway function, access to data networks, IP routing, etc. ) which operate cooperatively to form the core network. User plane interface (NG-U) 213 and control plane interface (NG-C) 215 connect the gNB 222 to the 5GC 210 and specifically to the user plane functions 212 and control plane functions 214, respectively. In an additional configuration, an ng-eNB 224 may also be connected to the 5GC 210 via NG-C 215 to the control plane functions 214 and NG-U 213 to user plane functions 212. Further, ng-eNB 224 may directly communicate with gNB 222 via a backhaul connection 223. In some configurations, a Next Generation RAN (NG-RAN) 220 may have one or more gNBs 222, while other configurations include one or more of both ng-eNBs 224 and gNBs 222. Either (or both) gNB 222 or ng-eNB 224 may communicate with one or more UEs 204 (e.g., any of the UEs described herein) .

Another optional aspect may include a location server 230, which may be in communication with the 5GC 210 to provide location assistance for UE (s) 204. The location server 230 can be implemented as a plurality of separate servers (e.g., physically separate servers, different software modules on a single server, different software modules spread across multiple physical servers, etc. ) , or alternately may each correspond to a single server. The location server 230 can be configured to support one or more location services for UEs 204 that can connect to the location server 230 via the core network, 5GC 210, and/or via the Internet (not illustrated) . Further, the location server 230 may be integrated into a component of the core network, or alternatively may be external to the core network (e.g., a third party server, such as an original equipment manufacturer (OEM) server or service server) .

FIG. 2B illustrates another example wireless network structure 240. A 5GC 260 (which may correspond to 5GC 210 in FIG. 2A) can be viewed functionally as control plane functions, provided by an access and mobility management function (AMF) 264, and user plane functions, provided by a user plane function (UPF) 262, which operate cooperatively to form the core network (i.e., 5GC 260) . The functions of the AMF 264 include registration management, connection management, reachability management, mobility management, lawful interception, transport for session management (SM) messages between one or more UEs 204 (e.g., any of the UEs described herein) and a session management function (SMF) 266, transparent proxy services for routing SM messages, access authentication and access authorization, transport for short message service (SMS) messages between the UE 204 and the short message service function (SMSF) (not shown) , and security anchor functionality (SEAF) . The AMF 264 also interacts with an authentication server function (AUSF) (not shown) and the UE 204, and receives the intermediate key that was established as a result of the UE 204 authentication process. In the case of authentication based on a UMTS (universal mobile telecommunications system) subscriber identity module (USIM) , the AMF 264 retrieves the security material from the AUSF. The functions of the AMF 264 also include security context management (SCM) . The SCM receives a key from the SEAF that it uses to derive access-network specific keys. The functionality of the AMF 264 also includes location services management for regulatory services, transport for location services messages between the UE 204 and a location management function (LMF) 270 (which acts as a location server 230) , transport for location services messages between the NG-RAN 220 and the LMF 270, evolved packet system (EPS) bearer identifier allocation for interworking with the EPS, and UE 204 mobility event notification. In addition, the AMF 264 also supports functionalities for (Third Generation Partnership Project) access networks.

Functions of the UPF 262 include acting as an anchor point for intra/inter-RAT mobility (when applicable) , acting as an external protocol data unit (PDU) session point of interconnect to a data network (not shown) , providing packet routing and forwarding, packet inspection, user plane policy rule enforcement (e.g., gating, redirection, traffic steering) , lawful interception (user plane collection) , traffic usage reporting, quality of service (QoS) handling for the user plane (e.g., uplink/downlink rate enforcement, reflective QoS marking in the downlink) , uplink traffic verification (service data flow (SDF) to QoS flow mapping) , transport level packet marking in the uplink and downlink, downlink packet buffering and downlink data notification triggering, and sending and forwarding of one or more “end markers” to the source RAN node. The UPF 262 may also support transfer of location services messages over a user plane between the UE 204 and a location server, such as an SLP 272.

The functions of the SMF 266 include session management, UE Internet protocol (IP) address allocation and management, selection and control of user plane functions, configuration of traffic steering at the UPF 262 to route traffic to the proper destination, control of part of policy enforcement and QoS, and downlink data notification. The interface over which the SMF 266 communicates with the AMF 264 is referred to as the N11 interface.

Another optional aspect may include an LMF 270, which may be in communication with the 5GC 260 to provide location assistance for UEs 204. The LMF 270 can be implemented as a plurality of separate servers (e.g., physically separate servers, different software modules on a single server, different software modules spread across multiple physical servers, etc. ) , or alternately may each correspond to a single server. The LMF 270 can be configured to support one or more location services for UEs 204 that can connect to the LMF 270 via the core network, 5GC 260, and/or via the Internet (not illustrated) . The SLP 272 may support similar functions to the LMF 270, but whereas the LMF 270 may communicate with the AMF 264, NG-RAN 220, and UEs 204 over a control plane (e.g., using interfaces and protocols intended to convey signaling messages and not voice or data) , the SLP 272 may communicate with UEs 204 and external clients (e.g., third-party server 274) over a user plane (e.g., using protocols intended to carry voice and/or data like the transmission control protocol (TCP) and/or IP) .

Yet another optional aspect may include a third-party server 274, which may be in communication with the LMF 270, the SLP 272, the 5GC 260 (e.g., via the AMF 264 and/or the UPF 262) , the NG-RAN 220, and/or the UE 204 to obtain location information (e.g., a location estimate) for the UE 204. As such, in some cases, the third-party server 274 may be referred to as a location services (LCS) client or an external client. The third-party server 274 can be implemented as a plurality of separate servers (e.g., physically separate servers, different software modules on a single server, different software modules spread across multiple physical servers, etc. ) , or alternately may each correspond to a single server.

User plane interface 263 and control plane interface 265 connect the 5GC 260, and specifically the UPF 262 and AMF 264, respectively, to one or more gNBs 222 and/or ng-eNBs 224 in the NG-RAN 220. The interface between gNB (s) 222 and/or ng-eNB (s) 224 and the AMF 264 is referred to as the “N2” interface, and the interface between gNB(s) 222 and/or ng-eNB (s) 224 and the UPF 262 is referred to as the “N3” interface. The gNB (s) 222 and/or ng-eNB (s) 224 of the NG-RAN 220 may communicate directly with each other via backhaul connections 223, referred to as the “Xn-C” interface. One or more of gNBs 222 and/or ng-eNBs 224 may communicate with one or more UEs 204 over a wireless interface, referred to as the “Uu” interface.

The functionality of a gNB 222 may be divided between a gNB central unit (gNB-CU) 226, one or more gNB distributed units (gNB-DUs) 228, and one or more gNB radio units (gNB-RUs) 229. A gNB-CU 226 is a logical node that includes the base station functions of transferring user data, mobility control, radio access network sharing, positioning, session management, and the like, except for those functions allocated exclusively to the gNB-DU (s) 228. More specifically, the gNB-CU 226 generally host the radio resource control (RRC) , service data adaptation protocol (SDAP) , and packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) protocols of the gNB 222. A gNB-DU 228 is a logical node that generally hosts the radio link control (RLC) and medium access control (MAC) layer of the gNB 222. Its operation is controlled by the gNB-CU 226. One gNB-DU 228 can support one or more cells, and one cell is supported by only one gNB-DU 228. The interface 232 between the gNB-CU 226 and the one or more gNB-DUs 228 is referred to as the “F1” interface. The physical (PHY) layer functionality of a gNB 222 is generally hosted by one or more standalone gNB-RUs 229 that perform functions such as power amplification and signal transmission/reception. The interface between a gNB-DU 228 and a gNB-RU 229 is referred to as the “Fx” interface. Thus, a UE 204 communicates with the gNB-CU 226 via the RRC, SDAP, and PDCP layers, with a gNB-DU 228 via the RLC and MAC layers, and with a gNB-RU 229 via the PHY layer.

Deployment of communication systems, such as 5G NR systems, may be arranged in multiple manners with various components or constituent parts. In a 5G NR system, or network, a network node, a network entity, a mobility element of a network, a RAN node, a core network node, a network element, or a network equipment, such as a base station, or one or more units (or one or more components) performing base station functionality, may be implemented in an aggregated or disaggregated architecture. For example, a base station (such as a Node B (NB) , evolved NB (eNB) , NR base station, 5G NB, AP, TRP, cell, etc. ) may be implemented as an aggregated base station (also known as a standalone base station or a monolithic base station) or a disaggregated base station.

An aggregated base station may be configured to utilize a radio protocol stack that is physically or logically integrated within a single RAN node. A disaggregated base station may be configured to utilize a protocol stack that is physically or logically distributed among two or more units (such as one or more central or centralized units (CUs) , one or more distributed units (DUs) , or one or more radio units (RUs) ) . In some aspects, a CU may be implemented within a RAN node, and one or more DUs may be co-located with the CU, or alternatively, may be geographically or virtually distributed throughout one or multiple other RAN nodes. The DUs may be implemented to communicate with one or more RUs. Each of the CU, DU and RU also can be implemented as virtual units, i.e., a virtual central unit (VCU) , a virtual distributed unit (VDU) , or a virtual radio unit (VRU) .

Base station-type operation or network design may consider aggregation characteristics of base station functionality. For example, disaggregated base stations may be utilized in an integrated access backhaul (IAB) network, an open radio access network (O-RAN (such as the network configuration sponsored by the O-RAN) ) , or a virtualized radio access network (vRAN, also known as a cloud radio access network (C-RAN) ) . Disaggregation may include distributing functionality across two or more units at various physical locations, as well as distributing functionality for at least one unit virtually, which can enable flexibility in network design. The various units of the disaggregated base station, or disaggregated RAN architecture, can be configured for wired or wireless communication with at least one other unit.

FIG. 2C illustrates an example disaggregated base station architecture 250, according to aspects of the disclosure. The disaggregated base station architecture 250 may include one or more central units (CUs) 280 (e.g., gNB-CU 226) that can communicate directly with a core network 267 (e.g., 5GC 210, 5GC 260) via a backhaul link, or indirectly with the core network 267 through one or more disaggregated base station units (such as a Near-Real Time (Near-RT) RAN Intelligent Controller (RIC) 259 via an E2 link, or a Non-Real Time (Non-RT) RIC 257 associated with a Service Management and Orchestration (SMO) Framework 255, or both) . A CU 280 may communicate with one or more DUs 285 (e.g., gNB-DUs 228) via respective midhaul links, such as an F1 interface. The DUs 285 may communicate with one or more radio units (RUs) 287 (e.g., gNB-RUs 229) via respective fronthaul links. The RUs 287 may communicate with respective UEs 204 via one or more radio frequency (RF) access links. In some implementations, the UE 204 may be simultaneously served by multiple RUs 287.

Each of the units, i.e., the CUs 280, the DUs 285, the RUs 287, as well as the Near-RT RICs 259, the Non-RT RICs 257 and the SMO Framework 255, may include one or more interfaces or be coupled to one or more interfaces configured to receive or transmit signals, data, or information (collectively, signals) via a wired or wireless transmission medium. Each of the units, or an associated processor or controller providing instructions to the communication interfaces of the units, can be configured to communicate with one or more of the other units via the transmission medium. For example, the units can include a wired interface configured to receive or transmit signals over a wired transmission medium to one or more of the other units. Additionally, the units can include a wireless interface, which may include a receiver, a transmitter or transceiver (such as a RF transceiver) , configured to receive or transmit signals, or both, over a wireless transmission medium to one or more of the other units.

In some aspects, the CU 280 may host one or more higher layer control functions. Such control functions can include RRC, PDCP, service data adaptation protocol (SDAP) , or the like. Each control function can be implemented with an interface configured to communicate signals with other control functions hosted by the CU 280. The CU 280 may be configured to handle user plane functionality (i.e., Central Unit –User Plane (CU-UP) ) , control plane functionality (i.e., Central Unit –Control Plane (CU-CP) ) , or a combination thereof. In some implementations, the CU 280 can be logically split into one or more CU-UP units and one or more CU-CP units. The CU-UP unit can communicate bidirectionally with the CU-CP unit via an interface, such as the E1 interface when implemented in an O-RAN configuration. The CU 280 can be implemented to communicate with the DU 285, as necessary, for network control and signaling.

The DU 285 may correspond to a logical unit that includes one or more base station functions to control the operation of one or more RUs 287. In some aspects, the DU 285 may host one or more of a RLC layer, a MAC layer, and one or more high PHY layers (such as modules for forward error correction (FEC) encoding and decoding, scrambling, modulation and demodulation, or the like) depending, at least in part, on a functional split, such as those defined by the 3rd Generation Partnership ProjectIn some aspects, the DU 285 may further host one or more low PHY layers. Each layer (or module) can be implemented with an interface configured to communicate signals with other layers (and modules) hosted by the DU 285, or with the control functions hosted by the CU 280.

Lower-layer functionality can be implemented by one or more RUs 287. In some deployments, an RU 287, controlled by a DU 285, may correspond to a logical node that hosts RF processing functions, or low-PHY layer functions (such as performing fast Fourier transform (FFT) , inverse FFT (iFFT) , digital beamforming, physical random access channel (PRACH) extraction and filtering, or the like) , or both, based at least in part on the functional split, such as a lower layer functional split. In such an architecture, the RU (s) 287 can be implemented to handle over the air (OTA) communication with one or more UEs 204. In some implementations, real-time and non-real-time aspects of control and user plane communication with the RU (s) 287 can be controlled by the corresponding DU 285. In some scenarios, this configuration can enable the DU (s) 285 and the CU 280 to be implemented in a cloud-based RAN architecture, such as a vRAN architecture.

The SMO Framework 255 may be configured to support RAN deployment and provisioning of non-virtualized and virtualized network elements. For non-virtualized network elements, the SMO Framework 255 may be configured to support the deployment of dedicated physical resources for RAN coverage requirements which may be managed via an operations and maintenance interface (such as an O1 interface) . For virtualized network elements, the SMO Framework 255 may be configured to interact with a cloud computing platform (such as an open cloud (O-Cloud) 269) to perform network element life cycle management (such as to instantiate virtualized network elements) via a cloud computing platform interface (such as an O2 interface) . Such virtualized network elements can include, but are not limited to, CUs 280, DUs 285, RUs 287 and Near-RT RICs 259. In some implementations, the SMO Framework 255 can communicate with a hardware aspect of a 4G RAN, such as an open eNB (O-eNB) 261, via an O1 interface. Additionally, in some implementations, the SMO Framework 255 can communicate directly with one or more RUs 287 via an O1 interface. The SMO Framework 255 also may include a Non-RT RIC 257 configured to support functionality of the SMO Framework 255.

The Non-RT RIC 257 may be configured to include a logical function that enables non-real-time control and optimization of RAN elements and resources, artificial intelligence/machine learning (AI/ML) workflows including model training and updates, or policy-based guidance of applications/features in the Near-RT RIC 259. The Non-RT RIC 257 may be coupled to or communicate with (such as via an A1 interface) the Near-RT RIC 259. The Near-RT RIC 259 may be configured to include a logical function that enables near-real-time control and optimization of RAN elements and resources via data collection and actions over an interface (such as via an E2 interface) connecting one or more CUs 280, one or more DUs 285, or both, as well as an O-eNB, with the Near-RT RIC 259.

In some implementations, to generate AI/ML models to be deployed in the Near-RT RIC 259, the Non-RT RIC 257 may receive parameters or external enrichment information from external servers. Such information may be utilized by the Near-RT RIC 259 and may be received at the SMO Framework 255 or the Non-RT RIC 257 from non-network data sources or from network functions. Insome examples, the Non-RT RIC 257 or the Near-RT RIC 259 may be configured to tune RAN behavior or performance. For example, the Non-RT RIC 257 may monitor long-term trends and patterns for performance and employ AI/ML models to perform corrective actions through the SMO Framework 255 (such as reconfiguration via O1) or via creation of RAN management policies (such as A1 policies) .

FIGS. 3A, 3B, and 3C illustrate several example components (represented by corresponding blocks) that may be incorporated into a UE 302 (which may correspond to any of the UEs described herein, including a UAV-UE) , a base station 304 (which may correspond to any of the base stations described herein) , and a network entity 306 (which may correspond to or embody any of the network functions described herein, including the location server 230 and the LMF 270, or alternatively may be independent from the NG-RAN 220 and/or 5GC 210/260 infrastructure depicted in FIGS. 2A and 2B, such as a private network) to support the operations described herein. It will be appreciated that these components may be implemented in different types of apparatuses in different implementations (e.g., in an ASIC, in a system-on-chip (SoC) , etc. ) . The illustrated components may also be incorporated into other apparatuses in a communication system. For example, other apparatuses in a system may include components similar to those described to provide similar functionality. Also, a given apparatus may contain one or more of the components. For example, an apparatus may include multiple transceiver components that enable the apparatus to operate on multiple carriers and/or communicate via different technologies.

The UE 302 and the base station 304 each include one or more wireless wide area network (WWAN) transceivers 310 and 350, respectively, providing means for communicating (e.g., means for transmitting, means for receiving, means for measuring, means for tuning, means for refraining from transmitting, etc. ) via one or more wireless communication networks (not shown) , such as an NR network, an LTE network, a GSM network, and/or the like. The WWAN transceivers 310 and 350 may each be connected to one or more antennas 316 and 356, respectively, for communicating with other network nodes, such as other UEs, access points, base stations (e.g., eNBs, gNBs) , etc., via at least one designated RAT (e.g., NR, LTE, GSM, etc. ) over a wireless communication medium of interest (e.g., some set of time/frequency resources in a particular frequency spectrum) . The WWAN transceivers 310 and 350 may be variously configured for transmitting and encoding signals 318 and 358 (e.g., messages, indications, information, and so on) , respectively, and, conversely, for receiving and decoding signals 318 and 358 (e.g., messages, indications, information, pilots, and so on) , respectively, in accordance with the designated RAT. Specifically, the WWAN transceivers 310 and 350 include one or more transmitters 314 and 354, respectively, for transmitting and encoding signals 318 and 358, respectively, and one or more receivers 312 and 352, respectively, for receiving and decoding signals 318 and 358, respectively.

The UE 302 and the base station 304 each also include, at least in some cases, one or more short-range wireless transceivers 320 and 360, respectively. The short-range wireless transceivers 320 and 360 may be connected to one or more antennas 326 and 366, respectively, and provide means for communicating (e.g., means for transmitting, means for receiving, means for measuring, means for tuning, means for refraining from transmitting, etc. ) with other network nodes, such as other UEs, access points, base stations, etc., via at least one designated RAT (e.g., Wi-Fi, LTE Direct, PC5, dedicated short-range communications (DSRC) , wireless access for vehicular environments (WAVE) , near-field communication (NFC) , ultra-wideband (UWB) , etc. ) over a wireless communication medium of interest. The short-range wireless transceivers 320 and 360 may be variously configured for transmitting and encoding signals 328 and 368 (e.g., messages, indications, information, and so on) , respectively, and, conversely, for receiving and decoding signals 328 and 368 (e.g., messages, indications, information, pilots, and so on) , respectively, in accordance with the designated RAT. Specifically, the short-range wireless transceivers 320 and 360 include one or more transmitters 324 and 364, respectively, for transmitting and encoding signals 328 and 368, respectively, and one or more receivers 322 and 362, respectively, for receiving and decoding signals 328 and 368, respectively. As specific examples, the short-range wireless transceivers 320 and 360 may be Wi-Fi transceivers, transceivers, and/ortransceivers, NFC transceivers, UWB transceivers, or vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) and/or vehicle-to-everything (V2X) transceivers.

The UE 302 and the base station 304 also include, at least in some cases, satellite signal interfaces 330 and 370, which each include one or more satellite signal receivers 332 and 372, respectively, and may optionally include one or more satellite signal transmitters 334 and 374, respectively. In some cases, the base station 304 may be a terrestrial base station that may communicate with space vehicles (e.g., space vehicles 112) via the satellite signal interface 370. In other cases, the base station 304 may be a space vehicle (or other non-terrestrial entity) that uses the satellite signal interface 370 to communicate with terrestrial networks and/or other space vehicles.

The satellite signal receivers 332 and 372 may be connected to one or more antennas 336 and 376, respectively, and may provide means for receiving and/or measuring satellite positioning/communication signals 338 and 378, respectively. Where the satellite signal receiver (s) 332 and 372 are satellite positioning system receivers, the satellite positioning/communication signals 338 and 378 may be global positioning system (GPS) signals, global navigation satellite system (GLONASS) signals, Galileo signals, Beidou signals, Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (NAVIC) , Quasi-Zenith Satellite System (QZSS) signals, etc. Where the satellite signal receiver (s) 332 and 372 are non-terrestrial network (NTN) receivers, the satellite positioning/communication signals 338 and 378 may be communication signals (e.g., carrying control and/or user data) originating from a 5G network. The satellite signal receiver (s) 332 and 372 may comprise any suitable hardware and/or software for receiving and processing satellite positioning/communication signals 338 and 378, respectively. The satellite signal receiver (s) 332 and 372 may request information and operations as appropriate from the other systems, and, at least in some cases, perform calculations to determine locations of the UE 302 and the base station 304, respectively, using measurements obtained by any suitable satellite positioning system algorithm.

The optional satellite signal transmitter (s) 334 and 374, when present, may be connected to the one or more antennas 336 and 376, respectively, and may provide means for transmitting satellite positioning/communication signals 338 and 378, respectively. Where the satellite signal transmitter (s) 374 are satellite positioning system transmitters, the satellite positioning/communication signals 378 may be GPS signals, signals, Galileo signals, Beidou signals, NAVIC, QZSS signals, etc. Where the satellite signal transmitter (s) 334 and 374 are NTN transmitters, the satellite positioning/communication signals 338 and 378 may be communication signals (e.g., carrying control and/or user data) originating from a 5G network. The satellite signal transmitter (s) 334 and 374 may comprise any suitable hardware and/or software for transmitting satellite positioning/communication signals 338 and 378, respectively. The satellite signal transmitter (s) 334 and 374 may request information and operations as appropriate from the other systems.

The base station 304 and the network entity 306 each include one or more network transceivers 380 and 390, respectively, providing means for communicating (e.g., means for transmitting, means for receiving, etc. ) with other network entities (e.g., other base stations 304, other network entities 306) . For example, the base station 304 may employ the one or more network transceivers 380 to communicate with other base stations 304 or network entities 306 over one or more wired or wireless backhaul links. As another example, the network entity 306 may employ the one or more network transceivers 390 to communicate with one or more base station 304 over one or more wired or wireless backhaul links, or with other network entities 306 over one or more wired or wireless core network interfaces.

A transceiver may be configured to communicate over a wired or wireless link. A transceiver (whether a wired transceiver or a wireless transceiver) includes transmitter circuitry (e.g., transmitters 314, 324, 354, 364) and receiver circuitry (e.g., receivers 312, 322, 352, 362) . A transceiver may be an integrated device (e.g., embodying transmitter circuitry and receiver circuitry in a single device) in some implementations, may comprise separate transmitter circuitry and separate receiver circuitry in some implementations, or may be embodied in other ways in other implementations. The transmitter circuitry and receiver circuitry of a wired transceiver (e.g., network transceivers 380 and 390 in some implementations) may be coupled to one or more wired network interface ports. Wireless transmitter circuitry (e.g., transmitters 314, 324, 354, 364) may include or be coupled to a plurality of antennas (e.g., antennas 316, 326, 356, 366) , such as an antenna array, that permits the respective apparatus (e.g., UE 302, base station 304) to perform transmit “beamforming, ” as described herein. Similarly, wireless receiver circuitry (e.g., receivers 312, 322, 352, 362) may include or be coupled to a plurality of antennas (e.g., antennas 316, 326, 356, 366) , such as an antenna array, that permits the respective apparatus (e.g., UE 302, base station 304) to perform receive beamforming, as described herein. In some aspects, the transmitter circuitry and receiver circuitry may share the same plurality of antennas (e.g., antennas 316, 326, 356, 366) , such that the respective apparatus can only receive or transmit at a given time, not both at the same time. A wireless transceiver (e.g., WWAN transceivers 310 and 350, short-range wireless transceivers 320 and 360) may also include a network listen module (NLM) or the like for performing various measurements.

As used herein, the various wireless transceivers (e.g., transceivers 310, 320, 350, and 360, and network transceivers 380 and 390 in some implementations) and wired transceivers (e.g., network transceivers 380 and 390 in some implementations) may generally be characterized as “atransceiver, ” “at least one transceiver, ” or “one or more transceivers. ” As such, whether a particular transceiver is a wired or wireless transceiver may be inferred from the type of communication performed. For example, backhaul communication between network devices or servers will generally relate to signaling via a wired transceiver, whereas wireless communication between a UE (e.g., UE 302) and a base station (e.g., base station 304) will generally relate to signaling via a wireless transceiver.

The UE 302, the base station 304, and the network entity 306 also include other components that may be used in conjunction with the operations as disclosed herein. The UE 302, the base station 304, and the network entity 306 include one or more processors 342, 384, and 394, respectively, for providing functionality relating to, for example, wireless communication, and for providing other processing functionality. The processors 342, 384, and 394 may therefore provide means for processing, such as means for determining, means for calculating, means for receiving, means for transmitting, means for indicating, etc. In some aspects, the processors 342, 384, and 394 may include, for example, one or more general purpose processors, multi-core processors, central processing units (CPUs) , ASICs, digital signal processors (DSPs) , field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) , other programmable logic devices or processing circuitry, or various combinations thereof.

The UE 302, the base station 304, and the network entity 306 include memory circuitry implementing memories 340, 386, and 396 (e.g., each including a memory device) , respectively, for maintaining information (e.g., information indicative of reserved resources, thresholds, parameters, and so on) . The memories 340, 386, and 396 may therefore provide means for storing, means for retrieving, means for maintaining, etc. In some cases, the UE 302, the base station 304, and the network entity 306 may include sensing component (s) 348, 388, and 398, respectively. The sensing component (s) 348, 388, and 398 may be hardware circuits that are part of or coupled to the processors 342, 384, and 394, respectively, that, when executed, cause the UE 302, the base station 304, and the network entity 306 to perform the functionality described herein. In other aspects, the sensing component (s) 348, 388, and 398 may be external to the processors 342, 384, and 394 (e.g., part of a modem processing system, integrated with another processing system, etc. ) . Alternatively, the sensing component (s) 348, 388, and 398 may be memory modules stored in the memories 340, 386, and 396, respectively, that, when executed by the processors 342, 384, and 394 (or a modem processing system, another processing system, etc. ) , cause the UE 302, the base station 304, and the network entity 306 to perform the functionality described herein. FIG. 3A illustrates possible locations of the sensing component (s) 348, which may be, for example, part of the one or more WWAN transceivers 310, the memory 340, the one or more processors 342, or any combination thereof, or may be a standalone component. FIG. 3B illustrates possible locations of the sensing component (s) 388, which may be, for example, part of the one or more WWAN transceivers 350, the memory 386, the one or more processors 384, or any combination thereof, or may be a standalone component. FIG. 3C illustrates possible locations of the sensing component (s) 398, which may be, for example, part of the one or more network transceivers 390, the memory 396, the one or more processors 394, or any combination thereof, or may be a standalone component. Sensing component (s) 398 may implement a Sensing Management Function (SnMF) , which may be in communication with a 5GC and provide sensing management for any of the UEs herein. The SnMF can be implemented as a plurality of separate servers (e.g., physically separate servers, different software modules on a single server, different software modules spread across multiple physical servers, etc. ) , or alternately may each correspond to a single server.

The UE 302 may include one or more sensors 344 coupled to the one or more processors 342 to provide means for sensing or detecting movement and/or orientation information that is independent of motion data derived from signals received by the one or more WWAN transceivers 310, the one or more short-range wireless transceivers 320, and/or the satellite signal interface 330. By way of example, the sensor (s) 344 may include an accelerometer (e.g., a micro-electrical mechanical systems (MEMS) device) , a gyroscope, a geomagnetic sensor (e.g., a compass) , an altimeter (e.g., a barometric pressure altimeter) , and/or any other type of movement detection sensor. Moreover, the sensor (s) 344 may include a plurality of different types of devices and combine their outputs in order to provide motion information. For example, the sensor (s) 344 may use a combination of a multi-axis accelerometer and orientation sensors to provide the ability to compute positions in two-dimensional (2D) and/or three-dimensional (3D) coordinate systems.

In addition, the UE 302 includes a user interface 346 providing means for providing indications (e.g., audible and/or visual indications) to a user and/or for receiving user input (e.g., upon user actuation of a sensing device such a keypad, a touch screen, a microphone, and so on) . Although not shown, the base station 304 and the network entity 306 may also include user interfaces.

Referring to the one or more processors 384 in more detail, in the downlink, IP packets from the network entity 306 may be provided to the processor 384. The one or more processors 384 may implement functionality for an RRC layer, a packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) layer, a radio link control (RLC) layer, and a medium access control (MAC) layer. The one or more processors 384 may provide RRC layer functionality associated with broadcasting of system information (e.g., master information block (MIB) , system information blocks (SIBs) ) , RRC connection control (e.g., RRC connection paging, RRC connection establishment, RRC connection modification, and RRC connection release) , inter-RAT mobility, and measurement configuration for UE measurement reporting; PDCP layer functionality associated with header compression/decompression, security (ciphering, deciphering, integrity protection, integrity verification) , and handover support functions; RLC layer functionality associated with the transfer of upper layer PDUs, error correction through automatic repeat request (ARQ) , concatenation, segmentation, and reassembly of RLC service data units (SDUs) , re-segmentation of RLC data PDUs, and reordering of RLC data PDUs; and MAC layer functionality associated with mapping between logical channels and transport channels, scheduling information reporting, error correction, priority handling, and logical channel prioritization.

The transmitter 354 and the receiver 352 may implement Layer-1 (L1) functionality associated with various signal processing functions. Layer-1, which includes a physical (PHY) layer, may include error detection on the transport channels, forward error correction (FEC) coding/decoding of the transport channels, interleaving, rate matching, mapping onto physical channels, modulation/demodulation of physical channels, and MIMO antenna processing. The transmitter 354 handles mapping to signal constellations based on various modulation schemes (e.g., binary phase-shift keying (BPSK) , quadrature phase-shift keying (QPSK) , M-phase-shift keying (M-PSK) , M-quadrature amplitude modulation (M-QAM) ) . The coded and modulated symbols may then be split into parallel streams. Each stream may then be mapped to an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) subcarrier, multiplexed with a reference signal (e.g., pilot) in the time and/or frequency domain, and then combined together using an inverse fast Fourier transform (IFFT) to produce a physical channel carrying a time domain OFDM symbol stream. The OFDM symbol stream is spatially precoded to produce multiple spatial streams. Channel estimates from a channel estimator may be used to determine the coding and modulation scheme, as well as for spatial processing. The channel estimate may be derived from a reference signal and/or channel condition feedback transmitted by the UE 302. Each spatial stream may then be provided to one or more different antennas 356. The transmitter 354 may modulate an RF carrier with a respective spatial stream for transmission.

At the UE 302, the receiver 312 receives a signal through its respective antenna (s) 316. The receiver 312 recovers information modulated onto an RF carrier and provides the information to the one or more processors 342. The transmitter 314 and the receiver 312 implement Layer-1 functionality associated with various signal processing functions. The receiver 312 may perform spatial processing on the information to recover any spatial streams destined for the UE 302. If multiple spatial streams are destined for the UE 302, they may be combined by the receiver 312 into a single OFDM symbol stream. The receiver 312 then converts the OFDM symbol stream from the time-domain to the frequency domain using a fast Fourier transform (FFT) . The frequency domain signal comprises a separate OFDM symbol stream for each subcarrier of the OFDM signal. The symbols on each subcarrier, and the reference signal, are recovered and demodulated by determining the most likely signal constellation points transmitted by the base station 304. These soft decisions may be based on channel estimates computed by a channel estimator. The soft decisions are then decoded and de-interleaved to recover the data and control signals that were originally transmitted by the base station 304 on the physical channel. The data and control signals are then provided to the one or more processors 342, which implements Layer-3 (L3) and Layer-2 (L2) functionality.

In the downlink, the one or more processors 342 provides demultiplexing between transport and logical channels, packet reassembly, deciphering, header decompression, and control signal processing to recover IP packets from the core network. The one or more processors 342 are also responsible for error detection.

Similar to the functionality described in connection with the downlink transmission by the base station 304, the one or more processors 342 provides RRC layer functionality associated with system information (e.g., MIB, SIBs) acquisition, RRC connections, and measurement reporting; PDCP layer functionality associated with header compression/decompression, and security (ciphering, deciphering, integrity protection, integrity verification) ; RLC layer functionality associated with the transfer of upper layer PDUs, error correction through ARQ, concatenation, segmentation, and reassembly of RLC SDUs, re-segmentation of RLC data PDUs, and reordering of RLC data PDUs; and MAC layer functionality associated with mapping between logical channels and transport channels, multiplexing of MAC SDUs onto transport blocks (TBs) , demultiplexing of MAC SDUs from TBs, scheduling information reporting, error correction through hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) , priority handling, and logical channel prioritization.

Channel estimates derived by the channel estimator from a reference signal or feedback transmitted by the base station 304 may be used by the transmitter 314 to select the appropriate coding and modulation schemes, and to facilitate spatial processing. The spatial streams generated by the transmitter 314 may be provided to different antenna (s) 316. The transmitter 314 may modulate an RF carrier with a respective spatial stream for transmission.

The uplink transmission is processed at the base station 304 in a manner similar to that described in connection with the receiver function at the UE 302. The receiver 352 receives a signal through its respective antenna (s) 356. The receiver 352 recovers information modulated onto an RF carrier and provides the information to the one or more processors 384.

In the uplink, the one or more processors 384 provides demultiplexing between transport and logical channels, packet reassembly, deciphering, header decompression, control signal processing to recover IP packets from the UE 302. IP packets from the one or more processors 384 may be provided to the core network. The one or more processors 384 are also responsible for error detection.

For convenience, the UE 302, the base station 304, and/or the network entity 306 are shown in FIGS. 3A, 3B, and 3C as including various components that may be configured according to the various examples described herein. It will be appreciated, however, that the illustrated components may have different functionality in different designs. In particular, various components in FIGS. 3A to 3C are optional in alternative configurations and the various aspects include configurations that may vary due to design choice, costs, use of the device, or other considerations. For example, in case of FIG. 3A, a particular implementation of UE 302 may omit the WWAN transceiver (s) 310 (e.g., a wearable device or tablet computer or personal computer (PC) or laptop may have Wi-Fi and/orcapability without cellular capability) , or may omit the short-range wireless transceiver (s) 320 (e.g., cellular-only, etc. ) , or may omit the satellite signal interface 330, or may omit the sensor (s) 344, and so on. Inanother example, in case of FIG. 3B, a particular implementation of the base station 304 may omit the WWAN transceiver (s) 350 (e.g., a Wi-Fi “hotspot” access point without cellular capability) , or may omit the short-range wireless transceiver (s) 360 (e.g., cellular-only, etc. ) , or may omit the satellite signal interface 370, and so on. For brevity, illustration of the various alternative configurations is not provided herein, but would be readily understandable to one skilled in the art.

The various components of the UE 302, the base station 304, and the network entity 306 may be communicatively coupled to each other over data buses 308, 382, and 392, respectively. In some aspects, the data buses 308, 382, and 392 may form, or be part of, a communication interface of the UE 302, the base station 304, and the network entity 306, respectively. For example, where different logical entities are embodied in the same device (e.g., gNB and location server functionality incorporated into the same base station 304) , the data buses 308, 382, and 392 may provide communication between them.

The components of FIGS. 3A, 3B, and 3C may be implemented in various ways. In some implementations, the components of FIGS. 3A, 3B, and 3C may be implemented in one or more circuits such as, for example, one or more processors and/or one or more ASICs (which may include one or more processors) . Here, each circuit may use and/or incorporate at least one memory component for storing information or executable code used by the circuit to provide this functionality. For example, some or all of the functionality represented by blocks 310 to 346 may be implemented by processor and memory component (s) of the UE 302 (e.g., by execution of appropriate code and/or by appropriate configuration of processor components) . Similarly, some or all of the functionality represented by blocks 350 to 388 may be implemented by processor and memory component (s) of the base station 304 (e.g., by execution of appropriate code and/or by appropriate configuration of processor components) . Also, some or all of the functionality represented by blocks 390 to 398 may be implemented by processor and memory component (s) of the network entity 306 (e.g., by execution of appropriate code and/or by appropriate configuration of processor components) . For simplicity, various operations, acts, and/or functions are described herein as being performed “by a UE, ” “by a base station, ” “by a network entity, ” etc. However, as will be appreciated, such operations, acts, and/or functions may actually be performed by specific components or combinations of components of the UE 302, base station 304, network entity 306, etc., such as the processors 342, 384, 394, the transceivers 310, 320, 350, and 360, the memories 340, 386, and 396, the sensing component (s) 348, 388, and 398, etc.

In some designs, the network entity 306 may be implemented as a core network component. In other designs, the network entity 306 may be distinct from a network operator or operation of the cellular network infrastructure (e.g., NG RAN 220 and/or 5GC 210/260) . For example, the network entity 306 may be a component of a private network that may be configured to communicate with the UE 302 via the base station 304 or independently from the base station 304 (e.g., over a non-cellular communication link, such as Wi-Fi) .

Wireless communication signals (e.g., radio frequency (RF) signals configured to carry orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbols in accordance with a wireless communications standard, such as LTE, NR, etc. ) transmitted between a UE and a base station can be used for environment sensing (also referred to as “RF sensing” or “radar” ) . Using wireless communication signals for environment sensing can be regarded as consumer-level radar with advanced detection capabilities that enable, among other things, touchless/device-free interaction with a device/system. The wireless communication signals may be cellular communication signals, such as LTE or NR signals, WLAN signals, such as Wi-Fi signals, etc. As a particular example, the wireless communication signals may be an OFDM waveform as utilized in LTE and NR. High-frequency communication signals, such as millimeter wave (mmW) RF signals, are especially beneficial to use as sensing signals because the higher frequency provides, at least, more accurate range (distance) detection. Possible use cases of RF sensing include health monitoring use cases, such as heartbeat detection, respiration rate monitoring, and the like, gesture recognition use cases, such as human activity recognition, keystroke detection, sign language recognition, and the like, contextual information acquisition use cases, such as location detection/tracking, direction finding, range estimation, and the like, and automotive sensing use cases, such as smart cruise control, collision avoidance, and the like. There are different types of sensing, including monostatic sensing (also referred to as “active sensing” ) and bistatic sensing (also referred to as “passive sensing” ) . FIGS. 4A and 4B illustrate these different types of sensing. Specifically, FIG. 4A is a diagram 400 illustrating a monostatic sensing scenario and FIG. 4B is a diagram 430 illustrating a bistatic sensing scenario. In FIG. 4A, the transmitter (Tx) and receiver (Rx) are co-located in the same sensing device 404 (e.g., a UE) . The sensing device 404 transmits one or more RF sensing signals 434 (e.g., uplink or sidelink positioning reference signals (PRS) where the sensing device 404 is a UE) , and some of the RF sensing signals 434 reflect off a target object 406 (e.g., an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) ) . The sensing device 404 can measure various properties (e.g., times of arrival (ToAs) , angles of arrival (AoAs) , phase shift, etc. ) of the reflections 436 of the RF sensing signals 434 to determine characteristics of the target object 406 (e.g., size, shape, speed, motion state, etc. ) . In FIG. 4B, the transmitter (Tx) and receiver (Rx) are not co-located, that is, they are separate devices (e.g., a UE and a base station) . Note that while FIG. 4B illustrates using a downlink RF signal as the RF sensing signal 432, uplink RF signals or sidelink RF signals can also be used as RF sensing signals 432. In a downlink scenario, as shown, the transmitter device 402 is a base station (e.g., a gNB) and the receiver device 408 is a UE (e.g., a mobile phone, a V2X-capable vehicle, a roadside unit (RSU) , etc. ) , whereas in an uplink scenario, the transmitter device 402 is a UE and the receiver device 408 is a base station. Where the transmitter device 402 is a base station and the receiver device 408 a UE, the sensing is referred to as UE-assisted sensing. In UE-assisted sensing, the position of receiver device 408 should be known by the network (e.g., by GPS or other UE positioning method) . Referring to FIG. 4B in greater detail, the transmitter device 402 transmits RF sensing signals 432 and 434 (e.g., positioning reference signals (PRS) ) to the receiver device 408, but some of the RF sensing signals 434 reflect off a target object 406. The receiver device 408 (also referred to as the “sensing device” ) can measure the times of arrival (ToAs) of the RF sensing signals 432 received directly from the transmitter device 402 and the ToAs of the reflections 436 of the RF sensing signals 434 reflected from the target object 406. More specifically, as described above, a transmitter device (e.g., a base station) may transmit a single RF signal or multiple RF signals to a receiver device (e.g., a UE) . However, the receiver may receive multiple RF signals corresponding to each transmitted RF signal due to the propagation characteristics of RF signals through multipath channels. Each path may be associated with a cluster of one or more channel taps. Generally, the time at which the receiver detects the first cluster of channel taps is considered the ToA of the RF signal on the line-of-site (LOS) path (i.e., the shortest path between the transmitter and the receiver) . Later clusters of channel taps are considered to have reflected off objects between the transmitter and the receiver and therefore to have followed non-LOS (NLOS) paths between the transmitter and the receiver. Thus, referring back to FIG. 4B, the RF sensing signals 432 followed the LOS path between the transmitter device 402 and the receiver device 408, and the RF sensing signals 434 followed an NLOS path between the transmitter device 402 and the receiver device 408 due to reflecting off the target object 406. The transmitter device 402 may have transmitted multiple RF sensing signals 432, 434, some of which followed the LOS path and others of which followed the NLOS path. Alternatively, the transmitter device 402 may have transmitted a single RF sensing signal in a broad enough beam that a portion of the RF sensing signal followed the LOS path (RF sensing signal 432) and a portion of the RF sensing signal followed the NLOS path (RF sensing signal 434) . Based on the ToA of the LOS path, the ToA of the NLOS path, and the speed of light, the receiver device 408 can determine the distance to the target object (s) . For example, the receiver device 408 can calculate the distance to the target object as the difference between the ToA of the LOS path and the ToA of the NLOS path multiplied by the speed of light. In addition, if the receiver device 408 is capable of receive beamforming, the receiver device 408 may be able to determine the general direction to a target object 406 as the direction (angle) of the receive beam on which the RF sensing signal following the NLOS path was received. That is, the receiver device 408 may determine the direction to the target object 406 as the AoA of the RF sensing signal, which is the angle of the receive beam used to receive the RF sensing signal. The receiver device 408 may then optionally report this information to the transmitter device 402, its serving base station, an application server associated with the core network, an external client, a third-party application, or some other sensing entity. Alternatively, the receiver device 408 may report the ToA measurements to the transmitter device 402, or other sensing entity (e.g., if the receiver device 408 does not have the processing capability to perform the calculations itself) , and the transmitter device 402 may determine the distance and, optionally, the direction to the target object 406. Note that if the RF sensing signals are uplink RF signals transmitted by a UE to a base station, the base station would perform object detection based on the uplink RF signals just like the UE does based on the downlink RF signals. Like conventional radar, wireless communication-based sensing signals can be used to estimate the range (distance) , velocity (Doppler) , and angle (AoA) of a target object. However, the performance (e.g., resolution and maximum values of range, velocity, and angle) may depend on the design of the reference signal.

FIG. 5 is a graph 500 representing an example channel estimate of a multipath channel between a receiver device (e.g., any of the UEs or base stations described herein) and a transmitter device (e.g., any other of the UEs or base stations described herein) , according to aspects of the disclosure. The channel estimate represents the intensity of a radio frequency (RF) signal (e.g., a positioning reference signal (PRS) ) received through a multipath channel as a function of time delay, and may be referred to as the channel energy response (CER) , channel impulse response (CIR) , or power delay profile (PDP) of the channel. Thus, the horizontal axis represents time (e.g., milliseconds) and the vertical axis represents signal strength (e.g., decibels) . Note that a multipath channel is a channel between a transmitter and a receiver over which an RF signal follows multiple paths, or multipaths, due to transmission of the RF signal on multiple beams and/or to the propagation characteristics of the RF signal (e.g., reflection, refraction, etc. ) .

In the example of FIG. 5, the receiver detects/measures multiple (four) channel taps of the RF signal. Each channel tap is a cluster of one or more rays and corresponds to a multipath that the RF signal followed between the transmitter and the receiver. Thus, a channel tap represents the time of arrival and signal strength of an RF signal over a multipath. There may be multiple channel taps due to the RF signal being transmitted on different transmit beams (and therefore at different angles) , or because of the propagation characteristics of RF signals (e.g., potentially following different paths due to reflections) , or both. Note that although FIG. 5 illustrates channel taps of two to five rays, as will be appreciated, the channel taps may have more or fewer than the illustrated number of rays.

In the example of FIG. 5, the channel tap detected at time T3 is composed of stronger rays than the channel tap detected at time T1. This may be due to an obstruction on the LOS path between the transmitter and the receiver. Alternatively or additionally, there may be a strong reflector along the NLOS path corresponding to the channel tap detected at time T3.

FIG. 6 illustrates an example call flow 600 for an NR-based sensing procedure (e.g., a bistatic sensing procedure) in which the network configures the sensing parameters, according to aspects of the disclosure. Although FIG. 6 illustrates a network-coordinated sensing procedure, the sensing procedure could be coordinated over sidelink channels.

At stage 605, a sensing server 670 (e.g., inside or outside the core network) sends a request for network (NW) information to a gNB 622 (e.g., the serving gNB of a UE 604) . The request may be for a list of the UE’s 604 serving cell and any neighboring cells. At stage 610, the gNB 622 sends the requested information to the sensing server 670. At stage 615, the sensing server 670 sends a request for sensing capabilities to the UE 604. At stage 620, the UE 604 provides its sensing capabilities to the sensing server 670.

At stage 625, the sensing server 670 sends a configuration to the UE 604 indicating one or more reference signal (RS) resources that will be transmitted for sensing. The reference signal resources may be transmitted by the serving and/or neighboring cells identified at stage 610. In some cases, the NR-based sensing procedure illustrated in FIG. 6 may be a sensing-only procedure or a joint communication and sensing (JCS) procedure, sometimes referred to as Integrated Communication and Sensing (ICAS) . In the case of a sensing-only procedure, the reference signal resources may be reference signal resources specifically configured for sensing purposes. In the case of a JCS procedure, the reference signal resources may be reference signal resources for communication that can also be used for sensing purposes. Alternatively, the reference signal resources for sensing may be multiplexed (e.g., time-division multiplexed) with reference signal resources for communication. For example, the reference signal resources for communication may be an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) waveform, while the reference signal resources for sensing may be a frequency modulation continuous wave (FMCW) waveform.

At stage 630, the sensing server 670 sends a request for sensing information to the UE 604. The UE 604 then measures the transmitted reference signals and, at stage 635, sends the measurements, or any sensing results determined from the measurements, to the sensing server 670.

In some aspects, the communication between the UE 604 and the sensing server 670 may be via the LTE positioning protocol (LPP) . The communication between the sensing server 670 and the gNB may be via NR positioning protocol type A (NRPPa) .

Integrated sensing and communication (ISAC) techniques have been introduced that combine wireless communication and wireless sensing. As described above (e.g., with reference to FIGS. 4A and 4B) , sensing systems send probing signals to uncooperative targets (e.g., target object 406) and infer useful information from the target echoes. In contrast, communication systems exchange information between two or more cooperative transceivers (e.g., a UE and a TRP) . ISAC systems are integrated systems that enable simultaneous performance of both wireless communication and wireless sensing, thereby providing a cost-efficient deployment for both sensing and communication systems. In an ISAC system, time, frequency, and/or spatial RF resources are allocated to support two purposes, that is, communication and sensing.

The development and deployment of ISAC systems are motivated by their cost effectiveness (due to the shared RF, and possibly baseband, hardware for sensing and communication) and spectrum effectiveness (due to the always-on availability of spectrum for both functions) . Use cases of ISAC systems include (1) macro sensing, such as meteorological monitoring, autonomous driving, dynamic mapping, low-altitude airspace and ground management (e.g., UAV, vehicle, and pedestrian sensing) , intruder detection, and the like, (2) micro sensing, such as gesture recognition, vital signal detection, high-resolution imaging, and the like, and (3) sensing-assisted communication, such as beam management.

As noted above, different entities can participate in sensing techniques. For example, RAN nodes such as gNBs and different types of user equipments (UEs) can perform monostatic sensing, bistatic sensing, or multi-static sensing incorporating more than two entities. In some cases, different sensing modes may be referred to by the entity type and direction of sensing signals. For example, Transmission Reception Point (TRP) monostatic sensing is performed by a TRP of a RAN node, while in a TRP-UE bistatic sensing mode a TRP is a transmitting node and a UE is a receiving node, and in a TRP-TRP bistatic sensing mode one TRP is a transmitting node and a different TRP is a receiving node. Similarly, UE monostatic sensing is performed by a UE, for a UE-TRP bistatic sensing mode a UE is a transmitting node and a TRP is a receiving node, and for a UE-UE bistatic sensing mode a UE is a transmitting node and a different UE is a receiving node.

In some cases, different types of UEs can perform sensing techniques. FIG. 7 shows a diagram of a sensing environment 700, according to aspects of the disclosure. A RAN node such as a gNB 702 and/or UEs such as a handset UE 704-a, a vehicle UE 704-b, and/or a UAV-UE 704-c can be configured to perform sensing operations; for example, to determine position information, speed/velocity information, etc. for a target object 706. In the bistatic sensing example of FIG. 7, gNB 702 transmits sensing reference signals, which are reflected off target object 706 and detected by handset UE 704-a, vehicle UE 704-b, and/or UAV-UE 704-c.

For integrated sensing and communication systems, terrestrial-based UEs such as handset UE 704-a and vehicle UE 704-b generally sense objects on/near ground level, while a UAV-UE 704-c can sense objects above the ground such as other UAVs, balloons, birds, etc. The vertical sensing capability of a UAV-UE 704-c depends on an antenna sensing direction capability; for example, on its antenna type (e.g., omnidirectional or directional) . Antenna sensing direction capability information can include an indication of antenna type, angular coverage information, directional coverage information, or any combination thereof for one or more UAV-UE antennas.

For example, a first UAV type may have one or more directional antenna (s) positioned to receive signals from below the UAV and to communicate with ground stations. A UAV of the first type may communicate with network infrastructure using a Uu interface, and need not have sidelink capability. A UAV of the first type can thus sense target objects 706 below the UAV but not above the UAV. A second UAV type may have one or more antennas for omnidirectional coverage, so the UAV can receive signals from and transmit signals to other UAVs (e.g., using sidelink communication protocols) . UAVs of the second type can sense target objects 706 below, above, and at the same height as the UAV.

According to some aspects of the disclosure, UAV-UEs can perform sensing operations based on one or more vertical sensing capabilities of the UAV-UE. The sensing operations can include transmitting sensing signals, receiving sensing signals, or both. A UAV-UE can receive configuration to perform sensing operations within a target height range, transmit capability information indicating one or more vertical sensing capabilities, and (if capable) perform the configured sensing operations. The configuration may be received before or after transmission of capability information. The UAV-UE can report results of sensing operations to one or more network entities. Examples of vertical sensing capabilities include a UAV-UE height, a UAV-UE height uncertainty, an antenna sensing direction, or any combinations thereof. Configuration information can include indications of one or more target height ranges, as well as sensing configuration such as time and frequency resources to perform sensing operations and other configuration information.

FIG. 8A shows a diagram of an example sensing environment 800 incorporating aspects of the disclosure. FIG. 8B shows a process 850 to perform sensing of target objects 806-1 and 806-2, according to some aspects of the disclosure.

Referring to FIGS. 8A and 8B, at 860, a RAN node such as gNB 802 may transmit configuration information to UAV-UEs 804-1 and 804-2 to perform sensing of target objects 806-1 and 806-2. In some implementations, the configuration may be initiated by gNB 802 or a different network entity 810 implementing sensing management functions (e.g., one or more sensing management devices/servers) . Network entity 810 may be implemented by processor/memory circuitry of a RAN node, one or more devices implementing sensing management function (SnMF) , one or more devices implementing location management function (LMF) , one or more devices implementing core network functionality, and/or other network entity. The configuration information may indicate one or more target height ranges; for example, a target height range for target object 806-1 and a target height range for target object 806-2, where the target height range is a range in which a particular target object is estimated to be positioned.

At 870, UAV-UEs 804-1 and 804-2 can transmit capability information indicating one or more vertical sensing capabilities, such as height, height uncertainty, an antenna sensing direction, or any combination thereof.

In some cases, UAV-UE 804-1 or 804-2 or both may transmit vertical sensing capability information after receiving configuration information, while in some implementations either UAV-UE 804-1 or 804-2 or both may transmit the capability information prior to receiving the configuration information to perform sensing operations. Examples of these implementations are shown in FIGS. 9A, 9B, 10A, and 10B and described below.

UAV-UE 804-1 is positioned at a height h₁, and has a directional antenna pointed down, while UAV-UE 804-2 is positioned at a height h₂, with an omnidirectional antenna. UAV-UE 804-1 can only sense target object 806-1, while UAV-UE 804-2 can sense target 806-2, and may also be able to sense target object 806-1, depending on its capability to sense the relevant target height range. At 880, UAV-UEs 804-1 and 804-2 can perform one or more sensing operations according to the configuration information. At 890, UAV-UEs 804-1 and 804-2 can transmit a sensing report indicating one or more results of the one or more sensing operations to gNB 802 and/or network entity 810.

FIG. 9A illustrates an example sensing environment 900 for an example where UAV-UEs report vertical sensing capability before sensing measurements, according to some aspects of the disclosure. The example of FIG 9A shows three different target height ranges and three different UAV-UEs, UAV-UE 904-1, 904-2, and 904-3. UAV-UE 904-1 is a UAV of the first type, with a directional antenna pointing down, and positioned at a height h₁. UAV-UE 904-2 is a UAV of the second type, with an omnidirectional antenna capable of transmitting and receiving signals above, below, and at the same height, positioned at a height h₂. UAV-UE 904-3 is a UAV of the first type, with a directional antenna pointing down, positioned at a height h₃.

FIG. 9B shows an example method 950 where UAV-UEs report vertical sensing capability before sensing measurements, according to some aspects of the disclosure. At 960-1, 960-2, and 960-3, UAV-UEs 904-1, 904-2, and 904-3 transmit vertical sensing capability information to one or more network entities 902 (e.g., RAN node, SnMF, LMF, core network device, and/or other network entity) , prior to sensing operations. The capability information may be transmitted in response to a request for the capability information, according to a schedule (e.g., periodically with a pre-configured timer) , based on one or more events, or otherwise triggered. Although transmission for each of the UAV-UEs is illustrated sequentially, each may transmit at the same/similar/different times, according to the implementation (for example, according to configuration) .

At 965, network entity 902 determines if one or more of the UAV-UEs can cover target height range (s) for associated target objects. For the example of FIGS. 9A and 9B, network entity 902 determines that UAV-UE 904-3 can sense a target object within target height range 915-3, based on (for example) its height, height uncertainty, and antenna sensing direction. At 970, the network entity sends a sensing request with configuration information to configure one or more sensing operations for UAV-UEs 904-3. Although the example of FIG. 9B shows configuration of one UAV-UE, in other cases the network entity can configure different target height ranges to multiple UAV-UEs based on their vertical sensing capabilities. For example, target height range 1 can be configured to UAV-UE 904-1, target height range 2 can be configured to UAV-UE 904-2, and target height range 3 can be configured to UAV-UE 904-3. At 980, UAV-UE 904-3 performs one or more sensing operations according to the configuration information, and at 990, reports results of one or more sensing operations to network entity 902. The sensing results can include measurements of one or more first reference signals (when UAV-UE 904-3 is a receiving entity) , and/or configuration/transmission information for one or more second reference signals (when UAV-UE 904-3 is a transmitting entity) .

FIG. 10A illustrates an example sensing environment 1000 for an example where UAV-UEs report vertical sensing capability after receiving configuration information, according to some aspects of the disclosure. The example of FIG 10A shows one target height range and two different UAV-UEs, UAV-UE 1004-1 and 1004-2. UAV-UE 1004-1 is a UAV of the first type, with a directional antenna pointing down, positioned at a height h₁. UAV-UE 1004-2 is a UAV of the second type, positioned at a height h₂, with an omnidirectional antenna capable of transmitting and receiving signals above, below, and at the same height.

FIG. 10B shows an example method 1050 for an implementation in which at least some UAV-UEs report vertical sensing capability after receiving configuration information, according to aspects of the disclosure. At 1060-1 and 1060-2, network entity 902 transmits an indication of a target height range to UAV-UEs 1004-1 and 1004-2. For example, a gNB can broadcast/multicast configuration information including the target height range according to a protocol for UAV-UE sensing. In some implementations, the network entity 1002 may transmit sensing configuration information that indicates whether it applies to ground-based or aerial sensing. One or more ground-based UEs may perform sensing operations in accordance with the ground-based sensing configuration information, while one or more UAV-UEs may perform aerial sensing according to the areal sensing configuration information.

At 1070-1 and 1070-2, each of the UAV-UEs determines whether to perform the sensing operations based on the configuration information; for example, by determining whether the target height range is included in its vertical sensing capability. For the example of FIG. 10A, UAV-UE 1004-2 is able to sense target objects above and below h₂, which includes the target height range, and therefore at 1080 UAV-UE 1004-2 performs one or more sensing operations according to the configuration information. By contrast, UAV-UE 1004-1 is able to sense target objects below h₁, so is unable to perform sensing in any of the target height range. At 1075, UAV-UE 1004-1 may transmit an indication that the target height range is not covered, which may be an indication of its vertical sensing capability.

At 1090, UAV-UE 1004-2 reports sensing results and vertical sensing capability (if not previously provided) to network entity 1002.

As part of the ICAS UAV-UE sensing techniques described above, UAV-UEs transmit an indication of their height and accuracy of the height measurement (e.g., height uncertainty) . UAV-UEs can measure their height using different methods that may have different accuracy levels.

Many UAVs are capable of Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) positioning techniques. GNSS techniques are very accurate in the horizontal plane but in general less accurate for vertical measurements. Additionally, GNSS positioning has a relatively low update rate and may be less able to accurately position quickly moving objects. Some other techniques for measuring UAV-UE height use sensors; for example, barometric sensors, ultrasonic sensors, cameras, or other sensors. Barometric sensors can be used to estimate UAV-UE height since atmospheric pressure varies with height. Ultrasonic sensors can measure the distance from the ground by transmission/reception of ultrasonic signals, while cameras use image data to determine height information.

As noted above, UAV-UEs report vertical sensing capability to a network entity, including their height and accuracy level (e.g., uncertainty) . If the uncertainty exceeds a threshold amount, the network entity may trigger a different positioning technique to obtain a more accurate height of the UAV-UE. For example, the network entity may trigger a new radio (NR) positioning technique to obtain a more accurate estimation of UAV-UE height. If the uncertainty is less than or equal to the threshold, the network entity may adjust a margin of target height range with the UAV-UE height and accuracy level. For example, if a UAV-UE height is measured at 80m with an uncertainty of 5m and original target height range is 40m-80m, the modified target height range is 40m-75m. For a UAV-UE height measured at 80m and uncertainty of 5m and original target height range is 40-120m, the modified target height range is 45m-115m.

In some aspects of the disclosure, a UAV-UE may be instructed to perform height determination using a different positioning method in response to a current height uncertainty. For example, a UAV-UE may use a first positioning method such as a satellite positioning system positioning method and report its current height and height uncertainty to a network entity. In response to the height uncertainty exceeding a threshold amount, the network entity may indicate to the UAV-UE to use a second different positioning method, such as one or more New Radio (NR) positioning techniques. Example NR positioning techniques include RTT-based positioning, Time Difference of Arrival (TDoA) based positioning, Direction of Arrival (DoA) based positioning, and combinations thereof.

The UAV-UE may determine an updated height using the different positioning method (e.g., the NR positioning method) , and may transmit capability information indicating at least the updated height and updated height uncertainty.

FIG. 11A illustrates an example positioning environment 1100 for RTT-based positioning, showing three RAN nodes 1102-1, 1102-2, and 1102-3 at distances d₁, d₂, and d₃ respectively from a UAV-UE 1104, according to aspects of the disclosure. FIG. 11B illustrates an example positioning environment 1150 for DoA and RTT-based positioning, according to aspects of the disclosure.

For RTT-based positioning, a plurality of entities at different heights (e.g. other ground-based UEs, UAV-UEs and/or TRPs at different heights) are used to measure a three-dimensional position of a UAV-UE. Four or more entities may be needed, although fewer devices can be used if some positioning information is available from other techniques. Larger height variation among measuring devices provides more accurate height measurement, as does increasing the number of measuring devices. However, greater height variation among measuring devices for height accuracy can affect the signal to noise ratio (SNR) because of the increased distance to the UAV-UE 1104.

In an example RTT-based positioning process, a network entity determines at least three or four unequal-height gNBs and/or UEs closest to horizontal coordinate of the UAV-UE to measure RTT between each gNB/UE and UAV-UE; for the example shown in FIG. 11A, TRPs of RAN nodes 1102-1, 1102-2, and 1102-3. The network entity can initiate Positioning Reference Signal (PRS) transmission and detection for UAV-UE 1104 and RAN nodes 1102-1, 1102-2, and 1102-3. The direction of transmission of the resource signal can be from the RAN nodes 1102-1, 1102-2, and 1102-3 to the UAV-UE 1104 or from the UAV-UE 1104 to the RAN nodes 1102-1, 1102-2, and 1102-3. In some cases, RTT measurements can be reported to a network entity such as an LMF, SnMF, or core network device to determine height information for the UAV-UE.

Another NR positioning technique uses DoA (direction of arrival) and RTT based positioning. FIG. 11B illustrates an example positioning environment 1150 for RTT-based positioning, according to aspects of the disclosure. In some cases, a single device can estimate a three-dimensional position of a UAV-UE with a combination of DoA and RTT. In some aspects, a network device selects one or more gNBs and/or UEs such as a RAN node 1152 having DoA measuring capability. The network device may select a DoA-capable entity closest to horizontal coordinate of UAV-UE 1154 to measure DoA and RTT between RAN node 1152 and UAV-UE 1154. Each selected gNB/UE reports position measurements for the UAV-UE and the network entity can merge the reported measurements to improve accuracy.

In some aspects of the disclosure, configuration signaling and report signaling may be managed in a number of different ways. For example, configuration information transmitted from a RAN node such as a gNB to a UAV-UE can be indicated via Layer-1 Downlink Control Information (DCI) signaling, Layer-2 Medium Access Control-Control Element (MAC-CE) signaling, or Layer-3 Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling. Configuration information may be indicated differently under different circumstances; for example, configuration may be semi-statically configured at a first time and dynamically configured at a second different time.

In some aspects of the disclosure, configuration signaling between a core network function (such as one or more devices included in a 5GC and/or other core network devices) and a UAV-UE or RAN node can be indicated using Non Access Stratum (NAS) or Next Generation Application Protocol (NGAP) signaling.

In some aspects of the disclosure, configuration signaling between one or more network entities implementing a Sensing Management Function (SnMF) and/or a Location Management Function (LMF) and a UAV-UE can be indicated via Layer-3 RRC Information Elements (IEs) carried in a LTE Positioning Protocol (LPP) protocol directly between the UE and the LMF, or in a dedicated sensing protocol directly between the UE and the SnMF.

In some aspects of the disclosure, configuration signaling between one or more sensing servers and a gNB can be indicated via the New Radio Positioning Protocol type A (NRPPa) protocol directly between the gNB and the LMF or in a dedicated sensing protocol directly between gNB and the SnMF.

In some aspects of the disclosure, configuration signaling between one UE and another UE (where one or both can be UAV-UEs) can be indicated in the sidelink (SL) , via SL Layer-1 (SCI (PSCCH) ) and/or SL data (PSSCH) ) , SL Layer-2 MAC-CE, or SL Layer-3 RRC (direct communication PC5) .

In some aspects of the disclosure, configuration signaling between a UAV-UE and a gNB can be indicated via Layer-1 Uplink Control Information (UCI) , Layer-2 MAC-CE or Layer-3 RRC.

In some aspects of the disclosure, report signaling from a measuring network node to a controlling network node may be implemented in a number of ways. For example, for UAV-UE transmitting report information to a gNB or other RAN node, the report information may be transmitted via Layer-1 Uplink Control Information/Uplink data (L1 UCI/UL-data) , Layer-2 MAC-CE or Layer-3 RRC.

In some aspects of the disclosure, report information transmitted from a UAV-UE or gNB to one or more devices implementing a core network function, the report information may via NAS/NGAP signaling.

In some aspects of the disclosure, report information transmitted from a UAV-UE to one or more devices implementing a SnMF and/or LMF (such as one or more sensing/location servers) , report information may be transmitted via Layer-3 transmission, such as RRC IEs carried in LPP protocol directly between a UAV-UE and device (s) implementing LMF or a dedicated sensing protocol directly between UE and devices implementing SnMF. For this aspect, one or more RAN nodes may provide transport capability.

In some aspects of the disclosure, report information transmitted from a RAN node such as a gNB to one or more sensing and/or location servers (e.g., implementing SnMF or LMF) is transmitted via the NRPPa protocol directly between gNB and the LMF (positioning server) or a dedicated sensing protocol directly between gNB and the SnMF (sensing server) . For this aspect, one or more RAN nodes may provide transport capability.

In some aspects of the disclosure, report information transmitted from a UE to another UE, make use the sidelink (SL) , via SL Layer-1 (SCI (PSCCH) and/or SL data (PSSCH) ) , SL Layer-2 MAC-CE or SL Layer-3 RRC. (PC5) . In some aspects of the disclosure, report information transmitted from a RAN node such as a gNB to a UE may use Layer-1 DCI/DL-data, Layer-2 MAC-CE or Layer-3 RRC.

FIG. 12 illustrates an example method 1200 of sensing, according to aspects of the disclosure. In some aspects, method 1200 may be performed by a user equipment such as an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle-User Equipment (UAV-UE) ; e.g., any of the UEs described herein.

At 1210, the UAV-UE transmits capability information indicating one or more vertical sensing capabilities of the UAV-UE. In some aspects, operation 1210 may be performed, for example, using WWAN transceiver (s) 310, short range transceiver (s) 320, processor (s) 342, sensing component (s) 348, and/or memory 340 of UE 302, which may be considered means (structure) for performing operation 1210.

At 1220, the UAV-UE receives configuration information to perform one or more sensing operations within a target height range. In some aspects, operation 1220 may be performed, for example, using WWAN transceiver (s) 310, short range transceiver (s) 320, processor (s) 342, sensing component (s) 348, and/or memory 340 of UE 302, which may be considered means (structure) for performing operation 1220.

At 1230, the UAV-UE performs the one or more sensing operations within the target height range. In some aspects, operation 1230 may be performed, for example, using WWAN transceiver (s) 310, short range transceiver (s) 320, processor (s) 342, sensing component (s) 348, and/or memory 340 of UE 302, which may be considered means (structure) for performing operation 1230.

At 1240, the UAV-UE transmits a sensing report indicating one or more results of the one or more sensing operations. In some aspects, operation 1240 may be performed, for example, using WWAN transceiver (s) 310, short range transceiver (s) 320, processor (s) 342, sensing component (s) 348, and/or memory 340 of UE 302, which may be considered means (structure) for performing operation 1240.

As will be appreciated, a technical advantage of method 1200 is enabling accurate sensing of objects positioned above ground level. Additionally, since the vertical sensing capability of a particular UAV-UE to sense a target object may be constrained by both its height and antenna sensing direction, providing/using capability information may provide efficient sensing of objects positioned above ground by UAV-UEs capable of performing sensing operations.

FIG. 13 illustrates an example method 1300 of sensing, according to aspects of the disclosure. In some aspects, method 1300 may be performed by a network entity; for example, a RAN node, sensing management function device/server, location management device/server, core network device, or other network entity, for example, base station 304 of FIG. 3B, network entity 306 of FIG. 3C or any of the RAN nodes described herein, core network 170, location server 172, or a sensing server) .

At 1310, a network entity receives capability information indicating one or more vertical sensing capabilities of an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle User Equipment (UAV-UE) . In some aspects, where the network entity is a RAN node, operation 1310 may be performed by the one or more WWAN transceivers 350, the one or more short-range wireless transceivers 360, the one or more network transceivers 380, the one or more processors 384, memory 386, and/or sensing component (s) 388, any or all of which may be considered means (structure) for performing this operation. In some aspects, where the network entity is a sensing server, operation 1310 may be performed by the one or more network transceivers 390, the one or more processors 394, memory 396, and/or sensing component 398, any or all of which may be considered means (structure) for performing this operation.

At 1320, the network entity transmits configuration information to perform one or more sensing operations within one or more target height ranges for the UAV-UE. In some aspects, where the network entity is a RAN node, operation 1320 may be performed by the one or more WWAN transceivers 350, the one or more short-range wireless transceivers 360, the one or more network transceivers 380, the one or more processors 384, memory 386, and/or sensing component (s) 388, any or all of which may be considered means (structure) for performing this operation. In some aspects, where the network entity is a sensing server, operation 1320 may be performed by the one or more network transceivers 390, the one or more processors 394, memory 396, and/or sensing component 398, any or all of which may be considered means (structure) for performing this operation.

At 1330, the network entity receives one or more sensing reports indicating results of the one or more sensing operations obtained according to the configuration information. In some aspects, where the network entity is a RAN node, operation 1330 may be performed by the one or more WWAN transceivers 350, the one or more short-range wireless transceivers 360, the one or more network transceivers 380, the one or more processors 384, memory 386, and/or sensing component (s) 388, any or all of which may be considered means (structure) for performing this operation. In some aspects, where the network entity is a sensing server, operation 1330 may be performed by the one or more network transceivers 390, the one or more processors 394, memory 396, and/or sensing component 398, any or all of which may be considered means (structure) for performing this operation.

As will be appreciated, a technical advantage of method 1300 is enabling accurate sensing of objects positioned above ground level. A network entity can provide configuration information and manage sensing across multiple UAV-UEs based on vertical sensing capabilities, to provide accurate position/velocity/speed determination for one or more target objects.

In the detailed description above it can be seen that different features are grouped together in examples. This manner of disclosure should not be understood as an intention that the example clauses have more features than are explicitly mentioned in each clause. Rather, the various aspects of the disclosure may include fewer than all features of an individual example clause disclosed. Therefore, the following clauses should hereby be deemed to be incorporated in the description, wherein each clause by itself can stand as a separate example. Although each dependent clause can refer in the clauses to a specific combination with one of the other clauses, the aspect (s) of that dependent clause are not limited to the specific combination. It will be appreciated that other example clauses can also include a combination of the dependent clause aspect (s) with the subject matter of any other dependent clause or independent clause or a combination of any feature with other dependent and independent clauses. The various aspects disclosed herein expressly include these combinations, unless it is explicitly expressed or can be readily inferred that a specific combination is not intended (e.g., contradictory aspects, such as defining an element as both an electrical insulator and an electrical conductor) . Furthermore, it is also intended that aspects of a clause can be included in any other independent clause, even if the clause is not directly dependent on the independent clause.

Implementation examples are described in the following numbered clauses:

Clause 1. A method at an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle User Equipment (UAV-UE) comprising: transmitting capability information indicating one or more vertical sensing capabilities of the UAV-UE; receiving configuration information to perform one or more sensing operations within a target height range; performing the one or more sensing operations within the target height range; and transmitting a sensing report indicating one or more results of the one or more sensing operations.

Clause 2. The method of clause 1, wherein the one or more vertical sensing capabilities of the UAV-UE comprise one or more indications of: a height of the UAV-UE; a height uncertainty of the UAV-UE; an antenna sensing direction; or any combination thereof.

Clause 3. The method of any of clauses 1 to 2, wherein: the configuration information is received after the capability information is transmitted; or the configuration information is received before the capability information is transmitted.

Clause 4. The method of any of clauses 1 to 3, wherein the one or more sensing operations comprise: detecting one or more first reference signals; or transmitting one or more second reference signals, or both.

Clause 5. The method of clause 4, wherein the one or more sensing operations comprise one or more bistatic sensing operations, and wherein: the one or more first reference signals are received from a Radio Access Network (RAN) node or from a different UAV-UE;or the one or more second reference signals are transmitted to a RAN node or to a different UAV-UE.

Clause 6. The method of any of clauses 1 to 5, wherein the one or more results comprise: measurements of one or more first reference signals; or transmission information for one or more second reference signals.

Clause 7. The method of any of clauses 1 to 6, wherein the one or more vertical sensing capabilities of the UAV-UE comprise at least an indication of a height uncertainty of the UAV-UE and an indication of a height of the UAV-UE determined using a first positioning method, and further comprising: receiving an indication to perform height determination using a second different positioning method; determining an updated height of the UAV-UE using the second different positioning method; and transmitting capability information indicating at least the updated height of the UAV-UE and an updated height uncertainty of the UAV-UE based on the second different positioning method.

Clause 8. The method of clause 7, wherein the first positioning method or the second different positioning method comprises round-trip time (RTT) -based positioning between the UAV-UE and a plurality of entities at different heights, wherein the plurality of entities include one or more other UAV-UEs, one or more Transmission Reception Points (TRPs) , or a combination thereof.

Clause 9. The method of any of clauses 7 to 8, wherein the first positioning method or the second different positioning method comprises round-trip time (RTT) and direction of arrival (DoA) positioning between the UAV-UE and at least one entity with DoA measuring capability.

Clause 10. The method of any of clauses 1 to 9, wherein the capability information indicating the one or more vertical sensing capabilities of the UAV-UE comprises an indication that an antenna sensing direction is omnidirectional or directional.

Clause 11. The method of any of clauses 1 to 10, wherein the configuration information includes a target height range, and wherein performing one or more sensing operations comprises performing the one or more sensing operations to sense a target object in the target height range.

Clause 12. The method of any of clauses 1 to 11, wherein the capability information is included in the sensing report.

Clause 13. The method of any of clauses 1 to 12, wherein receiving the configuration information comprises: receiving the configuration information from one or more RAN nodes according to Layer-1 Downlink Control Information (DCI) signaling, Layer-2 Medium Access Control-Control Element (MAC-CE) signaling, or Layer-3 Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling; receiving the configuration information from one or more core network devices according to Non Access Stratum (NAS) or Next Generation Application Protocol (NGAP) signaling; receiving the configuration information from one or more servers implementing a Sensing Management Function (SnMF) or a Location Management Function (LMF) or both, according to Layer-3 RRC Information Elements (IEs) of a Long Term Evolution (LTE) Positioning Protocol (LPP) protocol or a dedicated sensing protocol; receiving the configuration information from one or more other UEs, according to a sidelink protocol; or any combination thereof.

Clause 14. The method of any of clauses 1 to 13, wherein transmitting the sensing report comprises: transmitting the sensing report to one or more RAN nodes according to Layer-1 Uplink Control Information/Uplink Data (L1 UCI/UL-data) , Layer-2 MAC-CE or Layer-3 RRC; transmitting the sensing report to one or more core network devices according to NAS or NGAP signaling; transmitting the sensing report to one or more servers implementing a SnMF or a LMF or both, according to Layer-3 RRC IEs of an LPP protocol or a dedicated sensing protocol; transmitting the sensing report to one or more other UEs, according to a sidelink protocol; or any combination thereof.

Clause 15. A method at a network entity comprising: receiving capability information indicating one or more vertical sensing capabilities of an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle User Equipment (UAV-UE) ; transmitting configuration information to perform one or more sensing operations within one or more target height ranges for the UAV-UE; and receiving one or more sensing reports indicating results of the one or more sensing operations obtained according to the configuration information.

Clause 16. The method of clause 15, wherein: the capability information is received before the configuration information is transmitted; or the capability information is received after the configuration information is transmitted.

Clause 17. The method of any of clauses 15 to 16, wherein the one or more vertical sensing capabilities of the UAV-UE comprise one or more indications of: a height of the UAV-UE; a height uncertainty of the UAV-UE; an antenna sensing direction of UAV-UE;or any combination thereof.

Clause 18. The method of clause 17, wherein the height of the UAV-UE is determined using a first positioning method, wherein the height uncertainty of the UAV-UE exceeds a threshold amount, and further comprising: transmitting an indication to the UAV-UE to perform height determination using a second different positioning method; and receiving an updated height of the UAV-UE determined using the second different positioning method.

Clause 19. The method of any of clauses 15 to 18, wherein the results of the one or more sensing operations comprise: measurements of one or more first reference signals; or transmission information for one or more second reference signals.

Clause 20. The method of any of clauses 15 to 19, further comprising: determining a position of one or more target objects based on the one or more sensing reports.

Clause 21. The method of any of clauses 15 to 20, wherein the network entity comprises: a Radio Access Network (RAN) node; one or more core network devices; one or more sensing management devices; one or more location management devices; one or more other UEs; or any combination thereof.

Clause 22. The method of any of clauses 15 to 21, wherein the network entity comprises: one or more RAN nodes, wherein the one or more RAN nodes transmit the configuration information using Layer-1 Downlink Control Information (DCI) signaling, Layer-2 Medium Access Control-Control Element (MAC-CE) signaling, or Layer-3 Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling; one or more core network devices, and wherein the one or more core network devices transmit the configuration information using Non Access Stratum (NAS) or Next Generation Application Protocol (NGAP) signaling; one or more sensing management devices implementing a Sensing Management Function (SnMF) , using a dedicated sensing protocol; one or more location management devices implementing a Location Management Function (LMF) using a Long Term Evolution (LTE) Positioning Protocol (LPP) protocol; one or more other UEs, using a sidelink protocol; or any combination thereof.

Clause 23. The method of any of clauses 15 to 22, wherein the network entity comprises: one or more RAN nodes, and wherein the one or more RAN nodes receive the one or more sensing reports according to Layer-1 Uplink Control Information/Uplink Data (L1 UCI/UL-data) , Layer-2 MAC-CE or Layer-3 RRC; one or more core network devices, and wherein the one or more core network devices receive the one or more sensing reports according to NAS or NGAP signaling; one or more sensing management devices implementing a Sensing Management Function (SnMF) , wherein the one or more sensing management devices receive the one or more sensing reports using a dedicated sensing protocol; one or more location management devices implementing a Location Management Function (LMF) , wherein the one or more location management devices receive the one or more sensing reports using a Long Term Evolution (LTE) Positioning Protocol (LPP) protocol; one or more other UEs, and wherein the one or more other UEs receive the one or more sensing reports according to a sidelink protocol; or any combination thereof.

Clause 24. An Unmanned Aerial Vehicle User Equipment (UAV-UE) , comprising: one or more memories; one or more transceivers; and one or more processors communicatively coupled to the one or more memories and the one or more transceivers, the one or more processors, either alone or in combination, configured to: transmit, via the one or more transceivers, capability information indicating one or more vertical sensing capabilities of the UAV-UE; receive, via the one or more transceivers, configuration information to perform one or more sensing operations within a target height range; perform the one or more sensing operations within the target height range; and transmit, via the one or more transceivers, a sensing report indicating one or more results of the one or more sensing operations.

Clause 25. The UAV-UE of clause 24, wherein the one or more vertical sensing capabilities of the UAV-UE comprise one or more indications of: a height of the UAV-UE; a height uncertainty of the UAV-UE; an antenna sensing direction; or any combination thereof.

Clause 26. The UAV-UE of any of clauses 24 to 25, wherein: the configuration information is received after the capability information is transmitted; or the configuration information is received before the capability information is transmitted.

Clause 27. The UAV-UE of any of clauses 24 to 26, wherein the one or more sensing operations comprise: detecting one or more first reference signals; or transmitting, via the one or more transceivers, one or more second reference signals, or both.

Clause 28. The UAV-UE of clause 27, wherein the one or more sensing operations comprise one or more bistatic sensing operations, and wherein: the one or more first reference signals are received from a Radio Access Network (RAN) node or from a different UAV-UE; or the one or more second reference signals are transmitted to a RAN node or to a different UAV-UE.

Clause 29. The UAV-UE of any of clauses 24 to 28, wherein the one or more results comprise: measurements of one or more first reference signals; or transmission information for one or more second reference signals.

Clause 30. The UAV-UE of any of clauses 24 to 29, wherein the one or more vertical sensing capabilities of the UAV-UE comprise at least an indication of a height uncertainty of the UAV-UE and an indication of a height of the UAV-UE determined using a first positioning method, and wherein the one or more processors, either alone or in combination, are further configured to: receive, via the one or more transceivers, an indication to perform height determination using a second different positioning method; determine an updated height of the UAV-UE using the second different positioning method; and transmit, via the one or more transceivers, capability information indicating at least the updated height of the UAV-UE and an updated height uncertainty of the UAV-UE based on the second different positioning method.

Clause 31. The UAV-UE of clause 30, wherein the first positioning method or the second different positioning method comprises round-trip time (RTT) -based positioning between the UAV-UE and a plurality of entities at different heights, wherein the plurality of entities include one or more other UAV-UEs, one or more Transmission Reception Points (TRPs) , or a combination thereof.

Clause 32. The UAV-UE of any of clauses 30 to 31, wherein the first positioning method or the second different positioning method comprises round-trip time (RTT) and direction of arrival (DoA) positioning between the UAV-UE and at least one entity with DoA measuring capability.

Clause 33. The UAV-UE of any of clauses 24 to 32, wherein the capability information indicating the one or more vertical sensing capabilities of the UAV-UE comprises an indication that an antenna sensing direction is omnidirectional or directional.

Clause 34. The UAV-UE of any of clauses 24 to 33, wherein the configuration information includes a target height range, and wherein performing one or more sensing operations comprises performing the one or more sensing operations to sense a target object in the target height range.

Clause 35. The UAV-UE of any of clauses 24 to 34, wherein the capability information is included in the sensing report.

Clause 36. The UAV-UE of any of clauses 24 to 35, wherein, to receive the configuration information, the one or more processors, either alone or in combination, are configured to:receive, via the one or more transceivers, the configuration information from one or more RAN nodes according to Layer-1 Downlink Control Information (DCI) signaling, Layer-2 Medium Access Control-Control Element (MAC-CE) signaling, or Layer-3 Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling; receive, via the one or more transceivers, the configuration information from one or more core network devices according to Non Access Stratum (NAS) or Next Generation Application Protocol (NGAP) signaling; receive, via the one or more transceivers, the configuration information from one or more servers implementing a Sensing Management Function (SnMF) or a Location Management Function (LMF) or both, according to Layer-3 RRC Information Elements (IEs) of a Long Term Evolution (LTE) Positioning Protocol (LPP) protocol or a dedicated sensing protocol; receive, via the one or more transceivers, the configuration information from one or more other UEs, according to a sidelink protocol; or any combination thereof.

Clause 37. The UAV-UE of any of clauses 24 to 36, wherein, to transmit the sensing report, the one or more processors, either alone or in combination, are configured to: transmit, via the one or more transceivers, the sensing report to one or more RAN nodes according to Layer-1 Uplink Control Information/Uplink Data (L1 UCI/UL-data) , Layer-2 MAC-CE or Layer-3 RRC; transmit, via the one or more transceivers, the sensing report to one or more core network devices according to NAS or NGAP signaling; transmit, via the one or more transceivers, the sensing report to one or more servers implementing a SnMF or a LMF or both, according to Layer-3 RRC IEs of an LPP protocol or a dedicated sensing protocol; transmit, via the one or more transceivers, the sensing report to one or more other UEs, according to a sidelink protocol; or any combination thereof.

Clause 38. A network entity, comprising: one or more memories; one or more transceivers; and one or more processors communicatively coupled to the one or more memories and the one or more transceivers, the one or more processors, either alone or in combination, configured to: receive, via the one or more transceivers, capability information indicating one or more vertical sensing capabilities of an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle User Equipment (UAV-UE) ; transmit, via the one or more transceivers, configuration information to perform one or more sensing operations within one or more target height ranges for the UAV-UE; and receive, via the one or more transceivers, one or more sensing reports indicating results of the one or more sensing operations obtained according to the configuration information.

Clause 39. The network entity of clause 38, wherein: the capability information is received before the configuration information is transmitted; or the capability information is received after the configuration information is transmitted.

Clause 40. The network entity of any of clauses 38 to 39, wherein the one or more vertical sensing capabilities of the UAV-UE comprise one or more indications of: a height of the UAV-UE; a height uncertainty of the UAV-UE; an antenna sensing direction of UAV-UE;or any combination thereof.

Clause 41. The network entity of clause 40, wherein the height of the UAV-UE is determined using a first positioning method, wherein the height uncertainty of the UAV-UE exceeds a threshold amount, and wherein the one or more processors, either alone or in combination, are further configured to: transmit, via the one or more transceivers, an indication to the UAV-UE to perform height determination using a second different positioning method; and receive, via the one or more transceivers, an updated height of the UAV-UE determined using the second different positioning method.

Clause 42. The network entity of any of clauses 38 to 41, wherein the results of the one or more sensing operations comprise: measurements of one or more first reference signals; or transmission information for one or more second reference signals.

Clause 43. The network entity of any of clauses 38 to 42, wherein the one or more processors, either alone or in combination, are further configured to: determine a position of one or more target objects based on the one or more sensing reports.

Clause 44. The network entity of any of clauses 38 to 43, wherein the network entity comprises: a Radio Access Network (RAN) node; one or more core network devices; one or more sensing management devices; one or more location management devices; one or more other UEs; or any combination thereof.

Clause 45. The network entity of any of clauses 38 to 44, wherein the network entity comprises: one or more RAN nodes, wherein the one or more RAN nodes transmit the configuration information using Layer-1 Downlink Control Information (DCI) signaling, Layer-2 Medium Access Control-Control Element (MAC-CE) signaling, or Layer-3 Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling; one or more core network devices, and wherein the one or more core network devices transmit the configuration information using Non Access Stratum (NAS) or Next Generation Application Protocol (NGAP) signaling; one or more sensing management devices implementing a Sensing Management Function (SnMF) , using a dedicated sensing protocol; one or more location management devices implementing a Location Management Function (LMF) using a Long Term Evolution (LTE) Positioning Protocol (LPP) protocol; one or more other UEs, using a sidelink protocol; or any combination thereof.

Clause 46. The network entity of any of clauses 38 to 45, wherein the network entity comprises: one or more RAN nodes, and wherein the one or more RAN nodes receive the one or more sensing reports according to Layer-1 Uplink Control Information/Uplink Data (L1 UCI/UL-data) , Layer-2 MAC-CE or Layer-3 RRC; one or more core network devices, and wherein the one or more core network devices receive the one or more sensing reports according to NAS or NGAP signaling; one or more sensing management devices implementing a Sensing Management Function (SnMF) , wherein the one or more sensing management devices receive the one or more sensing reports using a dedicated sensing protocol; one or more location management devices implementing a Location Management Function (LMF) , wherein the one or more location management devices receive the one or more sensing reports using a Long Term Evolution (LTE) Positioning Protocol (LPP) protocol; one or more other UEs, and wherein the one or more other UEs receive the one or more sensing reports according to a sidelink protocol; or any combination thereof.

Clause 47. An Unmanned Aerial Vehicle User Equipment (UAV-UE) , comprising: means for transmitting capability information indicating one or more vertical sensing capabilities of the UAV-UE; means for receiving configuration information to perform one or more sensing operations within a target height range; means for performing the one or more sensing operations within the target height range; and means for transmitting a sensing report indicating one or more results of the one or more sensing operations.

Clause 48. The UAV-UE of clause 47, wherein the one or more vertical sensing capabilities of the UAV-UE comprise one or more indications of: a height of the UAV-UE;a height uncertainty of the UAV-UE; an antenna sensing direction; or any combination thereof.

Clause 49. The UAV-UE of any of clauses 47 to 48, wherein: the configuration information is received after the capability information is transmitted; or the configuration information is received before the capability information is transmitted.

Clause 50. The UAV-UE of any of clauses 47 to 49, wherein the one or more sensing operations comprise: means for detecting one or more first reference signals; or means for transmitting one or more second reference signals, or both.

Clause 51. The UAV-UE of clause 50, wherein the one or more sensing operations comprise one or more bistatic sensing operations, and wherein: the one or more first reference signals are received from a Radio Access Network (RAN) node or from a different UAV-UE; or the one or more second reference signals are transmitted to a RAN node or to a different UAV-UE.

Clause 52. The UAV-UE of any of clauses 47 to 51, wherein the one or more results comprise: measurements of one or more first reference signals; or transmission information for one or more second reference signals.

Clause 53. The UAV-UE of any of clauses 47 to 52, wherein the one or more vertical sensing capabilities of the UAV-UE comprise at least an indication of a height uncertainty of the UAV-UE and an indication of a height of the UAV-UE determined using a first positioning method, and further comprising: means for receiving an indication to perform height determination using a second different positioning method; means for determining an updated height of the UAV-UE using the second different positioning method; and means for transmitting capability information indicating at least the updated height of the UAV-UE and an updated height uncertainty of the UAV-UE based on the second different positioning method.

Clause 54. The UAV-UE of clause 53, wherein the first positioning method or the second different positioning method comprises round-trip time (RTT) -based positioning between the UAV-UE and a plurality of entities at different heights, wherein the plurality of entities include one or more other UAV-UEs, one or more Transmission Reception Points (TRPs) , or a combination thereof.

Clause 55. The UAV-UE of any of clauses 53 to 54, wherein the first positioning method or the second different positioning method comprises round-trip time (RTT) and direction of arrival (DoA) positioning between the UAV-UE and at least one entity with DoA measuring capability.

Clause 56. The UAV-UE of any of clauses 47 to 55, wherein the capability information indicating the one or more vertical sensing capabilities of the UAV-UE comprises an indication that an antenna sensing direction is omnidirectional or directional.

Clause 57. The UAV-UE of any of clauses 47 to 56, wherein the configuration information includes a target height range, and wherein performing one or more sensing operations comprises performing the one or more sensing operations to sense a target object in the target height range.

Clause 58. The UAV-UE of any of clauses 47 to 57, wherein the capability information is included in the sensing report.

Clause 59. The UAV-UE of any of clauses 47 to 58, wherein the means for receiving the configuration information comprises: means for receiving the configuration information from one or more RAN nodes according to Layer-1 Downlink Control Information (DCI) signaling, Layer-2 Medium Access Control-Control Element (MAC-CE) signaling, or Layer-3 Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling; means for receiving the configuration information from one or more core network devices according to Non Access Stratum (NAS) or Next Generation Application Protocol (NGAP) signaling; means for receiving the configuration information from one or more servers implementing a Sensing Management Function (SnMF) or a Location Management Function (LMF) or both, according to Layer-3 RRC Information Elements (IEs) of a Long Term Evolution (LTE) Positioning Protocol (LPP) protocol or a dedicated sensing protocol; means for receiving the configuration information from one or more other UEs, according to a sidelink protocol; or any combination thereof.

Clause 60. The UAV-UE of any of clauses 47 to 59, wherein the means for transmitting the sensing report comprises: means for transmitting the sensing report to one or more RAN nodes according to Layer-1 Uplink Control Information/Uplink Data (L1 UCI/UL-data) , Layer-2 MAC-CE or Layer-3 RRC; means for transmitting the sensing report to one or more core network devices according to NAS or NGAP signaling; means for transmitting the sensing report to one or more servers implementing a SnMF or a LMF or both, according to Layer-3 RRC IEs of an LPP protocol or a dedicated sensing protocol; means for transmitting the sensing report to one or more other UEs, according to a sidelink protocol; or any combination thereof.

Clause 61. A network entity, comprising: means for receiving capability information indicating one or more vertical sensing capabilities of an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle User Equipment (UAV-UE) ; means for transmitting configuration information to perform one or more sensing operations within one or more target height ranges for the UAV-UE; and means for receiving one or more sensing reports indicating results of the one or more sensing operations obtained according to the configuration information.

Clause 62. The network entity of clause 61, wherein: the capability information is received before the configuration information is transmitted; or the capability information is received after the configuration information is transmitted.

Clause 63. The network entity of any of clauses 61 to 62, wherein the one or more vertical sensing capabilities of the UAV-UE comprise one or more indications of: a height of the UAV-UE; a height uncertainty of the UAV-UE; an antenna sensing direction of UAV-UE;or any combination thereof.

Clause 64. The network entity of clause 63, wherein the height of the UAV-UE is determined using a first positioning method, wherein the height uncertainty of the UAV-UE exceeds a threshold amount, and further comprising: means for transmitting an indication to the UAV-UE to perform height determination using a second different positioning method; and means for receiving an updated height of the UAV-UE determined using the second different positioning method.

Clause 65. The network entity of any of clauses 61 to 64, wherein the results of the one or more sensing operations comprise: measurements of one or more first reference signals; or transmission information for one or more second reference signals.

Clause 66. The network entity of any of clauses 61 to 65, further comprising: means for determining a position of one or more target objects based on the one or more sensing reports.

Clause 67. The network entity of any of clauses 61 to 66, wherein the network entity comprises: a Radio Access Network (RAN) node; one or more core network devices; one or more sensing management devices; one or more location management devices; one or more other UEs; or any combination thereof.

Clause 68. The network entity of any of clauses 61 to 67, wherein the network entity comprises: one or more RAN nodes, wherein the one or more RAN nodes transmit the configuration information using Layer-1 Downlink Control Information (DCI) signaling, Layer-2 Medium Access Control-Control Element (MAC-CE) signaling, or Layer-3 Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling; one or more core network devices, and wherein the one or more core network devices transmit the configuration information using Non Access Stratum (NAS) or Next Generation Application Protocol (NGAP) signaling; one or more sensing management devices implementing a Sensing Management Function (SnMF) , using a dedicated sensing protocol; one or more location management devices implementing a Location Management Function (LMF) using a Long Term Evolution (LTE) Positioning Protocol (LPP) protocol; one or more other UEs, using a sidelink protocol; or any combination thereof.

Clause 69. The network entity of any of clauses 61 to 68, wherein the network entity comprises: one or more RAN nodes, and wherein the one or more RAN nodes receive the one or more sensing reports according to Layer-1 Uplink Control Information/Uplink Data (L1 UCI/UL-data) , Layer-2 MAC-CE or Layer-3 RRC; one or more core network devices, and wherein the one or more core network devices receive the one or more sensing reports according to NAS or NGAP signaling; one or more sensing management devices implementing a Sensing Management Function (SnMF) , wherein the one or more sensing management devices receive the one or more sensing reports using a dedicated sensing protocol; one or more location management devices implementing a Location Management Function (LMF) , wherein the one or more location management devices receive the one or more sensing reports using a Long Term Evolution (LTE) Positioning Protocol (LPP) protocol; one or more other UEs, and wherein the one or more other UEs receive the one or more sensing reports according to a sidelink protocol; or any combination thereof.

Clause 70. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer-executable instructions that, when executed by an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle User Equipment (UAV-UE) , cause the UAV-UE to: transmit capability information indicating one or more vertical sensing capabilities of the UAV-UE; receive configuration information to perform one or more sensing operations within a target height range; perform the one or more sensing operations within the target height range; and transmit a sensing report indicating one or more results of the one or more sensing operations.

Clause 71. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of clause 70, wherein the one or more vertical sensing capabilities of the UAV-UE comprise one or more indications of:a height of the UAV-UE; a height uncertainty of the UAV-UE; an antenna sensing direction; or any combination thereof.

Clause 72. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 70 to 71, wherein: the configuration information is received after the capability information is transmitted; or the configuration information is received before the capability information is transmitted.

Clause 73. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 70 to 72, wherein the one or more sensing operations comprise: detect one or more first reference signals; or transmit one or more second reference signals, or both.

Clause 74. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of clause 73, wherein the one or more sensing operations comprise one or more bistatic sensing operations, and wherein: the one or more first reference signals are received from a Radio Access Network (RAN) node or from a different UAV-UE; or the one or more second reference signals are transmitted to a RAN node or to a different UAV-UE.

Clause 75. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 70 to 74, wherein the one or more results comprise: measurements of one or more first reference signals; or transmission information for one or more second reference signals.

Clause 76. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 70 to 75, wherein the one or more vertical sensing capabilities of the UAV-UE comprise at least an indication of a height uncertainty of the UAV-UE and an indication of a height of the UAV-UE determined using a first positioning method, and further comprising computer- executable instructions that, when executed by the UAV-UE, cause the UAV-UE to: receive an indication to perform height determination using a second different positioning method; determine an updated height of the UAV-UE using the second different positioning method; and transmit capability information indicating at least the updated height of the UAV-UE and an updated height uncertainty of the UAV-UE based on the second different positioning method.

Clause 77. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of clause 76, wherein the first positioning method or the second different positioning method comprises round-trip time (RTT) -based positioning between the UAV-UE and a plurality of entities at different heights, wherein the plurality of entities include one or more other UAV-UEs, one or more Transmission Reception Points (TRPs) , or a combination thereof.

Clause 78. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 76 to 77, wherein the first positioning method or the second different positioning method comprises round-trip time (RTT) and direction of arrival (DoA) positioning between the UAV-UE and at least one entity with DoA measuring capability.

Clause 79. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 70 to 78, wherein the capability information indicating the one or more vertical sensing capabilities of the UAV-UE comprises an indication that an antenna sensing direction is omnidirectional or directional.

Clause 80. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 70 to 79, wherein the configuration information includes a target height range, and wherein performing one or more sensing operations comprises performing the one or more sensing operations to sense a target object in the target height range.

Clause 81. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 70 to 80, wherein the capability information is included in the sensing report.

Clause 82. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 70 to 81, wherein the computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the UAV-UE, cause the UAV-UE to receive the configuration information comprise computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the UAV-UE, cause the UAV-UE to: receive the configuration information from one or more RAN nodes according to Layer-1 Downlink Control Information (DCI) signaling, Layer-2 Medium Access Control-Control Element (MAC-CE) signaling, or Layer-3 Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling; receive the configuration information from one or more core network devices according to Non Access Stratum (NAS) or Next Generation Application Protocol (NGAP) signaling; receive the configuration information from one or more servers implementing a Sensing Management Function (SnMF) or a Location Management Function (LMF) or both, according to Layer-3 RRC Information Elements (IEs) of a Long Term Evolution (LTE) Positioning Protocol (LPP) protocol or a dedicated sensing protocol; receive the configuration information from one or more other UEs, according to a sidelink protocol; or any combination thereof.

Clause 83. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 70 to 82, wherein the computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the UAV-UE, cause the UAV-UE to transmit the sensing report comprise computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the UAV-UE, cause the UAV-UE to: transmit the sensing report to one or more RAN nodes according to Layer-1 Uplink Control Information/Uplink Data (L1 UCI/UL-data) , Layer-2 MAC-CE or Layer-3 RRC; transmit the sensing report to one or more core network devices according to NAS or NGAP signaling; transmit the sensing report to one or more servers implementing a SnMF or a LMF or both, according to Layer-3 RRC IEs of an LPP protocol or a dedicated sensing protocol; transmit the sensing report to one or more other UEs, according to a sidelink protocol; or any combination thereof.

Clause 84. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer-executable instructions that, when executed by a network entity, cause the network entity to: receive capability information indicating one or more vertical sensing capabilities of an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle User Equipment (UAV-UE) ; transmit configuration information to perform one or more sensing operations within one or more target height ranges for the UAV-UE; and receive one or more sensing reports indicating results of the one or more sensing operations obtained according to the configuration information.

Clause 85. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of clause 84, wherein: the capability information is received before the configuration information is transmitted; or the capability information is received after the configuration information is transmitted.

Clause 86. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 84 to 85, wherein the one or more vertical sensing capabilities of the UAV-UE comprise one or more indications of: a height of the UAV-UE; a height uncertainty of the UAV-UE; an antenna sensing direction of UAV-UE; or any combination thereof.

Clause 87. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of clause 86, wherein the height of the UAV-UE is determined using a first positioning method, wherein the height uncertainty of the UAV-UE exceeds a threshold amount, and wherein the instructions further cause the network entity to: transmit an indication to the UAV-UE to perform height determination using a second different positioning method; and receive an updated height of the UAV-UE determined using the second different positioning method.

Clause 88. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 84 to 87, wherein the results of the one or more sensing operations comprise: measurements of one or more first reference signals; or transmission information for one or more second reference signals.

Clause 89. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 84 to 88, further comprising computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the network entity, cause the network entity to: determine a position of one or more target objects based on the one or more sensing reports.

Clause 90. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 84 to 89, wherein the network entity comprises: a Radio Access Network (RAN) node; one or more core network devices; one or more sensing management devices; one or more location management devices; one or more other UEs; or any combination thereof.

Clause 91. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 84 to 90, wherein the network entity comprises: one or more RAN nodes, wherein the one or more RAN nodes transmit the configuration information using Layer-1 Downlink Control Information (DCI) signaling, Layer-2 Medium Access Control-Control Element (MAC-CE) signaling, or Layer-3 Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling; one or more core network devices, and wherein the one or more core network devices transmit the configuration information using Non Access Stratum (NAS) or Next Generation Application Protocol (NGAP) signaling; one or more sensing management devices implementing a Sensing Management Function (SnMF) , using a dedicated sensing protocol; one or more location management devices implementing a Location Management Function (LMF) using a Long Term Evolution (LTE) Positioning Protocol (LPP) protocol; one or more other UEs, using a sidelink protocol; or any combination thereof.

Clause 92. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 84 to 91, wherein the network entity comprises: one or more RAN nodes, and wherein the one or more RAN nodes receive the one or more sensing reports according to Layer-1 Uplink Control Information/Uplink Data (L1 UCI/UL-data) , Layer-2 MAC-CE or Layer-3 RRC; one or more core network devices, and wherein the one or more core network devices receive the one or more sensing reports according to NAS or NGAP signaling; one or more sensing management devices implementing a Sensing Management Function (SnMF) , wherein the one or more sensing management devices receive the one or more sensing reports using a dedicated sensing protocol; one or more location management devices implementing a Location Management Function (LMF) , wherein the one or more location management devices receive the one or more sensing reports using a Long Term Evolution (LTE) Positioning Protocol (LPP) protocol; one or more other UEs, and wherein the one or more other UEs receive the one or more sensing reports according to a sidelink protocol; or any combination thereof.

Those of skill in the art will appreciate that information and signals may be represented using any of a variety of different technologies and techniques. For example, data, instructions, commands, information, signals, bits, symbols, and chips that may be referenced throughout the above description may be represented by voltages, currents, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or particles, optical fields or particles, or any combination thereof.

Further, those of skill in the art will appreciate that the various illustrative logical blocks, modules, circuits, and algorithm steps described in connection with the aspects disclosed herein may be implemented as electronic hardware, computer software, or combinations of both. To clearly illustrate this interchangeability of hardware 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 or software depends upon the particular application and design constraints imposed on the overall system. Skilled artisans may implement the described functionality in varying ways for each particular application, but such implementation decisions should not be interpreted as causing a departure from the scope of the present disclosure.

The various illustrative logical blocks, modules, and circuits described in connection with the aspects disclosed herein may be implemented or performed with a general purpose processor, a digital signal processor (DSP) , an ASIC, a field-programable gate array (FPGA) , or other programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof designed to perform the functions described herein. A general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor, but in the alternative, the processor may be any conventional processor, controller, microcontroller, bor state machine. A processor may also be implemented as a combination of computing devices, for example, a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, a plurality of microprocessors, one or more microprocessors in conjunction with a DSP core, or any other such configuration.

The methods, sequences and/or algorithms described in connection with the aspects disclosed herein may be embodied directly in hardware, in a software module executed by a processor, or in a combination of the two. A software module may reside in random access memory (RAM) , flash memory, read-only memory (ROM) , erasable programmable ROM (EPROM) , electrically erasable programmable ROM (EEPROM) , registers, hard disk, a removable disk, a CD-ROM, or any other form of storage medium known in the art. An example storage medium is coupled to the processor such that the processor can read information from, and write information to, the storage medium. In the alternative, the storage medium may be integral to the processor. The processor and the storage medium may reside in an ASIC. The ASIC may reside in a user terminal (e.g., UE) . In the alternative, the processor and the storage medium may reside as discrete components in a user terminal.

In one or more example aspects, the functions described may be implemented in hardware, software, firmware, or any combination thereof. If implemented in software, the functions may be stored on or transmitted over as one or more instructions or code on a computer-readable medium. Computer-readable media includes both computer storage media and communication media including any medium that facilitates transfer of a computer program from one place to another. A storage media may be any available media that can be accessed by a computer. By way of example, and not limitation, such computer-readable media can comprise 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 carry or store desired program code in the form of instructions or data structures and that can be accessed by a computer. Also, any connection is properly termed a computer-readable medium. For example, if the software is transmitted from a website, server, or other remote source using a coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, digital subscriber line (DSL) , or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio, and microwave, then the coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, DSL, or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio, and microwave are included in the definition of medium. Disk and disc, as used herein, includes compact disc (CD) , laser disc, optical disc, digital versatile disc (DVD) , floppy disk and Blu-ray disc where disks usually reproduce data magnetically, while discs reproduce data optically with lasers. Combinations of the above should also be included within the scope of computer-readable media.

While the foregoing disclosure shows illustrative aspects of the disclosure, it should be noted that various changes and modifications could be made herein without departing from the scope of the disclosure as defined by the appended claims. For example, the functions, steps and/or actions of the method claims in accordance with the aspects of the disclosure described herein need not be performed in any particular order. Further, no component, function, action, or instruction described or claimed herein should be construed as critical or essential unless explicitly described as such. Furthermore, as used herein, the terms “set, ” “group, ” and the like are intended to include one or more of the stated elements. Also, as used herein, the terms “has, ” “have, ” “having, ” “comprises, ” “comprising, ” “includes, ” “including, ” and the like does not preclude the presence of one or more additional elements (e.g., an element “having” A may also have B) . Further, the phrase “based on” is intended to mean “based, at least in part, on” unless explicitly stated otherwise. Also, as used herein, the term “or” is intended to be inclusive when used in a series and may be used interchangeably with “and/or, ” unless explicitly stated otherwise (e.g., if used in combination with “either” or “only one of” ) or the alternatives are mutually exclusive (e.g., “one or more” should not be interpreted as “one and more” ) . Furthermore, although components, functions, actions, and instructions may be described or claimed in the singular, the plural is contemplated unless limitation to the singular is explicitly stated. Accordingly, as used herein, the articles “a, ” “an, ” “the, ” and “said” are intended to include one or more of the stated elements. Additionally, as used herein, the terms “at least one” and “one or more” encompass “one” component, function, action, or instruction performing or capable of performing a described or claimed functionality and also “two or more” components, functions, actions, or instructions performing or capable of performing a described or claimed functionality in combination.

Claims

An Unmanned Aerial Vehicle User Equipment (UAV-UE) , comprising:

one or more memories;

one or more transceivers; and

one or more processors communicatively coupled to the one or more memories and the one or more transceivers, the one or more processors, either alone or in combination, configured to:

transmit, via the one or more transceivers, capability information indicating one or more vertical sensing capabilities of the UAV-UE;

receive, via the one or more transceivers, configuration information to perform one or more sensing operations within a target height range;

perform the one or more sensing operations within the target height range; and

transmit, via the one or more transceivers, a sensing report indicating one or more results of the one or more sensing operations.
The UAV-UE of claim 1, wherein the one or more vertical sensing capabilities of the UAV-UE comprise one or more indications of:

a height of the UAV-UE;

a height uncertainty of the UAV-UE;

an antenna sensing direction; or

any combination thereof.
The UAV-UE of claim 1, wherein:

the configuration information is received after the capability information is transmitted; or

the configuration information is received before the capability information is transmitted.
The UAV-UE of claim 1, wherein the one or more sensing operations comprise:

detecting one or more first reference signals; or

transmitting, via the one or more transceivers, one or more second reference signals, or both.
The UAV-UE of claim 4, wherein the one or more sensing operations comprise one or more bistatic sensing operations, and wherein:

the one or more first reference signals are received from a Radio Access Network (RAN) node or from a different UAV-UE; or

the one or more second reference signals are transmitted to a RAN node or to a different UAV-UE.
The UAV-UE of claim 1, wherein the one or more results comprise:

measurements of one or more first reference signals; or

transmission information for one or more second reference signals.
The UAV-UE of claim 1, wherein the one or more vertical sensing capabilities of the UAV-UE comprise at least an indication of a height uncertainty of the UAV-UE and an indication of a height of the UAV-UE determined using a first positioning method, and wherein the one or more processors, either alone or in combination, are further configured to:

receive, via the one or more transceivers, an indication to perform height determination using a second different positioning method;

determine an updated height of the UAV-UE using the second different positioning method; and

transmit, via the one or more transceivers, capability information indicating at least the updated height of the UAV-UE and an updated height uncertainty of the UAV-UE based on the second different positioning method.
The UAV-UE of claim 7, wherein the first positioning method or the second different positioning method comprises round-trip time (RTT) -based positioning between the UAV-UE and a plurality of entities at different heights, wherein the plurality of entities include one or more other UAV-UEs, one or more Transmission Reception Points (TRPs) , or a combination thereof.
The UAV-UE of claim 7, wherein the first positioning method or the second different positioning method comprises round-trip time (RTT) and direction of arrival (DoA) positioning between the UAV-UE and at least one entity with DoA measuring capability.
The UAV-UE of claim 1, wherein the capability information indicating the one or more vertical sensing capabilities of the UAV-UE comprises an indication that an antenna sensing direction is omnidirectional or directional.
The UAV-UE of claim 1, wherein the configuration information includes a target height range, and wherein performing one or more sensing operations comprises performing the one or more sensing operations to sense a target object in the target height range.
The UAV-UE of claim 1, wherein the capability information is included in the sensing report.
The UAV-UE of claim 1, wherein, to receive the configuration information, the one or more processors, either alone or in combination, are configured to:

receive, via the one or more transceivers, the configuration information from one or more RAN nodes according to Layer-1 Downlink Control Information (DCI) signaling, Layer-2 Medium Access Control-Control Element (MAC-CE) signaling, or Layer-3 Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling;

receive, via the one or more transceivers, the configuration information from one or more core network devices according to Non Access Stratum (NAS) or Next Generation Application Protocol (NGAP) signaling;

receive, via the one or more transceivers, the configuration information from one or more servers implementing a Sensing Management Function (SnMF) or a Location Management Function (LMF) or both, according to Layer-3 RRC Information Elements (IEs) of a Long Term Evolution (LTE) Positioning Protocol (LPP) protocol or a dedicated sensing protocol;

receive, via the one or more transceivers, the configuration information from one or more other UEs, according to a sidelink protocol; or

any combination thereof.
The UAV-UE of claim 1, wherein, to transmit the sensing report, the one or more processors, either alone or in combination, are configured to:

transmit, via the one or more transceivers, the sensing report to one or more RAN nodes according to Layer-1 Uplink Control Information/Uplink Data (L1 UCI/UL-data) , Layer-2 MAC-CE or Layer-3 RRC;

transmit, via the one or more transceivers, the sensing report to one or more core network devices according to NAS or NGAP signaling;

transmit, via the one or more transceivers, the sensing report to one or more servers implementing a SnMF or a LMF or both, according to Layer-3 RRC IEs of an LPP protocol or a dedicated sensing protocol;

transmit, via the one or more transceivers, the sensing report to one or more other UEs, according to a sidelink protocol; or

any combination thereof.
A network entity, comprising:

one or more memories;

one or more transceivers; and

one or more processors communicatively coupled to the one or more memories and the one or more transceivers, the one or more processors, either alone or in combination, configured to:

receive, via the one or more transceivers, capability information indicating one or more vertical sensing capabilities of an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle User Equipment (UAV-UE) ;

transmit, via the one or more transceivers, configuration information to perform one or more sensing operations within one or more target height ranges for the UAV-UE; and

receive, via the one or more transceivers, one or more sensing reports indicating results of the one or more sensing operations obtained according to the configuration information.
The network entity of claim 15, wherein:

the capability information is received before the configuration information is transmitted; or

the capability information is received after the configuration information is transmitted.
The network entity of claim 15, wherein the one or more vertical sensing capabilities of the UAV-UE comprise one or more indications of:

a height of the UAV-UE;

a height uncertainty of the UAV-UE;

an antenna sensing direction of UAV-UE; or

any combination thereof.
The network entity of claim 17, wherein the height of the UAV-UE is determined using a first positioning method, wherein the height uncertainty of the UAV-UE exceeds a threshold amount, and wherein the one or more processors, either alone or in combination, are further configured to:

transmit, via the one or more transceivers, an indication to the UAV-UE to perform height determination using a second different positioning method; and

receive, via the one or more transceivers, an updated height of the UAV-UE determined using the second different positioning method.
The network entity of claim 15, wherein the results of the one or more sensing operations comprise:

measurements of one or more first reference signals; or

transmission information for one or more second reference signals.
The network entity of claim 15, wherein the one or more processors, either alone or in combination, are further configured to:

determine a position of one or more target objects based on the one or more sensing reports.
The network entity of claim 15, wherein the network entity comprises:

a Radio Access Network (RAN) node;

one or more core network devices;

one or more sensing management devices;

one or more location management devices;

one or more other UEs;

or any combination thereof.
The network entity of claim 15, wherein the network entity comprises:

one or more RAN nodes, wherein the one or more RAN nodes transmit the configuration information using Layer-1 Downlink Control Information (DCI) signaling, Layer-2 Medium Access Control-Control Element (MAC-CE) signaling, or Layer-3 Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling;

one or more core network devices, and wherein the one or more core network devices transmit the configuration information using Non Access Stratum (NAS) or Next Generation Application Protocol (NGAP) signaling;

one or more sensing management devices implementing a Sensing Management Function (SnMF) , using a dedicated sensing protocol;

one or more location management devices implementing a Location Management Function (LMF) using a Long Term Evolution (LTE) Positioning Protocol (LPP) protocol;

one or more other UEs, using a sidelink protocol; or

any combination thereof.
The network entity of claim 15, wherein the network entity comprises:

one or more RAN nodes, and wherein the one or more RAN nodes receive the one or more sensing reports according to Layer-1 Uplink Control Information/Uplink Data (L1 UCI/UL-data) , Layer-2 MAC-CE or Layer-3 RRC;

one or more core network devices, and wherein the one or more core network devices receive the one or more sensing reports according to NAS or NGAP signaling;

one or more sensing management devices implementing a Sensing Management Function (SnMF) , wherein the one or more sensing management devices receive the one or more sensing reports using a dedicated sensing protocol;

one or more location management devices implementing a Location Management Function (LMF) , wherein the one or more location management devices receive the one or more sensing reports using a Long Term Evolution (LTE) Positioning Protocol (LPP) protocol;

one or more other UEs, and wherein the one or more other UEs receive the one or more sensing reports according to a sidelink protocol; or

any combination thereof.
A method at an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle User Equipment (UAV-UE) comprising:

transmitting capability information indicating one or more vertical sensing capabilities of the UAV-UE;

receiving configuration information to perform one or more sensing operations within a target height range;

performing the one or more sensing operations within the target height range; and

transmitting a sensing report indicating one or more results of the one or more sensing operations.
The method of claim 24, wherein the one or more vertical sensing capabilities of the UAV-UE comprise one or more indications of:

a height of the UAV-UE;

a height uncertainty of the UAV-UE;

an antenna sensing direction; or

any combination thereof.
The method of claim 24, wherein the one or more sensing operations comprise one or more bistatic sensing operations, and wherein:

one or more first reference signals are received from a Radio Access Network (RAN) node or from a different UAV-UE; or

one or more second reference signals are transmitted to a RAN node or to a different UAV-UE.
The method of claim 24, wherein the one or more vertical sensing capabilities of the UAV-UE comprise at least an indication of a height uncertainty of the UAV-UE and an indication of a height of the UAV-UE determined using a first positioning method, and further comprising:

receiving an indication to perform height determination using a second different positioning method;

determining an updated height of the UAV-UE using the second different positioning method; and

transmitting capability information indicating at least the updated height of the UAV-UE and an updated height uncertainty of the UAV-UE based on the second different positioning method.
A method at a network entity comprising:

receiving capability information indicating one or more vertical sensing capabilities of an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle User Equipment (UAV-UE) ;

transmitting configuration information to perform one or more sensing operations within one or more target height ranges for the UAV-UE; and

receiving one or more sensing reports indicating results of the one or more sensing operations obtained according to the configuration information.
The method of claim 28, wherein the one or more vertical sensing capabilities of the UAV-UE comprise one or more indications of:

a height of the UAV-UE;

a height uncertainty of the UAV-UE;

an antenna sensing direction of UAV-UE; or

any combination thereof.
The method of claim 29, wherein the height of the UAV-UE is determined using a first positioning method, wherein the height uncertainty of the UAV-UE exceeds a threshold amount, and further comprising:

transmitting an indication to the UAV-UE to perform height determination using a second different positioning method; and

receiving an updated height of the UAV-UE determined using the second different positioning method.