WO2024074068A1

WO2024074068A1 - Waveform design for integrated sensing and communication system

Info

Publication number: WO2024074068A1
Application number: PCT/CN2023/106153
Authority: WO
Inventors: Haipeng Lei; Haiming Wang
Original assignee: Lenovo (Beijing) Limited
Priority date: 2023-07-06
Filing date: 2023-07-06
Publication date: 2024-04-11

Abstract

Embodiments of the present disclosure relate to waveform design for an integrated sensing and communication system (100). According to some embodiments of the disclosure, a BS may: determine, based on a multiple access scheme for wireless communication with a set of UEs (104), an initial waveform for each UE (104) of the set of UEs (104) (211); generate a set of waveforms, each waveform of the set of waveforms corresponding to a UE (104) of the set of UEs (104), based at least in part on the initial waveforms for the set of UEs (104) and a set of weighting coefficients associated with the generated set of waveforms (213); determine the set of weighting coefficients based at least in part on approximating a combination of the generated set of waveforms to a radar waveform (215); transmit, to the set of UEs (104), an indication of the set of weighting coefficients associated with the generated set of waveforms (217); and transmit, to the set of UEs (104), the combination of the generated set of waveforms (219).

Description

WAVEFORM DESIGN FOR INTEGRATED SENSING AND COMMUNICATION SYSTEM

TECHNICAL FIELD

Embodiments of the present disclosure generally relate to wireless communication technology, and more particularly to integrated sensing and communication.

BACKGROUND

A wireless communication system may include one or multiple network communication devices, such as base stations, which may support wireless communication for one or multiple user communication devices, which may be otherwise known as user equipment (UE) , or other suitable terminology. The wireless communication system may support wireless communication 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, or the like) . Additionally, the wireless communication system may support wireless communication across various radio access technologies including third generation (3G) radio access technology, fourth generation (4G) radio access technology, fifth generation (5G) (which is also known as new radio (NR) ) radio access technology, among other suitable radio access technologies beyond 5G (e.g., sixth generation (6G) ) .

Wireless sensing technologies enable the acquisition of information about a remote object and its characteristics without the need for physical contact. These technologies utilize perception data of the object, allowing for analysis and obtaining meaningful information about the object and its characteristics. An example of wireless sensing technologies is radar, which uses radio waves to determine various aspects of objects, such as distance (range) , angle, or instantaneous linear velocity. Additionally, there are other alternative sensing technologies, including non-radio frequency (RF) sensors, which have been supported in applications in different fields. Examples of such sensors are time-of-flight (ToF) cameras, accelerometers, gyroscopes and LiDARs.

Integrated sensing and communication may refer to the provision of sensing capabilities within the same wireless communication system and infrastructure, such as 5G or 6G, that is used for communication purposes. It may be desirable to introduce integrated sensing and communication into wireless communication systems, such as a 5G or a 6G systems. It may be further desirable to improve the quality and performance of integrated sensing and communication services to meet various requirements across various applications.

SUMMARY

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.

Some embodiments of the present disclosure provide a base station (BS) . The BS may include: at least one memory; and at least one processor coupled with the at least one memory and configured to cause the BS to: determine, based on a multiple access scheme for wireless communication with a set of UEs, an initial waveform for each UE of the set of UEs, wherein the initial waveform carries bit information; generate a set of waveforms, each waveform of the set of waveforms corresponding to a UE of the set of UEs, based at least in part on the initial waveforms for the set of UEs and a set of weighting coefficients associated with the generated set of waveforms; determine the set of weighting coefficients based at least in part on approximating a combination of the generated set of waveforms to a radar waveform; transmit, to the set of UEs, an indication of the set of weighting coefficients associated with the generated set of waveforms; and transmit, to the set of UEs, the combination of the generated set of waveforms.

Some embodiments of the present disclosure provide a UE. The UE may include at least one memory; and at least one processor coupled with the at least one memory and configured to cause the UE to: receive, from a BS, a combination of a set of waveforms for a set of UEs including the UE; receive, from the BS, an indication of a set of weighting coefficients associated with the set of waveforms, wherein each waveform of the set of waveforms corresponds to a UE of the set of UEs and is generated based at least in part on an initial waveform for a corresponding UE and weighting coefficients associated with a corresponding waveform among the set of weighting coefficients, wherein the initial waveform carries bit information, and wherein the set of weighting coefficients are determined based at least in part on approximating the combination of the set of waveforms to a radar waveform; and demodulate a waveform for the UE from the combination of the set of waveforms based at least in part on the received set of weighting coefficients.

In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the set of weighting coefficients may satisfy a quality degradation constraint during the approximation. In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the quality degradation constraint comprises: null signal noise ratio (SNR) loss or an SNR loss satisfying a threshold.

In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the at least one processor may be further configured to cause the UE to perform one or more of the following: transmit, to the BS, feedback corresponding to the demodulated waveform; and receive adjusted set of weighting coefficients from the BS. In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the feedback comprises hybrid automatic repeat request acknowledgement (HARQ-ACK) feedback.

Some embodiments of the present disclosure provide a processor. The processor may include at least one controller coupled with at least one memory and configured to cause the processor to: receive, from a BS, a combination of a set of waveforms for a set of UEs; receive, from the BS, an indication of a set of weighting coefficients associated with the set of waveforms, wherein each waveform of the set of waveforms corresponds to a UE of the set of UEs and is generated based at least in part on an initial waveform for a corresponding UE and weighting coefficients associated with a corresponding waveform among the set of weighting coefficients, wherein the initial waveform carries bit information, and wherein the set of weighting coefficients are determined based at least in part on approximating the combination of the set of waveforms to a radar waveform; and demodulate a waveform from the combination of the set of waveforms based at least in part on the received set of weighting coefficients.

Some embodiments of the present disclosure provide a method for integrated sensing and communication. The method may include: determining, based on a multiple access scheme for wireless communication with a set of UEs, an initial waveform for each UE of the set of UEs, wherein the initial waveform carries bit information; generating a set of waveforms, each waveform of the set of waveforms corresponding to a UE of the set of UEs, based at least in part on the initial waveforms for the set of UEs and a set of weighting coefficients associated with the generated set of waveforms; determining the set of weighting coefficients based at least in part on approximating a combination of the generated set of waveforms to a radar waveform; transmitting, to the set of UEs, an indication of the set of weighting coefficients associated with the generated set of waveforms; and transmitting, to the set of UEs, the combination of the generated set of waveforms.

Some embodiments of the present disclosure provide an apparatus. According to some embodiments of the present disclosure, the apparatus may include: at least one non-transitory computer-readable medium having stored thereon computer-executable instructions; at least one receiving circuitry; at least one transmitting circuitry; and at least one processor coupled to the at least one non-transitory computer-readable medium, the at least one receiving circuitry and the at least one transmitting circuitry, wherein the at least one non-transitory computer-readable medium and the computer executable instructions may be configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to perform a method according to some embodiments of the present disclosure.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In order to describe the manner in which the advantages and features of the disclosure can be obtained, a description of the disclosure is rendered by reference to specific embodiments thereof, which are illustrated in the appended drawings. These drawings depict only exemplary embodiments of the disclosure and are not therefore to be considered limiting of its scope.

FIG. 1 illustrates a schematic diagram of an integrated sensing and communication system in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIGs. 2 and 3 illustrate flowcharts of methods for integrated sensing and communication in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 4 illustrates a schematic diagram for waveform design in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIGs. 5A and 5B illustrate exemplary waveforms in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIGs. 6A and 6B illustrate exemplary weighting coefficients in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIGs. 7A and 7B illustrate exemplary weighted waveforms in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 8 illustrates an exemplary combined weighted waveform in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 9 illustrates an exemplary Gaussian pulse waveform in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIGs. 10A-10C illustrate exemplary radar waveforms under TDMA in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 11 illustrates a block diagram of an exemplary apparatus in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 12 illustrates an example of a UE in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 13 illustrates an example of a processor in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure; and

FIG. 14 illustrates an example of a network equipment (NE) in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The detailed description of the appended drawings is intended as a description of the preferred embodiments of the present disclosure and is not intended to represent the only form in which the present disclosure may be practiced. It should be understood that the same or equivalent functions may be accomplished by different embodiments that are intended to be encompassed within the spirit and scope of the present disclosure.

Reference will now be made in detail to some embodiments of the present disclosure, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. To facilitate understanding, embodiments are provided under a specific network architecture (s) and new service scenarios, such as the 3rd generation partnership project (3GPP) 5G NR or 6G, 3GPP LTE, and so on. It is contemplated that along with the developments of network architectures and new service scenarios, all embodiments in the present disclosure are also applicable to similar technical problems; and moreover, the terminologies recited in the present disclosure may change, which should not affect the principles of the present disclosure.

Currently, sensing systems and communication systems are designed and developed independently. For example, they may operate in different frequency bands according to their respective functions and use cases. For various reasons, such as communication spectrum scarcity and application scenarios that require both communication and sensing functionalities within the same system, it is desirable to integrate the communication and sensing functionalities in the same system.

The present disclosure relates to the integration of communication and sensing within the same system. In particular, embodiments of the present disclosure provide an integrated waveform that supports both communication and sensing functionalities while satisfying different requirements for communication and sensing. The integrated waveform can be generated based on signals for one or more communication users (e.g., one or more UEs) , which is advantageous because a communication system (e.g., a BS or an NE) typically serves a plurality of users on the downlink.

FIG. 1 illustrates a schematic diagram of wireless communication system 100 in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure.

The wireless communication system 100 may include one or more NEs 102 (e.g., one or more BSs) , one or more UEs 104, and a core network (CN) 106. The wireless communication system 100 may support various radio access technologies. In some implementations, the wireless communication 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 communication system 100 may be a NR network, such as a 5G network, a 5G-Advanced (5G-A) network, or a 5G ultra-wideband (5G-UWB) network. In other implementations, the wireless communication 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) , and IEEE 802.20. The wireless communication system 100 may support radio access technologies beyond 5G, for example, 6G. Additionally, the wireless communication 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 NEs 102 may be dispersed throughout a geographic region to form the wireless communication system 100. One or more of the NEs 102 described herein may be or include or may be referred to as a network node, a base station, a network element, a network function, a network entity, a radio access network (RAN) , a NodeB, an eNodeB (eNB) , a next-generation NodeB (gNB) , or other suitable terminology. An NE 102 and a UE 104 may communicate via a communication link, which may be a wireless or wired connection. For example, an NE 102 and a UE 104 may perform wireless communication (e.g., receive signaling, transmit signaling) over a Uu interface.

An NE 102 may provide a geographic coverage area for which the NE 102 may support services for one or more UEs 104 within the geographic coverage area. For example, an NE 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, an NE 102 may be moveable, for example, a satellite associated with a non-terrestrial network (NTN) . 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 may be associated with a different NE 102.

The one or more UEs 104 may be dispersed throughout a geographic region of the wireless communication system 100. A UE 104 may include or may be referred to as a remote unit, a mobile device, a wireless device, a remote device, a subscriber device, a transmitter device, a receiver 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.

A UE 104 may be able to support wireless communication directly with other UEs 104 over a communication link. 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.

An NE 102 may support communication with the CN 106, or with another NE 102, or both. For example, an NE 102 may interface with another NE 102 or the CN 106 through one or more backhaul links (e.g., S1, N2, N2, or network interface) . In some implementations, the NE 102 may communicate with each other directly. In some other implementations, the NE 102 may communicate with each other or indirectly (e.g., via the CN 106. In some implementations, one or more NEs 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 radio heads, smart radio heads, or transmission-reception points (TRPs) .

The CN 106 may support user authentication, access authorization, tracking, connectivity, and other access, routing, or mobility functions. The CN 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 NEs 102 associated with the CN 106.

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

In the wireless communication system 100, the NEs 102 and the UEs 104 may use resources of the wireless communication 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 communication) . In some implementations, the NEs 102 and the UEs 104 may support different resource structures. For example, the NEs 102 and the UEs 104 may support different frame structures. In some implementations, such as in 4G, the NEs 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 NEs 102 and the UEs 104 may support various frame structures (i.e., multiple frame structures) . The NEs 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 communication 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 communication 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., orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (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 communication 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 communication 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 NEs 102 and the UEs 104 may perform wireless communication over one or more of the operating frequency bands. In some implementations, FR1 may be used by the NEs 102 and the UEs 104, among other equipment or devices for cellular communication traffic (e.g., control information, data) . In some implementations, FR2 may be used by the NEs 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.

A UE 104 may include computing devices, such as desktop computers, laptop computers, personal digital assistants (PDAs) , tablet computers, smart televisions (e.g., televisions connected to the Internet) , set-top boxes, game consoles, security systems (including security cameras) , vehicle on-board computers, network devices (e.g., routers, switches, and modems) , or the like. According to some embodiments of the present disclosure, a UE 104 may include a portable wireless communication device, a smart phone, a cellular telephone, a flip phone, a device having a subscriber identity module, a personal computer, a selective call receiver, or any other device that is capable of sending and receiving communication signals on a wireless network. In some embodiments of the present disclosure, a UE 104 includes wearable devices, such as smart watches, fitness bands, optical head-mounted displays, or the like. Moreover, a UE 104 may be referred to as a subscriber unit, a mobile, a mobile station, a user, a terminal, a mobile terminal, a wireless terminal, a fixed terminal, a subscriber station, a user terminal, or a device, or described using other terminology used in the art. A UE 104 may communicate with an NE 102 (e.g., a BS) via uplink (UL) communication signals. An NE 102 may communicate with a UE 104 via downlink (DL) communication signals.

In some embodiments of the present disclosure, an NE 102 and a UE 104 may communicate over licensed spectrums, whereas in some other embodiments, an NE 102 and a UE 104 may communicate over unlicensed spectrums. The present disclosure is not intended to be limited to the implementation of any particular wireless communication system architecture or protocol.

In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the wireless communication system 100 may support integrated sensing and communication. For example, in addition to supporting the communication function (e.g., NE 102 and UE 104 can communicate with each other via UL or DL communication channels) , the wireless communication system 100 may support a sensing function or operation. For example, an NE 102 may sense a target (e.g., a target 103) , including detecting a distance to the target, an angle and a speed of the target using a radar function (e.g., using one or more radar signals and one or more corresponding radar echo signals) . Although a single target is depicted in FIG. 1, it is contemplated that the wireless communication system 100 or an NE 102 can support sensing (e.g., detecting) any number of targets.

The integration of sensing and communication offers several advantages. One notable benefit arises from the need to enhance (e.g., maximize) the utilization of available radio spectrum due to spectrum scarcity in communication. As such, incorporating radar bands, which are being opened up for shared access, may be highly advantageous for wireless communication systems. Additionally, the integration of sensing and communication proves beneficial for emerging applications that require both communication and sensing functionalities within the same system, such as target recognition and autonomous driving. However, it is important to acknowledge that during such integration, interference between sensing (e.g., radar) and communication is inevitable, thereby necessitating a joint sensing-communication design.

In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the wireless communication system, including the NE 102 and the UE 104, may support (e.g., be configured to) the use of a waveform for both communication and sensing. This waveform may be referred to as an integrated signal waveform or a dual-function waveform for communication and sensing. The waveform can satisfy both communication and sensing requirements, criteria, conditions, and the like. More details on the embodiments of the present disclosure will be illustrated in the following text in combination with the appended drawings.

Embodiments of the present disclosure may be described with a particular sensing technology (e.g., radar) , however, it should be appreciated by persons skilled in the art that the embodiments of the present disclosure can also be applied to other sensing technologies.

In some embodiments of the present disclosure, signals from, for example, multiple communication users (e.g., multiple UEs) , multiple streams of a single UE, or any combination thereof may be used to generate a dual-function radar and communication waveform. For example, these signals may be multiplexed in the time or frequency domain at different data bits and combined to generate an overall radar waveform. For example, weighting coefficients may be employed to generate the waveform. In some embodiments, the weighting coefficients may be adaptively adjusted by wireless communication system, including the NE 102 and the UE 104, for example based on feedback (e.g., feedback reported by the UE 104) . In some embodiments, a constraint may be applied during the generation of the waveform. From the perspective of a NE 102, the NE 102 may generate and transmit the dual-function radar and communication waveform and may adjust the weighting coefficients. From the perspective of a UE 104, it may demodulate the received dual-function radar and communication waveform to obtain the bit information.

FIG. 2 illustrates a flowchart of a method 200 for integrated sensing and communication in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure. Details described in all of the foregoing embodiments of the present disclosure are applicable for the embodiments shown in FIG. 2. In some examples, the method 200 may be performed by a BS or an NE (for example, a NE 102 as described with reference to FIG. 1) . In some embodiments, the BS or the NE may execute a set of instructions to control the functional elements of the BS or the NE to perform the described functions or operations.

At 211, a BS may determine, based on a multiple access scheme for wireless communication with a set of UEs, an initial waveform for each UE of the set of UEs, wherein the initial waveform carries bit information. For example, the initial waveform for a certain UE of the set of UEs carries bit information for this UE.

In some embodiments, the multiple access scheme may include, but is not limited to, TDMA, orthogonal FDMA (OFDMA) , CDMA or FDMA. In some examples, with reference to FIG. 4, the BS may determine respective bit information (e.g., Bit 1 to Bit L) for each of UE 1 to UE K based on TDMA. In some examples, with reference to FIGs. 5A and 5B, assuming a bit length of twenty for the data per UE (e.g., L=20) and K=2, the BS may determine an initial waveform for a UE (e.g., UE 1) as shown in FIG. 5A, which carries bit information for the UE, and may determine an initial waveform for another UE (e.g., a UE 2) as shown in FIG. 5B, which carries bit information for the other UE.

Returning to FIG. 2, at 213, the BS may generate a set of waveforms, each waveform of the set of waveforms corresponding to a UE of the set of UEs, based at least in part on the initial waveform for the set of UEs and a set of weighting coefficients associated with the generated set of waveforms. At 215, the BS may determine the set of weighting coefficients based at least in part on approximating a combination of the generated set of waveforms to a radar waveform.

In some embodiments, the radar waveform may include, but is not limited to, linear frequency modulation (LFM) , Gaussian pulse, or Barker pulse (or Barker code) . For example, the BS may determine the LFM waveform as the radar waveform. In some embodiments, the BS may determine the radar waveform based at least in part on a criterion (e.g., requirement, condition) for performing sensing and communication. For example, the criterion (e.g., requirement, condition, criteria) may include one or more of: a detection range, a detection accuracy, one or more targets to be detected, one or more quality metrics (e.g., signal noise ratio (SNR) , signal to interference and noise ratio (SINR) , reference signal received power (RSRP) , received signal strength indicator (RSSI) , and the like) , or any combination thereof.

At 217, the BS may transmit, to the set of UEs, an indication of the set of weighting coefficients associated with the generated set of waveforms. At 219, the BS may transmit, to the set of UEs, the combination of the generated set of waveforms.

In some embodiments, the weighting coefficients may be transmitted to the set of UEs via high layer signaling or physical layer (PHY) signaling in a separate waveform from the combination of the generated set of waveforms for the set of UEs. For example, the weighting coefficients may be transmitted by the BS to the set of UEs via radio resource control (RRC) signaling or a medium access control (MAC) control element (CE) (MAC-CE) in a pure waveform such as cyclic prefix OFDM (CP-OFDM) , instead of any integrated signal waveforms. In another example, the weighting coefficients may be transmitted by the BS to the set of UEs via PHY signaling, e.g., an indicator in downlink control information (DCI) or a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) in a pure waveform such as CP-OFDM, instead of any integrated signal waveforms. For example, the indicator may point to an entry of a table or a list where the table or the list is configured by RRC signaling with each entry corresponding to a set of predefined weighting coefficients.

In some embodiments, to approximate the combination of the generated set of waveforms to the radar waveform, the BS may minimize (e.g., adjust, modify) a difference between the combination of the generated set of waveforms and the radar waveform. For example, the BS may determine the weighting coefficients, which can result in the minimum mean square error (MMSE) between the combination of the generated waveforms and the radar waveform.

With reference to FIG. 4, the radar pulse may have a duration of T, each bit of a communication signal may occupy a time interval of T_b and T=L*T_b, wherein L denotes the number of bits of the communication signal per UE within each radar pulse. The L bits of communication signal data for K UEs can be combined based on weighting coefficients to approximate a radar waveform and obtain an integrated waveform, where K denotes the number of communication users (e.g., UEs) and can be greater than or equal to 1.

For example, denoting the communication pulse in l bit of UE k as g_kl (t) , the communication signals with L bits for each of the K UEs can be represented as and can be combined using weighting coefficients c_kl (t) to obtain a joint communication signal By approximating the joint communication signal to the radar signal r (t) , for example, minimizing the difference therebetween, the optimal weighting coefficients can be obtained. For example, an example measure is the MMSE, i.e., where the smallest W corresponds to the optimal weighting coefficientsThe communication signals with L bits for each of the K UEs can be combined using the optimal weighting coefficients to obtain an integrated waveform for both sensing and communication. It should be noted that the integrated waveform may not be obtained necessarily based on the optimal weighting coefficients, and can be based on weighting coefficients that lead to a relatively small difference between the joint communication signal and the radar signal.

The integrated waveform may be transmitted to the K UEs. The corresponding weighting coefficients may also be transmitted to the K UEs. As shown in FIG. 4, the integrated waveform may be processed as a whole at a radar receiver and each UE of the UEs may demodulate the received integrated waveform using the weighting coefficients to demodulate a corresponding waveform and recover each bit information for the corresponding UE.

Returning to FIG. 2, in some embodiments, to determine the set of weighting coefficients, the BS may determine that a quality degradation constraint is satisfied during the approximation. In some embodiments, the quality degradation constraint may include: null SNR loss or an SNR satisfying loss threshold.

For example, with reference to FIG. 4, a constraint may be added to the process for determining the weighting coefficients c_kl. For example, to ensure that the communication quality does not degrade, a constraint that the SNR remains unchanged can be introduced. For example, the SNR of the original signal can be represented asand the SNR of the joint communication signal is where σ² is the noise power. Making them equal, i.e., the SNR does not degrade, yieldsTherefore, the optimization problem becomess. t. Using the Lagrange multiplier method, the optimal solution can be obtained and thus the optimal waveform can be obtained as follows, where (·) *refers to the conjugate operation:

In some other examples, to ensure that the communication quality is within an acceptable range, a constraint that the SNR loss between the original signal and the joint communication signal should be within an acceptable SNR loss threshold can be introduced. For example, abs (γ_k-γ′_k) ≤threshold. Other constraints that can be conceived of by persons skilled in the art can also be employed.

Referring back to FIG. 2, in some embodiments, the BS may adjust the weighting coefficients and the transmitted waveform based on feedback from the set of UEs, if any.

For example, a UE (denoted as UE #Afor clarity) of the set of UEs may receive the integrated waveform (i.e., the combination of the generated waveforms for the set of UEs) and may demodulate the waveform for UE #A. In some embodiments, the BS may receive, from UE #A, feedback corresponding to the waveform for UE #A. The BS may adjust the set of weighting coefficients based at least in part on the feedback and transmit the adjusted set of weighting coefficients to the set of UEs.

The adjusted weighting coefficients may be transmitted to the set of UEs via high layer signaling or physical layer signaling. For example, the adjusted weighting coefficients may be transmitted by the BS to the set of UEs via RRC signaling or a MAC CE in a pure waveform such as CP-OFDM, instead of any integrated signal waveforms. In another example, the adjusted weighting coefficients may be transmitted by the BS to the set of UEs via PHY signaling, e.g., an indicator in a DCI or a PDCCH, in a pure waveform such asCP-OFDM, instead of any integrated signal waveforms. For example, the indicator may point to an entry of a table or a list where the table or the list is configured by RRC signaling with each entry corresponding to a set of predefined weighting coefficients.

In some embodiments, the BS may adjust the radar waveform based at least in part on the feedback. In some embodiments, to adjust the radar waveform based at least in part on the feedback and in response to the feedback comprising negative feedback, the BS may adjust the radar waveform to a different radar waveform that satisfies a quality degradation threshold (e.g., satisfy less communication quality degradation) when the BS adjusts the set of weighting coefficients. In some embodiments, to adjust the radar waveform, the BS may change the radar waveform from an LFM waveform to a Barker pulse waveform.

In some embodiments, to adjust the set of weighting coefficients based at least in part on the feedback, the BS may add a quality degradation constraint to the determination of the set of weighting coefficients in the response to the feedback comprising negative feedback. In some embodiments, the quality degradation constraint may include null SNR loss or an SNR loss satisfying a threshold.

In some embodiments, the feedback may include hybrid automatic repeat request acknowledgement (HARQ-ACK) feedback.

For example, for the sake of the radar's target detection effectiveness, the BS may transmit an integrated waveform without any constraint or a loose constraint to the set of UEs. In the case that a number of the set of UEs responds ACK (e.g., more than a half or all or a predefined ratio of the set of UEs) , no adjustment is made. In the case that a number of the set of UEs (e.g., more than a half or a predefined ratio or one of the set of UEs) responds negative ACK (NACK) , the BS may make an adjustment. In some examples, a constraint or a strict constraint may be introduced to adjust the weighting coefficients. In some examples, the BS may adjust the radar waveform, e.g., changing it to a different one that satisfies less communication quality degradation.

For example, Table 1 below shows a comparison between some radar waveforms. In Table 1, the fewer the stars, the better the performance. It should be understood that Table 1 is for illustrative purposes, and should not be construed as limiting the embodiments of the present disclosure.

Table 1: Comparison between waveforms

According to Table 1, when no SNR constraint is employed, the LFM waveform has the best performance, regardless of whether an OFDMA, FDMA or TDMA multiplexing method is employed. For example, with the same number of users and the same length of user data, approximating the LFM waveform can lead to an optimal waveform with the smallest difference (e.g., MMSE) between the integrated waveform and the radar waveform. When an SNR constraint (e.g., no SNR loss) is employed, the Barker waveform has the best performance, regardless of whether OFDMA, FDMA or TDMA multiplexing method is employed. For example, with the same number of users and the same length of user data, approximating the Barker waveform (with SNR constraint) can lead to an optimal waveform with the smallest difference (e.g., MMSE) between the integrated waveform and the radar waveform.

Referring to Table 1, in some examples, the BS may change the radar waveform from an LFM waveform to a Barker pulse waveform in response to that a number of the set of UEs (e.g., more than a half or a predefined ratio or one of the set of UEs) respond NACK feedback.

For example, in response to that the BS changes the radar waveform, the BS may determine the corresponding weighting coefficients according to the methods as described above, e.g., by approximating a combination of a set of waveforms for the set of UEs to the new radar waveform, and then transmit the updated weighting coefficients and the corresponding combination of the set of waveforms to the set of UEs.

It should be appreciated by persons skilled in the art that the sequence of the operations in exemplary method 200 may be changed and some of the operations in exemplary method 200 may be eliminated or modified, without departing from the spirit and scope of the disclosure.

FIGs. 5A-FIG. 8 show an example for integrated sensing and communication using the methods as described with respect to FIGs. 2 and 3.

As mentioned above, assuming L=20, K=2 and the TDMA multiplexing mode is employed, a BS may determine an initial waveform for UE 1 as shown in FIG. 5A and an initial waveform for UE 2 as shown in FIG. 5B. An optimal solution in the TDMA multiplexing mode (hereinafter, solution #T) can be represented as:

where ε (t) is the unit step function so that ε (t) =1 when t＞0 and ε (t) =0when t＜0.

FIGs. 6A and 6B show the weighting coefficients for UE 1 and UE 2 determined by the BS, respectively. The number of coefficients per UE is equal to the number of bits per UE (e.g., L) . That is, the total number of coefficients is equal to the total number of bits. In each of FIGs. 6A and 6B (e.g., L=20) , only ten non-zero values are shown while other ten zero values are not shown.

It should be noted that in the case of a single UE (e.g., K=1) , the number of coefficients can be determined based on the number of bits per stream and the number of streams of the UE that are multiplexed (e.g., the number of coefficients=the number of bits per stream × the number of streams) . The multiple streams of the UE can be obtained by performing a parallel-to-serial (P->S) conversion to the bits of the UE.

FIG. 7A shows the weighted waveform for UE 1 based on FIGs. 5A and 6A, and FIG. 7B shows the weighted waveform for UE 2 based on FIGs. 5B and 6B. For example, the weighted waveforms may be obtained by multiplying the corresponding weighting coefficients by the initial waveforms.

FIG. 8 shows a combination of the weighted waveforms for UE 1 and UE 2. For example, the weighted waveforms shown in FIGs. 7A and 7B can be superimposed to obtain the joint communication signal in FIG. 8, which approximates the Gaussian pulse waveform in FIG. 9. After approximating the joint communication signal of UE 1 and UE 2, the joint communication signal can overlap with the Gaussian pulse waveform with a small error, as shown in FIG. 10A.

Similarly, the initial waveforms for UE 1 and UE 2 in FIGs. 5A and 5B can be combined to approximate other radar waveforms such as the LFM or the Barker code waveform. The joint communication signal can overlap with the LFM or the Barker code waveform with a small error, as shown in FIGs. 10B and 10C, respectively.

In some other examples, it is assuming that L=20, K=2 and OFDMA multiplexing mode is employed. Similarly to FIGs. 5A and 5B, a BS can determine an initial waveform for UE 1, which carries bit information for UE 1, and may determine an initial waveform for UE 2, which carries bit information for UE 2. The OFDMA user frequencies have the restriction: An optimal solution in the OFDMA multiplexing mode (hereinafter, solution #O) can be represented as:

Similar to FIGs. 10A and 10B, the joint communication signal can overlap with the Gaussian pulse, LFM or the Barker code waveform with a small error in the OFDMA multiplexing mode.

In some embodiments, to ensure that the communication quality does not degrade, a constraint (e.g., SNR remains unchanged) is introduced. For example, solution #T may thus be changed as follows when such constraint is added:

Similar to FIGs. 10A and 10B, the joint communication signal can overlap with the Gaussian pulse, LFM or the Barker code waveform with a small error in the TDMA multiplexing mode with the above constraint.

For example, solution #O may thus be changed as follows when such constraint is added:

Similar to FIGs. 10A and 10B, the joint communication signal can overlap with the Gaussian pulse, LFM or the Barker code waveform with a small error in the OFDMA multiplexing mode with the above constraint.

FIG. 3 illustrates a flowchart of a method 300 for integrated sensing and communication in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure. Details described in all of the foregoing embodiments of the present disclosure are applicable for the embodiments shown in FIG. 3. In some examples, the method 300 may be performed by a UE, for example, a UE 104 as described with reference to FIG. 1. In some embodiments, the UE may execute a set of instructions to control the functional elements of the UE to perform the described functions or operations.

At 311, the UE may receive, from a BS, a combination of a set of waveforms for a set of UEs including the UE.

At 313, the UE may receive, from the BS, an indication of a set of weighting coefficients associated with the set of waveforms, wherein each waveform of the set of waveforms corresponds to a UE of the set of UEs and is generated based at least in part on an initial waveform for a corresponding UE and weighting coefficients associated with a corresponding waveform among the set of weighting coefficients, wherein the initial waveform carries bit information, and wherein the set of weighting coefficients are determined based at least in part on (e.g., by) approximating the combination of the set of waveforms to a radar waveform.

In some embodiments, the radar waveform may be determined based at least in part on a criterion (e.g., requirement, condition) for sensing and communication. For example, the criterion (e.g., requirement, condition, criteria) may include one or more of: a detection range, a detection accuracy, one or more targets to be detected, one or more quality metrics (e.g., SNR, SINR, RSRP, RSSI, and the like) , or any combination thereof.

In some embodiments, approximating the combination of the set of waveforms to the radar waveform may include minimizing a difference between the combination of the set of waveforms and the radar waveform.

In some embodiments, the set of weighting coefficients may satisfy a quality degradation constraint during the approximation. For example, the quality degradation constraint may include: null SNR loss or an SNR loss satisfying a threshold.

In some embodiments, the set of weighting coefficients may be received at the UE via high layer signaling or physical layer signaling in a separate waveform from the combination of the set of waveforms for the set of UEs. For example, the weighting coefficients may be received at the UE via RRC signaling or a MAC CE in a pure waveform such as CP-OFDM, instead of any integrated signal waveforms. In another example, the weighting coefficients may be received by the UE in PHY signaling, e.g., an indicator in a DCI or a PDCCH, in a pure waveform such as CP-OFDM, instead of any integrated signal waveforms. For example, the indicator may point to an entry of a table or a list where the table or the list is configured by RRC signaling with each entry corresponding to a set of predefined weighting coefficients.

At 315, the UE may demodulate a waveform for the UE from the combination of the set of waveforms based at least in part on the received weighting coefficients. For example, as shown in FIG. 4, UE n (n= {1, …K} ) may demodulate the waveform for UE n from the combined waveform.

In some embodiments, the UE may transmit, to the BS, feedback corresponding to the demodulated waveform. In some embodiments, the UE may receive adjusted set of weighting coefficients from the BS. In some embodiments, the feedback may include HARQ-ACK feedback.

It should be appreciated by persons skilled in the art that the sequence of the operations in exemplary method 300 may be changed and some of the operations in exemplary method 300 may be eliminated or modified, without departing from the spirit and scope of the disclosure.

FIG. 11 illustrates a block diagram of exemplary apparatus 1100 according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG. 11, the apparatus 1100 may include at least one processor 1106 and at least one transceiver 1102 coupled to the processor 1106. The apparatus 1100 may be a UE or an NE (e.g., a BS) .

Although in this figure, elements such as the at least one transceiver 1102 and processor 1106 are described in the singular, the plural is contemplated unless a limitation to the singular is explicitly stated. In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the transceiver 1102 may be divided into two devices, such as a receiving circuitry and a transmitting circuitry. In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the apparatus 1100 may further include an input device, a memory, and/or other components.

In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the apparatus 1100 may be a UE. The transceiver 1102 and the processor 1106 may interact with each other so as to perform the operations with respect to the UE described in FIGs. 1-10. In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the apparatus 1100 may be an NE (e.g., a BS) . The transceiver 1102 and the processor 1106 may interact with each other so as to perform the operations with respect to the BS or NE described in FIGs. 1-10.

In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the apparatus 1100 may further include at least one non-transitory computer-readable medium.

For example, in some embodiments of the present disclosure, the non-transitory computer-readable medium may have stored thereon computer-executable instructions to cause the processor 1106 to implement the method with respect to the UE as described above. For example, the computer-executable instructions, when executed, cause the processor 1106 interacting with transceiver 1102 to perform the operations with respect to the UE described in FIGs. 1-10.

In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the non-transitory computer-readable medium may have stored thereon computer-executable instructions to cause the processor 1106 to implement the method with respect to the BS or NE as described above. For example, the computer-executable instructions, when executed, cause the processor 1106 interacting with transceiver 1102 to perform the operations with respect to the BS or NE described in FIGs. 1-10.

FIG. 12 illustrates an example of a UE 1200 in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. The UE 1200 may include a processor 1202, a memory 1204, a controller 1206, and a transceiver 1208. The processor 1202, the memory 1204, the controller 1206, or the transceiver 1208, or various combinations thereof or various components thereof may be examples of means for performing various aspects of the present disclosure as described herein. These components may be coupled (e.g., operatively, communicatively, functionally, electronically, electrically) via one or more interfaces.

The processor 1202, the memory 1204, the controller 1206, or the transceiver 1208, or various combinations or components thereof may be implemented in hardware (e.g., circuitry) . The hardware may include a processor, a digital signal processor (DSP) , an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) , or other programmable logic device, or any combination thereof configured as or otherwise supporting a means for performing the functions described in the present disclosure.

The processor 1202 may include an intelligent hardware device (e.g., a general-purpose processor, a DSP, a CPU, an ASIC, an FPGA, or any combination thereof) . In some implementations, the processor 1202 may be configured to operate the memory 1204. In some other implementations, the memory 1204 may be integrated into the processor 1202. The processor 1202 may be configured to execute computer-readable instructions stored in the memory 1204 to cause the UE 1200 to perform various functions of the present disclosure.

The memory 1204 may include volatile or non-volatile memory. The memory 1204 may store computer-readable, computer-executable code including instructions when executed by the processor 1202 cause the UE 1200 to perform various functions described herein. The code may be stored in a non-transitory computer- readable medium such as the memory 1204 or another type of memory. 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.

In some implementations, the processor 1202 and the memory 1204 coupled with the processor 1202 may be configured to cause the UE 1200 to perform one or more of the functions described herein (e.g., executing, by the processor 1202, instructions stored in the memory 1204) . For example, the processor 1202 may support wireless communication at the UE 1200 in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. For example, the UE 1200 may be configured to support means for performing the operations as described with respect to FIG. 3.

For example, the UE 1200 may be configured to support a means for receiving, from a BS (or an NE) , a combination of a set of waveforms for a set of UEs including the UE; a means for receiving, from the BS, an indication of a set of weighting coefficients associated with the set of waveforms, wherein each waveform of the set of waveforms corresponds to a UE of the set of UEs and is generated based at least in part on an initial waveform for a corresponding UE and weighting coefficients associated with a corresponding waveform among the set of weighting coefficients, wherein the initial waveform carries bit information, and wherein the set of weighting coefficients are determined based at least in part on approximating the combination of the set of waveforms to a radar waveform; and a means for demodulating a waveform for the UE from the combination of the set of waveforms based at least in part on the received set of weighting coefficients.

The controller 1206 may manage input and output signals for the UE 1200. The controller 1206 may also manage peripherals not integrated into the UE 1200. In some implementations, the controller 1206 may utilize an operating system such as or other operating systems. In some implementations, the controller 1206 may be implemented as part of the processor 1202.

In some implementations, the UE 1200 may include at least one transceiver 1208. In some other implementations, the UE 1200 may have more than one transceiver 1208. The transceiver 1208 may represent a wireless transceiver. The transceiver 1208 may include one or more receiver chains 1210, one or more transmitter chains 1212, or a combination thereof.

A receiver chain 1210 may be configured to receive signals (e.g., control information, data, packets) over a wireless medium. For example, the receiver chain 1210 may include one or more antennas for receive the signal over the air or wireless medium. The receiver chain 1210 may include at least one amplifier (e.g., a low-noise amplifier (LNA) ) configured to amplify the received signal. The receiver chain 1210 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 receiver chain 1210 may include at least one decoder for decoding the processing the demodulated signal to receive the transmitted data.

A transmitter chain 1212 may be configured to generate and transmit signals (e.g., control information, data, packets) . The transmitter chain 1212 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 transmitter chain 1212 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 transmitter chain 1212 may also include one or more antennas for transmitting the amplified signal into the air or wireless medium.

It should be appreciated by persons skilled in the art that the components in exemplary UE 1200 may be changed, for example, some of the components in exemplary UE 1200 may be omitted or modified or new component (s) may be added to exemplary UE 1200, without departing from the spirit and scope of the disclosure. For example, in some embodiments, the UE 1200 may not include the controller 1206.

FIG. 13 illustrates an example of a processor 1300 in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. The processor 1300 may be an example of a processor configured to perform various operations in accordance with examples as described herein. The processor 1300 may include a controller 1302 configured to perform various operations in accordance with examples as described herein. The processor 1300 may optionally include at least one memory 1304, which may be, for example, an L1/L2/L3 cache. Additionally, or alternatively, the processor 1300 may optionally include one or more arithmetic-logic units (ALUs) 1306. 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 1300 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 1300) 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 1302 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 1300 to cause the processor 1300 to support various operations in accordance with examples as described herein. For example, the controller 1302 may operate as a control unit of the processor 1300, generating control signals that manage the operation of various components of the processor 1300. These control signals include enabling or disabling functional units, selecting data paths, initiating memory access, and coordinating timing of operations.

The controller 1302 may be configured to fetch (e.g., obtain, retrieve, receive) instructions from the memory 1304 and determine subsequent instruction (s) to be executed to cause the processor 1300 to support various operations in accordance with examples as described herein. The controller 1302 may be configured to track memory address of instructions associated with the memory 1304. The controller 1302 may be configured to decode instructions to determine the operation to be performed and the operands involved. For example, the controller 1302 may be configured to interpret the instruction and determine control signals to be output to other components of the processor 1300 to cause the processor 1300 to support various operations in accordance with examples as described herein. Additionally, or alternatively, the controller 1302 may be configured to manage flow of data within the processor 1300. The controller 1302 may be configured to control transfer of data between registers, ALUs, and other functional units of the processor 1300.

The memory 1304 may include one or more caches (e.g., memory local to or included in the processor 1300 or other memory, such RAM, ROM, DRAM, SDRAM, SRAM, MRAM, flash memory, etc. In some implementations, the memory 1304 may reside within or on a processor chipset (e.g., local to the processor 1300) . In some other implementations, the memory 1304 may reside external to the processor chipset (e.g., remote to the processor 1300) .

The memory 1304 may store computer-readable, computer-executable code including instructions that, when executed by the processor 1300, cause the processor 1300 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 1302 and/or the processor 1300 may be configured to execute computer-readable instructions stored in the memory 1304 to cause the processor 1300 to perform various functions. For example, the processor 1300 and/or the controller 1302 may be coupled with or to the memory 1304, the processor 1300, the controller 1302, and the memory 1304 may be configured to perform various functions described herein. In some examples, the processor 1300 may include multiple processors and the memory 1304 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 1306 may be configured to support various operations in accordance with examples as described herein. In some implementations, the one or more ALUs 1306 may reside within or on a processor chipset (e.g., the processor 1300) . In some other implementations, the one or more ALUs 1306 may reside external to the processor chipset (e.g., the processor 1300) . One or more ALUs 1306 may perform one or more computations such as addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division on data. For example, one or more ALUs 1306 may receive input operands and an operation code, which determines an operation to be executed. One or more ALUs 1306 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 1306 may support logical operations such as AND, OR, exclusive-OR (XOR) , not-OR (NOR) , and not-AND (NAND) , enabling the one or more ALUs 1306 to handle conditional operations, comparisons, and bitwise operations.

The processor 1300 may support wireless communication in accordance with examples as disclosed herein.

For example, the processor 1300 may be configured to support means for performing the operations as described with respect to FIG. 2. For example, the processor 1300 may be configured to or operable to support a means for determining, based on a multiple access scheme for wireless communication with a set of UEs, an initial waveform for each UE of the set of UEs, wherein the initial waveform carries bit information; a means for generating a set of waveforms, each waveform of the set of waveforms corresponding to a UE of the set of UEs, based at least in part on the initial waveforms for the set of UEs and a set of weighting coefficients associated with the generated set of waveforms; a means for determining the set of weighting coefficients based at least in part on approximating a combination of the generated set of waveforms to a radar waveform; a means for transmitting, to the set of UEs, an indication of the set of weighting coefficients associated with the generated set of waveforms; and a means for transmitting, to the set of UEs, the combination of the generated set of waveforms.

For example, the processor 1300 may be configured to support means for performing the operations as described with respect to FIG. 3. For example, the processor 1300 may be configured to support a means for receiving, from a BS (or an NE) , a combination of a set of waveforms for a set of UEs including a UE; a means for receiving, from the BS, an indication of a set of weighting coefficients associated with the set of waveforms, wherein each waveform of the set of waveforms corresponds to a UE of the set of UEs and is generated based at least in part on an initial waveform for a corresponding UE and weighting coefficients associated with a corresponding waveform among the set of weighting coefficients, wherein the initial waveform carries bit information, and wherein the set of weighting coefficients are determined based at least in part on approximating the combination of the set of waveforms to a radar waveform; and a means for demodulating a waveform for the UE from the combination of the set of waveforms based at least in part on the received set of weighting coefficients.

It should be appreciated by persons skilled in the art that the components in exemplary processor 1300 may be changed, for example, some of the components in exemplary processor 1300 may be omitted or modified or new component (s) may be added to exemplary processor 1300, without departing from the spirit and scope of the disclosure. For example, in some embodiments, the processor 1300 may not include the ALUs 1306.

FIG. 14 illustrates an example of an NE 1400 in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. The NE 1400 may include a processor 1402, a memory 1404, a controller 1406, and a transceiver 1408. The processor 1402, the memory 1404, the controller 1406, or the transceiver 1408, or various combinations thereof or various components thereof may be examples of means for performing various aspects of the present disclosure as described herein. These components may be coupled (e.g., operatively, communicatively, functionally, electronically, electrically) via one or more interfaces.

The processor 1402, the memory 1404, the controller 1406, or the transceiver 1408, or various combinations or components thereof may be implemented in hardware (e.g., circuitry) . The hardware may include a processor, a DSP, an ASIC, or other programmable logic device, or any combination thereof configured as or otherwise supporting a means for performing the functions described in the present disclosure.

The processor 1402 may include an intelligent hardware device (e.g., a general-purpose processor, a DSP, a CPU, an ASIC, an FPGA, or any combination thereof) . In some implementations, the processor 1402 may be configured to operate the memory 1404. In some other implementations, the memory 1404 may be integrated into the processor 1402. The processor 1402 may be configured to execute computer-readable instructions stored in the memory 1404 to cause the NE 1400 to perform various functions of the present disclosure.

The memory 1404 may include volatile or non-volatile memory. The memory 1404 may store computer-readable, computer-executable code including instructions when executed by the processor 1402 cause the NE 1400 to perform various functions described herein. The code may be stored in a non-transitory computer-readable medium such as the memory 1404 or another type of memory. 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.

In some implementations, the processor 1402 and the memory 1404 coupled with the processor 1402 may be configured to cause the NE 1400 to perform one or more of the functions described herein (e.g., executing, by the processor 1402, instructions stored in the memory 1404) . For example, the processor 1402 may support wireless communication at the NE 1400 in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. For example, the NE 1400 may be configured to support means for performing the operations as described with respect to FIG. 2.

For example, the NE 1400 may be configured to support a means for determining, based on a multiple access scheme for wireless communication with a set of UEs, an initial waveform for each UE of the set of UEs, wherein the initial waveform carries bit information; a means for generating a set of waveforms, each waveform of the set of waveforms corresponding to a UE of the set of UEs, based at least in part on the initial waveforms for the set of UEs and a set of weighting coefficients associated with the generated set of waveforms; a means for determining the set of weighting coefficients based at least in part on approximating a combination of the generated set of waveforms to a radar waveform; a means for transmitting, to the set of UEs, an indication of the set of weighting coefficients associated with the generated set of waveforms; and a means for transmitting, to the set of UEs, the combination of the generated set of waveforms.

The controller 1406 may manage input and output signals for the NE 1400. The controller 1406 may also manage peripherals not integrated into the NE 1400. In some implementations, the controller 1406 may utilize an operating system such as or other operating systems. In some implementations, the controller 1406 may be implemented as part of the processor 1402.

In some implementations, the NE 1400 may include at least one transceiver 1408. In some other implementations, the NE 1400 may have more than one transceiver 1408. The transceiver 1408 may represent a wireless transceiver. The transceiver 1408 may include one or more receiver chains 1410, one or more transmitter chains 1412, or a combination thereof.

A receiver chain 1410 may be configured to receive signals (e.g., control information, data, packets) over a wireless medium. For example, the receiver chain 1410 may include one or more antennas for receive the signal over the air or wireless medium. The receiver chain 1410 may include at least one amplifier (e.g., an LNA) configured to amplify the received signal. The receiver chain 1410 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 receiver chain 1410 may include at least one decoder for decoding the processing the demodulated signal to receive the transmitted data.

A transmitter chain 1412 may be configured to generate and transmit signals (e.g., control information, data, packets) . The transmitter chain 1412 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 AM, FM, or digital modulation schemes like PSK or QAM. The transmitter chain 1412 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 transmitter chain 1412 may also include one or more antennas for transmitting the amplified signal into the air or wireless medium.

It should be appreciated by persons skilled in the art that the components in exemplary NE 1400 may be changed, for example, some of the components in exemplary NE 1400 may be omitted or modified or new component (s) may be added to exemplary NE 1400, without departing from the spirit and scope of the disclosure. For example, in some embodiments, the NE 1400 may not include the controller 1406.

Those having ordinary skill in the art would understand that the operations or steps of the methods described in connection with the aspects disclosed herein may be embodied directly in hardware, in a software module executed by a processor, or in a combination of the two. A software module may reside in RAM memory, flash memory, ROM memory, EPROM memory, EEPROM memory, registers, a hard disk, a removable disk, a CD-ROM, or any other form of storage medium known in the art. Additionally, in some aspects, the operations or steps of the methods may reside as one or any combination or set of codes and/or instructions on a non-transitory computer-readable medium, which may be incorporated into a computer program product.

While this disclosure has been described with specific embodiments thereof, it is evident that many alternatives, modifications, and variations may be apparent to those skilled in the art. The disclosure is not limited to the examples and designs described herein but is to be accorded with the broadest scope consistent with the principles and novel features disclosed herein. For example, various components of the embodiments may be interchanged, added, or substituted in other embodiments. Also, all of the elements of each figure are not necessary for the operation of the disclosed embodiments. For example, one of ordinary skill in the art of the disclosed embodiments would be enabled to make and use the teachings of the disclosure by simply employing the elements of the independent claims. Accordingly, embodiments of the disclosure as set forth herein are intended to be illustrative, not limiting. Various changes may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the disclosure.

In this document, the terms "includes, " "including, " or any other variation thereof, are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion, such that a process, method, article, or apparatus that includes a list of elements does not include only those elements but may include other elements not expressly listed or inherent to such process, method, article, or apparatus. An element proceeded by "a, " "an, " or the like does not, without more constraints, preclude the existence of additional identical elements in the process, method, article, or apparatus that includes the element. Also, the term "another" is defined as at least a second or more. The term "having" or the like, as used herein, is defined as "including. " Expressions such as "A and/or B" or "at least one of A and B" may include any and all combinations of words enumerated along with the expression. For instance, the expression "A and/or B" or "at least one of A and B" may include A, B, or both A and B. The wording "the first, " "the second" or the like is only used to clearly illustrate the embodiments of the present disclosure, but is not used to limit the substance of the present disclosure.

Claims

A base station (BS) , comprising:

at least one memory; and

at least one processor coupled with the at least one memory and configured to cause the BS to:

determine, based on a multiple access scheme for wireless communication with a set of user equipment (UE) , an initial waveform for each UE of the set of UEs, wherein the initial waveform carries bit information;

generate a set of waveforms, each waveform of the set of waveforms corresponding to a UE of the set of UEs, based at least in part on the initial waveforms for the set of UEs and a set of weighting coefficients associated with the generated set of waveforms;

determine the set of weighting coefficients based at least in part on approximating a combination of the generated set of waveforms to a radar waveform;

transmit, to the set of UEs, an indication of the set of weighting coefficients associated with the generated set of waveforms; and

transmit, to the set of UEs, the combination of the generated set of waveforms.
The BS of Claim 1, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to cause the BS to determine the radar waveform based at least in part on a criterion for sensing and communication.
The BS of Claim 1, wherein, to approximate the combination of the generated set of waveforms to the radar waveform, the at least one processor is configured to cause the BS to minimize a difference between the combination of the generated set of waveforms and the radar waveform.
The BS of Claim 1, wherein, to determine the set of weighting coefficients, the at least one processor is configured to cause the BS to determine that a quality degradation constraint is satisfied during the approximation.
The BS of Claim 1, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to cause the BS to:

receive, from a UE of the set of UEs, feedback corresponding to the generated waveform for the UE;

adjust the set of weighting coefficients based at least in part on the feedback; and

transmit the adjusted set of weighting coefficients to the set of UEs.
The BS of Claim 5, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to cause the BS to adjust the radar waveform based at least in part on the feedback.
The BS of Claim 5, wherein, to adjust the set of weighting coefficients based at least in part on the feedback, the at least one processor is configured to cause the BS to add a quality degradation constraint to the determination of the set of weighting coefficients in response to the feedback comprising negative feedback.
The BS of any of Claims 5-7, wherein the feedback comprises hybrid automatic repeat request acknowledgement (HARQ-ACK) feedback.
The BS of Claim 4 or 7, wherein the quality degradation constraint comprises: null signal noise ratio (SNR) loss or an SNR loss satisfying a threshold.
The BS of Claim 6, wherein, to adjust the radar waveform based at least in part on the feedback and in response to the feedback comprising negative feedback, the at least one processor is configured to cause the BS to adjust the radar waveform to a different radar waveform that satisfies a communication quality degradation threshold when the BS adjusts the set of weighting coefficients.
The BS of Claim 10, wherein, to adjust the radar waveform, the at least one processor is configured to cause the BS to change the radar waveform from a linear frequency modulation (LFM) waveform to a Barker pulse waveform.
The BS of Claim 1, wherein the set of weighting coefficients is transmitted to the set of UEs via high layer signaling or physical layer signaling in a separate waveform from the combination of the generated set of waveforms for the set of UEs.
A user equipment (UE) , comprising:

at least one memory; and

at least one processor coupled with the at least one memory and configured to cause the UE to:

receive, from a base station (BS) , a combination of a set of waveforms for a set of UEs including the UE;

receive, from the BS, an indication of a set of weighting coefficients associated with the set of waveforms, wherein each waveform of the set of waveforms corresponds to a UE of the set of UEs and is generated based at least in part on an initial waveform for a corresponding UE and weighting coefficients associated with a corresponding waveform among the set of weighting coefficients, wherein the initial waveform carries bit information, and wherein the set of weighting coefficients are determined based at least in part on approximating the combination of the set of waveforms to a radar waveform; and

demodulate a waveform for the UE from the combination of the set of waveforms based at least in part on the received set of weighting coefficients.
The UE of Claim 13, wherein the radar waveform is determined based at least in part on a criterion for sensing and communication.
The UE of Claim 13, wherein approximating the combination of the set of waveforms to the radar waveform comprises minimizing a difference between the combination of the set of waveforms and the radar waveform.
The UE of Claim 13, wherein the set of weighting coefficients satisfy a quality degradation constraint during the approximation.
The UE of Claim 13, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to cause the UE to perform one or more of the following:

transmit, to the BS, feedback corresponding to the demodulated waveform; and

receive adjusted set of weighting coefficients from the BS.
The UE of Claim 13, wherein the set of weighting coefficients is received at the UE via high layer signaling or physical layer signaling in a separate waveform from the combination of the set of waveforms for the set of UEs.
A processor, comprising:

at least one controller coupled with at least one memory and configured to cause the processor to:

receive, from a base station (BS) , a combination of a set of waveforms for a set of UEs;

receive, from the BS, an indication of a set of weighting coefficients associated with the set of waveforms, wherein each waveform of the set of waveforms corresponds to a UE of the set of UEs and is generated based at least in part on an initial waveform for a corresponding UE and weighting coefficients associated with a corresponding waveform among the set of weighting coefficients, wherein the initial waveform carries bit information, and wherein the set of weighting coefficients are determined based at least in part on approximating the combination of the set of waveforms to a radar waveform; and

demodulate a waveform from the combination of the set of waveforms based at least in part on the received set of weighting coefficients.
A method for integrated sensing and communication, comprising:

determining, based on a multiple access scheme for wireless communication with a set of user equipment (UE) , an initial waveform for each UE of the set of UEs, wherein the initial waveform carries bit information;

generating a set of waveforms, each waveform of the set of waveforms corresponding to a UE of the set of UEs, based at least in part on the initial waveforms for the set of UEs and a set of weighting coefficients associated with the generated set of waveforms;

determining the set of weighting coefficients based at least in part on approximating a combination of the generated set of waveforms to a radar waveform;

transmitting, to the set of UEs, an indication of the set of weighting coefficients associated with the generated set of waveforms; and

transmitting, to the set of UEs, the combination of the generated set of waveforms.