WO2025107186A1

WO2025107186A1 - Systems and method for sensing assisted by communication in integrated sensing and communication

Info

Publication number: WO2025107186A1
Application number: PCT/CN2023/133323
Authority: WO
Inventors: Qi Yang; Chuangxin JIANG; Zhiqiang Han; Junpeng LOU; Mengzhen LI; Cong Wang
Original assignee: ZTE Corp
Current assignee: ZTE Corp
Priority date: 2023-11-22
Filing date: 2023-11-22
Publication date: 2025-05-30
Anticipated expiration: 2026-05-22

Abstract

A wireless communication method includes a transmitter node of an integrated sensing and communication (ISAC) system assisted by mobility management transmitting, a sensing Reference Signal (RS), a receiver node of an ISAC system assisted by mobility management measuring a sensing RS and a wireless communication device or a network node of an ISAC system determining a sensing configuration for a sensing receiver based on Radio Resource Management (RRM) measurement. The transmitter nodes may be selected by the receive node based on RRM measurement and some rules. The selected transmitter nodes may be recommended by the receiver node to the network node per sensing service or per sensing zone or per sensing target.

Description

SYSTEMS AND METHOD FOR SENSING ASSISTED BY COMMUNICATION IN INTEGRATED SENSING AND COMMUNICATION

TECHNICAL FIELD

The disclosure relates generally to wireless communications, including but not limited to systems and methods for sensing assisted by communication in integrated sensing and communication (ISAC) .

BACKGROUND

The standardization organization Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) is currently in the process of specifying a new Radio Interface called 5G New Radio (5G NR) as well as a Next Generation Packet Core Network (NG-CN or NGC) . The 5G NR will have three main components: a 5G Access Network (5G-AN) , a 5G Core Network (5GC) , and a User Equipment (UE) . In order to facilitate the enablement of different data services and requirements, the elements of the 5GC, also called Network Functions, have been simplified with some of them being software based, and some being hardware based, so that they could be adapted according to need. ISAC systems aim to provide both communication and sensing functions based on the enhancements in the field of wireless communication systems. For communication functions, Downlink (DL) signal and/or data is/are transmitted by a Base Station (BS) to a User Equipment (UE) , wherein the UE includes receiving antennas and may receive a signal. For sensing functions, a sensing reference signal is transmitted by the BS to the sensing target. The sensing reference signal may be reflected by the sensing target (s) , then the reflected sensing reference signal is received by the UE, where the sensing target does not include an antenna and cannot receive the signal.

In the wireless communication system, to improve the quality of the BSs, Radio Resource Management (RRM) measuring is performed to obtain a RRM measurement. Cell selection/reselection may be performed in UE’s Radio Resource Control (RRC) _Idle state or RRC_Inactive state, or cell handover may be performed in UE’s RRC_Connected state, based on the RRM measurement.

For the sensing functions, there may be a plurality of transmitting BSs and a plurality of receiving UEs. The selection of transmitting BSs and receiving UEs is important because of the movement the sensing target and/or the receiving UEs. However, there are no solutions for selection of the transmitters and the receivers. In addition, configuration and measurement the sensing reference signal to facilitate selection of the transmitter and receiver is a problem. In this disclosure, we provide solutions for configuration and measuring of the sensing reference signal along with an effective manner to select the transmitter and receiver for sensing purposes.

SUMMARY

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

At least one aspect is directed to a system, method, apparatus, or a computer-readable medium of the following. A wireless communication method includes a transmitter node of an integrated sensing and communication (ISAC) system assisted by mobility management transmitting, a sensing Reference Signal (RS) , a receiver node of an ISAC system assisted by mobility management measuring a sensing RS and a wireless communication device or a network node of an ISAC system determining a sensing configuration for a sensing receiver based on Radio Resource Management (RRM) measurement. The transmitter nodes may be selected by the receive node based on RRM measurement and some rules. The selected transmitter nodes may be recommended by the receiver node to the network node per sensing service or per sensing zone or per sensing target.

In some embodiments, the RRM measurement satisfying some conditions may be reported by the receiver node to the network node used as sensing measurement. The RRM measurement may be reported by the receiver node to the network node. The transmitter nodes and the receiver nodes may be determined by the network node based on RRM measurement. The transmitter nodes and the receiver nodes may be selected by the serving base station based on RRM measurement. The selected transmitter nodes and the selected receiver nodes may be recommended by the serving base station to the network node. The selected transmitter nodes and the selected receiver nodes may be recommended by the serving base station to the network node per sensing service, or per sensing zone, or per sensing target.

In some embodiments, the receiver node measures inter-frequency sensing RS outside the measurement gap if some conditions may be satisfied. Otherwise, the receiver node measures inter-frequency sensing RS within the measurement gap. The conditions at least include one or more of: an indicator indicating the inter-frequency sensing RS may be measured outside the sensing measurement gap may be configured, and/or the receiver node supports the capability of the inter-frequency sensing RS measuring outside the sensing measurement gap, and/or the bandwidth of the inter-frequency sensing RS may be within the active BWP.

In some embodiments, the receiver node further measures intra-frequency sensing RS outside the measurement gap if the bandwidth of the intra-frequency sensing RS may be within the active Bandwidth Part (BWP) . Otherwise, the receiver node measures intra-frequency sensing RS within the measurement gap. The receiver node further measures sensing RS only transmitted by the transmitter nodes satisfying S criterion. The receiver node further measures sensing RS only transmitted by the transmitter nodes whose either or both of RRM measurement and previous sensing measurement satisfies/satisfy the corresponding threshold/range. The receiver node may not measure sensing RS and RRM measurement for a next duration time if the sensing measurement does not satisfy the sensing threshold/range.

In some embodiments, the wireless communication device may be the transmitter node, or the receiver node. The sensing RS may be Synchronization Signal Block (SSB) , or Channel State Information-Reference Signal (CSI-RS) , or Positioning Reference Signal (PRS) , or an unified RS, or a sensing specific RS. In some arrangements, if the sensing RS may be SSB, SSB may be measured for sensing purpose only within SSB Measurement Timing Configuration (SMTC) . The sensing RS may be intra-frequency sensing RS if the center frequency of the sensing RS may be same as the center frequency of SSB of the serving cell and the Sub-carrier Space (SCS) of the sensing RS may be same as the SCS of SSB of the serving cell. Otherwise, the sensing RS may be inter-frequency sensing RS. The sensing configuration includes a measurement gap, where the measurement gap may be a specific measurement gap for sensing RS measuring or may be a shared measurement gap with other RSs measuring. The sensing configuration includes a threshold/range to evaluated RRM measurement, and a threshold/range to evaluate the previous sensing measurement. The sensing configuration may include a sensing threshold/range to evaluated sensing measurement. The sensing configuration may further include the transmitter nodes and the receiver nodes. The sensing configuration may include an expected sensing zone when the sensing target moves. The expected sensing zone may be an absolute location, or a local location, or a list of the transmitter nodes, or a list of the receiver nodes.

In some embodiments, if the measurement gap may be a shared measurement gap, the sharing configuration includes measurement gap sharing scheme. The configuration of measurement gap sharing scheme at least includes one or more of: measurement gap sharing type, and an indicator indicating the joint encoding of time portions used for measuring different RSs. In some arrangements, if the sensing RS may be SSB, the sensing configuration includes two or more sensing windows, where one sensing window may be the primary sensing window associated with the primary SMTC, and one sensing window may be the secondary sensing window associated with the secondary SMTC. The configuration of the primary sensing window at least includes one or more of: a duration, a period, a starting time related information, and/or a reference time. The configuration of the secondary sensing window at least includes one or more of: a cell ID, a duration, a period, a starting time related information, and/or a reference time. In some arrangements, if the sensing RS may be SSB, the sensing configuration includes one or more Sensing Measurement Timing Configuration (Sensing-MTC) . The configuration of Sensing-MTC at least includes one or more of: a duration, a period, an offset, and/or a reference time. The SSB may be measured for sensing purpose only within Sensing-MTC.

In some embodiments, if the sensing RS may be CSI-RS, the sensing configuration includes one or more Sensing-CSI-MTC. The configuration of Sensing-CSI-MTC at least includes one or more of: a duration, a period, an offset, and/or a reference time. The CSI-RS may be measured for sensing purpose only within Sensing-CSI-MT. The next duration time may be configured by the network node, or base station, or preconfigured. The sensing configuration includes the sensing request information provided by the network node to the transmitter nodes located in the expected sensing zone, and the sensing assistance information provided by the network node to the receiver node located in the expected sensing zone. The sensing request information at least includes one or more of: the request for sensing RS transmission, the configuration of sensing RS, the request for SSB/CSI-RS transmission, or the configuration of SSB/CSI-RS. The sensing assistance information at least includes one or more of: ID information of the transmitter node successfully responding the sensing request, the configuration of sensing RS, the configuration of SSB/CSI-RS, or the configuration for RRM measuring.

In some embodiments, the receiver node may measure the sensing RS when it may be in RRC_IDLE state and in RRC_INACTIVE state. The receiver node may report sensing measurement when hand over between cells may be performing. The receiver node measures the sensing RS transmitted by N transmitter nodes based on the sensing priority of the transmitter node. The receiver node reports the sensing measurement of N transmitter nodes based on the sensing priority of the transmitter node. The receiver nodes with low sensing priority do not measure the sensing RS. In some arrangements, the sensing configuration includes a sensing priority of the transmitter node, and a sensing priority of the receiver node. The sensing priority of the transmitter node and the sensing priority of the receiver node may be associated with RRM measurement, and the relative location between the transmitter/receiver node with the sensing target. The sensing priority of the transmitter node may be further associated with the reselection priority of the transmitter node.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

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

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

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

FIG. 3 illustrates an example sharing portion for each reference signal measuring, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 4 illustrates an example sharing portion for each reference signal measuring within one measuring gap length, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 5 illustrates an example sharing portion for each reference signal measuring within one measuring gap length, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 6 illustrates an example procedure of a sensing transmitter selection, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 7 illustrates another example procedure of the sensing transmitter selection, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 8 illustrates another example procedure of the sensing transmitter selection, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 9 illustrates another example procedure of a sensing receiver selection, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 10 illustrates an example of a moving sensing target, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 11 illustrates a flow diagram of a method for sensing assisted by communication by integrated sensing and communication, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Mobile Communication Technology and Environment

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Sensing Assist by communication in ISAC

Embodiment 1: Configuration of sensing reference signal

A BS 102 may include a Next Generation (NG) -RAN node, gNB, a NG-gNB, a cell, and/or a transmission reception point (TRP) . For RRM measuring, a Synchronization Signal Block (SSB) and a Channel State Information Reference Signal (CSI-RS) are used as a Reference Signal (RS) . For example, using the SSB and the CSI-RS may be the RS and may provide the BS 102 with the RRM measurements. In an SSB configuration, SSB Measurement Timing Configuration (SMTC) may be configured to include information in time domain (e.g., minutes, seconds, nanoseconds etc. ) . The SSB within the SMTC may be measured by the UE 104 for RRM measurement. For example, A UE 104 may measure the SSB within the SMTC to calculate the RRM measurement. In current RRM measuring technology, two SMTC may be configured where a first SMTC may be labeled as a primary SMTC and a second SMTC may be labeled as a secondary SMTC. The primary SMTC may be used for RRM measuring of all configured BS/cells 102 (referred to as BS 102 from herein) with a same center frequency (e.g., central point of the allocated frequency) . The secondary SMTC may be used for RRM measuring of specific BS 102 belonging to the configured BS 102. The period of the secondary SMTC may be shorter than that of the primary SMTC. In some arrangements, the period of the secondary SMTC may be severely shorter than that of the primary SMTC. In some arrangements, secondary SMTC may be infinitesimally shorter than that of the primary SMTC.

Solution 1: Reuse SSB and CSI-RS as sensing RS

For sensing, the SSB and the CSI-RS can be reused as the sensing RS. In a first example, the configuration of SSB may not need to be enhanced, thus the SSB may be measured within the SMTC, further allowing the SSB within the SMTC to be measured for RRM measurements and sensing measurements. The SSB may be configured to achieve the sensing function. In some arrangements, the SSB may include one or more configurations to achieve the sensing function.

In a second example, two or more sensing windows may be configured within a time domain, where one sensing window is the primary sensing window, and one is the secondary sensing window. The primary window corresponds to the primary SMTC, and the secondary window corresponds to the secondary SMTC. In some arrangements, the primary window may be located within the primary SMTC and used to measure a plurality of configured BS 102 with the same center frequency, in order to obtain the sensing measurement. In some arrangements, the secondary window may be located within the secondary SMTC and used to measure specific BS’s 102 within the configured BS 102, in order to obtain the sensing measurement. The SSB within the sensing windows can be measured for the sensing measurement. In some arrangements, the SSB within SMTC may be measured for the RRM measurement, whether it is located within the sensing window or not. In another arrangement, the SSB within sensing window can only be measured for sensing measurement but not for RRM measurement. In another arrangement, the SSB can be measured for either the sensing measurement or the RRM measurement. In another arrangement, the SSB within SMTC and outside the sensing window is only measured for RRM measurement.

The configuration of the primary sensing window may include at least one of a duration (e.g., time length) , a period, a start time (e.g., absolute time, relative time with an offset wherein the offset corresponds to the period) , and a reference time. The configuration of the secondary sensing window may include at least one of a BS 102 or TRP ID (e.g., Physical cell ID) , the duration, the period, the start time, and the reference time. In some arrangements, the configuration of the sensing window may associate with the configurations of the corresponding SMTC. The configuration of the corresponding SMTC may include at least one of the period, the duration, and the offset of the SMTC. For example, the duration of the primary sensing window is less than or equal to the duration of the primary SMTC while the period of the primary sensing window is greater than or equal to the period of the primary SMTC. In another example, the duration of the secondary sensing window is less than or equal to the duration of the secondary SMTC, whereas the period of the secondary sensing window is greater than or equal to the period of the secondary SMTC.

In some arrangements, the sensing windows a be configured by the BS 102. In another arrangement, the sensing windows can be conjured by a location management function/sensing function (LMF/SF) . The BS 102 may send the configuration of the SMTC to the LMF/SF and the LMF/SF may configure sensing windows to the UE 104 and the BS 102. In some arrangements, the LMF may recommend the configurations of sensing windows to BS 102 and the BS 102 may prioritize the recommended configurations of sensing windows.

In a third example, one sensing window is configured in the time domain. The one sensing window may correspond to the primary SMTC or the one sensing window may correspond to both of the primary SMTC and the secondary primary SMTC. For example, the sensing window is located within the primary SMTC if the sensing window corresponds to the primary SMTC. In another example, the sensing window is located within the primary SMTC or the secondary SMTC if the one sensing window corresponds to both of the primary SMTC and the secondary SMTC. In some arrangements, the configuration of the sensing window may include at least one of a duration (e.g., time length) , a period, a start time (e.g., absolute time, relative time with an offset wherein the offset corresponds to the period) , and a reference time.

In another arrangement, if the sensing window corresponds to the primary SMTC, the configurations of sensing window are related to the configuration of the primary SMTC. The configuration of the primary SMTC may include at least one of the period, the duration, and the offset of the SMTC. For example, the duration of the sensing window is less than or equal to the duration of the primary SMTC and the period of the sensing window is greater than or equal to the period of the primary SMTC. In another arrangement, if the one sensing window corresponds to both of the primary SMTC and the secondary SMTC, the configurations of sensing window are related to the configuration of the primary SMTC and the configuration of the secondary SMTC. The configuration of the primary SMTC may include at least one of the period, duration, and the offset of the primary SMTC. The configuration of the secondary SMTC may include at least one of period, duration, and offset of the secondary SMTC. For example, the duration of the sensing window is less than or equal to the minimum duration of the primary SMTC and the secondary SMTC. The period of the sensing window is greater than or equal to the maximum period of the primary SMTC and the secondary SMTC.

In a fourth example, one Sensing Measurement Timing Configuration (Sensing-MTC) may be configured for sensing purpose. SSB withing the Sensing-MTC may be measured for the sensing purpose. The configuration of the Sensing-MTC may include at least one of a duration (e.g., time length) , a period, a start time (e.g., absolute time, relative time with an offset wherein the offset corresponds to the period) , and a reference time of the Sensing-MTC. In some arrangements, the Sensing-MTC may be configured by the BS 102 or the LMF/SF or preconfigured. The Sensing-MTC may or may not correspond with the SMTC. In some arrangements, the SSB within the overlapping Sensing-MTC and the SMTC can be measured for the sensing measurement and the RRM measurement.

In a fifth example, two or more Sensing-MTCs may be configured for SSB measuring. One Sensing-MTC may be a primary Sensing-MTC and may be applied for sensing measuring of all configured BS/cells 102 (referred to as BS 102 from herein) with a same center frequency (e.g., central point of the allocated frequency) . Another Sensing-MTC may be a secondary Sensing-MTC and may be applied to specific BS 102 belonging to the configured BS 102. In some arrangements, the secondary Sensing-MTC may be denser than the primary Sensing-MTC. The configuration of the primary Sensing-MTC may include at least one of a duration (e.g., time length) , a period, a start time (e.g., absolute time, relative time with an offset wherein the offset corresponds to the period) , and a reference time of the Sensing-MTC. The configuration of the secondary Sensing-MTC may include at least one of a BS 102 or TRP ID (e.g., Physical cell ID) , the duration, the period, the start time, and the reference time. In some arrangements, the period of the secondary Sensing-MTC may be smaller than the period of the primary Sensing-MTC. In some arrangements, the Sensing-MTC may be configured by the BS 102 or the LMF/SF or preconfigured. The Sensing-MTC may or may not correspond with the SMTC. In some arrangements, the SSB within the overlapping Sensing-MTC and the SMTC can be measured for the sensing measurement and the RRM measurement.

For the CSI-RS configuration for the sensing function, one or more Sensing CSI-MTCs may be configured for sensing measuring. In some arrangements, one Sensing-CSI-MTC may be applied to the each of the configured BS 102 as the primary Sensing-CSI-MTC. In some arrangements, one Sensing-CSI-MTC may be applied to the each of the configured BS 102 as the primary Sensing-CSI-MTC and one Sensing-CSI-MTC may be applied to the specific BS 102 belonging to the configured BS 102 as the secondary Sensing-CSI-MTC. In some arrangements, a primary Sensing-CSI-MTC may be applied to the configured BS 102 for CSI-RS measuring, whereas a secondary Sensing-CSI-MTC may applied to specific BS 102 belonging to the configured BS 102 for CSI-RS measuring. In some arrangements, the CSI-RS within the Sensing-CSI-MTC may be measured for sensing. The configuration of the primary Sensing-CSI-MTC may include at least one of a duration (e.g., time length) , a period, a start time (e.g., absolute time, relative time with an offset wherein the offset corresponds to the period) , and a reference time of the Sensing-MTC. The configuration of the secondary Sensing-CSI-MTC may include at least one of a BS 102 or TRP ID (e.g., Physical cell ID) , the duration, the period, the start time, and the reference time. In some arrangements, the Sensing-CSI-MTC may be configured by the BS 102 or the LMF/SF or preconfigured.

Solution 2: Reuse PRS as sensing RS

Positioning Reference Signal (PRS) can be reused as the sensing RS. For sensing purposes with PRS measuring, one or more Sensing-PRS-MTC may be configured for sensing measuring. In some arrangements, the PRS within the Sensing-PRS-MTC may be measured for the sensing purpose. In some arrangements, one Sensing-PRS-MTC may be configured, the Sensing-PRS-MTC may be applied for PRS measuring of the configured TRP/BS 102 (referred herein as BS 102) , as the primary Sensing-PRS-MTC. In some arrangements, a primary Sensing-PRS-MTC and a secondary Sensing-PRS-MTC may be configured. The secondary Sensing-PRS-MTC may be applied to the PRS measuring of specific configured BS 102 belonging to the configured BS 102. The configuration of the primary Sensing-PRS-MTC may include at least one of a duration (e.g., time length) , a period, a start time (e.g., absolute time, relative time with an offset wherein the offset corresponds to the period) , and a reference time of the Sensing-MTC. The configuration of the secondary Sensing-PRS-MTC may include at least one of a BS 102 or TRP ID (e.g., Physical cell ID) , the duration, the period, the start time, and the reference time. In some arrangements, the Sensing-PRS-MTC may be configured by the BS 102 or the LMF/SF or preconfigured. In some arrangements, the Sensing-PRS-MTC may or may not overall with a measurement gap and the Processing Window (PPW) for positioning. The PRS within the overlapping of Sensing-PRS-MTC and measurement gap/PPW may be measured for both the sensing measurement and positioning measurement.

Solution 3: Design a unified RS for different purposes

In the ISAC system, a unified RS may be designed to reduce the complexity of the RS design. The unified RS may be used for one or more purposes including RRM measuring, positioning, and sensing, among others. The unified RS may be measured based on one or more configurations of the unified RS.

In one example, the ISAC system may configure a specific MTC for the unified RS to be used for different purposes. For example, for the RRM measuring purpose, the ISAC system may configure RRM-MTC for unified RS measuring. In this arrangement, the SMTC for SSB measuring may be reused as the RRM-MTC. In another example, for the positioning purpose, the ISAC system may configure Positioning-MTC for the unified RS measure. In yet another example, for the sensing purpose, the ISAC system may configure Sensing-MTC for the unified RS measuring. The configuration of the MTC for the purposes include at least one of a period, an offset, and a duration. In some arrangements, the unified RS within the MTC may be measured for the purpose corresponding to the MTC. In some arrangements, the MTC for each purpose may or may not overall. That is, the MTC for each purpose can not overlap, can partially overlap, or can completely overlap with each other. The unified RS within the overlapping of multiple MTCs can be measured for multiple purposes corresponding to multiple MTCs. The MTC can be configured by the BS 102 or by the LMF/SF or preconfigured.

In a second example, one or more unified MTC for the unified RS measuring for different purposes may be configured. The unified RS measuring for different purposes may share the same MTC. Only the unified RS within the unified MTC can be measured for its corresponding measurement. In some arrangements, one unified MTC may be configured, the unified MTC may be applied for the unified RS measuring of the configured TRP/BS 102 (referred herein as BS 102) , as the primary unified MTC. In some arrangements, a primary unified MTC and a secondary unified MTC may be configured. The secondary unified MTC may be applied to the unified RS measuring of specific configured BS 102 belonging to the configured BS 102. The configuration of the primary unified MTC may include at least one of a duration (e.g., time length) , a period, and an offset. The configuration of the secondary unified MTC may include at least one of a BS 102 or TRP ID (e.g., Physical cell ID) , the duration, the period, and an offset. The period of the secondary unified MTC is shorter than that of the primary unified MTC. In some arrangements, the unified MTC may be configured by the BS 102 or the LMF/SF or preconfigured.

The unified RS measuring for two or more purposes (e.g., positioning, sensing) can share the same MTC. Furthermore, the unified MTC may be configured according to the measuring purposes. For example, for the unified RS measuring for positioning purpose and sensing purpose, the unified MTC can be configured and a specific MTC may be separately configured for the unified RS measuring for RRM measuring purpose. For example, for the unified RS measuring for RRM measuring purpose and sensing purpose, the unified MTC can be configured and the specific MTC may be separately configured for the unified RS measuring for positioning purpose. The configuration of the MTC may include at least one of the period, offset, duration. If the MTC is a secondary MTC, the configuration of MTC may include BS 102 or TRP ID. In some arrangements, the unified MTC may be configured by the BS 102 or the LMF/SF or preconfigured.

Solution 4: Design a new RS for different purposes

In the ISAC system, a new RS may be designed as a sensing RS. In one example, the sensing RS may be configured by restricting the transmitting and receiving of the sensing RS to the SMTC. In some arrangements, the sensing RS may be transmitted within the SMTC and may be received within the SMTC to be measured for the sensing purpose. The configuration of the new sensing RS enables the receiving UE 104 to receive and measure the SSB and the sensing RS within the SMTC simultaneously.

In a second example, one or more Sensing-MTCs may be configured for the sensing RS. One Sensing-MTC may be a primary Sensing-MTC and may be applied for sensing measuring of all configured BS/cells 102 (referred to as BS 102 from herein) with a same center frequency (e.g., central point of the allocated frequency) . Another Sensing-MTC may be a secondary Sensing-MTC and may be applied to specific BS 102 belonging to the configured BS 102. In some arrangements, the secondary Sensing-MTC may be denser than the primary Sensing-MTC. The configuration of the primary Sensing-MTC may include at least one of a duration (e.g., time length) , a period, a start time (e.g., absolute time, relative time with an offset wherein the offset corresponds to the period) , and a reference time of the Sensing-MTC. The configuration of the secondary Sensing-MTC may include at least one of a BS 102 or TRP ID (e.g., Physical cell ID) , the duration, the period, the start time, and the reference time. In some arrangements, the Sensing-MTC may be configured by the BS 102 or the LMF/SF or preconfigured.

Embodiment 2: Configuration of measurement gap for sensing

In a ISAC system, the receiving UE 104 may receive the DL signal, data for communication, and/or the sensing RS for sensing function. The frequency bandwidth of the sensing RS may or may not be within the active Bandwidth Part (BWP) . Furthermore, the receiving UE 104 may receive and measure the sensing RS from multiple transmitting BSs, which may be different frequencies. Thus, how to receive and measure sensing RS while ensuring communication signal and data reception in a ISAC system is a problem. In this embodiment, solutions for sensing RS reception and measuring in ISAC system are provided.

For the sensing RS reception and measuring, a measurement gap can be used, which may be a time window. In the measurement gap, the sensing RS may be received and measured by the receiving UE 104 for the sensing function. For the configuration of measurement gap for sensing purpose, two solutions are provided.

Solution 1: Configure a specific sensing measurement gap for sensing purpose

A sensing measurement gap may be configured for the sensing RS reception and measuring. In the sensing measurement gap, the sensing RS may be received and measured for the sensing purpose. The configuration of the sensing measurement get includes at least one of ID, type, length, period, offset, and timing advance of the sensing measurement gap.

The sensing measurement gap is configured by the BS, or preconfigured, or determined by UE. The sensing RS can be received and measured within the sensing measurement gap or can be received and measured outside the sensing measurement gap.

In one example, intra-frequency sensing RS and inter-frequency sensing RS may be defined for sensing RS from multiple BSs. If the sensing RS satisfies one or more conditions, the sensing RS may be the intra-frequency sensing RS. Otherwise, the sensing RS may be the inter-frequency sensing RS. Moreover, if the sensing RS does not satisfy one or more of the following conditions, the sensing RS may be the inter-frequency sensing RS.

The conditions may include the center frequency of the sensing RS may be the same as the center frequency of SSB of the serving cell and a Sub-carrier Space (SCS) of the sensing RS may be same as the SCS of SSB of the serving cell. If the bandwidth of the intra-frequency sensing RS is within an active BWP, the intra-frequency sensing RS may be received and measured outside the sensing measurement gap. In some arrangements, if the bandwidth of the intra-frequency sensing RS is not within the active BWP but the active BWP is an initial BWP, the intra-frequency sensing RS may be received and measured outside of the sensing measurement gap. Otherwise, the intra-frequency sensing RS may be received and measured within the sensing measurement gap. That is, the intra-frequency sensing RS may be to be received and measured within the sensing measurement gap when the bandwidth of the intra-frequency sensing RS is outside the active BWP, and/or the active BWP is not the initial BWP.

The inter-frequency sensing RS may be received and measured within the sensing measurement gap. In some arrangements, the inter-frequency sensing RS may be measured within or outside the sensing measurement gap. In some arrangements, if one or more conditions are satisfied, the inter-frequency sensing RS may be received and measured outside the sensing measurement window. Otherwise, the inter-frequency sensing RS may be received and measured within the sensing measurement window. That means, if one or more conditions are not satisfied, the inter-frequency sensing RS may be received and measured within the sensing measurement window.

The conditions may include the network 110 may configure an indicator indicating the inter-frequency sensing RS would be received outside the sensing measurement gap. For example, the indicator is 1 bit, configured by the BS 102, or LMF/SF. The conditions may further include the receiving UE 104 may support the capability of reception and measuring of the inter-frequency sensing RS outside the sensing measurement gap and the bandwidth of the inter-frequency sensing RS is within the active BWP.

In a second example, the sensing RS may be received and measured within or outside the sensing measurement gap. If one or more conditions are satisfied, the sensing RS may be received and measured outside the sensing measurement gap. Otherwise, the sensing RS is received and measured within the sensing measurement gap. That means, if one or more of the conditions are not satisfied , the sensing RS is received and measured within the sensing measurement gap.

The conditions may include the network configures an indicator indicating the inter-frequency sensing RS would be received outside the sensing measurement gap. For example, the indicator is 1 bit, which is configured by the BS 102, or LMF/SF. The conditions may further include the bandwidth of the sensing RS may be within the active BWP and the receiving UE 104 may support the capability of reception and measuring of the sensing RS outside the sensing measurement gap.

Solution 2: Sharing the same measurement for sensing and RRM measuring/positioning

In current communication systems, the measurement gap for RRM measuring and measurement gap for positioning are configured. For ISAC system, the sensing RS can be received and measured in the current configured measurement gap. Furthermore, the sensing RS and Synchronization Signal Block (SSB) /Channel State Information RS (CSI-RS) can be received in the same configured measurement gap. The sensing RS and Positioning RS (PRS) can be received in the same configured measurement gap. In some arrangements, the sensing RS, SSB/CSI-RS and PRS can be received in the same configured measurement gap. Furthermore, the reception of two or more RSs can share the same configured measurement gap. Moreover, the network (e.g., BS/LMF/SF) , can configure the same measurement gap for receiving at least two or more RSs.

Measurement gap sharing means to partition time within the measurement gap to receive different RSs. There are two schemes to share the same measurement gap for two or more RSs measuring. One is gap sharing per measurement gap repetition, another is gap sharing within measurement gap length. The configuration of measurement gap sharing may include type of measurement gap sharing, wherein the type of measurement gap sharing indicates the measurement gap sharing type. The measurement gap sharing type can be per measurement gap repetition, or per measurement gap length. The measurement gap sharing per measurement gap repetition means different periods of measurement gaps are used to receive different RSs. The measurement gap sharing per measurement gap length may indicate different time within one period of measurement gap is used to receive different RSs.

The configuration of measurement gap sharing may further include an indicator indicating the joint encoding of time portions used for measuring different RSs. If measurement gap sharing type is per measurement gap repetition, this indicator is the joint encoding of periods portions used for different RSs measuring. If measurement gap sharing type is per measurement gap length, this indicator is the joint encoding of time portions used for different RSs measuring within a period of measurement.

For example, if sensing measuring, RRM measuring and positioning measuring share the measurement gap, and if measurement gap sharing type is per measurement gap repetition, the value of joint encoding indicator and corresponding periods portion for each RS measuring. In this case, if the value of joint encoding indicator is 011, the sharing portion for each RS measuring is shown in FIG. 3.

For example, if sensing measuring, RRM measuring, and positioning measuring share the measurement gap, and if measurement gap sharing type is per measurement gap length, the value of a joint encoding indicator and corresponding time portion for each RS measuring within one measurement gap length is depicted in FIG. 4. For example, if the value of joint encoding indicator is 011, the sharing portion for each RS measuring within one measurement gap length is shown in FIG. 5.

Embodiment 3: Measuring for the sensing RS of neighbor cells

For a sensing purpose, a receiving UE 104 may receive and measure sensing RSs from multiple transmitting BSs 102. In some arrangements, the sensing RSs from some neighboring BS 102 may be weak and the qualities of sensing measurement from these neighbors BSs may be below an optimal baseline. Thus, to save power consumption of the receiving UE 104, a UE 104 may measure the sensing RS of cells with strong signal quality, but not the sensing RS of cells with the weak signal quality.

In a sensing procedure, a receiving UE 104 may receive and measure the sensing RS from the serving cell. In some arrangements, with respect to the sensing RS from the neighbor cells, the receiving UE 104 may receive and measure the sensing RS from the neighbor cells with strong signal quality, both may obtain the satisfied sensing measurements and save power consumption. In this embodiment, some solutions are provided to facilitate UE to determine whether to receive and measure the sensing RS from a neighbor BS.

Solution 1: Sensing is assisted by S criterion of cell selection.

In a mobility management procedure, a UE 104 needs to measure an RRM measurement of neighbor cells. If RRM measurement of a neighbor cell satisfies a S criterion, the neighbor cell is regarded as a candidate cell with strong signal quality. Thus, the sensing RSs of these candidate cells with strong signal qualities may be considered to be strong to a receiving UE 104. The receiving UE 104 receives and measures the sensing RS only from the serving cell and neighbor cells with RRM measurements satisfying the S criterion.

Solution 2: RRM measurement is used as sensing measurement.

In the mobility management procedure, the UE 104 measures the SSB/CSI-RS to obtain the RRM measurements. To save energy consumption, the UE can report RRM measurements satisfying some conditions to the network 110 (e.g., LMF/SF) , used for the sensing purpose. The condition can be configured by the LMF/SF, the BS 102, preconfigured, determined by the UE 104. The condition can be one or more thresholds (e.g., RSRP threshold, RSRQ threshold, SINR threshold) , ranges (e.g., RSRP range, RSRQ range, SINR range) , couples of thresholds (e.g., RSRP thresholds with a minimum RSRP threshold and a maximum RSRP threshold, RSRQ thresholds with a minimum RSRQ threshold and a maximum RSRQ threshold, SINR thresholds with a minimum SINR threshold and a maximum SINR threshold) .

Solution 3: Configure a threshold/range to evaluate the qualities of RRM measurement and previous sensing measurement of a cell.

In the mobility management procedure, RRM measurement of a cell may be measured by a UE 104 to represent the signal quality between the cell and the UE 104. To obtain the satisfied sensing measurement, two thresholds/ranges may be configured, where one threshold/range may evaluate the RRM measurement to select the neighbor cells with strong signal quality, and another threshold/range may evaluate the sensing measurement previously obtained to select the neighbor cells with sensing Line-of-Signal (LOS) path or strong sensing signal link.

The threshold/range for RRM measurement can include one or more of: RSRP threshold, RSRQ threshold, SINR threshold, RSRP range, RSRQ range, SINR range, a couple of RSRP thresholds with a minimum RSRP threshold and a maximum RSRP threshold, a couple of RSRQ thresholds with a minimum RSRQ threshold and a maximum RSRQ threshold, a couple of SINR thresholds with a minimum SINR threshold and a maximum SINR threshold, and the IDs of the neighbor BSs 102/TRPs/cells.

The threshold/range for previous sensing measurement can include a RSRP threshold, a RSRQ threshold, a detected time threshold, a distance threshold, an angle threshold, a Doppler threshold, a range of RSRP, a range of RSRQ, a range of detected time, a range of distance, a range of angle, a range of Doppler, a couple of RSRP thresholds with a minimum RSRP threshold and a maximum RSRP threshold, a couple of RSRQ thresholds with a minimum RSRQ threshold and a maximum RSRQ threshold, a couple detected time thresholds with a minimum detected time threshold and a maximum detected time threshold, a couple distance thresholds with a minimum distance threshold and a maximum distance threshold, a couple angle thresholds with a minimum angle threshold and a maximum angle threshold, and/or a couple Doppler thresholds with a minimum Doppler threshold and a maximum Doppler threshold and the IDs of the neighbor BSs 102/TRPs/cells.

The previous sensing measurement can be the sensing measurement obtained at the latest sensing time and can include the RSRP, RSRQ, detected time, Time of Arrival (TOA) , distance between the transmitting BS/UE and/or the receiving UE/BS, Angle of Arrival (AOA) , and Doppler. Furthermore, the threshold/range for RRM measurement and the threshold/range for previous sensing measurement can be configured by the BS 102, by the LMF/SF, preconfigured, or determined by UE 104.

If one or more conditions are satisfied, the UE 104 may receive and measure the sensing RS of the corresponding neighbor BS 102/cell/TRP. Otherwise, the UE may not measure the sensing RS of the corresponding neighbor BS 102/cell/TRP. The conditions may include the RRM measurement of the corresponding neighbor BS 102/cell/TRP may be greater than or equal to the threshold of RRM measurement or the RRM measurement of the corresponding neighbor BS 102/cell/TRP belongs to a range of RRM measurements. The conditions may further include, the Sensing measurement of the corresponding neighbor BS 102/cell/TRP may be obtained in the last sensing time, satisfies the threshold/range of the previous sensing measurement.

Solution 4: Configure a sensing measurement threshold/range to determine the measuring of sensing RS and RRM measurement.

A receiving UE 102 may not receive and measure the sensing RS of a neighbor BS 102/TRP/cell when the sensing measurement of the neighbor BS 102/TRP/cell is not satisfied. To determine whether the sensing measurement is satisfied, a threshold/range for sensing measurement may be configured to evaluate the quality of the sensing measurement.

The threshold/range for the sensing measurement may include at least one of a RSRP threshold, a RSRQ threshold, a detected time threshold, a distance threshold, an angle threshold, a Doppler threshold, a range of RSRP, a range of RSRQ, a range of detected time, a range of distance, a range of angle, a range of Doppler, a couple of RSRP thresholds with a minimum RSRP threshold and a maximum RSRP threshold, a couple of RSRQ thresholds with a minimum RSRQ threshold and a maximum RSRQ threshold, a couple detected time thresholds with a minimum detected time threshold and a maximum detected time threshold, a couple distance thresholds with a minimum distance threshold and a maximum distance threshold, a couple angle thresholds with a minimum angle threshold and a maximum angle threshold, a couple Doppler thresholds with a minimum Doppler threshold and a maximum Doppler threshold, and IDs of the neighbor BSs 102/TRPs/cells. The threshold/range for sensing measurement can be configured by the BS 102, by the LMF/SF, preconfigured, or determined by the UE 104.

When the UE 104 measures the sensing RS of a neighbor BS 102/TRP/cell and obtains the corresponding sensing measurement, further if the sensing measurement does not satisfy the sensing measurement threshold/range, the UE 104 may not measure the sensing RS of the corresponding BS 102/TRP/cell for a next duration time. In some arrangements, if the sensing measurement does not satisfy the sensing measurement threshold/range, the UE 104 may not measure RRM measurement of the corresponding BS 102/TRP/cell for a next duration time.

The next duration time may be configured by the BS 102, by the LMF/SF, preconfigured, or determined by the UE 104.

Embodiment#4: Selection for transmitter and receiver for sensing purpose

In a sensing situation, there are a plurality of transmitting BSs 102 and a plurality of receiving UEs 104. The plurality of transmitting BSs 102 may transmit the sensing RSs and the plurality of receiving UEs 104 may receive and measure the sensing RSs from the plurality of transmitting BS 102. For the receiving UE, one or more of the sensing RSs from the neighbor BSs may be weak. For the transmitting BS, one or more non-serving UEs 104 may not receive the sensing RS with strong signal quality. Thus, how to select the transmitting BSs 102 and the receiving UEs for sensing purpose is a problem. In this embodiment, some solutions are provided to select the transmitting BSs 102 and the receiving UEs 104.

In a communication system, the UE 104 may measure the SSB/CSI-RS of the serving cell and neighbor cells to obtain the RRM measurement. Thus, for the sensing function in the ISAC system, the transmitting BSs 102 may be selected based on the RRM measurement.

FIG. 5 shows a procedure of the sensing transmitter selection, where the sensing transmitters are determined by the sensing receiving UE 104. In one example, the sensing transmitting BSs 102 may be determined by the UE 104 and recommended by the UE 104 or the LMF/SF 504, based on the RRM measurement. One or more thresholds/ranges of the RRM measurement may be configured to the UE 104. The threshold/ranges of the RRM measurement may evaluate the quality of the RRM measurement. The threshold/ranges of the RRM measurement may include a RSRP threshold, a RSRQ threshold, a SINR threshold, a range of RSRP, a range of RSRQ, a range of SINR range, a couple of RSRP thresholds with a minimum RSRP threshold and a maximum RSRP threshold, a couple of RSRQ thresholds with a minimum RSRQ threshold and a maximum RSRQ threshold, a couple of SINR thresholds with a minimum SINR thresholds and a maximum SINR thresholds. The threshold/range of RRM measurement may be configured by the LMF/SF 504, by the BS 102, or preconfigured, determined by the UE 104.

When UE 104 measures the RRM measurement, the UE 104 may determine which BSs 102 can be the sensing transmitting BSs 102 based on the RRM measurement. The BSs 102 satisfying one or more conditions may have a strong signal link with the UE 104, and the corresponding BSs 102 may be selected as a candidate sensing transmitting BSs 102. The conditions may include one or more of: BSs 102 with the RRM measurement may be greater than or equal to the threshold/range of RRM measurement, N BSs 102 with N best RRM measurements, where the RRM measurements of BS 102 are sorted according to cell measurements and beam measurements. N may be configured by the LMF/SF 504, by the serving BS 102, preconfigured, or determined by UE 104.

When the UE 104 determines the candidate sensing transmitting BSs 102, the UE 104 may send or recommend the candidate sensing transmitting BSs 102 related information to the LMF/SF 504. The candidate sensing transmitting BSs 102 related information includes at least the candidate sensing transmitting BSs 102/TRPs IDs. The UE 104 may send or recommend the candidate sensing transmitting BSs 102 related information to the LMF/SF 504 per sensing service.

In some arrangements, the UE 104 may send or recommend the candidate sensing transmitting BSs 102 related information to the LMF/SF 504 per sensing zone or per sensing target.

When the LMF/SF 504 receives the candidate sensing transmitting BSs 102 related information, the LMF/SF 504 may send the sensing request to the candidate sensing transmitting BSs 102. In some arrangements, when the LMF/SF 504 receives the candidate sensing transmitting BSs 102 related information, the LMF/SF 504 may prioritize the candidate sensing transmitting BSs 102 as the sensing transmitting BSs 102. The LMF/SF 504 may further select the sensing transmitting BSs 102 from the candidate sensing transmitting BSs 102. the LMF/SF 504 may be based on one or more factors to select the sensing transmitting BSs 102. The factors may include one or more of the distance between BSs 102 and the sensing target, and a zone in which the BSs 102 located.

When the LMF/SF 504 determines the sensing transmitting BSs 102, based on the RRM measurements at step 506, the UE 104 may send the sensing request to these sensing transmitting BS 102 at step 508.

In a second example, the sensing transmitting BSs 102 are determined by the LMF/SF 504, based on the RRM measurements. FIG. 6 shows a procedure of the sensing transmitter selection, where the sensing transmitters are determined by LMF/SF 504. When the UE 104 measures the RRM measurement, the UE 104 may send the RRM measurement related information to the LMF/SF 504 at step 602. The RRM measurement related information provided by UE 104 to the LMF/SF 504 includes at least one of the RRM measurement, and ID of the BS 102 corresponding to the RRM measurement.

The LMF/SF 504 may determine the sensing transmitting BSs 102 based on RRM measurement related information at step 604. The BSs satisfying one or more conditions may have a strong signal link with the UE 104, and the corresponding BSs 102 may be selected as sensing transmitting BSs 102. The condition can include one or more of: the BSs 102 whose the RRM measurement may be greater than or equal to the threshold/range of the RRM measurement, N BSs 102 with the N best the RRM measurements where the RRM measurements of BSs 102 are sorted according to cell measurements and beam measurements and N is configured by the LMF/SF 504, preconfigured, or determined by the serving BS 102, the distance between BSs 102 and the sensing target is less than or equal to a distance threshold, and/or a zone where the BSs 102 is located. When the LMF/SF 504 determines the sensing transmitting BSs 102, the LMF/SF may send the sensing request to the sensing transmitting BS 102.

In a third example, the sensing transmitting BSs 102 may be determined by the serving BS 102 and recommended by the serving BS 102 to the LMF/SF 504. FIG. 7 shows a procedure of the sensing transmitter selection, where the sensing transmitters are determined by the serving BS 102.

At step 702, the UE 104 measures the RRM measurement and may send the RRM measurement related information to the serving BS 102. The RRM measurement related information provided by UE 104 to the serving BS 102 includes the RRM measurement and ID of the BS 102 corresponding to the RRM measurement. At step 704, the serving BS 102 determines the sensing transmitting BSs 102 based on the RRM measurement related information. The BSs 102 satisfying one or more conditions may have a strong signal link with the UE 104, and the corresponding BSs 102 may be selected as candidate sensing transmitting BSs 102. The conditions may include one or more of: the BSs 102 with the RRM measurement is greater than or equal to the thresholds/ranges of the RRM measurement, N BSs 102 with the N best the RRM measurements where the RRM measurements of BSs 102 are sorted according to cell measurements and beam measurements and N is configured by the LMF/SF 504, preconfigured, or determined by the serving BS 102, the distance between BSs 102 and the sensing target is less than or equal to a distance threshold, and the zone where the BSs 102 located.

When the serving BS 102 determines the candidate sensing transmitting BSs 102 , it sends/recommends the candidate sensing transmitting BSs 102 related information to the LMF/SF 504. The candidate sensing transmitting BSs 102 related information may at least include IDs of the candidate sensing transmitting BSs 102.

At step 706, the serving BS 102 may send/recommend the candidate sensing transmitting BSs 102 related information to the LMF/SF 504 per sensing service. In some arrangements, the serving BS 102 may send/recommend the candidate sensing transmitting BSs 102 related information to the LMF/SF 504 per sensing zone or per sensing target.

When the LMF/SF 504 receives the candidate sensing transmitting BSs 102 related information, it may send the sensing request to the candidate sensing transmitting BSs 102. In some arrangements, when the LMF/SF 504 receives the candidate sensing transmitting BSs 102 related information, the LMF/SF 504 may prioritize the candidate sensing transmitting BSs 102 as the sensing transmitting BSs 102. The LMF/SF 504 may further select the sensing transmitting BSs 102 from the candidate sensing transmitting BSs 102. The LMF/SF 504 may be based on one or more factors to select the sensing transmitting BSs 102. The factors may include the distance between BSs 102 and the sensing target, and a zone location of the BSs 102.

In a communication system, for a BS 102 , there are multiple UE 104s measuring the RRM measurement of this BS 102. Thus, for the sensing function in the ISAC system, the sensing receiving UE 104s may be selected based on the RRM measurement. There are two examples for the sensing receiving UE 104s selection based on the RRM measurement as described following.

In one example, the sensing receiving UE 104s may be determined by the LMF/SF 504. FIG. 8 shows a procedure of the sensing receivers selection, where the sensing receivers may be determined by the LMF/SF 504. At step 802, the UEs 104 may measure the RRM measurement, The UEs 104 may send the RRM measurement related information to the LMF/SF 504. the RRM measurement related information provided by UEs 104 to the LMF/SF 504 includes at least one of: the RRM measurement, the BS 102 ID corresponding to the RRM measurement, and/or the UE 104 ID corresponding to the RRM measurement. At step 804. The LMF/SF 504 may receive the RRM measurement related information from multiple UE 104s and may determine the sensing receiving UE 104s based on the RRM measurement. The UE 104s satisfying one or more conditions may have a strong signal link with the sensing transmitting BS 102 , and the corresponding UE 104s may be selected as sensing receiving UEs 104. The conditions can include one or more of: the UEs 104 with the RRM measurement greater than or equal to the thresholds/ranges of the RRM measurement, N UEs 104 with the N best the RRM measurements where the RRM measurements of UE 104 may be sorted according to cell measurements and beam measurements, the distance between UE 104 and the sensing target is less than or equal to a distance threshold, and/or a zone where the UE 104 is located.

When the LMF/SF 504 determines the sensing receiving UE 104, the LMF/SF provides the sensing receiving UE 104 related information to the sensing transmitting BSs 104. The sensing receiving UE 104 related information may at least include the sensing receiving UE 104 ID. Besides, the LMF/SF 504 provides the sensing assistance information to these sensing receiving UE 104.

In a second example, the sensing receiving UE 104 may be determined by the serving BS 102 and recommended by the serving BS 102 to the LMF/SF 504. FIG. 9 shows a procedure of the sensing receivers selection, where the sensing receivers may be determined by the serving BS 102. At step 902, the LMF/SF 504 provides sensing target or sensing zone to the BS 102. A plurality of UEs 104 may send the RRM measurement related information to the serving BS 102. the RRM measurement related information provided by UE 104 to the serving BS 102 may include the RRM measurement, the BS 102 ID corresponding to the RRM measurement, and/or the UE 104 ID.

The serving BS 102 determines the sensing receiving UE 104 located in its coverage based on the RRM measurement. The UE 104 satisfying one or more conditions may have strong signal link with the sensing transmitting BS 102 , and the corresponding UE 104 may be selected as candidate sensing receiving UE 104. The conditions may include one or more of: the UE 104 with the RRM measurement greater than or equal to the thresholds/ranges of the RRM measurement and/or N UE 104 with the N best the RRM measurements where the RRM measurements of UE 104 may be sorted according to cell measurements and beam measurements and N is configured by the LMF/SF 504, or preconfigured, or determined by the serving BS 102. The conditions may include the distance between UE 104 and the sensing target is less than or equal to a distance threshold, and/or a zone where the UE 104 is located.

At step 904, the serving BS 102 determines the candidate sensing receiving UE 104 and sends/recommends the candidate sensing receiving UE 104 related information to the LMF/SF 504. The candidate sensing receiving UE 104 related information may at least include the candidate sensing receiving UE 104 IDs. At step 906, the serving BS 102 may send/recommend the candidate sensing receiving UE 104 related information to the LMF/SF 504 per sensing service. In some arrangements, the serving BS 102 may send/recommend the candidate sensing receiving UE 104 related information to the LMF/SF 504 per sensing zone or per sensing target.

When the LMF/SF 504 receives the candidate sensing receiving UE 104 related information, the LMF/SF 504 may provide the sensing assistance information to these sensing receiving UE 104. In some arrangements, the LMF/SF 504 may receive the candidate sensing receiving UE 104 related information and may prioritize these candidate sensing receiving UE 104 as the sensing receiving UE 104. The LMF/SF 504 may further select the sensing receiving UE 104 from the candidate sensing receiving UE 104. The LMF/SF 504 may be based on one or more factors to select the sensing receiving UE 104. The factors may include the distance between UE 104 and the sensing target, and/or the zone where the UE 104 is located. After the LMF/SF 504 determines the sensing receiving UE 104, the LMF/SF 502 may provide the sensing assistance information to these sensing receiving UE 104.

Embodiment#5: Interactive signaling when sensing target/receiving UE 104 moves

In a sensing situation, the sensing target and/or the receiving UE 104 may move from the coverage of a BS 102 to the coverage of another BS 102, as shown in FIG. 10. FIG. 10 is an example design for the interactive signaling when the sensing target/receiving UE 104 moves. In this embodiment, signaling is designed and configured when the sensing target/receiving UE 104 moves.

Based on the prior location of the sensing target, a prior sensing zone, the latest sensing estimate, the LMF/SF 504 may predict the expected range of the sensing target in the next sensing time. The expected range may be the expected location of the sensing target and corresponding location uncertainty, the expected angle of the sensing target and corresponding angle uncertainty, the expected velocity of the sensing target and corresponding velocity uncertainty, and the expected Doppler of the sensing target and corresponding Doppler uncertainty. Thus, the LMF/SF 504 may send sensing request to the BSs 102 located in an expected sensing zone and may send sensing assistance information to the UE 104 located in the expected sensing zone.

The expected sensing zone may be determined according to the absolute location, such as longitude, latitude and height and/or the expected sensing zone may be determined according to the local location. The configuration of local location may include the reference location, the relative distance, and the relative angle. For example, the reference location may be the expected location of the sensing target in the next sensing time, or the location of one BS 102. Furthermore, the expected sensing zone may be a list of BSs 102, and/or a list of UE 104. For example, the expected sensing zone may include the list of BSs 102, which is indicated by the list of BSs 102 IDs, and the expected sensing zone includes a list of UE 104, which is indicated by the list of UE 104 IDs. In some arrangements, the expected sensing zone is configured by the LMF/SF 504, and the sensing request information may include the request for sensing RS transmission, the configuration of sensing RS, a request for the SSB/CSI-RS transmission, where a request for the SSB/CSI-RS transmission is to request BS 102 to transmit SSB/CSI-RS, so as to obtain the RRM measurement to assist sensing. The sensing request information may include the configuration of the SSB/CSI-RS.

The sensing assistance information may include IDs of BSs 102 /TRPs successfully responding the sensing request, the configuration of sensing RS, the configuration of SSB/CSI-RS, and/or the configuration for the RRM measuring. In the ISAC system, the UE 104 may receive and measure sensing RS when the UE 104 is in RRC_IDLE state and in RRC_INACTIVE state. When the UE 104 performs cell handover, in order to avoid the suspension of the sensing service, the UE 104 may keep the RRM measurement reporting and sensing measurement reporting in Dual Active Protocol Stack (DAPS) based cell handover.

Embodiment#6: Configure a priority to transmitter and receiver

In a sensing situation, when the sensing target and/or the receiving UE 104 moves, the transmitting BSs 102 may be changed as the sensing target/receiving UE 104 moves. In this case, the LMF/SF 504 may select the transmitting BSs 102 based on reselection priorities of BSs 102 to prioritize the BSs 102 with higher reselection priority as the sensing transmitting BSs 102. In addition, sensing priority may be configured for BS 102 and UE 104 to assist sensing service.

Configure sensing priority to BS

A sensing priority may be configured to a BS 102. In some arrangements, the sensing priority may be configured by the LMF/SF 504, the sensing priority may be preconfigured, or the sensing priority may be determined by BS 102. In some arrangements, the sensing priority of the BS 102 may be associated with the RRM measurement. The better the quality of the RRM measurement of a BS 102, the higher the sensing priority of a BS 102. In some arrangements, the sensing priority of a BS 102 may be associated with the relative location between the BS 102 and the sensing target, or the sensing priority of a BS 102 may be associated with the relative location between the BS 102 and the sensing zone.

In some arrangements, the sensing priority of a BS 102 may associate with the reselection priority of the BS 102. The sensing assistance information provided by the LMF/SF 504 to the UE 104 includes the sensing priorities of the sensing transmitting BSs 102. In some arrangements the UE 104 may receive and measure sensing RS from N sensing transmitting BSs 102 based on sensing priorities of the BSs 102 and the UE 104’s capability. Furthermore, the UE 104 may report sensing measurements and/or sensing results of the N sensing transmitting BSs 102 to the LMF/SF 504. In some arrangements, N may be configured by the LMF/SF 504. Or N may be preconfigured. Or N may be determined by UE 104. Or N may be configured by BS 102.

In some arrangements, the UE 104 may receive and measure sensing RS from all sensing transmitting BSs 102 based on UE 104’s capability. Furthermore, the UE 104 may report the sensing measurements and/or the sensing results of only N sensing transmitting BSs 102 to the LMF/SF 504. The N sensing transmitting BSs 102 may be selected based on the sensing priorities of the BSs 102 and the UE 104’s capability. N may be configured by the LMF/SF 504, N may be preconfigured, N may be determined by the UE 104, or N may be configured by the BS 102.

Configure sensing priority to UE 104

A sensing priority is configured to the UE 104. In some arrangements, the sensing priority may be configured by the LMF/SF 504 or by the BS 102. Or the sensing priority may be preconfigured. Or the sensing priority may be determined by the UE 104. In some arrangements, the sensing priority of the UE 104 may be associated with the RRM measurement. For a transmitting the BS 102 , the better the quality of the RRM measurement of the UE 104, the higher the sensing priority of the UE 104. In some arrangements, the sensing priority of the UE 104 may be associated with the relative location between the UE 104 and the sensing target, or the sensing priority of the UE 104 may be associated with the relative location between the UE 104 and the sensing zone.

The UE 104 with lower sensing priorities may not receive and measure the sensing RS. The LMF/SF 504 may select the UE 104 with lower sensing priorities as the candidate sensing UE 104. In some arrangements, the LMF/SF 504 may not provide sensing assistance information to a candidate sensing UE 104 and the candidate sensing UE 104 may not measure sensing RS. In some arrangements that require higher sensing accuracy or require more the UE 104 to cooperative sensing, the LMF/SF 504 may regard some or all of the candidate sensing UE 104 as the sensing UE 104 and provide these sensing UE 104 with sensing assistance information.

Alternatively, the sensing receiving UE 104 may measure the sensing RS and report sensing measurement/result to the LMF/SF 504. Besides, in sensing measurement/result report, the sensing receiving UE 104 may report its sensing priorities. The LMF/SF 504 may process the sensing measurements/results from the UE 104 with higher sensing priorities, but not process the sensing measurements/results from the UE 104 with lower sensing priorities.

It should be understood that one or more features from the above/following implementation examples are not exclusive to the specific implementation examples, but can be combined in any manner (e.g., in any priority and/or order, concurrently or otherwise) .

FIG. 11 illustrates a flow diagram of a method 1100 for sensing assisted by communication by integrated sensing and communication. The method 1100 may be executed by any one or more of the components and devices detailed herein in conjunction with FIGS. 1 to 10. In overview, the method 1100 may be performed by a wireless communication node (e.g., a base station (BS) or a radio access network (RAN) node) , in some embodiments. Additional, fewer, or different operations may be performed in the method 1100 depending on the embodiment. At least one aspect of the operations is directed to a system, method, apparatus, or a computer-readable medium.

A wireless communication method includes a transmitter node of an integrated sensing and communication (ISAC) system assisted by mobility management transmitting, a sensing Reference Signal (RS) , a receiver node of an ISAC system assisted by mobility management measuring a sensing RS and a wireless communication device or a network node of an ISAC system determining a sensing configuration for a sensing receiver based on Radio Resource Management (RRM) measurement. The transmitter nodes may be selected by the receive node based on RRM measurement and some rules. The selected transmitter nodes may be recommended by the receiver node to the network node per sensing service or per sensing zone or per sensing target.

The RRM measurement satisfying some conditions may be reported by the receiver node to the network node used as sensing measurement. The RRM measurement may be reported by the receiver node to the network node. The transmitter nodes and the receiver nodes may be determined by the network node based on RRM measurement. The transmitter nodes and the receiver nodes may be selected by the serving base station based on RRM measurement. The selected transmitter nodes and the selected receiver nodes may be recommended by the serving base station to the network node. The selected transmitter nodes and the selected receiver nodes may be recommended by the serving base station to the network node per sensing service, or per sensing zone, or per sensing target.

The receiver node measures inter-frequency sensing RS outside the measurement gap if some conditions may be satisfied. Otherwise, the receiver node measures inter-frequency sensing RS within the measurement gap. The conditions at least include one or more of: an indicator indicating the inter-frequency sensing RS may be measured outside the sensing measurement gap may be configured, and/or the receiver node supports the capability of the inter-frequency sensing RS measuring outside the sensing measurement gap, and/or the bandwidth of the inter-frequency sensing RS may be within the active BWP.

The receiver node further measures intra-frequency sensing RS outside the measurement gap if the bandwidth of the intra-frequency sensing RS may be within the active Bandwidth Part (BWP) . Otherwise, the receiver node measures intra-frequency sensing RS within the measurement gap. The receiver node further measures sensing RS only transmitted by the transmitter nodes satisfying S criterion. The receiver node further measures sensing RS only transmitted by the transmitter nodes whose either or both of RRM measurement and previous sensing measurement satisfies/satisfy the corresponding threshold/range. The receiver node may not measure sensing RS and RRM measurement for a next duration time if the sensing measurement does not satisfy the sensing threshold/range.

The wireless communication device may be the transmitter node, or the receiver node. The sensing RS may be Synchronization Signal Block (SSB) , or Channel State Information-Reference Signal (CSI-RS) , or Positioning Reference Signal (PRS) , or a unified RS, or a sensing specific RS. In some arrangements, if the sensing RS may be SSB, SSB may be measured for sensing purpose only within SSB Measurement Timing Configuration (SMTC) . The sensing RS may be intra-frequency sensing RS if the center frequency of the sensing RS may be same as the center frequency of SSB of the serving cell and the Sub-carrier Space (SCS) of the sensing RS may be same as the SCS of SSB of the serving cell. Otherwise, the sensing RS may be inter-frequency sensing RS. The sensing configuration includes a measurement gap, where the measurement gap may be a specific measurement gap for sensing RS measuring or may be a shared measurement gap with other RSs measuring. The sensing configuration includes a threshold/range to evaluated RRM measurement, and a threshold/range to evaluate the previous sensing measurement. The sensing configuration may include a sensing threshold/range to evaluated sensing measurement. The sensing configuration may further include the transmitter nodes and the receiver nodes. The sensing configuration may include an expected sensing zone when the sensing target moves. The expected sensing zone may be an absolute location, or a local location, or a list of the transmitter nodes, or a list of the receiver nodes.

In some arrangements, if the measurement gap may be a shared measurement gap, the sharing configuration includes measurement gap sharing scheme. The configuration of measurement gap sharing scheme at least includes one or more of: measurement gap sharing type, and an indicator indicating the joint encoding of time portions used for measuring different RSs.

In some arrangements, if the sensing RS may be SSB, the sensing configuration includes two or more sensing windows, where one sensing window may be the primary sensing window associated with the primary SMTC, and one sensing window may be the secondary sensing window associated with the secondary SMTC. The configuration of the primary sensing window at least includes one or more of: a duration, a period, a starting time related information, and/or a reference time. The configuration of the secondary sensing window at least includes one or more of: a cell ID, a duration, a period, a starting time related information, and/or a reference time. In some arrangements, if the sensing RS may be SSB, the sensing configuration includes one or more Sensing Measurement Timing Configuration (Sensing-MTC) . The configuration of Sensing-MTC at least includes one or more of: a duration, a period, an offset, and/or a reference time. The SSB may be measured for sensing purpose only within Sensing-MTC.

In some arrangements, if the sensing RS may be CSI-RS, the sensing configuration includes one or more Sensing-CSI-MTC. The configuration of Sensing-CSI-MTC at least includes one or more of: a duration, a period, an offset, and/or a reference time. The CSI-RS may be measured for sensing purpose only within Sensing-CSI-MT. The next duration time may be configured by the network node, or base station, or preconfigured. The sensing configuration includes the sensing request information provided by the network node to the transmitter nodes located in the expected sensing zone, and the sensing assistance information provided by the network node to the receiver node located in the expected sensing zone. The sensing request information at least includes one or more of: the request for sensing RS transmission, the configuration of sensing RS, the request for SSB/CSI-RS transmission, or the configuration of SSB/CSI-RS. The sensing assistance information at least includes one or more of: ID information of the transmitter node successfully responding the sensing request, the configuration of sensing RS, the configuration of SSB/CSI-RS, or the configuration for RRM measuring.

In some arrangements, the receiver node may measure the sensing RS when it may be in RRC_IDLE state and in RRC_INACTIVE state. The receiver node may report sensing measurement when hand over between cells may be performing. The receiver node measures the sensing RS transmitted by N transmitter nodes based on the sensing priority of the transmitter node. The receiver node reports the sensing measurement of N transmitter nodes based on the sensing priority of the transmitter node. The receiver nodes with low sensing priority do not measure the sensing RS. In some arrangements, the sensing configuration includes a sensing priority of the transmitter node, and a sensing priority of the receiver node. The sensing priority of the transmitter node and the sensing priority of the receiver node may be associated with RRM measurement, and the relative location between the transmitter/receiver node with the sensing target. The sensing priority of the transmitter node may be further associated with the reselection priority of the transmitter node.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Claims

A wireless communication method, comprising:

transmitting, by a transmitter node of an integrated sensing and communication (ISAC) system assisted by mobility management, a sensing Reference Signal (RS) ; and

measuring, by a receiver node of an ISAC system assisted by mobility management, a sensing RS; and

determining, by a wireless communication device or a network node of an ISAC system, a sensing configuration for a sensing receiver based on Radio Resource Management (RRM) measurement.
The wireless communication method of claim 1, wherein the wireless communication device can be the transmitter node, or the receiver node.
The wireless communication method of claim 1, wherein the sensing RS can be Synchronization Signal Block (SSB) , or Channel State Information-Reference Signal (CSI-RS) , or Positioning Reference Signal (PRS) , or an unified RS, or a sensing specific RS.
The wireless communication method of claim 1, wherein if the sensing RS is SSB, SSB is measured for sensing purpose only within SSB Measurement Timing Configuration (SMTC) .
The wireless communication method of claim 1, wherein if the sensing RS is SSB, the sensing configuration includes two or more sensing windows, where one sensing window is the primary sensing window associated with the primary SMTC, and one sensing window is the secondary sensing window associated with the secondary SMTC.
The wireless communication method of claim 5, wherein the configuration of the primary sensing window at least includes one or more of: a duration, a period, a starting time related information, and/or a reference time.
The wireless communication method of claim 5, wherein the configuration of the secondary sensing window at least includes one or more of: a cell ID, a duration, a period, a starting time related information, and/or a reference time.
The wireless communication method of claim 1, wherein if the sensing RS is SSB, the sensing configuration includes one or more Sensing Measurement Timing Configuration (Sensing-MTC) .
The wireless communication method of claim 8, wherein the configuration of Sensing-MTC at least includes one or more of: a duration, a period, an offset, and/or a reference time.
The wireless communication method of claim 9, wherein SSB is measured for sensing purpose only within Sensing-MTC.
The wireless communication method of claim 1, wherein if the sensing RS is CSI-RS, the sensing configuration includes one or more Sensing-CSI-MTC.
The wireless communication method of claim 11, wherein the configuration of Sensing-CSI-MTC at least includes one or more of: a duration, a period, an offset, and/or a reference time.
The wireless communication method of claim 12, wherein CSI-RS is measured for sensing purpose only within Sensing-CSI-MTC.
The wireless communication method of claim 1, wherein the sensing RS is intra-frequency sensing RS if the center frequency of the sensing RS is same as the center frequency of SSB of the serving cell and the Sub-carrier Space (SCS) of the sensing RS is same as the SCS of SSB of the serving cell, otherwise, the sensing RS is inter-frequency sensing RS.
The wireless communication method of claim 1, wherein the sensing configuration includes a measurement gap, where the measurement gap can be a specific measurement gap for sensing RS measuring, or can be a shared measurement gap with other RSs measuring.
The wireless communication method of claim 14, wherein the receiver node measures intra-frequency sensing RS outside the measurement gap if the bandwidth of the intra-frequency sensing RS is within the active Bandwidth Part (BWP) , otherwise, the receiver node measures intra-frequency sensing RS within the measurement gap.
The wireless communication method of claim 14, wherein the receiver node measures inter-frequency sensing RS outside the measurement gap if some conditions are satisfied, otherwise, the receiver node measures inter-frequency sensing RS within the measurement gap.
The wireless communication method of claim 17, wherein the conditions at least include one or more of: an indicator indicating the inter-frequency sensing RS can be measured outside the sensing measurement gap is configured, and/or the receiver node supports the capability of the inter-frequency sensing RS measuring outside the sensing measurement gap, and/or the bandwidth of the inter-frequency sensing RS is within the active BWP.
The wireless communication method of claim 15, wherein if the measurement gap is a shared measurement gap, the sharing configuration includes measurement gap sharing scheme.
The wireless communication method of claim 19, wherein the configuration of measurement gap sharing scheme at least includes one or more of: measurement gap sharing type, and an indicator indicating the joint encoding of time portions used for measuring different RSs.
The wireless communication method of claim 1, wherein the receiver node measures sensing RS only transmitted by the transmitter nodes satisfying S criterion.
The wireless communication method of claim 1, wherein RRM measurement satisfying some conditions can be reported by the receiver node to the network node used as sensing measurement.
The wireless communication method of claim 1, wherein the sensing configuration includes a threshold/range to evaluated RRM measurement, and a threshold/range to evaluated the previous sensing measurement.
The wireless communication method of claim 1, wherein the receiver node measures sensing RS only transmitted by the transmitter nodes whose either or both of RRM measurement and previous sensing measurement satisfies/satisfy the corresponding threshold/range.
The wireless communication method of claim 1, wherein the sensing configuration includes a sensing threshold/range to evaluated sensing measurement.
The wireless communication method of claim 1, wherein the receiver node will not measure sensing RS and RRM measurement for a next duration time if the sensing measurement does not satisfy the sensing threshold/range.
The wireless communication method of claim 1, wherein the next duration time can be configured by the network node, or base station, or preconfigured.
The wireless communication method of claim 1, wherein the sensing configuration includes the transmitter nodes and the receiver nodes.
The wireless communication method of claim 28, wherein the transmitter nodes are selected by the receive node based on RRM measurement and some rules.
The wireless communication method of claim 29, wherein the selected transmitter nodes are recommended by the receiver node to the network node per sensing service or per sensing zone or per sensing target.
The wireless communication method of claim 1, wherein RRM measurement can be reported by the receiver node to the network node.
The wireless communication method of claim 28, wherein the transmitter nodes and the receiver nodes can be determined by the network node based on RRM measurement.
The wireless communication method of claim 28, wherein the transmitter nodes and the receiver nodes are selected by the serving base station based on RRM measurement.
The wireless communication method of claim 33, wherein the selected transmitter nodes and the selected receiver nodes are recommended by the serving base station to the network node.
The wireless communication method of claim 34, wherein the selected transmitter nodes and the selected receiver nodes are recommended by the serving base station to the network node per sensing service, or per sensing zone, or per sensing target.
The wireless communication method of claim 1, wherein the sensing configuration includes an expected sensing zone when the sensing target moves.
The wireless communication method of claim 36, wherein the expected sensing zone is an absolute location, or a local location, or a list of the transmitter nodes, or a list of the receiver nodes.
The wireless communication method of claim 1, wherein the sensing configuration includes the sensing request information provided by the network node to the transmitter nodes located in the expected sensing zone, and the sensing assistance information provided by the network node to the receiver node located in the expected sensing zone.
The wireless communication method of claim 38, wherein the sensing request information at least includes one or more of: the request for sensing RS transmission, the configuration of sensing RS, the request for SSB/CSI-RS transmission, or the configuration of SSB/CSI-RS.
The wireless communication method of claim 38, wherein the sensing assistance information at least includes one or more of: ID information of the transmitter node successfully responding the sensing request, the configuration of sensing RS, the configuration of SSB/CSI-RS, or the configuration for RRM measuring.
The wireless communication method of claim 1, wherein the receiver node can measure the sensing RS when it is in RRC_IDLE state and in RRC_INACTIVE state.
The wireless communication method of claim 1, wherein the receiver node can report sensing measurement when hand over between cells is performing.
The wireless communication method of claim 1, wherein the sensing configuration includes a sensing priority of the transmitter node, and a sensing priority of the receiver node.
The wireless communication method of claim 43, wherein the sensing priority of the transmitter node and the sensing priority of the receiver node are associated with RRM measurement, and the relative location between the transmitter/receiver node with the sensing target.
The wireless communication method of claim 43, wherein the sensing priority of the transmitter node is further associated with the reselection priority of the transmitter node.
The wireless communication method of claim 1, wherein the receiver node measures the sensing RS transmitted by N transmitter nodes based on the sensing priority of the transmitter node.
The wireless communication method of claim 46, wherein the receiver node reports the sensing measurement of N transmitter nodes based on the sensing priority of the transmitter node.
The wireless communication method of claim 46, wherein the receiver nodes with low sensing priority do not measure the sensing RS.
A wireless communication method comprising:

receiving, by a receiver node from a transmitter node of an integrated sensing and communication (ISAC) system assisted by mobility management, a sensing Reference Signal (RS) ;

measuring, by the receiver node of an ISAC system assisted by mobility management, a sensing RS; and

determining, by a wireless communication device or a network node of an ISAC system, a sensing configuration for a sensing receiver based on Radio Resource Management (RRM) measurement.
A wireless communications apparatus comprising a processor and a memory, wherein the processor is configured to read code from the memory and implement a method recited in any of claims 1 to 48.
A computer program product comprising a computer-readable program medium code stored thereupon, the code, when executed by a processor, causing the processor to implement a method recited in any of claims 1 to 48.