Joint index modulation and multiple input multiple output (MIMO) sensing in joint communication and sensing (JCS) systems

[0001] Aspects of the disclosure relate generally to wireless technologies.

[0002] Wireless communication systems have developed through various generations, including a first-generation analog wireless phone service (1G), a second-generation (2G) digital wireless phone service (including interim 2.5G and 2.75G networks), a third-generation (3G) high speed data, Internet-capable wireless service and a fourth-generation (4G) service (e.g., Long Term Evolution (LTE) or WiMax). There are presently many different types of wireless communication systems in use, including cellular and personal communications service (PCS) systems. Examples of known cellular systems include the cellular analog advanced mobile phone system (AMPS), and digital cellular systems based on code division multiple access (CDMA), frequency division multiple access (FDMA), time division multiple access (TDMA), the Global System for Mobile communications (GSM), etc.

[0003] A fifth generation (5G) wireless standard, referred to as New Radio (NR), enables higher data transfer speeds, greater numbers of connections, and better coverage, among other improvements. The 5G standard, according to the Next Generation Mobile Networks Alliance, is designed to provide higher data rates as compared to previous standards, more accurate positioning (e.g., based on reference signals for positioning (RS-P), such as downlink, uplink, or sidelink positioning reference signals (PRS)), and other technical enhancements. These enhancements, as well as the use of higher frequency bands, advances in PRS processes and technology, and high-density deployments for 5G, enable highly accurate 5G-based positioning.

[0004] The following presents a simplified summary relating to one or more aspects disclosed herein. Thus, the following summary should not be considered an extensive overview relating to all contemplated aspects, nor should the following summary be considered to identify key or critical elements relating to all contemplated aspects or to delineate the scope associated with any particular aspect. Accordingly, the following summary has the sole purpose to present certain concepts relating to one or more aspects relating to the mechanisms disclosed herein in a simplified form to precede the detailed description presented below.

[0005] In an aspect, a method of communication at a wireless device includes receiving assistance information for one or more index modulated sensing waveforms; receiving index modulated sensing signals, the index modulated sensing signals based on the one or more index modulated sensing waveforms; and processing the index modulated sensing signals using at least some of the assistance information.

[0006] In an aspect, a method of communication at a network entity includes transmitting assistance information for one or more index modulated sensing waveforms; and transmitting index modulated sensing signals using the one or more index modulated sensing waveforms.

[0007] In an aspect, a wireless device includes one or more memories; one or more transceivers; and one or more processors communicatively coupled to the one or more memories and the one or more transceivers, the one or more processors, either alone or in combination, configured to: receive, via the one or more transceivers, assistance information for one or more index modulated sensing waveforms; receive, via the one or more transceivers, index modulated sensing signals, the index modulated sensing signals based on the one or more index modulated sensing waveforms; and process the index modulated sensing signals using at least some of the assistance information.

[0008] In an aspect, a network entity includes one or more memories; one or more transceivers; and one or more processors communicatively coupled to the one or more memories and the one or more transceivers, the one or more processors, either alone or in combination, configured to: transmit, via the one or more transceivers, assistance information for one or more index modulated sensing waveforms; and transmit, via the one or more transceivers, index modulated sensing signals using the one or more index modulated sensing waveforms.

[0009] In an aspect, a wireless device includes means for receiving assistance information for one or more index modulated sensing waveforms; means for receiving index modulated sensing signals, the index modulated sensing signals based on the one or more index modulated sensing waveforms; and means for processing the index modulated sensing signals using at least some of the assistance information.

[0010] In an aspect, a network entity includes means for transmitting assistance information for one or more index modulated sensing waveforms; and means for transmitting index modulated sensing signals using the one or more index modulated sensing waveforms.

[0011] In an aspect, a non-transitory computer-readable medium stores computer-executable instructions that, when executed by a wireless device, cause the wireless device to: receive assistance information for one or more index modulated sensing waveforms; receive index modulated sensing signals, the index modulated sensing signals based on the one or more index modulated sensing waveforms; and process the index modulated sensing signals using at least some of the assistance information.

[0012] In an aspect, a non-transitory computer-readable medium stores computer-executable instructions that, when executed by a network entity, cause the network entity to: transmit assistance information for one or more index modulated sensing waveforms; and transmit index modulated sensing signals using the one or more index modulated sensing waveforms.

[0013] Other objects and advantages associated with the aspects disclosed herein will be apparent to those skilled in the art based on the accompanying drawings and detailed description.

[0023] Aspects of the disclosure are provided in the following description and related drawings directed to various examples provided for illustration purposes. Alternate aspects may be devised without departing from the scope of the disclosure. Additionally, well-known elements of the disclosure will not be described in detail or will be omitted so as not to obscure the relevant details of the disclosure.

[0024] Various aspects relate generally to joint communication and sensing. Some aspects more specifically relate to index modulation of sensing waveforms. In some examples, sensing waveforms can be index modulated to communicate information.

[0025] Particular aspects of the subject matter described in this disclosure can be implemented to realize one or more of the following potential advantages. In some examples, assistance information can enable accurate processing of the index modulated waveforms by communication receivers. Index modulated sensing signals may be particularly useful for downlink communication to multiple user equipments (UEs); for example, for broadcast signals, control signals, and paging signals. Additionally, disclosed techniques for channel estimation may be particularly beneficial in challenging environments.

[0026] The words “exemplary” and/or “example” are used herein to mean “serving as an example, instance, or illustration.” Any aspect described herein as “exemplary” and/or “example” is not necessarily to be construed as preferred or advantageous over other aspects. Likewise, the term “aspects of the disclosure” does not require that all aspects of the disclosure include the discussed feature, advantage or mode of operation.

[0027] Those of skill in the art will appreciate that the information and signals described below may be represented using any of a variety of different technologies and techniques. For example, data, instructions, commands, information, signals, bits, symbols, and chips that may be referenced throughout the description below may be represented by voltages, currents, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or particles, optical fields or particles, or any combination thereof, depending in part on the particular application, in part on the desired design, in part on the corresponding technology, etc.

[0028] Further, many aspects are described in terms of sequences of actions to be performed by, for example, elements of a computing device. It will be recognized that various actions described herein can be performed by specific circuits (e.g., application specific integrated circuits (ASICs)), by program instructions being executed by one or more processors, or by a combination of both. Additionally, the sequence(s) of actions described herein can be considered to be embodied entirely within any form of non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having stored therein a corresponding set of computer instructions that, upon execution, would cause or instruct an associated processor of a device to perform the functionality described herein. Thus, the various aspects of the disclosure may be embodied in a number of different forms, all of which have been contemplated to be within the scope of the claimed subject matter. In addition, for each of the aspects described herein, the corresponding form of any such aspects may be described herein as, for example, “logic configured to” perform the described action.

[0029] As used herein, the terms “user equipment” (UE) and “base station” are not intended to be specific or otherwise limited to any particular radio access technology (RAT), unless otherwise noted. In general, a UE may be any wireless communication device (e.g., a mobile phone, router, tablet computer, laptop computer, consumer asset locating device, wearable (e.g., smartwatch, glasses, augmented reality (AR)/virtual reality (VR) headset, etc.), vehicle (e.g., automobile, motorcycle, bicycle, etc.), Internet of Things (IoT) device, etc.) used by a user to communicate over a wireless communications network. A UE may be mobile or may (e.g., at certain times) be stationary, and may communicate with a radio access network (RAN). As used herein, the term “UE” may be referred to interchangeably as an “access terminal” or “AT,” a “client device,” a “wireless device,” a “subscriber device,” a “subscriber terminal,” a “subscriber station,” a “user terminal” or “UT,” a “mobile device,” a “mobile terminal,” a “mobile station,” or variations thereof. Generally, UEs can communicate with a core network via a RAN, and through the core network the UEs can be connected with external networks such as the Internet and with other UEs. Of course, other mechanisms of connecting to the core network and/or the Internet are also possible for the UEs, such as over wired access networks, wireless local area network (WLAN) networks (e.g., based on the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 specification, etc.) and so on.

[0030] A base station may operate according to one of several RATs in communication with UEs depending on the network in which it is deployed, and may be alternatively referred to as an access point (AP), a network node, a NodeB, an evolved NodeB (eNB), a next generation eNB (ng-eNB), a New Radio (NR) Node B (also referred to as a gNB or gNodeB), etc. A base station may be used primarily to support wireless access by UEs, including supporting data, voice, and/or signaling connections for the supported UEs. In some systems a base station may provide purely edge node signaling functions while in other systems it may provide additional control and/or network management functions. A communication link through which UEs can send signals to a base station is called an uplink (UL) channel (e.g., a reverse traffic channel, a reverse control channel, an access channel, etc.). A communication link through which the base station can send signals to UEs is called a downlink (DL) or forward link channel (e.g., a paging channel, a control channel, a broadcast channel, a forward traffic channel, etc.). As used herein the term traffic channel (TCH) can refer to either an uplink/reverse or downlink/forward traffic channel.

[0031] The term “base station” may refer to a single physical transmission-reception point (TRP) or to multiple physical TRPs that may or may not be co-located. For example, where the term “base station” refers to a single physical TRP, the physical TRP may be an antenna of the base station corresponding to a cell (or several cell sectors) of the base station. Where the term “base station” refers to multiple co-located physical TRPs, the physical TRPs may be an array of antennas (e.g., as in a multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) system or where the base station employs beamforming) of the base station. Where the term “base station” refers to multiple non-co-located physical TRPs, the physical TRPs may be a distributed antenna system (DAS) (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 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.

[0032] In some implementations that support positioning of UEs, a base station may not support wireless access by UEs (e.g., may not support data, voice, and/or signaling connections for UEs), but may instead transmit reference signals to UEs to be measured by the UEs, and/or may receive and measure signals transmitted by the UEs. Such a base station may be referred to as a positioning beacon (e.g., when transmitting signals to UEs) and/or as a location measurement unit (e.g., when receiving and measuring signals from UEs).

[0033] An “RF signal” comprises an electromagnetic wave of a given frequency that transports information through the space between a transmitter and a receiver. As used herein, a transmitter may transmit a single “RF signal” or multiple “RF signals” to a receiver. However, the receiver may receive multiple “RF signals” corresponding to each transmitted RF signal due to the propagation characteristics of RF signals through multipath channels. The same transmitted RF signal on different paths between the transmitter and receiver may be referred to as a “multipath” RF signal. As used herein, an RF signal may also be referred to as a “wireless signal” or simply a “signal” where it is clear from the context that the term “signal” refers to a wireless signal or an RF signal.

[0034] FIG. 1 illustrates an example wireless communications system 100, according to aspects of the disclosure. The wireless communications system 100 (which may also be referred to as a wireless wide area network (WWAN)) may include various base stations 102 (labeled “BS”) and various UEs 104. The base stations 102 may include macro cell base stations (high power cellular base stations) and/or small cell base stations (low power cellular base stations). In an aspect, the macro cell base stations may include eNBs and/or ng-eNBs where the wireless communications system 100 corresponds to an LTE network, or gNBs where the wireless communications system 100 corresponds to a NR network, or a combination of both, and the small cell base stations may include femtocells, picocells, microcells, etc.

[0035] The base stations 102 may collectively form a RAN and interface with a core network 170 (e.g., an evolved packet core (EPC) or a 5G core (5GC)) through backhaul links 122, and through the core network 170 to one or more location servers 172 (e.g., a location management function (LMF) or a secure user plane location (SUPL) location platform (SLP)). The location server(s) 172 may be part of core network 170 or may be external to core network 170. A location server 172 may be integrated with a base station 102. A UE 104 may communicate with a location server 172 directly or indirectly. For example, a UE 104 may communicate with a location server 172 via the base station 102 that is currently serving that UE 104. A UE 104 may also communicate with a location server 172 through another path, such as via an application server (not shown), via another network, such as via a wireless local area network (WLAN) access point (AP) (e.g., AP 150 described below), and so on. For signaling purposes, communication between a UE 104 and a location server 172 may be represented as an indirect connection (e.g., through the core network 170, etc.) or a direct connection (e.g., as shown via direct connection 128), with the intervening nodes (if any) omitted from a signaling diagram for clarity.

[0036] In addition to other functions, the base stations 102 may perform functions that relate to one or more of transferring user data, radio channel ciphering and deciphering, integrity protection, header compression, mobility control functions (e.g., handover, dual connectivity), inter-cell interference coordination, connection setup and release, load balancing, distribution for non-access stratum (NAS) messages, NAS node selection, synchronization, RAN sharing, multimedia broadcast multicast service (MBMS), subscriber and equipment trace, RAN information management (RIM), paging, positioning, and delivery of warning messages. The base stations 102 may communicate with each other directly or indirectly (e.g., through the EPC/5GC) over backhaul links 134, which may be wired or wireless.

[0037] The base stations 102 may wirelessly communicate with the UEs 104. Each of the base stations 102 may provide communication coverage for a respective geographic coverage area 110. In an aspect, one or more cells may be supported by a base station 102 in each geographic coverage area 110. A “cell” is a logical communication entity used for communication with a base station (e.g., over some frequency resource, referred to as a carrier frequency, component carrier, carrier, band, or the like), and may be associated with an identifier (e.g., a physical cell identifier (PCI), an enhanced cell identifier (ECI), a virtual cell identifier (VCI), a cell global identifier (CGI), etc.) for distinguishing cells operating via the same or a different carrier frequency. In some cases, different cells may be configured according to different protocol types (e.g., machine-type communication (MTC), narrowband IoT (NB-IoT), enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB), or others) that may provide access for different types of UEs. Because a cell is supported by a specific base station, the term “cell” may refer to either or both of the logical communication entity and the base station that supports it, depending on the context. In addition, because a TRP is typically the physical transmission point of a cell, the terms “cell” and “TRP” may be used interchangeably. In some cases, the term “cell” may also refer to a geographic coverage area of a base station (e.g., a sector), insofar as a carrier frequency can be detected and used for communication within some portion of geographic coverage areas 110.

[0038] While neighboring macro cell base station 102 geographic coverage areas 110 may partially overlap (e.g., in a handover region), some of the geographic coverage areas 110 may be substantially overlapped by a larger geographic coverage area 110. For example, a small cell base station 102′ (labeled “SC” for “small cell”) may have a geographic coverage area 110′ that substantially overlaps with the geographic coverage area 110 of one or more macro cell base stations 102. A network that includes both small cell and macro cell base stations may be known as a heterogeneous network. A heterogeneous network may also include home eNBs (HeNBs), which may provide service to a restricted group known as a closed subscriber group (CSG).

[0039] The communication links 120 between the base stations 102 and the UEs 104 may include uplink (also referred to as reverse link) transmissions from a UE 104 to a base station 102 and/or downlink (DL) (also referred to as forward link) transmissions from a base station 102 to a UE 104. The communication links 120 may use MIMO antenna technology, including spatial multiplexing, beamforming, and/or transmit diversity. The communication links 120 may be through one or more carrier frequencies. Allocation of carriers may be asymmetric with respect to downlink and uplink (e.g., more or less carriers may be allocated for downlink than for uplink).

[0040] The wireless communications system 100 may further include a wireless local area network (WLAN) access point (AP) 150 in communication with WLAN stations (STAs) 152 via communication links 154 in an unlicensed frequency spectrum (e.g., 5 GHz). When communicating in an unlicensed frequency spectrum, the WLAN STAs 152 and/or the WLAN AP 150 may perform a clear channel assessment (CCA) or listen before talk (LBT) procedure prior to communicating in order to determine whether the channel is available.

[0041] The small cell base station 102′ may operate in a licensed and/or an unlicensed frequency spectrum. When operating in an unlicensed frequency spectrum, the small cell base station 102′ may employ LTE or NR technology and use the same 5 GHz unlicensed frequency spectrum as used by the WLAN AP 150. The small cell base station 102′, employing LTE/5G in an unlicensed frequency spectrum, may boost coverage to and/or increase capacity of the access network. NR in unlicensed spectrum may be referred to as NR-U. LTE in an unlicensed spectrum may be referred to as LTE-U, licensed assisted access (LAA), or MULTEFIRE®.

[0042] The wireless communications system 100 may further include a millimeter wave (mmW) base station 180 that may operate in mmW frequencies and/or near mmW frequencies in communication with a UE 182. Extremely high frequency (EHF) is part of the RF in the electromagnetic spectrum. EHF has a range of 30 GHz to 300 GHz and a wavelength between 1 millimeter and 10 millimeters. Radio waves in this band may be referred to as a millimeter wave. Near mmW may extend down to a frequency of 3 GHz with a wavelength of 100 millimeters. The super high frequency (SHF) band extends between 3 GHz and 30 GHz, also referred to as centimeter wave. Communications using the mmW/near mmW radio frequency band have high path loss and a relatively short range. The mmW base station 180 and the UE 182 may utilize beamforming (transmit and/or receive) over a mmW communication link 184 to compensate for the extremely high path loss and short range. Further, it will be appreciated that in alternative configurations, one or more base stations 102 may also transmit using mmW or near mmW and beamforming. Accordingly, it will be appreciated that the foregoing illustrations are merely examples and should not be construed to limit the various aspects disclosed herein.

[0043] Transmit beamforming is a technique for focusing an RF signal in a specific direction. Traditionally, when a network node (e.g., a base station) broadcasts an RF signal, it broadcasts the signal in all directions (omni-directionally). With transmit beamforming, the network node determines where a given target device (e.g., a UE) is located (relative to the transmitting network node) and projects a stronger downlink RF signal in that specific direction, thereby providing a faster (in terms of data rate) and stronger RF signal for the receiving device(s). To change the directionality of the RF signal when transmitting, a network node can control the phase and relative amplitude of the RF signal at each of the one or more transmitters that are broadcasting the RF signal. For example, a network node may use an array of antennas (referred to as a “phased array” or an “antenna array”) that creates a beam of RF waves that can be “steered” to point in different directions, without actually moving the antennas. Specifically, the RF current from the transmitter is fed to the individual antennas with the correct phase relationship so that the radio waves from the separate antennas add together to increase the radiation in a desired direction, while cancelling to suppress radiation in undesired directions.

[0044] Transmit beams may be quasi-co-located, meaning that they appear to the receiver (e.g., a UE) as having the same parameters, regardless of whether or not the transmitting antennas of the network node themselves are physically co-located. In NR, there are four types of quasi-co-location (QCL) relations. Specifically, a QCL relation of a given type means that certain parameters about a second reference RF signal on a second beam can be derived from information about a source reference RF signal on a source beam. Thus, if the source reference RF signal is QCL Type A, the receiver can use the source reference RF signal to estimate the Doppler shift, Doppler spread, average delay, and delay spread of a second reference RF signal transmitted on the same channel. If the source reference RF signal is QCL Type B, the receiver can use the source reference RF signal to estimate the Doppler shift and Doppler spread of a second reference RF signal transmitted on the same channel. If the source reference RF signal is QCL Type C, the receiver can use the source reference RF signal to estimate the Doppler shift and average delay of a second reference RF signal transmitted on the same channel. If the source reference RF signal is QCL Type D, the receiver can use the source reference RF signal to estimate the spatial receive parameter of a second reference RF signal transmitted on the same channel.

[0045] In receive beamforming, the receiver uses a receive beam to amplify RF signals detected on a given channel. For example, the receiver can increase the gain setting and/or adjust the phase setting of an array of antennas in a particular direction to amplify (e.g., to increase the gain level of) the RF signals received from that direction. Thus, when a receiver is said to beamform in a certain direction, it means the beam gain in that direction is high relative to the beam gain along other directions, or the beam gain in that direction is the highest compared to the beam gain in that direction of all other receive beams available to the receiver. This results in a stronger received signal strength (e.g., reference signal received power (RSRP), reference signal received quality (RSRQ), signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR), etc.) of the RF signals received from that direction.

[0046] Transmit and receive beams may be spatially related. A spatial relation means that parameters for a second beam (e.g., a transmit or receive beam) for a second reference signal can be derived from information about a first beam (e.g., a receive beam or a transmit beam) for a first reference signal. For example, a UE may use a particular receive beam to receive a reference downlink reference signal (e.g., synchronization signal block (SSB)) from a base station. The UE can then form a transmit beam for sending an uplink reference signal (e.g., sounding reference signal (SRS) to that base station based on the parameters of the receive beam.

[0047] Note that a “downlink” beam may be either a transmit beam or a receive beam, depending on the entity forming it. For example, if a base station is forming the downlink beam to transmit a reference signal to a UE, the downlink beam is a transmit beam. If the UE is forming the downlink beam, however, it is a receive beam to receive the downlink reference signal. Similarly, an “uplink” beam may be either a transmit beam or a receive beam, depending on the entity forming it. For example, if a base station is forming the uplink beam, it is an uplink receive beam, and if a UE is forming the uplink beam, it is an uplink transmit beam.

[0048] The electromagnetic spectrum is often subdivided, based on frequency/wavelength, into various classes, bands, channels, etc. In 5G NR two initial operating bands have been identified as frequency range designations FR1 (410 MHz-7.125 GHz) and FR2 (24.25 GHz-52.6 GHz). It should be understood that although a portion of FR1 is greater than 6 GHz, FR1 is often referred to (interchangeably) as a “Sub-6 GHz” band in various documents and articles. A similar nomenclature issue sometimes occurs with regard to FR2, which is often referred to (interchangeably) as a “millimeter wave” band in documents and articles, despite being different from the extremely high frequency (EHF) band (30 GHz-300 GHz) which is identified by the INTERNATIONAL TELECOMMUNICATION UNION® as a “millimeter wave” band.

[0049] The frequencies between FR1 and FR2 are often referred to as mid-band frequencies. Recent 5G NR studies have identified an operating band for these mid-band frequencies as frequency range designation FR3 (7.125 GHz-24.25 GHz). Frequency bands falling within FR3 may inherit FR1 characteristics and/or FR2 characteristics, and thus may effectively extend features of FR1 and/or FR2 into mid-band frequencies. In addition, higher frequency bands are currently being explored to extend 5G NR operation beyond 52.6 GHz. For example, three higher operating bands have been identified as frequency range designations FR4a or FR4-1 (52.6 GHz-71 GHz), FR4 (52.6 GHz-114.25 GHz), and FR5 (114.25 GHz-300 GHz). Each of these higher frequency bands falls within the EHF band.

[0050] With the above aspects in mind, unless specifically stated otherwise, it should be understood that the term “sub-6 GHz” or the like if used herein may broadly represent frequencies that may be less than 6 GHz, may be within FR1, or may include mid-band frequencies. Further, unless specifically stated otherwise, it should be understood that the term “millimeter wave” or the like if used herein may broadly represent frequencies that may include mid-band frequencies, may be within FR2, FR4, FR4-a or FR4-1, and/or FR5, or may be within the EHF band.

[0051] In a multi-carrier system, such as 5G, one of the carrier frequencies is referred to as the “primary carrier” or “anchor carrier” or “primary serving cell” or “PCell,” and the remaining carrier frequencies are referred to as “secondary carriers” or “secondary serving cells” or “SCells.” In carrier aggregation, the anchor carrier is the carrier operating on the primary frequency (e.g., FR1) utilized by a UB 104/182 and the cell in which the UE 104/182 either performs the initial radio resource control (RRC) connection establishment procedure or initiates the RRC connection re-establishment procedure. The primary carrier carries all common and UE-specific control channels, and may be a carrier in a licensed frequency (however, this is not always the case). A secondary carrier is a carrier operating on a second frequency (e.g., FR2) that may be configured once the RRC connection is established between the UE 104 and the anchor carrier and that may be used to provide additional radio resources. In some cases, the secondary carrier may be a carrier in an unlicensed frequency. The secondary carrier may contain only necessary signaling information and signals, for example, those that are UE-specific may not be present in the secondary carrier, since both primary uplink and downlink carriers are typically UE-specific. This means that different UEs 104/182 in a cell may have different downlink primary carriers. The same is true for the uplink primary carriers. The network is able to change the primary carrier of any UE 104/182 at any time. This is done, for example, to balance the load on different carriers. Because a “serving cell” (whether a PCell or an SCell) corresponds to a carrier frequency/component carrier over which some base station is communicating, the term “cell,” “serving cell,” “component carrier,” “carrier frequency,” and the like can be used interchangeably.

[0052] For example, still referring to FIG. 1, one of the frequencies utilized by the macro cell base stations 102 may be an anchor carrier (or “PCell”) and other frequencies utilized by the macro cell base stations 102 and/or the mmW base station 180 may be secondary carriers (“SCells”). The simultaneous transmission and/or reception of multiple carriers enables the UE 104/182 to significantly increase its data transmission and/or reception rates. For example, two 20 MHz aggregated carriers in a multi-carrier system would theoretically lead to a two-fold increase in data rate (i.e., 40 MHz), compared to that attained by a single 20 MHz carrier.

[0053] The wireless communications system 100 may further include a UE 164 that may communicate with a macro cell base station 102 over a communication link 120 and/or the mmW base station 180 over a mmW communication link 184. For example, the macro cell base station 102 may support a PCell and one or more SCells for the UE 164 and the mmW base station 180 may support one or more SCells for the UE 164.

[0054] In some cases, the UE 164 and the UE 182 may be capable of sidelink communication. Sidelink-capable UEs (SL-UEs) may communicate with base stations 102 over communication links 120 using the Uu interface (i.e., the air interface between a UE and a base station). SL-UEs (e.g., UE 164, UE 182) may also communicate directly with each other over a wireless sidelink 160 using the PC5 interface (i.e., the air interface between sidelink-capable UEs). A wireless sidelink (or just “sidelink”) is an adaptation of the core cellular (e.g., LTE, NR) standard that allows direct communication between two or more UEs without the communication needing to go through a base station. Sidelink communication may be unicast or multicast, and may be used for device-to-device (D2D) media-sharing, vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communication, vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communication (e.g., cellular V2X (cV2X) communication, enhanced V2X (eV2X) communication, etc.), emergency rescue applications, etc. One or more of a group of SL-UEs utilizing sidelink communications may be within the geographic coverage area 110 of a base station 102. Other SL-UEs in such a group may be outside the geographic coverage area 110 of a base station 102 or be otherwise unable to receive transmissions from a base station 102. In some cases, groups of SL-UEs communicating via sidelink communications may utilize a one-to-many (1:M) system in which each SL-UE transmits to every other SL-UE in the group. In some cases, a base station 102 facilitates the scheduling of resources for sidelink communications. In other cases, sidelink communications are carried out between SL-UEs without the involvement of a base station 102.

[0055] In an aspect, the sidelink 160 may operate over a wireless communication medium of interest, which may be shared with other wireless communications between other vehicles and/or infrastructure access points, as well as other RATs. A “medium” may be composed of one or more time, frequency, and/or space communication resources (e.g., encompassing one or more channels across one or more carriers) associated with wireless communication between one or more transmitter/receiver pairs. In an aspect, the medium of interest may correspond to at least a portion of an unlicensed frequency band shared among various RATs. Although different licensed frequency bands have been reserved for certain communication systems (e.g., by a government entity such as the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in the United States), these systems, in particular those employing small cell access points, have recently extended operation into unlicensed frequency bands such as the Unlicensed National Information Infrastructure (U-NII) band used by wireless local area network (WLAN) technologies, most notably IEEE 802.11x WLAN technologies generally referred to as “Wi-Fi.” Example systems of this type include different variants of CDMA systems, TDMA systems, FDMA systems, orthogonal FDMA (OFDMA) systems, single-carrier FDMA (SC-FDMA) systems, and so on.

[0056] Note that although FIG. 1 only illustrates two of the UEs as SL-UEs (i.e., UEs 164 and 182), any of the illustrated UEs may be SL-UEs. Further, although only UE 182 was described as being capable of beamforming, any of the illustrated UEs, including UE 164, may be capable of beamforming. Where SL-UEs are capable of beamforming, they may beamform towards each other (i.e., towards other SL-UEs), towards other UEs (e.g., UEs 104), towards base stations (e.g., base stations 102, 180, small cell 102′, access point 150), etc. Thus, in some cases, UEs 164 and 182 may utilize beamforming over sidelink 160.

[0057] In the example of FIG. 1, any of the illustrated UEs (shown in FIG. 1 as a single UE 104 for simplicity) may receive signals 124 from one or more Earth orbiting space vehicles (SVs) 112 (e.g., satellites). In an aspect, the SVs 112 may be part of a satellite positioning system that a UE 104 can use as an independent source of location information. A satellite positioning system typically includes a system of transmitters (e.g., SVs 112) positioned to enable receivers (e.g., UEs 104) to determine their location on or above the Earth based, at least in part, on positioning signals (e.g., signals 124) received from the transmitters. Such a transmitter typically transmits a signal marked with a repeating pseudo-random noise (PN) code of a set number of chips. While typically located in SVs 112, transmitters may sometimes be located on ground-based control stations, base stations 102, and/or other UEs 104. A UE 104 may include one or more dedicated receivers specifically designed to receive signals 124 for deriving geo location information from the SVs 112.

[0058] In a satellite positioning system, the use of signals 124 can be augmented by various satellite-based augmentation systems (SBAS) that may be associated with or otherwise enabled for use with one or more global and/or regional navigation satellite systems. For example an SBAS may include an augmentation system(s) that provides integrity information, differential corrections, etc., such as the Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS), the European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service (EGNOS), the Multi-functional Satellite Augmentation System (MSAS), the Global Positioning System (GPS) Aided Geo Augmented Navigation or GPS and Geo Augmented Navigation system (GAGAN), and/or the like. Thus, as used herein, a satellite positioning system may include any combination of one or more global and/or regional navigation satellites associated with such one or more satellite positioning systems.

[0059] In an aspect, SVs 112 may additionally or alternatively be part of one or more non-terrestrial networks (NTNs). In an NIN, an SV 112 is connected to an earth station (also referred to as a ground station, NTN gateway, or gateway), which in turn is connected to an element in a 5G network, such as a modified base station 102 (without a terrestrial antenna) or a network node in a 5GC. This element would in turn provide access to other elements in the 5G network and ultimately to entities external to the 5G network, such as Internet web servers and other user devices. In that way, a UE 104 may receive communication signals (e.g., signals 124) from an SV 112 instead of, or in addition to, communication signals from a terrestrial base station 102.

[0060] 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®, BLUETOOTH®, and so on.

[0061] FIG. 2A illustrates an example wireless network structure 200. For example, a 5GC 210 (also referred to as a Next Generation Core (NGC)) can be viewed functionally as control plane (C-plane) functions 214 (e.g., UE registration, authentication, network access, gateway selection, etc.) and user plane (U-plane) functions 212, (e.g., UE gateway function, access to data networks, IP routing, etc.) which operate cooperatively to form the core network. User plane interface (NG-U) 213 and control plane interface (NG-C) 215 connect the gNB 222 to the 5GC 210 and specifically to the user plane functions 212 and control plane functions 214, respectively. In an additional configuration, an ng-eNB 224 may also be connected to the 5GC 210 via NG-C 215 to the control plane functions 214 and NG-U 213 to user plane functions 212. Further, ng-eNB 224 may directly communicate with gNB 222 via a backhaul connection 223. In some configurations, a Next Generation RAN (NG-RAN) 220 may have one or more gNBs 222, while other configurations include one or more of both ng-eNBs 224 and gNBs 222. Either (or both) gNB 222 or ng-eNB 224 may communicate with one or more UEs 204 (e.g., any of the UEs described herein).

[0062] Another optional aspect may include a location server 230, which may be in communication with the 5GC 210 to provide location assistance for UE(s) 204. The location server 230 can be implemented as a plurality of separate servers (e.g., physically separate servers, different software modules on a single server, different software modules spread across multiple physical servers, etc.), or alternately may each correspond to a single server. The location server 230 can be configured to support one or more location services for UEs 204 that can connect to the location server 230 via the core network, 5GC 210, and/or via the Internet (not illustrated). Further, the location server 230 may be integrated into a component of the core network, or alternatively may be external to the core network (e.g., a third party server, such as an original equipment manufacturer (OEM) server or service server).

[0063] FIG. 2B illustrates another example wireless network structure 240. A 5GC 260 (which may correspond to 5GC 210 in FIG. 2A) can be viewed functionally as control plane functions, provided by an access and mobility management function (AMF) 264, and user plane functions, provided by a user plane function (UPF) 262, which operate cooperatively to form the core network (i.e., 5GC 260). The functions of the AMF 264 include registration management, connection management, reachability management, mobility management, lawful interception, transport for session management (SM) messages between one or more UEs 204 (e.g., any of the UEs described herein) and a session management function (SMF) 266, transparent proxy services for routing SM messages, access authentication and access authorization, transport for short message service (SMS) messages between the UE 204 and the short message service function (SMSF) (not shown), and security anchor functionality (SEAF). The AMF 264 also interacts with an authentication server function (AUSF) (not shown) and the UE 204, and receives the intermediate key that was established as a result of the UE 204 authentication process. In the case of authentication based on a UMTS (universal mobile telecommunications system) subscriber identity module (USIM), the AMF 264 retrieves the security material from the AUSF. The functions of the AMF 264 also include security context management (SCM). The SCM receives a key from the SEAF that it uses to derive access-network specific keys. The functionality of the AMF 264 also includes location services management for regulatory services, transport for location services messages between the UE 204 and a location management function (LMF) 270 (which acts as a location server 230), transport for location services messages between the NG-RAN 220 and the LMF 270, evolved packet system (EPS) bearer identifier allocation for interworking with the EPS, and UE 204 mobility event notification. In addition, the AMF 264 also supports functionalities for non-3GPP® (Third Generation Partnership Project) access networks.

[0064] Functions of the UPF 262 include acting as an anchor point for intra/inter-RAT mobility (when applicable), acting as an external protocol data unit (PDU) session point of interconnect to a data network (not shown), providing packet routing and forwarding, packet inspection, user plane policy rule enforcement (e.g., gating, redirection, traffic steering), lawful interception (user plane collection), traffic usage reporting, quality of service (QOS) handling for the user plane (e.g., uplink/downlink rate enforcement, reflective QoS marking in the downlink), uplink traffic verification (service data flow (SDF) to QoS flow mapping), transport level packet marking in the uplink and downlink, downlink packet buffering and downlink data notification triggering, and sending and forwarding of one or more “end markers” to the source RAN node. The UPF 262 may also support transfer of location services messages over a user plane between the UE 204 and a location server, such as an SLP 272.

[0065] The functions of the SMF 266 include session management, UE Internet protocol (IP) address allocation and management, selection and control of user plane functions, configuration of traffic steering at the UPF 262 to route traffic to the proper destination, control of part of policy enforcement and QoS, and downlink data notification. The interface over which the SMF 266 communicates with the AMF 264 is referred to as the N11 interface.

[0066] Another optional aspect may include an LMF 270, which may be in communication with the 5GC 260 to provide location assistance for UEs 204. The LMF 270 can be implemented as a plurality of separate servers (e.g., physically separate servers, different software modules on a single server, different software modules spread across multiple physical servers, etc.), or alternately may each correspond to a single server. The LMF 270 can be configured to support one or more location services for UEs 204 that can connect to the LMF 270 via the core network, 5GC 260, and/or via the Internet (not illustrated). The SLP 272 may support similar functions to the LMF 270, but whereas the LMF 270 may communicate with the AMF 264, NG-RAN 220, and UEs 204 over a control plane (e.g., using interfaces and protocols intended to convey signaling messages and not voice or data), the SLP 272 may communicate with UEs 204 and external clients (e.g., third-party server 274) over a user plane (e.g., using protocols intended to carry voice and/or data like the transmission control protocol (TCP) and/or IP).

[0067] Yet another optional aspect may include a third-party server 274, which may be in communication with the LMF 270, the SLP 272, the 5GC 260 (e.g., via the AMF 264 and/or the UPF 262), the NG-RAN 220, and/or the UE 204 to obtain location information (e.g., a location estimate) for the UE 204. As such, in some cases, the third-party server 274 may be referred to as a location services (LCS) client or an external client. The third-party server 274 can be implemented as a plurality of separate servers (e.g., physically separate servers, different software modules on a single server, different software modules spread across multiple physical servers, etc.), or alternately may each correspond to a single server.

[0068] User plane interface 263 and control plane interface 265 connect the 5GC 260, and specifically the UPF 262 and AMF 264, respectively, to one or more gNBs 222 and/or ng-eNBs 224 in the NG-RAN 220. The interface between gNB(s) 222 and/or ng-eNB(s) 224 and the AMF 264 is referred to as the “N2” interface, and the interface between gNB(s) 222 and/or ng-eNB(s) 224 and the UPF 262 is referred to as the “N3” interface. The gNB(s) 222 and/or ng-eNB(s) 224 of the NG-RAN 220 may communicate directly with each other via backhaul connections 223, referred to as the “Xn-C” interface. One or more of gNBs 222 and/or ng-eNBs 224 may communicate with one or more UEs 204 over a wireless interface, referred to as the “Uu” interface.

[0069] The functionality of a gNB 222 may be divided between a gNB central unit (gNB-CU) 226, one or more gNB distributed units (gNB-DUs) 228, and one or more gNB radio units (gNB-RUs) 229. A gNB-CU 226 is a logical node that includes the base station functions of transferring user data, mobility control, radio access network sharing, positioning, session management, and the like, except for those functions allocated exclusively to the gNB-DU(s) 228. More specifically, the gNB-CU 226 generally host the radio resource control (RRC), service data adaptation protocol (SDAP), and packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) protocols of the gNB 222. A gNB-DU 228 is a logical node that generally hosts the radio link control (RLC) and medium access control (MAC) layer of the gNB 222. Its operation is controlled by the gNB-CU 226. One gNB-DU 228 can support one or more cells, and one cell is supported by only one gNB-DU 228. The interface 232 between the gNB-CU 226 and the one or more gNB-DUs 228 is referred to as the “F1” interface. The physical (PHY) layer functionality of a gNB 222 is generally hosted by one or more standalone gNB-RUs 229 that perform functions such as power amplification and signal transmission/reception. The interface between a gNB-DU 228 and a gNB-RU 229 is referred to as the “Fx” interface. Thus, a UE 204 communicates with the gNB-CU 226 via the RRC, SDAP, and PDCP layers, with a gNB-DU 228 via the RLC and MAC layers, and with a gNB-RU 229 via the PHY layer.

[0070] Deployment of communication systems, such as 5G NR systems, may be arranged in multiple manners with various components or constituent parts. In a 5G NR system, or network, a network node, a network entity, a mobility element of a network, a RAN node, a core network node, a network element, or a network equipment, such as a base station, or one or more units (or one or more components) performing base station functionality, may be implemented in an aggregated or disaggregated architecture. For example, a base station (such as a Node B (NB), evolved NB (CNB), NR base station, 5G NB, AP, TRP, cell, etc.) may be implemented as an aggregated base station (also known as a standalone base station or a monolithic base station) or a disaggregated base station.

[0071] An aggregated base station may be configured to utilize a radio protocol stack that is physically or logically integrated within a single RAN node. A disaggregated base station may be configured to utilize a protocol stack that is physically or logically distributed among two or more units (such as one or more central or centralized units (CUs), one or more distributed units (DUs), or one or more radio units (RUs)). In some aspects, a CU may be implemented within a RAN node, and one or more DUs may be co-located with the CU, or alternatively, may be geographically or virtually distributed throughout one or multiple other RAN nodes. The DUs may be implemented to communicate with one or more RUs. Each of the CU, DU and RU also can be implemented as virtual units, i.e., a virtual central unit (VCU), a virtual distributed unit (VDU), or a virtual radio unit (VRU).

[0072] Base station-type operation or network design may consider aggregation characteristics of base station functionality. For example, disaggregated base stations may be utilized in an integrated access backhaul (IAB) network, an open radio access network (O-RAN (such as the network configuration sponsored by the O-RAN ALLIANCE®), or a virtualized radio access network (vRAN, also known as a cloud radio access network (C-RAN)). Disaggregation may include distributing functionality across two or more units at various physical locations, as well as distributing functionality for at least one unit virtually, which can enable flexibility in network design. The various units of the disaggregated base station, or disaggregated RAN architecture, can be configured for wired or wireless communication with at least one other unit.

[0073] FIG. 2C illustrates an example disaggregated base station architecture 250, according to aspects of the disclosure. The disaggregated base station architecture 250 may include one or more central units (CUs) 280 (e.g., gNB-CU 226) that can communicate directly with a core network 267 (e.g., 5GC 210, 5GC 260) via a backhaul link, or indirectly with the core network 267 through one or more disaggregated base station units (such as a Near-Real Time (Near-RT) RAN Intelligent Controller (RIC) 259 via an E2 link, or a Non-Real Time (Non-RT) RIC 257 associated with a Service Management and Orchestration (SMO) Framework 255, or both). A CU 280 may communicate with one or more DUs 285 (e.g., gNB-DUs 228) via respective midhaul links, such as an F1 interface. The DUs 285 may communicate with one or more radio units (RUs) 287 (e.g., gNB-RUs 229) via respective fronthaul links. The RUs 287 may communicate with respective UEs 204 via one or more radio frequency (RF) access links. In some implementations, the UE 204 may be simultaneously served by multiple RUs 287.

[0074] Each of the units, i.e., the CUS 280, the DUs 285, the RUs 287, as well as the Near-RT RICs 259, the Non-RT RICs 257 and the SMO Framework 255, may include one or more interfaces or be coupled to one or more interfaces configured to receive or transmit signals, data, or information (collectively, signals) via a wired or wireless transmission medium. Each of the units, or an associated processor or controller providing instructions to the communication interfaces of the units, can be configured to communicate with one or more of the other units via the transmission medium. For example, the units can include a wired interface configured to receive or transmit signals over a wired transmission medium to one or more of the other units. Additionally, the units can include a wireless interface, which may include a receiver, a transmitter or transceiver (such as a RF transceiver), configured to receive or transmit signals, or both, over a wireless transmission medium to one or more of the other units.

[0075] In some aspects, the CU 280 may host one or more higher layer control functions. Such control functions can include RRC, PDCP, service data adaptation protocol (SDAP), or the like. Each control function can be implemented with an interface configured to communicate signals with other control functions hosted by the CU 280. The CU 280 may be configured to handle user plane functionality (i.e., Central Unit-User Plane (CU-UP)), control plane functionality (i.e., Central Unit-Control Plane (CU-CP)), or a combination thereof. In some implementations, the CU 280 can be logically split into one or more CU-UP units and one or more CU-CP units. The CU-UP unit can communicate bidirectionally with the CU-CP unit via an interface, such as the E1 interface when implemented in an O-RAN configuration. The CU 280 can be implemented to communicate with the DU 285, as necessary, for network control and signaling.

[0076] The DU 285 may correspond to a logical unit that includes one or more base station functions to control the operation of one or more RUs 287. In some aspects, the DU 285 may host one or more of a RLC layer, a MAC layer, and one or more high PHY layers (such as modules for forward error correction (FEC) encoding and decoding, scrambling, modulation and demodulation, or the like) depending, at least in part, on a functional split, such as those defined by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP®). In some aspects, the DU 285 may further host one or more low PHY layers. Each layer (or module) can be implemented with an interface configured to communicate signals with other layers (and modules) hosted by the DU 285, or with the control functions hosted by the CU 280.

[0077] Lower-layer functionality can be implemented by one or more RUs 287. In some deployments, an RU 287, controlled by a DU 285, may correspond to a logical node that hosts RF processing functions, or low-PHY layer functions (such as performing fast Fourier transform (FFT), inverse FFT (iFFT), digital beamforming, physical random access channel (PRACH) extraction and filtering, or the like), or both, based at least in part on the functional split, such as a lower layer functional split. In such an architecture, the RU(s) 287 can be implemented to handle over the air (OTA) communication with one or more UEs 204. In some implementations, real-time and non-real-time aspects of control and user plane communication with the RU(s) 287 can be controlled by the corresponding DU 285. In some scenarios, this configuration can enable the DU(s) 285 and the CU 280 to be implemented in a cloud-based RAN architecture, such as a vRAN architecture.

[0078] The SMO Framework 255 may be configured to support RAN deployment and provisioning of non-virtualized and virtualized network elements. For non-virtualized network elements, the SMO Framework 255 may be configured to support the deployment of dedicated physical resources for RAN coverage requirements which may be managed via an operations and maintenance interface (such as an O1 interface). For virtualized network elements, the SMO Framework 255 may be configured to interact with a cloud computing platform (such as an open cloud (O-Cloud) 269) to perform network element life cycle management (such as to instantiate virtualized network elements) via a cloud computing platform interface (such as an O2 interface). Such virtualized network elements can include, but are not limited to, CUs 280, DUs 285, RUs 287 and Near-RT RICs 259. In some implementations, the SMO Framework 255 can communicate with a hardware aspect of a 4G RAN, such as an open eNB (O-eNB) 261, via an O1 interface. Additionally, in some implementations, the SMO Framework 255 can communicate directly with one or more RUs 287 via an O1 interface. The SMO Framework 255 also may include a Non-RT RIC 257 configured to support functionality of the SMO Framework 255.

[0079] The Non-RT RIC 257 may be configured to include a logical function that enables non-real-time control and optimization of RAN elements and resources, artificial intelligence/machine learning (AI/ML) workflows including model training and updates, or policy-based guidance of applications/features in the Near-RT RIC 259. The Non-RT RIC 257 may be coupled to or communicate with (such as via an A1 interface) the Near-RT RIC 259. The Near-RT RIC 259 may be configured to include a logical function that enables near-real-time control and optimization of RAN elements and resources via data collection and actions over an interface (such as via an E2 interface) connecting one or more CUs 280, one or more DUs 285, or both, as well as an O-eNB, with the Near-RT RIC 259.

[0080] In some implementations, to generate AI/ML models to be deployed in the Near-RT RIC 259, the Non-RT RIC 257 may receive parameters or external enrichment information from external servers. Such information may be utilized by the Near-RT RIC 259 and may be received at the SMO Framework 255 or the Non-RT RIC 257 from non-network data sources or from network functions. In some examples, the Non-RT RIC 257 or the Near-RT RIC 259 may be configured to tune RAN behavior or performance. For example, the Non-RT RIC 257 may monitor long-term trends and patterns for performance and employ AI/ML models to perform corrective actions through the SMO Framework 255 (such as reconfiguration via 01) or via creation of RAN management policies (such as A1 policies).

[0081] FIGS. 3A, 3B, and 3C illustrate several example components (represented by corresponding blocks) that may be incorporated into a UE 302 (which may correspond to any of the UEs described herein), a base station 304 (which may correspond to any of the base stations described herein), and a network entity 306 (which may correspond to or embody any of the network functions described herein, including the location server 230 and the LMF 270, or alternatively may be independent from the NG-RAN 220 and/or 5GC 210/260 infrastructure depicted in FIGS. 2A and 2B, such as a private network) to support the operations described herein. Network entity 306 of FIG. 3C may also be implemented as one or more sensing servers, to implement a Sensing Management Function (SnMF), which may be implemented in a similar way to location server 230 and LMF 270. It will be appreciated that these components may be implemented in different types of apparatuses in different implementations (e.g., in an ASIC, in a system-on-chip (SoC), etc.). The illustrated components may also be incorporated into other apparatuses in a communication system. For example, other apparatuses in a system may include components similar to those described to provide similar functionality. Also, a given apparatus may contain one or more of the components. For example, an apparatus may include multiple transceiver components that enable the apparatus to operate on multiple carriers and/or communicate via different technologies.

[0082] The UE 302 and the base station 304 each include one or more wireless wide area network (WWAN) transceivers 310 and 350, respectively, providing means for communicating (e.g., means for transmitting, means for receiving, means for measuring, means for tuning, means for refraining from transmitting, etc.) via one or more wireless communication networks (not shown), such as an NR network, an LTE network, a GSM network, and/or the like. The WWAN transceivers 310 and 350 may each be connected to one or more antennas 316 and 356, respectively, for communicating with other network nodes, such as other UEs, access points, base stations (e.g., eNBs, gNBs), etc., via at least one designated RAT (e.g., NR, LTE, GSM, etc.) over a wireless communication medium of interest (e.g., some set of time/frequency resources in a particular frequency spectrum). The WWAN transceivers 310 and 350 may be variously configured for transmitting and encoding signals 318 and 358 (e.g., messages, indications, information, and so on), respectively, and, conversely, for receiving and decoding signals 318 and 358 (e.g., messages, indications, information, pilots, and so on), respectively, in accordance with the designated RAT. Specifically, the WWAN transceivers 310 and 350 include one or more transmitters 314 and 354, respectively, for transmitting and encoding signals 318 and 358, respectively, and one or more receivers 312 and 352, respectively, for receiving and decoding signals 318 and 358, respectively.

[0083] The UE 302 and the base station 304 each also include, at least in some cases, one or more short-range wireless transceivers 320 and 360, respectively. The short-range wireless transceivers 320 and 360 may be connected to one or more antennas 326 and 366, respectively, and provide means for communicating (e.g., means for transmitting, means for receiving, means for measuring, means for tuning, means for refraining from transmitting, etc.) with other network nodes, such as other UEs, access points, base stations, etc., via at least one designated RAT (e.g., Wi-Fi, LTE Direct, BLUETOOTH®, ZIGBEE®, Z-WAVE®, PC5, dedicated short-range communications (DSRC), wireless access for vehicular environments (WAVE), near-field communication (NFC), ultra-wideband (UWB), etc.) over a wireless communication medium of interest. The short-range wireless transceivers 320 and 360 may be variously configured for transmitting and encoding signals 328 and 368 (e.g., messages, indications, information, and so on), respectively, and, conversely, for receiving and decoding signals 328 and 368 (e.g., messages, indications, information, pilots, and so on), respectively, in accordance with the designated RAT. Specifically, the short-range wireless transceivers 320 and 360 include one or more transmitters 324 and 364, respectively, for transmitting and encoding signals 328 and 368, respectively, and one or more receivers 322 and 362, respectively, for receiving and decoding signals 328 and 368, respectively. As specific examples, the short-range wireless transceivers 320 and 360 may be Wi-Fi transceivers, BLUETOOTH® transceivers, ZIGBEE® and/or Z-WAVE® transceivers, NFC transceivers, UWB transceivers, or vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) and/or vehicle-to-everything (V2X) transceivers.

[0084] The UE 302 and the base station 304 also include, at least in some cases, satellite signal interfaces 330 and 370, which each include one or more satellite signal receivers 332 and 372, respectively, and may optionally include one or more satellite signal transmitters 334 and 374, respectively. In some cases, the base station 304 may be a terrestrial base station that may communicate with space vehicles (e.g., space vehicles 112) via the satellite signal interface 370. In other cases, the base station 304 may be a space vehicle (or other non-terrestrial entity) that uses the satellite signal interface 370 to communicate with terrestrial networks and/or other space vehicles.

[0085] The satellite signal receivers 332 and 372 may be connected to one or more antennas 336 and 376, respectively, and may provide means for receiving and/or measuring satellite positioning/communication signals 338 and 378, respectively. Where the satellite signal receiver(s) 332 and 372 are satellite positioning system receivers, the satellite positioning/communication signals 338 and 378 may be global positioning system (GPS) signals, global navigation satellite system (GLONASS) signals, Galileo signals, Beidou signals, Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (NAVIC), Quasi-Zenith Satellite System (QZSS) signals, etc. Where the satellite signal receiver(s) 332 and 372 are non-terrestrial network (NTN) receivers, the satellite positioning/communication signals 338 and 378 may be communication signals (e.g., carrying control and/or user data) originating from a 5G network. The satellite signal receiver(s) 332 and 372 may comprise any suitable hardware and/or software for receiving and processing satellite positioning/communication signals 338 and 378, respectively. The satellite signal receiver(s) 332 and 372 may request information and operations as appropriate from the other systems, and, at least in some cases, perform calculations to determine locations of the UE 302 and the base station 304, respectively, using measurements obtained by any suitable satellite positioning system algorithm.

[0086] The optional satellite signal transmitter(s) 334 and 374, when present, may be connected to the one or more antennas 336 and 376, respectively, and may provide means for transmitting satellite positioning/communication signals 338 and 378, respectively. Where the satellite signal transmitter(s) 374 are satellite positioning system transmitters, the satellite positioning/communication signals 378 may be GPS signals, GLONASS® signals, Galileo signals, Beidou signals, NAVIC, QZSS signals, etc. Where the satellite signal transmitter(s) 334 and 374 are NTN transmitters, the satellite positioning/communication signals 338 and 378 may be communication signals (e.g., carrying control and/or user data) originating from a 5G network. The satellite signal transmitter(s) 334 and 374 may comprise any suitable hardware and/or software for transmitting satellite positioning/communication signals 338 and 378, respectively. The satellite signal transmitter(s) 334 and 374 may request information and operations as appropriate from the other systems.

[0087] The base station 304 and the network entity 306 each include one or more network transceivers 380 and 390, respectively, providing means for communicating (e.g., means for transmitting, means for receiving, etc.) with other network entities (e.g., other base stations 304, other network entities 306). For example, the base station 304 may employ the one or more network transceivers 380 to communicate with other base stations 304 or network entities 306 over one or more wired or wireless backhaul links. As another example, the network entity 306 may employ the one or more network transceivers 390 to communicate with one or more base station 304 over one or more wired or wireless backhaul links, or with other network entities 306 over one or more wired or wireless core network interfaces.

[0088] A transceiver may be configured to communicate over a wired or wireless link. A transceiver (whether a wired transceiver or a wireless transceiver) includes transmitter circuitry (e.g., transmitters 314, 324, 354, 364) and receiver circuitry (e.g., receivers 312, 322, 352, 362). A transceiver may be an integrated device (e.g., embodying transmitter circuitry and receiver circuitry in a single device) in some implementations, may comprise separate transmitter circuitry and separate receiver circuitry in some implementations, or may be embodied in other ways in other implementations. The transmitter circuitry and receiver circuitry of a wired transceiver (e.g., network transceivers 380 and 390 in some implementations) may be coupled to one or more wired network interface ports. Wireless transmitter circuitry (e.g., transmitters 314, 324, 354, 364) may include or be coupled to a plurality of antennas (e.g., antennas 316, 326, 356, 366), such as an antenna array, that permits the respective apparatus (e.g., UE 302, base station 304) to perform transmit “beamforming,” as described herein. Similarly, wireless receiver circuitry (e.g., receivers 312, 322, 352, 362) may include or be coupled to a plurality of antennas (e.g., antennas 316, 326, 356, 366), such as an antenna array, that permits the respective apparatus (e.g., UE 302, base station 304) to perform receive beamforming, as described herein. In an aspect, the transmitter circuitry and receiver circuitry may share the same plurality of antennas (e.g., antennas 316, 326, 356, 366), such that the respective apparatus can only receive or transmit at a given time, not both at the same time. A wireless transceiver (e.g., WWAN transceivers 310 and 350, short-range wireless transceivers 320 and 360) may also include a network listen module (NLM) or the like for performing various measurements.

[0089] As used herein, the various wireless transceivers (e.g., transceivers 310, 320, 350, and 360, and network transceivers 380 and 390 in some implementations) and wired transceivers (e.g., network transceivers 380 and 390 in some implementations) may generally be characterized as “a transceiver,” “at least one transceiver,” or “one or more transceivers.” As such, whether a particular transceiver is a wired or wireless transceiver may be inferred from the type of communication performed. For example, backhaul communication between network devices or servers will generally relate to signaling via a wired transceiver, whereas wireless communication between a UE (e.g., UE 302) and a base station (e.g., base station 304) will generally relate to signaling via a wireless transceiver.

[0090] The UE 302, the base station 304, and the network entity 306 also include other components that may be used in conjunction with the operations as disclosed herein. The UE 302, the base station 304, and the network entity 306 include one or more processors 342, 384, and 394, respectively, for providing functionality relating to, for example, wireless communication, and for providing other processing functionality. The processors 342, 384, and 394 may therefore provide means for processing, such as means for determining, means for calculating, means for receiving, means for transmitting, means for indicating, etc. In an aspect, the processors 342, 384, and 394 may include, for example, one or more general purpose processors, multi-core processors, central processing units (CPUs), ASICs, digital signal processors (DSPs), field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), other programmable logic devices or processing circuitry, or various combinations thereof.

[0091] The UE 302, the base station 304, and the network entity 306 include memory circuitry implementing memories 340, 386, and 396 (e.g., each including a memory device), respectively, for maintaining information (e.g., information indicative of reserved resources, thresholds, parameters, and so on). The memories 340, 386, and 396 may therefore provide means for storing, means for retrieving, means for maintaining, etc. In some cases, the UE 302, the base station 304, and the network entity 306 may include sensing component(s) 348, 388, and 398, respectively, which can enable positioning techniques and/or sensing techniques disclosed herein. The sensing component(s) 348, 388, and 398 may be hardware circuits that are part of or coupled to the processors 342, 384, and 394, respectively, that, when executed, cause the UE 302, the base station 304, and the network entity 306 to perform the functionality described herein. In other aspects, the sensing component(s) 348, 388, and 398 may be external to the processors 342, 384, and 394 (e.g., part of a modem processing system, integrated with another processing system, etc.). Alternatively, the sensing component(s) 348, 388, and 398 may be memory modules stored in the memories 340, 386, and 396, respectively, that, when executed by the processors 342, 384, and 394 (or a modem processing system, another processing system, etc.), cause the UE 302, the base station 304, and the network entity 306 to perform the functionality described herein. FIG. 3A illustrates possible locations of the sensing component(s) 348, which may be, for example, part of the one or more WWAN transceivers 310, the memory 340, the one or more processors 342, or any combination thereof, or may be a standalone component. FIG. 3B illustrates possible locations of the sensing component(s) 388, which may be, for example, part of the one or more WWAN transceivers 350, the memory 386, the one or more processors 384, or any combination thereof, or may be a standalone component. FIG. 3C illustrates possible locations of the sensing component(s) 398, which may be, for example, part of the one or more network transceivers 390, the memory 396, the one or more processors 394, or any combination thereof, or may be a standalone component.

[0092] The UE 302 may include one or more sensors 344 coupled to the one or more processors 342 to provide means for sensing or detecting movement and/or orientation information that is independent of motion data derived from signals received by the one or more WWAN transceivers 310, the one or more short-range wireless transceivers 320, and/or the satellite signal interface 330. By way of example, the sensor(s) 344 may include an accelerometer (e.g., a micro-electrical mechanical systems (MEMS) device), a gyroscope, a geomagnetic sensor (e.g., a compass), an altimeter (e.g., a barometric pressure altimeter), and/or any other type of movement detection sensor. Moreover, the sensor(s) 344 may include a plurality of different types of devices and combine their outputs in order to provide motion information. For example, the sensor(s) 344 may use a combination of a multi-axis accelerometer and orientation sensors to provide the ability to compute positions in two-dimensional (2D) and/or three-dimensional (3D) coordinate systems.

[0093] In addition, the UE 302 includes a user interface 346 providing means for providing indications (e.g., audible and/or visual indications) to a user and/or for receiving user input (e.g., upon user actuation of a sensing device such a keypad, a touch screen, a microphone, and so on). Although not shown, the base station 304 and the network entity 306 may also include user interfaces.

[0094] Referring to the one or more processors 384 in more detail, in the downlink, IP packets from the network entity 306 may be provided to the processor 384. The one or more processors 384 may implement functionality for an RRC layer, a packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) layer, a radio link control (RLC) layer, and a medium access control (MAC) layer. The one or more processors 384 may provide RRC layer functionality associated with broadcasting of system information (e.g., master information block (MIB), system information blocks (SIBs)), RRC connection control (e.g., RRC connection paging, RRC connection establishment, RRC connection modification, and RRC connection release), inter-RAT mobility, and measurement configuration for UE measurement reporting; PDCP layer functionality associated with header compression/decompression, security (ciphering, deciphering, integrity protection, integrity verification), and handover support functions; RLC layer functionality associated with the transfer of upper layer PDUs, error correction through automatic repeat request (ARQ), concatenation, segmentation, and reassembly of RLC service data units (SDUs), re-segmentation of RLC data PDUs, and reordering of RLC data PDUs; and MAC layer functionality associated with mapping between logical channels and transport channels, scheduling information reporting, error correction, priority handling, and logical channel prioritization.

[0095] The transmitter 354 and the receiver 352 may implement Layer-1 (L1) functionality associated with various signal processing functions. Layer-1, which includes a physical (PHY) layer, may include error detection on the transport channels, forward error correction (FEC) coding/decoding of the transport channels, interleaving, rate matching, mapping onto physical channels, modulation/demodulation of physical channels, and MIMO antenna processing. The transmitter 354 handles mapping to signal constellations based on various modulation schemes (e.g., binary phase-shift keying (BPSK), quadrature phase-shift keying (QPSK), M-phase-shift keying (M-PSK), M-quadrature amplitude modulation (M-QAM)). The coded and modulated symbols may then be split into parallel streams. Each stream may then be mapped to an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) subcarrier, multiplexed with a reference signal (e.g., pilot) in the time and/or frequency domain, and then combined together using an inverse fast Fourier transform (IFFT) to produce a physical channel carrying a time domain OFDM symbol stream. The OFDM symbol stream is spatially precoded to produce multiple spatial streams. Channel estimates from a channel estimator may be used to determine the coding and modulation scheme, as well as for spatial processing. The channel estimate may be derived from a reference signal and/or channel condition feedback transmitted by the UB 302. Each spatial stream may then be provided to one or more different antennas 356. The transmitter 354 may modulate an RF carrier with a respective spatial stream for transmission.

[0096] At the UE 302, the receiver 312 receives a signal through its respective antenna(s) 316. The receiver 312 recovers information modulated onto an RF carrier and provides the information to the one or more processors 342. The transmitter 314 and the receiver 312 implement Layer-1 functionality associated with various signal processing functions. The receiver 312 may perform spatial processing on the information to recover any spatial streams destined for the UE 302. If multiple spatial streams are destined for the UE 302, they may be combined by the receiver 312 into a single OFDM symbol stream. The receiver 312 then converts the OFDM symbol stream from the time-domain to the frequency domain using a fast Fourier transform (FFT). The frequency domain signal comprises a separate OFDM symbol stream for each subcarrier of the OFDM signal. The symbols on each subcarrier, and the reference signal, are recovered and demodulated by determining the most likely signal constellation points transmitted by the base station 304. These soft decisions may be based on channel estimates computed by a channel estimator. The soft decisions are then decoded and de-interleaved to recover the data and control signals that were originally transmitted by the base station 304 on the physical channel. The data and control signals are then provided to the one or more processors 342, which implements Layer-3 (L3) and Layer-2 (L2) functionality.

[0097] In the downlink, the one or more processors 342 provides demultiplexing between transport and logical channels, packet reassembly, deciphering, header decompression, and control signal processing to recover IP packets from the core network. The one or more processors 342 are also responsible for error detection.

[0098] Similar to the functionality described in connection with the downlink transmission by the base station 304, the one or more processors 342 provides RRC layer functionality associated with system information (e.g., MIB, SIBs) acquisition, RRC connections, and measurement reporting; PDCP layer functionality associated with header compression/decompression, and security (ciphering, deciphering, integrity protection, integrity verification); RLC layer functionality associated with the transfer of upper layer PDUs, error correction through ARQ, concatenation, segmentation, and reassembly of RLC SDUs, re-segmentation of RLC data PDUs, and reordering of RLC data PDUs; and MAC layer functionality associated with mapping between logical channels and transport channels, multiplexing of MAC SDUs onto transport blocks (TBs), demultiplexing of MAC SDUs from TBs, scheduling information reporting, error correction through hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ), priority handling, and logical channel prioritization.

[0099] Channel estimates derived by the channel estimator from a reference signal or feedback transmitted by the base station 304 may be used by the transmitter 314 to select the appropriate coding and modulation schemes, and to facilitate spatial processing. The spatial streams generated by the transmitter 314 may be provided to different antenna(s) 316. The transmitter 314 may modulate an RF carrier with a respective spatial stream for transmission.

[0100] The uplink transmission is processed at the base station 304 in a manner similar to that described in connection with the receiver function at the UE 302. The receiver 352 receives a signal through its respective antenna(s) 356. The receiver 352 recovers information modulated onto an RF carrier and provides the information to the one or more processors 384.

[0101] In the uplink, the one or more processors 384 provides demultiplexing between transport and logical channels, packet reassembly, deciphering, header decompression, control signal processing to recover IP packets from the UE 302. IP packets from the one or more processors 384 may be provided to the core network. The one or more processors 384 are also responsible for error detection.

[0102] For convenience, the UE 302, the base station 304, and/or the network entity 306 are shown in FIGS. 3A, 3B, and 3C as including various components that may be configured according to the various examples described herein. It will be appreciated, however, that the illustrated components may have different functionality in different designs. In particular, various components in FIGS. 3A to 3C are optional in alternative configurations and the various aspects include configurations that may vary due to design choice, costs, use of the device, or other considerations. For example, in case of FIG. 3A, a particular implementation of UE 302 may omit the WWAN transceiver(s) 310 (e.g., a wearable device or tablet computer or personal computer (PC) or laptop may have Wi-Fi and/or BLUETOOTH® capability without cellular capability), or may omit the short-range wireless transceiver(s) 320 (e.g., cellular-only, etc.), or may omit the satellite signal interface 330, or may omit the sensor(s) 344, and so on. In another example, in case of FIG. 3B, a particular implementation of the base station 304 may omit the WWAN transceiver(s) 350 (e.g., a Wi-Fi “hotspot” access point without cellular capability), or may omit the short-range wireless transceiver(s) 360 (e.g., cellular-only, etc.), or may omit the satellite signal interface 370, and so on. For brevity, illustration of the various alternative configurations is not provided herein, but would be readily understandable to one skilled in the art.

[0103] The various components of the UE 302, the base station 304, and the network entity 306 may be communicatively coupled to each other over data buses 308, 382, and 392, respectively. In an aspect, the data buses 308, 382, and 392 may form, or be part of, a communication interface of the UE 302, the base station 304, and the network entity 306, respectively. For example, where different logical entities are embodied in the same device (e.g., gNB and sensing/location server functionality incorporated into the same base station 304), the data buses 308, 382, and 392 may provide communication between them.

[0104] The components of FIGS. 3A, 3B, and 3C may be implemented in various ways. In some implementations, the components of FIGS. 3A, 3B, and 3C may be implemented in one or more circuits such as, for example, one or more processors and/or one or more ASICs (which may include one or more processors). Here, each circuit may use and/or incorporate at least one memory component for storing information or executable code used by the circuit to provide this functionality. For example, some or all of the functionality represented by blocks 310 to 346 may be implemented by processor and memory component(s) of the UE 302 (e.g., by execution of appropriate code and/or by appropriate configuration of processor components). Similarly, some or all of the functionality represented by blocks 350 to 388 may be implemented by processor and memory component(s) of the base station 304 (e.g., by execution of appropriate code and/or by appropriate configuration of processor components). Also, some or all of the functionality represented by blocks 390 to 398 may be implemented by processor and memory component(s) of the network entity 306 (e.g., by execution of appropriate code and/or by appropriate configuration of processor components). For simplicity, various operations, acts, and/or functions are described herein as being performed “by a UE,” “by a base station,” “by a network entity,” etc. However, as will be appreciated, such operations, acts, and/or functions may actually be performed by specific components or combinations of components of the UE 302, base station 304, network entity 306, etc., such as the processors 342, 384, 394, the transceivers 310, 320, 350, and 360, the memories 340, 386, and 396, the sensing component(s) 348, 388, and 398, etc.

[0105] In some designs, the network entity 306 may be implemented as a core network component. In other designs, the network entity 306 may be distinct from a network operator or operation of the cellular network infrastructure (e.g., NG RAN 220 and/or 5GC 210/260). For example, the network entity 306 may be a component of a private network that may be configured to communicate with the UE 302 via the base station 304 or independently from the base station 304 (e.g., over a non-cellular communication link, such as Wi-Fi).

[0106] Wireless communication signals (e.g., radio frequency (RF) signals configured to carry orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbols in accordance with a wireless communications standard, such as LTE, NR, etc.) transmitted between a UE and a base station can be used for environment sensing (also referred to as “RF sensing” or “radar”). Using wireless communication signals for environment sensing can be regarded as consumer-level radar with advanced detection capabilities that enable, among other things, touchless/device-free interaction with a device/system. The wireless communication signals may be cellular communication signals, such as LTE or NR signals, WLAN signals, such as Wi-Fi signals, etc. As a particular example, the wireless communication signals may be an OFDM waveform as utilized in LTE and NR. High-frequency communication signals, such as millimeter wave (mmW) RF signals, are especially beneficial to use as sensing signals because the higher frequency provides, at least, more accurate range (distance) detection. In some aspects, other types of sensing signals can be used; for example, frequency-modulated continuous waveform (FMCW) or other sensing waveforms.

[0107] Possible use cases of RF sensing include health monitoring use cases, such as heartbeat detection, respiration rate monitoring, and the like, gesture recognition use cases, such as human activity recognition, keystroke detection, sign language recognition, and the like, contextual information acquisition use cases, such as location detection/tracking, direction finding, range estimation, and the like, and automotive sensing use cases, such as smart cruise control, collision avoidance, and the like.

[0108] There are different types of sensing, including monostatic sensing (also referred to as “active sensing”) and bistatic sensing (also referred to as “passive sensing”). FIGS. 4A and 4B illustrate these different types of sensing. Specifically, FIG. 4A is a diagram 400 illustrating a monostatic sensing scenario and FIG. 4B is a diagram 430 illustrating a bistatic sensing scenario. In FIG. 4A, the transmitter (Tx) and receiver (Rx) are co-located in the same sensing device 404 (e.g., a UE). The sensing device 404 transmits one or more RF sensing signals 434 (e.g., uplink or sidelink positioning reference signals (PRS) where the sensing device 404 is a UE), and some of the RF sensing signals 434 reflect off a target object 406. The sensing device 404 can measure various properties (e.g., times of arrival (ToAs), angles of arrival (AoAs), phase shift, etc.) of the reflections 436 of the RF sensing signals 434 to determine characteristics of the target object 406 (e.g., size, shape, speed, motion state, etc.).

[0109] In FIG. 4B, the transmitter (Tx) and receiver (Rx) are not co-located, that is, they are separate devices (e.g., a UE and a base station). Note that while FIG. 4B illustrates using a downlink RF signal as the RF sensing signal 432, uplink RF signals or sidelink RF signals can also be used as RF sensing signals 432. In a downlink scenario, as shown, the transmitter is a base station and the receiver is a UE, whereas in an uplink scenario, the transmitter is a UE and the receiver is a base station.

[0110] Referring to FIG. 4B in greater detail, the transmitter device 402 transmits RF sensing signals 432 and 434 (e.g., positioning reference signals (PRS)) to the sensing device 404, but some of the RF sensing signals 434 reflect off a target object 406. The sensing device 404 (also referred to as the “sensing device”) can measure the times of arrival (ToAs) of the RF sensing signals 432 received directly from the transmitter device and the ToAs of the reflections 436 of the RF sensing signals 434 reflected from the target object 406.

[0111] More specifically, as described above, a transmitter device (e.g., a base station) may transmit a single RF signal or multiple RF signals to a sensing device (e.g., a UE). However, the receiver may receive multiple RF signals corresponding to each transmitted RF signal due to the propagation characteristics of RF signals through multipath channels. Each path may be associated with a cluster of one or more channel taps. Generally, the time at which the receiver detects the first cluster of channel taps is considered the ToA of the RF signal on the line-of-site (LOS) path (i.e., the shortest path between the transmitter and the receiver). Later clusters of channel taps are considered to have reflected off objects between the transmitter and the receiver and therefore to have followed non-LOS (NLOS) paths between the transmitter and the receiver.

[0112] Thus, referring back to FIG. 4B, the RF sensing signals 432 followed the LOS path between the transmitter device 402 and the sensing device 404, and the RF sensing signals 434 followed an NLOS path between the transmitter device 402 and the sensing device 404 due to reflecting off the target object 406. The transmitter device 402 may have transmitted multiple RF sensing signals 432, 434, some of which followed the LOS path and others of which followed the NLOS path. Alternatively, the transmitter device 402 may have transmitted a single RF sensing signal in a broad enough beam that a portion of the RF sensing signal followed the LOS path (RF sensing signal 432) and a portion of the RF sensing signal followed the NLOS path (RF sensing signal 434).

[0113] Based on the ToA of the LOS path, the ToA of the NLOS path, and the speed of light, the sensing device 404 can determine the distance to the target object(s). For example, the sensing device 404 can calculate the distance to the target object as the difference between the ToA of the LOS path and the ToA of the NLOS path multiplied by the speed of light. In addition, if the sensing device 404 is capable of receive beamforming, the sensing device 404 may be able to determine the general direction to a target object as the direction (angle) of the receive beam on which the RF sensing signal following the NLOS path was received. That is, the sensing device 404 may determine the direction to the target object as the angle of arrival (AoA) of the RF sensing signal, which is the angle of the receive beam used to receive the RF sensing signal. The sensing device 404 may then optionally report this information to the transmitter device 402, its serving base station, an application server associated with the core network, an external client, a third-party application, or some other sensing entity. Alternatively, the sensing device 404 may report the ToA measurements to the transmitter device 402, or other sensing entity (e.g., if the sensing device 404 does not have the processing capability to perform the calculations itself), and the transmitter device 402 may determine the distance and, optionally, the direction to the target object 406.

[0114] Note that if the RF sensing signals are uplink RF signals transmitted by a UE to a base station, the base station would perform object detection based on the uplink RF signals just like the UE does based on the downlink RF signals.

[0115] Like conventional radar, wireless communication-based sensing signals can be used to estimate the range (distance), velocity (Doppler), and angle (AoA) of a target object. However, the performance (e.g., resolution and maximum values of range, velocity, and angle) may depend on the design of the reference signal.

[0116] Index modulation (IM) is a technique that can convey additional information in the indices of the building blocks of communications, such as the selection of transmit antennas, subcarriers, and spreading codes. For an orthogonal frequency division multiplex (OFDM) communication system, an activation pattern for the selected parameter can be used to communicate information in addition to the information conveyed in the OFDM symbols. In an example, when communication between a UE and base station occurs over an allocated bandwidth with N subcarriers, a subset of active subcarriers P<N can be used in to transmit an index modulated waveform. For this example, the receiving entity (UE or base station) can decode two types of information: the information in the OFDM symbols communicated using the P active subcarriers, as well as the index modulated information carried by the pattern of active subcarriers.

[0117] According to aspects of the disclosure, IM can be used in Joint Communications and Sensing (JCS) systems. JCS techniques (also known as Integrated Communication and Sensing (ICAS) techniques) may be used in current systems such as 5G systems or future systems such as 6G systems. In order to implement IM techniques, sensing waveforms can be modulated to provide some communication capacity instead of or in addition to the capacity provided by communication waveforms. Different types of index modulation may be used; for example, time index modulation, frequency index modulation, spatial index modulation, spreading code index modulation, or a combination thereof.

[0118] Index modulation can be implemented for uplink and/or downlink sensing signals, and may be particularly effective for downlink sensing signals transmitted by network entities using large MIMO arrays. Examples of sensing techniques that can incorporate index modulation include MIMO sensing, phased array sensing, and phased MIMO sensing, described below.

[0119] One example of RF sensing is MIMO radar, using orthogonal or nearly orthogonal sensing waveforms. FIG. 5A shows an illustration 500 of non-coherent MIMO radar, with widely separated transmit and receive antennas 501-1 to 501-4. Non-coherent MIMO radar provides spatial diversity gain, with different target Radar Cross Sections (RCSs) for different transmission paths. Non-coherent MIMO radar can operate in parallel with MIMO communications, with both benefiting from spatial diversity gain. Non-coherent MIMO radar can provide additional features beyond traditional RF sensing. For example, transmit and receive antennas can be paired for bistatic sensing (or grouped for multistatic sensing), or transmit and receive antennas at the same site can perform monostatic sensing operations.

[0120] FIG. 5B shows an illustration of coherent MIMO radar, where transmit and receive antennas are co-located. Coherent MIMO radar allows the synthesis of large virtual arrays through waveform diversity. Transmit antennas transmit orthogonal waveforms, and the contribution of each transmit antenna is extracted at each receive antenna by exploiting the waveform orthogonality. The example of FIG. 5B shows a MIMO radar configuration 550 with two transmit antennas 510-1 and 510-2 and M_r receive antennas 512-1 to 512-M. In general, a synthetic virtual array 560 is equivalent to a uniform linear array (ULA) with M_t*M_r elements 514-1 to 514-2*M and a spacing of d_t when θ_t=θ_r. Coherent MIMO radar increases the antenna (array) aperture at the cost of Signal to Noise Ratio (SNR), due to a weak connection between coherent MIMO radar and MIMO communications.

[0121] Another RF sensing technique is phased-array radar. In phased-array radar, the phase and amplitude of signals from an antenna array can be controlled to select beam directionality. Phased-array radar can enable high quality beamforming compared to MIMO radar, and as a result may be particularly beneficial for long range sensing.

[0122] MIMO radar and phased-array radar each have benefits. For example, although phased-array radar can be beneficial for long range sensing using beamforming techniques, it may be less useful for shorter range sensing or in cases where multiple targets need to be detected. By contrast, MIMO radar can provide fast illumination without beam sweeping, higher angular resolution, a relatively large number of detectable targets, improved target detection and parameter identifiability, low probability of intercept, and enhanced flexibility for transmit/receive beampattern design, but may not be able to detect targets at greater distances.

[0123] In some cases, the two types of RF sensing can be combined for phased MIMO sensing, illustrated in FIGS. 6A and 6B. For a phased-MIMO radar array 600, the transmit array can be partitioned into several subarrays 610-1 to 610-N that in some cases are allowed to overlap. For example, if the antennas support digital beamforming and Time Division Multiplexed (TDM) MIMO radar, antenna 601-1 may be included in subarray 610-1 and 610-2 according to the time division multiplexing, while for analog beamforming antennas are generally included in a single subarray. Each subarray is used to coherently transmit a waveform which is orthogonal to the waveforms transmitted by other subarrays, enabling MIMO sensing across the sub-arrays. Beamforming can be performed on a per-subarray basis, enabling phased-array sensing within the sub-array. Phased MIMO sensing can provide the advantages of the MIMO radar with phased-array radar for wide area sensing. For example, phased MIMO sensing can enable designing an overall beampattern for a virtual array, so trade-offs between angular resolution and beamforming gain can be made according to circumstances. Phased MIMO sensing can also offer robustness against strong interference. FIG. 6B shows a different configuration of a phased-MIMO radar array 650, incorporating example subarrays 660-1, 660-2, and 660-3 of different sizes. In some cases, the configuration of the radar arrays can be modified as needed for particular use cases. For example, larger subarrays can enable better beamforming to accurately sense targets at greater distances, while a larger number of smaller subarrays can be effective for cluttered environments and for sensing multiple targets.

[0124] For an example IM technique, the information embedding can be modeled according to example Equation (1) below and shown in FIG. 7A.

[0125] $\begin{array}{cc}s\left(t\right)=A\Lambda \Omega x\left(t\right)& \left(\mathrm{Equation}\left(1\right)\right)\end{array}$

[0126] In the example illustrated by Equation (1) and FIG. 7A, s(t) is the transmit waveform vector, derived from the sensing waveform vector x(t) by operation of the Ω, Λ, and A matrices. The waveform selection matrix Ω acts on the waveform vector x(t) to select a subset of K waveforms from a waveform set of size M, represented by M-dimensional sensing waveform vector x(t). In the waveform selection matrix Ω, each row has only one element equal to 1, with the rest of the elements equal to 0. Waveform selection matrix Ω enables frequency index IM.

[0127] The K waveforms are allocated to P antennas according to a certain arrangement pattern, which is represented as antenna mapping matrix Λ, where each row of Λ either all the entries equal 0, or only one entry equals 1 while the rest are 0. In the kth column of Λ, L_k entries equal 1, which means the kth selected waveform are transmitted from La elements in the array. Antenna mapping matrix A enables spatial index IM.

[0128] The diagonal matrix A for the digital symbol is composed of the weights applied to the waveforms. FIG. 7B shows a representation of antenna weights applied to P antennas (indexed from 0 to P−1) of an array, while FIG. 7C shows the transmission of K selected waveforms (indexed from 0 to K−1) transmitted on the P antennas and sensed with Q receive antennas of a radar receiver.

[0129] For this IM example, the number of bits that could be embedded through IM depend on the total number of realizations of the Λ and Ω matrices, as represented in Equation (2) below:

[0130] $\begin{array}{cc}& \left(\mathrm{Equation}\left(2\right)\right)\end{array}$ $N_{\mathrm{IM}}=\mathrm{floor}\left({\log }_2\left(\begin{array}{c}M\\ K\end{array}\right)\right)+\mathrm{floor}({\log }_2{\prod }_{k=0}^{K-1}\left(\begin{array}{c}P-{\sum }_{k^{\prime }=0}^k{L}_{k^{\prime }-1}\\ L_k\end{array}\right)$

[0131] In other examples, time-based IM, spreading code IM, etc. may also be enabled; for example, using one or more delay matrices or code index matrices in addition to/instead of the above examples of IM.

[0132] As noted above, index modulation of sensing waveforms may be used to provide additional communication capability. The sensing waveforms can be OFDM waveforms (or other waveforms used for communications) or FMCW waveforms (or other waveforms used for radar). Using MIMO sensing can provide robust sensing with enhanced spatial resolution even in cluttered environments.

[0133] For standalone sensing without index modulation, the transmitting entity may not need to indicate its transmission-related information to other network nodes. In general, nodes participating in monostatic, bistatic, or other multi-static sensing may generate or receive an indication/configuration of sensing waveforms, while communication receivers do not.

[0134] However, in aspects of the disclosure, wireless devices and/or network entities may process index modulated sensing waveforms to recover information encoded using the index modulation, even when they are not participating in sensing techniques. For example, a signal for monostatic sensing would generally only be used by the transmitting and receiving entity, but if the signal is index modulated to include additional information, the current disclosure provides techniques to communicate information to one or more different entities by modulating the sensing signal. Similarly, for bistatic sensing, the receiving entity can use an IM sensing signal for both sensing and (if applicable) to recover the information communicated in the index modulation, while other entities not participating in the sensing operations can receive and process the IM sensing signal to recover the information.

[0135] For example, in a bistatic sensing process, a transmitting entity (e.g., base station for TRP-TRP or TRP-UE bistatic sensing) may be configured to perform sensing operations to determine range information, position information (e.g., derived from range information), speed/velocity information, etc. of one or more target objects. An example of bistatic sensing is shown in FIG. 4B and described in more detail above. Additionally, the transmitting entity may use index modulation of the sensing waveforms to communicate additional information. Examples of use cases for index modulated sensing signals include broadcast signaling, control signaling, paging signaling, etc., as described in more detail below. The receiving entity (e.g., another base station in TRP-TRP bistatic sensing or a user equipment for TRP-UE bistatic sensing) receives the index modulated sensing signals and performs sensing operations; for example, detecting earliest arrival timing and reflected arrival timing of the index modulated sensing waveforms. Additionally, the receiving entity and/or one or more additional entities can receive the index modulated sensing signals and process the received signals to determine the information communicated using the index modulation; for example, using assistance information and other techniques as described in more detail below. For monostatic sensing, the transmitting and receiving entities are the same, so entities not participating in the sensing operations may receive and process the index modulated sensing signals to determine the information communicated using the index modulation, according to the techniques described herein.

[0136] According to some aspects of the disclosure, assistance information signaling can be provided to enable IM for joint communication and sensing. One or more network entities (e.g., one or more core network entities, location servers, sensing servers, RAN nodes, etc.) can indicate assistance information to one or more wireless devices/network entities, whether or not the devices/entities are generating or using the sensing signals themselves. The assistance information can enable the device(s) to process index modulated sensing signals, and may include one or more parameters of one or more index modulated sensing waveforms. The one or more parameters may include an indication of a sensing waveform set, waveform selection information, waveform to antenna mapping information, whether the sensing waveform is modulated with symbols, or any combination thereof.

[0137] The sensing waveform set can be indicated in a number of ways. For example, a number of options can be defined and the indication can reference one of the options. For example, an option may have an associated identifier for the waveform set, channel bandwidth, subcarrier spacing, and/or other identifier(s). The sensing waveform of the set may be orthogonal waveforms or approximately orthogonal waveforms that can be used for MIMO sensing, or used for sub-arrays of phased MIMO sensing.

[0138] The waveform selection information may include one or more parameters of the waveform selection matrix information Ω, such as the size of the matrix. The waveform selection matrix reflects waveform set size M and the number of waveforms selected from the waveform set K. Waveform to antenna mapping information may include one or more parameters of the waveform to antenna mapping matrix Λ, such as the size of matrix Λ.

[0139] The assistance information may also indicate whether the sensing waveform is modulated with symbols and, if so, may indicate the modulation scheme. In some aspects of the disclosure, one or a limited number of modulation schemes may be defined for sensing waveforms. For example, the transmitting entity may have an option to modulate an FMCW sensing waveform using a modulation scheme such as Quadrature Phase Shift Keying (QPSK) or Quadrature Amplitude Modulation (QAM). If the sensing waveform includes modulated symbols, the receiving entity can recover that information as well as the information carried by the index modulation.

[0140] The assistance information could be semi-statically configured (for example, using RRC or LTE Positioning Protocol (LPP)), or dynamically indicated (for example, using Downlink Control Information (DCI) or Medium Access Control-Control Element (MAC-CE)). In some cases, dynamic indication may be used in order to enable dynamic sharing of the antenna/resource between communication and sensing.

[0141] According to aspects of the disclosure, IM can be used with sensing waveforms for a number of use cases, depending on the circumstances. As illustrated in the example of Equation (2) above, the number of bits that can be communicated using IM based on antenna index depends on the number of antennas. As a result, IM techniques may be beneficial for network entities with large antenna arrays. For example, a base station may have arrays with tens to hundreds of available antennas for “massive MIMO,” with some projections of arrays with several hundred to a thousand or more antennas (“gigantic MIMO”) for future technologies such as Sixth Generation (6G) 3GPP standards. Even with large antenna arrays, the data rate for IM sensing waveforms is generally low compared to other communication techniques. As a result, the use cases for IM with sensing waveforms may include broadcast information signaling, control information signaling, and idle/inactive UE paging.

[0142] Some UEs may not support IM of sensing waveforms, or may support some types of IM and not others. In some aspects of the disclosure, UE may report its capability to support IM for sensing waveforms. For example, a UE may transmit an indication of one or more IM capabilities for the UE indicating one or more supported IM types, a maximum number of waveform sets, a maximum number of antenna ports, and/or other capabilities. For unicast or group cast IM, a UE may report its capability and the network may configure the UE to monitor sensing waveforms for specific message(s) according to the configuration. For example, the UE may be semi-statically configured to monitor sensing waveforms using RRC or LPP, or dynamically configured using DCI or MAC-CE. As a result, the UE can monitor sensing waveforms for messages when applicable, avoiding unnecessary use of processing capability, power, etc.

[0143] To recover the information modulated on sensing waveforms, a capable UE receives the IM sensing signals according to configuration information; for example, configuration information indicating time and frequency resources, and uses the assistance information to process the signals and de-map the information (recover the information encoded in the index modulation). For example, the UE may receive IM broadcast signaling, IM control signaling, IM UE paging signaling, and process the signals according to the assistance information to determine the broadcast information, control information, or paging information.

[0144] Although IM with sensing waveforms may be well-suited to base station transmitters with large numbers of antennas, in some cases, a UE may transmit index modulated sensing waveforms. For uplink sensing waveform IM, the UE may receive configuration to perform the index modulation and transmission.

[0145] In order to successfully de-map information from the received IM sensing waveforms, the UE may need to accurately estimate the channel. According to aspects of the disclosure, channel estimation may use existing Quasi Co-Location (QCL) relationships, or new relationships may be defined.

[0146] In an implementation, pilot-based channel estimation may be used. For example, if the same antenna ports are used for sensing (or JCS) and communications, the Demodulation Reference Signal (DMRS) for data communication may be reused for IM. A QCL relationship between legacy DMRS ports and antenna ports for IM can be defined and configured to the sensing receiver to estimate the channel. In another example, if different antenna ports are used for receiving sensing signals and for communication (e.g. Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) and Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) DMRS), a dedicated sensing DMRS may be used to estimate the channel to de-map the IM sensing waveform. For example, a QCL relationship between antenna ports for a sensing DMRS and antenna ports for IM sensing signals can be defined. The channel for receiving the IM sensing signals can be estimated using the sensing DMRS and the QCL relationship between the antenna ports. In general, pilot-based channel estimation may be more effective for medium and high SNR use cases.

[0147] In an implementation, non-coherent communication without DMRS may also be supported. Non-coherent communication may be used in low SNR use cases where DMRS channel estimation is less effective. In an implementation using non-coherent communication, the wireless device may process the received sensing waveform as a sequence or a pulse and correlate the received signal with a generated sequence or pulse to decode the index-modulated information on the sensing waveform. The correlation result can be used to de-map the received index modulated sensing signals.

[0148] FIG. 8A illustrates an example communication method 800 using index modulated sensing signals, according to aspects of the disclosure. In an aspect, method 800 may be performed by a UE (e.g., UE 302 of FIG. 3A or any of the user equipments described herein). At 810, the UE receives assistance information for one or more index modulated sensing waveforms. In some aspects, operation 810 may be performed, for example, using WWAN transceiver(s) 310, short range wireless transceiver(s) 320, processor(s) 342, memory 340, and/or sensing component 348 of UE 302, which may be considered means (structure) for performing operation 810.

[0149] At 820, the UE receives index modulated sensing signals, the index modulated sensing signals based on the one or more index modulated sensing waveforms. In some aspects, operation 820 may be performed, for example, using WWAN transceiver(s) 310, short range transceiver(s) 320, processor(s) 342, memory 340, and/or sensing component 348 of UE 302, which may be considered means (structure) for performing operation 820.

[0150] At 830, the UE processes the index modulated sensing signals using at least some of the assistance information. In some aspects, operation 830 may be performed, for example, using WWAN transceiver(s) 310, short range transceiver(s) 320, processor(s) 342, memory 340, and/or sensing component 348 of UE 302, which may be considered means (structure) for performing operation 830.

[0151] As will be appreciated, a technical advantage of the method 800 is enabling an additional avenue for communication using sensing waveforms. Implementations incorporating assistance information can provide accurate de-mapping of the information included in the index modulation. Additionally, implementations incorporating UE capability signaling and configuration for UE monitoring of IM sensing signals for messages allow the IM sensing signals to be used in an efficient manner without undue expenditure of UE processing and power resources. Disclosed techniques for channel estimation can allow more reliable de-mapping of the information at the UE.

[0152] FIG. 8B illustrates an example communication method 850 using index modulated sensing signals, according to aspects of the disclosure. In an aspect, method 850 may be performed by a network entity such as a RAN node, user device, or other network entity, for example, base station 304 of FIG. 3B, network entity 306 of FIG. 3C or any of the RAN nodes or other network entities described herein.

[0153] At 860, a network entity transmits assistance information for one or more index modulated sensing waveforms. In an aspect, where the network entity is a RAN node, operation 860 may be performed by the one or more WWAN transceivers 350, the one or more short-range wireless transceivers 360, the one or more network transceivers 380, the one or more processors 384, memory 386, and/or sensing component(s) 388, any or all of which may be considered means (structure) for performing this operation.

[0154] At 870, the network entity transmits index modulated sensing signals using the one or more index modulated sensing waveforms. In an aspect, where the network entity is a RAN node, operation 870 may be performed by the one or more WWAN transceivers 350, the one or more short-range wireless transceivers 360, the one or more network transceivers 380, the one or more processors 384, memory 386, and/or sensing component(s) 388, any or all of which may be considered means (structure) for performing this operation.

[0155] As will be appreciated, a technical advantage of the method 850 is enabling an additional avenue for communication using sensing waveforms. In particular, when a transmitting entity for sensing operations is a RAN node with a large number of antennas, index modulated sensing signals may allow communication of some message types to one or more UEs even if the UEs are not participating in the sensing operation. As noted above, implementations incorporating assistance information can provide accurate de-mapping of the information included in the index modulation. Additionally, implementations incorporating UE capability signaling and configuration for UE monitoring of IM sensing signals for messages allow the IM sensing signals to be used in an efficient manner without undue expenditure of UE processing and power resources. Disclosed techniques for channel estimation can allow more reliable de-mapping of the information at the UE.

[0156] In the detailed description above it can be seen that different features are grouped together in examples. This manner of disclosure should not be understood as an intention that the example clauses have more features than are explicitly mentioned in each clause. Rather, the various aspects of the disclosure may include fewer than all features of an individual example clause disclosed. Therefore, the following clauses should hereby be deemed to be incorporated in the description, wherein each clause by itself can stand as a separate example. Although each dependent clause can refer in the clauses to a specific combination with one of the other clauses, the aspect(s) of that dependent clause are not limited to the specific combination. It will be appreciated that other example clauses can also include a combination of the dependent clause aspect(s) with the subject matter of any other dependent clause or independent clause or a combination of any feature with other dependent and independent clauses. The various aspects disclosed herein expressly include these combinations, unless it is explicitly expressed or can be readily inferred that a specific combination is not intended (e.g., contradictory aspects, such as defining an element as both an electrical insulator and an electrical conductor). Furthermore, it is also intended that aspects of a clause can be included in any other independent clause, even if the clause is not directly dependent on the independent clause.

[0157] Implementation examples are described in the following numbered clauses:

• • [0158] Clause 1. A method of communication at a wireless device comprising: receiving assistance information for one or more index modulated sensing waveforms; receiving index modulated sensing signals, the index modulated sensing signals based on the one or more index modulated sensing waveforms; and processing the index modulated sensing signals using at least some of the assistance information.
  • [0159] Clause 2. The method of clause 1, wherein the index modulated sensing signals use time index modulation, frequency index modulation, spatial index modulation, spreading code index modulation, or a combination thereof.
  • [0160] Clause 3. The method of any of clauses 1 to 2, wherein the assistance information indicates one or more parameters of the one or more index modulated sensing waveforms, wherein the one or more parameters include an indication of a sensing waveform set, waveform selection information, waveform to antenna mapping information, whether the sensing waveform is modulated with symbols, or any combination thereof.
  • [0161] Clause 4. The method of clause 3, wherein the one or more parameters include waveform selection information, and wherein the waveform selection information comprises an indication of a size of a waveform selection matrix.
  • [0162] Clause 5. The method of any of clauses 3 to 4, wherein the one or more parameters include waveform to antenna mapping information, and wherein the waveform to antenna mapping information comprises an indication of a size of an antenna mapping matrix.
  • [0163] Clause 6. The method of any of clauses 1 to 5, wherein the assistance information is semi-statically configured or dynamically indicated.
  • [0164] Clause 7. The method of any of clauses 1 to 6, wherein the wireless device is a user equipment (UE), and further comprising: transmitting an indication of one or more index modulation (IM) capabilities for the UE to a network entity, the one or more IM capabilities including an indication of one or more supported IM types, a maximum number of waveform sets indication, a maximum number of antenna ports indication, or a combination thereof.
  • [0165] Clause 8. The method of any of clauses 1 to 7, wherein the wireless device is a user equipment (UE), and further comprising: receiving IM configuration information, the IM configuration information indicating resources for IM broadcast signaling, IM control information signaling, IM UE paging signaling, or any combination thereof.
  • [0166] Clause 9. The method of clause 8, further comprising: receiving the IM broadcast signaling, the IM control information signaling, the IM UE paging signaling, or the combination thereof according to the IM configuration information; and wherein processing the index modulated sensing signals using at least some of the assistance information comprises: processing the received IM broadcast signaling to determine associated broadcast message information; processing the received IM control information signaling to determine associated control message information; processing the received IM UE paging signaling to determine associated UE paging information; or any combination thereof.
  • [0167] Clause 10. The method of any of clauses 1 to 9, wherein the wireless device is a UE, and further comprising: receiving the index modulated sensing signals using one or more antenna ports; receiving communication demodulation reference signals (DMRS) on one or more DMRS antenna ports, the one or more antenna ports and the one or more DMRS antenna ports having a quasi co-location (QCL) relationship; and performing channel estimation using the received communication DMRS and the QCL relationship; and wherein processing the index modulated sensing signals comprises processing the index modulated sensing signals using the channel estimation.
  • [0168] Clause 11. The method of any of clauses 1 to 9, wherein the wireless device is a UE, and further comprising: receiving a sensing DMRS for the index modulated sensing signals using one or more antenna ports; receiving the index modulated sensing signals using at least a first antenna port having a quasi co-location relationship with the one or more antenna ports; and performing channel estimation for receiving the index modulated sensing signals using the sensing DMRS and the QCL relationship.
  • [0169] Clause 12. The method of any of clauses 1 to 11, wherein the wireless device is a UE, and further comprising: generating a sequence or a pulse; correlating the received index modulated sensing signals with the generated sequence or pulse; and demapping the received index modulated sensing signals based on a correlation result.
  • [0170] Clause 13. The method of any of clauses 1 to 12, wherein the index modulated sensing signals are transmission reception point (TRP) to user equipment (UE) bistatic sensing signals, and further comprising: detecting earliest arrival timing and reflected arrival timing for the bistatic sensing signals; and determining range information, speed information, or both for one or more target objects based on the earliest arrival timing information and the reflected arrival timing.
  • [0171] Clause 14. A method of communication at a network entity comprising: transmitting assistance information for one or more index modulated sensing waveforms; and transmitting index modulated sensing signals using the one or more index modulated sensing waveforms.
  • [0172] Clause 15. The method of clause 14, wherein the assistance information indicates one or more parameters of the one or more index modulated sensing waveforms, wherein the one or more parameters include an indication of a sensing waveform set, waveform selection information, waveform to antenna mapping information, whether the sensing waveform is modulated with symbols, or any combination thereof.
  • [0173] Clause 16. The method of any of clauses 14 to 15, wherein the index modulated sensing signals comprise index modulated Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO) sensing signals, index modulated phased array signals, index modulated phased MIMO signals, or any combination thereof.
  • [0174] Clause 17. The method of any of clauses 14 to 16, further comprising: transmitting IM configuration information, the IM configuration information indicating resources for IM broadcast signaling, IM control information signaling, IM UE paging signaling, or a combination thereof.
  • [0175] Clause 18. The method of any of clauses 14 to 17, wherein the assistance information is semi-statically configured or dynamically indicated.
  • [0176] Clause 19. A wireless device, comprising: one or more memories; one or more transceivers; and one or more processors communicatively coupled to the one or more memories and the one or more transceivers, the one or more processors, either alone or in combination, configured to: receive, via the one or more transceivers, assistance information for one or more index modulated sensing waveforms; receive, via the one or more transceivers, index modulated sensing signals, the index modulated sensing signals based on the one or more index modulated sensing waveforms; and process the index modulated sensing signals using at least some of the assistance information.
  • [0177] Clause 20. The wireless device of clause 19, wherein the index modulated sensing signals use time index modulation, frequency index modulation, spatial index modulation, spreading code index modulation, or a combination thereof.
  • [0178] Clause 21. The wireless device of any of clauses 19 to 20, wherein the assistance information indicates one or more parameters of the one or more index modulated sensing waveforms, wherein the one or more parameters include an indication of a sensing waveform set, waveform selection information, waveform to antenna mapping information, whether the sensing waveform is modulated with symbols, or any combination thereof.
  • [0179] Clause 22. The wireless device of clause 21, wherein the one or more parameters include waveform selection information, and wherein the waveform selection information comprises an indication of a size of a waveform selection matrix.
  • [0180] Clause 23. The wireless device of any of clauses 21 to 22, wherein the one or more parameters include waveform to antenna mapping information, and wherein the waveform to antenna mapping information comprises an indication of a size of an antenna mapping matrix.
  • [0181] Clause 24. The wireless device of any of clauses 19 to 23, wherein the assistance information is semi-statically configured or dynamically indicated.
  • [0182] Clause 25. The wireless device of any of clauses 19 to 24, wherein the wireless device is a user equipment (UE), and wherein the one or more processors, either alone or in combination, are further configured to: transmit, via the one or more transceivers, an indication of one or more index modulation (IM) capabilities for the UE to a network entity, the one or more IM capabilities including an indication of one or more supported IM types, a maximum number of waveform sets indication, a maximum number of antenna ports indication, or a combination thereof.
  • [0183] Clause 26. The wireless device of any of clauses 19 to 25, wherein the wireless device is a user equipment (UE), and wherein the one or more processors, either alone or in combination, are further configured to: receive, via the one or more transceivers, IM configuration information, the IM configuration information indicating resources for IM broadcast signaling, IM control information signaling, IM UE paging signaling, or any combination thereof.
  • [0184] Clause 27. The wireless device of clause 26, wherein the one or more processors, either alone or in combination, are further configured to: receive, via the one or more transceivers, the IM broadcast signaling, the IM control information signaling, the IM UE paging signaling, or the combination thereof according to the IM configuration information; and wherein, to process the index modulated sensing signals using at least some of the assistance information, the one or more processors, either alone or in combination, are configured to: process the received IM broadcast signaling to determine associated broadcast message information; process the received IM control information signaling to determine associated control message information; process the received IM UE paging signaling to determine associated UE paging information; or any combination thereof.
  • [0185] Clause 28. The wireless device of any of clauses 19 to 27, wherein the wireless device is a UE, and wherein the one or more processors, either alone or in combination, are further configured to: receive, via the one or more transceivers, the index modulated sensing signals using one or more antenna ports; receive, via the one or more transceivers, communication demodulation reference signals (DMRS) on one or more DMRS antenna ports, the one or more antenna ports and the one or more DMRS antenna ports having a quasi co-location (QCL) relationship; and perform channel estimation using the received communication DMRS and the QCL relationship; and wherein, to process the index modulated sensing signals, the one or more processors, either alone or in combination, are configured to process the index modulated sensing signals using the channel estimation.
  • [0186] Clause 29. The wireless device of any of clauses 19 to 27, wherein the wireless device is a UE, and wherein the one or more processors, either alone or in combination, are further configured to: receive, via the one or more transceivers, a sensing DMRS for the index modulated sensing signals using one or more antenna ports; receive, via the one or more transceivers, the index modulated sensing signals using at least a first antenna port having a quasi co-location relationship with the one or more antenna ports; and perform channel estimation for receiving the index modulated sensing signals using the sensing DMRS and the QCL relationship.
  • [0187] Clause 30. The wireless device of any of clauses 19 to 29, wherein the wireless device is a UE, and wherein the one or more processors, either alone or in combination, are further configured to: generate a sequence or a pulse; correlate the received index modulated sensing signals with the generated sequence or pulse; and demapped the received index modulated sensing signals based on a correlation result.
  • [0188] Clause 31. The wireless device of any of clauses 19 to 30, wherein the index modulated sensing signals are transmission reception point (TRP) to user equipment (UE) bistatic sensing signals, and wherein the one or more processors, either alone or in combination, are further configured to: detect earliest arrival timing and reflected arrival timing for the bistatic sensing signals; and determine range information, speed information, or both for one or more target objects based on the earliest arrival timing information and the reflected arrival timing.
  • [0189] Clause 32. A network entity, comprising: one or more memories; one or more transceivers; and one or more processors communicatively coupled to the one or more memories and the one or more transceivers, the one or more processors, either alone or in combination, configured to: transmit, via the one or more transceivers, assistance information for one or more index modulated sensing waveforms; and transmit, via the one or more transceivers, index modulated sensing signals using the one or more index modulated sensing waveforms.
  • [0190] Clause 33. The network entity of clause 32, wherein the assistance information indicates one or more parameters of the one or more index modulated sensing waveforms, wherein the one or more parameters include an indication of a sensing waveform set, waveform selection information, waveform to antenna mapping information, whether the sensing waveform is modulated with symbols, or any combination thereof.
  • [0191] Clause 34. The network entity of any of clauses 32 to 33, wherein the index modulated sensing signals comprise index modulated Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO) sensing signals, index modulated phased array signals, index modulated phased MIMO signals, or any combination thereof.
  • [0192] Clause 35. The network entity of any of clauses 32 to 34, wherein the one or more processors, either alone or in combination, are further configured to: transmit, via the one or more transceivers, IM configuration information, the IM configuration information indicating resources for IM broadcast signaling, IM control information signaling, IM UE paging signaling, or a combination thereof.
  • [0193] Clause 36. The network entity of any of clauses 32 to 35, wherein the assistance information is semi-statically configured or dynamically indicated.
  • [0194] Clause 37. A wireless device, comprising: means for receiving assistance information for one or more index modulated sensing waveforms; means for receiving index modulated sensing signals, the index modulated sensing signals based on the one or more index modulated sensing waveforms; and means for processing the index modulated sensing signals using at least some of the assistance information.
  • [0195] Clause 38. The wireless device of clause 37, wherein the index modulated sensing signals use time index modulation, frequency index modulation, spatial index modulation, spreading code index modulation, or a combination thereof.
  • [0196] Clause 39. The wireless device of any of clauses 37 to 38, wherein the assistance information indicates one or more parameters of the one or more index modulated sensing waveforms, wherein the one or more parameters include an indication of a sensing waveform set, waveform selection information, waveform to antenna mapping information, whether the sensing waveform is modulated with symbols, or any combination thereof.
  • [0197] Clause 40. The wireless device of clause 39, wherein the one or more parameters include waveform selection information, and wherein the waveform selection information comprises an indication of a size of a waveform selection matrix.
  • [0198] Clause 41. The wireless device of any of clauses 39 to 40, wherein the one or more parameters include waveform to antenna mapping information, and wherein the waveform to antenna mapping information comprises an indication of a size of an antenna mapping matrix.
  • [0199] Clause 42. The wireless device of any of clauses 37 to 41, wherein the assistance information is semi-statically configured or dynamically indicated.
  • [0200] Clause 43. The wireless device of any of clauses 37 to 42, wherein the wireless device is a user equipment (UE), and further comprising: means for transmitting an indication of one or more index modulation (IM) capabilities for the UE to a network entity, the one or more IM capabilities including an indication of one or more supported IM types, a maximum number of waveform sets indication, a maximum number of antenna ports indication, or a combination thereof.
  • [0201] Clause 44. The wireless device of any of clauses 37 to 43, wherein the wireless device is a user equipment (UE), and further comprising: means for receiving IM configuration information, the IM configuration information indicating resources for IM broadcast signaling, IM control information signaling, IM UE paging signaling, or any combination thereof.
  • [0202] Clause 45. The wireless device of clause 44, further comprising: means for receiving the IM broadcast signaling, the IM control information signaling, the IM UE paging signaling, or the combination thereof according to the IM configuration information; and wherein the means for processing the index modulated sensing signals using at least some of the assistance information comprises: means for processing the received IM broadcast signaling to determine associated broadcast message information; means for processing the received IM control information signaling to determine associated control message information; means for processing the received IM UE paging signaling to determine associated UE paging information; or any combination thereof.
  • [0203] Clause 46. The wireless device of any of clauses 37 to 45, wherein the wireless device is a UE, and further comprising: means for receiving the index modulated sensing signals using one or more antenna ports; means for receiving communication demodulation reference signals (DMRS) on one or more DMRS antenna ports, the one or more antenna ports and the one or more DMRS antenna ports having a quasi co-location (QCL) relationship; and means for performing channel estimation using the received communication DMRS and the QCL relationship; and wherein the means for processing the index modulated sensing signals comprises means for processing the index modulated sensing signals using the channel estimation.
  • [0204] Clause 47. The wireless device of any of clauses 37 to 45, wherein the wireless device is a UE, and further comprising: means for receiving a sensing DMRS for the index modulated sensing signals using one or more antenna ports; means for receiving the index modulated sensing signals using at least a first antenna port having a quasi co-location relationship with the one or more antenna ports; and means for performing channel estimation for receiving the index modulated sensing signals using the sensing DMRS and the QCL relationship.
  • [0205] Clause 48. The wireless device of any of clauses 37 to 47, wherein the wireless device is a UE, and further comprising: means for generating a sequence or a pulse; means for correlating the received index modulated sensing signals with the generated sequence or pulse; and means for demapping the received index modulated sensing signals based on a correlation result.
  • [0206] Clause 49. The wireless device of any of clauses 37 to 48, wherein the index modulated sensing signals are transmission reception point (TRP) to user equipment (UE) bistatic sensing signals, and further comprising: means for detecting earliest arrival timing and reflected arrival timing for the bistatic sensing signals; and means for determining range information, speed information, or both for one or more target objects based on the earliest arrival timing information and the reflected arrival timing.
  • [0207] Clause 50. A network entity, comprising: means for transmitting assistance information for one or more index modulated sensing waveforms; and means for transmitting index modulated sensing signals using the one or more index modulated sensing waveforms.
  • [0208] Clause 51. The network entity of clause 50, wherein the assistance information indicates one or more parameters of the one or more index modulated sensing waveforms, wherein the one or more parameters include an indication of a sensing waveform set, waveform selection information, waveform to antenna mapping information, whether the sensing waveform is modulated with symbols, or any combination thereof.
  • [0209] Clause 52. The network entity of any of clauses 50 to 51, wherein the index modulated sensing signals comprise index modulated Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO) sensing signals, index modulated phased array signals, index modulated phased MIMO signals, or any combination thereof.
  • [0210] Clause 53. The network entity of any of clauses 50 to 52, further comprising: means for transmitting IM configuration information, the IM configuration information indicating resources for IM broadcast signaling, IM control information signaling, IM UE paging signaling, or a combination thereof.
  • [0211] Clause 54. The network entity of any of clauses 50 to 53, wherein the assistance information is semi-statically configured or dynamically indicated.
  • [0212] Clause 55. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer-executable instructions that, when executed by a wireless device, cause the wireless device to: receive assistance information for one or more index modulated sensing waveforms; receive index modulated sensing signals, the index modulated sensing signals based on the one or more index modulated sensing waveforms; and process the index modulated sensing signals using at least some of the assistance information.
  • [0213] Clause 56. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of clause 55, wherein the index modulated sensing signals use time index modulation, frequency index modulation, spatial index modulation, spreading code index modulation, or a combination thereof.
  • [0214] Clause 57. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 55 to 56, wherein the assistance information indicates one or more parameters of the one or more index modulated sensing waveforms, wherein the one or more parameters include an indication of a sensing waveform set, waveform selection information, waveform to antenna mapping information, whether the sensing waveform is modulated with symbols, or any combination thereof.
  • [0215] Clause 58. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of clause 57, wherein the one or more parameters include waveform selection information, and wherein the waveform selection information comprises an indication of a size of a waveform selection matrix.
  • [0216] Clause 59. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 57 to 58, wherein the one or more parameters include waveform to antenna mapping information, and wherein the waveform to antenna mapping information comprises an indication of a size of an antenna mapping matrix.
  • [0217] Clause 60. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 55 to 59, wherein the assistance information is semi-statically configured or dynamically indicated.
  • [0218] Clause 61. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 55 to 60, wherein the wireless device is a user equipment (UE), and wherein the computer-executable instructions, when executed by the wireless device, further cause the wireless device to: transmit an indication of one or more index modulation (IM) capabilities for the UE to a network entity, the one or more IM capabilities including an indication of one or more supported IM types, a maximum number of waveform sets indication, a maximum number of antenna ports indication, or a combination thereof.
  • [0219] Clause 62. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 55 to 61, wherein the wireless device is a user equipment (UE), and wherein the computer-executable instructions, when executed by the wireless device, further cause the wireless device to: receive IM configuration information, the IM configuration information indicating resources for IM broadcast signaling, IM control information signaling, IM UE paging signaling, or any combination thereof.
  • [0220] Clause 63. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of clause 62, further comprising computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the wireless device, cause the wireless device to: receive the IM broadcast signaling, the IM control information signaling, the IM UE paging signaling, or the combination thereof according to the IM configuration information; and wherein the computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the wireless device, cause the wireless device to process the index modulated sensing signals using at least some of the assistance information comprise computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the wireless device, cause the wireless device to: process the received IM broadcast signaling to determine associated broadcast message information; process the received IM control information signaling to determine associated control message information; process the received IM UE paging signaling to determine associated UE paging information; or any combination thereof.
  • [0221] Clause 64. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 55 to 63, wherein the wireless device is a UE, and wherein the computer-executable instructions, when executed by the wireless device, further cause the wireless device to: receive the index modulated sensing signals using one or more antenna ports; receive communication demodulation reference signals (DMRS) on one or more DMRS antenna ports, the one or more antenna ports and the one or more DMRS antenna ports having a quasi co-location (QCL) relationship; and perform channel estimation using the received communication DMRS and the QCL relationship; and wherein the computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the wireless device, cause the wireless device to process the index modulated sensing signals comprise computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the wireless device, cause the wireless device to process the index modulated sensing signals using the channel estimation.
  • [0222] Clause 65. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 55 to 63, wherein the wireless device is a UE, and wherein the computer-executable instructions, when executed by the wireless device, further cause the wireless device to: receive a sensing DMRS for the index modulated sensing signals using one or more antenna ports; receive the index modulated sensing signals using at least a first antenna port having a quasi co-location relationship with the one or more antenna ports; and perform channel estimation for receiving the index modulated sensing signals using the sensing DMRS and the QCL relationship.
  • [0223] Clause 66. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 55 to 65, wherein the wireless device is a UE, and wherein the computer-executable instructions, when executed by the wireless device, further cause the wireless device to: generate a sequence or a pulse; correlate the received index modulated sensing signals with the generated sequence or pulse; and demap the received index modulated sensing signals based on a correlation result.
  • [0224] Clause 67. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 55 to 66, wherein the index modulated sensing signals are transmission reception point (TRP) to user equipment (UE) bistatic sensing signals, and wherein the computer-executable instructions, when executed by the wireless device, further cause the wireless device to: detect earliest arrival timing and reflected arrival timing for the bistatic sensing signals; and determine range information, speed information, or both for one or more target objects based on the earliest arrival timing information and the reflected arrival timing.
  • [0225] Clause 68. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer-executable instructions that, when executed by a network entity, cause the network entity to: transmit assistance information for one or more index modulated sensing waveforms; and transmit index modulated sensing signals using the one or more index modulated sensing waveforms.
  • [0226] Clause 69. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of clause 68, wherein the assistance information indicates one or more parameters of the one or more index modulated sensing waveforms, wherein the one or more parameters include an indication of a sensing waveform set, waveform selection information, waveform to antenna mapping information, whether the sensing waveform is modulated with symbols, or any combination thereof.
  • [0227] Clause 70. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 68 to 69, wherein the index modulated sensing signals comprise index modulated Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO) sensing signals, index modulated phased array signals, index modulated phased MIMO signals, or any combination thereof.
  • [0228] Clause 71. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 68 to 70, further comprising computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the network entity, cause the network entity to: transmit IM configuration information, the IM configuration information indicating resources for IM broadcast signaling, IM control information signaling, IM UE paging signaling, or a combination thereof.
  • [0229] Clause 72. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 68 to 71, wherein the assistance information is semi-statically configured or dynamically indicated.

[0230] Those of skill in the art will appreciate that information and signals may be represented using any of a variety of different technologies and techniques. For example, data, instructions, commands, information, signals, bits, symbols, and chips that may be referenced throughout the above description may be represented by voltages, currents, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or particles, optical fields or particles, or any combination thereof.

[0231] Further, those of skill in the art will appreciate that the various illustrative logical blocks, modules, circuits, and algorithm steps described in connection with the aspects disclosed herein may be implemented as electronic hardware, computer software, or combinations of both. To clearly illustrate this interchangeability of hardware and software, various illustrative components, blocks, modules, circuits, and steps have been described above generally in terms of their functionality. Whether such functionality is implemented as hardware or software depends upon the particular application and design constraints imposed on the overall system. Skilled artisans may implement the described functionality in varying ways for each particular application, but such implementation decisions should not be interpreted as causing a departure from the scope of the present disclosure.

[0232] The various illustrative logical blocks, modules, and circuits described in connection with the aspects disclosed herein may be implemented or performed with a general purpose processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an ASIC, a field-programmable gate array (FPGA), or other programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof designed to perform the functions described herein. A general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor, but in the alternative, the processor may be any conventional processor, controller, microcontroller, or state machine. A processor may also be implemented as a combination of computing devices, for example, a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, a plurality of microprocessors, one or more microprocessors in conjunction with a DSP core, or any other such configuration.

[0233] The methods, sequences and/or algorithms described in connection with the aspects disclosed herein may be embodied directly in hardware, in a software module executed by a processor, or in a combination of the two. A software module may reside in random access memory (RAM), flash memory, read-only memory (ROM), erasable programmable ROM (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable ROM (EEPROM), registers, hard disk, a removable disk, a CD-ROM, or any other form of storage medium known in the art. An example storage medium is coupled to the processor such that the processor can read information from, and write information to, the storage medium. In the alternative, the storage medium may be integral to the processor. The processor and the storage medium may reside in an ASIC. The ASIC may reside in a user terminal (e.g., UE). In the alternative, the processor and the storage medium may reside as discrete components in a user terminal.

[0234] In one or more example aspects, the functions described may be implemented in hardware, software, firmware, or any combination thereof. If implemented in software, the functions may be stored on or transmitted over as one or more instructions or code on a computer-readable medium. Computer-readable media includes both computer storage media and communication media including any medium that facilitates transfer of a computer program from one place to another. A storage media may be any available media that can be accessed by a computer. By way of example, and not limitation, such computer-readable media can comprise RAM, ROM, EEPROM, CD-ROM or other optical disk storage, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium that can be used to carry or store desired program code in the form of instructions or data structures and that can be accessed by a computer. Also, any connection is properly termed a computer-readable medium. For example, if the software is transmitted from a website, server, or other remote source using a coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, digital subscriber line (DSL), or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio, and microwave, then the coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, DSL, or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio, and microwave are included in the definition of medium. Disk and disc, as used herein, includes compact disc (CD), laser disc, optical disc, digital versatile disc (DVD), floppy disk and Blu-ray disc where disks usually reproduce data magnetically, while discs reproduce data optically with lasers. Combinations of the above should also be included within the scope of computer-readable media.

[0235] While the foregoing disclosure shows illustrative aspects of the disclosure, it should be noted that various changes and modifications could be made herein without departing from the scope of the disclosure as defined by the appended claims. For example, the functions, steps and/or actions of the method claims in accordance with the aspects of the disclosure described herein need not be performed in any particular order. Further, no component, function, action, or instruction described or claimed herein should be construed as critical or essential unless explicitly described as such. Furthermore, as used herein, the terms “set,” “group,” and the like are intended to include one or more of the stated elements. Also, as used herein, the terms “has,” “have,” “having,” “comprises,” “comprising,” “includes,” “including,” and the like does not preclude the presence of one or more additional elements (e.g., an element “having” A may also have B). Further, the phrase “based on” is intended to mean “based, at least in part, on” unless explicitly stated otherwise. Also, as used herein, the term “or” is intended to be inclusive when used in a series and may be used interchangeably with “and/or,” unless explicitly stated otherwise (e.g., if used in combination with “either” or “only one of”) or the alternatives are mutually exclusive (e.g., “one or more” should not be interpreted as “one and more”). Furthermore, although components, functions, actions, and instructions may be described or claimed in the singular, the plural is contemplated unless limitation to the singular is explicitly stated. Accordingly, as used herein, the articles “a,” “an,” “the,” and “said” are intended to include one or more of the stated elements. Additionally, as used herein, the terms “at least one” and “one or more” encompass “one” component, function, action, or instruction performing or capable of performing a described or claimed functionality and also “two or more” components, functions, actions, or instructions performing or capable of performing a described or claimed functionality in combination.