PATENT DOCUMENT

Publication Number: US-11229002-B2
Application Number: US-202016824350-A
Country: US
Kind Code: B2

Title: Ranging with a mobile cellular device

Abstract:
Systems and methods for using ranging signals with cellular devices. The ranging signals may utilize ranging slots and resources at least partially allocated by a cellular network. The resources may include frequencies used for uplink or downlink communications between the cellular network and the cellular devices. Alternatively, the resources may include frequencies outside of a spectrum used for communication between the cellular network and the cellular devices.

Claims:
What is claimed is: 
     
       1. An electronic device, comprising:
 one or more antennas; 
 a network interface coupled to the one or more antennas and configured to:
 selectively send and receive cellular communications signals using the one or more antennas in corresponding communication slots for cellular communications for a cellular network; and 
 selectively send ranging signals and receive reflected ranging signals using the one or more antennas during ranging slots that are allocated by the cellular network; and 
 
 a processor operably coupled to the network interface and configured to:
 encode the ranging signals based on a pre-existing security context between the electronic device and a receiving device to prevent identification of the electronic device when the electronic device and the receiving device lack a pre-existing security context; and 
 determine a location of an obstacle or a location of the electronic device using the reflected ranging signals. 
 
 
     
     
       2. The electronic device of  claim 1 , wherein a slot of the ranging slots comprises:
 a ranging transmission portion, wherein the electronic device is configured to transmit the ranging signals during the ranging transmission portion of the slot; and 
 a ranging receiving portion, wherein the electronic device is configured to monitor for the reflected ranging signals transmitted during the ranging transmission portion of the slot. 
 
     
     
       3. The electronic device of  claim 1 , wherein:
 a first slot of the ranging slots comprises a ranging transmission portion, wherein the electronic device is configured to transmit the ranging signals during the ranging transmission portion of the first slot, and 
 a second slot of the ranging slots comprises a ranging receiving portion, wherein the electronic device is configured to monitor for the reflected ranging signals transmitted during the ranging transmission portion of the second slot. 
 
     
     
       4. The electronic device of  claim 3 , wherein the first slot of the ranging slots comprises an additional ranging transmission portion, wherein an additional electronic device is configured to transmit the ranging signals during the additional ranging transmission portion of the first slot. 
     
     
       5. The electronic device of  claim 1 , wherein the cellular communication signals and the ranging signals are configured to be transmitted and received using subcarriers that are used for both the ranging signals and the cellular communication signals. 
     
     
       6. The electronic device of  claim 1 , the cellular communication signals comprising:
 uplink signals configured to use uplink subcarriers; and 
 downlink signals configured be use downlink subcarriers. 
 
     
     
       7. The electronic device of  claim 6 , wherein the ranging signals are configured to use the uplink subcarriers during the ranging slots. 
     
     
       8. The electronic device of  claim 7 , wherein the ranging signals use only a portion of the uplink subcarriers during the ranging slots while remaining uplink subcarriers are used for uplink transmissions during the ranging slots. 
     
     
       9. The electronic device of  claim 6 , wherein the ranging signals are configured to use the downlink subcarriers during the ranging slots. 
     
     
       10. The electronic device of  claim 1 , wherein the cellular communication signals are configured to use a first spectrum, wherein the ranging signals are configured to use a second spectrum, and wherein the first spectrum and the second spectrum do not have any overlapping frequencies. 
     
     
       11. The electronic device of  claim 10 , wherein the second spectrum comprises a licensed spectrum that has an operator that ensures that allocated slots are guaranteed for allocated devices. 
     
     
       12. The electronic device of  claim 10 , wherein the second spectrum is an unlicensed spectrum where allocated slots are not guaranteed. 
     
     
       13. The electronic device of  claim 12 , wherein the ranging slots comprise a look-before-talking portion. 
     
     
       14. A mobile cellular device, comprising:
 one or more antennas; and 
 communication circuitry configured to:
 send and receive cellular signals to a cellular network; 
 encode ranging signals to enable a receiving device to identify the mobile cellular device via neighbor discovery using encoded ranging signals when a pre-existing security context exists between the mobile cellular device and the receiving device and to prevent identification of the mobile cellular device when the mobile cellular device and the receiving device lack a pre-existing security context; 
 send the encoded ranging signals via the one or more antennas; 
 receive reflected ranging signals that are reflected from objects in a ranging area of the mobile cellular device; and 
 determine a location of an obstacle or a location of an electronic device using the reflected ranging signals. 
 
 
     
     
       15. The mobile cellular device of  claim 14 , the encoded ranging signals being embedded with a side-link sequence that enables the electronic device to perform neighbor discovery of the mobile cellular device using the side-link sequence. 
     
     
       16. The mobile cellular device of  claim 15 , wherein the electronic device is capable to identify the mobile cellular device or perform the neighbor discovery using the side-link sequence due to a pre-existing security context between the mobile cellular device and the electronic device. 
     
     
       17. The mobile cellular device of  claim 16 , wherein an additional receiving device is prevented from identifying the electronic device or performing neighbor discovery using the side-link sequence due to a lack of a pre-existing security context between the additional receiving device and the mobile cellular device. 
     
     
       18. The mobile cellular device of  claim 14 , wherein the encoded ranging signals are embedded with enhanced positioning sequences that enable the cellular network to locate the electronic device based at least in part on the enhanced positioning sequences and locations of stationary nodes within the cellular network that are configured to receive the enhanced positioning sequences. 
     
     
       19. A method, comprising:
 encoding ranging signals based on a pre-existing security context between a ranging device and a receiving device to prevent identification of the ranging device when the ranging device and the receiving device lack a pre-existing security context; 
 determining a determined location of a user based at least in part on encoded ranging signals from a ranging device, wherein the determined location of the user is based at least in part on signals sent to or received from a user electronic device, the encoded ranging signals being allocated by a cellular network; 
 determining that the determined location of the user is in a path of a strongest beam for a cellular network by the ranging device; 
 determining that the strongest beam is likely to cause the user to be exposed to the strongest beam exceeding a maximum permissible exposure; and 
 using an alternative beam to communicate between the cellular network and the ranging device. 
 
     
     
       20. The method of  claim 19 , determining the determined location comprising predicting a location of the user based at least in part on a predicted location of the user based at least in part on a direction of travel for the user determined using the user electronic device.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
     This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application No. 62/896,372, filed Sep. 5, 2019, and entitled “RANGING WITH A MOBILE CELLULAR DEVICE,” which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety for all purposes. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND 
     The present disclosure relates generally to wireless communication systems and, more specifically, to systems and methods for performing ranging using a mobile device. 
     This section is intended to introduce the reader to various aspects of art that may be related to various aspects of the present disclosure, which are described and/or claimed below. This discussion is believed to be helpful in providing the reader with background information to facilitate a better understanding of the various aspects of the present disclosure. Accordingly, it should be understood that these statements are to be read in this light, and not as admissions of prior art. 
     Personal electronic devices, such as mobile handheld devices, body-wearable devices, and head-wearable devices, are now ubiquitous. The prevalence of these devices enable usage of augmented reality (AR) using the personal electronic devices. Furthermore, personal electronic devices are able to access more information as wireless network throughput increases thereby potentially increasing the usefulness of updated AR information. For at least these reasons, AR is expected to proliferate into the mainstream with widely available gigabit broadband wireless speeds brought to the consumer market by the 5th generation new radio (5G NR) networks. 
     SUMMARY 
     A summary of certain embodiments disclosed herein is set forth below. It should be understood that these aspects are presented merely to provide the reader with a brief summary of these certain embodiments and that these aspects are not intended to limit the scope of this disclosure. Indeed, this disclosure may encompass a variety of aspects that may not be set forth below. 
     Personal electronic devices (e.g., a head-wearable devices, mobile handheld devices, body-wearable devices, etc.) may be configured to transmit and receive ranging (e.g., radio detection and ranging (RADAR)) signals to perform obstacle detection and/or tracking. Ranging using the ranging signals may be particularly useful when the personal electronic devices are used to perform augmented reality. The ranging signals may use licensed or unlicensed spectrums at relatively high frequencies (e.g., above 52.6 GHz). The allocation of ranging transmission portions and ranging receiving portions for each device connected to a cellular network may be at least partially managed by the network. The allocated resources during these portions may include time domain and/or frequency domain resources for frequencies used to send/receive cellular communications, time domain and/or frequency domain resources for frequencies outside of those used to send/receive cellular communications, resources for a single ranging occurrence, resources for repeated ranging occurrences, resources for multiple ranging devices transmitting in a single slot, and the like. 
     Furthermore, ranging operations may be enhanced with additional features beyond mere usage of ranging signals for ranging uses. For example, the ranging signals may be encoded to enable receiving devices to identify the ranging device. Additionally or alternatively, side-link (SL) discovery sequences may be embedded in the ranging signals to enable neighbor discovery of the ranging device. The device identification/neighbor discovery may be restricted to only devices that have a previously established security context with the ranging device. Additionally or alternatively, enhanced positioning sequences (ePS) may be embedded in the ranging signals to enable the network to identify a location of the ranging device in a highly precise manner using known locations of devices receiving the ePS signals. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       Various aspects of this disclosure may be better understood upon reading the following detailed description and upon reference to the drawings in which: 
         FIG. 1  is a block diagram of an electronic device that includes one or more antennas to send and/or receive ranging signals, in accordance with an embodiments of the present disclosure; 
         FIG. 2  is a perspective view of a notebook computer representing an embodiment of the electronic device of  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 3  is a front view of a hand-held device representing another embodiment of the electronic device of  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 4  is a front view of another hand-held device representing another embodiment of the electronic device of  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 5  is a front view of a desktop computer representing another embodiment of the electronic device of  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 6  is a front view and side view of a wearable electronic device representing another embodiment of the electronic device of  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 7  is a diagram of a ranging system including the electronic device of  FIG. 1 , in accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure; 
         FIG. 8  is a graph of ranging allocation for the ranging system of  FIG. 7  using time-division duplexing with multiple ranging devices, in accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure; 
         FIG. 9  is a graph of ranging allocation for the ranging system of  FIG. 7  using time-division duplexing with multiple ranging devices, in accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure; 
         FIG. 10  is a graph of ranging allocation for the ranging system of  FIG. 7  using time-division duplexing with multiple ranging devices using only a portion of the bandwidth of the electronic device of  FIG. 1 , in accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure; 
         FIG. 11  is a graph of ranging allocation for the ranging system of  FIG. 7  using frequency-division duplexing with multiple ranging devices, in accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure; 
         FIG. 12  is a graph of ranging allocation for the ranging system of  FIG. 7  using frequency-division duplexing with multiple ranging devices, in accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure; 
         FIG. 13  is a graph of ranging allocation for the ranging system of  FIG. 7  using frequency-division duplexing with multiple ranging devices using only a portion of the bandwidth of the electronic device of  FIG. 1 , in accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure; 
         FIG. 14  is a block diagram of a process used by the electronic device of  FIG. 1  to interact with an operator to perform ranging in a licensed spectrum, in accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure; 
         FIG. 15  is a graph of carrier allocations used in the process of  FIG. 14 , in accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure; 
         FIG. 16  is a block diagram of a process used by the electronic device of  FIG. 1  to interact with an operator to perform ranging in an unlicensed spectrum with carrier sensing, in accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure; 
         FIG. 17  is a graph of carrier allocations used in the process of  FIG. 16 , in accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure; 
         FIG. 18  is a block diagram of a process that is used to perform radio resource configuration, in accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure; 
         FIG. 19  is a diagram of a proximity communication system including the electronic device of  FIG. 1 , in accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure; 
         FIG. 20  is a graph of allocations of the proximity communication system of  FIG. 21  with encoded ranging signals, in accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure; 
         FIG. 21  is a graph of allocations of the proximity communication system of  FIG. 21  with side-link sequences embedded in ranging signals, in accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure; 
         FIG. 22  is a diagram of a proximity communication system including the electronic device of  FIG. 1  and using security contexts to secure location information, in accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure; 
         FIG. 23  is a block diagram of a process performed by receiving devices of the proximity communication of  FIG. 22 , in accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure; 
         FIG. 24  is a diagram of an enhanced positioning signal system including the electronic device of  FIG. 1 , in accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure; and 
         FIG. 25  is a block diagram of a process using ranging signals in a maximum permissible exposure application, in accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF SPECIFIC EMBODIMENTS 
     One or more specific embodiments will be described below. In an effort to provide a concise description of these embodiments, not all features of an actual implementation are described in the specification. It should be appreciated that in the development of any such actual implementation, as in any engineering or design project, numerous implementation-specific decisions must be made to achieve the developers&#39; specific goals, such as compliance with system-related and business-related constraints, which may vary from one implementation to another. Moreover, it should be appreciated that such a development effort might be complex and time consuming, but would nevertheless be a routine undertaking of design, fabrication, and manufacture for those of ordinary skill having the benefit of this disclosure. 
     Turning first to  FIG. 1 , an electronic device  10  according to an embodiment of the present disclosure may include, among other things, one or more processor(s)  12 , memory  14 , nonvolatile storage  16 , a display  18 , one or more antennas  20 , input structures  22 , an input/output (I/O) interface  24 , a network interface  26  coupled to the antenna(s)  20 , and a power source  28 . The various functional blocks shown in  FIG. 1  may include hardware elements (including circuitry), software elements (including computer code stored on a computer-readable medium), or a combination of both hardware and software elements. It should be noted that  FIG. 1  is merely one example of a particular implementation and is intended to illustrate the types of components that may be present in electronic device  10 . 
     By way of example, the electronic device  10  may represent a block diagram of the notebook computer depicted in  FIG. 2 , the handheld device depicted in  FIG. 3 , the handheld device depicted in  FIG. 4 , the desktop computer depicted in  FIG. 5 , the wearable electronic device depicted in  FIG. 6 , or similar devices. It should be noted that the processor(s)  12  and other related items in  FIG. 1  may be generally referred to herein as “data processing circuitry.” Such data processing circuitry may be embodied wholly or in part as software, firmware, hardware, or any combination thereof. Furthermore, the data processing circuitry may be a single contained processing module or may be incorporated wholly or partially within any of the other elements within the electronic device  10 . 
     In the electronic device  10  of  FIG. 1 , the processor(s)  12  may be operably coupled with the memory  14  and the nonvolatile storage  16  to perform various algorithms. Such programs or instructions executed by the processor(s)  12  may be stored in any suitable article of manufacture that includes one or more tangible, computer-readable media at least collectively storing the instructions or routines, such as the memory  14  and the nonvolatile storage  16 . The memory  14  and the nonvolatile storage  16  may include any suitable articles of manufacture for storing data and executable instructions, such as random-access memory, read-only memory, rewritable flash memory, hard drives, and optical discs. In addition, programs (e.g., an operating system) encoded on such a computer program product may also include instructions that may be executed by the processor(s)  12  to enable the electronic device  10  to provide various functionalities. 
     In certain embodiments, the display  18  may be a liquid crystal display (LCD), which may allow users to view images generated on the electronic device  10 . In some embodiments, the display  18  may include a touch screen, which may allow users to interact with a user interface of the electronic device  10 . Furthermore, it should be appreciated that, in some embodiments, the display  18  may include one or more organic light emitting diode (OLED) displays, or some combination of LCD panels and OLED panels. 
     The input structures  22  of the electronic device  10  may enable a user to interact with the electronic device  10  (e.g., pressing a button to increase or decrease a volume level). The I/O interface  24  may enable electronic device  10  to interface with various other electronic devices, as may the network interface  26 . 
     The network interface  26  may include, for example, one or more interfaces for a personal area network (PAN), such as a Bluetooth network, for a local area network (LAN) or wireless local area network (WLAN), such as an 802.11x Wi-Fi network, and/or for a wide area network (WAN), such as a 3rd generation (3G) cellular network, universal mobile telecommunication system (UMTS), 4th generation (4G) cellular network, long term evolution (LTE) cellular network, a long term evolution license assisted access (LTE-LAA) cellular network, 5th generation (5G) cellular network, 5G New Radio (5G NR) cellular network, and/or 5G NR cellular network evolution. The network interface  26  may also include one or more interfaces for, for example, broadband fixed wireless access networks (WiMAX), mobile broadband Wireless networks (mobile WiMAX), asynchronous digital subscriber lines (e.g., ADSL, VDSL), digital video broadcasting-terrestrial (DVB-T) and its extension DVB Handheld (DVB-H), ultra-Wideband (UWB), alternating current (AC) power lines, and so forth. For example, network interfaces  26  may be capable of joining multiple networks, and may employ the one or more antennas  20  to that end. 
     As will be discussed in more detail below, the network interface  26  may be used to perform ranging using the electronic device  10 . In some embodiments, to perform ranging, the network interface  26  may include ranging circuitry  29  that is part of communication circuitry (e.g., network interface  26 , etc.) that enables wireless communication by the electronic device  10 . The ranging circuitry  29  enables the electronic device  10  to utilize one or more of the antennas  20  to perform the ranging in addition to wireless signals (e.g., 5G NR signals) sent by the communication circuitry to communicate with one or more networks (e.g., 5G NR cellular network). Additionally or alternatively, the electronic device  10  may utilize the processor(s)  12  to at least partially enable the ranging using the network interface  26  with or without inclusion of the ranging circuitry  29  in the electronic device  10 . 
     As further illustrated, the electronic device  10  may include a power source  28 . The power source  28  may include any suitable source of power, such as a rechargeable lithium polymer (Li-poly) battery and/or an alternating current (AC) power converter. 
     In certain embodiments, the electronic device  10  may take the form of a computer, a portable electronic device, a wearable electronic device, or other type of electronic device. Such computers may include computers that are generally portable (such as laptop, notebook, and tablet computers) as well as computers that are generally used in one place (such as conventional desktop computers, workstations, and/or servers). In certain embodiments, the electronic device  10  in the form of a computer may be a model of a MACBOOK®, MACBOOK® PRO, MACBOOK AIR®, IMAC®, MAC® MINI, OR MAC PRO® available from Apple Inc. By way of example, the electronic device  10 , taking the form of a notebook computer  10 A, is illustrated in  FIG. 2  in accordance with one embodiment of the present disclosure. The depicted computer  10 A may include a housing or enclosure  36 , a display  18 , input structures  22 , and ports of an I/O interface  24 . In one embodiment, the input structures  22  (such as a keyboard and/or touchpad) may be used to interact with the computer  10 A, such as to start, control, or operate a GUI or applications running on computer  10 A. For example, a keyboard and/or touchpad may allow a user to navigate a user interface or application interface displayed on display  18 . 
       FIG. 3  depicts a front view of a handheld device  10 B, which represents one embodiment of the electronic device  10 . The handheld device  10 B may represent, for example, a portable phone, a media player, a personal data organizer, a handheld game platform, or any combination of such devices. By way of example, the handheld device  10 B may be a model of an IPOD® OR IPHONE® available from Apple Inc. of Cupertino, Calif. The handheld device  10 B may include an enclosure  36  to protect interior components from physical damage and to shield them from electromagnetic interference. The enclosure  36  may surround the display  18 . The I/O interfaces  24  may open through the enclosure  36  and may include, for example, an I/O port for a hardwired connection for charging and/or content manipulation using a standard connector and protocol, such as the Lightning connector provided by Apple Inc., a universal serial bus (USB), or other similar connector and protocol. 
     User input structures  22 , in combination with the display  18 , may allow a user to control the handheld device  10 B. For example, the input structures  22  may activate or deactivate the handheld device  10 B, navigate user interface to a home screen, a user-configurable application screen, and/or activate a voice-recognition feature of the handheld device  10 B. Other input structures  22  may provide volume control, or may toggle between vibrate and ring modes. The input structures  22  may also include a microphone that may obtain a user&#39;s voice for various voice-related features, and a speaker may enable audio playback and/or certain phone capabilities. The input structures  22  may also include a headphone input that may provide a connection to external speakers and/or headphones. 
       FIG. 4  depicts a front view of another handheld device  10 C, which represents another embodiment of the electronic device  10 . The handheld device  10 C may represent, for example, a tablet computer, or one of various portable computing devices. By way of example, the handheld device  10 C may be a tablet-sized embodiment of the electronic device  10 , which may be, for example, a model of an IPAD® available from Apple Inc. of Cupertino, Calif. 
     Turning to  FIG. 5 , a computer  10 D may represent another embodiment of the electronic device  10  of  FIG. 1 . The computer  10 D may be any computer, such as a desktop computer, a server, or a notebook computer, but may also be a standalone media player or video gaming machine. By way of example, the computer  10 D may be an IMAC®, a MACBOOK®, or other similar device by Apple Inc. It should be noted that the computer  10 D may also represent a personal computer (PC) by another manufacturer. A similar enclosure  36  may be provided to protect and enclose internal components of the computer  10 D such as the display  18 . In certain embodiments, a user of the computer  10 D may interact with the computer  10 D using various input structures  22 , such as the keyboard  22 A or mouse  22 B, which may connect to the computer  10 D. 
     Similarly,  FIG. 6  depicts a wearable electronic device  10 E representing another embodiment of the electronic device  10  of  FIG. 1  that may be configured to operate using the techniques described herein. By way of example, the wearable electronic device  10 E, which may include a wristband  38 , may be an APPLE WATCH® by Apple Inc. However, in other embodiments, the wearable electronic device  10 E may include any wearable electronic device such as, for example, a head-wearable device or wearable exercise monitoring device (e.g., pedometer, accelerometer, heart rate monitor), or other device by another manufacturer. The display  18  of the wearable electronic device  10 E may include a touch screen display  18  (e.g., LCD, OLED display, active-matrix organic light emitting diode (AMOLED) display, and so forth), as well as input structures  22 , which may allow users to interact with a user interface of the wearable electronic device  10 E. Furthermore, the wearable electronic device  10 E may receive at least a portion of data (e.g., cellular data) from another device, such as the handheld device  10 B. 
     With the foregoing in mind, the electronic device  10  may be used to perform ranging in various scenarios, such as when augmented reality (AR) is engaged for the electronic device  10 . For example, the ranging circuitry  29  may include processing circuits and/or software for generating the ranging signals and analyzing reflected ranging signals. For instance, the ranging circuitry  29  may include instructions that are stored in the memory  14 , that when executed by the processor(s)  12 , cause the processor(s)  12  to analyze the received, reflected ranging signals or cause the processor(s)  12  to offload a portion of the analysis to another computing device (e.g., cloud computing device). 
     Ranging may be performed in a licensed (e.g. 71-86 GHz range and/or may vary based on regional regulations) or an unlicensed spectrum (e.g., in the 57-71 GHz range and/or may vary based on regional regulations) may be used to enable a ranging implementation (e.g., a radio detection and ranging (RADAR) implementation) in the electronic device  10  with an integrated (e.g., 60 GHz) radio and antennas  20 . Ranging may use transmission of ranging signals in a wide-band sequence that, when received via reflections from objects, are used to estimate the channel impulse and to identify objects when combined with spatial processing. The inclusion of the ranging circuitry  29  including ranging logic and/or circuitry in the electronic device may use various frequencies (e.g., those above 52.6 GHz) to enhance ranging by enabling the electronic device  10  and/or a network to which the electronic device  10  is coupled to 1) manage system interference from multiple users in a high-density environment, 2) optimize the allocation of frequency/time resources to ranging use based on network deployment topology, network load, and user mobility, and 3) perform potential maximum permissible exposure (MPE) applications with user proximity sensing opportunities managed by the network. 
       FIG. 7  illustrates a diagram of a ranging system  100  with users  102 ,  104 , and  106  each having respective electronic devices (e.g., the electronic device  10 ). Each of the users  102 ,  104 , and  106  has a respective direction of motion  108 ,  110 , and  112  and ranging signals  114 ,  116 , and  118  broadcast in that one or more directions. For example, if the respective ranging devices use beamforming, the ranging signals  114 ,  116 , and  118  may be formed in the respective direction of motion  108 ,  110 , and  112 . The respective electronic devices  10  and/or other devices in the network(s) on which the electronic devices  10  reside may use information from ranging signals to detect and/or track obstacles based on the ranging signals  114 ,  116 , and/or  118  and the respective direction of motion  108 ,  110 , and/or  112 . Additionally or alternatively, the respective electronic devices  10  and/or other devices in the network(s) on which the electronic devices  10  may predict a collision based on the ranging signals  114 ,  116 , and/or  118  and the respective direction of motion  108 ,  110 , and/or  112 . 
     The ranging signals  114 ,  116 , and  118  may be multiplexed with cellular signals used by the electronic device  10  to communicate with respective cellular networks when the ranging signals  114 ,  116 , and  118  utilize a same band that the cellular signals use. For example,  FIG. 8  illustrates a graph  120  of a time-division duplexing (TDD) system where ranging and cellular communications are both performed using the same band. The graph  120  graphs the allocation of subcarriers  121  for the network in each slot. As illustrated, the graph  120  includes slots  122 ,  124 ,  126 , and  128 . The slots  122  and  124  are allocated to downlink communications in downlink communication portions  130  and  132  between the electronic device  10  and its cellular network, while the slot  126  is flexibly allocated to uplink and/or downlink communications in a flexible communications portion  134 . The slot  128  is partially allocated to a ranging transmission portion  136  that is allocated to the electronic device  10  sending out ranging signals (e.g., ranging signals  114 ,  116 , and  118 ). The remainder of the slot  128  is allocated to a ranging receiving portion  138  that is allocated to the electronic device  10  listening for reflection back of the ranging signals transmitted during the ranging transmission portion  136 . 
     Due to a numerology for the cellular network, a single slot may be insufficient to perform both transmission and reception of the ranging signals. For example, objects above a threshold distance away from the electronic device  10  may be unable to reflect the ranging signals back to the electronic device  10  before the slot  128  expires. For example, a round-trip time of the ranging signals may be limited by slot duration, such that an allocated portion of time (e.g., one slot) may restrict the range of the ranging process. For instance, assuming that each ranging signal round-trip time is equal to a single slot, Table 1 illustrates a sub-carrier spacing (in kHz) that identifies a frequency spacing between adjacent carriers along with the corresponding slot length (in ms) and max range (in m). 
     
       
         
           
               
             
               
                 TABLE 1 
               
             
            
               
                   
               
               
                 Slot length and maximum ranging range by SCS frequency 
               
            
           
           
               
               
               
            
               
                 SCS (kHz) 
                 Slot length (ms) 
                 Max range (m) 
               
               
                   
               
            
           
           
               
               
               
            
               
                 15 
                 1 
                 150 
               
               
                 30 
                 0.5 
                 75 
               
               
                 60 
                 0.25 
                 37 
               
               
                 120 
                 0.125 
                 19 
               
               
                 240 
                 0.0625 
                 9 
               
               
                 480 
                 0.03125 
                 5 
               
               
                 960 
                 0.015625 
                 2 
               
               
                   
               
            
           
         
       
     
     As shown, the propagation of the ranging signals back from objects further away from the electronic device  10  than the threshold distance may not be received quickly enough to occur in the same slot (e.g., the slot  128 ) that the ranging signals are transmitted (e.g., the ranging transmission portion  136 ). To provide additional ranging distance, the ranging receiving portion  138  may be allocated to a different slot in addition to or alternative to the slot to which the ranging transmission portion  136  is assigned. Furthermore, when the ranging transmission portion  136  and the ranging receiving portion  138  are in different slots, the ranging transmission portion  136  may be completed during a fraction of the slot  128 . Using the remaining portion of the slot  128 , multiple users may be allocated portions of the slot  128  to transmit respective ranging signals. In other words, users in a same general area (e.g., in a same cell and/or adjacent cells of a wireless network) may share the slot  128  that is time-divided between the users with allocated portions of the slot  128  to manage potential system interference in high-density environments. For example,  FIG. 9  illustrates a graph  140  of a TDD system with sub-portions corresponding to ranging transmission portions  142 ,  144 ,  146 , and  148  each allocated to a respective electronic device  10  in the cellular network. As illustrated, the ranging receiving portion  138  has been allocated to a slot  150  for all of the electronic devices  10  to monitor for respective reflected ranging signals transmitted during respective ranging transmission portions during the slot  128 . Since the network may control the allocation of the ranging portions of the slots, in some embodiments, the network may ignore ranging transmissions at base stations during certain slots since the network is aware that cellular communications are not to occur at those slots. 
     As previously noted, ranging using the ranging signals may use a wide-band sequence. For instance, the in-band resources for ranging may be allocated to span the full channel bandwidth as illustrated in  FIGS. 8 and 9 . However, although a wider band gives more details, wider bands have a reduced power spectral density and ranging to far ranges may be too far for the wider band. Instead, a narrower band (e.g., part of the bandwidth of the band) may be used. In other words, ranging may use only a portion of the channel bandwidth while a remainder of the bandwidth is used for cellular transmissions. For instance,  FIG. 10  illustrates a graph  160  illustrating that, during the slot  128 , some of the bandwidth is allocated to ranging for the ranging transmission portions  142 ,  144 ,  146 , and  148  and the ranging receiving portion  138 . Uplink bands  162  are provided using portions of the bandwidth in the slot  128  not allocated to ranging. Similarly, downlink banks  164  are provided using portions of the bandwidth in the slot  150  not allocated to ranging. 
     Although  FIGS. 8-10  illustrated a TTD system with uplink and downlink communications happening at different times in the same band, ranging may be performed in systems that are frequency-division duplexing (FDD). For instance,  FIG. 11  illustrates a graph of slots  172  and  174  with downlink subcarriers  176  operated in a first frequency band and uplink subcarriers  178  operating in a second frequency band. The first and second frequency bands are separated by a duplex gap  180 . As illustrated, the first frequency band may contain frequencies that are lower than those in the second frequency band. Alternatively, the first frequency band may contain frequencies that are higher than those in the second frequency band. As illustrated, during the slots  172  and  174 , the downlink subcarriers  176  may be allocated to downlink communication portions  182  and  184 . Similarly, during the slot  172 , the uplink subcarriers  178  may be allocated to downlink communication portions  186 . During the slot  174 , the uplink subcarriers  178  may be allocated to a ranging transmission portion  136  and a ranging receiving portion  138 . Additionally or alternatively, the downlink subcarriers  176  may be allocated to ranging during the slot  174 . 
     As previously discussed, there may be insufficient time for transmission and receiving of the ranging signals to be completed during the same slot (e.g., slot  174 ).  FIG. 12  illustrates a graph  200  of allocations of the downlink subcarriers  176  in slots  172 ,  174 , and  202  with respective downlink portions  182 ,  184 , and  204 . The uplink subcarriers  178  in an FDD system with multiple users/electronic devices  10  allocated to transmit ranging signals during the ranging transmission portions  188 ,  206 ,  208 , and  210  during the slot  174 . The ranging receiving portion  190  is delayed until the slot  202 . Although the graph  200  illustrates the ranging transmission portions  188 ,  206 ,  208 , and  210  allocated for respective ranging devices in the slot  174 , in some embodiments, the ranging transmission portion  136  may be the only allocation in the slot  174  when the ranging receiving portion  190  is in a separate slot (e.g., the slot  174  or the slot  202 ). Additionally or alternatively, ranging may use the downlink subcarriers  176 . 
     As previously discussed, ranging may be performed using a narrower band than an entire bandwidth of carriers (e.g., the downlink subcarriers  176  and/or the uplink subcarriers  178 ).  FIG. 13  illustrates a graph  220  where the ranging transmission portions  188 ,  206 ,  208 , and  210  and the ranging receiving portion  190  use only a portion of the bandwidth of the subcarriers used (e.g., the uplink subcarriers  178 ). Thus, the uplink subcarriers  178  may be used for an uplink portion  222  in the slot  174  and for an uplink portion  224  in the slot  202 . Similarly, if the downlink subcarriers  176  are used for ranging, the downlink subcarriers  176  may be used for an downlink portion in one or more slots that also use the downlink subcarriers  176  to perform ranging via the electronic device  10 . 
     As previously discussed, ranging may be performed using the same band used for uplink and/or downlink communications in cellular networks. However, ranging may be performed by the electronic device  10  using a different band altogether. For instance, the different band may include a licensed or unlicensed spectrum that is separate from the subcarriers used in the cellular communications with the network. In a licensed spectrum, an operator (e.g., via a cellular network) may guarantee allocations to electronic devices  10 . For instance,  FIG. 14  illustrates a block diagram of a process  230  used by an electronic device  10  to interact with an operator to perform ranging in a licensed spectrum outside of the frequency bands used for uplink and downlink communications. The electronic device  10  receives an indication of an allocated portion (e.g., sub-slot) of ranging from an operator of the licensed spectrum (block  232 ). For instance, the indication may be a wireless network command received via a wireless network to which the electronic device  10  is connected. Furthermore, the indication may include an indication of a portion for ranging transmission (e.g., part of a slot) and an indication of a portion for ranging reception (e.g., part of a slot) for the electronic device  10 . Based on the indication, the electronic device  10  initiates ranging transmission using the allocated portion of ranging (block  234 ). The initiation of the ranging transmission may be set to occur some period of time after the indication is received. For example, the indication may indicate a start time for the ranging portion. For instance, the indication may include an indication of a slot and/or sub-slot for the electronic device to begin ranging procedures. This indication of a future allocation rather than an immediate ranging receiving portion may provide the electronic device sufficient switching time to activate the ranging carrier(s). Furthermore, if no other electronic devices  10  are in range of the electronic device  10 , the indication may include a command for the electronic device  10  to perform ranging at-will (at least until another ranging device is detected within proximity of the electronic device  10  and the command in rescinded with a subsequent command). 
     After completing the ranging transmission, the electronic device  10  receives ranging signal reflections that are reflected from objects in a ranging area around the electronic device  10  (block  236 ). In some embodiments, the electronic device  10  monitors for reflected ranging signals immediately after stopping ranging transmissions. Alternatively, the electronic device  10  may wait for an allocated time (e.g., ranging receiving portion  190 ) to begin monitoring for reflected ranging signals. This delay in monitoring may be used to avoid capturing other ranging devices transmitted ranging signals sent during a corresponding allocated portion for the other ranging devices. However, as discussed below, receiving ranging signals from other ranging devices may be used to provide various additional benefits, such as neighbor discovery and/or precise positioning of either ranging device. Once the reflected ranging signals are received, the electronic device  10  may perform object detection based on the received reflected ranging signals (block  238 ). The electronic device  10  may offload at least a portion of the reflected ranging signal processing to another computing device (e.g., a cloud-based processing system). 
       FIG. 15  illustrates a graph  240  where ranging is performed out-of-band with cellular communications in a licensed spectrum using TDD. The graph  240  illustrates an anchor carrier  242  used to perform cellular communications in a communication spectrum and that is used to setup a ranging carrier  244  used to perform ranging in a licensed spectrum. Here, the anchor carrier  242  includes subcarriers used to communicate with a cellular network. As illustrated, the spectrum of the ranging carrier  244  may include higher frequencies than the anchor carrier  242 . Alternatively, the spectrum of the ranging carrier  244  may include lower frequencies than the anchor carrier  242 . The graph  240  also illustrates slots  246 ,  248 ,  250 , and  252 . During downlink portions  256  and  258 , the anchor carrier  242  are allocated to downlink communications. During a flexible portion  260 , the anchor carrier  242  may be allocated to uplink and/or downlink communications. During an uplink portion  262 , the anchor carrier  242  may be allocated to uplink communications. At point  263 , an indication that ranging is to occur is received at the electronic device  10 . For instance, the indication may be included in a command from the wireless network to the electronic device  10  to begin ranging. The indication may specify a switching time to activate the ranging carrier  244 . This switching time may enable the electronic device  10  to align ranging with a beginning of a corresponding slot (e.g., the slot  252 ). The network may configure a switching time offset to accommodate any timing differences between the device and network in order to achieve synchronization in the ranging carrier. When multiple electronic devices  10  are allocated to perform ranging transmissions, the indication may include an indication of which portion of the slot  252  is to be used by the electronic device  10  for ranging transmissions. For example, the indication may indicate that the electronic device  10  is to transmit ranging signals during a ranging transmission portion  266  while other ranging devices are allocated to ranging transmission portions  268 ,  270 , and  272 . Each of the ranging devices then monitor for reflected ranging signals in a ranging receiving portion  274  for the ranging carrier  244 . Although the graph  240  includes ranging transmission and receiving in different slots, if numerology for the cellular network provides sufficient timing, the ranging transmission portion  266  and the ranging receiving portion  274  may occur in the same slot (e.g., the slot  252 ). 
     Furthermore, the  FIG. 15  is directed to a TDD system. However, the same anchor principles discussed in relation to  FIG. 15  may be used to perform ranging with a spectrum outside of respective uplink and downlink subcarriers in an FDD system. In an FDD system, the uplink carriers and/or the downlink carriers may be used as the anchor carrier to setup the ranging carrier  244 . 
       FIG. 16  illustrates a block diagram of a process  280  used by the electronic device  10  to perform ranging in an unlicensed spectrum outside of the frequency bands used for uplink and downlink communications. The electronic device  10  receives an indication of an allocated portion (e.g., sub-slot) of ranging from an operator of the licensed spectrum (block  282 ). For instance, the indication may be a wireless network command received via a wireless network to which the electronic device  10  is connected. Furthermore, the indication may include an indication of a portion to activate the ranging carrier  244  and initiate carrier sensing and collision avoidance procedure since no operator exists on the unlicensed band. Based on the indication, the electronic device  10  initiates the carrier sensing and collision avoidance procedure (block  284 ). The carrier sensing and collision avoidance procedure may include a carrier sensing or listen-before-talking (LBT) scheme where the electronic device  10  listens during a LBT portion before transmitting. The initiation of the LBT portion may be set to occur some period of time after the indication is received. For example, the indication may indicate a start time for the LBT portion. For instance, the indication may include an indication of one or more slot(s) for the LBT portion, a sub-slot for the electronic device  10  to begin ranging transmission during a slot, and/or a slot to begin monitoring for reflected ranging signal. This indication of a future initiation of the LBT portion may provide the electronic device sufficient switching time to activate the ranging carrier(s). Alternatively, the command may designate only the start and/or duration of the LBT portion, and the electronic devices  10  may attempt to initiate ranging after the LBT portion has lapsed. Regardless of whether the sub-slot for ranging transmission or the slot for ranging receiving is specified, if collision occurs for ranging transmissions during the LBT portion, the ranging transmission portion  266  may be delayed by a period of time. The period of time may be a set amount (e.g., a next slot) or a random amount of time. 
     Based on the indication and the results of the carrier sensing and collision avoidance procedure, the electronic device  10  initiates the ranging transmission using the allocated portion of ranging (block  286 ). As previously discussed, the initiation of the ranging transmission may be set to occur some period of time after the indication is received or set relative to the LBT portion. For example, the indication may indicate a relative start time for the ranging transmission portion relative to the indication and/or it may indicate a relative start time for the ranging transmission portion relative to the LBT portion. 
     After completing the ranging transmission, the electronic device  10  receives ranging signal reflections that are reflected from objects in a ranging area around the electronic device  10  (block  288 ). In some embodiments, the electronic device  10  monitors for reflected ranging signals immediately after stopping transmitting the ranging signals. Alternatively, the electronic device  10  may wait for an allocated time (e.g., ranging receiving portion  274 ) to begin monitoring for reflected ranging signals. This delay in monitoring may be used to avoid capturing other ranging devices&#39; transmitted ranging signals sent during corresponding allocated portions for the other ranging devices. Once the reflected ranging signals for the electronic device  10  are received, the electronic device  10  may perform object detection based on the received reflected ranging signals (block  238 ). The electronic device  10  may offload at least a portion of the reflected ranging signal processing to another computing device (e.g., a cloud-based processing system) via the cellular network and/or another wireless network. 
       FIG. 17  is a graph  296  where ranging is performed out-of-band with cellular communications in a licensed spectrum using TDD. The graph  296  is identical to the graph  240  except that the indication at time  263  causes the initiation of the LBT  298  since no operator guarantees that allocated slots are available to the ranging devices. 
     The foregoing discussion related to  FIGS. 8-17  relates to allocation of ranging resources. The ranging resources may then be configured by the electronic device  10  and/or the cellular network to which the electronic device  10  is connected. The cellular network may send commands to configure the radio resources in a periodic or aperiodic scheme. For example, the configuration commands may be transmitted at the time  263  when the command to perform ranging is transmitted. The configuration of the resources may be performed based on reports and/or events. For instance,  FIG. 18  is a block diagram of a process  310  that is used to perform radio resource configuration. The electronic device  10  and/or the network to which it is connected obtains a report (block  312 ). 
     The report may include a report about the electronic device  10 . For instance, the report may be request that ranging resources have been requested by the electronic device  10 . Additionally or alternatively, the report may be related to cellular communications (e.g., 5G NR), such as measurement reports related to cellular communications by the electronic device  10  with the cellular network, power headroom for cellular communications between the cellular network and the electronic device  10 , and the like. Additionally or alternatively, the report may be related to power availability in the electronic device  10 , such as an indication of battery level and/or whether a power save mode for the electronic device  10  has been engaged. In some embodiments, the report may be related to other network statistics, such as whether repeat requests are used in the communications by the cellular network (e.g., hybrid automatic repeat requests (HARQ)), cell capacity, and the like. 
     Based on the report, the electronic device  10  and/or the network, determines whether a parameter threshold is met for one or more parameters in the report (block  314 ). For instance, the electronic device  10  and/or the network may determine that the cell has available slots for ranging due to load being relatively low, the electronic device  10  communications with a cell not needing to be rebroadcast due to weak connections, and the like. This determination may be made based on the measurements from the electronic device  10 , other devices in the cellular network, and/or network statistics from the cellular network. Furthermore, the parameter may be related to an indication of whether the electronic device  10  has enough power to perform ranging and/or is set to a mode that is permitted to perform ranging. For instance, the parameter may include an indication of a battery level in the electronic device exceeding a threshold charge and/or an indication of that the electronic device  10  is not set to a power save mode and may not allocate ranging resources to the electronic device  10 . Based on the parameter, the network and/or the electronic device  10  configures the radio resources (block  316 ). The electronic device  10  then uses the radio resources to perform ranging as previously discussed in relation to  FIGS. 8-17 . 
     As previously noted, ranging resources may include frequency and/or time domain resources. Furthermore, the allocation of ranging resources may include frequency and/or time domain resources for a single ranging transmission and receiving opportunity, frequency and/or time domain resources for repeated transmission and receiving opportunities, or a combination thereof. The allocation of repeated ranging resources to the electronic device  10  may be based at least in part on device capabilities and/or on requested information by the electronic device. For example, the allocation of repeated ranging resources may be granted to an electronic device  10  toward a single target for enhanced resolution or robustness, toward multiple directions (assuming that the electronic device  10  performs beamforming) to obtain a range and spatial map around the electronic device  10 , and the like. Additionally, the allocation of repeated resources may be performed to provide a requested bandwidth of ranging signals to optimize a range/resolution tradeoff in ranging processing. Furthermore, the allocation may include a requested duration of receiving portion to optimize a depth of ranging resolution by providing additional time for reflected ranging signals to be received back at the electronic device  10 . 
     Although ranging may be used to detect objects in proximity to the electronic device  10 , ranging may also be used to identify the electronic device  10  to other devices and/or to identify other ranging devices to the electronic device  10 . Additionally or alternatively, proximity communication services can be enabled with the network-managed ranging and neighbor discovery using encoded ranging signals and/or side-link (SL) neighbor discovery. For example, the proximity communication services may include gigabit point-to-point transfers of digital media, location-based advertising, and the like.  FIG. 19  illustrates a diagram of a proximity communication system  330  that may be deployed with the network-managed ranging and neighbor discovery. Users  102  and  104  may have directions of travel with ranging signals  114  and  116 . These ranging signals  114  and  116  may be encoded or interwoven with neighbor discovery signals that enable shops  332  and  334  to serve up information to the users  102  and  104  using respective transmissions  336  and  338  based on the encoded discovery signals and/or neighbor discovery of the users  102  and  104 . For example, the shop  334  may send advertisements in the transmissions  338  to the user  104  based on a detected proximity of the user  104  to the shop  334 . Furthermore, this information may be dynamic based on the proximity of the user  103  to the shop  334 . For example, as the user  104  approaches the shop  334 , the advertisement may have one offer, but as the user  104  moves away from the shop or the ranging signals  114  are no longer pointed toward the shop  334  (in the case of beamforming), an advertising incentive (e.g., larger percentage savings on purchases) may increase to provide additional motivation to the user  104  to turn towards and enter the shop  334 . 
       FIG. 20  is a graph  340  of allocations of subcarriers during different slots using encoded ranging signals. The graph  340  may be similar to the graph  140  of  FIG. 9  except that the ranging transmission portions  142 ,  144 ,  146 , and  148  may be encoded with identifying code that identifies the respective ranging devices broadcasting the ranging signals. Each of these codes may be user-specific to a user using the respective ranging devices that enables a device receiving the signals to identify the ranging user and/or ranging device. To accommodate these codes in the ranging signals, one or more additional slots  342  may be allocated with respective one or more ranging receiving portions  344 . During both ranging receiving portions  138  and  344 , electronic devices  10  may be used to discover neighboring users by receiving their encoded ranging signals and/or SL sequences alternative to or in addition to ranging procedures. 
       FIG. 21  is a graph  350  of allocations of subcarriers using SL communications. SL communications (e.g., LTE Sidelink or similar SL communications in 5G) may enable the electronic devices  10  in a cellular network to communicate directly with each other without passing the SL communications through a base station of the cellular network. As illustrated, the graph  350  is similar to the graph  340  of  FIG. 20  except that the graph  350  includes SL sequences  352  and  354  embedded between the ranging transmission portions  142  and  146 . The network may still manage the assignment of the SL sequences  352  and  354 . The assignment of the SL sequences  352  and  352  to specific electronic devices  10  may be based on network load, network deployment, and/or capabilities of the various electronic devices  10 . The SL sequences  352  and  354  may be used to share location information between electronic devices  10 . For instance, location information may be directly encoded in the SL sequence. Additionally or alternatively, the SL sequence may provide verification information to the receiving electronic device  10  to obtain location information of the transmitting electronic device  10  from the network and/or a cloud using the verification information that indicates that the receiving and transmitting electronic devices  10  are within ranging proximity of each other. The location information may include a specific location of the transmitting electronic device  10  or may be a mere indication that the transmitting electronic device  10  is within a ranging location of the receiving electronic device  10 . 
     The user  102  may not want to share location information of his or her electronic device  10  to any other electronic device  10  within range. To enable the user  102  to allow some devices to access his or her location information while preventing other accessing the location, location information may only be shared with devices that have a shared security context with the ranging electronic device. 
       FIG. 22  is a diagram of a secured proximity communication services system  360 . The user  102  uses a ranging electronic device to send out the ranging signals  114  with an encoded ranging signal or along with a corresponding SL sequence. The encoding for the ranging signal or SL sequence  352  may be assigned to the electronic device of the user using an arbiter  362 . The arbiter  362  may include another electronic device in the cellular network and/or may include a cloud to which the electronic device of the user  102  may communicate. The ranging signals  114  may be received at respective electronic devices of a user  366 , a shop  368 , and a shop  370 . However, only the shop  370  has a shared security context  372  that enables the shop  370  to have access to location information about the user  102 . The user  366  and the shop  368  lack a shared security context with the user  102  and thus have a locked context  374  that prevents the user  366  and the shop  368  from accessing location information about the user  102 . In some embodiments, the arbiter  362  may be used to authenticate that the shop  370  is to have access to the location information. In some embodiments, the electronic device of the shop  370  has access to the location information directly from the SL sequence or encoded ranging signals using a key to decode the SL sequence and/or the encoded ranging signals. This key may be sent to the shop  370  from the arbiter  362  and/or the electronic device of the user  102 . 
       FIG. 23  is a block diagram of a process  380  that may be used by a receiving device that receives ranging signals from other devices proximal to the receiving device. At the antenna(s)  20  of the receiving device (e.g., electronic device  10 ), the receiving device receives a ranging signal (block  382 ). As previously discussed, this ranging signal may be encoded and/or be accompanied by an SL sequence. 
     The receiving device determines whether it has a security context with an electronic device sending the ranging signal (block  384 ). For instance, the shared security context may include a mutual authentication between the ranging electronic device and a receiving electronic device where the user  102  has granted the receiving electronic device access to location information through an application, such as a mobile friend tracking application. This mutual authentication may be then stored in a cloud storage. Additionally or alternatively, relevant information about the electronic device of the user  102  may be stored in the authenticated devices. For example, the receiving electronic device may have a table of encoded ranging codes stored locally that identify one or more ranging electronic devices. Additionally or alternatively, the receiving electronic device may have a key that is used to decode the encoded SL sequence and/or encoded ranging signals. In some embodiments, the receiving device may send the encoded SL sequence and/or encoded ranging signals to the arbiter  362  for approval that the receiving electronic device is to have access to the location information of the ranging electronic device. In certain of these embodiments, the receiving device may filter out codes other than those that the receiving device has previously been authorized and/or provided a security context before sending the encoded SL sequence and/or encoded ranging signals to the arbiter  362 . In either case, verification of the security context may be provided or denied to the receiving device in the form of providing or denying provision of location information of the ranging device to the receiving device. 
     The security context may also be used for categories of receiving devices. For example, the user  102  may opt into advertisements or other communications from vendors and/or opting out of advertisements or other communications from vendors. This opting in or out may be performed on grouped bases. For example, the user  102  may opt into advertisements from vendors having a certain type (e.g., shoe stores, computer stores, etc.) while opting out of advertisements of vendors having a different type (e.g., coffee shop, fast food, etc.). Additionally or alternatively, the user  102  may opt into or out of communications from specific vendors (e.g., the shop  368 ) irrespective of type of product offered by the vendors. Furthermore, this opting in or out may be performed for whole organizations or specific locations. For example, the user  102  may opt in/out on communications from a certain coffee store brand or may opt in/out for a single coffee store of that brand. 
     Categories of receiving devices may also include user interests. For example, the user  102  may opt into proximity detection for users having a common interest with the user  102 . For instance, the common interest may be selected through a social media application and/or a mobile friend tracking app. 
     If the security context exists between the receiving device and the ranging device, the receiving device may obtain proximity ranging information (block  386 ). The receiving device may hen use the obtained proximity ranging information (block  388 ). For example, the receiving device may share content (e.g., advertisements) or may log that the user has entered into proximity of the receiving device. For example, the ranging signals may be used by a vendor (e.g., a gym, movie theater) to track when users/subscribers have attended the vendor location. This tracked proximity may then be used to provide incentives (e.g., loyalty points) to the user  102  for coming into proximity of the receiving device and/or to incentivize future actions. 
     If no security context exists, the encoded ranging signals and/or the SL sequences may be discarded by the receiving device without accessing proximity/location information (block  390 ). When no security context exists, the ranging signals may not be used for proximity detection by the receiving devices, but the ranging device may still use the ranging signals to perform obstacle detection and tracking on receiving devices with no security context (e.g., the user  366  and the shop  368 ). 
     In addition to or alternative to using the SL sequences, a ranging device may embed enhanced positioning sequence (ePS) signals to one or more receiving devices.  FIG. 24  is a diagram of an ePS system  400  that uses ePS signals to provide ultra-high resolution positioning. For instance, the ePS signals may be included in the ranging signals  114 . For instance, the ePS signals between transmission portions like the SL sequences  352  and  354  are embedded between ranging transmission portions  142  and  146  in  FIG. 21 . Similar to the SL sequences, the ePSes may be assigned via the cellular network to which the ranging device is coupled. The network may assign ePSes based on network load, network deployment, capabilities of the ranging device, and/or other suitable parameters. When using high frequency bands (e.g., greater than 52.6 GHz), wide bandwidth may be available to licensed broadband services that enables high precision of the ePS signal, thereby enhancing the positioning accuracy for location-based content customization, such as advertising delivery. 
     The receiving devices of the user  104 , the shop  332 , and/or the shop  334  may know their own locations and may use the ePS signals along with their own locations with a high degree of certainty and precision. This is particularly useful when the receiving device is stationary, such as receiving devices located at the shop  332  and the shop  334 , since the location information may be precise and consistent. The network and/or the ranging device may leverage the stationary high-precision locations of the user  103 , the shop  332 , and/or the shop  334  to perform high-precision calculation of a location of the ranging device. Using the known positions and the ePS signals, the locations of the user  104 , the shop  332 , and/or the shop  334  may be used to “triangulate” the location of the user  102  using the user  104 , the shop  332 , and/or the shop  334  as reference nodes. Furthermore, although three receiving devices are illustrated in the ePS system  400 , similar triangulation techniques may be used with more or fewer receiving devices acting as reference nodes. The network may build a dynamic map of user&#39;s devices with the high-precision reference nodes and relative locations of the user&#39;s devices. 
     Using this precise location information, associated services may provide suitable information (e.g., advertisements) to enhance content delivery to specific locations to avoid “content pollution” due to mass delivery of the information (e.g., billboards) to anyone within a general proximity of the receiving device. This is especially true in high-density locations with heavy traffic (e.g., a mall). To pinpoint location-appropriate users, the delivered information may be kept private from users that are not within a specific location. Additionally or alternatively, users that do not satisfy requirements (e.g., opted into advertisements) may be excluded from the information. Furthermore, the ePS signals may be secured to only being accessible to receiving devices with a security context with the ranging device similar to the security context discussed in relation to encoded ranging signals and/or SL sequences previously discussed. 
       FIG. 25  is a flow diagram of using the ranging signals to manage transmissions of the cellular signals using the electronic device. For example, 5G NR beamformed signals may have a potential maximum permissible exposure (MPE) controlling how much certain objects (e.g., users) may be subjected to the waves carrying the cellular communications. The MPE may be an instantaneous amount of exposure and/or a cumulative amount of exposure over time. The ranging signals may be used for MPE applications with user proximity sensing managed by the network. For example,  FIG. 25  illustrates a process  420  that utilizes locations via ranging signals to manage beams according to locations and MPE levels. A ranging device (or cellular network) may determine a location of a user (block  422 ). For example, the user may be discovered using obstacle detection by the ranging device or the user&#39;s device, using neighbor discovery, using encoded ranging signals from the user&#39;s device, using an ePS-based map, and/or other location-determining procedures discussed herein. The location of the user may also include an expected position based on a direction and speed of travel of the user and/or the ranging device. 
     The network and/or the ranging device determines whether the determined location of the user is in the path of a potential beam to be used for communication between the network and the ranging device (block  424 ). If the determined location of the user is not in the path of the potential beam, the potential beam is used for cellular communications (block  426 ). However, if the determined location of the user is in the path of the potential beam, the network and/or the ranging device may determine whether the potential beam is likely to cause the user to be exposed to potential beam that causes the user to exceed the MPE (block  428 ). In situations where the MPE is over time, the determination may include determining whether additional usage of the potential beam will exceed the MPE. If the potential beam is not likely to cause exposure exceeding the MPE, the potential beam is used or continued to be used for cellular communications between the ranging device and the network. If the potential beam is likely to cause exposure exceeding the MPE, a new potential beam may be analyzed until a beam that satisfies MPE requirements is met (block  430 ). Furthermore, in some embodiments, multiple potential beams may be analyzed simultaneously with one of the beams selected for use in communicating between the network and the ranging device. The strongest beam that satisfies the MPE requirements may be selected from the multiple potential beams. However, if none of the potential beams satisfy the MPE requirements (and/or strength requirements), additional potential beams may be analyzed. 
     Although MPE processing has been discussed related to managing MPE due to cellular communications from the ranging device, other devices may use ranging information from the ranging device to manage MPE. For example, the network and/or other cellular devices may use a network map that maps ranging devices using ePS and managing MPE for formed beams based on locations of users and devices in the network map. 
     The specific embodiments described above have been shown by way of example, and it should be understood that these embodiments may be susceptible to various modifications and alternative forms. For example, the methods may be applied for embodiments having different numbers and/or locations for antennas, different groupings, and/or different networks. It should be further understood that the claims are not intended to be limited to the particular forms disclosed, but rather to cover all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the spirit and scope of this disclosure. 
     The techniques presented and claimed herein are referenced and applied to material objects and concrete examples of a practical nature that demonstrably improve the present technical field and, as such, are not abstract, intangible or purely theoretical. Further, if any claims appended to the end of this specification contain one or more elements designated as “means for [perform]ing [a function] . . . ” or “step for [perform]ing [a function] . . . ”, it is intended that such elements are to be interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f). However, for any claims containing elements designated in any other manner, it is intended that such elements are not to be interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f).

Metadata:
Filing Date: 20200319
Publication Date: 20220118
Grant Date: 20220118
Priority Date: 20190905
Inventors: IOFFE, ANATOLIY SERGEY
NABAR, ROHIT U.
VAZNY, RASTISLAV
Assignee: APPLE INC
CPC Classifications: [{"code": "H04W72/0453", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04W72/0446", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04W64/006", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "G01S13/87", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "G01S13/86", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "G01S13/10", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "G01S13/0209", "inventive": true, "first": true, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "G01S7/006", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04W74/0808", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04W72/0453", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "G01S13/0209", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "G01S13/86", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04L5/1469", "inventive": true, "first": true, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "G01S5/0273", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04L5/005", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04L5/0091", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "G01S13/87", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "G01S13/10", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "G01S7/006", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04W16/14", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04W64/006", "inventive": true, "first": true, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04W16/14", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "G01S5/0273", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04W74/0808", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04W72/0453", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04W64/006", "inventive": true, "first": true, "tree": "[]"}]
Family ID: 74851483