WO2025011017A1

WO2025011017A1 - Service continuity in integrated sensing and communication (isac)

Info

Publication number: WO2025011017A1
Application number: PCT/CN2024/075322
Authority: WO
Inventors: Luning Liu; Lianhai WU; Haiming Wang; Jianfeng Wang
Original assignee: Lenovo Beijing Ltd
Current assignee: Lenovo Beijing Ltd
Priority date: 2024-02-01
Filing date: 2024-02-01
Publication date: 2025-01-16
Anticipated expiration: 2026-08-01

Abstract

Various aspects of the present disclosure relate to service continuity in integrated sensing and communication (IS AC). In an aspect, based at least in part on a location of a target entity corresponding to an edge cell associated with the first network entity, a first network entity transmits, to at least one second network entity, a first request message for information associated with a set of one or more third network entities. The first network entity receives, from at least one second network entity, a first response message comprising the information. Then, the first network entity transmits, to at least one third network entity of the set of one or more third network entities, a second request message, in order to continue sensing of the target entity by one or more of the at least one third network entity and at least one wireless device associated with the at least one third network entity. The first network entity further receives, from the at least one third network entity of the set of one or more third network entities, a report including sensing information associated with the target entity in response to the second request message. In this way, the continuity of service in an ISAC system can be guaranteed.

Description

SERVICE CONTINUITY IN INTEGRATED SENSING AND COMMUNICATION (ISAC)

The present disclosure relates to wireless communications, and more specifically to enabling service continuity in integrated sensing and communication (ISAC) .

BACKGROUND

A wireless communications system may include one or multiple network communication devices, such as base stations (BSs) , which may be otherwise known as an eNodeB (eNB) , a next-generation NodeB (gNB) , or other suitable terminology. Each network communication devices, such as a base station may support wireless communications for one or multiple user communication devices, which may be otherwise known as user equipment (UE) , or other suitable terminology. The wireless communications system may support wireless communications with one or multiple user communication devices by utilizing resources of the wireless communication system (e.g., time resources (e.g., symbols, slots, subframes, frames, or the like) or frequency resources (e.g., subcarriers, carriers) . Additionally, the wireless communications system may support wireless communications across various radio access technologies including third generation (3G) radio access technology, fourth generation (4G) radio access technology, fifth generation (5G) radio access technology, among other suitable radio access technologies beyond 5G (e.g., sixth generation (6G) ) .

Some wireless communication systems, including some communication devices may support sensing capabilities and functionalities. These wireless communication systems may be referred to as an integrated sensing and communication (ISAC) system or a joint communication and sensing (JCAS) system. In some cases, an ISAC system may support intrusion detection in highways, railways, or the like to improve safety. However, because some target entities (e.g., target sensing entities) may be non-members of the ISAC system or the like, it may be desirable to provide improvement to coordinating (e.g., scheduling) sensing of these target entities in the ISAC system.

SUMMARY

The present disclosure relates to a base station, a user equipment, processors and methods that support service continuity in ISAC.

Some implementations of the method and devices described herein include, transmitting, to at least one second network entity, a first request message for information associated with a set of one or more third network entities based at least in part on a location of a target entity corresponding to an edge cell associated with the first network entity; receiving, from at least one second network entity, a first response message comprising the information associated with the set of one or more third network entities; transmitting, to at least one third network entity of the set of one or more third network entities, a second request message to continue sensing of the target entity by one or more of the at least one third network entity and at least one wireless device associated with the at least one third network entity; and receiving, from the at least one third network entity of the set of one or more third network entities, a report including sensing information associated with the target entity in response to the second request message.

Some implementations of the method and devices described herein may further include: measuring a quality level of sensing data for the target entity. In some implementations of the method and devices described herein, transmitting the first request message comprises transmitting, based on the quality level, the first request message to the at least one second network entity.

In some implementations of the method and devices described herein, the first request message indicates a required coverage region, and wherein the set of one or more third network entities is determined based on the required region and the respective coverage regions provided by the set of one or more third network entities.

In some implementations of the method and devices described herein, the information comprises one or more of the following: a set of one or more identities (IDs) associated with the set of one or more third network entities; a set of one or more positions associated with the set of one or more third network entities; a set of one or more station types associated with the set of one or more third network entities; or a set of one or more coverage regions supported by the set of one or more third network entities.

In some implementations of the method and devices described herein, the information comprises first information, and some implementations of the method and devices described herein may further include: determine a subset of one or more third network entities from the set of one or more third network entities based at least in part on the first information and second information comprising one or more of a location of the target entity, a velocity of the target entity of the target entity, a size, or a moving direction of the target entity.

Some implementations of the method and devices described herein may further include: obtaining sensing capability information associated with the subset of one or more third network entities, wherein the sensing capability information indicates at least one of a sensing capability, a sensing mode, a set of one or more resources for sensing by the subset of one or more third network entities; and selecting, based on the sensing capability information, the at least one third network entity from the subset of one or more third network entities to continue sensing of the target entity.

Some implementations of the method and devices described herein may further include: transmitting, to the subset of one or more third network entities, a third request message to perform a sensing test on the target entity; receiving a set of one or more results of the sensing test from the subset of one or more third network entities; and selecting, based on the set of one or more results, the at least one third network entity from the subset of one or more third network entities to continue sensing of the target entity.

Some implementations of the method and devices described herein may further include: transmitting, to the subset of one or more third network entities, at least one sensing requirement for the target entity; receiving, from the subset of one or more third network entities, a feedback for the at least one sensing requirements; and selecting, based on the feedback, the at least one third network entity from the subset of one or more third network entities to continue sensing of the target entity.

In some implementations of the method and devices described herein, the second request message comprises a first sensing start request that triggers a sensing procedure associated with the at least one third network entity, and the first sensing start request comprises an indication of at least one of a location, a velocity, a moving direction, a size of the target entity.

In some implementations of the method and devices described herein, the report comprises a second response message, and wherein the second response message comprises a first rejection indication or a first acceptance indication.

In some implementations of the method and devices described herein, the second response message comprises the first rejection indication, and the second response message further comprises at least one of the following: a rejection reason related to the at least one third network entity; or assistance information related to sensing availability of the at least one third network entity.

In some implementations of the method and devices described herein, at least one of the following: the first sensing start request comprises one or more sensing configurations supported by the first network entity; the second response message comprises one or more sensing configurations supported by the at least one third network entity; and the first sensing start request and the second response message are transmitted over an Xn interface between the first network entity and the at least one third network entity.

Some implementations of the method and devices described herein may further include: transmitting one or more sensing configurations supported by the first network entity in a message other than the first sensing start request; and receiving one or more sensing configurations supported by the at least one third network entity in another message other than the second response message.

Some implementations of the method and devices described herein may further include: performing a sensing procedure on the target entity with the at least one third network entity.

Some implementations of the method and devices described herein may further include: stopping sensing the target entity based on transmitting the first sensing start request or a first period upon transmitting the first sensing start request expires; stopping sensing the target entity based on receiving the second response message or a second period upon receiving the second response message expires; or stopping sensing the target entity based on receiving a sensing result from the at least one third network entity or a third period upon receiving the sensing result expires.

Some implementations of the method and devices described herein may further include transmitting an indication that is indicative of stopping sensing the target entity based on at least one of the following: determining that the target maintains in a coverage region of the first network entity; receiving another response message comprising the acceptance indication from a further network entity of the subset of one or more third network entities; or receiving a sensing result from the further network entity.

In some implementations of the method and devices described herein, the second request message comprises a wireless device information request for information on a set of wireless devices served by the at least one third network entity, the wireless device information request triggers a sensing procedure associated with the at least one wireless device of the set of wireless devices, and wherein the wireless device information request indicates at least one of the following: requirements for a wireless device, wherein the requirements comprise at least one of a preferred wireless device location, mobility, an expected sensing capability of the wireless device, a location accuracy provided by a wireless device; second information on at least one of a location, velocity, size or a moving direction of the target entity; or one or more sensing configurations supported by the first network entity.

In some implementations of the method and devices described herein, the report comprises a third response message, and wherein the third response message comprises a second rejection indication or a second acceptance indication.

In some implementations of the method and devices described herein, the third response message comprises the second rejection indication, and the third response message further comprises at least one of the following: a rejection reason related to wireless devices served by the at least one third network entity; or assistance information related to sensing availability of the wireless devices served by the at least one third network entity.

In some implementations of the method and devices described herein, the third response message comprises the second acceptance indication, and the third response message further comprises at least one of the following: identities of a subset of wireless devices and respective sensing configurations supported by the subset of wireless devices; or an identity of at least one wireless device that is selected by the at least one third network entity for continuing sensing.

In some implementations of the method and devices described herein, the third response message comprises the identities of the subset of wireless devices, and some implementations of the method and devices described herein may further include: selecting at least one wireless device from the subset of wireless devices for continuing sensing.

Some implementations of the method and devices described herein may further include: transmitting, to the at least one third network entity, at least one indication of the at least one wireless device and a configuration indication of a sensing configuration to be used; and performing the sensing procedure with the at least one wireless device.

Some implementations of the method and devices described herein may further include receiving a sensing result from the at least one wireless device via the at least one third network entity.

In some implementations of the method and devices described herein, the second request message comprises a second sensing start request that triggers the sensing procedure associated with both the at least one third network entity and the at least one wireless device.

Some implementations of the method and devices described herein may further include: receiving, from the at least one third network entity, a sensing result of a sensing procedure performed by the at least one third network entity and the at least one wireless device.

In some implementations of the method and devices described herein, the report comprises a fourth response message that comprises a third acceptance indication or a third rejection indication, and in a case that the fourth response message comprises the third rejection indication, the fourth response message further comprises at least one of the following: a rejection reason related to one or more of the at least one third network entity or the at least one wireless device; or assistance information related to sensing availability of one or more of the at least one third network entity or the at least one wireless device.

In some implementations of the method and devices described herein, the first network entity and the at least one third network entity are network base stations, the at least one second network entity is configured with an access and mobility function (AMF) .

Some implementations of the method and devices described herein include, receiving, from a first network entity, a first request message for information associated with a set of one or more third network entities, wherein the first request message is transmitted based at least in part on a location of a target entity corresponding to an edge cell associated with the first network entity; and transmitting, to the first network entity, a first response message comprising the information associated with the set of one or more third network entities.

In some implementations of the method and devices described herein, the information comprises one or more of: a set of one or more identities (IDs) associated with the set of one or more third network entities; a set of one or more positions associated with the set of one or more third network entities; a set of one or more station types associated with the set of one or more third network entities; or a set of one or more coverage regions supported by the set of one or more third network entities.

Some implementations of the method and devices described herein include, receiving, from a first network entity, a second request message to continue sensing of a target entity by one or more of the third network entity and at least one wireless device associated with the third network entity; and transmitting, in response to the second request message, a report including sensing information associated with the target entity to the first network entity.

Some implementations of the method and devices described herein may further include: receiving, from the first network entity, a third request message for performing a sensing test on the target entity; performing the sensing test on the target entity; and transmitting, to the first network entity, a result of the sensing test.

Some implementations of the method and devices described herein may further include: receiving, from the first network entity, sensing requirements for the target entity; transmitting, to the first network entity, positive responses or negative responses for the sensing requirements.

In some implementations of the method and devices described herein, the second request message comprises a first sensing start request that triggers a sensing procedure associated with the second network entity, and the first sensing start request comprises target entity information that indicates at least one of a location, a velocity, a moving direction, a size of the target entity.

In some implementations of the method and devices described herein, the report comprises a second response message to the first sensing start request, and wherein the second response message comprises a first rejection indication or a first acceptance indication.

In some implementations of the method and devices described herein, the report comprises a second response message, and wherein the second response message comprises the rejection indication, and the second response message further comprises at least one of the following: a rejection reason related to the third network entity; or assistance information related to sensing availability of the third network entity.

In some implementations of the method and devices described herein, at least one of the following: the first sensing start request comprises one or more sensing configurations supported by the first network entity; the second response message comprises one or more sensing configurations supported by the third network entity; and the first sensing start request and the second response message are transmitted over an Xn interface between the first network entity and the third network entity.

Some implementations of the method and devices described herein may further include: receiving one or more sensing configurations supported by the first network entity in a message other than the first sensing start request; and transmitting one or more sensing configurations supported by the third network entity in another message other than the second response message.

Some implementations of the method and devices described herein may further include: performing the sensing procedure on the target entity; or performing the sensing procedure on the target entity with the first network entity.

Some implementations of the method and devices described herein may further include: receiving an indication that is indicative of stopping sensing the target entity.

In some implementations of the method and devices described herein, the second request message comprises a wireless device information request for information on a set of wireless devices served by the at least one third network entity, the wireless device information request triggers a sensing procedure associated with the at least one wireless device of the set of wireless devices, and wherein the wireless device information request indicates at least one of the following: requirements for a wireless device , wherein the requirements comprise at least one of a preferred wireless device location, mobility, an expected sensing capability of the wireless device, a location accuracy of a wireless device; second information on at least one of a location, velocity or a moving direction of the target entity; or one or more sensing configurations supported by the first network entity.

In some implementations of the method and devices described herein, the third response message comprises the second rejection indication, and the third response message further comprises at least one of the following: a rejection reason related to wireless devices served by the third network entity; or assistance information related to sensing availability of the wireless devices served by the third network entity.

In some implementations of the method and devices described herein, the third response message comprises the second acceptance indication, and the third response message further comprises at least one of the following: identities of a subset of wireless devices and respective sensing configurations supported by the subset of wireless devices; or an identity of at least one wireless device and a sensing configuration that are selected by the third network entity to continue sensing.

Some implementations of the method and devices described herein may further include: receiving, from the first network entity, at least one indication of the at least one wireless device and a configuration indication of a sensing configuration to be used; and performing a sensing procedure with the first network entity.

Some implementations of the method and devices described herein may further include: receiving, from the first wireless device, a sensing result of the sensing procedure; and transmitting the sensing result to the first network entity.

In some implementations of the method and devices described herein, the second request message comprises a second sensing start request that triggers a sensing procedure associated with both the third network entity and the at least one wireless device.

In some implementations of the method and devices described herein, the report comprises a fourth response message that comprises a third acceptance indication or a third rejection indication, and wherein in the case that the fourth response message comprises the third rejection indication, the fourth response message further comprises at least one of the following: a rejection reason related to one or more of the at least one third network entity or the at least one wireless device; or assistance information related to sensing availability of one or more of the at least one third network entity or the at least one wireless device.

Some implementations of the method and devices described herein may further include: transmitting a request for sensing capability to a set of wireless devices served by the third network entity; receiving, from the set of wireless devices, respective sensing capability information; and selecting, based on the respective sensing capability information, the at least one wireless device from one or more wireless devices for continuing sensing.

Some implementations of the method and devices described herein may further include: determining a sensing configuration for the sensing procedure; transmitting the sensing configuration to the at least one wireless device; and performing the sensing procedure with the at least one wireless device.

Some implementations of the method and devices described herein may further include: transmitting, to the first network entity, a sensing result of a sensing procedure performed by the third network entity with the at least one wireless device.

Some implementations of the method and devices described herein include, receiving, from a third network entity serving the wireless device or from a first network entity via the third network entity, an indication of a sensing configuration for a sensing procedure for continuing sensing a target entity by one or more of the third network entity and the wireless device; and performing the sensing procedure with at least one of the first network entity or the third network entity.

Some implementations of the method and devices described herein may further include: transmitting the least one of location information, mobility information, moving direction information or sensing capability information to the third network entity.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1A illustrates an example of a wireless communications system that supports transmission optimization in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure.

FIGs. 1B through 1G illustrate example scenarios of a sensing service of the ISAC system in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure.

FIG. 2 illustrates an example signaling diagram illustrating an example process that supports service continuity in ISAC in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure.

FIG. 3A illustrates an example signaling diagram of a third network entity selection that supports service continuity in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure.

FIG. 3B illustrates an example signaling diagram of network-based sensing scenario that supports service continuity in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure.

FIGs. 4A through 4B illustrate example signaling diagrams of UE-involved sensing scenario that supports service continuity in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure.

FIGs. 5 through 8 illustrate examples of devices that support service continuity in ISAC in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure.

FIGs. 9 through 12 illustrate examples of processors that support service continuity in ISAC in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure.

FIGs. 13 through 16 illustrate flowcharts of methods that support service continuity in ISAC in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure.

Throughout the drawings, the same or similar reference numerals represent the same or similar elements.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Principles of the present disclosure will now be described with reference to some embodiments. It is to be understood that these embodiments are described only for the purpose of illustration and help those skilled in the art to understand and implement the present disclosure, without suggesting any limitation as to the scope of the disclosure. The disclosure described herein may be implemented in various manners other than the ones described below.

In the following description and claims, unless defined otherwise, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skills in the art to which this disclosure belongs.

References in the present disclosure to “one embodiment, ” “an example embodiment, ” “an embodiment, ” “some embodiments, ” and the like indicate that the embodiment (s) described may include a particular feature, structure, or characteristic, but it is not necessary that every embodiment includes the particular feature, structure, or characteristic. Moreover, such phrases do not necessarily refer to the same embodiment (s) . Further, when a particular feature, structure, or characteristic is described in connection with an embodiment, it is submitted that it is within the knowledge of one skilled in the art to affect such feature, structure, or characteristic in connection with other embodiments whether or not explicitly described.

It shall be understood that although the terms “first” and “second” or the like may be used herein to describe various elements, these elements should not be limited by these terms. These terms are only used to distinguish one element from another element. For example, a first element could also be termed as a second element, and similarly, a second element could also be termed as a first element, without departing from the scope of embodiments. As used herein, the term “and/or” includes any and all combinations of one or more of the listed terms.

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of example embodiments. As used herein, the singular forms “a” , “an” and “the” are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “comprises” , “comprising” , “has” , “having” , “includes” and/or “including” , when used herein, specify the presence of stated features, elements, and/or components etc., but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, elements, components and/or combinations thereof.

As used herein, the term “communication network” refers to a network following any suitable communication standards, such as, 5G new radio (NR) , LTE, LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) , Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA) , High-Speed Packet Access (HSPA) , Narrow Band Internet of Things (NB-IoT) , and so on. Further, the communications between a UE and a network device in the communication network may be performed according to any suitable generation communication protocols, including but not limited to, the first generation (1G) , the second generation (2G) , 2.5G, 2.75G, the third generation (3G) , the 4G, 4.5G, the 5G communication protocols, and/or any other protocols either currently known or to be developed in the future. Embodiments of the present disclosure may be applied in various communication systems. Given the rapid development in communications, there will also be future type communication technologies and systems in which the present disclosure may be embodied. It should not be seen as limiting the scope of the present disclosure to only the aforementioned systems.

As used herein, the term “network device” generally refers to a node in a communication network via which a UE can access the communication network and receive services therefrom. The network device may refer to a base station (BS) or an access point (AP) , for example, a node B (NodeB or NB) , a radio access network (RAN) node, an evolved NodeB (eNodeB or eNB) , a NR NB (also referred to as a gNB) , a Remote Radio Unit (RRU) , a radio header (RH) , an infrastructure device for a vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communication, a transmission and reception point (TRP) , a reception point (RP) , a remote radio head (RRH) , a relay, an integrated access and backhaul (IAB) node, a low power node such as a femto a base station (BS) , a pico BS, and so forth, depending on the applied terminology and technology. The network device may further refer to a network function (NF) in the core network, for example, a service management function (SMF) , an access and mobility management function (AMF) , a policy control function (PCF) , a user plane function (UPF) or devices with same function in future network architectures, and so forth.

As used herein, the term “UE” or “terminal device” generally refer to any end device that may be capable of wireless communications. By way of example rather than a limitation, a UE or terminal device may also be referred to as a communication device, an end user device, a subscriber station (SS) , an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) , a portable subscriber station, a mobile station (MS) , or an access terminal (AT) . The UE may include, but is not limited to, a mobile phone, a cellular phone, a smart phone, a voice over IP (VoIP) phone, a wireless local loop phone, a tablet, a wearable UE, a personal digital assistant (PDA) , a portable computer, a desktop computer, an image capture UE such as a digital camera, a gaming UE, a music storage and playback appliance, a vehicle-mounted wireless UE, a wireless endpoint, a mobile station, laptop-embedded equipment (LEE) , laptop-mounted equipment (LME) , a USB dongle, a smart device, wireless customer-premises equipment (CPE) , an Internet of Things (loT) device, a watch or other wearable, a head-mounted display (HMD) , a vehicle, a drone, a medical device (for example, a remote surgery device) , an industrial device (for example, a robot and/or other wireless devices operating in an industrial and/or an automated processing chain contexts) , a consumer electronics device, a device operating on commercial and/or industrial wireless networks, and the like. In the following description, the terms: “UE, ” “communication device, ” “terminal, ” “terminal device, ” and “UE, ” may be used interchangeably.

As mentioned above, in the sensing service of ISAC, the sensing service scheduling becomes a key aspect, since the target entity is not a member of the communication parties. That is, the sensing procedure for a target entity is difficult to be assisted by means of information from the target entity because the target entity is not a cooperative communication party. In addition, generally, the sensing scheduling is always performed by core network (CN) device or functionality (for example, sensing management function, SF) . In turn, this sensing scheduling mechanism may consume more signaling overhead, for example, the reporting from the sensing node, and scheduling configuration from the CN device/function and so on, and therefore the “sensing handover” latency may be longer.

In ISAC, multiple use cases are related to intrusion detection and target tracking, for example, pedestrian/animal intrusion detection on a highway, sensing for railway intrusion detection, sensing for UAV intrusion detection, and so on. In view of its large coverage and fixed location, a base station may be suitable to act as the sensing node for the large area detection and long distance tracking use cases. In these use cases, sensing nodes (i.e., base stations, which may collaborate with sensing UE) detect target entity with specific periodicity and configuration, once the target entity is detected, the sensing node reports to the CN/server and tracks the target entity with corresponding configuration until the target entity moves out of the defined region, for example, railway, highway, smart grid area, and so on.

In a specific situation, during the tracking of target entities, it’s possible that target entity moves out of the sensing coverage of current base station due to the mobility of target, leading to sensing node change. Different from legacy mobility issues with a communication terminal device (for example, UE handover in cells) , the target entity may be not a device and not support signal transmission and measurement. How to guarantee the service continuity when sensing node changes needs to be studied. In addition, how to save the signaling overhead for the CN devices and reduce the latency can be further considered. Only for discussion clarity, some specific situations are further discussed with reference to FIGs. 1B to 1G.

In view of the above discussions, some embodiments of the present disclosure provide a solution for enabling service continuity in ISAC. In the solution, based at least in part on a location of a target entity corresponding to an edge cell associated with the first network entity, a first network entity transmits, to at least one second network entity, a first request message for information associated with a set of one or more third network entities. The first network entity receives, from at least one second network entity, a first response message comprising the information associated with the set of one or more third network entities. Then, the first network entity transmits, to at least one third network entity of the set of one or more third network entities, a second request message, in order to continue sensing of the target entity by one or more of the at least one third network entity and at least one wireless device associated with the at least one third network entity. The first network entity further receives, from the at least one third network entity of the set of one or more third network entities, a report including sensing information associated with the target entity in response to the second request message.

In this way, the current network device that is responsible for the target entity can directly request appropriate other network entities (or a wireless device served by these network devices) to assist in continuing sensing the target entity. As such, the continuity of sensing service in ISAC can be guaranteed if the sensing quality of the current network device fluctuates, for example, the target entity moves to the edge covered by the first network entity. Moreover, the signaling overhead between network devices and CN devices can be reduced, and therefore the sensing “handover” latency may be also reduced.

FIG. 1A illustrates an example of a wireless communications system (or referred to as communication network) 100 that supports transmission optimization in IoT system in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. The wireless communications system 100 may include one or more network entities 102 (also referred to as network equipment) , one or more UEs 104, a core network 106, and a packet data network 108. The wireless communications system 100 may support various radio access technologies. In some implementations, the wireless communications system 100 may be a 4G network, such as an LTE network or an LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) network. In some other implementations, the wireless communications system 100 may be a 5G network, such as an NR network. In other implementations, the wireless communications system 100 may be a combination of a 4G network and a 5G network, or other suitable radio access technology including Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 (Wi-Fi) , IEEE 802.16 (WiMAX) , IEEE 802.20. The wireless communications system 100 may support radio access technologies beyond 5G. Additionally, the wireless communications system 100 may support technologies, such as time division multiple access (TDMA) , frequency division multiple access (FDMA) , or code division multiple access (CDMA) , etc.

The one or more network entities 102 may be dispersed throughout a geographic region to form the wireless communications system 100. One or more of the network entities 102 described herein may be or include or may be referred to as a network node, a base station, a network element, a radio access network (RAN) , a base transceiver station, an access point, a NodeB, an eNodeB (eNB) , a next-generation NodeB (gNB) , or other suitable terminology. A network entity 102 and a UE 104 may communicate via a communication link 110, which may be a wireless or wired connection. For example, a network entity 102 and a UE 104 may perform wireless communication (e.g., receive signaling, transmit signaling) over a Uu interface.

A network entity 102 may provide a geographic coverage area 112 for which the network entity 102 may support services (e.g., voice, video, packet data, messaging, broadcast, etc. ) for one or more UEs 104 within the geographic coverage area 112. For example, a network entity 102 and a UE 104 may support wireless communication of signals related to services (e.g., voice, video, packet data, messaging, broadcast, etc. ) according to one or multiple radio access technologies. In some implementations, a network entity 102 may be moveable, for example, a satellite associated with a non-terrestrial network. In some implementations, different geographic coverage areas 112 associated with the same or different radio access technologies may overlap, but the different geographic coverage areas 112 may be associated with different network entities 102. Information and signals described herein 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 may be represented by voltages, currents, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or particles, optical fields or particles, or any combination thereof.

The one or more UEs 104 may be dispersed throughout a geographic region of the wireless communications system 100. A UE 104 may include or may be referred to as a mobile device, a wireless device, a remote device, a remote unit, a handheld device, or a subscriber device, or some other suitable terminology. In some implementations, the UE 104 may be referred to as a unit, a station, a terminal, or a client, among other examples. Additionally, or alternatively, the UE 104 may be referred to as an Internet-of-Things (IoT) device, an Internet-of-Everything (IoE) device, or machine-type communication (MTC) device, among other examples. In some implementations, a UE 104 may be stationary in the wireless communications system 100. In some other implementations, a UE 104 may be mobile in the wireless communications system 100.

The one or more UEs 104 may be devices in different forms or having different capabilities. Some examples of UEs 104 are illustrated in FIG. 1A. A UE 104 may be capable of communicating with various types of devices, such as the network entities 102, other UEs 104, or network equipment (e.g., the core network 106, the packet data network 108, a relay device, an integrated access and backhaul (IAB) node, or another network equipment) , as shown in FIG. 1A. Additionally, or alternatively, a UE 104 may support communication with other network entities 102 or UEs 104, which may act as relays in the wireless communications system 100.

A UE (or terminal device) 104 may also be able to support wireless communication directly with other UEs 104 over a communication link 114. For example, a UE 104 may support wireless communication directly with another UE 104 over a device-to-device (D2D) communication link. In some implementations, such as vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) deployments, vehicle-to-everything (V2X) deployments, or cellular-V2X deployments, the communication link 114 may be referred to as a sidelink. For example, a UE 104 may support wireless communication directly with another UE 104 over a PC5 interface.

A network entity 102 may support communications with the core network 106, or with another network entity 102, or both. For example, a network entity 102 may interface with the core network 106 through one or more backhaul links 116 (e.g., via an S1, N2, N2, or another network interface) . The network entities 102 may communicate with each other over the backhaul links 116 (e.g., via an X2, Xn, or another network interface) . In some implementations, the network entities 102 may communicate with each other directly (e.g., between the network entities 102) . In some other implementations, the network entities 102 may communicate with each other or indirectly (e.g., via the core network 106) . In some implementations, one or more network entities 102 may include subcomponents, such as an access network entity, which may be an example of an access node controller (ANC) . An ANC may communicate with the one or more UEs 104 through one or more other access network transmission entities, which may be referred to as a radio heads, smart radio heads, or transmission-reception points (TRPs) .

In some implementations, a network entity 102 may be configured in a disaggregated architecture, which may be configured to utilize a protocol stack physically or logically distributed among two or more network entities 102, such as an integrated access backhaul (IAB) network, an open RAN (O-RAN) (e.g., a network configuration sponsored by the O-RAN Alliance) , or a virtualized RAN (vRAN) (e.g., a cloud RAN (C-RAN) ) . For example, a network entity 102 may include one or more of a central unit (CU) , a distributed unit (DU) , a radio unit (RU) , a RAN Intelligent Controller (RIC) (e.g., a Near-Real Time RIC (Near-RT RIC) , a Non-Real Time RIC (Non-RT RIC) ) , a Service Management and Orchestration (SMO) system, or any combination thereof.

An RU may also be referred to as a radio head, a smart radio head, a remote radio head (RRH) , a remote radio unit (RRU) , or a transmission reception point (TRP) . One or more components of the network entities 102 in a disaggregated RAN architecture may be co-located, or one or more components of the network entities 102 may be located in distributed locations (e.g., separate physical locations) . In some implementations, one or more network entities 102 of a disaggregated RAN architecture may be implemented as virtual units (e.g., a virtual CU (VCU) , a virtual DU (VDU) , a virtual RU (VRU) ) .

Split of functionality between a CU, a DU, and an RU may be flexible and may support different functionalities depending upon which functions (e.g., network layer functions, protocol layer functions, baseband functions, radio frequency functions, and any combinations thereof) are performed at a CU, a DU, or an RU. For example, a functional split of a protocol stack may be employed between a CU and a DU such that the CU may support one or more layers of the protocol stack and the DU may support one or more different layers of the protocol stack. In some implementations, the CU may host upper protocol layer (e.g., a layer 3 (L3) , a layer 2 (L2) ) functionality and signaling (e.g., RRC, service data adaption protocol (SDAP) , Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) ) . The CU may be connected to one or more DUs or RUs, and the one or more DUs or RUs may host lower protocol layers, such as a layer 1 (L1) (e.g., physical (PHY) layer) or an L2 (e.g., radio link control (RLC) layer, MAC layer) functionality and signaling, and may each be at least partially controlled by the CU.

Additionally, or alternatively, a functional split of the protocol stack may be employed between a DU and an RU such that the DU may support one or more layers of the protocol stack and the RU may support one or more different layers of the protocol stack. The DU may support one or multiple different cells (e.g., via one or more RUs) . In some implementations, a functional split between a CU and a DU, or between a DU and an RU may be within a protocol layer (e.g., some functions for a protocol layer may be performed by one of a CU, a DU, or an RU, while other functions of the protocol layer are performed by a different one of the CU, the DU, or the RU) .

A CU may be functionally split further into CU control plane (CU-CP) and CU user plane (CU-UP) functions. A CU may be connected to one or more DUs via a midhaul communication link (e.g., F1, F1-c, F1-u) , and a DU may be connected to one or more RUs via a fronthaul communication link (e.g., open fronthaul (FH) interface) . In some implementations, a midhaul communication link or a fronthaul communication link may be implemented in accordance with an interface (e.g., a channel) between layers of a protocol stack supported by respective network entities 102 that are in communication via such communication links.

The core network 106 may support user authentication, access authorization, tracking, connectivity, and other access, routing, or mobility functions. The core network 106 may be an evolved packet core (EPC) , or a 5G core (5GC) , which may include a control plane entity that manages access and mobility (e.g., a mobility management entity (MME) , an access and mobility management functions (AMF) ) and a user plane entity that routes packets or interconnects to external networks (e.g., a serving gateway (S-GW) , a Packet Data Network (PDN) gateway (P-GW) , or a user plane function (UPF) ) . In some implementations, the control plane entity may manage non-access stratum (NAS) functions, such as mobility, authentication, and bearer management (e.g., data bearers, signal bearers, etc. ) for the one or more UEs 104 served by the one or more network entities 102 associated with the core network 106.

The core network 106 may communicate with the packet data network 108 over one or more backhaul links 116 (e.g., via an S1, N2, N2, or another network interface) . The packet data network 108 may include an application server 118. In some implementations, one or more UEs 104 may communicate with the application server 118. A UE 104 may establish a session (e.g., a protocol data unit (PDU) session, or the like) with the core network 106 via a network entity 102. The core network 106 may route traffic (e.g., control information, data, and the like) between the UE 104 and the application server 118 using the established session (e.g., the established PDU session) . The PDU session may be an example of a logical connection between the UE 104 and the core network 106 (e.g., one or more network functions of the core network 106) .

In the wireless communications system 100, the network entities 102 and the UEs 104 may use resources of the wireless communications system 100 (e.g., time resources (e.g., symbols, slots, subframes, frames, or the like) or frequency resources (e.g., subcarriers, carriers) ) to perform various operations (e.g., wireless communications) . In some implementations, the network entities 102 and the UEs 104 may support different resource structures. For example, the network entities 102 and the UEs 104 may support different frame structures. In some implementations, such as in 4G, the network entities 102 and the UEs 104 may support a single frame structure. In some other implementations, such as in 5G and among other suitable radio access technologies, the network entities 102 and the UEs 104 may support various frame structures (i.e., multiple frame structures) . The network entities 102 and the UEs 104 may support various frame structures based on one or more numerologies.

One or more numerologies may be supported in the wireless communications system 100, and a numerology may include a subcarrier spacing and a cyclic prefix. A first numerology (e.g., μ=0) may be associated with a first subcarrier spacing (e.g., 15 kHz) and a normal cyclic prefix. In some implementations, the first numerology (e.g., μ=0) associated with the first subcarrier spacing (e.g., 15 kHz) may utilize one slot per subframe. A second numerology (e.g., μ=1) may be associated with a second subcarrier spacing (e.g., 30 kHz) and a normal cyclic prefix. A third numerology (e.g., μ=2) may be associated with a third subcarrier spacing (e.g., 60 kHz) and a normal cyclic prefix or an extended cyclic prefix. A fourth numerology (e.g., μ=3) may be associated with a fourth subcarrier spacing (e.g., 120 kHz) and a normal cyclic prefix. A fifth numerology (e.g., μ=4) may be associated with a fifth subcarrier spacing (e.g., 240 kHz) and a normal cyclic prefix.

A time interval of a resource (e.g., a communication resource) may be organized according to frames (also referred to as radio frames) . Each frame may have a duration, for example, a 10 millisecond (ms) duration. In some implementations, each frame may include multiple subframes. For example, each frame may include 10 subframes, and each subframe may have a duration, for example, a 1 ms duration. In some implementations, each frame may have the same duration. In some implementations, each subframe of a frame may have the same duration.

Additionally or alternatively, a time interval of a resource (e.g., a communication resource) may be organized according to slots. For example, a subframe may include a number (e.g., quantity) of slots. The number of slots in each subframe may also depend on the one or more numerologies supported in the wireless communications system 100. For instance, the first, second, third, fourth, and fifth numerologies (i.e., μ=0, μ=1, μ=2, μ=3, μ=4) associated with respective subcarrier spacings of 15 kHz, 30 kHz, 60 kHz, 120 kHz, and 240 kHz may utilize a single slot per subframe, two slots per subframe, four slots per subframe, eight slots per subframe, and 16 slots per subframe, respectively. Each slot may include a number (e.g., quantity) of symbols (e.g., OFDM symbols) . In some implementations, the number (e.g., quantity) of slots for a subframe may depend on a numerology. For a normal cyclic prefix, a slot may include 14 symbols. For an extended cyclic prefix (e.g., applicable for 60 kHz subcarrier spacing) , a slot may include 12 symbols. The relationship between the number of symbols per slot, the number of slots per subframe, and the number of slots per frame for a normal cyclic prefix and an extended cyclic prefix may depend on a numerology. It should be understood that reference to a first numerology (e.g., μ=0) associated with a first subcarrier spacing (e.g., 15 kHz) may be used interchangeably between subframes and slots.

In the wireless communications system 100, an electromagnetic (EM) spectrum may be split, based on frequency or wavelength, into various classes, frequency bands, frequency channels, etc. By way of example, the wireless communications system 100 may support one or multiple operating frequency bands, such as frequency range designations FR1 (410 MHz –7.125 GHz) , FR2 (24.25 GHz –52.6 GHz) , FR3 (7.125 GHz –24.25 GHz) , FR4 (52.6 GHz –114.25 GHz) , FR4a or FR4-1 (52.6 GHz –71 GHz) , and FR5 (114.25 GHz –300 GHz) . In some implementations, the network entities 102 and the UEs 104 may perform wireless communications over one or more of the operating frequency bands. In some implementations, FR1 may be used by the network entities 102 and the UEs 104, among other equipment or devices for cellular communications traffic (e.g., control information, data) . In some implementations, FR2 may be used by the network entities 102 and the UEs 104, among other equipment or devices for short-range, high data rate capabilities.

FR1 may be associated with one or multiple numerologies (e.g., at least three numerologies) . For example, FR1 may be associated with a first numerology (e.g., μ=0) , which includes 15 kHz subcarrier spacing; a second numerology (e.g., μ=1) , which includes 30 kHz subcarrier spacing; and a third numerology (e.g., μ=2) , which includes 60 kHz subcarrier spacing. FR2 may be associated with one or multiple numerologies (e.g., at least 2 numerologies) . For example, FR2 may be associated with a third numerology (e.g., μ=2) , which includes 60 kHz subcarrier spacing; and a fourth numerology (e.g., μ=3) , which includes 120 kHz subcarrier spacing.

FIGs. 1B through FIG. 1G illustrate examples scenarios of a sensing service of the ISAC system in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. In FIGs. 1B-1G, the network entity 102 may be the network device 102 as shown in FIG. 1A, and the wireless device (or UE) 104 (for example, UE1, UE2 and UE3) may be the terminal device 104 as shown in FIG. 1. Moreover, the target entity is the object to be sensed.

Specifically, FIGs. 1B through 1D relate to service continuity in network-based scenario. In this disclosure, the network-based sensing scenario may refer to the sensing scenario in which the target entity is sensed by one or more network entities (for example, base stations) without involving wireless devices (for example, user equipment) that access the network via the network entity. As shown in FIG. 1B, the network entity 1 detects a target entity and tracks its trajectory in a sensing coverage of the network entity 1. Then, as shown in FIG. 1C, when target entity moves into the junction of the network entity 1 and the network entity 2, multiple sensing modes including collaborated mode (e.g., the network entity 1 sends the RS and the network entity 2 receives the RS) can be configured to guarantee the sensing performance and service continuity. As shown in FIG. 1D, when target entity moves into the sensing coverage of the network entity 2, the network entity 1 may not track the target entity anymore, and the target entity is sensed by the network entity 2 subsequently.

FIGs. 1E through 1G relate to service continuity in UE-involved scenario. In this disclosure, the UE-involved sensing scenario may refer to the sensing scenario in which at least one wireless device participates in sensing the target entity. As shown in FIG. 1E, initially, the network entity 1 and the wireless device 3 collaborate to detect and track the target entity. Then, as shown in FIG. 1F, when the target entity moves into the junction of the network entity 1 and the network entity 2, the network entity 1 cannot find the suitable sensing wireless device in its coverage (for example, the location accuracy or sensing capability of wireless device 1 cannot satisfy the requirement) , then gNB1 may collaborate with wireless device 2 in the coverage of the network entity 2 to track the target entity. In turn, as shown in FIG. 1G, when the target entity moves into the sensing coverage of the network entity 2, the network entity 2 may be requested to collaborate with UE2 to track the target.

In addition, as mentioned above, the scheduling of the sensing procedure for the target entity is generally determined by a CN device (for example, SF device) . That is, the SF device may request network devices or terminal devices to perform a subsequent sensing procedure, rather than the network device can directly request these network devices or terminal devices. With an introduction of a distributed ISAC architecture, network devices may integrate at least a part of SF capability, responsible for calculating the sensing result and requesting neighboring gNBs to track the target entity. In this case, Xn interface between network devices can be extended to support sensing related functions, e.g., sensing (de) activation, sensing measurement report, sensing configuration exchange, and so on. Accordingly, in the distributed architecture, the service continuity guarantee issues of network-based and/or UE-involved sensing scenarios need to be studied. In turn, the signaling overhead and handover latency may be reduced in this case.

FIG. 2 illustrates an example signaling diagram illustrating an example process 200 that supports service continuity in ISAC in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. The process 200 may involve a first network entity 201, a second network entity 203, a third network entity 205 and a wireless device 207. In some examples, examples of the first network entity 102 and the third network entity 205 may be the network entities 102 as shown in FIG. 1A. An example of the second network entity 203 may be the core network 206 as shown in FIG. 1A. An example of the wireless device 207 may be the UE 104 as shown in FIG. 1A. It would be appreciated that although the process 200 is applied in the communication system 100 of FIG. 1A, this process may be likewise applied to other communication scenarios with similar issues. In some examples, the first network entity 201, the second network entity 203 and/or the third network entity 205 may comprise a processor and a transceiver coupled to the processor. The wireless device 207 may comprise a processor and a transceiver coupled to the processor. For the purpose of discussions, the signaling process 200 will be described with reference to FIGs. 1A to Fig. 1G. It would be appreciated that although the signaling process 200 has been described in the communication environment of FIGs. 1A to Fig. 1G, this signaling process 200 may be likewise applied to other communication scenarios.

In the process 200, in some examples, based at least in part on a location of a target entity corresponding to an edge cell associated with the first network entity 201, the first network entity 201 transmits (211) a first request message to at least one second network entity 203. The first request message is targeted at obtaining information associated with a set of one or more third network entities. For illustration purposes, an example of the at least one second network entity is the second network entity 203 as shown.

In some embodiments, whether to transmit the first request message may depend on the sensing result and/or the sensing quality at the first network entity 201. For example, if the sensing result indicates that target entity is at the edge of the coverage area of the first network entity 201, then the first network entity 201 may trigger the “service continuity procedure” , for example, requesting neighboring network entities to continue sensing. Additionally or alternatively, the first network entity 201 may measure (210) a quality level of sensing data for the target entity which is sensed by the first network entity 201, i.e., monitoring the sensing performance of the target. Then, based on the quality level, for example, if the quality level is below, above or equal to a quality threshold, the first network entity 201 may transmit (211) the first request message 212 to the second network entity 203. In some embodiments, the quality level may be represented by a signal strength, or the sensing result computed based on the sensing data. For example, if the signal strength degrades, the target entity may be determined as moving away from the first network entity 201. In this case, the first network entity 201 may require other network entities (for example, neighboring base stations) or wireless devices to continue sensing, in order to guarantee continuity of the sensing service.

After receiving (213) the first request message, the second network entity 203 transmits (215) information 216 associated with a set of one or more third network entities to the first network entity 201. Accordingly, the first network entity 201 receives (217) the information 216 from the second network entity 213, in order to assist the first network entity 201 in guaranteeing a sensing continuity for a target entity (for example, the pedestrian as shown in FIGs. 1B-1G) that is being sensed by the first network entity 201. In some embodiments, the second network entity 203 may be configured with a network functionality that having information of a plurality of other network entities (for example, multiple base stations) . For example, the second network entity 203 may be configured with an access and mobility management function (AMF) . Alternatively, the second network entity 203 may be configured with any other similar network functionalities.

In addition, to obtain information on suitable network entities, the first request message 212 may indicate a required coverage region where the set of one or more third network entities provided, for example, the region where target entity is located in and/or is moving into. In turn, the second network entity 203 may determine the set of one or more third network entities based on the required coverage region and their respective coverage regions (coverage regions of the one or more network entities) . In addition, in some embodiments, the information 216 may include at least one of: a set of one or more identities (IDs) associated with the set of one or more third network entities; a set of one or more positions associated with the set of one or more third network entities; a set of one or more station types associated with the set of one or more third network entities; or a set of one or more coverage regions supported by the set of one or more third network entities. For example, the type of the third network entity may include macro station and micro station. In general, the transmission power and coverage area of the macro station are larger than that of micro station, and the micro station manages smaller cells.

Still referring to FIG. 2, with the information 216, the first network entity 201 may determine (219) a subset of one or more third network entities for assisting in guaranteeing the sensing continuity. In some embodiments, based on second information on at least one of a location, velocity, size or a moving direction of the target entity, the first network entity 201 may determine a subset of one or more third network entities from the set of one or more network entities. For example, the first network entity 201 may determine the subset of one or more third network entities of which coverage regions is associated with the location and the moving direction of the target entity. In some embodiments, third network entities in the subset of one or more third network entities may have the coverage areas in which the possible moving trajectory of the target entity pass through.

Then, among the subset of one or more third network entities, a selection of a target network entity may be performed for participating a sensing procedure of the target entity. In some embodiments, this selection is performed by the first network entity 201. For example, the first network entity 201 may transmit (223) a capability request (223-1 and 223-2) to the third network entities in the subset of one or more third network entities. In this disclosure, the signaling between network devices (for example, the first and third network entities 201 and 205) may be transmitted over an Xn interface. Without any limitation, the signaling between network devices may be over any other interfaces (for example, newly defined interfaces in the future) . In turn, after receiving (225) the capability requests (223-1 and 223-2) , the subset of one or more third network entities including the third network entity 205 may transmit (227) capability information 229-1 to the first network entity 201. The capability information may indicate at least one of a sensing capability, a sensing mode, a set of one or more resources for sensing by the subset of one or more third network entities. The sensing mode may include, for example, bistatic sensing mode, monostatic mode and so on. Then, based on the capability information, the first network entity 201 may select (233) at least one third network entity for continuing sensing. For example, the first network entity 201 may select the third network entity 205. Only for illustration purposes, the embodiments are discussed with reference to the third entity 205 which represents the at least one third network entity. It is to be understood that the first network entity 201 may select the third network entity 205 and one or more other network entities as the target third network entities for continuing sensing.

Alternatively, the first network entity 201 may transmit (221) at least one sensing requirement for the target entity to the subset of one or more third network entities. After receiving (225) the at least one sensing requirement, the subset of one or more third network entities including the third network entity 205 may determine whether they can support the at least one sensing requirement for the target entity. Then, the subset of one or more third network entities may transmit respective feedbacks to the first network entity 201, based on the determination regarding the at least one sensing requirement. In a specific example, if a third network entity can support the sensing requirements, the third network entity may transmit (227) a positive response 229-1. Otherwise, the third network entity may transmit (227) a negative response 229-1. Then, the first network entity 201 may select (233) at least one third network entity based on the positive responses and/or negative responses.

Alternatively, the at least one third network entity may be selected based on a sensing task. In some embodiments, the first network entity 201 may transmit (221) , to the subset of one or more third network entities, a third request messge (223-1 and 223-2) for performing a sensing test on the target entity. For example, the first network entity 201 may trigger the subset of one or more third network entities to perform the test sensing task for the target, then the task results may be compared to decide whether they are qualified. Then, the first network entity 201 may receive one or more results of the sensing test from third network entities in the subset of one or more third network entities. Based on the one or more results, the first network entity 201 may select (233) at least one third network entity from the subset of one or more third network entities for continuing sensing, i.e., to perform a sensing procedure. Then, after selecting (233) the at least one third network entity, the first network entity 201 may request the selected at least one third network entity, for example, the third network entity 205, and/or at least one terminal device served by the third network entity to trigger a sensing procedure to guarantee the sensing continuity. Only for discussion purposes, the selection of third network entity is further discussed with reference to FIG. 3A.

FIG. 3A illustrates an example signaling diagram 300A of the third network entity selection that supports service continuity in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. Without any limitation, in FIG. 3A, the gNB 1 may be the first network entity 201 as shown in FIG. 2, AMF may be the second network entity 203 as shown in FIG. 2, and candidate gNBs may include the third network entity 205 as shown in FIG. 2.

In the signalling diagram 300A, gNB 1 may monitor the sensing performance for the target entity. Then, gNB1 can evaluate the quality of the sensing data, e.g., via signal strength, or compute the sensing result based on the sensing data, to decide whether to trigger the following operations. Based on the evaluated quality of the sensing data, gNB 1 may request (310) neighbouring gNB information from AMF 203. The request message (i.e., the first request 212) may also indicate the required region where gNBs provide service/coverage. In turn, AMF 203 responses (320) the gNBs information (i.e., the information of the plurality of network devices) to the gNB1. The gNB information may include the ID, position, type (e.g., macro or micro station) , coverage area of gNBs (for example, the plurality of other network entities) . Specifically, the transmission power and coverage area of macro station are larger than that of micro station. And the micro station manages small cells.

Based on the received gNB information, and the location and possible moving direction of target entity, gNB1 201 may determine candidate gNBs. That is, gNB1 201 may determine one or multiple neighbouring gNBs for target sensing. Then, to determine the target gNBs, gNB1 201 may communicate with the selected candidate gNBs via Xn interface to obtain their sensing capability, supported sensing mode, available sensing resource, and so on. Based on the obtained information, gNB1 selects one or multiple gNBs for sensing target entity.

Alternatively, in some embodiments, gNB1 201 may trigger these candidate gNBs to perform the test sensing task for the target, the results are compared to decide whether they are qualified. Alternatively, gNB1 201 may also send the sensing requirements to the selected candidate gNBs, then determines one or multiple gNBs for target sensing based on the response from the selected candidate gNBs.

Referring back to FIG. 2, after selecting (233) the at least one third network entity, the first network entity 201 transmits (235) a second request message 237 to the at least one third network entity to continue sensing of the target entity by one or more of the at least one third network entity and at least one wireless device associated with the at least one third network entity. The second request message is to trigger a sensing procedure associated with the at least one third network entity and/or wireless devices served by the at least one third network entity. Assuming that the third network entity 203 is selected as the at least one third network entity, for example, the at least one third network entity includes the third network entity. In this case, the second request message 237 may trigger a sensing procedure associated with at least one of the third network entity 205 and a wireless device served by the third network entity.

In some embodiments, the second request message may trigger a sensing procedure in a network-based sensing scenario. In this scenario, the first network entity 201 and the at least one third network entity may collaboratively perform the sensing procedure on the target entity. In the process 200, the sensing procedure for the network-based sensing scenario is mainly discussed with operations in block 245.

In some embodiments, the second request message 237 may be a sensing start request (which is also referred to as “a first sensing start request in this disclosure” ) , this sensing start request 237 may trigger the sensing procedure associated with the third network entity 205. The first sensing start request 237 may include target entity information that indicates at least one of a location, a velocity, a moving direction, a size of the target entity. In addition, the first sensing start request 237 may further comprise one or more sensing configurations supported by the first network entity 201.

In turn, in response to the first sensing start request 237, in response to the second request message 237, the third network entity 205 transmits a report 243 including sensing information associated with the target entity to the first network entity 201. In some embodiment, the report 243 may include a first response message. The first response message may include a first rejection indication or a first acceptance indication. Furthermore, if the first response message comprises the rejection indication, the first response message 243 may further include a rejection reason related to the third network entity 205, and/or assistance information related to sensing availability of the third network entity 205. In an example, the third network entity 205 may reject the first sensing start request due to, for example, high work load, lack of sensing capability, unsupported sensing mode, and so on. In this case, the first response message 243 may include the rejection cause and assistance information, for example, when the third network entity 205 can be available possibly.

In addition, if the third network entity 203 accepts the first sensing start request, the first response message 243 may further comprise one or more sensing configurations supported by the third network entity 203. For example, the first response message may include the suggested sensing configuration for e.g., collaborated mode.

Then, the first network entity 201 may receive (244) the first response message 243 accordingly. If the first response message 243 comprises the acceptance indication, the first network entity 201 may perform the sensing procedure with the third network entity 205. To perform the sensing procedure, the first network entity 201 and the third network entity 205 may perform a configuration coordination in advance. For example, as mentioned above, by the first sensing start request 237 and the first response message 243, the first network entity 201 and the third network entity 205 may negotiate the sensing configuration to be used. Alternatively, the configuration coordination for collaborated sensing mode may also separate with the first sensing start request and the first response message. In some embodiments, the first network entity 201 may transmit one or more sensing configurations supported by the first network entity 201 in a message other than the first sensing start request. Then, the first network entity 201 may receive one or more sensing configurations supported by the third network entity 205 in another message other than the first response message.

In addition, the first network entity 201 (i.e., current sensing node) may stop sensing the target entity or indicate the third network entity 205 to stop sensing on demand. In some embodiments, after transmitting the first sensing start request 237 or a first period expires after transmitting the first sensing start request 237, the first network entity 201 may stop sensing the target entity. Alternatively, after receiving the first response message 243 or a second period expires after receiving the first response message 243, the first network entity 201 may stop sensing the target entity. Alternatively, after receiving a sensing result from the third network entity 205 or a third period expires after receiving the sensing result, the first network entity 201 may stop sensing the target entity. In this case, the at least one third network entity (for example, the third network entity 205) may be responsible for the target entity, i.e., the sensing service is handover from the first network entity 201 to the at least one third network entity.

Additionally or alternatively, in some cases, for example, the sensing quality recover to be acceptable, the first network entity 201 may indicate the third network entity 205 to stop the sensing procedure. For example, if the first network entity 201 determines that the target entity maintains in a coverage region of the first network entity, the first 201 may indicate the third network entity 205 to stop the sensing procedure. Additionally or alternatively, if the first network entity 201 receives another response message comprising the acceptance indication from a further network device of the at least one third network entity, the first network entity 201 may indicate the third network entity 205 to stop the sensing procedure. Additionally or alternatively, if the first network entity 201 receives a sensing result from the further network device, the first network entity 201 may indicate the third network entity 205 to stop the sensing procedure. Only for discussion clarity, the sensing procedure in the network-based sensing scenario is further discussed with reference to FIG. 3B.

FIG. 3B illustrates an example signaling diagram 300B of network-based sensing scenario that supports service continuity in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. Without any limitation, in FIG. 3B, the gNB 1 may be the first network entity 201 as shown in FIG. 2, and gNB2 may be the at least one third network entity (for example, the third network entity 205) as shown in FIG. 2.

In the signaling diagram 300B, to trigger neighboring gNBs to start sensing, gNB 1 may trigger neighboring gNBs to start sensing. For example, gNB 1 sends sensing start request 335 to the selected gNBs, i.e., gNB 2 205. The start request message 335 may include the information of target entity, e.g., location, velocity, moving direction, size, etc. In addition, the message 335 may include the suggested sensing configuration, e.g., suggested sensing mode, configuration for collaborated mode (e.g., gNB1 sends reference signal (RS) , and gNB2 receives RS) . In turn, the selected gNBs responses gNB1 with a response message 360 (i.e., the first response message) . The response message may indicate acceptance or rejection. For example, the selected gNB 205 may reject the request due to e.g., high work load, lack of sensing capability, unsupported sensing mode, etc. The rejection response message may include the rejection cause and assistance information, e.g., when it can be available possibly. If the selected gNB accepts the request, the acceptance message may include the suggested sensing configuration for e.g., collaborated mode. Furthermore, the configuration coordination 365 for collaborated mode may also separate with the sensing start request and response.

In addition, as mentioned above, gNB1 201 may stop sensing/tracking the target in the case: when it sends the sensing start request to selected gNBs, or after gNB1 201 sends the sensing start request to the selected gNBs for a period of time. Alternatively, gNB1 201 may stop sensing/tracking the target in the following case: when it receives the active response (i.e., acceptance) from at least one of the selected gNBs, or after gNB1 201 receives the active response (i.e., acceptance) from at least one of the selected gNBs for a period of time.

Alternatively, gNB1 201 may stop sensing/tracking the target in the following case: when it receives the sensing result 370 from at least one of the selected gNBs indicating the target entity is detected, or after gNB1 201 receives the sensing result from at least one of the selected gNBs for a period of time. Moreover, gNB1 201 may inform 375 at least one of the selected gNBs to stop sensing the target if gNB1 detects that the target entity is not moving out of its coverage, and/or gNB1 receives active response or sensing result (indicating the target is detected) from at least one of the other selected gNBs.

Referring back to FIG. 2, Additionally or alternatively to the network-based sensing scenario, the second request message 237 may also trigger a sensing procedure in a UE-involved sensing scenario. In a first situation, this sensing procedure in the UE-involved sensing scenario may be performed by the first network entity 201 and at least one wireless device served by the selected third network entity (for example, the third network entity 205) . Only for discussion clarity, as shown in FIG. 1E, the sensing procedure may be performed by gNB 1and UE 2. Alternatively, in a second situation, this sensing procedure in the UE-involved sensing scenario may be performed by the selected third network entity (for example, the third network entity 205) and at least one wireless device served by the selected third network entity. Only for discussion clarity, as shown in FIG. 1E, the sensing procedure may be performed by gNB 2 and UE 2.

The first situation is further discussed with reference to operations in block 250. In this case, the second request message 237 may be a wireless device information request for information on a set of wireless devices served by the at least one third network entity. In some embodiments, the wireless device information request may indicate at least one of: requirements for the wireless device, wherein the requirements comprise at least one of a preferred wireless device location, mobility, an expected sensing capability of the wireless device, a location accuracy provided by a wireless device; second information on at least one of a location, velocity, size or a moving direction of the target entity; or one or more sensing configurations supported by the first network entity 201.

After receiving the third request 237, the at least one third network entity (for example, the third network entity 205) may collect information on respective terminal devices. Taking the third network entity 205 as an example, the third network entity 205 may collect the information of wireless devices served by the third network entity 205 based on the wireless device information request. For example, the third network entity 205 may request served terminal devices to report their information, for example, terminal device location, mobility, a sensing capability of the wireless device, a location accuracy of a wireless device.

The at least one third network entity, for example, the third network entity 205 may transmit a second response message to the first network entity 201. For example, the second response message may be included in the report 243. The second response message may include at least one of the following: a rejection reason related to terminal devices served by the third network entity 205; or assistance information related to sensing availability of the terminal devices served by the third network entity 205.

For example, the third network entity 205 may reject the request due to lack of suitable sensing UE, etc. If the second response message indicates rejection, the second response message my also include the rejection cause and assistance information, e.g., when the sensing UE can be available.

In turn, if the second response message indicates acceptance, the first network entity 201 and/or the third network entity 205 may select at least one wireless device, for example, the wireless device 207, for continuing sensing. In some embodiments, the at least one wireless device is determined by the first network entity 201. For example, the second response message may further include identities of a set of wireless devices that are selected for the sensing procedure and respective sensing configurations supported by the set of wireless devices. In this case, based on the second response message, the first network entity 201 may select at least one wireless device (for example, the wireless device 207) from the set of wireless devices for the sensing procedure. Then, the first network entity 201 may transmit at least one indication of the at least one wireless device (for example, ID of the wireless device 207) , and configuration indication of a sensing configuration to be used. In turn, the third network entity 205 may inform the determined at least one terminal device, for example, the wireless device 207, that the wireless device 207 is selected for the sensing procedure. In addition, the third network entity 205 may also inform the sensing configuration to be used. Then, the first network entity 201 may perform the sensing procedure with the at least one terminal device, for example, the wireless device 207.

Alternatively, the at least one terminal device for the sensing procedure may be determined by the third network entity 205. In this case, the second response message may include an identity of at least one terminal device comprising the wireless device that is selected by the third network entity 205 for the sensing procedure. Then, the first network entity 201 may negotiate the sensing configuration with the at least one terminal device selected by the third network entity 205, and perform the sensing procedure with the at least one terminal device accordingly. In some embodiments, the at least one terminal device, for example, the wireless device, may transmit a sensing result to the first network entity 201 via the third network entity 205. The first network entity 201 may receive the sensing result from the at least one terminal device accordingly. Only for discussion clarity, the sensing procedure performed by the first network entity 201 and the at least one terminal device in the UE-involved sensing scenario is further discussed with reference to FIG. 4A.

FIG. 4A illustrate an example signaling diagram 400A of UE-involved sensing scenario that supports service continuity in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. Without any limitation, in FIG. 4A, the gNB 1 may be the first network entity 201 as shown in FIG. 2, gNB2 may be the at least one third network entity (for example, third network entity 205) as shown in FIG. 2, and UE may be the wireless device 207 as shown in FIG. 2.

As similar to the network-based sensing scenario, gNB1 201 monitors the sensing performance for the target. Then, gNB1 201 can evaluate the quality of the sensing data, e.g., via signal strength, or compute the sensing result based on the sensing data, to decide whether to trigger the following operations. In the UE-involved sensing scenario, gNB1 and UE collaborate to sense/track target entity, and this UE is in the coverage of gNB2. Similarly, gNB1 201 obtains neighboring gNB information from AMF 203. The request message may also indicate the required region where gNBs provides the service/coverage. AMF 203 responses the gNBs information (i.e., the information 216 of the plurality of network devices) to the gNB1 201. The gNB information may include the ID, position, coverage area of gNBs. Based on the received gNB information and the location and possible moving direction of target entity, gNB1 determines which gNB (i.e., the at least one third network entity) to interact.

Then, as shown in FIG. 4A, gNB1 201 and selected neighboring gNB (i.e., the at least one third network entity) collaborate to determine sensing UE (i.e., the at least one terminal device comprising the wireless device) and sensing configuration. gNB1 201 requests (410) sensing UE information from the selected neighboring gNB, i.e., transmitting the wireless device information request. As mentioned above, the request message may indicate the requirements for sensing UE, e.g., preferred UE location and/or mobility, expected UE sensing capability, required UE location accuracy, etc. The message 410 may also include the information of target entity, e.g., velocity, size, location, etc, which can be used by the selected neighboring gNBs to select suitable sensing UE and/or provide suitable configuration for the sensing UE. In addition, the message may also include the supported resource/configuration of gNB1 201. Accordingly, based on the third request, gNB 2 may obtain (415) sensing UE information from served UEs.

In turn, the selected neighboring gNB responses sensing UE information to the gNB1 201. The response message may indicate acceptance or rejection. For example, the selected neighboring gNB may reject the request due to lack of suitable sensing UE, etc. If the response message indicates rejection, the response message may also include the rejection cause and assistance information, e.g., when the sensing UE can be available possibly. If the response message 420 indicates acceptance, the response message 420 also includes the (candidate) sensing UE information, e.g., UE ID, supported sensing capability, supported sensing configuration/resource, etc. If the selected neighboring gNB (i.e., the at least one third network entity) determines the (target) sensing UE (for example, the wireless device 207) , the response message 420 may include the information of selected sensing UE. Alternatively, if gNB1 determines the (target) sensing UE, the response message 420 may include the information of candidate sensing UE. In this case, upon reception of the responses from the selected neighboring gNBs, gNB1 201 determines the collaborated sensing UEs and informs 425 their serving gNBs. The message may include the sensing configuration for the collaborated sensing UE, e.g., sensing RS configuration 430, report mode, etc. If the collaborated sensing UE (for example, the wireless device 207) is configured to measure sensing RS, the UE needs to report the measurement result 440 to the gNB1 via (435) its serving gNB. As mentioned above, without any limitation, the Xn interface between network devices may support the sensing measurement report.

Referring back to FIG. 2, in addition or alternatively to the procedure performed by the first network entity 201 and the wireless device 207, the sensing procedure in the UE-involved scenario may be also performed by the third network entity 205 and the wireless device 207, i.e., the above second situation.

In the second situation, the second request message 237 may be another sensing start request that triggers the sensing procedure associated with both the third network entity and the wireless device. In this disclosure, this another sensing start request may be also referred to as “second sensing start request” .

The second situation is further discussed with reference to operations in block 260. In this case, after receiving the second sensing start request 237, as similar to the network-based sensing scenario, the at least one third network entity, for example, the third network entity 205, may transmit a response for the second sensing start request to the first network entity 201 in the report 243, and this response may be also referred to as “a third response message” . The third response message may include a third acceptance indication or a third rejection indication. If the third response message includes the third rejection indication, the third response message may further include at least one of the following: a rejection reason related to at least one of the third network entity 205 or the wireless device 207; or assistance information related to sensing availability of at least one of the third network entity 205 or the wireless device 207.

Additionally or alternatively, if the at least one third network entity, for example the third network entity 205, determines that the sensing procedure can be performed, the third network entity 205 may determine (261) at least one (target) terminal device, for example the wireless device 207, for the sensing procedure. Then, the sensing procedure may be performed by the third network entity 205 and the wireless device 207. In addition, the third network entity 205 may transmit (265) a sensing result of the sensing procedure to the first network entity 201. Accordingly, the first network entity 201 may receive (269) the sensing result 267. Only for discussion clarity, the sensing procedure performed by the third network entity 205 and the at least one terminal device in the UE-involved sensing scenario is further discussed with reference to FIG. 4B.

FIG. 4B illustrates an example signaling diagram 400B of UE-involved sensing scenario that supports service continuity in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure.

As similar to the above sensing procedures, the first network entity 201 may determine at least one third network entity, for example, the third network entity 205 to interact. As shown in FIG. 4B, in an example, when the target entity moves into the edge area of the sensing coverage of gNB1 201, gNB1 201 may trigger neighbouring gNBs to start (450) sensing/tracking the target entity, for example, transmitting the second sensing start request 237. In turn, upon receiving the request, the selected neighbouring gNBs selects (455) sensing UE to collaborate with them, and response to the gNB1, for example, by transmitting the third response message. The sensing procedure may be as similar to the network-based scenario, except for the selected neighbouring gNBs need to interact with sensing UE. In addition, it is to be understood that in UE-involved sensing scenario, in the same way as mentioned above, the first network entity 201 (for example, gNB 1) may stop the sensing procedure and/or inform (475) the at least one third network entity (for example the third network entity 205) to stop the sensing procedure.

In view of the above, with respect to the sensing service continuity in the network-based sensing scenario or UE-involved sensing scenario, some embodiments are proposed. In the embodiments of network-based sensing scenario, a solution to determine neighbouring gNBs for target sensing is designed. The signalling and procedure to trigger the selected gNB to sense the target is designed. The conditions to trigger gNB1 stop tracking the target entity are specified. Moreover, the signalling and procedure to stop the sensing/tracking function of neighbouring gNBs is designed.

In the embodiments of UE-involved sensing scenario, a solution of gNB1 and UE in the coverage of gNB2 collaborate to sense/track target entity is proposed. The solution for determining neighbouring gNBs to interact is designed. The solution for determining sensing UE and sensing configuration is proposed. Xn interface needs to support sensing measurement report. The signalling and procedure to trigger neighbouring gNB to sense/track the target is designed.

In addition, the conditions to trigger gNB1 stop tracking the target entity are defined, and when to stop sensing/tracking function for neighbouring gNBs are also defined. In this way, service continuity in network-based sensing scenario can be guaranteed, and/or service continuity for UE-involved sensing scenario can be guaranteed.

FIG. 5 illustrates an example of a device 500 that supports transmission optimization in internet of things (IoT) system in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. The device 500 may be an example of a network entity 102 as described herein. The device 500 may support wireless communication with one or more network entities 102, UEs 104, or any combination thereof. The device 500 may include components for bi-directional communications including components for transmitting and receiving communications, such as a processor 502, a memory 504, a transceiver 506, and, optionally, an I/O controller 508. These components may be in electronic communication or otherwise coupled (e.g., operatively, communicatively, functionally, electronically, electrically) via one or more interfaces (e.g., buses) .

The processor 502, the memory 504, the transceiver 506, or various combinations thereof or various components thereof may be examples of means for performing various aspects of the present disclosure as described herein. For example, the processor 502, the memory 504, the transceiver 506, or various combinations or components thereof may support a method for performing one or more of the operations described herein.

In some implementations, the processor 502, the memory 504, the transceiver 906, or various combinations or components thereof may be implemented in hardware (e.g., in communications management circuitry) . The hardware may include a processor, a digital signal processor (DSP) , an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) , a field-programmable gate array (FPGA) or other programmable logic device, a discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof configured as or otherwise supporting a means for performing the functions described in the present disclosure. In some implementations, the processor 502 and the memory 504 coupled with the processor 502 may be configured to perform one or more of the functions described herein (e.g., executing, by the processor 502, instructions stored in the memory 504) .

For example, the processor 502 may support wireless communication at the device 500 in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. The processor 502 may be configured to operable to support a means for receiving, from one or more second devices, one or more first transmissions on a first set of configured resources; a means for determining whether a usage of the first set of configured resources satisfies a threshold; a means for based on determining that the usage of the first set of configured resources satisfies the threshold, transmitting to at least one second device: i) a first configuration indicating a second set of configured resources different than the first set of configured resources or ii) a second configuration indicating a set of resources.

The processor 502 may include an intelligent hardware device (e.g., a general-purpose processor, a DSP, a CPU, a microcontroller, an ASIC, an FPGA, a programmable logic device, a discrete gate or transistor logic component, a discrete hardware component, or any combination thereof) . In some implementations, the processor 502 may be configured to operate a memory array using a memory controller. In some other implementations, a memory controller may be integrated into the processor 502. The processor 502 may be configured to execute computer-readable instructions stored in a memory (e.g., the memory 504) to cause the device 500 to perform various functions of the present disclosure.

The memory 504 may include random access memory (RAM) and read-only memory (ROM) . The memory 504 may store computer-readable, computer-executable code including instructions that, when executed by the processor 502 cause the device 500 to perform various functions described herein. The code may be stored in a non-transitory computer-readable medium such as system memory or another type of memory. In some implementations, the code may not be directly executable by the processor 502 but may cause a computer (e.g., when compiled and executed) to perform functions described herein. In some implementations, the memory 504 may include, among other things, a basic I/O system (BIOS) which may control basic hardware or software operation such as the interaction with peripheral components or devices.

The I/O controller 508 may manage input and output signals for the device 500. The I/O controller 508 may also manage peripherals not integrated into the device M02. In some implementations, the I/O controller 508 may represent a physical connection or port to an external peripheral. In some implementations, the I/O controller 508 may utilize an operating system such as or another known operating system. In some implementations, the I/O controller 508 may be implemented as part of a processor, such as the processor 506. In some implementations, a user may interact with the device 500 via the I/O controller 508 or via hardware components controlled by the I/O controller 508.

In some implementations, the device 500 may include a single antenna 510. However, in some other implementations, the device 500 may have more than one antenna 510 (i.e., multiple antennas) , including multiple antenna panels or antenna arrays, which may be capable of concurrently transmitting or receiving multiple wireless transmissions. The transceiver 906 may communicate bi-directionally, via the one or more antennas 510, wired, or wireless links as described herein. For example, the transceiver 506 may represent a wireless transceiver and may communicate bi-directionally with another wireless transceiver. The transceiver 506 may also include a modem to modulate the packets, to provide the modulated packets to one or more antennas 510 for transmission, and to demodulate packets received from the one or more antennas 510. The transceiver 506 may include one or more transmit chains, one or more receive chains, or a combination thereof.

A transmit chain may be configured to generate and transmit signals (e.g., control information, data, packets) . The transmit chain may include at least one modulator for modulating data onto a carrier signal, preparing the signal for transmission over a wireless medium. The at least one modulator may be configured to support one or more techniques such as amplitude modulation (AM) , frequency modulation (FM) , or digital modulation schemes like phase-shift keying (PSK) or quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM) . The transmit chain may also include at least one power amplifier configured to amplify the modulated signal to an appropriate power level suitable for transmission over the wireless medium. The transmit chain may also include one or more antennas 510 for transmitting the amplified signal into the air or wireless medium.

A receive chain may be configured to receive signals (e.g., control information, data, packets) over a wireless medium. For example, the receive chain may include one or more antennas 510 for receive the signal over the air or wireless medium. The receive chain may include at least one amplifier (e.g., a low-noise amplifier (LNA) ) configured to amplify the received signal. The receive chain may include at least one demodulator configured to demodulate the receive signal and obtain the transmitted data by reversing the modulation technique applied during transmission of the signal. The receive chain may include at least one decoder for decoding the processing the demodulated signal to receive the transmitted data.

FIG. 6 illustrates an example of a device 600 that supports transmission optimization in internet of things (IoT) system in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. The device 600 may be an example of a network entity 102 and/or core network 206 as described herein. The device 600 may support wireless communication with one or more network entities 102, UEs 104, or any combination thereof. The device 600 may include components for bi-directional communications including components for transmitting and receiving communications, such as a processor 602, a memory 604, a transceiver 606, and, optionally, an I/O controller 608. These components may be in electronic communication or otherwise coupled (e.g., operatively, communicatively, functionally, electronically, electrically) via one or more interfaces (e.g., buses) .

The processor 602, the memory 604, the transceiver 606, or various combinations thereof or various components thereof may be examples of means for performing various aspects of the present disclosure as described herein. For example, the processor 602, the memory 604, the transceiver 606, or various combinations or components thereof may support a method for performing one or more of the operations described herein.

In some implementations, the processor 602, the memory 604, the transceiver 606, or various combinations or components thereof may be implemented in hardware (e.g., in communications management circuitry) . The hardware may include a processor, a digital signal processor (DSP) , an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) , a field-programmable gate array (FPGA) or other programmable logic device, a discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof configured as or otherwise supporting a means for performing the functions described in the present disclosure. In some implementations, the processor 602 and the memory 604 coupled with the processor 602 may be configured to perform one or more of the functions described herein (e.g., executing, by the processor 602, instructions stored in the memory 604) .

For example, the processor 602 may support wireless communication at the device 600 in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. The processor 902 may be configured to operable to support a means for transmitting, on a set of configured resources, a first data transmission to a first device; a means for receiving, from the first device, i) a first configuration indicating a second set of configured resources different than the first set of configured resources or ii) a second configuration indicating a set of resources, wherein the first configuration or the second configuration is transmitted based on that a usage of the first set of configured resources satisfies a threshold.

The processor 602 may include an intelligent hardware device (e.g., a general-purpose processor, a DSP, a CPU, a microcontroller, an ASIC, an FPGA, a programmable logic device, a discrete gate or transistor logic component, a discrete hardware component, or any combination thereof) . In some implementations, the processor 602 may be configured to operate a memory array using a memory controller. In some other implementations, a memory controller may be integrated into the processor 602. The processor 602 may be configured to execute computer-readable instructions stored in a memory (e.g., the memory 604) to cause the device 600 to perform various functions of the present disclosure.

The memory 604 may include random access memory (RAM) and read-only memory (ROM) . The memory 604 may store computer-readable, computer-executable code including instructions that, when executed by the processor 602 cause the device 600 to perform various functions described herein. The code may be stored in a non-transitory computer-readable medium such as system memory or another type of memory. In some implementations, the code may not be directly executable by the processor 602 but may cause a computer (e.g., when compiled and executed) to perform functions described herein. In some implementations, the memory 604 may include, among other things, a basic I/O system (BIOS) which may control basic hardware or software operation such as the interaction with peripheral components or devices.

The I/O controller 608 may manage input and output signals for the device 600. The I/O controller 608 may also manage peripherals not integrated into the device M02. In some implementations, the I/O controller 608 may represent a physical connection or port to an external peripheral. In some implementations, the I/O controller 608 may utilize an operating system such as or another known operating system. In some implementations, the I/O controller 908 may be implemented as part of a processor, such as the processor 606. In some implementations, a user may interact with the device 600 via the I/O controller 608 or via hardware components controlled by the I/O controller 608.

In some implementations, the device 600 may include a single antenna 610. However, in some other implementations, the device 900 may have more than one antenna 610 (i.e., multiple antennas) , including multiple antenna panels or antenna arrays, which may be capable of concurrently transmitting or receiving multiple wireless transmissions. The transceiver 906 may communicate bi-directionally, via the one or more antennas 610, wired, or wireless links as described herein. For example, the transceiver 606 may represent a wireless transceiver and may communicate bi-directionally with another wireless transceiver. The transceiver 606 may also include a modem to modulate the packets, to provide the modulated packets to one or more antennas 610 for transmission, and to demodulate packets received from the one or more antennas 610. The transceiver 606 may include one or more transmit chains, one or more receive chains, or a combination thereof.

A transmit chain may be configured to generate and transmit signals (e.g., control information, data, packets) . The transmit chain may include at least one modulator for modulating data onto a carrier signal, preparing the signal for transmission over a wireless medium. The at least one modulator may be configured to support one or more techniques such as amplitude modulation (AM) , frequency modulation (FM) , or digital modulation schemes like phase-shift keying (PSK) or quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM) . The transmit chain may also include at least one power amplifier configured to amplify the modulated signal to an appropriate power level suitable for transmission over the wireless medium. The transmit chain may also include one or more antennas 610 for transmitting the amplified signal into the air or wireless medium.

A receive chain may be configured to receive signals (e.g., control information, data, packets) over a wireless medium. For example, the receive chain may include one or more antennas 610 for receive the signal over the air or wireless medium. The receive chain may include at least one amplifier (e.g., a low-noise amplifier (LNA) ) configured to amplify the received signal. The receive chain may include at least one demodulator configured to demodulate the receive signal and obtain the transmitted data by reversing the modulation technique applied during transmission of the signal. The receive chain may include at least one decoder for decoding the processing the demodulated signal to receive the transmitted data.

FIG. 7 illustrates an example of a device 700 that supports transmission optimization in internet of things (IoT) system in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. The device 700 may be an example of a network 102 as described herein. The device 700 may support wireless communication with one or more network entities 102, UEs 104, or any combination thereof. The device 700 may include components for bi-directional communications including components for transmitting and receiving communications, such as a processor 702, a memory 704, a transceiver 706, and, optionally, an I/O controller 708. These components may be in electronic communication or otherwise coupled (e.g., operatively, communicatively, functionally, electronically, electrically) via one or more interfaces (e.g., buses) .

The processor 702, the memory 704, the transceiver 706, or various combinations thereof or various components thereof may be examples of means for performing various aspects of the present disclosure as described herein. For example, the processor 702, the memory 704, the transceiver 706, or various combinations or components thereof may support a method for performing one or more of the operations described herein.

In some implementations, the processor 702, the memory 704, the transceiver 706, or various combinations or components thereof may be implemented in hardware (e.g., in communications management circuitry) . The hardware may include a processor, a digital signal processor (DSP) , an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) , a field-programmable gate array (FPGA) or other programmable logic device, a discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof configured as or otherwise supporting a means for performing the functions described in the present disclosure. In some implementations, the processor 702 and the memory 704 coupled with the processor 702 may be configured to perform one or more of the functions described herein (e.g., executing, by the processor 702, instructions stored in the memory 704) .

For example, the processor 702 may support wireless communication at the device 700 in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. The processor 902 may be configured to operable to support a means for transmitting, on a set of configured resources, a first data transmission to a first device; a means for receiving, from the first device, i) a first configuration indicating a second set of configured resources different than the first set of configured resources or ii) a second configuration indicating a set of resources, wherein the first configuration or the second configuration is transmitted based on that a usage of the first set of configured resources satisfies a threshold.

The processor 702 may include an intelligent hardware device (e.g., a general-purpose processor, a DSP, a CPU, a microcontroller, an ASIC, an FPGA, a programmable logic device, a discrete gate or transistor logic component, a discrete hardware component, or any combination thereof) . In some implementations, the processor 702 may be configured to operate a memory array using a memory controller. In some other implementations, a memory controller may be integrated into the processor 702. The processor 702 may be configured to execute computer-readable instructions stored in a memory (e.g., the memory 704) to cause the device 700 to perform various functions of the present disclosure.

The memory 704 may include random access memory (RAM) and read-only memory (ROM) . The memory 704 may store computer-readable, computer-executable code including instructions that, when executed by the processor 702 cause the device 700 to perform various functions described herein. The code may be stored in a non-transitory computer-readable medium such as system memory or another type of memory. In some implementations, the code may not be directly executable by the processor 702 but may cause a computer (e.g., when compiled and executed) to perform functions described herein. In some implementations, the memory 704 may include, among other things, a basic I/O system (BIOS) which may control basic hardware or software operation such as the interaction with peripheral components or devices.

The I/O controller 708 may manage input and output signals for the device 700. The I/O controller 708 may also manage peripherals not integrated into the device M02. In some implementations, the I/O controller 708 may represent a physical connection or port to an external peripheral. In some implementations, the I/O controller 708 may utilize an operating system such as or another known operating system. In some implementations, the I/O controller 908 may be implemented as part of a processor, such as the processor 706. In some implementations, a user may interact with the device 700 via the I/O controller 708 or via hardware components controlled by the I/O controller 708.

In some implementations, the device 700 may include a single antenna 710. However, in some other implementations, the device 900 may have more than one antenna 710 (i.e., multiple antennas) , including multiple antenna panels or antenna arrays, which may be capable of concurrently transmitting or receiving multiple wireless transmissions. The transceiver 906 may communicate bi-directionally, via the one or more antennas 710, wired, or wireless links as described herein. For example, the transceiver 706 may represent a wireless transceiver and may communicate bi-directionally with another wireless transceiver. The transceiver 706 may also include a modem to modulate the packets, to provide the modulated packets to one or more antennas 710 for transmission, and to demodulate packets received from the one or more antennas 710. The transceiver 706 may include one or more transmit chains, one or more receive chains, or a combination thereof.

A transmit chain may be configured to generate and transmit signals (e.g., control information, data, packets) . The transmit chain may include at least one modulator for modulating data onto a carrier signal, preparing the signal for transmission over a wireless medium. The at least one modulator may be configured to support one or more techniques such as amplitude modulation (AM) , frequency modulation (FM) , or digital modulation schemes like phase-shift keying (PSK) or quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM) . The transmit chain may also include at least one power amplifier configured to amplify the modulated signal to an appropriate power level suitable for transmission over the wireless medium. The transmit chain may also include one or more antennas 710 for transmitting the amplified signal into the air or wireless medium.

A receive chain may be configured to receive signals (e.g., control information, data, packets) over a wireless medium. For example, the receive chain may include one or more antennas 710 for receive the signal over the air or wireless medium. The receive chain may include at least one amplifier (e.g., a low-noise amplifier (LNA) ) configured to amplify the received signal. The receive chain may include at least one demodulator configured to demodulate the receive signal and obtain the transmitted data by reversing the modulation technique applied during transmission of the signal. The receive chain may include at least one decoder for decoding the processing the demodulated signal to receive the transmitted data.

FIG. 8 illustrates an example of a device 800 that supports transmission optimization in internet of things (IoT) system in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. The device 800 may be an example of a UE 104 as described herein. The device 800 may support wireless communication with one or more network entities 102, UEs 104, or any combination thereof. The device 800 may include components for bi-directional communications including components for transmitting and receiving communications, such as a processor 802, a memory 804, a transceiver 806, and, optionally, an I/O controller 808. These components may be in electronic communication or otherwise coupled (e.g., operatively, communicatively, functionally, electronically, electrically) via one or more interfaces (e.g., buses) .

The processor 802, the memory 804, the transceiver 806, or various combinations thereof or various components thereof may be examples of means for performing various aspects of the present disclosure as described herein. For example, the processor 802, the memory 804, the transceiver 806, or various combinations or components thereof may support a method for performing one or more of the operations described herein.

In some implementations, the processor 802, the memory 804, the transceiver 806, or various combinations or components thereof may be implemented in hardware (e.g., in communications management circuitry) . The hardware may include a processor, a digital signal processor (DSP) , an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) , a field-programmable gate array (FPGA) or other programmable logic device, a discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof configured as or otherwise supporting a means for performing the functions described in the present disclosure. In some implementations, the processor 802 and the memory 804 coupled with the processor 802 may be configured to perform one or more of the functions described herein (e.g., executing, by the processor 802, instructions stored in the memory 804) .

For example, the processor 802 may support wireless communication at the device 800 in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. The processor 902 may be configured to operable to support a means for transmitting, on a set of configured resources, a first data transmission to a first device; a means for receiving, from the first device, i) a first configuration indicating a second set of configured resources different than the first set of configured resources or ii) a second configuration indicating a set of resources, wherein the first configuration or the second configuration is transmitted based on that a usage of the first set of configured resources satisfies a threshold.

The processor 802 may include an intelligent hardware device (e.g., a general-purpose processor, a DSP, a CPU, a microcontroller, an ASIC, an FPGA, a programmable logic device, a discrete gate or transistor logic component, a discrete hardware component, or any combination thereof) . In some implementations, the processor 802 may be configured to operate a memory array using a memory controller. In some other implementations, a memory controller may be integrated into the processor 802. The processor 802 may be configured to execute computer-readable instructions stored in a memory (e.g., the memory 804) to cause the device 800 to perform various functions of the present disclosure.

The memory 804 may include random access memory (RAM) and read-only memory (ROM) . The memory 804 may store computer-readable, computer-executable code including instructions that, when executed by the processor 802 cause the device 800 to perform various functions described herein. The code may be stored in a non-transitory computer-readable medium such as system memory or another type of memory. In some implementations, the code may not be directly executable by the processor 802 but may cause a computer (e.g., when compiled and executed) to perform functions described herein. In some implementations, the memory 804 may include, among other things, a basic I/O system (BIOS) which may control basic hardware or software operation such as the interaction with peripheral components or devices.

The I/O controller 808 may manage input and output signals for the device 800. The I/O controller 808 may also manage peripherals not integrated into the device M02. In some implementations, the I/O controller 808 may represent a physical connection or port to an external peripheral. In some implementations, the I/O controller 808 may utilize an operating system such as or another known operating system. In some implementations, the I/O controller 908 may be implemented as part of a processor, such as the processor 806. In some implementations, a user may interact with the device 800 via the I/O controller 808 or via hardware components controlled by the I/O controller 808.

In some implementations, the device 800 may include a single antenna 810. However, in some other implementations, the device 900 may have more than one antenna 810 (i.e., multiple antennas) , including multiple antenna panels or antenna arrays, which may be capable of concurrently transmitting or receiving multiple wireless transmissions. The transceiver 906 may communicate bi-directionally, via the one or more antennas 810, wired, or wireless links as described herein. For example, the transceiver 806 may represent a wireless transceiver and may communicate bi-directionally with another wireless transceiver. The transceiver 806 may also include a modem to modulate the packets, to provide the modulated packets to one or more antennas 810 for transmission, and to demodulate packets received from the one or more antennas 810. The transceiver 806 may include one or more transmit chains, one or more receive chains, or a combination thereof.

A transmit chain may be configured to generate and transmit signals (e.g., control information, data, packets) . The transmit chain may include at least one modulator for modulating data onto a carrier signal, preparing the signal for transmission over a wireless medium. The at least one modulator may be configured to support one or more techniques such as amplitude modulation (AM) , frequency modulation (FM) , or digital modulation schemes like phase-shift keying (PSK) or quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM) . The transmit chain may also include at least one power amplifier configured to amplify the modulated signal to an appropriate power level suitable for transmission over the wireless medium. The transmit chain may also include one or more antennas 810 for transmitting the amplified signal into the air or wireless medium.

A receive chain may be configured to receive signals (e.g., control information, data, packets) over a wireless medium. For example, the receive chain may include one or more antennas 810 for receive the signal over the air or wireless medium. The receive chain may include at least one amplifier (e.g., a low-noise amplifier (LNA) ) configured to amplify the received signal. The receive chain may include at least one demodulator configured to demodulate the receive signal and obtain the transmitted data by reversing the modulation technique applied during transmission of the signal. The receive chain may include at least one decoder for decoding the processing the demodulated signal to receive the transmitted data.

FIG. 9 illustrates an example of a processor 900 that supports transmission optimization in internet of things (IoT) system in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. he processor 900 may be an example of a processor configured to perform various operations in accordance with examples as described herein. The processor 900 may include a controller 902 configured to perform various operations in accordance with examples as described herein. The processor 900 may optionally include at least one memory 904. Additionally, or alternatively, the processor 900 may optionally include one or more arithmetic-logic units (ALUs) 906. One or more of these components may be in electronic communication or otherwise coupled (e.g., operatively, communicatively, functionally, electronically, electrically) via one or more interfaces (e.g., buses) .

The processor 900 may be a processor chipset and include a protocol stack (e.g., a software stack) executed by the processor chipset to perform various operations (e.g., receiving, obtaining, retrieving, transmitting, outputting, forwarding, storing, determining, identifying, accessing, writing, reading) in accordance with examples as described herein. The processor chipset may include one or more cores, one or more caches (e.g., memory local to or included in the processor chipset (e.g., the processor 900) or other memory (e.g., random access memory (RAM) , read-only memory (ROM) , dynamic RAM (DRAM) , synchronous dynamic RAM (SDRAM) , static RAM (SRAM) , ferroelectric RAM (FeRAM) , magnetic RAM (MRAM) , resistive RAM (RRAM) , flash memory, phase change memory (PCM) , and others) .

The controller 902 may be configured to manage and coordinate various operations (e.g., signaling, receiving, obtaining, retrieving, transmitting, outputting, forwarding, storing, determining, identifying, accessing, writing, reading) of the processor 900 to cause the processor 900 to support various operations in accordance with examples as described herein. For example, the controller 902 may operate as a control unit of the processor 900, generating control signals that manage the operation of various components of the processor 900. These control signals include enabling or disabling functional units, selecting data paths, initiating memory access, and coordinating timing of operations.

The controller 902 may be configured to fetch (e.g., obtain, retrieve, receive) instructions from the memory 904 and determine subsequent instruction (s) to be executed to cause the processor 900 to support various operations in accordance with examples as described herein. The controller 902 may be configured to track memory address of instructions associated with the memory 904. The controller 902 may be configured to decode instructions to determine the operation to be performed and the operands involved. For example, the controller 902 may be configured to interpret the instruction and determine control signals to be output to other components of the processor 900 to cause the processor 900 to support various operations in accordance with examples as described herein. Additionally, or alternatively, the controller 902 may be configured to manage flow of data within the processor 900. The controller 902 may be configured to control transfer of data between registers, arithmetic logic units (ALUs) , and other functional units of the processor 900.

The memory 904 may include one or more caches (e.g., memory local to or included in the processor 900 or other memory, such RAM, ROM, DRAM, SDRAM, SRAM, MRAM, flash memory, etc. In some implementation, the memory 904 may reside within or on a processor chipset (e.g., local to the processor 900) . In some other implementations, the memory 904 may reside external to the processor chipset (e.g., remote to the processor 900) .

The memory 904 may store computer-readable, computer-executable code including instructions that, when executed by the processor 900, cause the processor 900 to perform various functions described herein. The code may be stored in a non-transitory computer-readable medium such as system memory or another type of memory. The controller 902 and/or the processor 900 may be configured to execute computer-readable instructions stored in the memory 904 to cause the processor 900 to perform various functions (e.g., functions or tasks supporting transmit power prioritization) . For example, the processor 900 and/or the controller 902 may be coupled with or to the memory 904, the processor 900, the controller 902, and the memory 904 may be configured to perform various functions described herein. In some examples, the processor 900 may include multiple processors and the memory 904 may include multiple memories. One or more of the multiple processors may be coupled with one or more of the multiple memories, which may, individually or collectively, be configured to perform various functions herein.

The one or more ALUs 906 may be configured to support various operations in accordance with examples as described herein. In some implementation, the one or more ALUs 906 may reside within or on a processor chipset (e.g., the processor 900) . In some other implementations, the one or more ALUs 906 may reside external to the processor chipset (e.g., the processor 900) . One or more ALUs 906 may perform one or more computations such as addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division on data. For example, one or more ALUs 906 may receive input operands and an operation code, which determines an operation to be executed. One or more ALUs 906 be configured with a variety of logical and arithmetic circuits, including adders, subtractors, shifters, and logic gates, to process and manipulate the data according to the operation. Additionally, or alternatively, the one or more ALUs 906 may support logical operations such as AND, OR, exclusive-OR (XOR) , not-OR (NOR) , and not-AND (NAND) , enabling the one or more ALUs 906 to handle conditional operations, comparisons, and bitwise operations.

The processor 900 may support wireless communication in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. The processor 902 may be configured to or operable to support a means for receiving (i) at least one signal backscattered by a first device based on carrier wave transmission from at least one second device or (ii) information determined based on the at least one backscattered signal by the first device, wherein the at least one backscattered signal is associated with at least one resource allocated to the at least one second device for the carrier wave transmission; and a means for determining, based on the at least one backscattered signal or the information, at least one serving device among the at least one second device for the first device. The processor 900 may be configured to or operable to support other means for other implementations of method 1300.

FIG. 10 illustrates an example of a processor 1000 that supports transmission optimization in internet of things (IoT) system in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. he processor 1000 may be an example of a processor configured to perform various operations in accordance with examples as described herein. The processor 1000 may include a controller 1002 configured to perform various operations in accordance with examples as described herein. The processor 1000 may optionally include at least one memory 1004. Additionally, or alternatively, the processor 1000 may optionally include one or more arithmetic-logic units (ALUs) 1006. One or more of these components may be in electronic communication or otherwise coupled (e.g., operatively, communicatively, functionally, electronically, electrically) via one or more interfaces (e.g., buses) .

The processor 1000 may be a processor chipset and include a protocol stack (e.g., a software stack) executed by the processor chipset to perform various operations (e.g., receiving, obtaining, retrieving, transmitting, outputting, forwarding, storing, determining, identifying, accessing, writing, reading) in accordance with examples as described herein. The processor chipset may include one or more cores, one or more caches (e.g., memory local to or included in the processor chipset (e.g., the processor 1000) or other memory (e.g., random access memory (RAM) , read-only memory (ROM) , dynamic RAM (DRAM) , synchronous dynamic RAM (SDRAM) , static RAM (SRAM) , ferroelectric RAM (FeRAM) , magnetic RAM (MRAM) , resistive RAM (RRAM) , flash memory, phase change memory (PCM) , and others) .

The controller 1002 may be configured to manage and coordinate various operations (e.g., signaling, receiving, obtaining, retrieving, transmitting, outputting, forwarding, storing, determining, identifying, accessing, writing, reading) of the processor 1000 to cause the processor 1000 to support various operations in accordance with examples as described herein. For example, the controller 1002 may operate as a control unit of the processor 1000, generating control signals that manage the operation of various components of the processor 1000. These control signals include enabling or disabling functional units, selecting data paths, initiating memory access, and coordinating timing of operations.

The controller 1002 may be configured to fetch (e.g., obtain, retrieve, receive) instructions from the memory 1004 and determine subsequent instruction (s) to be executed to cause the processor 1000 to support various operations in accordance with examples as described herein. The controller 1002 may be configured to track memory address of instructions associated with the memory 1004. The controller 1002 may be configured to decode instructions to determine the operation to be performed and the operands involved. For example, the controller 1002 may be configured to interpret the instruction and determine control signals to be output to other components of the processor 1000 to cause the processor 1000 to support various operations in accordance with examples as described herein. Additionally, or alternatively, the controller 1002 may be configured to manage flow of data within the processor 1000. The controller 1002 may be configured to control transfer of data between registers, arithmetic logic units (ALUs) , and other functional units of the processor 1000.

The memory 1004 may include one or more caches (e.g., memory local to or included in the processor 1000 or other memory, such RAM, ROM, DRAM, SDRAM, SRAM, MRAM, flash memory, etc. In some implementation, the memory 1004 may reside within or on a processor chipset (e.g., local to the processor 1000) . In some other implementations, the memory 1004 may reside external to the processor chipset (e.g., remote to the processor 1000) .

The memory 1004 may store computer-readable, computer-executable code including instructions that, when executed by the processor 1000, cause the processor 1000 to perform various functions described herein. The code may be stored in a non-transitory computer-readable medium such as system memory or another type of memory. The controller 1002 and/or the processor 1000 may be configured to execute computer-readable instructions stored in the memory 1004 to cause the processor 1000 to perform various functions (e.g., functions or tasks supporting transmit power prioritization) . For example, the processor 1000 and/or the controller 1002 may be coupled with or to the memory 1004, the processor 1000, the controller 1002, and the memory 1004 may be configured to perform various functions described herein. In some examples, the processor 1000 may include multiple processors and the memory 1004 may include multiple memories. One or more of the multiple processors may be coupled with one or more of the multiple memories, which may, individually or collectively, be configured to perform various functions herein.

The one or more ALUs 1006 may be configured to support various operations in accordance with examples as described herein. In some implementation, the one or more ALUs 1006 may reside within or on a processor chipset (e.g., the processor 1000) . In some other implementations, the one or more ALUs 1006 may reside external to the processor chipset (e.g., the processor 1000) . One or more ALUs 1006 may perform one or more computations such as addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division on data. For example, one or more ALUs 1006 may receive input operands and an operation code, which determines an operation to be executed. One or more ALUs 1006 be configured with a variety of logical and arithmetic circuits, including adders, subtractors, shifters, and logic gates, to process and manipulate the data according to the operation. Additionally, or alternatively, the one or more ALUs 1006 may support logical operations such as AND, OR, exclusive-OR (XOR) , not-OR (NOR) , and not-AND (NAND) , enabling the one or more ALUs 1006 to handle conditional operations, comparisons, and bitwise operations.

The processor 1000 may support wireless communication in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. The processor 1002 may be configured to or operable to support a means for receiving (i) at least one signal backscattered by a first device based on carrier wave transmission from at least one second device or (ii) information determined based on the at least one backscattered signal by the first device, wherein the at least one backscattered signal is associated with at least one resource allocated to the at least one second device for the carrier wave transmission; and a means for determining, based on the at least one backscattered signal or the information, at least one serving device among the at least one second device for the first device. The processor 1000 may be configured to or operable to support other means for other implementations of method 1400.

FIG. 11 illustrates an example of a processor 1100 that supports transmission optimization in internet of things (IoT) system in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. he processor 1100 may be an example of a processor configured to perform various operations in accordance with examples as described herein. The processor 1100 may include a controller 1102 configured to perform various operations in accordance with examples as described herein. The processor 1100 may optionally include at least one memory 1104. Additionally, or alternatively, the processor 1100 may optionally include one or more arithmetic-logic units (ALUs) 1106. One or more of these components may be in electronic communication or otherwise coupled (e.g., operatively, communicatively, functionally, electronically, electrically) via one or more interfaces (e.g., buses) .

The processor 1100 may be a processor chipset and include a protocol stack (e.g., a software stack) executed by the processor chipset to perform various operations (e.g., receiving, obtaining, retrieving, transmitting, outputting, forwarding, storing, determining, identifying, accessing, writing, reading) in accordance with examples as described herein. The processor chipset may include one or more cores, one or more caches (e.g., memory local to or included in the processor chipset (e.g., the processor 1100) or other memory (e.g., random access memory (RAM) , read-only memory (ROM) , dynamic RAM (DRAM) , synchronous dynamic RAM (SDRAM) , static RAM (SRAM) , ferroelectric RAM (FeRAM) , magnetic RAM (MRAM) , resistive RAM (RRAM) , flash memory, phase change memory (PCM) , and others) .

The controller 1102 may be configured to manage and coordinate various operations (e.g., signaling, receiving, obtaining, retrieving, transmitting, outputting, forwarding, storing, determining, identifying, accessing, writing, reading) of the processor 1100 to cause the processor 1100 to support various operations in accordance with examples as described herein. For example, the controller 1102 may operate as a control unit of the processor 1100, generating control signals that manage the operation of various components of the processor 1100. These control signals include enabling or disabling functional units, selecting data paths, initiating memory access, and coordinating timing of operations.

The controller 1102 may be configured to fetch (e.g., obtain, retrieve, receive) instructions from the memory 1104 and determine subsequent instruction (s) to be executed to cause the processor 1100 to support various operations in accordance with examples as described herein. The controller 1102 may be configured to track memory address of instructions associated with the memory 1104. The controller 1102 may be configured to decode instructions to determine the operation to be performed and the operands involved. For example, the controller 1102 may be configured to interpret the instruction and determine control signals to be output to other components of the processor 1100 to cause the processor 1100 to support various operations in accordance with examples as described herein. Additionally, or alternatively, the controller 1102 may be configured to manage flow of data within the processor 1100. The controller 1102 may be configured to control transfer of data between registers, arithmetic logic units (ALUs) , and other functional units of the processor 1100.

The memory 1104 may include one or more caches (e.g., memory local to or included in the processor 1100 or other memory, such RAM, ROM, DRAM, SDRAM, SRAM, MRAM, flash memory, etc. In some implementation, the memory 1104 may reside within or on a processor chipset (e.g., local to the processor 1100) . In some other implementations, the memory 1104 may reside external to the processor chipset (e.g., remote to the processor 1100) .

The memory 1104 may store computer-readable, computer-executable code including instructions that, when executed by the processor 1100, cause the processor 1100 to perform various functions described herein. The code may be stored in a non-transitory computer-readable medium such as system memory or another type of memory. The controller 1102 and/or the processor 1100 may be configured to execute computer-readable instructions stored in the memory 1104 to cause the processor 1100 to perform various functions (e.g., functions or tasks supporting transmit power prioritization) . For example, the processor 1100 and/or the controller 1102 may be coupled with or to the memory 1104, the processor 1100, the controller 1102, and the memory 1104 may be configured to perform various functions described herein. In some examples, the processor 1100 may include multiple processors and the memory 1104 may include multiple memories. One or more of the multiple processors may be coupled with one or more of the multiple memories, which may, individually or collectively, be configured to perform various functions herein.

The one or more ALUs 1106 may be configured to support various operations in accordance with examples as described herein. In some implementation, the one or more ALUs 1106 may reside within or on a processor chipset (e.g., the processor 1100) . In some other implementations, the one or more ALUs 1106 may reside external to the processor chipset (e.g., the processor 1100) . One or more ALUs 1106 may perform one or more computations such as addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division on data. For example, one or more ALUs 1106 may receive input operands and an operation code, which determines an operation to be executed. One or more ALUs 1106 be configured with a variety of logical and arithmetic circuits, including adders, subtractors, shifters, and logic gates, to process and manipulate the data according to the operation. Additionally, or alternatively, the one or more ALUs 1106 may support logical operations such as AND, OR, exclusive-OR (XOR) , not-OR (NOR) , and not-AND (NAND) , enabling the one or more ALUs 1106 to handle conditional operations, comparisons, and bitwise operations.

The processor 1100 may support wireless communication in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. The processor 1102 may be configured to or operable to support a means for receiving (i) at least one signal backscattered by a first device based on carrier wave transmission from at least one second device or (ii) information determined based on the at least one backscattered signal by the first device, wherein the at least one backscattered signal is associated with at least one resource allocated to the at least one second device for the carrier wave transmission; and a means for determining, based on the at least one backscattered signal or the information, at least one serving device among the at least one second device for the first device. The processor 1100 may be configured to or operable to support other means for other implementations of method 1500.

FIG. 12 illustrates an example of a processor 1200 that supports transmission optimization in internet of things (IoT) system in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. he processor 1200 may be an example of a processor configured to perform various operations in accordance with examples as described herein. The processor 1200 may include a controller 1202 configured to perform various operations in accordance with examples as described herein. The processor 1200 may optionally include at least one memory 1204. Additionally, or alternatively, the processor 1200 may optionally include one or more arithmetic-logic units (ALUs) 1206. One or more of these components may be in electronic communication or otherwise coupled (e.g., operatively, communicatively, functionally, electronically, electrically) via one or more interfaces (e.g., buses) .

The processor 1200 may be a processor chipset and include a protocol stack (e.g., a software stack) executed by the processor chipset to perform various operations (e.g., receiving, obtaining, retrieving, transmitting, outputting, forwarding, storing, determining, identifying, accessing, writing, reading) in accordance with examples as described herein. The processor chipset may include one or more cores, one or more caches (e.g., memory local to or included in the processor chipset (e.g., the processor 1200) or other memory (e.g., random access memory (RAM) , read-only memory (ROM) , dynamic RAM (DRAM) , synchronous dynamic RAM (SDRAM) , static RAM (SRAM) , ferroelectric RAM (FeRAM) , magnetic RAM (MRAM) , resistive RAM (RRAM) , flash memory, phase change memory (PCM) , and others) .

The controller 1202 may be configured to manage and coordinate various operations (e.g., signaling, receiving, obtaining, retrieving, transmitting, outputting, forwarding, storing, determining, identifying, accessing, writing, reading) of the processor 1200 to cause the processor 1200 to support various operations in accordance with examples as described herein. For example, the controller 1202 may operate as a control unit of the processor 1200, generating control signals that manage the operation of various components of the processor 1200. These control signals include enabling or disabling functional units, selecting data paths, initiating memory access, and coordinating timing of operations.

The controller 1202 may be configured to fetch (e.g., obtain, retrieve, receive) instructions from the memory 1204 and determine subsequent instruction (s) to be executed to cause the processor 1200 to support various operations in accordance with examples as described herein. The controller 1202 may be configured to track memory address of instructions associated with the memory 1204. The controller 1202 may be configured to decode instructions to determine the operation to be performed and the operands involved. For example, the controller 1202 may be configured to interpret the instruction and determine control signals to be output to other components of the processor 1200 to cause the processor 1200 to support various operations in accordance with examples as described herein. Additionally, or alternatively, the controller 1202 may be configured to manage flow of data within the processor 1200. The controller 1202 may be configured to control transfer of data between registers, arithmetic logic units (ALUs) , and other functional units of the processor 1200.

The memory 1204 may include one or more caches (e.g., memory local to or included in the processor 1200 or other memory, such RAM, ROM, DRAM, SDRAM, SRAM, MRAM, flash memory, etc. In some implementation, the memory 1204 may reside within or on a processor chipset (e.g., local to the processor 1200) . In some other implementations, the memory 1204 may reside external to the processor chipset (e.g., remote to the processor 1200) .

The memory 1204 may store computer-readable, computer-executable code including instructions that, when executed by the processor 1200, cause the processor 1200 to perform various functions described herein. The code may be stored in a non-transitory computer-readable medium such as system memory or another type of memory. The controller 1202 and/or the processor 1200 may be configured to execute computer-readable instructions stored in the memory 1204 to cause the processor 1200 to perform various functions (e.g., functions or tasks supporting transmit power prioritization) . For example, the processor 1200 and/or the controller 1202 may be coupled with or to the memory 1204, the processor 1200, the controller 1202, and the memory 1204 may be configured to perform various functions described herein. In some examples, the processor 1200 may include multiple processors and the memory 1204 may include multiple memories. One or more of the multiple processors may be coupled with one or more of the multiple memories, which may, individually or collectively, be configured to perform various functions herein.

The one or more ALUs 1206 may be configured to support various operations in accordance with examples as described herein. In some implementation, the one or more ALUs 1206 may reside within or on a processor chipset (e.g., the processor 1200) . In some other implementations, the one or more ALUs 1206 may reside external to the processor chipset (e.g., the processor 1200) . One or more ALUs 1206 may perform one or more computations such as addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division on data. For example, one or more ALUs 1206 may receive input operands and an operation code, which determines an operation to be executed. One or more ALUs 1206 be configured with a variety of logical and arithmetic circuits, including adders, subtractors, shifters, and logic gates, to process and manipulate the data according to the operation. Additionally, or alternatively, the one or more ALUs 1206 may support logical operations such as AND, OR, exclusive-OR (XOR) , not-OR (NOR) , and not-AND (NAND) , enabling the one or more ALUs 1206 to handle conditional operations, comparisons, and bitwise operations.

The processor 1200 may support wireless communication in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. The processor 1202 may be configured to or operable to support a means for receiving (i) at least one signal backscattered by a first device based on carrier wave transmission from at least one second device or (ii) information determined based on the at least one backscattered signal by the first device, wherein the at least one backscattered signal is associated with at least one resource allocated to the at least one second device for the carrier wave transmission; and a means for determining, based on the at least one backscattered signal or the information, at least one serving device among the at least one second device for the first device. The processor 1200 may be configured to or operable to support other means for other implementations of method 1600.

FIG. 13 illustrates a flowchart of a method 1300 that supports transmission optimization in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. The operations of the method 1300 may be implemented by a first network entity 201 or its components as described herein. For example, the operations of the method 1300 may be performed by a network entity 102 as described herein. In some implementations, the first device may execute a set of instructions to control the function elements of the device to perform the described functions. Additionally, or alternatively, the device may perform aspects of the described functions using special-purpose hardware.

At 1310, the first network entity 201 transmits, to at least one second network entity, a first request message for information associated with a set of one or more third network entities based at least in part on a location of a target entity corresponding to an edge cell associated with the first network entity.

At 1320, the first network entity 201 receives, from at least one second network entity, a first response message comprising the information associated with the set of one or more third network entities.

At 1330, the first network entity 201 transmits, to at least one third network entity of the set of one or more third network entities, a second request message to continue sensing of the target entity by one or more of the at least one third network entity and at least one wireless device associated with the at least one third network entity.

At 1340, the first network entity 201 receives, from the at least one third network entity of the set of one or more third network entities, a report including sensing information associated with the target entity in response to the second request message.

FIG. 14 illustrates a flowchart of a method 1400 that supports transmission optimization in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. The operations of the method 1400 may be implemented by a second network entity 203 or its components as described herein. For example, the operations of the method 1400 may be performed by the network entity 102 or the core network 206 as described herein. In some implementations, the second network entity may execute a set of instructions to control the function elements of the device to perform the described functions. Additionally, or alternatively, the device may perform aspects of the described functions using special-purpose hardware.

At 1410, the second network entity 203 receives, from a first network entity, a first request message for information associated with a set of one or more third network entities, wherein the first request message is transmitted based at least in part on a location of a target entity corresponding to an edge cell associated with the first network entity.

At 1410, the second network entity 203 transmits, to the first network entity, a first response message comprising the information associated with the set of one or more third network entities.

FIG. 15 illustrates a flowchart of a method 1500 that supports transmission optimization in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. The operations of the method 1500 may be implemented by a third network entity 205 or its components as described herein. For example, the operations of the method 1500 may be performed by a network entity 102 as described herein. In some implementations, the third network entity may execute a set of instructions to control the function elements of the device to perform the described functions. Additionally, or alternatively, the device may perform aspects of the described functions using special-purpose hardware.

At 1510, the third network entity 205 receives, from a first network entity, a second request message to continue sensing of a target entity by one or more of the third network entity and at least one wireless device associated with the third network entity.

At 1520, the third network entity 205 transmits, in response to the second request message, a report including sensing information associated with the target entity to the first network entity.

FIG. 16 illustrates a flowchart of a method 1600 that supports transmission optimization in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. The operations of the method 1600 may be implemented by a wireless device 207 or its components as described herein. For example, the operations of the method 1600 may be performed by the UE 104 as described herein. In some implementations, the wireless device may execute a set of instructions to control the function elements of the device to perform the described functions. Additionally, or alternatively, the device may perform aspects of the described functions using special-purpose hardware.

At 1610, the wireless device 207 receives, from a third network entity serving the wireless device or from a first network entity via the third network entity, an indication of a sensing configuration for continuing sensing a target entity by one or more of the third network entity and the wireless device.

At 1610, the wireless device 207 performs the sensing procedure with at least one of the first network entity or the second network entity.

It should be noted that the methods described herein describes possible implementations, and that the operations and the steps may be rearranged or otherwise modified and that other implementations are possible. Further, aspects from two or more of the methods may be combined.

The various illustrative blocks and components described in connection with the disclosure herein may be implemented or performed with a general-purpose processor, a DSP, an ASIC, a CPU, an 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 processor, controller, microcontroller, or state machine. A processor may also be implemented as a combination of computing devices (e.g., a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, multiple microprocessors, one or more microprocessors in conjunction with a DSP core, or any other such configuration.

The functions described herein may be implemented in hardware, software executed by a processor, firmware, or any combination thereof. If implemented in software executed by a processor, the functions may be stored on or transmitted over as one or more instructions or code on a computer-readable medium. Other examples and implementations are within the scope of the disclosure and appended claims. For example, due to the nature of software, functions described herein may be implemented using software executed by a processor, hardware, firmware, hardwiring, or combinations of any of these. Features implementing functions may also be physically located at various positions, including being distributed such that portions of functions are implemented at different physical locations.

Computer-readable media includes both non-transitory computer storage media and communication media including any medium that facilitates transfer of a computer program from one place to another. A non-transitory storage medium may be any available medium that may be accessed by a general-purpose or special-purpose computer. By way of example, non-transitory computer-readable media may include RAM, ROM, electrically erasable programmable ROM (EEPROM) , flash memory, compact disk (CD) ROM or other optical disk storage, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other non-transitory medium that may be used to carry or store desired program code means in the form of instructions or data structures and that may be accessed by a general-purpose or special-purpose computer, or a general-purpose or special-purpose processor.

As used herein, including in the claims, an article “a” before an element is unrestricted and understood to refer to “at least one” of those elements or “one or more” of those elements. The terms “a, ” “at least one, ” “one or more, ” and “at least one of one or more” may be interchangeable. As used herein, including in the claims, “or” as used in a list of items (e.g., a list of items prefaced by a phrase such as “at least one of” or “one or more of” or “one or both of” ) indicates an inclusive list such that, for example, a list of at least one of A, B, or C means A or B or C or AB or AC or BC or ABC (i.e., A and B and C) . Also, as used herein, the phrase “based on” shall not be construed as a reference to a closed set of conditions. For example, an example step that is described as “based on condition A” may be based on both a condition A and a condition B without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. In other words, as used herein, the phrase “based on” shall be construed in the same manner as the phrase “based at least in part on. Further, as used herein, including in the claims, a “set” may include one or more elements.

The description herein is provided to enable a person having ordinary skill in the art to make or use the disclosure. Various modifications to the disclosure will be apparent to a person having ordinary skill in the art, and the generic principles defined herein may be applied to other variations without departing from the scope of the disclosure. Thus, the disclosure is not limited to the examples and designs described herein but is to be accorded the broadest scope consistent with the principles and novel features disclosed herein.

Claims

A first network entity comprising:

at least one memory; and

at least one processor coupled with the at least one memory and configured to cause the first network entity to:

transmit, to at least one second network entity, a first request message for information associated with a set of one or more third network entities based at least in part on a location of a target entity corresponding to an edge cell associated with the first network entity;

receive, from at least one second network entity, a first response message comprising the information associated with the set of one or more third network entities;

transmit, to at least one third network entity of the set of one or more third network entities, a second request message to continue sensing of the target entity by one or more of the at least one third network entity and at least one wireless device associated with the at least one third network entity; and

receive, from the at least one third network entity of the set of one or more third network entities, a report including sensing information associated with the target entity in response to the second request message.
The first network entity of claim 1, wherein the information comprises one or more of:

a set of one or more identities (IDs) associated with the set of one or more third network entities;

a set of one or more positions associated with the set of one or more third network entities;

a set of one or more station types associated with the set of one or more third network entities; or

a set of one or more coverage regions supported by the set of one or more third network entities.
The first network entity of claim 1 or 2, wherein the information comprises first information, and wherein the at least one processor is further configured to cause the first network entity to:

determine a subset of one or more third network entities from the set of one or more third network entities based at least in part on the first information and second information comprising one or more of a location of the target entity, a velocity of the target entity of the target entity, a size, or a moving direction of the target entity.
The first network entity of claim 3, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to cause the first network entity to:

transmit, to the subset of one or more third network entities, a third request message to perform a sensing test on the target entity;

receive a set of one or more results of the sensing test from the subset of one or more third network entities; and

select, based on the set of one or more results, the at least one third network entity from the subset of one or more third network entities to continue sensing of the target entity.
The first network entity of claim 3, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to cause the first network entity to:

transmit, to the subset of one or more third network entities, at least one sensing requirement for the target entity;

receive, from the subset of one or more third network entities, a feedback for the at least one sensing requirement; and

select, based on the feedback, the at least one third network entity from the subset of one or more third network entities to continue sensing of the target entity.
The first network entity of any of claims 1 to 5, wherein:

the second request message comprises a first sensing start request that triggers a sensing procedure associated with the at least one third network entity, and

the first sensing start request comprises an indication of at least one of a location, a velocity, a moving direction, a size of the target entity.
The first network entity of claim 6, wherein:

the report comprises a second response message, and wherein the second response message comprises a first rejection indication or a first acceptance indication, and

the second response message comprising the first rejection indication further comprises at least one of the following:

a rejection reason related to the at least one third network entity; or

assistance information related to sensing availability of the at least one third network entity.
The first network entity of claim 7, wherein at least one of the following:

the first sensing start request comprises one or more sensing configurations supported by the first network entity;

the second response message comprises one or more sensing configurations supported by the at least one third network entity; and

the first sensing start request and the second response message are transmitted over an Xn interface between the first network entity and the at least one third network entity.
The first network entity of claim 7, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to cause the first network entity to:

transmit one or more sensing configurations supported by the first network entity in a message other than the first sensing start request; and

receive one or more sensing configurations supported by the at least one third network entity in another message other than the second response message.
The first network entity of any of claims 7 to 9, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to cause the first network entity to:

stop sensing the target entity based on transmitting the first sensing start request or a first period upon transmitting the first sensing start request expires;

stop sensing the target entity based on receiving the second response message or a second period upon receiving the second response message expires; or

stop sensing the target entity based on receiving a sensing result from the at least one third network entity or a third period upon receiving the sensing result expires.
The first network entity of any of claims 1 to 10, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to cause the first network entity to transmit an indication that is indicative of stopping sensing the target entity based on at least one of the following:

determining that the target maintains in a coverage region of the first network entity;

receiving another response message comprising the acceptance indication from a further network entity of the subset of one or more third network entities; or

receiving a sensing result from the further network entity.
The first network entity of any of claims 1 to 5, wherein the second request message comprises a wireless device information request for information on a set of wireless devices served by the at least one third network entity, the wireless device information request triggers a sensing procedure associated with the at least one wireless device of the set of wireless devices, and wherein the wireless device information request indicates at least one of the following:

requirements for a wireless device, wherein the requirements comprise at least one of a preferred wireless device location, mobility, an expected sensing capability of the wireless device, a location accuracy provided by a wireless device;

second information on at least one of a location, velocity, size or a moving direction of the target entity; or

one or more sensing configurations supported by the first network entity.
The first network entity of claim 12, wherein:

the report comprises a third response message, and wherein the third response message comprises a second rejection indication or a second acceptance indication, and

the third response message comprising the second rejection indication further comprises at least one of the following:

a rejection reason related to wireless devices served by the at least one third network entity; or

assistance information related to sensing availability of the wireless devices served by the at least one third network entity.
The first network entity of claim 13, wherein the third response message comprises the second acceptance indication, and the third response message further comprises at least one of the following:

identities of a subset of wireless devices and respective sensing configurations supported by the subset of wireless devices; or

an identity of at least one wireless device and a sensing configuration that are selected by the at least one third network entity to continue sensing.
The first network entity of claim 14, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to cause the first network entity to:

transmit, to the at least one third network entity, at least one indication of the at least one wireless device and a configuration indication of a sensing configuration to be used; and

perform the sensing procedure with the at least one wireless device.
The first network entity of claim 15, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to cause the first network entity to:

receive a sensing result from the at least one wireless device via the at least one third network entity.
The first network entity of any of claims 1 to 5, wherein the second request message comprises a second sensing start request that triggers the sensing procedure associated with both the at least one third network entity and the at least one wireless device.
A second network entity comprising:

at least one memory; and

at least one processor coupled with the at least one memory and configured to cause the second network entity to:

receive, from a first network entity, a first request message for information associated with a set of one or more third network entities, wherein the first request message is transmitted based at least in part on a location of a target entity corresponding to an edge cell associated with the first network entity; and

transmit, to the first network entity, a first response message comprising the information associated with the set of one or more third network entities.
A third network entity comprising:

at least one memory; and

at least one processor coupled with the at least one memory and configured to cause the third network entity to:

receive, from a first network entity, a second request message to continue sensing of a target entity by one or more of the third network entity and at least one wireless device associated with the third network entity; and

transmit, in response to the second request message, a report including sensing information associated with the target entity to the first network entity.
A wireless device comprising:

at least one memory; and

at least one processor coupled with the at least one memory and configured to cause the first wireless device to:

receive, from a third network entity serving the wireless device or from a first network entity via the third network entity, an indication of a sensing configuration for a sensing procedure for continuing sensing a target entity by one or more of the third network entity and the wireless device; and

perform the sensing procedure with at least one of the first network entity or the second network entity.