PRIORITIZATION BETWEEN SENSING REFERENCE SIGNALS AND COMMUNICATION REFERENCE SIGNALS

Disclosed are systems, apparatuses, processes, and computer-readable media for wireless communications. For example, an example of a process includes receiving a multiplexed signal, where at least a portion of a sensing signal scheduled within the multiplexed signal overlaps in time with at least a portion of a communication signal scheduled within the multiplexed signal. The process can further include determining whether to measure one of the sensing signal or the communication signal to obtain measurements for channel estimation.

FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE

The present disclosure generally relates to scheduling and/or processing sensing and communication signals for joint communications and sensing. For example, aspects of the present disclosure relate to applying methods for prioritization between sensing reference signals (RSs) and communications signals (e.g., radio resource management (RRM)/radio link monitoring (RLM) RSs).

BACKGROUND OF THE DISCLOSURE

Due to larger bandwidths being allocated for wireless cellular communications systems (e.g., including 5G and 5G beyond) and more use cases being introduced into the cellular communications systems, multiplexing sensing and communication signals for joint communications and sensing can be an essential feature for existing or future wireless communication systems, such as to enhance the overall spectral efficiency of the wireless communication networks.

SUMMARY

Systems and techniques are described for providing solutions for prioritizating between sensing reference signals (RSs) and communications signals (e.g., radio resource management (RRM)/radio link monitoring (RLM) RSs). According to at least one example, a method is provided for wireless communications. The method includes: receiving a multiplexed signal, wherein at least a portion of a sensing signal scheduled within the multiplexed signal overlaps in time with at least a portion of a communication signal scheduled within the multiplexed signal; and determining whether to measure one of the sensing signal or the communication signal to obtain measurements for channel estimation.

In another example, an apparatus for wireless communications is provided that includes at least one memory and at least one processor (e.g., configured in circuitry) coupled to the at least one memory. The at least one processor is configured to: receive a multiplexed signal, wherein at least a portion of a sensing signal scheduled within the multiplexed signal overlaps in time with at least a portion of a communication signal scheduled within the multiplexed signal; and determine whether to measure one of the sensing signal or the communication signal to obtain measurements for channel estimation.

In another example, a non-transitory computer-readable medium is provided that has stored thereon instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to: receive a multiplexed signal, wherein at least a portion of a sensing signal scheduled within the multiplexed signal overlaps in time with at least a portion of a communication signal scheduled within the multiplexed signal; and determine whether to measure one of the sensing signal or the communication signal to obtain measurements for channel estimation.

In another example, an apparatus for wireless communications is provided. The apparatus includes: means for receiving a multiplexed signal, wherein at least a portion of a sensing signal scheduled within the multiplexed signal overlaps in time with at least a portion of a communication signal scheduled within the multiplexed signal; and means for determining whether to measure one of the sensing signal or the communication signal to obtain measurements for channel estimation.

In some aspects, the apparatus is, is part of, and/or includes a UE, such as a wearable device, an extended reality (XR) device (e.g., a virtual reality (VR) device, an augmented reality (AR) device, or a mixed reality (MR) device), a head-mounted display (HMD) device, a wireless communication device, a mobile device (e.g., a mobile telephone and/or mobile handset and/or so-called “smart phone” or other mobile device), a camera, a personal computer, a laptop computer, a server computer, a vehicle or a computing device or component of a vehicle, another device, or a combination thereof. In some aspects, the apparatus includes a camera or multiple cameras for capturing one or more images. In some aspects, the apparatus further includes a display for displaying one or more images, notifications, and/or other displayable data. In some aspects, the apparatuses described above can include one or more sensors (e.g., one or more inertial measurement units (IMUs), such as one or more gyroscopes, one or more gyrometers, one or more accelerometers, any combination thereof, and/or other sensor).

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Certain aspects of this disclosure are provided below for illustration purposes. Alternate aspects may be devised without departing from the scope of the disclosure. Additionally, well-known elements of the disclosure will not be described in detail or will be omitted so as not to obscure the relevant details of the disclosure. Some of the aspects described herein may be applied independently and some of them may be applied in combination as would be apparent to those of skill in the art. In the following description, for the purposes of explanation, specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of aspects of the application. However, it will be apparent that various aspects may be practiced without these specific details. The figures and description are not intended to be restrictive.

Radar sensing systems use radio frequency (RF) waveforms to perform RF sensing to determine or estimate one or more characteristics of a target object, such as the distance, angle, and/or velocity of the target object. A target object may include a vehicle, an obstruction, a user, a building, or other object. A typical radar system includes at least one transmitter, at least one receiver, and at least one processor. A radar sensing system may perform monostatic sensing when one receiver is employed that is co-located with a transmitter. A radar system may perform bistatic sensing when one receiver of a first device is employed that is located remote from a transmitter of a second device. Similarly, a radar system may perform multi-static sensing when multiple receivers of multiple devices are employed that are all located remotely from at least one transmitter of at least one device.

During operation of a radar sensing system, a transmitter transmits an electromagnetic (EM) signal in the RF domain towards a target object. The signal reflects off of the target object to produce one or more reflection signals, which provides information or properties regarding the target, such as target object's location and speed. At least one receiver receives the one or more reflection signals and at least one processor, which may be associated with at least one receiver, utilizes the information from the one or more reflection signals to determine information or properties of the target object. A target object can also be referred herein as a target.

Generally, RF sensing involves monitoring moving targets with different motions (e.g., a moving car or pedestrian, a body motion of a person, such as breathing, and/or other micro-motions related to a target). Doppler, which measures the phase variation in a signal and is indicative of motion, is an important characteristic for sensing of a target.

In some cases, the radar sensing signals, which can be referred to as radar reference signals (RSs), such as sensing reference signals (S-RS), may be designed for and used for sensing purposes. Radar RSs do not contain any communications information. Conversely, communication RSs, such as demodulation reference signals (DMRSs), are typically designed for and solely used for communications purposes, such as estimating channel parameters for communications.

Cellular communications systems are designed to transmit communication signals on designated communication frequency bands (e.g., 23 gigahertz (GHz), 3.5 GHz, etc. for 5G/NR, 2.2 GHz for LTE, among others). RF sensing systems are designed to transmit RF sensing signals on designated radar RF frequency bands (e.g., 77 GHz for autonomous driving). The spectrum for communications and sensing is very likely to be shared in future cellular communication systems, in which case the communications and sensing should be jointly considered.

In some cases, due to larger bandwidths being allocated for wireless communications systems (e.g., including cellular communications systems such as 4G/LTE, 5G/NR, and beyond) and more use cases being introduced into the wireless communications systems, multiplexing (e.g., via time division multiplexing and/or frequency division multiplexing) sensing and communication signals for joint communications and sensing can be an essential feature for existing or future wireless communication systems. Simultaneously performing wireless communications and radar sensing can provide for a cost-efficient deployment for both radar and communication systems.

Joint communications and radar sensing can provide for mutual performance gains. For example, sensing information, such as Doppler measurements, can be used to improve communication link quality (e.g., Sensing-assisted Communications). Also, cooperative sensing can be more feasible with wireless communication networks (e.g., Communication-assisted Sensing).

RF Sensing is based on channel estimation using sensing reference signals (S-RSs). Similarly, channel estimation is performed for communications using RSs (e.g., using RRM RSs and/or RLM RSs). If a network device (e.g., a UE or base station) is configured to perform an S-RS measurement (e.g., a channel estimation using S-RSs) and a communication RS such as an RRM/RLM RS measurement (e.g., a channel estimation using RRM RSs and/or RLM RSs) at the same time (e.g., which can be referred to as a sensing RS collision with a communication RS, such as an RRM/RLM RS), the network device may not have the capability to perform both measurements simultaneously at the same time.

In some aspects of the present disclosure, systems, apparatuses, methods (also referred to as processes), and computer-readable media (collectively referred to herein as “systems and techniques”) are described herein that provide solutions (e.g., methods or rules, such as collision handling rules) that can be applied when a sensing RS collision with a communication RS (e.g., RRM/RLM RS) occurs. In one or more examples, the solutions described herein can be used to determine whether the network device (e.g., UE or base station) should perform an S-RS measurement or a communication RS measurement at that designated time when the collision occurs. The solutions may be suitable for both single-cell sensing and multi-cell sensing scenarios.

Additional aspects of the present disclosure are described in more detail below.

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

A network entity can be implemented in an aggregated or monolithic base station architecture, or alternatively, in a disaggregated base station architecture, and may include one or more of a central unit (CU), a distributed unit (DU), a radio unit (RU), a Near-Real Time (Near-RT) RAN Intelligent Controller (RIC), or a Non-Real Time (Non-RT) RIC. A base station (e.g., with an aggregated/monolithic base station architecture or disaggregated base station architecture) may operate according to one of several RATs in communication with UEs depending on the network in which it is deployed, and may be alternatively referred to as an access point (AP), a network node, a NodeB (NB), an evolved NodeB (eNB), a next generation eNB (ng-eNB), a New Radio (NR) Node B (also referred to as a gNB or gNodeB), etc. A base station may be used primarily to support wireless access by UEs, including supporting data, voice, and/or signaling connections for the supported UEs. In some systems, a base station may provide edge node signaling functions while in other systems it may provide additional control and/or network management functions. A communication link through which UEs can send signals to a base station is called an uplink (UL) channel (e.g., a reverse traffic channel, a reverse control channel, an access channel, etc.). A communication link through which the base station can send signals to UEs is called a downlink (DL) or forward link channel (e.g., a paging channel, a control channel, a broadcast channel, or a forward traffic channel, etc.). The term traffic channel (TCH), as used herein, can refer to either an uplink, reverse or downlink, and/or a forward traffic channel.

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

According to various aspects, FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary wireless communications system 100, which may be employed by the disclosed systems and techniques described herein for prioritization between sensing reference signals (RSS) and radio resource management (RRM)/radio link monitoring (RLM) RSs. The wireless communications system 100 (which may also be referred to as a wireless wide area network (WWAN)) can include various base stations 102 and various UEs 104. In some aspects, the base stations 102 may also be referred to as “network entities” or “network nodes.” One or more of the base stations 102 can be implemented in an aggregated or monolithic base station architecture. Additionally or alternatively, one or more of the base stations 102 can be implemented in a disaggregated base station architecture, and may include one or more of a central unit (CU), a distributed unit (DU), a radio unit (RU), a Near-Real Time (Near-RT) RAN Intelligent Controller (RIC), or a Non-Real Time (Non-RT) RIC. The base stations 102 can include macro cell base stations (high power cellular base stations) and/or small cell base stations (low power cellular base stations). In an aspect, the macro cell base station may include eNBs and/or ng-eNBs where the wireless communications system 100 corresponds to a long term evolution (LTE) network, or gNBs where the wireless communications system 100 corresponds to a NR network, or a combination of both, and the small cell base stations may include femtocells, picocells, microcells, etc.

The base stations 102 may collectively form a RAN and interface with a core network 170 (e.g., an evolved packet core (EPC) or a 5G core (5GC)) through backhaul links 122, and through the core network 170 to one or more location servers 172 (which may be part of core network 170 or may be external to core network 170). In addition to other functions, the base stations 102 may perform functions that relate to one or more of transferring user data, radio channel ciphering and deciphering, integrity protection, header compression, mobility control functions (e.g., handover, dual connectivity), inter-cell interference coordination, connection setup and release, load balancing, distribution for non-access stratum (NAS) messages, NAS node selection, synchronization, RAN sharing, multimedia broadcast multicast service (MBMS), subscriber and equipment trace, RAN information management (RIM), paging, positioning, and delivery of warning messages. The base stations 102 may communicate with each other directly or indirectly (e.g., through the EPC or 5GC) over backhaul links 134, which may be wired and/or wireless.

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

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

The wireless communications system 100 may further include a WLAN AP 150 in communication with WLAN stations (STAs) 152 via communication links 154 in an unlicensed frequency spectrum (e.g., 5 Gigahertz (GHz)). When communicating in an unlicensed frequency spectrum, the WLAN STAs 152 and/or the WLAN AP 150 may perform a clear channel assessment (CCA) or listen before talk (LBT) procedure prior to communicating in order to determine whether the channel is available. In some examples, the wireless communications system 100 can include devices (e.g., UEs, etc.) that communicate with one or more UEs 104, base stations 102, APs 150, etc. utilizing the ultra-wideband (UWB) spectrum. The UWB spectrum can range from 3.1 to 10.5 GHz.

Receive beams may be spatially related. A spatial relation means that parameters for a transmit beam for a second reference signal can be derived from information about a receive beam for a first reference signal. For example, a UE may use a particular receive beam to receive one or more reference downlink reference signals (e.g., positioning reference signals (PRS), tracking reference signals (TRS), phase tracking reference signal (PTRS), cell-specific reference signals (CRS), channel state information reference signals (CSI-RS), primary synchronization signals (PSS), secondary synchronization signals (SSS), synchronization signal blocks (SSBs), etc.) from a network node or entity (e.g., a base station). The UE can then form a transmit beam for sending one or more uplink reference signals (e.g., uplink positioning reference signals (UL-PRS), sounding reference signal (SRS), demodulation reference signals (DMRS), PTRS, etc.) to that network node or entity (e.g., a base station) based on the parameters of the receive beam.

For example, still referring to FIG. 1, one of the frequencies utilized by the macro cell base stations 102 may be an anchor carrier (or “PCell”) and other frequencies utilized by the macro cell base stations 102 and/or the mmW base station 180 may be secondary carriers (“SCells”). In carrier aggregation, the base stations 102 and/or the UEs 104 may use spectrum up to Y MHz (e.g., 5, 10, 15, 20, 100 MHz) bandwidth per carrier up to a total of Yx MHz (x component carriers) for transmission in each direction. The component carriers may or may not be adjacent to each other on the frequency spectrum. Allocation of carriers may be asymmetric with respect to the downlink and uplink (e.g., more or less carriers may be allocated for downlink than for uplink). The simultaneous transmission and/or reception of multiple carriers enables the UE 104/182 to significantly increase its data transmission and/or reception rates. For example, two 20 MHz aggregated carriers in a multi-carrier system would theoretically lead to a two-fold increase in data rate (i.e., 40 MHz), compared to that attained by a single 20 MHz carrier.

In order to operate on multiple carrier frequencies, a base station 102 and/or a UE 104 is equipped with multiple receivers and/or transmitters. For example, a UE 104 may have two receivers, “Receiver 1” and “Receiver 2,” where “Receiver 1” is a multi-band receiver that can be tuned to band (i.e., carrier frequency) ‘X’ or band ‘Y,’ and “Receiver 2” is a one-band receiver tuneable to band ‘Z’ only. In this example, if the UE 104 is being served in band ‘X,’ band ‘X’ would be referred to as the PCell or the active carrier frequency, and “Receiver 1” would need to tune from band ‘X’ to band ‘Y’ (an SCell) in order to measure band ‘Y’ (and vice versa). In contrast, whether the UE 104 is being served in band ‘X’ or band ‘Y,’ because of the separate “Receiver 2,” the UE 104 can measure band ‘Z’ without interrupting the service on band ‘X’ or band ‘Y.’

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

The wireless communications system 100 may further include one or more UEs, such as UE 190, that connects indirectly to one or more communication networks via one or more device-to-device (D2D) peer-to-peer (P2P) links (referred to as “sidelinks”). In the example of FIG. 1, UE 190 has a D2D P2P link 192 with one of the UEs 104 connected to one of the base stations 102 (e.g., through which UE 190 may indirectly obtain cellular connectivity) and a D2D P2P link 194 with WLAN STA 152 connected to the WLAN AP 150 (through which UE 190 may indirectly obtain WLAN-based Internet connectivity). In an example, the D2D P2P links 192 and 194 may be supported with any well-known D2D RAT, such as LTE Direct (LTE-D), Wi-Fi Direct (Wi-Fi-D), Bluetooth®, and so on. As noted above, UE 104 and UE 190 can be configured to communicate using sidelink communications. In some cases, a sidelink transmission can include a request for feedback (e.g., a hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ)) from the receiving UE.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a disaggregated base station architecture, which may be employed by the disclosed systems and techniques for prioritization between sensing RSs and communication RSs (e.g., RRM/RLM RSs).

As previously mentioned, FIG. 2 shows a diagram illustrating an example disaggregated base station 201 architecture. The disaggregated base station 201 architecture may include one or more central units (CUs) 211 that can communicate directly with a core network 223 via a backhaul link, or indirectly with the core network 223 through one or more disaggregated base station units (such as a Near-Real Time (Near-RT) RAN Intelligent Controller (RIC) 227 via an E2 link, or a Non-Real Time (Non-RT) RIC 217 associated with a Service Management and Orchestration (SMO) Framework 207, or both). A CU 211 may communicate with one or more distributed units (DUs) 231 via respective midhaul links, such as an F1 interface. The DUs 231 may communicate with one or more radio units (RUs) 241 via respective fronthaul links. The RUs 241 may communicate with respective UEs 221 via one or more RF access links. In some implementations, the UE 221 may be simultaneously served by multiple RUs 241.

The DU 231 may correspond to a logical unit that includes one or more base station functions to control the operation of one or more RUs 241. In some aspects, the DU 231 may host one or more of a radio link control (RLC) layer, a medium access control (MAC) layer, and one or more high physical (PHY) layers (such as modules for forward error correction (FEC) encoding and decoding, scrambling, modulation and demodulation, or the like) depending, at least in part, on a functional split, such as those defined by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP). In some aspects, the DU 231 may further host one or more low PHY layers. Each layer (or module) can be implemented with an interface configured to communicate signals with other layers (and modules) hosted by the DU 231, or with the control functions hosted by the CU 211.

Lower-layer functionality can be implemented by one or more RUs 241. In some deployments, an RU 241, controlled by a DU 231, may correspond to a logical node that hosts RF processing functions, or low-PHY layer functions (such as performing fast Fourier transform (FFT), inverse FFT (iFFT), digital beamforming, physical random access channel (PRACH) extraction and filtering, or the like), or both, based at least in part on the functional split, such as a lower layer functional split. In such an architecture, the RU(s) 241 can be implemented to handle over the air (OTA) communication with one or more UEs 221. In some implementations, real-time and non-real-time aspects of control and user plane communication with the RU(s) 241 can be controlled by the corresponding DU 231. In some scenarios, this configuration can enable the DU(s) 231 and the CU 211 to be implemented in a cloud-based RAN architecture, such as a vRAN architecture.

The SMO Framework 207 may be configured to support RAN deployment and provisioning of non-virtualized and virtualized network elements. For non-virtualized network elements, the SMO Framework 207 may be configured to support the deployment of dedicated physical resources for RAN coverage requirements which may be managed via an operations and maintenance interface (such as an O1 interface). For virtualized network elements, the SMO Framework 207 may be configured to interact with a cloud computing platform (such as an open cloud (O-Cloud) 291) to perform network element life cycle management (such as to instantiate virtualized network elements) via a cloud computing platform interface (such as an O2 interface). Such virtualized network elements can include, but are not limited to, CUs 211, DUs 231, RUs 241 and Near-RT RICs 227. In some implementations, the SMO Framework 207 can communicate with a hardware aspect of a 4G RAN, such as an open eNB (O-eNB) 213, via an O1 interface. Additionally, in some implementations, the SMO Framework 207 can communicate directly with one or more RUs 241 via an O1 interface. The SMO Framework 207 also may include a Non-RT RIC 217 configured to support functionality of the SMO Framework 207.

The Non-RT RIC 217 may be configured to include a logical function that enables non-real-time control and optimization of RAN elements and resources, Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning (AI/ML) workflows including model training and updates, or policy-based guidance of applications/features in the Near-RT RIC 227. The Non-RT RIC 217 may be coupled to or communicate with (such as via an Al interface) the Near-RT RIC 227. The Near-RT RIC 227 may be configured to include a logical function that enables near-real-time control and optimization of RAN elements and resources via data collection and actions over an interface (such as via an E2 interface) connecting one or more CUs 211, one or more DUs 231, or both, as well as an O-eNB 213, with the Near-RT RIC 227.

In some implementations, to generate AI/ML models to be deployed in the Near-RT RIC 227, the Non-RT RIC 217 may receive parameters or external enrichment information from external servers. Such information may be utilized by the Near-RT RIC 227 and may be received at the SMO Framework 207 or the Non-RT RIC 217 from non-network data sources or from network functions. In some examples, the Non-RT RIC 217 or the Near-RT RIC 227 may be configured to tune RAN behavior or performance. For example, the Non-RT RIC 217 may monitor long-term trends and patterns for performance and employ AI/ML models to perform corrective actions through the SMO Framework 207 (such as reconfiguration via 01) or via creation of RAN management policies (such as A1 policies).

Various radio frame structures may be used to support downlink, uplink, and sidelink transmissions between network nodes (e.g., base stations and UEs). FIG. 3 is a diagram 300 illustrating an example of a frame structure, which may be employed by the disclosed systems and techniques for prioritization between sensing RSs and communication RSs (e.g., RRM/RLM RSs). Other wireless communications technologies may have different frame structures and/or different channels.

LTE supports a single numerology (subcarrier spacing, symbol length, etc.). In contrast, NR may support multiple numerologies (u). For example, subcarrier spacing (SCS) of 15 kHz, 30 kHz, 60 kHz, 120 kHz, and 240 kHz or greater may be available. Table 1 provided below lists some various parameters for different NR numerologies.

Slot
Symbol
system BW

In one example, a numerology of 15 kHz is used. Thus, in the time domain, a 10 millisecond (ms) frame is divided into 10 equally sized subframes of 1 ms each, and each subframe includes one time slot. In FIG. 3, time is represented horizontally (e.g., on the X axis) with time increasing from left to right, while frequency is represented vertically (e.g., on the Y axis) with frequency increasing (or decreasing) from bottom to top.

A resource grid may be used to represent time slots, each time slot including one or more time-concurrent resource blocks (RBs) (also referred to as physical RBs (PRBs)) in the frequency domain. FIG. 3 illustrates an example of a resource block (RB) 302. Data or information for joint communications and sensing may be included in one or more RBs 302. The RB 302 is arranged with the time domain on the horizontal (or x-) axis and the frequency domain on the vertical (or y-) axis. As shown, the RB 302 may be 180 kilohertz (kHz) wide in frequency and one slot long in time (with a slot being 1 milliseconds (ms) in time). In some cases, the slot may include fourteen symbols (e.g., in a slot configuration 0). The RB 302 includes twelve subcarriers (along the y-axis) and fourteen symbols (along the x-axis).

An intersection of a symbol and subcarrier can be referred to as a resource element (RE) 304 or tone. The RB 302 of FIG. 3 includes multiple REs, including the resource element (RE) 304. For instance, a RE 304 is 1 subcarrier×1 symbol (e.g., OFDM symbol), and is the smallest discrete part of the subframe. A RE 304 includes a single complex value representing data from a physical channel or signal. The number of bits carried by each RE 304 depends on the modulation scheme.

In some aspects, some REs 304 can be used to transmit downlink reference (pilot) signals (DL-RS). The DL-RS can include Positioning Reference Signal (PRS), Tracking Reference Signal (TRS), Phase Tracking Reference Signal (PTRS), Channel State Information Reference Signal (CSI-RS), Demodulation Reference Signal (DMRS), Primary Synchronization Signal (PSS), Secondary Synchronization Signal (SSS), etc. The resource grid if FIG. 3 illustrates exemplary locations of REs 304 used to transmit DL-RS (labeled “R”).

FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a computing system 470 of an electronic device 407, which may be employed by the disclosed systems and techniques for prioritization between sensing RSs and communication RSs (e.g., RRM/RLM RSs). The electronic device 407 is an example of a device that can include hardware and software for the purpose of connecting and exchanging data with other devices and systems using a communications network (e.g., a 3rd Generation Partnership network, such as a 5th Generation (5G)/New Radio (NR) network, a 4th Generation (4G)/Long Term Evolution (LTE) network, a WiFi network, or other communications network). For example, the electronic device 407 can include, or be a part of, a mobile device (e.g., a mobile telephone), a wearable device (e.g., a network-connected or smart watch), an extended reality device (e.g., a virtual reality (VR) device, an augmented reality (AR) device, or a mixed reality (MR) device), a personal computer, a laptop computer, a tablet computer, an Internet-of-Things (IoT) device, a wireless access point, a router, a vehicle or component of a vehicle, a server computer, a robotics device, and/or other device used by a user to communicate over a wireless communications network. In some cases, the device 407 can be referred to as user equipment (UE), such as when referring to a device configured to communicate using 5G/NR, 4G/LTE, or other telecommunication standard. In some cases, the device can be referred to as a station (STA), such as when referring to a device configured to communicate using the Wi-Fi standard.

The computing system 470 includes software and hardware components that can be electrically or communicatively coupled via a bus 489 (or may otherwise be in communication, as appropriate). For example, the computing system 470 includes one or more processors 484. The one or more processors 484 can include one or more CPUs, ASICS, FPGAs, APs, GPUs, VPUs, NSPs, microcontrollers, dedicated hardware, any combination thereof, and/or other processing device/s and/or system/s. The bus 489 can be used by the one or more processors 484 to communicate between cores and/or with the one or more memory devices 486.

The computing system 470 may also include one or more memory devices 486, one or more digital signal processors (DSPs) 482, one or more subscriber identity modules (SIMs) 474, one or more modems 476, one or more wireless transceivers 478, one or more antennas 487, one or more input devices 472 (e.g., a camera, a mouse, a keyboard, a touch sensitive screen, a touch pad, a keypad, a microphone or a microphone array, and/or the like), and one or more output devices 480 (e.g., a display, a speaker, a printer, and/or the like).

The one or more wireless transceivers 478 can receive wireless signals (e.g., signal 488) via antenna 487 from one or more other devices, such as other user devices, network devices (e.g., base stations such as evolved Node Bs (eNBs) and/or gNodeBs (gNBs), WiFi access points (APs) such as routers, range extenders or the like, etc.), cloud networks, and/or the like. In some examples, the computing system 470 can include multiple antennas or an antenna array that can facilitate simultaneous transmit and receive functionality. Antenna 487 can be an omnidirectional antenna such that RF signals can be received from and transmitted in all directions. The wireless signal 488 may be transmitted via a wireless network. The wireless network may be any wireless network, such as a cellular or telecommunications network (e.g., 3G, 4G, 5G, etc.), wireless local area network (e.g., a WiFi network), a Bluetooth™ network, and/or other network. In some examples, the one or more wireless transceivers 478 may include an RF front end including one or more components, such as an amplifier, a mixer (also referred to as a signal multiplier) for signal down conversion, a frequency synthesizer (also referred to as an oscillator) that provides signals to the mixer, a baseband filter, an analog-to-digital converter (ADC), one or more power amplifiers, among other components. The RF front-end can generally handle selection and conversion of the wireless signals 488 into a baseband or intermediate frequency and can convert the RF signals to the digital domain.

In some cases, the computing system 470 can include a coding-decoding device (or CODEC) configured to encode and/or decode data transmitted and/or received using the one or more wireless transceivers 478. In some cases, the computing system 470 can include an encryption-decryption device or component configured to encrypt and/or decrypt data (e.g., according to the Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) and/or Data Encryption Standard (DES) standard) transmitted and/or received by the one or more wireless transceivers 478.

The one or more SIMs 474 can each securely store an international mobile subscriber identity (IMSI) number and related key assigned to the user of the electronic device 407. The IMSI and key can be used to identify and authenticate the subscriber when accessing a network provided by a network service provider or operator associated with the one or more SIMs 474. The one or more modems 476 can modulate one or more signals to encode information for transmission using the one or more wireless transceivers 478. The one or more modems 476 can also demodulate signals received by the one or more wireless transceivers 478 in order to decode the transmitted information. In some examples, the one or more modems 476 can include a WiFi modem, a 4G (or LTE) modem, a 5G (or NR) modem, and/or other types of modems. The one or more modems 476 and the one or more wireless transceivers 478 can be used for communicating data for the one or more SIMs 474.

The computing system 470 can also include (and/or be in communication with) one or more non-transitory machine-readable storage media or storage devices (e.g., one or more memory devices 486), which can include, without limitation, local and/or network accessible storage, a disk drive, a drive array, an optical storage device, a solid-state storage device such as a RAM and/or a ROM, which can be programmable, flash-updateable and/or the like. Such storage devices may be configured to implement any appropriate data storage, including without limitation, various file systems, database structures, and/or the like.

In various aspects, functions may be stored as one or more computer-program products (e.g., instructions or code) in memory device(s) 486 and executed by the one or more processor(s) 484 and/or the one or more DSPs 482. The computing system 470 can also include software elements (e.g., located within the one or more memory devices 486), including, for example, an operating system, device drivers, executable libraries, and/or other code, such as one or more application programs, which may comprise computer programs implementing the functions provided by various aspects, and/or may be designed to implement methods and/or configure systems, as described herein.

In some aspects, the electronic device 407 can include means for performing operations described herein. The means can include one or more of the components of the computing system 470. For example, the means for performing operations described herein may include one or more of input device(s) 472, SIM(s) 474, modems(s) 476, wireless transceiver(s) 478, output device(s) 480, DSP(s) 482, processors 484, memory device(s) 486, and/or antenna(s) 487.

In some aspects, the electronic device 407 can include means for providing joint communications and sensing as well as a means for prioritizing between sensing RSs and communication RSs (e.g., RRM/RLM RSs), for example, when multiplexing sensing and communication signals for joint communications and sensing. In some examples, any or all of these means can include the one or more wireless transceivers 478, the one or more modems 476, the one or more processors 484, the one or more DSPs 482, the one or more memory devices 486, any combination thereof, or other component(s) of the electronic device 407.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of a wireless device 500 utilizing RF monostatic sensing technique for determining one or more characteristics (e.g., location, speed or velocity, heading, etc.) of a target 502 object. In particular, FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of a wireless device 500 (e.g., a transmit/receive sensing node) that utilizes RF sensing techniques (e.g., monostatic sensing) to perform one or more functions, such as detecting a presence and location of a target 502 (e.g., an object, user, or vehicle), which in this figure is illustrated in the form of a vehicle.

In some examples, the wireless device 500 can be a mobile phone, a tablet computer, a wearable device, a vehicle, an extending reality (XR) device, a computing device or component of a vehicle, or other device (e.g., device 407 of FIG. 4) that includes at least one RF interface. In some examples, the wireless device 500 can be a device that provides connectivity for a user device (e.g., for electronic device 407 of FIG. 4), such as a base station (e.g., a gNB, eNB, etc.), a wireless access point (AP), or other device that includes at least one RF interface.

In some aspects, wireless device 500 can include one or more components for transmitting an RF signal. The wireless device 500 can include at least one processor 522 for generating a digital signal or waveform. The wireless device 500 can also include a digital-to-analog converter (DAC) 504 that is capable of receiving the digital signal or waveform from the processor(s) 522 (e.g., a microprocessor), and converting the digital signal or waveform to an analog waveform. The analog signal that is the output of the DAC 504 can be provided to RF transmitter 506 for transmission. The RF transmitter 506 can be a Wi-Fi transmitter, a 5G/NR transmitter, a Bluetooth™ transmitter, or any other transmitter capable of transmitting an RF signal.

RF transmitter 506 can be coupled to one or more transmitting antennas such as Tx antenna 512. In some examples, transmit (Tx) antenna 512 can be an omnidirectional antenna that is capable of transmitting an RF signal in all directions. For example, Tx antenna 512 can be an omnidirectional Wi-Fi antenna that can radiate Wi-Fi signals (e.g., 2.4 GHz, 5 GHZ, 6 GHZ, etc.) in a 360-degree radiation pattern. In another example, Tx antenna 512 can be a directional antenna that transmits an RF signal in a particular direction.

In some examples, wireless device 500 can also include one or more components for receiving an RF signal. For example, the receiver lineup in wireless device 500 can include one or more receiving antennas such as a receive (Rx) antenna 514. In some examples, Rx antenna 514 can be an omnidirectional antenna capable of receiving RF signals from multiple directions. In other examples, Rx antenna 514 can be a directional antenna that is configured to receive signals from a particular direction. In further examples, the Tx antenna 512 and/or the Rx antenna 514 can include multiple antennas (e.g., elements) configured as an antenna array (e.g., a phase antenna array).

Wireless device 500 can also include an RF receiver 510 that is coupled to Rx antenna 514. RF receiver 510 can include one or more hardware components for receiving an RF waveform such as a Wi-Fi signal, a Bluetooth™ signal, a 5G/NR signal, or any other RF signal. The output of RF receiver 510 can be coupled to an analog-to-digital converter (ADC) 508. ADC 508 can be configured to convert the received analog RF waveform into a digital waveform. The digital waveform that is the output of the ADC 508 can be provided to the processor(s) 522 for processing. The processor(s) 522 (e.g., a digital signal processor (DSP)) can be configured for processing the digital waveform.

In one example, wireless device 500 can implement RF sensing techniques, for example monostatic sensing techniques, by causing a Tx waveform 516 to be transmitted from Tx antenna 512. Although Tx waveform 516 is illustrated as a single line, in some cases, Tx waveform 516 can be transmitted in all directions by an omnidirectional Tx antenna 512. In one example, Tx waveform 516 can be a Wi-Fi waveform that is transmitted by a Wi-Fi transmitter in wireless device 500. In some cases, Tx waveform 516 can correspond to a Wi-Fi waveform that is transmitted at or near the same time as a Wi-Fi data communication signal or a Wi-Fi control function signal (e.g., a beacon transmission). In some examples, Tx waveform 516 can be transmitted using the same or a similar frequency resource as a Wi-Fi data communication signal or a Wi-Fi control function signal (e.g., a beacon transmission). In some aspects, Tx waveform 516 can correspond to a Wi-Fi waveform that is transmitted separately from a Wi-Fi data communication signal and/or a Wi-Fi control signal (e.g., Tx waveform 516 can be transmitted at different times and/or using a different frequency resource).

In some examples, Tx waveform 516 can correspond to a 5G NR waveform that is transmitted at or near the same time as a 5G NR data communication signal or a 5G NR control function signal. In some examples, Tx waveform 516 can be transmitted using the same or a similar frequency resource as a 5G NR data communication signal or a 5G NR control function signal. In some aspects, Tx waveform 516 can correspond to a 5G NR waveform that is transmitted separately from a 5G NR data communication signal and/or a 5G NR control signal (e.g., Tx waveform 516 can be transmitted at different times and/or using a different frequency resource).

In some aspects, one or more parameters associated with Tx waveform 516 can be modified that may be used to increase or decrease RF sensing resolution. The parameters may include frequency, bandwidth, number of spatial streams, the number of antennas configured to transmit Tx waveform 516, the number of antennas configured to receive a reflected RF signal (e.g., Rx waveform 518) corresponding to Tx waveform 516, the number of spatial links (e.g., number of spatial streams multiplied by number of antennas configured to receive an RF signal), the sampling rate, or any combination thereof. The transmitted waveform (e.g., Tx waveform 516) and the received waveform (e.g., Rx waveform 518) can include one or more RF sensing signals, which are also referred to as radar reference signals (RSs).

In further examples, Tx waveform 516 can be implemented to have a sequence that has perfect or almost perfect autocorrelation properties. For instance, Tx waveform 516 can include single carrier Zadoff sequences or can include symbols that are similar to orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) Long Training Field (LTF) symbols. In some cases, Tx waveform 516 can include a chirp signal, as used, for example, in a Frequency-Modulated Continuous-Wave (FM-CW) radar system. In some configurations, the chirp signal can include a signal in which the signal frequency increases and/or decreases periodically in a linear and/or an exponential manner.

In some aspects, wireless device 500 can implement RF sensing techniques by performing alternating transmit and receive functions (e.g., performing a half-duplex operation). For example, wireless device 500 can alternately enable its RF transmitter 506 to transmit the Tx waveform 516 when the RF receiver 510 is not enabled to receive (i.e. not receiving), and enable its RF receiver 510 to receive the Rx waveform 518 when the RF transmitter 506 is not enabled to transmit (i.e. not transmitting). When the wireless device 500 is performing a half-duplex operation, the wireless device 500 may transmit Tx waveform 516, which may be a radar RS (e.g., sensing signal).

In other aspects, wireless device 500 can implement RF sensing techniques by performing concurrent transmit and receive functions (e.g., performing a sub-band or full-band full-duplex operation). For example, wireless device 500 can enable its RF receiver 510 to receive at or near the same time as it enables RF transmitter 506 to transmit Tx waveform 516. When the wireless device 500 is performing a full-duplex operation (e.g., either sub-band full-duplex or full-band full-duplex), the wireless device 500 may transmit Tx waveform 516, which may be a radar RS (e.g., sensing signal).

In some examples, transmission of a sequence or pattern that is included in Tx waveform 516 can be repeated continuously such that the sequence is transmitted a certain number of times or for a certain duration of time. In some examples, repeating a pattern in the transmission of Tx waveform 516 can be used to avoid missing the reception of any reflected signals if RF receiver 510 is enabled after RF transmitter 506. In one example implementation, Tx waveform 516 can include a sequence having a sequence length L that is transmitted two or more times, which can allow RF receiver 510 to be enabled at a time less than or equal to L in order to receive reflections corresponding to the entire sequence without missing any information.

By implementing alternating or simultaneous transmit and receive functionality (e.g. half-duplex or full-duplex operation), wireless device 500 can receive signals that correspond to Tx waveform 516. For example, wireless device 500 can receive signals that are reflected from objects or people that are within range of Tx waveform 516, such as Rx waveform 518 reflected from target 502. Wireless device 500 can also receive leakage signals (e.g., Tx leakage signal 520) that are coupled directly from Tx antenna 512 to Rx antenna 514 without reflecting from any objects. For example, leakage signals can include signals that are transferred from a transmitter antenna (e.g., Tx antenna 512) on a wireless device to a receive antenna (e.g., Rx antenna 514) on the wireless device without reflecting from any objects. In some cases, Rx waveform 518 can include multiple sequences that correspond to multiple copies of a sequence that are included in Tx waveform 516. In some examples, wireless device 500 can combine the multiple sequences that are received by RF receiver 510 to improve the signal to noise ratio (SNR).

Wireless device 500 can further implement RF sensing techniques by obtaining RF sensing data associated with each of the received signals corresponding to Tx waveform 516. In some examples, the RF sensing data can include channel state information (CSI) data relating to the direct paths (e.g., leakage signal 520) of Tx waveform 516 together with data relating to the reflected paths (e.g., Rx waveform 518) that correspond to Tx waveform 516.

In some aspects, RF sensing data (e.g., CSI data) can include information that can be used to determine the manner in which an RF signal (e.g., Tx waveform 516) propagates from RF transmitter 506 to RF receiver 510. RF sensing data can include data that corresponds to the effects on the transmitted RF signal due to scattering, fading, and/or power decay with distance, or any combination thereof. In some examples, RF sensing data can include imaginary data and real data (e.g., I/Q components) corresponding to each tone in the frequency domain over a particular bandwidth.

In some examples, RF sensing data can be used by the processor(s) 522 to calculate distances and angles of arrival that correspond to reflected waveforms, such as Rx waveform 518. In further examples, RF sensing data can also be used to detect motion, determine location, detect changes in location or motion patterns, or any combination thereof. In some cases, the distance and angle of arrival of the reflected signals can be used to identify the size, position, movement, and/or orientation of targets (e.g., target 502) in the surrounding environment in order to detect target presence/proximity.

The processor(s) 522 of the wireless device 500 can calculate distances and angles of arrival corresponding to reflected waveforms (e.g., the distance and angle of arrival corresponding to Rx waveform 518) by utilizing signal processing, machine learning algorithms, any other suitable technique, or any combination thereof. In other examples, wireless device 500 can transmit or send the RF sensing data to at least one processor of another computing device, such as a server or base station, that can perform the calculations to obtain the distance and angle of arrival corresponding to Rx waveform 518 or other reflected waveforms.

In one example, the distance of Rx waveform 518 can be calculated by measuring the difference in time from reception of the leakage signal to the reception of the reflected signals. For example, wireless device 500 can determine a baseline distance of zero that is based on the difference from the time the wireless device 500 transmits Tx waveform 516 to the time it receives leakage signal 520 (e.g., propagation delay). The processor(s) 522 of the wireless device 500 can then determine a distance associated with Rx waveform 518 based on the difference from the time the wireless device 500 transmits Tx waveform 516 to the time it receives Rx waveform 518 (e.g., time of flight, which is also referred to as round trip time (RTT)), which can then be adjusted according to the propagation delay associated with leakage signal 520. In doing so, the processor(s) 522 of the wireless device 500 can determine the distance traveled by Rx waveform 518 which can be used to determine the presence and movement of a target (e.g., target 502) that caused the reflection.

In further examples, the angle of arrival of Rx waveform 518 can be calculated by the processor(s) 522 by measuring the time difference of arrival of Rx waveform 518 between individual elements of a receive antenna array, such as antenna 514. In some examples, the time difference of arrival can be calculated by measuring the difference in received phase at each element in the receive antenna array.

In some cases, the distance and the angle of arrival of Rx waveform 518 can be used by processor(s) 522 to determine the distance between wireless device 500 and target 502 as well as the position of the target 502 relative to the wireless device 500. The distance and the angle of arrival of Rx waveform 518 can also be used to determine presence, movement, proximity, identity, or any combination thereof, of target 502. For example, the processor(s) 522 of the wireless device 500 can utilize the calculated distance and angle of arrival corresponding to Rx waveform 518 to determine that the target 502 is moving towards wireless device 500.

As noted above, wireless device 500 can include mobile devices (e.g., IoT devices, smartphones, laptops, tablets, etc.) or other types of devices. In some examples, wireless device 500 can be configured to obtain device location data and device orientation data together with the RF sensing data. In some instances, device location data and device orientation data can be used to determine or adjust the distance and angle of arrival of a reflected signal such as Rx waveform 518. For example, wireless device 500 may be set on the ground facing the sky as a target 502 (e.g., a vehicle) moves towards it during the RF sensing process. In this instance, wireless device 500 can use its location data and orientation data together with the RF sensing data to determine the direction that the target 502 is moving.

In some examples, device position data can be gathered by wireless device 500 using techniques that include RTT measurements, time of arrival (TOA) measurements, time difference of arrival (TDOA) measurements, passive positioning measurements, angle of arrival (AOA) measurements, angle of departure (AoD) measurements, received signal strength indicator (RSSI) measurements, CSI data, using any other suitable technique, or any combination thereof. In further examples, device orientation data can be obtained from electronic sensors on the wireless device 500, such as a gyroscope, an accelerometer, a compass, a magnetometer, a barometer, any other suitable sensor, or any combination thereof.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of a receiver 604 utilizing RF bistatic sensing techniques with one transmitter 600 for determining one or more characteristics (e.g., location, speed or velocity, heading, etc.) of a target 602 object. For example, the receiver 604 can use the RF bistatic sensing to detect a presence and location of a target 602 (e.g., an object, user, or vehicle), which is illustrated in the form of a vehicle in FIG. 6. In one example, the receiver 604 may be in the form of a base station, such as a gNB.

The bistatic radar system of FIG. 6 includes a transmitter 600 (e.g., a transmit sensing node), which in this figure is depicted to be in the form of a base station (e.g., gNB), and a receiver 604 (e.g., a receive sensing node) that are separated by a distance comparable to the expected target distance. As compared to the monostatic system of FIG. 5, the transmitter 600 and the receiver 604 of the bistatic radar system of FIG. 6 are located remote from one another. Conversely, monostatic radar is a radar system (e.g., the system of FIG. 5) comprising a transmitter (e.g., the RF transmitter 506 of wireless device 500 of FIG. 5) and a receiver (e.g., the RF receiver 510 of wireless device 500 of FIG. 5) that are co-located with one another.

An advantage of bistatic radar (or more generally, multistatic radar, which has more than one receiver) over monostatic radar is the ability to collect radar returns reflected from a scene at angles different than that of a transmitted pulse. This can be of interest to some applications (e.g., vehicle applications, scenes with multiple objects, military applications, etc.) where targets may reflect the transmitted energy in many directions (e.g., where targets are specifically designed to reflect in many directions), which can minimize the energy that is reflected back to the transmitter. It should be noted that, in one or more examples, a monostatic system can coexist with a multistatic radar system, such as when the transmitter also has a co-located receiver.

In some examples, the transmitter 600 and/or the receiver 604 of FIG. 6 can be a mobile phone, a tablet computer, a wearable device, a vehicle, or other device (e.g., device 407 of FIG. 4) that includes at least one RF interface. In some examples, the transmitter 600 and/or the receiver 604 can be a device that provides connectivity for a user device (e.g., for IoT device 407 of FIG. 4), such as a base station (e.g., a gNB, eNB, etc.), a wireless access point (AP), or other device that includes at least one RF interface.

In some aspects, transmitter 600 can include one or more components for transmitting an RF signal. The transmitter 600 can include at least one processor (e.g., the at least one processor 522 of FIG. 5) that is capable of determining signals (e.g., determining the waveforms for the signals) to be transmitted. The transmitter 600 can also include an RF transmitter (e.g., the RF transmitter 506 of FIG. 5) for transmission of a Tx signal comprising Tx waveform 616. The RF transmitter can be a transmitter configured to transmit cellular or telecommunication signals (e.g., a transmitter configured to transmit 5G/NR signals, 4G/LTE signals, or other cellular/telecommunication signals, etc.), a Wi-Fi transmitter, a Bluetooth™ transmitter, any combination thereof, or any other transmitter capable of transmitting an RF signal.

The RF transmitter can be coupled to one or more transmitting antennas, such as a Tx antenna (e.g., the TX antenna 512 of FIG. 5). In some examples, a Tx antenna can be an omnidirectional antenna that is capable of transmitting an RF signal in all directions, or a directional antenna that transmits an RF signal in a particular direction. In some examples, the Tx antenna may include multiple antennas (e.g., elements) configured as an antenna array.

The receiver 604 can include one or more components for receiving an RF signal. For example, the receiver 604 may include one or more receiving antennas, such as an Rx antenna (e.g., the Rx antenna 514 of FIG. 5). In some examples, an Rx antenna can be an omnidirectional antenna capable of receiving RF signals from multiple directions, or a directional antenna that is configured to receive signals from a particular direction. In further examples, the Rx antenna can include multiple antennas (e.g., elements) configured as an antenna array.

The receiver 604 may also include an RF receiver (e.g., RF receiver 510 of FIG. 5) coupled to the Rx antenna. The RF receiver may include one or more hardware components for receiving an RF waveform such as a Wi-Fi signal, a Bluetooth™ signal, a 5G/NR signal, or any other RF signal. The output of the RF receiver can be coupled to at least one processor (e.g., the at least one processor 522 of FIG. 5). The processor(s) may be configured to process a received waveform (e.g., Rx waveform 618).

In one or more examples, transmitter 600 can implement RF sensing techniques, for example bistatic sensing techniques, by causing a Tx waveform 616 to be transmitted from a Tx antenna. It should be noted that although the Tx waveform 616 is illustrated as a single line, in some cases, the Tx waveform 616 can be transmitted in all directions by an omnidirectional Tx antenna.

In one or more aspects, one or more parameters associated with the Tx waveform 616 may be used to increase or decrease RF sensing resolution. The parameters may include frequency, bandwidth, number of spatial streams, the number of antennas configured to transmit Tx waveform 616, the number of antennas configured to receive a reflected RF signal (e.g., Rx waveform 618) corresponding to the Tx waveform 616, the number of spatial links (e.g., number of spatial streams multiplied by number of antennas configured to receive an RF signal), the sampling rate, or any combination thereof. The transmitted waveform (e.g., Tx waveform 616) and the received waveform (e.g., the Rx waveform 618) can include one or more radar RF sensing signals (also referred to as RF sensing RSs).

During operation, the receiver 604 (e.g., which operates as a receive sensing node) can receive signals that correspond to Tx waveform 616, which is transmitted by the transmitter 600 (e.g., which operates as a transmit sensing node). For example, the receiver 604 can receive signals that are reflected from objects or people that are within range of the Tx waveform 616, such as Rx waveform 618 reflected from target 602. In some cases, the Rx waveform 618 can include multiple sequences that correspond to multiple copies of a sequence that are included in the Tx waveform 616. In some examples, the receiver 604 may combine the multiple sequences that are received to improve the SNR.

In some examples, RF sensing data can be used by at least one processor within the receiver 604 to calculate distances, angles of arrival, or other characteristics that correspond to reflected waveforms, such as the Rx waveform 618. In other examples, RF sensing data can also be used to detect motion, determine location, detect changes in location or motion patterns, or any combination thereof. In some cases, the distance and angle of arrival of the reflected signals can be used to identify the size, position, movement, and/or orientation of targets (e.g., target 602) in the surrounding environment in order to detect target presence/proximity.

The processor(s) of the receiver 604 can calculate distances and angles of arrival corresponding to reflected waveforms (e.g., the distance and angle of arrival corresponding to the Rx waveform 618) by using signal processing, machine learning algorithms, any other suitable technique, or any combination thereof. In other examples, the receiver 604 can transmit or send the RF sensing data to at least one processor of another computing device, such as a server, that can perform the calculations to obtain the distance and angle of arrival corresponding to the Rx waveform 618 or other reflected waveforms.

In one or more examples, the angle of arrival of the Rx waveform 618 can be calculated by a processor(s) of the receiver 604 by measuring the time difference of arrival of the Rx waveform 618 between individual elements of a receive antenna array of the receiver 604. In some examples, the time difference of arrival can be calculated by measuring the difference in received phase at each element in the receive antenna array.

In some cases, the distance and the angle of arrival of the Rx waveform 618 can be used by the processor(s) of the receiver 604 to determine the distance between the receiver 604 and the target 602 as well as the position of target 602 relative to the receiver 604. The distance and the angle of arrival of the Rx waveform 618 can also be used to determine presence, movement, proximity, identity, or any combination thereof, of the target 602. For example, the processor(s) of the receiver 604 may use the calculated distance and angle of arrival corresponding to the Rx waveform 618 to determine that the target 602 is moving towards the receiver 604.

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an example of a receiver 704, in the form of a smart phone, utilizing RF bistatic sensing techniques with multiple transmitters (including a transmitter 700a, a transmitter 700b, and a transmitter 700c), which may be employed to determine one or more characteristics (e.g., location, velocity or speed, heading, etc.) of a target 702 object. For example, the receiver 704 may use RF bistatic sensing to detect a presence and location of a target 702 (e.g., an object, user, or vehicle). The target 702 is depicted in FIG. 7 in the form of an object that does not have communications capabilities (which can be referred to as a device-free object), such as a person, a vehicle (e.g., a vehicle without the ability to transmit and receive messages, such as using C-V2X or DSRC protocols), or other device-free object. The bistatic radar system of FIG. 7 is similar to the bistatic radar system of FIG. 6, except that the bistatic radar system of FIG. 7 has multiple transmitters 700a, 700b, 700c, while the bistatic radar system of FIG. 6 has only one transmitter 600.

The bistatic radar system of FIG. 7 includes multiple transmitters 700a, 700b, 700c (e.g., transmit sensing nodes), which are illustrated to be in the form of base stations. The bistatic radar system of FIG. 7 also includes a receiver 704 (e.g., a receive sensing node), which is depicted in the form of a smart phone. The each of the transmitters 700a, 700b, 700c is separated from the receiver 704 by a distance comparable to the expected distance from the target 702. Similar to the bistatic system of FIG. 6, the transmitters 700a, 700b, 700c and the receiver 704 of the bistatic radar system of FIG. 7 are located remote from one another.

In one or more examples, the transmitters 700a, 700b, 700c and/or the receiver 704 may each be a mobile phone, a tablet computer, a wearable device, a vehicle (e.g., a vehicle configured to transmit and receive communications according to C-V2X, DSRC, or other communication protocol), or other device (e.g., device 407 of FIG. 4) that includes at least one RF interface. In some examples, the transmitters 700a, 700b, 700c and/or the receiver 704 may each be a device that provides connectivity for a user device (e.g., for IoT device 407 of FIG. 4), such as a base station (e.g., a gNB, eNB, etc.), a wireless access point (AP), or other device that includes at least one RF interface.

The transmitters 700a, 700b, 700c may include one or more components for transmitting an RF signal. Each of the transmitters 700a, 700b, 700c may include at least one processor (e.g., the processor(s) 522 of FIG. 5) that is capable of determining signals (e.g., determining the waveforms for the signals) to be transmitted. Each of the transmitters 700a, 700b, 700c can also include an RF transmitter (e.g., the RF transmitter 506 of FIG. 5) for transmission of Tx signals comprising Tx waveforms 716a, 716b, 716c, 720a, 720b, 720c. In one or more examples, Tx waveforms 716a, 716b, 716c are RF sensing signals, and Tx waveforms 720a, 720b, 720c are communications signals. In one or more examples, the Tx waveforms 720a, 720b, 720c are communications signals that may be used for scheduling transmitters (e.g., transmitters 700a, 700b, 700c) and receivers (e.g., receiver 704) for performing RF sensing of a target (e.g., target 702) to obtain location information regarding the target. The RF transmitter can be a transmitter configured to transmit cellular or telecommunication signals (e.g., a transmitter configured to transmit 5G/NR signals, 4G/LTE signals, or other cellular/telecommunication signals, etc.), a Wi-Fi transmitter, a Bluetooth™ transmitter, any combination thereof, or any other transmitter capable of transmitting an RF signal.

The RF transmitter may be coupled to one or more transmitting antennas, such as a Tx antenna (e.g., the TX antenna 512 of FIG. 5). In one or more examples, a Tx antenna can be an omnidirectional antenna that is capable of transmitting an RF signal in all directions, or a directional antenna that transmits an RF signal in a particular direction. The Tx antenna may include multiple antennas (e.g., elements) configured as an antenna array.

The receiver 704 of FIG. 7 may include one or more components for receiving an RF signal. For example, the receiver 704 can include one or more receiving antennas, such as an Rx antenna (e.g., the Rx antenna 514 of FIG. 5). In one or more examples, an Rx antenna can be an omnidirectional antenna capable of receiving RF signals from multiple directions, or a directional antenna that is configured to receive signals from a particular direction. In some examples, the Rx antenna may include multiple antennas (e.g., elements) configured as an antenna array (e.g., a phase antenna array).

The receiver 704 can also include an RF receiver (e.g., RF receiver 510 of FIG. 5) coupled to the Rx antenna. The RF receiver may include one or more hardware components for receiving an RF waveform such as a Wi-Fi signal, a Bluetooth™ signal, a 5G/NR signal, or any other RF signal. The output of the RF receiver can be coupled to at least one processor (e.g., the processor(s) 522 of FIG. 5). The processor(s) may be configured to process a received waveform (e.g., Rx waveform 718, which is a reflection (echo) RF sensing signal).

In some examples, the transmitters 700a, 700b, 700c can implement RF sensing techniques, for example bistatic sensing techniques, by causing Tx waveforms 716a, 716b, 716c (e.g., radar sensing signals) to be transmitted from a Tx antenna associated with each of the transmitters 700a, 700b, 700c. Although the Tx waveforms 716a, 716b, 716c are illustrated as single lines, in some cases, the Tx waveforms 716a, 716b, 716c may be transmitted in all directions (e.g., by an omnidirectional Tx antenna associated with each of the transmitters 700a, 700b, 700c).

In one or more aspects, one or more parameters associated with the Tx waveforms 716a, 716b, 716c may be used to increase or decrease RF sensing resolution. The parameters can include, but are not limited to, frequency, bandwidth, number of spatial streams, the number of antennas configured to transmit Tx waveforms 716a, 716b, 716c, the number of antennas configured to receive a reflected (echo) RF signal (e.g., Rx waveform 718) corresponding to each of the Tx waveforms 716a, 716b, 716c, the number of spatial links (e.g., number of spatial streams multiplied by number of antennas configured to receive an RF signal), the sampling rate, or any combination thereof. The transmitted waveforms (e.g., Tx waveforms 716a, 716b, 716c) and the received waveforms (e.g., the Rx waveform 718) may include one or more radar RF sensing signals (also referred to as RF sensing RSs). It should be noted that although only one reflected sensing signal (e.g., Rx waveform 718) is shown in FIG. 7, it is understood that a separate reflection (echo) sensing signal will be generated by each sensing signal (e.g., Tx waveforms 716a, 716b, 716c) reflecting off of the target 702.

During operation of the system of FIG. 7, the receiver 704 (e.g., which operates as a receive sensing node) can receive signals that correspond to Tx waveforms 716a, 716b, 716c, which are transmitted by the transmitters 700a, 700b, 700c (e.g., which each operate as a transmit sensing node). The receiver 704 can receive signals that are reflected from objects or people that are within range of the Tx waveforms 716a, 716b, 716c, such as Rx waveform 718 reflected from the target 702. In one or more examples, the Rx waveform 718 may include multiple sequences that correspond to multiple copies of a sequence that are included in its corresponding Tx waveform 716a, 716b, 716c. In some examples, the receiver 704 may combine the multiple sequences that are received to improve the SNR.

In some examples, RF sensing data can be used by at least one processor within the receiver 704 to calculate distances, angles of arrival (AOA), TDOA, angle of departure (AoD), or other characteristics that correspond to reflected waveforms (e.g., Rx waveform 718). In further examples, RF sensing data can also be used to detect motion, determine location, detect changes in location or motion patterns, or any combination thereof. In one or more examples, the distance and angle of arrival of the reflected signals can be used to identify the size, position, movement, and/or orientation of targets (e.g., target 702) in order to detect target presence/proximity.

The processor(s) of the receiver 704 can calculate distances and angles of arrival corresponding to reflected waveforms (e.g., the distance and angle of arrival corresponding to the Rx waveform 718) by using signal processing, machine learning algorithms, any other suitable technique, or any combination thereof. In one or more examples, the receiver 704 can transmit or send the RF sensing data to at least one processor of another computing device, such as a server, that can perform the calculations to obtain the distance and angle of arrival corresponding to the Rx waveform 718 or other reflected waveforms (not shown).

In one or more examples, a processor(s) of the receiver 704 can calculate the angle of arrival (AOA) of the Rx waveform 718 by measuring the TDOA of the Rx waveform 718 between individual elements of a receive antenna array of the receiver 704. In some examples, the TDOA can be calculated by measuring the difference in received phase at each element in the receive antenna array. In one illustrative example, to determine TDOA, the processor(s) can determine the difference time of arrival of the Rx waveform 718 to the receive antenna array elements, using one of them as a reference. The time difference is proportional to distance differences.

In some cases, the processor(s) of the receiver 704 can use the distance, the AOA, the TDOA, other measured information (e.g., AoD, etc.), any combination thereof, of the Rx waveform 718 to determine the distance between the receiver 704 and the target 702, and determine the position of target 702 relative to the receiver 704. In one example, the processor(s) can apply a multilateration or other location-based algorithm using the distance, AOA, and/or TDOA information as input to determine a position (e.g., 3D position) of the target 702. In other examples, the processor(s) can use the distance, the AOA, and/or the TDOA of the Rx waveform 718 to determine a presence, movement (e.g., velocity or speed, heading or direction or movement, etc.), proximity, identity, any combination thereof, or other characteristic of the target 702. For instance, the processor(s) of the receiver 704 may use the distance, the AOA, and/or the TDOA corresponding to the Rx waveform 718 to determine that the target is moving towards the receiver 704.

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating geometry for bistatic (or monostatic) sensing. FIG. 8 shows a bistatic radar North-reference coordinate system in two-dimensions. In particular, FIG. 8 shows a coordinate system and parameters defining bistatic radar operation in a plane (referred to as a bistatic plane) containing a transmitter 800, a receiver 804, and a target 802. A bistatic triangle lies in the bistatic plane. The transmitter 800, the target 802, and the receiver 804 are shown in relation to one another. The transmitter 800 and the receiver 804 are separated by a baseline distance L. The extended baseline is defined as continuing the baseline distance L beyond either the transmitter 800 or the receiver 804. The target 802 and the transmitter 800 are separated by a distance RT, and the target 802 and the receiver 804 are separated by a distance RR.

Angles θT and θR are, respectively, the transmitter 800 and receiver 804 look angles, which are taken as positive when measured clockwise from North (N). The angles θT and θR are also referred to as angles of arrival (AOA) or lines of sight (LOS). A bistatic angle (B) is the angle subtended between the transmitter 800, the target 802, and the receiver 804 in the radar. In particular, the bistatic angle is the angle between the transmitter 800 and the receiver 804 with the vertex located at the target 802. The bistatic angle is equal to the transmitter 800 look angle minus the receiver 804 look angle θR (e.g., β=θT−θR).

When the bistatic angle is exactly zero (0), the radar is considered to be a monostatic radar; when the bistatic angle is close to zero, the radar is considered to be pseudo-monostatic; and when the bistatic angle is close to 180 degrees, the radar is considered to be a forward scatter radar. Otherwise, the radar is simply considered to be, and referred to as, a bistatic radar. The bistatic angle (β) can be used in determining the radar cross section of the target.

FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating an example of a bistatic range 910 of bistatic sensing. In this figure, a transmitter (Tx) 900, a target 902, and a receiver (Rx) 904 of a radar are shown in relation to one another. The transmitter 900 and the receiver 904 are separated by a baseline distance L, the target 902 and the transmitter 900 are separated by a distance Rtx, and the target 902 and the receiver 904 are separated by a distance Rrx.

Bistatic range 910 (shown as an ellipse) refers to the measurement range made by radar with a separate transmitter 900 and receiver 904 (e.g., the transmitter 900 and the receiver 904 are located remote from one another). The receiver 904 measures the time of arrival from when the signal is transmitted by the transmitter 900 to when the signal is received by the receiver 904 from the transmitter 900 via the target 902. The bistatic range 910 defines an ellipse of constant bistatic range, referred to an iso-range contour, on which the target 902 lies, with foci centered on the transmitter 900 and the receiver 904. If the target 902 is at range Rrx from the receiver 904 and range Rtx from the transmitter 900, and the receiver 904 and the transmitter 900 are located a distance L apart from one another, then the bistatic range is equal to Rrx+Rtx−L. It should be noted that motion of the target 902 causes a rate of change of bistatic range, which results in bistatic Doppler shift.

Generally, constant bistatic range points draw an ellipsoid, with the transmitter 900 and the receiver 904 positions as the focal points. The bistatic iso-range contours are where the ground slices the ellipsoid. When the ground is flat, this intercept forms an ellipse (e.g., bistatic range 910). Note that except when the two platforms have equal altitude, these ellipses are not centered on a specular point.

As previously noted, systems and techniques are described herein that apply solutions associated with multiplexed sensing and communication signals provided for joint communications and sensing (e.g., monostatic sensing, bistatic sensing, and/or multi-static sensing). FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of a system 1000 for applying solutions (e.g., methods or rules) for prioritization between sensing RSs and communication RSs (e.g., RRM/RLM RSs). In FIG. 10, the system 1000 is shown to include a network device 1010 in the form of a UE. The network device 1010 (e.g., UE) can operate as a radar Rx for sensing purposes. Also shown is a network device 1020 in the form of a base station (e.g., gNB or a portion of a gNB, such as a CU, DU, RU, Near-RT RIC, Non-RT RIC, etc.). The network device 1020 (e.g., gNB) can operate as a radar Tx for sensing purposes. The system 1000 also includes a plurality of network entities 1040, 1050, where network entity 1040 is in the form of a radar server and network entity 1050 is in the form of a location server.

The system 1000 may include more or less network devices and/or more or less network entities, than as shown in FIG. 10. In addition, the system 1000 may include different types of network devices (e.g., vehicles) and/or different types of network entities (e.g., network servers) than as shown in FIG. 10. Also, a UE may be employed as the radar Tx instead of a base station (e.g., gNB) as is shown in FIG. 10. In addition, in one or more examples, the network device 1010 (e.g., UE) may be equipped with heterogeneous capability, which may include, but is not limited to, 4G/5G cellular connectivity, GPS capability, camera capability, radar capability, and/or LIDAR capability. The network devices 1010, 1020 and network entities 1040, 1050 may be capable of performing wireless communications with each other via communications signals (e.g., signals 1070a, 1070b, 1070c, 1070d).

In one or more examples, the network devices 1010, 1020 may be capable of transmitting and receiving sensing signals of some kind (e.g., camera, RF sensing signals, optical sensing signals, etc.). In some cases, the network devices 1010, 1020 may transmit and receive sensing signals (e.g., RF sensing signals 1060a, 1060b) for using one or more sensors to detect nearby targets (e.g., target 1030, which is in the form of a vehicle). In some cases, the network devices 1010, 1020 can detect nearby targets based on one or more images or frames captured using one or more cameras.

The network device 1020, which may operate as a radar Tx, may perform RF sensing (e.g., bistatic sensing or monostatic sensing) of at least one target (e.g., target 1030) to obtain RF sensing measurements (e.g., Doppler, RTT, TOA, and/or TDOA measurements) of the target(s) (e.g., target 1030). The RF sensing measurements of the target(s) (e.g., target 1030) can be used (e.g., by at least one processor(s) of at least one of the network devices 1010, 1020 and/or at least one of the network entities 1040, 1050) to determine one or more characteristics (e.g., speed, location, distance, movement, heading, size, and/or other characteristics) of the target(s) (e.g., target 1030).

As previously mentioned, generally, sensing involves monitoring moving targets (e.g., target 1030) with different motions (e.g., a moving car or pedestrian, a body motion of a person, such as breathing, and/or other micro-motions related to a target). Doppler, which measures the phase variation in a signal and is indicative of motion, is an important characteristic for sensing of a target (e.g., target 1030). As such, in order to obtain an accurate estimation of the motion of the target, the phase of the signal should be continuous (e.g., the signal should maintain phase continuity).

During operation of the system 1000, for example when performing bistatic sensing of a target (e.g., target 1030), a network device 1020 (e.g., base station), operating as a radar Tx, may transmit an RF sensing signal 1060a towards the target (e.g., target 1030). The RF sensing signal 1060a may be included within communication signals and sensing signals multiplexed (e.g., via time division multiplexing and/or frequency division multiplexing) together for joint communications and sensing purposes. The sensing signal 1060a can reflect off of the target (e.g., target 1030) to produce an RF reflection sensing signal 1060b, which may be reflected towards network device 1010 (e.g., UE). The network device 1010 (e.g., UE), operating as a radar Rx, can receive the reflection sensing signal 1060b. After the network device (e.g., UE) receives the reflection sensing signal 1060b, the network device (e.g., UE) can obtain measurements (e.g., Doppler, RTT, TOA, and/or TDOA measurements) of the reflection sensing signal 1060b. At least one processor (e.g., processor 1510 of FIG. 15) of at least one of the network devices 1010, 1020 and/or at least one of the network entities 1040, 1050 may then determine or compute the characteristics (e.g., speed, location, distance, movement, heading, size, etc.) of the target (e.g., target 1030) by using sensing measurements (e.g., Doppler, RTT, TOA, and/or TDOA measurements) from the received reflection sensing signal 1060b.

In one or more examples, after the network device 1010 (e.g., UE) is connected to the network, the network device 1010 (e.g., UE) can continuously monitor the radio link (e.g., signal 1070a) for communications. This process can be referred to as radio link monitoring (RLM). The network device 1010 (e.g., UE) can monitor the downlink quality based on taking measurements of a reference signal (e.g., signal 1070a) to measure the downlink radio link quality for the serving cell. The reference signal (e.g., signal 1070a) may be transmitted from the network device 1020 (e.g., a base station) to the network device 1010 (e.g., UE). The measurements of the reference signal (e.g., signal 1070a) may include, but are not limited to, reference signal received power (RSRP), reference signal received quality (RSRQ), and/or signal to interference and noise ratio (SINR).

In some examples, the network device 1010 (e.g., UE) can monitor (e.g., obtain measurements of) radio link monitoring-reference signals (RLM-RSs) as configured by the network. When the network device 1010 (e.g., UE) monitors the RLM-RSs (e.g., signal 1070a), the network device 1010 (e.g., UE) can determine whether the quality of the measured signals is good (e.g., the quality of the signal is better than acceptable for communications). A signal quality threshold can be defined that can be used by the network device 1010 (e.g., UE) to determine whether the signal quality is good (e.g., when the signal quality is above the threshold) or not good (e.g., when the signal quality is below the threshold).

The reference signals (e.g., RRM-RSs) that can be measured for RLM are different for LTE and NR. In LTE, the network device 1010 (e.g., UE) can measure cell specific reference signals (CRSs) for radio link monitoring. In NR, for radio link monitoring, the network device 1010 (e.g., UE) can measure either single sideband (SSB) signals or channel state information-reference signals (CSI-RSs), when configured.

In one or more examples, after the network device 1010 (e.g., UE) has measured the RLM-RSs (e.g., signal 1070a), the network device 1010 (e.g., UE) may generate a report based on the measurements. The network device 1010 (e.g., UE) may transmit the report to the network device 1020 (e.g., base station). The transmission of the report by the network device 1010 (e.g., UE) may be based on event triggering and/or on periodical reporting practices. After the network device 1020 (e.g., base station) receives the report, the network device 1020 (e.g., base station) may determine whether to execute cell switching (e.g., cell handover), based on the contents of the report.

As previously mentioned, due to larger bandwidths being allocated for wireless communications systems (e.g., including cellular communications systems such as 4G/LTE, 5G/NR, and beyond) and more use cases being introduced into the wireless communications systems, multiplexing (e.g., via time division multiplexing and/or frequency division multiplexing) sensing and communication signals for joint communications and sensing can be an essential feature for existing or future wireless communication systems. Simultaneously performing wireless communications and radar sensing can provide for a cost-efficient deployment for both radar and communication systems.

Joint communications and radar sensing can provide for mutual performance gains. For example, sensing information, such as Doppler measurements, can be used to improve communication link quality (e.g., Sensing-assisted Communications). Also, cooperative sensing can be more feasible with wireless communication networks (e.g., Communication-assisted Sensing).

Currently, in traditional radar, system integration of communications and radar sensing is without joint operation. In one or more examples, sensing reference signals (S-RSs) may employ a different type of waveform than new radio (NR) reference signals (RSS). An S-RS, for example, may be in the form of a frequency modulated carrier wave (FMCW) waveform. In one or more examples, an S-RS may reuse an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) waveform.

FIG. 11 is a diagram 1100 illustrating an example of sensing signals (e.g., radar signal 1110 and sensing signal 1140) and communication signals (e.g., downlink signals 1120, 1130 and uplink signal 1150) multiplexed together using time division multiplexing (TDM) for joint communications and sensing. In particular, FIG. 11 includes a radar signal 1110, downlink (DL) signals 1120, 1130, a sensing signal 1140, and an uplink (UL) signal 1150 (e.g., time is represented along the horizontal axis). In one or mor examples, the sensing signals (e.g., radar signal 1110 and sensing signal 1140) may employ different types of waveforms than the communication signals (e.g., downlink signals 1120, 1130 and uplink signal 1150). For example, the sensing signals (e.g., radar signal 1110 and sensing signal 1140) may be in the form of FMCW waveforms, and the communication signals (e.g., downlink signals 1120, 1130 and uplink signal 1150) may be in the form of OFDM waveforms.

In one or more examples, the radar signal 1110 may be in the form of a rectangular waveform (e.g., a noncontinuous waveform). The radar signal 1110 can include a plurality of radar waveforms 1160 (e.g., pulses), each with a duration of TR, and a plurality of guard periods 1170 (e.g., each referred to as TG). For example, when a target is located approximately 30 to 300 meters (m) away from the UE (e.g., the target range is approximately 30 to 300m), the TR may be much less than 0.1 microseconds (μs) and the TG may be greater than 1.0 us. In one or more examples, the radar signal 1110 may be repeated to increase the signal to interference and noise ratio (SINR).

In one or more examples, the DL signals 1120 and/or 1130 may include physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) signals, physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) signals, and/or single sideband (SSB) signals. In some examples, one or more of the DL symbols (or slots) may be replaced with sensing signals for radar (sensing) purposes.

FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating an example of a resource block (RB) 1200 including sensing signals (e.g., radar RSs 1210) and communication signals (e.g., DL tones 1220) multiplexed together using TDM and frequency division multiplexing (FDM) for joint communications and sensing. In FIG. 12, the RB 1200 may represent at least one OFDM waveform (e.g., a continuous waveform). The RB 1200 can be arranged with the time domain on the horizontal (or x-) axis, and the frequency domain on the vertical (or y-) axis. The RB 1200 may be one slot long in time (e.g., with a slot being 1 ms in time).

In one or more examples, the RB 1200 may include twelve subcarriers (along the y-axis) and fourteen symbols (along the x-axis). As such, the RB 1200 may include a total of 168 resource elements (REs), where each RE can include either a sensing resource (e.g., a radar RS 1210) or a communications resource (e.g., a DL tone 1220).

In some examples, one or more of the communication resources (e.g., DL tones 1220) may be replaced with sensing resources (e.g., Radar RSs 1210) for radar (sensing) purposes. The RS design may take into consideration the range and/or velocity resolution as well as the ambiguity. In one or more examples, for range estimation, an inverse Fast Fourier Transform (iFFT) may be performed along the subcarrier dimension (e.g., along the y-axis) of the RB 1200. In some examples, for Doppler estimation, a Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) may be performed across multiple symbols (e.g., along the x-axis) of the RB 1200.

As previously mentioned, RF Sensing is based on channel estimation using S-RSs. Similarly, channel estimation is performed for communications using RSs (e.g., using RRM RSs and/or RLM RSs). If a network device (e.g., a UE or base station) is configured to perform an S-RS measurement (e.g., a channel estimation using S-RSs) and a communication RS measurement (e.g., an RRM/RLM RS measurement, such as a channel estimation using RRM RSs and/or RLM RSs) at the same time, the network device may not have the capability to perform both measurements simultaneously at the same time. In one or more aspects, solutions (e.g., methods or rules, such as collision handling rules) are provided that can be applied when a sensing RS collision with communication RS (e.g., RRM/RLM RS) occurs. In one or more examples, the solutions can indicate whether the network device (e.g., UE or base station) should perform an S-RS measurement or a communication RS measurement (e.g., an RRM/RLM RS measurement) at that designated time when the collision occurs. The solutions may be suitable for both single-cell sensing and multi-cell sensing scenarios. In one or more examples, the RLM RSs may be channel state information-reference signals (CSI-RSs) and/or single sideband (SSB) signals.

In one or more aspects, a sensing RS collision with communication RS (e.g., RRM/RLM RS) occurs when a network device (e.g., a UE, such as network device 1010 of FIG. 10, or a base station) is configured with an S-RS measurement and a communication RS measurement (e.g., an RRM/RLM RS measurement) at the same time (e.g., which could be overlapped or not overlapped in frequency). In such aspects, the network device may have a number of options for performance. For example, a sensing RS collision with RRM/RLM RS can occur when the network device may be configured for both sensing resources (e.g., sensing RSs) and communications resources (e.g., RRM and/or RLM RSs) at the same time (e.g., at the same symbol in an OFDM waveform) in the time domain, and when the network device may (or may not) be configured for both the sensing resources and the communications resources at the same frequency (e.g., at the same subcarrier of an OFDM waveform) in the frequency domain.

In one or more examples, a sensing RS collision with communication RS (e.g., RRM/RLM RS) can occur when communications resources (e.g., RRM and/or RLM RSs) of the serving cell (or from a neighboring cell) may be configured to occupy the same time (e.g., the same symbol in an OFDM waveform), which could be overlapped or not overlapped in frequency (e.g., the same subcarrier of the OFDM waveform), as the sensing resources (e.g., sensing RSs) configured for the serving cell. In one or more examples, when a sensing RS collision with communication RS (e.g., RRM/RLM RS) occurs, the network device (e.g., a UE, such as network device 1010 of FIG. 10, or a base station) may not perform the S-RS measurement (e.g., the network device can just perform the communication RS measurement, such as an RRM/RLM RS measurement). In some examples, when a sensing RS collision with communication RS (e.g., RRM/RLM RS) occurs, the network device (e.g., a UE, such as network device 1010 of FIG. 10, or a base station) may not perform the communication RS measurement (e.g., RRM/RLM RS measurement). For instance, the network device can perform the S-RS measurement and not perform the communication RS measurement. In one or more examples, the network device may perform the communication RS measurement or the sensing S-RS measurement based on a configuration of the network device. The network device can be configured with the configuration through one or more radio resource control (RRC) messages, a medium access control-control element (MAC-CE), and/or downlink control information (DCI).

In some examples, when a sensing RS collision with an RRM RS occurs, the network device (e.g., a UE, such as network device 1010 of FIG. 10, or a base station) may not perform RRM-RS measurements for neighboring cells, if the serving cell signal quality is acceptable (e.g., acceptable for communications). The network device can perform RRM-RS measurements for the neighboring cells, if the serving cell signal quality is not acceptable (e.g., not acceptable for communications).

For these examples, a new configured signal quality threshold (e.g., which may be referred to as a collision threshold) may be defined that can be used by the network device to determine whether the serving cell signal quality is at least acceptable (e.g., when the signal quality is above the collision threshold) or not acceptable (e.g., when the signal quality is below the collision threshold). This new configured signal quality threshold (e.g., collision threshold) may be a lower threshold value than the existing signal quality threshold for triggering a normal mobility measurement (e.g., the existing signal quality threshold discussed in the description of FIG. 10, which can be used to determine whether the signal quality is better than acceptable). In one or more examples, the measurements (e.g., measTriggerQuantity) may include, but are not limited to, RSRP, RSRQ, and/or SINR. In one or more examples, the collision threshold can be indicated to the network device through radio resource control (RRC) signaling (e.g., one or more RRC messages), the medium access control-control element (MAC-CE), and/or the downlink control information (DCI).

In one or more examples, whether the network device (e.g., a UE, such as network device 1010 of FIG. 10, or a base station) performs an S-RS measurement or a communication RS measurement (e.g., an RRM/RLM RS measurement) can depend upon sensing quality requirements. For instance, the sensing quality requirements may include a quality of service (QOS) requirement for the sensing, sensing accuracy requirements, latency requirements, any combination thereof, and/or other requirements or constraints. In one illustrative example, the network device can prioritize the sensing measurement (e.g., S-RS measurement) over the communication RS measurement (e.g., RRM/RLM RS measurement) when the sensing task has a high priority and requires a low latency.

In one or more aspects, the network device (e.g., a UE, such as network device 1010 of FIG. 10, or a base station) may be configured (e.g., through RRC signaling and/or DCI) with an RS dropping rule to follow, when a sensing RS collision with communication RS (e.g., RRM/RLM RS) occurs. The RS dropping rule may be for the network device to not perform a specific type of RS measurement (e.g., not perform the S-RS measurement or the communication RS measurement), when a sensing RS collision with communication RS (e.g., RRM/RLM RS) occurs.

In some aspects, the network device (e.g., a UE, such as network device 1010 of FIG. 10, or a base station) can follow the RS dropping rule (e.g., for the network device to not perform an S-RS measurement or a communication RS measurement such as an RRM/RLM RS measurement), when a number of different conditions occur. In one or more examples for the RS dropping rule, if a communication RS measurement (e.g., an RRM/RLM RS measurement) is preferred over an S-RS measurement, then the S-RSs at N number of symbols before each consecutive communication RS symbols to be measured and N number of data symbols after each consecutive communication RS symbols to be measured is dropped (e.g., not performed by the network device). In other examples for the RS dropping rule, if an S-RS measurement is preferred over a communication RS measurement (e.g., an RRM/RLM RS measurement), then the communication RSs (e.g., RRM/RLM RSs) at N number of symbols before each consecutive S-RS symbols to be measured and N number of data symbols after each consecutive S-RS symbols to be measured is dropped (e.g., not performed by the network device).

For these examples of the RS dropping rule, essentially a time gap (e.g., a symbol gap period), which can be located between the sensing signals and the downlink signals, is used to define the dropping conditions. The time gap provides time for RF tuning (e.g., frequency switching or waveform switching) by the network device from sensing to communications or from communications to sensing. For example, the sensing RS frequency and/or waveform (e.g., a FMCW waveform) may be different than the NR RS communications frequency and/or waveform (e.g., an OFDM waveform). The symbol duration of a time gap may be based on subcarrier spacing (SCS) of the S-RS, based on SCS of the communication RS (e.g., RRM/RLM RS SCS), or configured to the network device, such as through sensing information (SI) or via RRC signaling (e.g., one or more RRC messages).

In one or more aspects, when the network device (e.g., a UE, such as network device 1010 of FIG. 10, or a base station) is configured with an S-RS measurement (or S-RS transmission) overlapping with a configured uplink signal, such as a random access channel (RACH) occasion, in time (e.g., in the time domain), the network device may not transmit the uplink signal in the configured resources (e.g., the network device may perform the S-RS measurement or S-RS transmission). In some aspects, when the network device (e.g., a UE, such as network device 1010 of FIG. 10, or a base station) is configured with an S-RS measurement (or S-RS transmission) overlapping with a configured uplink signal (e.g., a RACH occasion) in time (e.g., in the time domain), the network device may not perform the communication RS measurement (e.g., RRM/RLM RS measurement). For example, the network device may transmit the uplink signal in the configured uplink resources. In one or more examples, whether the network device may not transmit the uplink signal in the configured resources or may not perform the communication RS measurement (e.g., RRM/RLM RS measurement) can be based on a configuration of the network device. The network device can be configured with the configuration via RRC signaling (e.g., via one or more RRC messages), MAC-CE, and/or DCI.

Radar signal (e.g., S-RS signal) repetition can allow for an improved accuracy in Doppler estimation. In one or more aspects, repeated S-RSs can be configured across multiple slots (e.g., RBs), and some of the S-RS instances (e.g., clusters of repeated S-RSs) may be overlapped with communication RSs (e.g., RRM/RLM RSs). In one or more examples, when at least one S-RS instance is overlapped with a communication RS (e.g., an RRM/RLM RS), the network device may drop (e.g., not perform) the communication RS transmission (e.g., the RRM/RLM RS transmission).

In some examples, when at least one S-RS instance is overlapped with a communication RS (e.g., an RRM/RLM RS), the network device may drop (e.g., not perform) the S-RS transmission. In one or more examples, the network device may (or may not) count the dropped S-RS transmission towards a required total number (e.g., four) of configured S-RS transmissions to be used for the sensing measurements (e.g., the network device is required to use a total of four S-RSs for the sensing measurements). When the network device does not count the dropped S-RS transmission towards the required total number (e.g., four) of configured S-RS transmissions, the network device will not have enough S-RS transmissions (e.g., the network device will only have three S-RSs) to be used for the sensing measurements and, as such, the network device will need to receive an additional S-RS transmission to meet the required total number (e.g., four) of configured S-RS transmissions to be used for the sensing measurements. In some examples, whether the network device may or may not count the dropped S-RS transmission towards the total number of configured S-RS transmissions can be configured to the network device.

The phase continuity of the signals (e.g., sensing and communications signals) should be maintained (e.g., for accurate Doppler estimation). In one or more aspects, when there is a phase jump (e.g., a phase discontinuity) across a radar RS (e.g., S-RS) transmission and other RS/channel transmission, the radar transmitter (e.g., UE or base station) may store the power amplifier (PA) state in memory (e.g., memory 1515 of FIG. 15) at the end of the radar RS transmission. The radar transmitter may subsequently restore the PA state before the beginning of the next bundled radar RS transmission. In some cases, the radar transmitter may not be capable to maintain the phase continuity. In these cases, if the sensing performed is bistatic sensing (e.g., with a separate radar transmitter and radar receiver), the network or radar transmitter may indicate the phase discontinuity to the radar receiver (e.g., UE or base station).

The previously mentioned solutions (e.g., methods or rules, such as collision handling rules) that can be followed when a sensing RS collision with communication RS (e.g., RRM/RLM RS) occurs were discussed as applied to single sensing cell scenarios. In one or more aspects, the previously mentioned solutions (e.g., methods or rules, such as collision handling rules) that can be followed when a sensing RS collision with communication RS (e.g., RRM/RLM RS) occurs can also be applied to multi-cell sensing scenarios.

In one or more aspects, in a multi-cell sensing scenario, the network device (e.g., UE) may receive multiple sensing signals (S-RSs) from multiple base stations (e.g., gNBs) located in different locations to measure (e.g., determine characteristics of) a passive target (e.g., a vehicle). In some aspects, when a subset of S-RSs collides with a subset of RRM RSs (e.g., in the time domain and/or frequency domain), in order to complete the sensing of the target, the S-RSs may be given a higher priority than the RRM RSs. FIG. 13 shows an example of multi-cell, multi-static sensing of a target.

In particular, FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating an example of a system 1300 for prioritization between sensing RSs (e.g., S-RSs) and RRM RSs, where the system 1300 is performing multi-cell, multi-static sensing of a target 1330 (e.g., a vehicle). In FIG. 13, the system 1300 is shown to include a network device 1310 in the form of a UE (e.g., a smart phone). The network device 1310 (e.g., UE) can operate as a radar Rx for sensing purposes. Also shown in FIG. 13 are network device 1320a, 1320b, 1320c, each in the form of a base stations (e.g., a gNB or a portion of a gNB, such as a CU, DU, RU, Near-RT RIC, Non-RT RIC, etc.). The network devices 1320a, 1320b, 1320c (e.g., gNBs) can each operate as a radar Tx for sensing purposes. The system 1300 may include multiple cells, where each of the network devices 1320a, 1320b, 1320c (e.g., gNBs) may be included within a respective cell.

The system 1300 may include more or less network devices, than as shown in FIG. 13. In addition, the system 1300 may include different types of network devices (e.g., vehicles), than as shown in FIG. 13. Also, a UE may be employed as the radar Tx instead of one or more of the base stations (e.g., gNBs) as is shown in FIG. 13. In addition, in one or more examples, the network device 1310 (e.g., UE) may be equipped with heterogeneous capability, which may include, but is not limited to, 4G/5G cellular connectivity, GPS capability, camera capability, radar capability, and/or LIDAR capability. The network devices 1310, 1320a, 1320b, 1320c may be capable of performing wireless communications with each other via communications signals.

In one or more examples, the network devices 1310, 1320a, 1320b, 1320c may be capable of transmitting and receiving sensing signals of some kind (e.g., camera, RF sensing signals, optical sensing signals, etc.). In some cases, the network devices 1310, 1320a, 1320b, 1320c may transmit and receive sensing signals (e.g., RF sensing signals 1340a, 1340b, 1350a, 1350b, 1360a, 1360b) for using one or more sensors to detect nearby targets (e.g., target 1330, which is in the form of a vehicle). In some cases, the network devices 1310, 1320a, 1320b, 1320c can detect nearby targets based on one or more images or frames captured using one or more cameras.

The network devices 1320a, 1320b, 1320c, which may each operate as a radar Tx, may perform RF sensing (e.g., bistatic sensing) of at least one target (e.g., target 1330) to obtain RF sensing measurements (e.g., Doppler, RTT, TOA, and/or TDOA measurements) of the target(s) (e.g., target 1330). The RF sensing measurements of the target(s) (e.g., target 1330) can be used (e.g., by at least one processor(s) of at least one of the network devices 1310, 1320a, 1320b, 1320c) to determine one or more characteristics (e.g., speed, location, distance, movement, heading, size, and/or other characteristics) of the target(s) (e.g., target 1330).

During operation of the system 1300, for example when performing multi-static sensing of a target (e.g., target 1330), network devices 1320a, 1320b, 1320c (e.g., base stations), each operating as a radar Tx, may transmit an RF sensing signal (e.g., signals 1340a, 1350a, 1360a) towards the target (e.g., target 1330). The RF sensing signals (e.g., signals 1340a, 1350a, 1360a) may be included within communication signals and sensing signals multiplexed (e.g., via time division multiplexing and/or frequency division multiplexing) together for joint communications and sensing purposes. The sensing signals (e.g., signals 1340a, 1350a, 1360a) can each reflect off of the target (e.g., target 1330) to produce an RF reflection sensing signal (e.g., signals 1340b, 1350b, 1360b), which may be reflected towards the network device 1310 (e.g., UE). The network device 1310 (e.g., UE), operating as a radar Rx, can receive the reflection sensing signals (e.g., signals 1340b, 1350b, 1360b). After the network device 1310 (e.g., UE) receives the reflection sensing signals (e.g., signals 1340b, 1350b, 1360b), the network device (e.g., UE) can obtain measurements (e.g., Doppler, RTT, TOA, and/or TDOA measurements) of the reflection sensing signals (e.g., signals 1340b, 1350b, 1360b). At least one processor (e.g., processor 1510 of FIG. 15) of the network devices 1310 may then determine or compute the characteristics (e.g., speed, location, distance, movement, heading, size, etc.) of the target (e.g., target 1330) by using sensing measurements (e.g., Doppler, RTT, TOA, and/or TDOA measurements) from the received reflection sensing signals (e.g., signals 1340b, 1350b, 1360b).

In some examples, the network device 1310 (e.g., UE) may transmit the measurements (e.g., Doppler, RTT, TOA, and/or TDOA measurements), which may be in the form of a measurement report, and/or transmit the determined characteristics (e.g., speed, location, distance, movement, heading, size, etc.) of the target (e.g., target 1330) to the network devices 1320a, 1320b, 1320c (e.g., base stations) via communication signals.

Also during operation, in one or more examples, when a subset of sensing signals (e.g., S-RSs), such as signals 1340b, 1350b, 1360b, collides with a subset of communications signals (e.g., RRM RSs) in the time domain and/or frequency domain, in order for the network device 1310 (e.g., UE) to complete the sensing of the target (e.g., target 1330), the sensing signals (e.g., S-RSs) may be given a higher priority than the communications signals (e.g., RRM RSs).

FIG. 14 is a flow chart illustrating an example of a process 1400 for wireless communications utilizing methods for prioritization between sensing RSs and communication RSs (e.g., RRM/RLM RSs). The process 1400 can be performed by a network device or by a component or system (e.g., a chipset) of the network device. The network device may be a UE (e.g., a mobile device such as a mobile phone, a network-connected wearable such as a watch, an extended reality device such as a virtual reality (VR) device or augmented reality (AR) device, a vehicle or component or system of a vehicle, or other type of UE), a base station (e.g., a gNB, an eNB, or other base station), a portion of the base station (e.g., a CU, DU, RU, or other portion of a base station having a disaggregated architecture), or other type of network device. The operations of the process 1400 may be implemented as software components that are executed and run on one or more processors (e.g., processor 1510 of FIG. 15 or other processor(s)). Further, the transmission and reception of signals by the wireless communications device in the process 1400 may be enabled, for example, by one or more antennas and/or one or more transceivers (e.g., wireless transceiver(s)).

At block 1410, the network device (or component thereof) may receive a multiplexed signal. At least a portion of a sensing signal scheduled within the multiplexed signal overlaps in time with at least a portion of a communication signal scheduled within the multiplexed signal. In some aspects, at least the portion of the sensing signal further overlaps in frequency with at least the portion of the communication signal. An illustrative example of such a multiplexed signal is described herein with respect to FIG. 11. In some cases, the sensing signal is a sensing reference signal (S-RS). In some examples, the sensing signal includes a sensing repetition across multiple slots. The communication signal may be an uplink signal, a downlink signal, a sidelink signal, or other type of signal. In some cases, the communication signal is a radio resource management reference signal (RRM RS) or a radio link monitoring (RLM) RS.

At block 1410, the network device (or component thereof) may determine whether to measure the sensing signal or the communication signal to obtain measurements for channel estimation. The network device (or component thereof) may subsequently measure the sensing signal or the communication signal based on the determination of whether to measure one of the sensing signal or the communication signal. In some aspects, the measurements may include a reference signal received power (RSRP), reference signal received quality (RSRQ), a signal to interference and noise ratio (SINR), any combination thereof, and/or other measurements.

In some aspects, the network device (or component thereof) may determine whether to measure one of the sensing signal or the communication signal based on a signal quality of a serving cell to which the apparatus is connected. For instance, in some cases, the network device (or component thereof) may measure the communication signal based on the signal quality of the serving cell being below a collision threshold and the communication signal being from at least one neighboring cell. In some aspects, the network device (or component thereof) may receive the collision threshold via a radio resource control (RRC) message, a medium access control-control element (MAC-CE), a downlink control information (DCI), any combination thereof, and/or other signaling.

In some aspects, the network device (or component thereof) may determine whether to measure one of the sensing signal or the communication signal based on one or more sensing quality requirements. In some cases, the one or more sensing quality requirements include a quality of service (QOS) requirement, an accuracy requirement, a latency requirement, any combination thereof, and/or other quality requirements.

In some examples, the network device (or component thereof) may implement a time gap between the sensing signal and communication signal for at least one of frequency switching or waveform switching between the sensing signal and the communication signal. For example, the time gap may be based on a subcarrier spacing (SCS) of the sensing signal, a SCS of the communication signal, or configured to the apparatus.

In some aspects, the network device (or component thereof) may determine whether to measure one of the sensing signal or the communication signal based on a configuration of the apparatus. In some cases, the network device (or component thereof) may receive the configuration via a radio resource control (RRC) message, a medium access control-control element (MAC-CE), downlink control information (DCI), any combination thereof, and/or other signaling.

In some cases, the network device (or component thereof) may measure the communication signal, and may count or not count the sensing signal towards a required number of sensing signals for the channel estimation. As described herein, in some examples, whether the network device may or may not count the sensing signal towards the total number of configured sensing signals (e.g., S-RS transmissions) can be configured to the network device (e.g., based on configuration information received from another network device, such as a base station or portion of the base station, a UE, etc.).

FIG. 15 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a computing system 1500, which may be employed by the disclosed systems and techniques for rules for prioritization between sensing RSs and communication RSs (e.g., RRM/RLM RSS). In particular, FIG. 15 illustrates an example of computing system 1500, which can be, for example, any computing device making up internal computing system, a remote computing system, a camera, or any component thereof in which the components of the system are in communication with each other using connection 1505. Connection 1505 can be a physical connection using a bus, or a direct connection into processor 1510, such as in a chipset architecture. Connection 1505 can also be a virtual connection, networked connection, or logical connection.

Example system 1500 includes at least one processing unit (CPU or processor) 1510 and connection 1505 that communicatively couples various system components including system memory 1515, such as read-only memory (ROM) 1520 and random access memory (RAM) 1525 to processor 1510. Computing system 1500 can include a cache 1512 of high-speed memory connected directly with, in close proximity to, or integrated as part of processor 1510.

Processor 1510 can include any general purpose processor and a hardware service or software service, such as services 1532, 1534, and 1536 stored in storage device 1530, configured to control processor 1510 as well as a special-purpose processor where software instructions are incorporated into the actual processor design. Processor 1510 may essentially be a completely self-contained computing system, containing multiple cores or processors, a bus, memory controller, cache, etc. A multi-core processor may be symmetric or asymmetric.

To enable user interaction, computing system 1500 includes an input device 1545, which can represent any number of input mechanisms, such as a microphone for speech, a touch-sensitive screen for gesture or graphical input, keyboard, mouse, motion input, speech, etc. Computing system 1500 can also include output device 1535, which can be one or more of a number of output mechanisms. In some instances, multimodal systems can enable a user to provide multiple types of input/output to communicate with computing system 1500.

Computing system 1500 can include communications interface 1540, which can generally govern and manage the user input and system output. The communication interface may perform or facilitate receipt and/or transmission wired or wireless communications using wired and/or wireless transceivers, including those making use of an audio jack/plug, a microphone jack/plug, a universal serial bus (USB) port/plug, an Apple™ Lightning™ port/plug, an Ethernet port/plug, a fiber optic port/plug, a proprietary wired port/plug, 3G, 4G, 5G and/or other cellular data network wireless signal transfer, a Bluetooth™ wireless signal transfer, a Bluetooth™ low energy (BLE) wireless signal transfer, an IBEACON™ wireless signal transfer, a radio-frequency identification (RFID) wireless signal transfer, near-field communications (NFC) wireless signal transfer, dedicated short range communication (DSRC) wireless signal transfer, 802.11 Wi-Fi wireless signal transfer, wireless local area network (WLAN) signal transfer, Visible Light Communication (VLC), Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX), Infrared (IR) communication wireless signal transfer, Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) signal transfer, Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN) signal transfer, ad-hoc network signal transfer, radio wave signal transfer, microwave signal transfer, infrared signal transfer, visible light signal transfer, ultraviolet light signal transfer, wireless signal transfer along the electromagnetic spectrum, or some combination thereof.

The communications interface 1540 may also include one or more range sensors (e.g., LIDAR sensors, laser range finders, RF radars, ultrasonic sensors, and infrared (IR) sensors) configured to collect data and provide measurements to processor 1510, whereby processor 1510 can be configured to perform determinations and calculations needed to obtain various measurements for the one or more range sensors. In some examples, the measurements can include time of flight, wavelengths, azimuth angle, elevation angle, range, linear velocity and/or angular velocity, or any combination thereof. The communications interface 1540 may also include one or more Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) receivers or transceivers that are used to determine a location of the computing system 1500 based on receipt of one or more signals from one or more satellites associated with one or more GNSS systems. GNSS systems include, but are not limited to, the US-based GPS, the Russia-based Global Navigation Satellite System (GLONASS), the China-based BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS), and the Europe-based Galileo GNSS. There is no restriction on operating on any particular hardware arrangement, and therefore the basic features here may easily be substituted for improved hardware or firmware arrangements as they are developed.

Specific details are provided in the description above to provide a thorough understanding of the aspects and examples provided herein, but those skilled in the art will recognize that the application is not limited thereto. Thus, while illustrative aspects of the application have been described in detail herein, it is to be understood that the inventive concepts may be otherwise variously embodied and employed, and that the appended claims are intended to be construed to include such variations, except as limited by the prior art. Various features and aspects of the above-described application may be used individually or jointly. Further, aspects can be utilized in any number of environments and applications beyond those described herein without departing from the broader scope of the specification. The specification and drawings are, accordingly, to be regarded as illustrative rather than restrictive. For the purposes of illustration, methods were described in a particular order. It should be appreciated that in alternate aspects, the methods may be performed in a different order than that described.

The phrase “coupled to” or “communicatively coupled to” refers to any component that is physically connected to another component either directly or indirectly, and/or any component that is in communication with another component (e.g., connected to the other component over a wired or wireless connection, and/or other suitable communication interface) either directly or indirectly.

Illustrative aspects of the disclosure include:

Aspect 1. A method for wireless communications at a network device, the method comprising: receiving a multiplexed signal, wherein at least a portion of a sensing signal scheduled within the multiplexed signal overlaps in time with at least a portion of a communication signal scheduled within the multiplexed signal; and determining whether to measure one of the sensing signal or the communication signal to obtain measurements for channel estimation.

Aspect 2. The method of Aspect 1, wherein the sensing signal is a sensing reference signal (S-RS).

Aspect 3. The method of any of Aspects 1 to 2, wherein the communication signal is at least one of a radio resource management reference signal (RRM RS) or a radio link monitoring reference signal (RLM RS).

Aspect 4. The method of any of Aspects 1 to 3, wherein the network device is one of user equipment (UE) or a base station.

Aspect 5. The method of any of Aspects 1 to 4, wherein at least the portion of the sensing signal further overlaps in frequency with at least the portion of the communication signal.

Aspect 6. The method of any of Aspects 1 to 5, wherein the measurements comprise at least one of reference signal received power (RSRP), reference signal received quality (RSRQ), or signal to interference and noise ratio (SINR).

Aspect 7. The method of any of Aspects 1 to 6, further comprising measuring one of the sensing signal or the communication signal based on determining of whether to measure one of the sensing signal or the communication signal.

Aspect 8. The method of any of Aspects 1 to 7, wherein determining whether to measure one of the sensing signal or the communication signal is based on a signal quality of a serving cell to which the network device is connected.

Aspect 9. The method of Aspect 8, further comprising measuring the communication signal based on the signal quality of the serving cell being below a collision threshold and the communication signal being from at least one neighboring cell.

Aspect 10. The method of Aspect 9, further comprising receiving the collision threshold via at least one of a radio resource control (RRC) message, a medium access control-control element (MAC-CE), or downlink control information (DCI).

Aspect 11. The method of any of Aspects 1 to 10, wherein determining whether to measure one of the sensing signal or the communication signal is based on one or more sensing quality requirements.

Aspect 12. The method of Aspect 11, wherein the one or more sensing quality requirements comprise at least one of a quality of service (QOS) requirement, an accuracy requirement, or a latency requirement.

Aspect 13. The method of any of Aspects 1 to 12, further comprising implementing a time gap between the sensing signal and communication signal for at least one of frequency switching or waveform switching between the sensing signal and the communication signal.

Aspect 14. The method of Aspect 13, wherein the time gap is based on a subcarrier spacing (SCS) of the sensing signal, a SCS of the communication signal, or configured to the network device.

Aspect 15. The method of any of Aspects 1 to 14, wherein the communication signal is one of an uplink signal or a downlink signal.

Aspect 16. The method of any of Aspects 1 to 15, wherein determining whether to measure one of the sensing signal or the communication signal is based on a configuration of the network device.

Aspect 17. The method of Aspect 16, further comprising receiving the configuration through at least one of a radio resource control (RRC) message, a medium access control-control element (MAC-CE), or downlink control information (DCI).

Aspect 18. The method of any of Aspects 1 to 17, wherein the sensing signal comprises a sensing repetition across multiple slots.

Aspect 19. The method of any of Aspects 1 to 18, further comprising measuring the communication signal, and one of counting or not counting the sensing signal towards a required number of sensing signals for the channel estimation.

Aspect 20. An apparatus for wireless communications, comprising: at least one memory; and at least one processor coupled to at least one memory and configured to: receive a multiplexed signal, wherein at least a portion of a sensing signal scheduled within the multiplexed signal overlaps in time with at least a portion of a communication signal scheduled within the multiplexed signal; and determine whether to measure one of the sensing signal or the communication signal to obtain measurements for channel estimation.

Aspect 21. The apparatus of Aspect 20, wherein the sensing signal is a sensing reference signal (S-RS).

Aspect 22. The apparatus of any of Aspects 20 to 21, wherein the communication signal is at least one of a radio resource management reference signal (RRM RS) or a radio link monitoring reference signal (RLM RS).

Aspect 23. The apparatus of any of Aspects 20 to 22, wherein the apparatus is one of user equipment (UE) or a base station.

Aspect 24. The apparatus of any of Aspects 20 to 23, wherein at least the portion of the sensing signal further overlaps in frequency with at least the portion of the communication signal.

Aspect 25. The apparatus of any of Aspects 20 to 24, wherein the measurements comprise at least one of reference signal received power (RSRP), reference signal received quality (RSRQ), or signal to interference and noise ratio (SINR).

Aspect 26. The apparatus of any of Aspects 20 to 25, wherein the at least one processor is configured to: measure one of the sensing signal or the communication signal based on determining of whether to measure one of the sensing signal or the communication signal.

Aspect 27. The apparatus of any of Aspects 20 to 26, wherein the at least one processor is configured to determine whether to measure one of the sensing signal or the communication signal based on a signal quality of a serving cell to which the apparatus is connected.

Aspect 28. The apparatus of Aspect 27, wherein the at least one processor is configured to: measure the communication signal based on the signal quality of the serving cell being below a collision threshold and the communication signal being from at least one neighboring cell.

Aspect 29. The apparatus of Aspect 28, wherein the at least one processor is configured to: receive the collision threshold via at least one of a radio resource control (RRC) message, a medium access control-control element (MAC-CE), or downlink control information (DCI).

Aspect 30. The apparatus of any of Aspects 20 to 29, wherein the at least one processor is configured to determine whether to measure one of the sensing signal or the communication signal based on one or more sensing quality requirements.

Aspect 31. The apparatus of Aspect 30, wherein the one or more sensing quality requirements comprise at least one of a quality of service (QOS) requirement, an accuracy requirement, or a latency requirement.

Aspect 32. The apparatus of any of Aspects 20 to 31, wherein the at least one processor is configured to: implement a time gap between the sensing signal and communication signal for at least one of frequency switching or waveform switching between the sensing signal and the communication signal.

Aspect 33. The apparatus of Aspect 32, wherein the time gap is based on a subcarrier spacing (SCS) of the sensing signal, a SCS of the communication signal, or configured to the apparatus.

Aspect 34. The apparatus of any of Aspects 20 to 33, wherein the communication signal is one of an uplink signal or a downlink signal.

Aspect 35. The apparatus of any of Aspects 20 to 34, wherein the at least one processor is configured to determine whether to measure one of the sensing signal or the communication signal based on a configuration of the apparatus.

Aspect 36. The apparatus of Aspect 35, wherein the at least one processor is configured to: receive the configuration through at least one of a radio resource control (RRC) message, a medium access control-control element (MAC-CE), or downlink control information (DCI).

Aspect 37. The apparatus of any of Aspects 20 to 36, wherein the sensing signal comprises a sensing repetition across multiple slots.

Aspect 38. The apparatus of any of Aspects 20 to 37, wherein the at least one processor is configured to: measure the communication signal, and one of counting or not counting the sensing signal towards a required number of sensing signals for the channel estimation.

Aspect 39. A non-transitory computer-readable medium is provided that has stored thereon instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform operations according to any of Aspects 1 to 38.

Aspect 40. An apparatus for wireless communications is provided. The apparatus includes one or more means for performing operations according to any of Aspects 1 to 38.