Field

The exemplary and non-limiting embodiments of the disclosure relate generally to wireless communication systems. Example embodiments of the disclosure relate especially to apparatuses and methods in wireless communication networks.

Background

In wireless telecommunication systems there is a constant need for high quality of service. Reliability requirements are constantly rising and ways and means to ensure reliable connections and data traffic constantly under development.

In cellular communication network with moving terminals, information on the position of the terminals may be utilised to enhance the connection quality between the base stations or transmission points and the terminals, for example. The base stations or transmission points may obtain information on the locations of terminals, but external sensors may also be used to obtain more reliable and accurate location data of the terminals. Smooth co-operation of sensors and base stations or transmission points would help the communication system to utilise sensor data in an efficient manner.

Summary

The following presents a simplified summary of the disclosure in order to provide a basic understanding of some aspects of the disclosure. This summary is not an extensive overview of the disclosure. It is not intended to identify key/critical elements of the disclosure or to delineate the scope of the disclosure. Its sole purpose is to present some concepts of the disclosure in a simplified form as a prelude to a more detailed description that is presented later.

According to an aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided an apparatus in a communication system comprising at least one processor; and at least one memory including computer program code, the at least one memory and computer program code configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to: request a sensor arrangement to transmit information on objects detected by the sensor arrangement on given one or more sensing areas; receive, from the sensor arrangement, a message indicating a detected object, the message comprising the sensing area where the object was detected and an identifier for the object; associate the identifier and the detected object as a communication system object detected by the apparatus on the given sensing area or as a non-communication system object if the object has not been detected by the apparatus.

According to an aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a sensor arrangement comprising at least one processor; and at least one memory including computer program code, the at least one memory and computer program code configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the sensor arrangement to: receive a request from a transmission point of a communication system to transmit information on objects detected by the sensor arrangement on given one or more sensing areas; detect an object on given one or more sensing areas and label the object with an identifier; transmit to the transmission point a message indicating the detected object, the message comprising the sensing area where the object was detected and the identifier of the object.

According to an aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided an apparatus in a communication system comprising at least one processor; and at least one memory including computer program code, the at least one memory and computer program code configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to: monitoring a message from a network element of the communication system, the message targeted for at least one communication system object in a sensing area of a cell served by the network element, transmit, based on detection of the message, one or more predefined uplink signals via predefined uplink resources, predefined uplink signals indicating correct detection of the message.

According to an aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a system comprising an apparatus in a communication system and a sensor arrangement, the apparatus comprising at least one processor; and at least one memory including computer program code, the at least one memory and computer program code configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to: request the sensor arrangement to transmit information on objects detected by the sensor arrangement on given one or more sensing areas; receive, from the sensor arrangement, a message indicating a detected object, the message comprising the sensing area where the object was detected and an identifier for the object; associate the identifier and the detected object as a communication system object detected by the apparatus on the given sensing area or as a non-communication system object if the object has not been detected by the apparatus; the sensor arrangement comprising one or more sensors, and at least one processor; and at least one memory including computer program code, the at least one memory and computer program code configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the sensor arrangement to: receive a request from the apparatus in a communication system to transmit information on objects detected by the sensor arrangement on given one or more sensing areas; detect an object on given one or more sensing areas and label the object with an identifier; transmit to the apparatus a message indicating the detected object, the message comprising the sensing area where the object was detected and the identifier of the object.

According to an aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a method in an apparatus of a communication system, comprising: requesting a sensor arrangement to transmit information on objects detected by the sensor arrangement on given one or more sensing areas; receiving, from the sensor arrangement, a message indicating a detected object, the message comprising the sensing area where the object was detected and an identifier for the object; associating the identifier and the detected object as a communication system object detected by the apparatus on the given sensing area or as a noncommunication system object if the object has not been detected by the apparatus.

According to an aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a method in a sensor arrangement, comprising: receiving a request from a transmission point of a communication system to transmit information on objects detected by the sensor arrangement on given one or more sensing areas; detecting an object on given one or more sensing areas and label the object with an identifier; transmitting to the transmission point a message indicating the detected object, the message comprising the sensing area where the object was detected and the identifier of the object.

According to an aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided method for an apparatus in a communication system, the method comprising: monitoring a message from a network element of the communication system, the message targeted for at least one communication system object in a sensing area of a cell served by the network element, the sensing area being a subset of the cell, transmitting, based on detection of the message, one or more predefined uplink signals via predefined uplink resources, predefined uplink signals indicating correct detection of the message.

According to an aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a computer program comprising instructions for causing an apparatus to perform at least the following: requesting a sensor arrangement to transmit information on objects detected by the sensor arrangement on given one or more sensing areas; receiving, from the sensor arrangement, a message indicating a detected object, the message comprising the sensing area where the object was detected and an identifier for the object; associating the identifier and the detected object as a communication system object detected by the apparatus on the given sensing area or as a non-communication system object if the object has not been detected by the apparatus.

According to an aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a computer program comprising instructions for causing a sensor arrangement to perform at least the following: receiving a request from a transmission point of a communication system to transmit information on objects detected by the sensor arrangement on given one or more sensing areas; detecting an object on given one or more sensing areas and label the object with an identifier; transmitting to the transmission point a message indicating the detected object, the message comprising the sensing area where the object was detected and the identifier of the object.

According to an aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a computer program comprising instructions for causing an apparatus to perform at least the following: monitoring a message from a network element of the communication system, the message targeted for at least one communication system object in a sensing area of a cell served by the network element, the sensing area being a subset of the cell, transmitting, based on detection of the message, one or more predefined uplink signals via predefined uplink resources, predefined uplink signals indicating correct detection of the message. An example embodiment provides an apparatus comprising means for requesting a sensor arrangement to transmit information on objects detected by the sensor arrangement on given one or more sensing areas; means for receiving, from the sensor arrangement, a message indicating a detected object, the message comprising the sensing area where the object was detected and an identifier for the object; means for associating the identifier and the detected object as a communication system object detected by the apparatus on the given sensing area or as a non-communication system object if the object has not been detected by the apparatus.

An example embodiment provides a sensor arrangement comprising means for receiving a request from a transmission point of a communication system to transmit information on objects detected by the sensor arrangement on given one or more sensing areas; means for detecting an object on given one or more sensing areas and label the object with an identifier; means for transmitting to the transmission point a message indicating the detected object, the message comprising the sensing area where the object was detected and the identifier of the object.

An example embodiment provides an apparatus comprising means for monitoring a message from a network element of the communication system, the message targeted for at least one communication system object in a sensing area of a cell served by the network element, the sensing area being a subset of the cell, means for transmitting, based on detection of the message, one or more predefined uplink signals via predefined uplink resources, predefined uplink signals indicating correct detection of the message

An example embodiment provides a computer program embodied on a distribution medium, comprising program instructions which, when loaded into an electronic apparatus, are configured to control the apparatus to execute the steps described above.

One or more examples of implementations are set forth in more detail in the accompanying drawings and the description below. Other features will be apparent from the description and drawings, and from the claims. The example embodiments and/or examples and features, if any, described in this specification that do not fall under the scope of the independent claims are to be interpreted as examples useful for understanding various example embodiments of the disclosure. List of drawings

Example embodiments of the present disclosure are described below, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which

Figures 1 and 2 illustrate examples of simplified system architecture of a communication system;

Figures 3A and 3B illustrate beam-based transmission and sensing areas;

Figures 4, 5A and 5B are flowcharts illustrating example embodiments;

Figure 6 is a signalling chart illustrating an example embodiment;

Figures 7A, 7B, 7C, 7D and 7E illustrate radiation patterns; and Figures 8, 9A and 9B illustrate examples of apparatuses.

Description of some example embodiments

The following example embodiments are only examples. Although the specification may refer to “an”, “one”, or “some” embodiment(s) in several locations, this does not necessarily mean that each such reference is to the same embodiment(s), or that the feature only applies to a single embodiment. Single features of different example embodiments may also be combined to provide other example embodiments. Furthermore, words “comprising” and “including” should be understood as not limiting the described example embodiments to consist of only those features that have been mentioned and such example embodiments may also contain features, structures, units, modules etc. that have not been specifically mentioned.

Some example embodiments of the present disclosure are applicable to a user terminal, a communication device, a base station, eNodeB, gNodeB, a distributed realisation of a base station, a network element of a communication system, a corresponding component, and/or to any communication system or any combination of different communication systems that support required functionality.

The protocols used, the specifications of communication systems, servers and user equipment, especially in wireless communication, develop rapidly. Such development may require extra changes to an embodiment. Therefore, all words and expressions should be interpreted broadly and they are intended to illustrate, not to restrict, example embodiments.

In the following, different exemplifying embodiments will be described using, as an example of an access architecture to which the example embodiments may be applied, a radio access architecture based on long term evolution advanced (LTE Advanced, LTE-A), new radio (NR, 5G), 5G-Advanced or 6G, without restricting the example embodiments to such an architecture, however. The example embodiments may also be applied to other kinds of communications networks having suitable means by adjusting parameters and procedures appropriately. Some examples of other options for suitable systems are the universal mobile telecommunications system (UMTS) radio access network (UTRAN), wireless local area network (WLAN or WiFi), worldwide interoperability for microwave access (WiMAX), Bluetooth®, personal communications services (PCS), ZigBee®, wideband code division multiple access (WCDMA), systems using ultra-wideband (UWB) technology, sensor networks, mobile ad-hoc networks (MANETs) and Internet Protocol multimedia subsystems (IMS) or any combination thereof.

Fig. 1 depicts examples of simplified system architectures only showing some elements and functional entities, all being logical units, whose implementation may differ from what is shown. The connections shown in Fig. 1 are logical connections; the actual physical connections may be different. It is apparent to a person skilled in the art that the system typically comprises also other functions and structures than those shown in Fig. 1.

The example embodiments are not, however, restricted to the system given as an example but a person skilled in the art may apply the solution to other communication systems provided with necessary properties.

The example of Fig. 1 shows a part of an exemplifying radio access network.

Fig. 1 shows devices 100 and 102. The devices 100 and 102 are configured to be in a wireless connection on one or more communication channels with a node 104. The node 104 is further connected to a core network 106. In one example, the node 104 may be an access node such as (eZg)NodeB serving devices in a cell. In one example, the node 104 may be a non-3GPP access node. The physical link from a device to a (eZg)NodeB is called uplink or reverse link and the physical link from the (eZg)NodeB to the device is called downlink or forward link. It should be appreciated that (eZg)NodeBs or their functionalities may be implemented by using any node, host, server or access point etc. entity suitable for such a usage.

A communications system typically comprises more than one (eZg)NodeB in which case the (eZg)NodeBs may also be configured to communicate with one another over links, wired or wireless, designed for the purpose. These links may be used for signalling purposes. The (eZg)NodeB is a computing device configured to control the radio resources of communication system it is coupled to. The NodeB may also be referred to as a base station, an access point or any other type of interfacing device including a relay station capable of operating in a wireless environment. The (eZg)NodeB includes or is coupled to transceivers. From the transceivers of the (eZg)NodeB, a connection is provided to an antenna unit that establishes bi-directional radio links to devices. The antenna unit may comprise a plurality of antennas or antenna elements. The (eZg)NodeB is further connected to the core network 106 (CN or next generation core NGC). Depending on the deployed technology, the (eZg)NodeB is connected to a serving and packet data network gateway (S-GW +P-GW) or user plane function (UPF), for routing and forwarding user data packets and for providing connectivity of devices to one ore more external packet data networks, and to a mobile management entity (MME) or access mobility management function (AMF), for controlling access and mobility of the devices.

Exemplary embodiments of a device are a subscriber unit, a user device, a user equipment (UE), a user terminal, a terminal device, a mobile station, a mobile device, etc

The device typically refers to a mobile or static device ( e.g. a portable or non-portable computing device) that includes wireless mobile communication devices operating with or without an universal subscriber identification module (USIM), including, but not limited to, the following types of devices: mobile phone, smartphone, personal digital assistant (PDA), handset, device using a wireless modem (alarm or measurement device, etc.), laptop andZor touch screen computer, tablet, game console, notebook, and multimedia device. It should be appreciated that a device may also be a nearly exclusive uplink only device, of which an example is a camera or video camera loading images or video clips to a network. A device may also be a device having capability to operate in Internet of Things (loT) network which is a scenario in which objects are provided with the ability to transfer data over a network without requiring human-to-human or human-to-computer interaction, e.g. to be used in smart power grids and connected vehicles. The device may also utilise cloud. In some applications, a device may comprise a user portable device with radio parts (such as a watch, earphones or eyeglasses) and the computation is carried out in the cloud.

The device illustrates one type of an apparatus to which resources on the air interface are allocated and assigned, and thus any feature described herein with a device may be implemented with a corresponding apparatus, such as a relay node. An example of such a relay node is a layer 3 relay (self- backhauling relay) towards the base station. The device (or in some example embodiments a layer 3 relay node) is configured to perform one or more of user equipment functionalities.

Various techniques described herein may also be applied to a cyberphysical system (CPS) (a system of collaborating computational elements controlling physical entities). CPS may enable the implementation and exploitation of massive amounts of interconnected information and communications technology, ICT, devices (sensors, actuators, processors microcontrollers, etc.) embedded in physical objects at different locations. Mobile cyber physical systems, in which the physical system in question has inherent mobility, are a subcategory of cyber-physical systems. Examples of mobile physical systems include mobile robotics and electronics transported by humans or animals.

Additionally, although the apparatuses have been depicted as single entities, different units, processors and/or memory units (not all shown in Fig. 1 ) may be implemented.

5G enables using multiple input - multiple output (MIMO) antennas, many more base stations or nodes than the LTE (a so-called small cell concept), including macro sites operating in co-operation with smaller stations and employing a variety of radio technologies depending on service needs, use cases and/or spectrum available. 5G mobile communications supports a wide range of use cases and related applications including video streaming, augmented reality, different ways of data sharing and various forms of machine type applications (such as (massive) machine-type communications (mMTC), including vehicular safety, different sensors and real-time control. 5G is expected to have multiple radio interfaces, e.g. below 6GHz or above 24 GHz, cmWave and mmWave, and also being integrable with existing legacy radio access technologies, such as the LTE. Integration with the LTE may be implemented, at least in the early phase, as a system, where macro coverage is provided by the LTE and 5G radio interface access comes from small cells by aggregation to the LTE. In other words, 5G is planned to support both inter-RAT operability (such as LTE-5G) and inter-RI operability (inter-radio interface operability, such as below 6GHz - cm Wave, 6 or above 24 GHz - cm Wave and mmWave). One of the concepts considered to be used in 5G networks is network slicing in which multiple independent and dedicated virtual subnetworks (network instances) may be created within the substantially same infrastructure to run services that have different requirements on latency, reliability, throughput and mobility.

The current architecture in LTE networks is fully distributed in the radio and fully centralized in the core network. The low latency applications and services in 5G require to bring the content close to the radio which leads to local break out and multi-access edge computing (MEC). 5G enables analytics and knowledge generation to occur at the source of the data. This approach requires leveraging resources that may not be continuously connected to a network such as laptops, smartphones, tablets and sensors. MEC provides a distributed computing environment for application and service hosting. It also has the ability to store and process content in close proximity to cellular subscribers for faster response time. Edge computing covers a wide range of technologies such as wireless sensor networks, mobile data acquisition, mobile signature analysis, cooperative distributed peer-to-peer ad hoc networking and processing also classifiable as local cloud/fog computing and grid/mesh computing, dew computing, mobile edge computing, cloudlet, distributed data storage and retrieval, autonomic self-healing networks, remote cloud services, augmented and virtual reality, data caching, Internet of Things (massive connectivity and/or latency critical), critical communications (autonomous vehicles, traffic safety, real-time analytics, time-critical control, healthcare applications).

The communication system is also able to communicate with other networks 112, such as a public switched telephone network, or a voice over internet protocol (VoIP) network, or the Internet, or a private network, or utilize services provided by them. The communication network may also be able to support the usage of cloud services, for example at least part of core network operations may be carried out as a cloud service (this is depicted in Fig. 1 by “cloud” 114). The communication system may also comprise a central control entity, or a like, providing facilities for networks of different operators to cooperate for example in spectrum sharing.

The technology of Edge cloud may be brought into a radio access network (RAN) by utilizing network function virtualization (NFV) and software defined networking (SDN). Using the technology of edge cloud may mean access node operations to be carried out, at least partly, in a server, host or node operationally coupled to a remote radio head or base station comprising radio parts. It is also possible that node operations will be distributed among a plurality of servers, nodes or hosts. Application of cloudRAN architecture enables RAN real time functions being carried out at or close to a remote antenna site (in a distributed unit, DU 108) and non-real time functions being carried out in a centralized manner (in a centralized unit, CU 110).

It should also be understood that the distribution of labour between core network operations and base station operations may differ from that of the LTE or even be non-existent. Some other technology advancements probably to be used are Big Data and all-IP, which may change the way networks are being constructed and managed. 5G (or new radio, NR) or 6G networks are being designed to support multiple hierarchies, where MEC servers can be placed between the core and the base station or nodeB (gNB). It should be appreciated that MEC can be applied in 4G networks as well.

5G or 6G may also utilize satellite 116 communication to enhance or complement the coverage of 5G or 6G service, for example by providing backhauling. Possible use cases are providing service continuity for machine- to-machine (M2M) or Internet of Things (loT) devices or for passengers on board of vehicles, Mobile Broadband, (MBB) or ensuring service availability for critical communications, and future railway/maritime/aeronautical communications. Satellite communication may utilise geostationary earth orbit (GEO) satellite systems, but also low earth orbit (LEO) satellite systems, in particular megaconstellations (systems in which hundreds of (nano)satellites are deployed). At least one satellite in the mega-constellation may cover several satellite-enabled network entities that create on-ground cells. The on-ground cells may be created through an on-ground relay node or by a gNB located on-ground or in a satellite.

It is obvious for a person skilled in the art that the depicted system is only an example of a part of a radio access system and in practice, the system may comprise a plurality of (e/g)NodeBs, the device may have an access to a plurality of radio cells and the system may comprise also other apparatuses, such as physical layer relay nodes or other network elements, etc. At least one of the (eZg)NodeBs or may be a Home(e/g)nodeB. Additionally, in a geographical area of a radio communication system a plurality of different kinds of radio cells as well as a plurality of radio cells may be provided. Radio cells may be macro cells (or umbrella cells) which are large cells, usually having a diameter of up to tens of kilometers, or smaller cells such as micro-, femto- or picocells. The (eZg)NodeBs of Fig. 1 may provide any kind of these cells. A cellular radio system may be implemented as a multilayer network including several kinds of cells. Typically, in multilayer networks, one access node provides one kind of a cell or cells, and thus a plurality of (eZg)NodeBs are needed to provide such a network structure.

For fulfilling the need for improving the deployment and performance of communication systems, the concept of “plug-and-play” (eZg)NodeBs has been introduced. Typically, a network which is able to use “plug-and-play” (eZg)Node Bs, includes, in addition to Home (eZg)NodeBs (H(eZg)nodeBs), a home node B gateway, or HNB-GW (not shown in Fig. 1 ). A HNB Gateway (HNB-GW), which is typically installed within an operator’s network may aggregate traffic from a large number of HNBs back to a core network.

Fig.2 illustrates an example of a communication system based on 5G network components. A terminal device, user terminal or user equipment 200 communicating via a 5G network 202 with a data network 112. The user terminal 200 is connected to a Radio Access Network RAN node, such as (eZg)NodeB 206 which provides the user terminal with a connection to the network 112 via one or more User Plane Functions, UPF 208. The user terminal 200 is further connected to Core Access and Mobility Management Function, AMF 210, which is a control plane core connector for (radio) access network and can be seen from this perspective as the 5G version of Mobility Management Entity, MME, in LTE. The 5G network further comprises Session Management Function, SMF 212, which is responsible for subscriber sessions, such as session establishment, modify and release, and a Policy Control Function, PCF 214 which is configured to govern network behavior by providing policy rules to control plane functions. The 5G network may further comprise a location management function, LMF 216, which may be configured to determine the location of the terminal device 200 based on information received from the terminal device andZor gNB 206.

Recently, research has been initiated on integrated sensing and communication in a 3GPP 5G system. Wireless sensors may be utilised to obtain information about remote objects and their characteristics without a physical contact. The obtained data related to the detected objects and their surroundings can be analysed.

Radar (radio detection and ranging) is a widely used wireless sensor technology where radio waves are used to determine the distance, angle, or movement speed objects. There are also various other sensing technologies not utilising radio frequencies (RF) which have been used in other areas, such as time-of-flight (ToF) cameras, accelerometers, gyroscopes and light detection and ranging (LiDAR).

If the data obtained by the sensors could be efficiently shared to a communication system, the data could be utilised to enhance the operation of the communication systems.

Integrated Sensing and Communication in a 3GPP 5G system means that the sensor operations are provided by the 5G NR communication system and infrastructure that is used for communication, and the sensor data could be derived from RF-based and/or non-RF based sensors. Sensing assisted communication may be considered as one exemplary scenario for using the sensors. As an example, one motivation to use (non-)RF -based sensing is to improve functionalities of the current (and later) communication systems or enhance certain functionalities of it (e.g. beam management, mobility management).

An example of suitable non-RF sensor technologies is LiDAR. LiDAR sensors utilise laser transmissions, in a range and energy that is not considered harmful to human body, to measure the distance to an object based on the time- of-flight. Such measurements may provide a detailed 3-dimensional (3D) point cloud as output which can be introduced as a digital twin of the physical environment.

The data obtained with LiDAR sensors may be utilised in base stations or transmission points of wireless networks, for example in determining user and blockage positions, instead of user-based sensing.

In following examples LiDAR is used as sensing technology. However, example embodiments of the present invention are not limited to LiDAR or any particular sensing technology. Any RF- or non-RF technology may be used as well as one skilled in the art is well aware. As an example, the sensor or sensor arrangement implemented can be any RF (e.g. 3GPP/IEEE or any other radio system)- or non-RF technology (e.g. LiDAR, camera). In modern wireless communication systems, such as in 5G for example, a base station, gNB or a transmission point may utilise beam-based operation in transmission. This means that the gNB transmits several beams to different directions on its coverage area.

Fig. 3A illustrates an example. Fig. 3A shows a gNB 300, which utilises beam-based transmission. The gNB is configured to transmit utilising L beams 302, 304, 306, 308, 310, 312. On each beam, the gNB transmits a Synchronization Signal and Physical Broadcast Channel Block, SSB. Each SSB beam covers a part of the intended coverage area of the cell served by the gNB 300. One or more transmission reception points, TRPs, may be used to cover a cell where one or more TRPs may transmit one or more DL RS (e.g. SSB) to cover a cell area. TRPs in some examples may be non-co-located and thus a cell may have multiple reference points/reference location to be associated with one or more sensors. In some examples the one or more sensors may be colocated or non-colocated with one or more TRPs covering a cell.

An SSB or an SSB beam can be identified based on the SSB transmitted on the beam. An SSB may carry and identifier that may be used to identify a specific SSB and the cell that transmits the SSB. Thus, when a moving terminal arrives to the coverage area served by the gNB and communicates with the gNB, the gNB may determine the location of the moving terminal based on the beam. Further, gNB may not obtain any further details of the moving terminal or object attached to the terminal. Any aspects described herein are not limited to any specific reference signal type which is used to identify a beam.

On the other hand, a sensor arrangement, such as a LiDAR system, may be able to detect one or more different objects (e.g. human, car, robot, device) that are under coverage area of a gNB but it has no understanding or knowledge on the radio domain operation handled by the gNB i.e. whether an object is actually operating in 3GPP domain or whether it is in connected (or in an inactive state) state (wherein the UE context is known at the gNB) or whether it is an idle UE which is in the coverage area but has no active communication. It’s also possible that the identified object is a subscriber for another network operator (and not for the network of interest). Furthermore, depending on the sensor/LiDAR capability or resolution it may not typically be able to detect a communication device as an “object”. And vice versa, the LiDAR has information of the objects, their (absolute or relative) location but may not necessarily be able to process any radio domain or wireless system specific operation i.e. it may not be aware any radio domain (e.g. radio system domain association of the detected object such as an radio network identifier or the like).

In addition, the sensor arrangement such as LiDAR can identify objects with much higher resolution in spatial angular domain than the 5GNR beam resolution. Thus, there may not be a direct correspondence between the object detected by the LiDAR and the “User equipment” in RF domain. Also, the detected object may be in an idle state with respect to the radio communication i.e. although an object is an object capable of radio network communication (such an UE or object carrying UE or object embedded with an UE capabilities such as car) it may not have active communication and the UE is not identified at the radio network domain.

Fig. 3B illustrates an example situation where a sensor arrangement 320 is installed to cover the coverage area of the gBN 300. In this example, the sensor arrangement 320 comprises one or more sensors 322, and a controller 324 comprising at least one processor; and at least one memory including computer program code, controlling the operation of the one or more sensors 322 and communicating with the gNB 300.

The sensor arrangement 320 can be fully co-located or non colocated with the gNB 300. There may be multiple sensor units 322 associated with the gNB 300, or one or more sensor units may cover the coverage areas of one or more gNBs. In an embodiment, a single sensor entity may be visible to the gNB 300 (from communication point of view) but may comprise of multiple sensor units. As an example, one or more sensors may be co-located with one or more TRPs (of a radio network I gNB)

In an example embodiment, the controller 324 may take care of all communications between the sensor arrangement and the gNB over a signalling interface 326. The gNB may be unaware of the actual structure of the sensor arrangement.

In an example embodiment, the sensor arrangement is separate from the gNB. In an embodiment, the sensor arrangement may be integrated with the gNB, or the controller 324 of the sensor arrangement may be integrated with the gNB. In one example, the sensor arrangement may be used by one or more gNBs. The one or more gNBs may form individually an association to the sensor arrangement. In another scenario the sensor arrangement may be used by one or more gNBs. The one or more gNBs may form individually an association to the sensor arrangement. As a further example, in another scenario, a sensor functionality may be implemented as a part of a gNB (or a gNB may act as a gateway for the sensor interface). The gNB (interested in using sensor assistance for operation) may communicate with a second gNB providing the sensor data. The second gNB may for example, implement the sensor functionality (embedded LiDAR Access Point) or it may have another means (capability) to perform sensing e.g. RF sensing using radio frequency waves. The gNB to gNB communication interface can be, for example, the Xn interface (network interface between NG-RAN (gNBs) nodes) or other network interface between two network nodes.

In the example of Fig.SB, the sensor arrangement has detected four objects in the coverage area of the gNB 300. In Fig.3B the gNB 300 may use L SSBs (or other DL RS) to cover the coverage area of the cell or part of the cell. Each SSB1 ...SSB#L (or downlink reference signal DL-RS1 ... DL_RS#L) may be beamformed and each SSB/DLRS covers part of a cell. In another example, a single SSB or DL RS may cover the cell coverage area. Object OBJ1 is in the area where SSB2 is transmitted, object OBJ2 is in the area where SSB3 is transmitted, object OBJ3 is in the area where SSB1 is transmitted, and object OBJ4 is in the area where SSBL is transmitted. The controller 324 of the sensor arrangement may be configured to transmit information on the objects to the gNB.

Fig. 4 is a flowchart illustrating an example embodiment. The flowchart illustrates an example of the operation of an apparatus. In an embodiment, the apparatus may be a gNB, a transmission point, or a part of such a device.

In step 400, the apparatus is configured to request a sensor arrangement to transmit information on objects detected by the sensor arrangement on given one or more sensing areas.

In step 402, the apparatus is configured to receive, from the sensor arrangement, a message indicating a detected object, the message comprising the sensing area where the object was detected and an identifier for the object.

In step 404, the apparatus is configured to associate the identifier and the detected object as a communication system object detected by the apparatus on the given sensing area or as a non-communication system object if the object has not been detected by the apparatus.

In an embodiment, the apparatus is configured to indicate to the sensor arrangement the one or more sensing areas utilising a global coordinate system or a local coordinate system relative to the global coordinate system of the apparatus. The one or more sensing areas may correspond to the coverage areas of one or more downlink reference signals transmitted by the apparatus. Referring to the example of Figs. 3A, 3B, the apparatus may indicate to the sensor arrangement the one or more sensing areas 302, 304, 306, 308, 310 and 312 which correspond to the beams transmitted by the gNB, each beam transmitting an SSB (or other DL RS).

In an example embodiment, the apparatus is configured to detect a communication system object on a given sensing area by communicating with the object, wherein the detection is performed either before or after receiving a message from the sensor arrangement, the message comprising an identifier for the object.

In an example embodiment, the apparatus is configured to detect a communication system object on a given sensing area by communicating with the object and request the sensor arrangement to provide information on the object.

In an example embodiment, the apparatus is configured to transmit a communication request to the detected object and determine that the object is a non-communication system object if a response to the request is not received.

Fig. 5A is a flowchart illustrating an embodiment. The flowchart illustrates an example of the operation of a sensor arrangement. In an embodiment, the sensor arrangement comprises one or more sensors, and at least one processor; and at least one memory including computer program code.

In step 500, the sensor arrangement is configured to receive a request from a transmission point of a communication system to transmit information on objects detected by the sensor arrangement on given one or more sensing areas.

In step 502, the sensor arrangement is configured to detect an object on given one or more sensing areas and label the object with an identifier.

In step 504, the sensor arrangement is configured to transmit to the transmission point a message indicating the detected object, the message comprising the sensing area where the object was detected and the identifier of the object.

Fig. 5B is a flowchart illustrating an embodiment. The flowchart illustrates an example of the operation of an apparatus. In an embodiment, the apparatus may be a terminal device, user equipment, or a part of such a device. In step 510, the apparatus is configured to monitor a message from a network element of the communication system, the message targeted for at least one communication system object in a sensing area of a cell served by the network element, the sensing area being a subset of the cell).

In step 512, the apparatus is configured to transmit, based on detection of the message, one or more predefined uplink signals via predefined uplink resources, predefined uplink signals indicating correct detection of the message.

In an example embodiment, the detected message is a request to transmit at least one of a scheduling request, a sounding reference signal, a transmission on physical random access channel.

Fig. 6 is a signalling chart illustrating an embodiment. The chart illustrates an example of operations between a gNB 300 and the sensor arrangement 320 and a terminal device or UE 600. In an embodiment, instead of a gNB, the apparatus may be a network element, a transmission point, or a part of such a device. For simplicity, the term gNB is used henceforth.

The gNB 300 and the sensor arrangement 320 may communicate utilising a signalling interface 326 of an apparatus. The information exchanged between gNB and the sensor arrangement may relate to one or more objects identified by the sensor arrangement according request transmitted by the gNB. The request may comprise parameters for the sensor arrangement to detect objects. Based on parameters and detection an association of an object may be formed with a referrable ID between gNB and the sensor arrangement.

The gNB may determine whether the detected object is a radio network object (i.e. an object capable of radio network communication, such as a terminal device or user equipment, “UE”) and form an association with identified object and radio network object (UE with SIM card or an UE that can operate in a radio network i.e. UE that can be referred with radio network identifier in a radio network).

The order of the following steps can be varied in different combinations.

The gNB the apparatus is configured to transmit a deployment configuration request message 602 to the sensor arrangement. With the message, the gNB may transmit to the sensor arrangement geographic location boundaries where the sensor arrangement is requested to provide sensing related information (such as objects, e.g. humans/obstacles, cars, machines etc..).

In an example embodiment, the area covered by the geographic location boundaries may approximate the radiation pattern the gNB uses for transmissions. Figs. 7A, 7B and 7C illustrate examples. The circle 700 illustrates an antenna or antenna group. Fig. 7A illustrates theoretical antenna radiation pattern with a main lobe 702, side lobes 704A, 704B and a back lobe 706. Fig. 7B illustrates a three-point approximation of the radiation pattern, where the pattern is approximated with three points X0, X1 and X2. Fig. 7C illustrates a six-point approximation of the radiation pattern, where the pattern is approximated with six points X0, X1 , X2, X3, X4 and X5. Approximation pattern may be done for both azimuth and elevation plane. In one example, the 2- dimensional elevation and azimuth radio pattern approximation patterns can be linked/combined to generate 3-dimensional pattern. More approximation points may be used for more refined pattern. The methods described herein are not restricted to any specific pattern type or number of approximation points or a specific pattern. As an example, the radiation pattern can be approximated using other types of shapes such as circles, spheres, cylinders, cones etc., in any combination. These patterns may be provided to sensor.

In an example embodiment, these boundaries may be further divided to sub-areas. Each sub-area may be identified by an identifier ( sub-area1 , 2, 3 etc., for example). Sub-areas may also have overlapping coverage.

In an example embodiment, these sub-areas may correspond to the estimated downlink reference signal (such as SSB, CSI-RS) coverage area determined at the gNB/network. The configured sub-areas may be associated with a specific DL RS (e.g. SSB or CSI-RS or both SSB and CSI-RS or other downlink reference signal). Referring to Fig. 3B, the gNB might indicate areas covered by beams 302, 304, 306, 308, 310, 312 as sensing areas or sub-areas. In each of these areas, a different SSB is utilised.

In any of the example embodiments herein, the sensing area or subarea may refer to a 2D (2-dimensional) area. In another example it may refer to a combination of two 2D areas forming a 3D volume (covering a specific area in x,y,z axis).

In an example embodiment, the sub-area/area may be defined as angular coverage area in azimuth and elevation, when the angular coverage is observed from the reference point. Figs. 7D and 7D illustrate this example. In the example, sub-area1 might be defines as azimuth angle coverage of X1 degrees and elevation coverage of Y1 degrees.

When subareas are utilised, the sensor arrangement may be requested to provide notification when an object is crossing/entering/leaving a sub-area boundary. Also, any message related to an object tracked by the sensor arrangement may include area or sub area information.

In an example embodiment, the gNB may be configured to transmit information on the sensing area/sub-area boundaries utilising global coordinate system, for example, or in local coordinate system, relative to the gNB’s global coordinate system. The gNB may request the sensor arrangement provide information, such as identified objects and their location in global or in local coordinate system. In an embodiment, the gNB may provide in the message the ID for each sensing area/sub-area.

In an example embodiment, as the sub-areas may overlap, an object may be associated with one or more sub-areas at a time. In a further example, the sensor arrangement may detect an object in one or more sensing areas in case the sensing areas overlap. In case the detected object is associated with multiple sensing areas, the sensor may associate object with one or more sensing areas and provide this information to the requesting entity (e.g. gNB).

It may be assumed that the downlink transmission radiation pattern is same as the receiving antenna pattern for receiving uplink signals transmitted by a UE (thus uplink transmissions may be associated to the specific antenna pattern when a signal is received by the network).

The sensor arrangement may transmit to the gNB a response, a deployment configuration response message 604, to the deployment configuration request message 602 sent by the gNB. The sensor arrangement may confirm the requested area/sub-area configuration requested by gNB.

The gNB receives the response for the request. After the response, both the gNB 300 and the sensor arrangement 320 can refer to specific sensing area by using the sensing area ID.

The gNB 300 may be configured to transmit to the sensor arrangement 320 an object tracking configuration request message 606. In the message, the gNB may request the sensor arrangement to track and notify of objects that are within the configured or boundaries (area or sub-area accuracy). The request message may also include information to suspend tracking/notifying of object(s).

In an example embodiment, the message may define the sensing areas or sub areas where the tracking is to be performed. For example, the message may comprise the IDs of the relevant sensing areas or sub areas.

In an example embodiment, the gNB may request the sensor arrangement to notify specific type of objects. Examples of types may include a human, a car, device, machine or any type of object that may be considered to be able to communicate with radio network or considered to be a candidate for being able to communicate with radio network.

In an embodiment, the 606 message may include maximum number of objects (in total, per sub area or per type) that the gNB is interested to receive information.

In an example embodiment, the gNB 300 may request objects per sub-area (or area) on need basis. For example, the gNB may request object(s) in a sub-area_1 that it considers to be covered by SSB1. In some example embodiments, when associating DL RS (e.g SSB/CSI-RS) to specific sub-areas, a sub-area may be mapped to one or more DL RS and/or one DLRS may be mapped to one or more sub-areas.

In an example embodiment, the gNB may request, per object or group of objects (e.g. in an area/sub-area, set of sub-areas, set of areas or per type or in combination of area and type) one or more of following:

- the line-of-sight/non-line-of-sight, LOS/NLOS, condition between the object and the gNB, as estimated by the sensor (arrangement)

- the distance of the object from the gNB (for example from a specific antenna panel or group or TRP or an antenna panel of a TRP or other reference point(s))

- velocity or trajectory of the object

- geographical coordinates (2D x,y or 3D x,y,z) of the object

- the size of the object, for example the maximum dimensions observed by the sensor arrangement

- trajectory (e.g. trajectory in last 1 second or N seconds)

- distance (or a time of flight for a radio signal) of the object from a reference location (such as gNB antenna (panel) location). The distance may be requested to be provided with quantized steps. These steps may have resolution of a timing advance step values of a 5GNR/LTE system (e.g. N nanoseconds per step.). The larger the (step) value index, the greater the distance from the reference point.

In an example embodiment, when the sensor arrangement utilised LiDAR technology and more than one LiDAR angular bins, the gNB may request the sensor arrangement to provide LiDAR angularbin index values to gNB for more accurate positioning information. A LiDAR angular bin may be defined in 2D or 3D. In case the angular bin is defined in 2D then this means an angular sector (angle value) in the azimuth (or in the elevation) plane. If it is 3D it encompasses the volume in both azimuth and elevation. Each LiDAR angular bin may have an index value that refers to a particular sector in 2D plane or in 3D space. A sector, or a LiDAR angular bin that can be referred with an index, may have property of angular value in azimuth plane (in 2D) or in both azimuth and elevation plane (in 3D).

For example, the proposed angular coverage sub-area1 of Figs, 7D and 7E (X1 degrees, Y1 degrees) may be covered in RF domain using a single beam (e.g. for transmitting SSB). In LiDAR, the coverage area may be achieved by using multiple LiDAR angular bins. Thus, one LiDAR angular bin coverage may be a fraction of a coverage of RF beam. LiDAR may provide index values of each LiDAR angular bin that it determines to be used for the coverage of the sub-area. In an embodiment, the indexing may start from the lowest angular value of azimuth and elevation (or based on a known/configured reference point) and index may run first all the azimuth angles (in a predefined or indicated steps such as 1 degree or even 0,1 degree) with the smallest value of the elevation angle. After all the azimuth angles are indexed for the specific elevation angle, the elevation angle is increased, and indexing continued. There are also other ways to perform the indexing, as one skilled in the art is aware.

Let us assume that the sensor arrangement detects 608 a new object. The sensor arrangement 320 issues 610 an identifier, in this example OBJ#1 , to the object and associates it with ID of the sensing area (or in some cases multiple sensing areas, e.g. if areas overlap at least partly) the object was detected (in this example Area ID#1 ), coordinates (x,y,z) and any other information requested by the gNB.

The sensor arrangement 320 may be configured to transmit message 612, an object tracking configuration response message, to the gNB. The message may comprise the information defined in step 610. A message may comprise data on more than one detected object if multiple detections have occurred simultaneously or timewise near each other.

The gNB receives the response message regarding the object with identification OBJ#1 with associated information. The gNB may be configured to determine 614 mapping of the identified OBJ#1 to the downlink reference signal, such as the SSB, resource through the sensing area identifier (e.g. SSB#1 -> Area ID#1 ) and further determine the mapping of the OBJ#1 as a candidate object for specific radio network temporary identifier (RNTI). For example, if the object is UE in connected mode the network may have rough understanding to which UE(s) (identified by RNTI at the gNB) the OBJ#1 corresponds. In an embodiment, the gNB may determine the mapping already at this phase.

In an example embodiment, the gNB may determine to request 616 the UE to transmit an uplink transmission to perform the mapping of UE identifier such as RNTI and the OBJ#1. Some examples of uplink transmission are scheduling request SR, sounding reference signal SRS, transmission on physical random access channel PRACH, for example. The uplink signal may be received by the gNB with an receive antenna pattern that was used to transmit the downlink reference signal.

In one example embodiment, the identifier used to associate a detected object by the sensor may also be another identifier (than RNTI) e.g. a specific identifier linked to the RNTI or an identifier such as TMSI (Temporary Mobile Subscription Identifier) or the like.

If there is no response to the transmission request from the object, OBJ#1 , the gNB does not perform the association with the object. Hence, gNB may consider OBJ#1 as a non-mapped RAN object. In another example, it may determine that an object not capable of communicating with the gNB.

In an example embodiment, the gNB may detect a communication system object on a given sensing area by communicating with the object, wherein the detection is performed either before or after receiving a message from the sensor arrangement, the message comprising an identifier for the object.

In an example embodiment, the gNB may detect a communication system object on a given sensing area by communicating 618 with the object. For example, the gNB may detect new terminal device after random access procedure used for the initial connection establishment to the communication system. The terminal device may be detected based on some other uplink transmission, such as scheduling request SR, sounding reference signal SRS, transmission on physical random access channel PRACH, for example. The terminal device, its identifier and the rough location (e.g. based on the reception beam at gNB) in RF domain of the terminal device is known at the gNB after the uplink communication of the terminal device the terminal device has selected specific downlink reference signal as a downlink reference for the uplink transmission. The gNB may request the sensor to provide information on any object (OBJ#1 ) that in the specific Area ID which is mapped to the DL RS that was used by the terminal device for carrying out random access procedure. The gNB may associate 620 the UE radio network identifier (e.g. RNTI) with OBJ#1 .

Based on the detection, the gNB may request 622 the sensor arrangement to provide information on the object in the sensing area where the terminal device was detected. The gNB receives the response 624 from the sensor arrangement and may associate the terminal device identification (such as RNTI) with the identification provided by the sensor arrangement.

Fig. 8 illustrates an example embodiment. The figure illustrates a simplified example of an apparatus applying example embodiments of the disclosure. In some example embodiments, the apparatus may be a controller 324 of a sensor arrangement 320.

It should be understood that the apparatus is depicted herein as an example illustrating some example embodiments. It is apparent to a person skilled in the art that the network element apparatus may also comprise other functions and/or structures and not all described functions and structures are required. Although the apparatus has been depicted as one entity, different modules and memory may be implemented in one or more physical or logical entities.

The apparatus 300 of the example includes a control circuitry 800 configured to control at least part of the operation of the apparatus.

The apparatus may comprise a memory 802 for storing data. Furthermore, the memory may store software 804 executable by the control circuitry 800. The memory may be integrated in the control circuitry.

The apparatus may comprise one or more interface circuitries 806. The interface circuitries are operationally connected to the control circuitry 800. The one or more interface circuitries 806 may connect the apparatus to one or more sensors 322 in a wired or wireless manner. The one or more interface circuitries 806 may further connect the apparatus to a gNB 300.

In an embodiment, the software 804 may comprise a computer program comprising program code means configured to cause the control circuitry 800 of the apparatus to realise at least some of the example embodiments described above. Fig. 9A illustrates an example embodiment. The figure illustrates a simplified example of an apparatus applying example embodiments of the disclosure. In some example embodiments, the apparatus may be a gNB 300, or a part of a gNB of a communication system.

It should be understood that the apparatus is depicted herein as an example illustrating some example embodiments. It is apparent to a person skilled in the art that the network element may also comprise other functions and/or structures and not all described functions and structures are required. Although the apparatus has been depicted as one entity, different modules and memory may be implemented in one or more physical or logical entities.

The apparatus 300 of the example includes a control circuitry 900 configured to control at least part of the operation of the apparatus.

The apparatus may comprise a memory 902 for storing data. Furthermore, the memory may store software 904 executable by the control circuitry 900. The memory may be integrated in the control circuitry.

The apparatus may comprise one or more interface circuitries 906, 908. The interface circuitries are operationally connected to the control circuitry 900. An interface circuitry 906 may be a set of transceivers configured to communicate with terminal devices. The interface circuitry may be connected to an antenna arrangement (not shown). The apparatus may also comprise a connection to a transmitter instead of a transceiver.

An interface circuitry 908 may connect the apparatus to other network elements in a wired or wireless manner, for example utilising an E2, X2 or Xn interface and to sensor arrangement 320.

In an embodiment, the software 904 may comprise a computer program comprising program code means configured to cause the control circuitry 900 of the network element to realise at least some of the example embodiments described above.

In an example embodiment, as shown in Fig. 9B, at least some of the functionalities of the apparatus of Fig. 9B may be shared between two physically separate devices, forming one operational entity. Therefore, the apparatus may be seen to depict the operational entity comprising one or more physically separate devices for executing at least some of the described processes. Thus, the apparatus of Fig. 9B, utilizing such shared architecture, may comprise a remote control unit RCU 920, such as a host computer or a server computer, operatively coupled (e.g. via a wireless or wired network) to a remote distributed unit RDU 922 located in the base station. In an embodiment, at least some of the described processes may be performed by the RCU 920. In an embodiment, the execution of at least some of the described processes may be shared among the RDU 922 and the RCU 920.

In an example embodiment, the RCU 920 may generate a virtual network through which the RCU 920 communicates with the RDU 922. In general, virtual networking may involve a process of combining hardware and software network resources and network functionality into a single, softwarebased administrative entity, a virtual network. Network virtualization may involve platform virtualization, often combined with resource virtualization. Network virtualization may be categorized as external virtual networking which combines many networks, or parts of networks, into the server computer or the host computer (e.g. to the RCU). External network virtualization is targeted to optimized network sharing. Another category is internal virtual networking which provides network-like functionality to the software containers on a single system. Virtual networking may also be used for testing the terminal device.

In an example embodiment, the virtual network may provide flexible distribution of operations between the RDU and the RCU. In practice, any digital signal processing task may be performed in either the RDU or the RCU and the boundary where the responsibility is shifted between the RDU and the RCU may be selected according to implementation.

The steps and related functions described in the above and attached figures are in no absolute chronological order, and some of the steps may be performed simultaneously or in an order differing from the given one. Other functions can also be executed between the steps or within the steps. Some of the steps can also be left out or replaced with a corresponding step.

The apparatuses or controllers able to perform the above-described steps may be implemented as an electronic digital computer, processing system or a circuitry which may comprise a working memory (random access memory, RAM), a central processing unit (CPU), and a system clock. The CPU may comprise a set of registers, an arithmetic logic unit, and a controller. The processing system, controller or the circuitry is controlled by a sequence of program instructions transferred to the CPU from the RAM. The controller may contain a number of microinstructions for basic operations. The implementation of microinstructions may vary depending on the CPU design. The program instructions may be coded by a programming language, which may be a high- level programming language, such as C, Java, etc., or a low-level programming language, such as a machine language, or an assembler. The electronic digital computer may also have an operating system, which may provide system services to a computer program written with the program instructions.

As used in this application, the term ‘circuitry’ refers to all of the following: (a) hardware-only circuit implementations, such as implementations in only analog and/or digital circuitry, and (b) combinations of circuits and software (and/or firmware), such as (as applicable): (i) a combination of processor(s) or (ii) portions of processor(s)/software including digital signal processor(s), software, and memory(ies) that work together to cause an apparatus to perform various functions, and (c) circuits, such as a microprocessor(s) or a portion of a microprocessor(s), that require software or firmware for operation, even if the software or firmware is not physically present.

This definition of ‘circuitry’ applies to all uses of this term in this application. As a further example, as used in this application, the term ‘circuitry’ would also cover an implementation of merely a processor (or multiple processors) or a portion of a processor and its (or their) accompanying software and/or firmware. The term ‘circuitry’ would also cover, for example and if applicable to the particular element, a baseband integrated circuit or applications processor integrated circuit for a mobile phone or a similar integrated circuit in a server, a cellular network device, or another network device.

The computer program may be in source code form, object code form, or in some intermediate form, and it may be stored in some sort of carrier, which may be any entity or device capable of carrying the program. Such carriers include a record medium, computer memory, read-only memory, and a software distribution package, for example. Depending on the processing power needed, the computer program may be executed in a single electronic digital computer or it may be distributed amongst several computers.

The apparatus may also be implemented as one or more integrated circuits, such as application-specific integrated circuits ASIC. Other hardware example embodiments are also feasible, such as a circuit built of separate logic components. A hybrid of these different implementations is also feasible. When selecting the method of implementation, a person skilled in the art will consider the requirements set for the size and power consumption of the apparatus, the necessary processing capacity, production costs, and production volumes, for example. It will be obvious to a person skilled in the art that, as the technology advances, the inventive concept can be implemented in various ways. The disclosure and its example embodiments are not limited to the examples described above but may vary within the scope of the claims.