JP7183228B2 - Coexistence of wireless communication and radar probing - Google Patents

Description

Various examples relate to a device that includes a wireless transceiver and at least one processor configured to communicate data over a wireless channel via the wireless transceiver. The at least one processor is further configured to control the radio transceiver to participate in radar probing. Orthogonal resource elements are employed for radar probing and data communication, respectively. Further examples relate to corresponding methods.

In order to achieve wider data bandwidths, the spectrum used for communication over wireless channels is expected to move to higher frequencies, eg, frequencies above 6 or 10 GHz.

At such frequencies radar probing is feasible. This is due to the distinct spatial transmission properties of electromagnetic waves in their respective spectrums.

However, when data communications and radar probing coexist in the same spectrum, interference can reduce the transmission reliability of data communications and/or the accuracy of radar probing.

Therefore, there is a need for advanced techniques in which data communication and radar probing coexist. In particular, there is a need for techniques that reduce interference between data communications and radar probing.

This need is met by the features of the independent claims. The features of the dependent claims define embodiments.

According to an example, a device comprises a wireless transceiver and at least one processor. The at least one processor is configured to communicate data over a wireless channel employing first resource elements of the wireless channel via the wireless transceiver. The at least one processor is further configured to control the wireless transceiver to participate in radar probing employing the second resource element of the wireless channel. The second resource elements are orthogonal to the first resource elements.

According to the example, the method includes communicating data over a wireless channel employing a first resource element of the wireless channel. The method further includes engaging in radar probing employing a second resource element of the wireless channel. The second resource elements are orthogonal to the first resource elements.

According to an example, a computer program product is provided that includes control instructions executable by at least one processor. Execution of the control instructions causes at least one processor to perform the method. The method includes communicating data over a wireless channel employing first resource elements of the wireless channel. The method further includes engaging in radar probing employing a second resource element of the radio channel. The second resource elements are orthogonal to the first resource elements.

The examples described above and the examples described below can be combined with each other and with further examples.

FIG. 4 schematically illustrates coexistence of data communication and radar probing, in accordance with various embodiments; 1 schematically illustrates resource mapping of a radio channel employed for data communication, the resource mapping being a first resource element employed for data communication and a second resource element employed for radar probing, in accordance with various embodiments; FIG. is a diagram including resource elements of . FIG. 2 schematically illustrates radar probe pulses in accordance with various embodiments; 1 schematically illustrates a device connected to a cellular network involved in radar probing, in accordance with various embodiments; FIG. 1 is a signaling diagram for a device connected to a cellular network involved in radar probing, in accordance with various embodiments; FIG. 1 is a signaling diagram for a device connected to a cellular network involved in radar probing, in accordance with various embodiments; FIG. 1 schematically illustrates a device connected to a cellular network that engages in radar probing, where the corresponding radar probe pulses have anisotropic directional transmission profiles, in accordance with various embodiments; FIG. 1 schematically illustrates a device connected to a cellular network that engages in radar probing, wherein the corresponding radar probe pulses have an anisotropic directional transmission profile and an anisotropic directional transmission profile, in accordance with various embodiments; Fig. 3 is a diagram of a transmission profile corresponding to a virtual cell of a cellular network; 1 schematically illustrates a device connected to a cellular network involved in radar probing, where radar probe pulses have anisotropic directional transmission profiles, in accordance with various embodiments; FIG. 1 schematically illustrates a device connected to a cellular network involved in radar probing, where radar probe pulses have anisotropic directional transmission profiles, in accordance with various embodiments; FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a base station of a cellular network configured to implement coexistence techniques for data communication and radar probing, in accordance with various embodiments; FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a terminal of a cellular network configured to implement coexistence techniques for data communication and radar probing, in accordance with various embodiments; FIG. FIG. 4 schematically illustrates reception characteristics of radar probe pulses received by an antenna array of a wireless transceiver, in accordance with various embodiments; 4 is a flowchart of a method according to various embodiments; 4 is a flowchart of a method according to various embodiments; 4 is a flowchart of a method according to various embodiments;

The drawings are to be considered schematic representations and the elements illustrated in the drawings are not necessarily to scale. Rather, various elements are presented such that their function and general purpose will be apparent to those skilled in the art. Any connection or coupling between functional blocks, devices, components or other physical or functional units shown in the drawings or described herein can also be implemented by an indirect connection or coupling. Couplings between components may also be established through wireless connections. Functional blocks may be implemented in hardware, firmware, software, or a combination thereof.

In the following, techniques for coexistence of data communication and radar probing on wireless channels are described. To facilitate coexistence, one or more resource mappings can be employed to coordinate and distribute resource usage between data communications and radar probing. The one or more resource mappings may define resource elements with respect to one or more of the following: frequency dimension, time dimension, spatial dimension, and code dimension. Sometimes resource elements are also referred to as resource blocks.

A resource element can thus have a well-defined duration in the time domain and/or bandwidth in the frequency domain. Resource elements may alternatively or additionally be defined in terms of certain coding and/or modulation schemes. A given resource mapping can be defined for a certain spatial coverage or cell.

In some examples, mutually orthogonal resource mapping resource elements are employed for data communication and radar probing, respectively. Here, orthogonality of resource elements may correspond to resource elements that differ from each other with respect to one or more of the following: frequency dimension, time dimension, spatial dimension and code dimension. Sometimes these cases are called frequency division duplex (FDD), time division duplex (TDD), space division duplex, and code division duplex (CDD).

By employing orthogonal resource elements for data communication on one side and radar probing on the other side, interference between data communication and radar probing can be reduced. Furthermore, it becomes possible to employ the same hardware, for example a handheld device or a radio base station, to perform both data communication and radar probing.

Employing radar probing in conjunction with a device configured for data communication can greatly enhance the functionality of that device. Examples include positioning assistance, traffic detection, drone landing assistance, obstacle detection, safety detection, photographic features, and the like.

Referring now to FIG. 1, an exemplary scenario of coexistence between radar probing 109 and data communications 108, such as packetized data communications, is depicted. Here, a base station (BS) 112 of the cellular network (cells of the cellular network are not shown in FIG. 1) implements data communication 108 and allows terminals 130 to join the cellular network via radio channel 101 . Communication data may include transmitted data and/or received data. In the example of FIG. 1, data communication 108 is illustrated as bi-directional, ie, including uplink (UL) communication and downlink (DL) communication.

For example, terminal 130 may be selected from a group including handheld devices, mobile devices, robotic devices, smart phones, laptops, drones, tablet computers, and the like.

Data communication 108 may be defined in terms of a radio access technology (RAT). A RAT may include a transmission protocol stack in a layered structure. For example, a transmission protocol stack may include a physical layer (Layer 1), a data link layer (Layer 2), and so on. Here, a set of rules can be defined for the various layers, which rules facilitate data communication. For example, Layer 1 may define transmission blocks for data communications 108 and pilot signals.

While various examples are provided for cellular networks with respect to FIG. 1 and subsequent figures, in other examples, the respective techniques can be readily applied to point-to-point networks. Examples of cellular networks include 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) defined networks, 3G, 4G and upcoming 5G. Examples of point-to-point networks include those defined by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), 802.11x Wi-Fi protocol or Bluetooth protocol. As can be appreciated, different RATs can be employed according to different examples.

Data communication 108 is supported by both BS 112 and terminal 130 . Data communication 108 employs shared channel 105 implemented over wireless channel 101 . Shared channels 106 include UL shared channels and DL shared channels. Data communication 108 can be used to facilitate uplink and/or downlink communication of application layer user data between BS 112 and terminal 130 .

Further, a control channel 106 is implemented on the radio channel 101, as illustrated in FIG. Control channel 106 is also bi-directional and includes a UL control channel and a DL control channel. Control channel 106 can be employed to implement communication of control messages. For example, control messages may allow the transmission characteristics of wireless channel 101 to be set up.

Both shared channel 105 performance and control channel 106 performance are monitored based on the pilot signals. Pilot signals, sometimes referred to as reference signals or sounding signals, can be used to determine the transmission characteristics of wireless channel 101 . Specifically, pilot signals can be employed to perform at least one of channel sensing and link adaptation. Channel sensing can facilitate determining transmission characteristics of wireless channel 101, such as likelihood of data loss, bit error rate, multipath errors, and the like. Link adaptation may involve setting transmission characteristics of wireless channel 101, such as modulation scheme, bitloading, coding scheme, and the like. Pilot signals may be cell-specific.

Radar probing 109 can be used to determine the position and/or velocity of passive objects in the vicinity of BS 112 and/or terminal 130 . It is possible to determine the position of the passive object as a distance to the radar transmitter. Alternatively or additionally, the position can be determined more accurately, for example with respect to a reference frame. Radial and/or tangential velocities can be determined. To this end, one or more reception characteristics of echoes of radar probe pulses can be employed as part of radar probing. Echoes are typically not transmitted along a straight line, hereafter referred to as the line of sight (LOS) for simplicity, and are affected by reflections at the surface of the object. The reception characteristics can be processed locally at the radar receiver and/or provided to a further entity, such as a radar transmitter, for processing to yield position and/or velocity.

Radar probing 109 is also supported by both BS 112 and terminal 130, as illustrated in FIG. Thus, data communication 108 and radar probing 109 coexist in the BS 112 and terminal 130 hardware.

Here, BS 112 may implement a radar transmitter and/or radar receiver. Similarly, terminal 130 may implement a radar transmitter and/or a radar receiver. The radar transmitter is configured to transmit radar probe pulses. Similarly, the radar receiver is configured to receive echoes of radar probe pulses reflected from passive objects.

In a first example, radar probe pulses are transmitted by BS 112 and corresponding echoes are received by BS 112 . In a second example, radar probe pulses are transmitted by BS 112 and corresponding echoes are received by terminal 130 . In a third example, radar probe pulses are transmitted by terminal 130 and corresponding echoes are received by terminal 130 . In a fourth example, radar probe pulses are transmitted by terminal 130 and corresponding echoes are received by BS 112 .

While a two-device scenario is illustrated with respect to FIG. 1, in further examples more than two devices can be involved in radar probing 109 as radar transmitters and/or radar receivers, respectively. For example, additional terminals (not shown in FIG. 1) connected to the cellular network may be involved in radar probing 109 .

In general, the techniques described herein may be implemented on various devices of a network, such as BS 112 or one or more terminals 130 of the network.

FIG. 2 illustrates aspects related to resource mapping 155 . As illustrated in FIG. 2, resource mapping 155 is defined in the frequency domain (vertical axis in FIG. 2) and time domain (horizontal axis in FIG. 2). Rectangular blocks in FIG. 2 illustrate different resource elements. A first resource element 160 is used for data communication. Second resource elements 161 - 163 are used in radar probing 109 . As illustrated in FIG. 2, FDD and TDD techniques are employed to ensure that the first resource element 160 and the second resource elements 161-163 are orthogonal with respect to each other. Data transmission 108 is muted, ie turned off or suppressed, during the second resource elements 161-163. By designing the first resource element 160 and the second resource elements 161-163 to be orthogonal with respect to each other, the data communication 108 in the first resource element 160 and the data communication in the second resource elements 161-163 Interference with radar probing 109 can be reduced. By muting the data communication 109 in the second resource elements 161-163, deterioration of the transmission reliability of the data communication 108 can be avoided.

In the example of FIG. 2, resource elements 161-163 have similarly limited frequency bandwidths. In some examples, it is possible to implement radar probing 109 covering multiple resource elements 161-163 of resource mapping 155 that are adjacent to each other in the frequency domain. All frequency bandwidths of resource mapping 155 can be dedicated to radar probing 109 .

Illustrated in FIG. 2 is an example in which the second resource elements 161-163 are arranged in an intermittent (intermittent) sequence. A repetition rate or period 151 of the sequence of the second resource elements 161-163 includes a duration 152 during which the second resource elements 161-163 are allocated to facilitate radar probing 109, and the second resource elements 161-163 163 are absent or muted (only one iteration of the sequence of the second resource elements 161-163 is depicted in full in FIG. 2 for simplicity).

In one example, the average repetition rate of the individual elements of the second sequence of resource elements, eg period 151, is greater than 0.5 seconds, preferably greater than 0.8 seconds. Such a repetition rate can provide sufficiently large temporal resolution for radar probing 109 on one side, but does not unduly reduce the throughput of data communication 108 .

To facilitate efficient radar probing 109, the duration 152 of the individual elements of the sequence of second resource elements 161-163 is typically less than 2 microseconds, preferably 0.8 microseconds. shorter than microseconds, more preferably shorter than 0.1 microseconds. Thereby, a meaningful snapshot of the position/velocity of passive objects around the device 112, 130 can be obtained while resources are not unduly occupied. Considering a scenario where the distance is d=50 m, the time-of-flight for the radar probe pulse amounts to 2*d/c=100/(3*10Λ8)=0.33 μs, where c is the speed of light. It is. Scanning is possible by dimensioning the second resource elements 161-163 to contain a plurality of radar probe pulses.

In some examples, the duration of resource elements 161-163 used in radar probing may be different than the duration of resource element 160 used in data transmission. In general, the time-frequency shapes of resource elements 161 - 163 may differ from the shape of resource element 160 .

In general, the techniques described herein are not limited to any particular spectrum or band. For example, the spectrum occupied by resource mapping 155 may be a licensed band or an unlicensed band. Typically, unlicensed bands allow unregistered devices to gain access. In some cases, in licensed bands the repository tracks all eligible subscribers, whereas in unlicensed bands there may be no database of such eligible subscribers. Different operators may access unlicensed bands. For example, the spectrum occupied by resource mapping 155 may be at least partially above 6 GHz, preferably at least partially above 15 GHz, and more preferably at least partially above 30 GHz. Typically, as the frequency increases, the antenna aperture decreases. Due to the well-defined directional transmission nature of the electromagnetic waves employed in radar probing 109 herein, high spatial resolution can be achieved when locating passive objects as part of radar probing 109. .

A smaller aperture can typically be compensated for by more antennas in the antenna array. This facilitates higher angular resolution of radar probing.

In some examples, the transmit powers employed for data communication 108 on one side and radar probing 109 on the other side can differ significantly from each other. For example, it may be possible to use significantly more transmit power during the second resource elements 161 - 163 than during the first resource element 160 . The accuracy of radar probing 109 may be improved by the greater transmit power used for radar probe pulses by BS 112 and/or terminal 130 . In other examples, substantially the same transmit power can be employed for data communication 108 and radar probing 109 . For example, the transmission power employed for radar probing 109 is at least 5 times, preferably at least 50 times, and more preferably at least 100 times greater than the transmission power employed for data communication 108 . For example, in a cell edge scenario, both radar probing 109 and data communication 108 can employ substantially the maximum hardware supported transmit power of each radio transceiver.

As an example, at the cell edge, the maximum power for continuous communication may be limited by regulations for this scenario, eg, to about 20 dBm. For short transmission distances, the power may be very small, eg on the order of -20 dBm. Radar probing is implemented based on a small number of pulses. Here, for example, a higher transmit power may be implemented, reaching 30 dBm or perhaps 20 dBm. Therefore, various ratios between transmit power for data transmission and radar probing are possible.

FIG. 3 illustrates aspects relating to a radar probe pulse 171 transmitted and/or received during one of the second resource elements 161-163, e.g. One duration can reach 100 μs. Radar probe pulse 171 includes probing pulse section 165 . Optionally, radar probe pulse 171 may include data section 166 that encodes data that may help implement radar probing 109 .

For example, probing pulse section 165 may include waveforms having spectral contributions located within frequencies associated with respective second resource elements 161-163. For example, the duration of probing pulse section 165 may be in the range of 0.1-2 μs, preferably in the range of 0.8-1.2 μs. The amplitude of the waveform may be modulated, sometimes called the envelope. The envelope can be rectangular, sinc-functional, or have any other functional dependence, depending on the implementation. The duration of probing pulse section 165 is sometimes referred to as the pulse width. The pulse width is such that the echo of the radar probe pulse 171 can be received during the duration of each second resource element 161-163, taking into account the travel time of each second resource element 161-163. may be shorter than the duration of

Optional data section 166 may contain additional information suitable for facilitating radar probing 109 . Such information may include information about the radar transmitter, such as identification information, location, cell identification information, virtual cell identification information, etc., and/or about the radar probe pulse 171 itself, such as time of transmission, directional transmission profile, etc. It can contain information. Such information may generally be included explicitly or implicitly. For example, when the respective information is implicitly included, it employs a lookup scheme communicated over the control channel 106 implemented on the radio channel 101 to allow the compressed flags to be included. be able to.

In the example of FIG. 3, such information is included within the data section 166 of the radar probe pulse 171 itself, while in other examples such information is included separately from the radar probe pulse 171, e.g. , may also be communicated in a control message communicated on the control channel 106 in one of the first resource elements 160 . Here, it is possible to achieve cross-referencing between control messages and radar probe pulses 171, including, for example, unique temporal placement of radar probe pulses 171 and control messages, or feature identifiers in control messages and radar probe pulses 171. can.

FIG. 4 schematically illustrates an example of radar probing 109 . Here, BS 112 is a radar transmitter. The BS 112 thus transmits radar probe pulses 171 in the second resource elements 161-163. BS 112 implements cell 110 of a cellular network. Cell 110 is spread around BS 112 .

The radar probe pulse 171 in the example of FIG. 4 has an isotropic directional transmission profile 180, i.e., has substantially the same amplitude at various transmission orientations with respect to the BS 112 (dotted circles in FIG. 4). ). Therefore, the amplitude or phase of the radar probe pulse does not show any significant dependence on the direction of transmission.

A radar probe pulse 171 may travel along the LOS from BS 112 to terminal 130 (dotted arrow in FIG. 4). Radar probe pulses 171 are also reflected by passive objects 140 such as, for example, obstacles, cars, plants, houses, cars, people, walls, 3D objects, channels, arc caves, and the like. Passive objects 140 need not have communication capabilities. Accordingly, passive objects 140 may not be configured to communicate over wireless channels 101 , 105 , 106 . An echo 172 of the radar probe pulse 171 arises due to reflections at the passive object 140 . These echoes 172 may be received by terminal 130 and/or BS 112, as indicated by the respective arrows in FIG.

In some examples, the direction of echo 172 and/or the phase shift of echo 172 may be characteristics of the position or shape of object 140 . The Doppler shift of echo 172 may be characteristic of object 140 velocity.

5A is a signaling diagram of communication between BS 112 and terminal 130. FIG. The communications illustrated in the example of FIG. 5A facilitate radar probing 109 .

First, at 1001 a wireless channel 101 is established between BS 112 and terminal 130 . Now the joining procedure can be performed. Terminal 130 can then operate in connected mode.

In connected mode, for example, schedule grant 1001A may be communicated from BS 112 to terminal 130 via control channel 106 . Schedule grant 1001A may indicate at least one of second resource elements 161-163. Schedule grant 1001A can be used to preemptively signal radar probing 109, ie, the transmission of radar probe pulses 171. FIG. Here, the BS 112 can act as a central scheduler for the second resource elements 161-163, avoiding interference with the data communication 108. FIG.

If the schedule grant 1001A indicates only one of the second resource elements 161-163, the schedule grant can also be referred to as a dedicated schedule grant, ie the particular second resource element 161 that the schedule grant 1001A indicates. .about.163. Dedicated scheduling grants can be communicated by request/want. A limited predefined number of radar probe pulses 171, eg, a single radar probe pulse 171, may be transmitted for each dedicated schedule grant. Thereby, coordinated radar probing 109 can be achieved.

However, if the schedule grant 1001A indicates multiple second resource elements 161-163, the schedule grant can be referred to as a persistent schedule grant. In particular, the schedule grant may indicate certain timing patterns or repetition rates of the second resource elements 161-163. For example, a persistent schedule grant can indicate a repetition rate 151, duration 152, and so on. Until further notice, the second resource elements 161-163 may in this case be persistently scheduled. Here, an unspecified or unspecified number of radar probe pulses 171 may be transmitted per persistent schedule grant. Thereby, a reduction in overhead on the radio channel 101 can be achieved.

In some examples, schedule grant 1001A may communicate during a unicast transmission from BS 112 to terminal 130, and optionally during further unicast transmissions to other affected devices connected to the network. . In another example, schedule grant 1001A can be broadcast over wireless channel 101 . One or more further devices communicating on wireless channel 101 may thereby be prompted to mute transmission of data on at least one resource element indicated by schedule grant 1001A. Thereby, interference can be effectively reduced for multiple devices connected to the network.

Then, at 1002, transmission of radar probe pulses 171 is performed. In the example of FIG. 5A, BS 112 transmits radar probe pulse 171 . In the example of FIG. 5A, echo 172 of radar probe pulse 171 is received by terminal 130 .

In the example of FIG. 5A, terminal 130 evaluates the reception of radar probe pulse 171 to some extent. Specifically, the terminal analyzes the raw received data to determine certain reception characteristics of echo 172, such as angle of arrival, time of flight, Doppler shift, and/or received power level.

The terminal then sends report message 1003 to BS 112 . The report message indicates one or more reception characteristics of echo 172 that have been determined. Optionally, report message 1003 indicates the location of terminal 130 . Based on one or more reception characteristics, and optionally the location of terminal 130, BS 112 may then, if not otherwise known to BS 112, determine the location of passive objects associated with echo 172 and/or Velocity can be determined. In particular, knowing the absolute or relative position of terminal 130, eg, with respect to BS 112, the position of passive object 140 can be determined back, eg, by triangulation. Similar considerations apply regarding the direction of motion of passive object 140 .

FIG. 5B is a signaling diagram of communications between BS 112 and terminal 130 . The example of FIG. 5B generally corresponds to the example of FIG. 5A. However, in the example of FIG. 5B, further processing is performed at terminal 130 as part of radar probing 109 . In particular, terminal 130 pre-evaluates one or more reception characteristics of echo 172 to determine the relative or absolute position of object 140 . This position and/or velocity is included in report message 1004 .

In various examples, the amount of logic present in terminal 130, and in radar receivers in general, may vary. In one example, raw information about received echoes 172 is reported to a radar transmitter, eg, BS 112 . In other examples, some processing of the raw information is performed to determine one or more reception characteristics and/or compress the raw information, such as in the example of FIG. 5A. . In other examples, it is even possible to determine the location of object 140 from which echo 172 originates. This position can then be reported to a radar transmitter, eg, BS 112 .

Although the various examples above have been described with respect to radar probe pulse 171 having an isotropic directional transmission profile 180, it is also possible for radar probe pulse 171 to have an anisotropic directional transmission profile.

Although various examples above have been described for scenarios in which BS 112 is a radar transmitter, terminal 130 may implement radar transmitter 130 in other examples. Here, resource mapping 155 can be centrally scheduled by BS 112 . That is, BS 112 may notify terminal 130 of the occurrence of second resource elements 161-163. BS 112 may control resource allocation for radar probing. If terminal 130 implements a radar transmitter, terminal 130 and/or BS 112 may receive radar probe pulses.

FIG. 6 schematically illustrates an example of radar probing 109 in which the employed radar probe pulses 171 have anisotropic directional transmission profiles 181-183. Anisotropic directional transmission profiles 181-183 relate to the dependence of the amplitude of each radar probe pulse 171 on azimuth relative to the radar transmitter, in the example of FIG. 6 for BS 112 . In the example of FIG. 6, the anisotropic directional transmit profiles 181-183 are implemented by corresponding pencil beams, although other shapes are generally contemplated. Anisotropic directional transmit profiles 181-183 can be employed based on beamforming techniques. In beamforming, the amplitudes and phases of antennas in an antenna array are varied according to certain antenna weightings. Thereby, constructive and destructive interference can be achieved for different directions with respect to the transmitter. This results in anisotropic directional transmission profiles 181-183.

As illustrated in FIG. 6, multiple different anisotropic directional transmission profiles 182 are implemented for different radar probe pulses 171 . In particular, different anisotropic directional transmission profiles 181-183 are associated with radar probe pulses 171 transmitted during various ones of the second resource elements 161-163. In the example of FIG. 6, only three anisotropic directional transmission profiles 181-183 are shown for simplicity. Generally, multiple anisotropic directional transmission profiles 181-183 can be employed to cover all around a radar transmitter, for example.

In the example of FIG. 6, the anisotropic directional transmit profile 182 is implemented as a pencil beam. Generally, a pencil beam implementing profiles 181-183 may have an aperture angle of less than 90°, preferably less than 45°, more preferably less than 20°. High spatial resolution for radar probing 109 can be achieved by implementing well-defined or narrow anisotropic directional transmission profiles 181-183, for example in the shape of a pencil beam as illustrated in FIG. . This is evident from FIG. 6, where radar probe pulse 171 of profile 182 is reflected by passive object 140 . Each echo 172 has been received by both BS 112 and terminal 130 . On the other hand, radar probe pulse 171 of profile 183 is not reflected by passive object 140 . This is because passive object 140 is located outside profile 183 .

An anisotropic directional transmission profile 182 can also be employed to reduce interference. For example, based on the position of a radar transmitter and/or the position of a radar receiver and/or the position of at least one further device communicating over the radio channel 101, such as a further terminal It is possible to determine directional transmission profiles 181-183 of each other. For example, in the example of FIG. 6, radar probing 109 is employed based on anisotropic directional transmission profile 182 in second resource element 162 and second resource element 162 is used for data communication with terminal 130 . It can be reused for communication 108 . In such an example, the anisotropic directional transmission profile 182 of each radar profile 171 is determined to avoid transmission in the direction of terminal 130 . This is sometimes called spatial diversity.

FIG. 7 schematically illustrates an example of radar probing 109 in which the employed radar probe pulses 171 have anisotropic directional transmission profiles 181-183. FIG. 7 generally corresponds to the example of FIG. However, in the example of FIG. 7, different anisotropic directional transmission profiles 181-183 are associated with different virtual cells 111 of BS 112 (in FIG. 7, for simplicity, anisotropic directional transmission profile 181 is Only the relevant virtual cell 111 is shown). Different virtual cells 111 may be associated with different cell identities, and thus different resource mappings 155 may be employed in some examples. Pilot signals communicated in different virtual cells 111 can be orthogonal to each other. Virtual cell 111 can facilitate spatial diversity for data communication 108 . In some examples, virtual cell 111 may be associated with one or more than one BS (not shown in FIG. 7).

FIG. 8 schematically illustrates an example of radar probing 109 in which the employed radar probe pulses 171 have anisotropic directional transmission profiles 181-183. Here, more than two devices, terminals 130, 131 and BS 112 in the example of FIG. In this example, BS 112 is the radar transmitter. BS 112 may fuse information received from terminals 130 , 131 when determining the position and velocity of object 140 . To this end, BS 112 can receive report messages 1003, 1004 from terminals 130, 131, respectively. Additionally, BS 112 may take into account echoes 172 received directly by BS 112 when determining the position in velocity of object 140 . The terminals 130, 131 implement (passive) radar receivers. By taking into account multiple sources of information about radar probing 109, accuracy in determining the position and velocity of object 140 as part of radar probing 109 can be improved.

FIG. 9 schematically illustrates an example of radar probing 109 in which the employed radar probe pulses 171 have anisotropic directional transmission profiles 181-183. In the example of FIG. 9, in a LOS transmission terminal 130 can receive radar probe pulses 171 while respective echoes 172 return to BS 112 (and optionally to terminal 130, although not shown in FIG. 9). It is shown reflected.

FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram of BS 112 . The BS comprises a processor 1122, eg a multi-core processor. BS 112 further comprises a radio transceiver 1121 . Wireless transceiver 1121 is configured to communicate over wireless channel 101, eg, by transmitting and receiving (transmit and receive). Additionally, wireless transceiver 1121 is configured to transmit and/or receive radar probe pulses 171 . Processor 1122 may be configured to implement techniques such as those described herein with respect to coexistence of data transmission 108 and radar probing 109 . For this purpose, a non-volatile memory may be provided for storing the respective control instructions.

FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram of terminal 130 . Terminal 130 comprises a processor 1302, eg, a multi-core processor. Terminal 130 further comprises a wireless transceiver 1301 . Wireless transceiver 1301 is configured to communicate over wireless channel 101, eg, by transmitting and receiving. Additionally, wireless transceiver 1301 is configured to transmit and/or receive radar probe pulses 171 . Processor 1302 may be configured to implement techniques such as those described herein for coexistence of data transmission 108 and radar probing 109 . For this purpose, a non-volatile memory may be provided for storing the respective control instructions.

FIG. 12 schematically illustrates the transceivers 1121, 1301 in more detail. The transceivers 1121, 1301 comprise an antenna array 1400 in the example shown. Based on the antenna array 1400, an anisotropic sensitivity profile can be employed, for example, during reception of echoes 172 of radar probe pulses 171. FIG. For example, in some instances, the accuracy of radar probing 109 can be further improved by employing the anisotropic sensitivity profile of the antenna array 1400 of the radio transceiver 1121,1301. Such an anisotropic sensitivity profile of antenna array 1400 can be combined with isotropic directional transmission profile 180 or anisotropic directional transmission profiles 181 - 183 of each radar probe pulse 171 .

In the example of FIG. 12, the transceivers 1121, 1301 comprise a single antenna array 1400. In the example of FIG. In a further example, the transceivers 1121 , 1301 can comprise multiple antenna arrays 1400 . Multiple antenna arrays 1400 can be oriented differently to cover different directions with respect to each device. Omnidirectional coverage can be provided.

FIG. 12 further schematically illustrates reception characteristics such as received power level 1413 , angle of arrival 1412 and time of flight 1411 . Additional reception characteristics of interest for radar probing 109 include Doppler shift, which can be used to determine velocity of object 140, eg, radial velocity to and from a radar transmitter and/or radar receiver. For example, the angle of arrival 1412 can be determined absolutely, such as with respect to the direction of the north magnetic pole provided by, for example, a separate compass (not shown in FIG. 12). Angle of arrival 1412 can also be determined relatively, eg, with respect to a characteristic direction of antenna array 1400 . Depending on the angle of arrival 1412 and/or the definition of further reception characteristics, corresponding information can be included in each report message 1003 . A further reception characteristic is, for example, a phase shift with respect to any reference phase or reference phases defined for line-of-sight transmission.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart of a method according to various embodiments. For example, the method of FIG. 13 may be performed by processor 1122 of BS 112 and/or processor 1302 of terminal 130. FIG.

First, at 3001 data communication 108 is performed. Thus, packetized data can be transmitted and/or received over radio channel 111 in first resource element 160 . Typically, data communication 108 can be performed based on LOS transmissions.

Second, at 3002, participation in radar probing 109 is performed. Typically, radar probing 109 can be performed based on non-LOS transmissions, ie echoes. 3002: transmitting radar probe pulses 171 in the second resource elements 161-163 (see FIG. 14, 3011); 172 (see FIG. 15, 3021); determining at least one of the position in velocity of the passive object based on at least one reception characteristic 1411-1413 of the radar probe pulse 171; determining at least one reception characteristic 1411-1413 from the echo 172; receiving a control message 1003 indicating at least one of the at least one reception characteristic 1411-1413, position, and velocity of the radar receiver; can include one or more of

In summary, techniques are described that allow the reuse of the properties of higher frequency electromagnetic waves not only for data communications, but also for radar probing. Radar probing typically involves measuring delay profiles and angles of arrival for different reflections/echoes of a radar probe pulse.

In some examples, techniques are described for implementing communication protocols in which resource elements, such as time slots, are allocated/dedicated to radar probing. In some examples, each resource element can be centrally scheduled by the BS.

Such techniques allow reuse of the same hardware for data communication and radar probing. Therefore, it is possible to save cost, size, identity and simplify interference reduction both on the system level and for each terminal.

Resource elements for radar probing may be used in licensed and unlicensed bands. Typically, each spectrum may be above 6 GHz in order to increase the spatial resolution of the acquired radar images. Thus, the techniques may employ a combination of radar probing and data communications in handset devices in overlapping frequency bands. The frequency band of interest can range between 30-100 GHz. A license-free band can be adopted. License-free bands are typically designated as open access to the respective band, and possibly have some set of rules as output power, duty cycle, etc. In such scenarios for unlicensed bands, the interference mitigation techniques described herein are of particular importance.

The techniques described herein are based on the discovery that both radar probing and data communication can be supported by small, eg, handheld devices. Based on this discovery, techniques are provided that allow the integration of data communication and radar probing capabilities within the same hardware. Different protocols used for data communication and radar probing can be defined in software.

To avoid interference, radar probing can be authorized when conducting data communications and vice versa. Accordingly, each resource element for radar probing can be scheduled from time to time, repeatedly and/or on demand. By relying on spatial diversity, radar probing can be employed concurrently with data communication with additional devices if the radar transmitter has knowledge of the orientation of certain additional devices.

Although the invention has been shown and described with respect to certain preferred embodiments, equivalents and modifications will occur to those skilled in the art upon the reading and understanding of the specification. The present invention includes all such equivalents and modifications and is limited only by the scope of the appended claims.

For example, although the various examples above have been described in terms of radar probe pulses transmitted by BSs, each technique can be readily implemented in terms of radar probe pulses transmitted by terminals. The techniques described herein may be applicable to device-to-device channels, sometimes referred to as sidelink communications. Particular examples of device-to-device channels include vehicle-to-vehicle communications.

Claims (17)

a wireless transceiver (1121, 1301);
Data (108) on said radio channel (101, 105, 106) employing a first resource element (160) of said radio channel (101, 105, 106) via said radio transceiver (1121, 1301) a device (112, 130, 131) comprising at least one processor (1122, 1302) configured to communicate with
The at least one processor (1122, 1302) controls the radio transceiver (1121, 1301) to employ second resource elements (161-163) of the radio channel (101, 105, 106). further configured to participate in radar probing (109), said second resource elements (161-163) being orthogonal to said first resource elements (160);
said at least one processor (1122, 1302) configured to control said wireless transceiver (1121, 1301) to transmit radar probe pulses (171);
at least a portion of said radar probe pulses (171) having an anisotropic directional transmission profile (181-183);
The at least one processor (1122, 1302) communicates with the location of the device (112, 130, 131) and at least one further device (112, 130, 131) over the wireless channel (101, 105, 106). a device (112, 130, 131) configured to determine said anisotropic directional transmission profile (181-183) of said at least a portion of said radar probe pulse (171) based on the position of the ). said at least one processor (1122, 1302) controlling said wireless transceiver (1121, 1301) to mute transmission of said data (108) in said second resource elements (161-163); The device (112, 130, 131) of claim 1, wherein the device (112, 130, 131) is configured to: The at least one processor (1122, 1302) controls the radio transceiver (1121, 1301) to transmit the radar probe pulses (171) at a first transmit power and transmit the data (108) to a second is configured to transmit at a transmission power of 2,
2. The device (112, 130, 131) of claim 1, wherein said first transmit power is at least five times greater than said second transmit power. The at least one processor (1122, 1302) controls the wireless transceiver (1121, 1301) to receive echoes (172) of radar probe pulses (171) reflected from passive objects (140). 4. The device (112, 130, 131) of any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the device (112, 130, 131) is configured to: The at least one processor (1122, 1302) controls the radio transceiver (1121, 1301) to determine the anisotropic sensitivity of at least one antenna array (1400) of the radio transceiver (1121, 1301). 5. The device (112, 130, 131) of claim 4, configured to receive the echo (172) of the radar probe pulse (171) employing a profile. said at least one processor (1122, 1302) based on at least one reception characteristic (1411-1413) of an echo (172) of said radar probe pulse (171) as part of said radar probing (109); 140), wherein said position is optionally defined as a distance from said device (112, 130, 131). A device (112, 130, 131) according to any one of the preceding claims. 7. The device (112, 130, 131). said at least one processor (1122, 1302) over said wireless channel (101, 105, 106) via said wireless transceiver (1121, 1301) of said second resource elements (161-163); 8. A device (112, 130, 131) according to any one of claims 1 to 7, adapted to communicate a schedule grant (1001A) indicating at least one of: 9. The device (112, 130, 131) of claim 8, wherein said schedule grant (1001A) is a persistent schedule grant or a dedicated schedule grant. 10. A device (112, 130, 131) according to claim 8 or 9, wherein said schedule grant (1001A) is broadcast on said wireless channel (101, 105, 106). of said second resource elements (161-163) to at least one further device (112, 130, 131) communicating on said radio channel (101, 105, 106). 11. The device (112, 130, 131) of claim 10, prompting mute transmission of data (108) in said at least one. said second resource elements (161-163) arranged in an intermittent sequence;
A device according to any one of claims 1 to 11, wherein said sequence of said second resource elements (161-163) has an average repetition rate (151) of individual elements greater than 0.5 seconds ( 112, 130, 131). said second resource elements (161-163) arranged in an intermittent sequence;
A device (112) according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the average duration (152) of individual elements of said sequence of said second resource elements (161-163) is less than 2 μs. 130, 131). In a spectrum where said first resource element (160) and said second resource elements (161-163) are in the licensed or unlicensed band , at least partially above 6 GHz 14. The device (112, 130, 131) according to any one of claims 1 to 13, wherein the device (112, 130, 131) is arranged in said device (112, 130, 131) is a base station of a cellular network containing said radio channel (101, 105, 106); or said device (112, 130, 131) is a terminal of said cellular network A device (112, 130, 131) according to any one of claims 1 to 14. communicating data (108) over a wireless channel (101, 105, 106) employing a first resource element (160) of the wireless channel (101, 105, 106);
engaging in radar probing (109) employing second resource elements (161-163) orthogonal to said first resource element (160);
Controlling radio transceivers (1121, 1301) of devices (112, 130, 131) to transmit radar probe pulses (171), at least some of which have anisotropic directional transmission profiles (181-183) and
based on the location of said device (112, 130, 131) and the location of at least one further device (112, 130, 131) communicating on said radio channel (101, 105, 106), said radar probe pulse (171 ), and determining the anisotropic directional transmission profiles (181-183) of the at least some of the . 17. A method according to claim 16, performed by a device (112, 130, 131) according to any one of claims 1 to 15.

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