US-12621781-B2 - Sensing in cellular communication networks

US12621781B2US 12621781 B2US12621781 B2US 12621781B2US-12621781-B2

Abstract

According to an example aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a method comprising, determining, by an apparatus, first information for reception of a synchronization signal block from a cell of a source wireless network node, determining, by the apparatus, second information for reception of at least one part of a system information block from the cell of the source wireless network node, wherein the second information is unchanged compared to at least one part of a previous system information block, receiving, by the apparatus, the synchronization signal block and the system information block and performing, by the apparatus, processing of the first information of the synchronization signal block and the second information of the at least one part of the system information block.

Inventors

Jukka Olavi TALVITIE
Esa Tapani Tiirola
Oskari TERVO
Kari Juhani Hooli
Sami-Jukka Hakola
Mikko Valkama

Assignees

NOKIA TECHNOLOGIES OY

Dates

Publication Date: 20260505
Application Date: 20231102
Priority Date: 20221209

Claims (17)

1 . An apparatus comprising: at least one processor; and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to: determine first information for reception of a synchronization signal block from a cell of a source wireless network node; determine second information for reception of at least one part of a system information block from the cell of the source wireless network node, wherein the second information is unchanged compared to at least one part of a previous system information block; determine third information for reception of a physical downlink control channel from the cell of the source wireless network node, wherein the third information is unchanged compared to a previous physical downlink channel; receive the synchronization signal block, the system information block, and the physical downlink channel; perform processing of the first information of the synchronization signal block and the second information of the at least one part of the system information block; and perform channel sensing based on the first information of the synchronization signal block and the second information of the at least one part of the system information block and the third information of the physical downlink control channel.
2 . The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the stored instructions further cause, when executed by the at least one processor, the apparatus at least to: perform the processing of the first information and the second information by performing at least one of the following: channel sensing, skipping reception of the system information block, skipping channel decoding of the system information block, or considering the system information block as a known signal.
3 . The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the system information block is a System Information Block 1.
4 . The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the system information block has a predetermined periodicity.
5 . The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the at least one part of the system information block comprises unchanged information compared to the previous system information block.
6 . The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the stored instructions further cause, when executed by the at least one processor, the apparatus at least to: receive an indication from the wireless network node, the indication indicating that the second information of the at least one part of the system information block is changed.
7 . The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the system information block comprises the at least one part comprising the second information unchanged compared to a previous system information block and at least one other part comprising variable information compared to the previous system information block.
8 . The apparatus according to claim 7 , wherein the part and the at least one other part of the system information block are multiplexed in at least one of time or frequency.
9 . The apparatus according claim 1 , wherein the at least one part of the system information block comprises unchanged information compared to the previous system information block, wherein the unchanged information is valid for a time period.
10 . The apparatus according to claim 9 , wherein the stored instructions further cause, when executed by the at least one processor, the apparatus at least to: detect and decode another system information block after an end of the time period; and determine, based on the decoded another system information block, information for reception of at least one part of a subsequent system information block from the cell of the source wireless network node.
11 . A method, comprising: determining, by an apparatus, first information for reception of a synchronization signal block from a cell of a source wireless network node; determining, by the apparatus, second information for reception of at least one part of a system information block from the cell of the source wireless network node, wherein the second information is unchanged compared to at least one part of a previous system information block; determining, by the apparatus, third information for reception of a physical downlink control channel from the cell of the source wireless network node, wherein the third information is unchanged compared to a previous physical downlink channel; receiving, by the apparatus, the synchronization signal block, the system information block, and the physical downlink control channel; performing, by the apparatus, processing of the first information of the synchronization signal block and the second information of the at least one part of the system information block; and performing, by the apparatus, channel sensing based on the first information of the synchronization signal block and the second information of the at least one part of the system information block and the third information of the physical downlink control channel.
12 . The method according to claim 11 , further comprising: performing the processing of the first information and the second information by performing at least one of the following: channel sensing, skipping reception of the system information block, skipping channel decoding of the system information block, or considering the system information block as a known signal.
13 . The method according to claim 11 , wherein the at least one part of the system information block comprises unchanged information compared to the previous system information block.
14 . The method according to claim 11 , further comprising: receiving an indication from the wireless network node, the indication indicating that the second information of the at least one part of the system information block is changed.
15 . The method according to claim 11 , wherein the system information block comprises the at least one part comprising the second information unchanged compared to a previous system information block and at least one other part comprising variable information compared to the previous system information block.
16 . The method according claim 11 , wherein the at least one part of the system information block comprises unchanged information compared to the previous system information block, wherein the unchanged information is valid for a time period.
17 . The method according to claim 16 , further comprising: detecting and decode another system information block after an end of the time period; and determining, based on the decoded another system information block, information for reception of at least one part of a subsequent system information block from the cell of the source wireless network node.

Description

RELATED APPLICATION This application claims priority from, and the benefit of, Finnish Application No. 20226093, filed on Dec. 9, 2022, the contents of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. FIELD Various example embodiments relate in general to cellular communication networks and more specifically, to sensing in such networks. BACKGROUND Radio-based channel sensing may be considered as an emerging technology at least for cellular communication networks. Possible use cases of radio-based sensing comprise, for example, intruder detection (home, railway, highway), rainfall monitoring, sensing assisted transportation (maneuvering and navigation, cross-roads clearance), management of unmanned aerial vehicles (trajectory tracing, collision avoidance), sleep monitoring, positioning and health monitoring. Sensing may be generally used to sense environment, comprising also static or other objects which might not be connected to a network, like passive objects. Radio-based sensing may be exploited in various cellular communication networks, such as, in cellular communication networks operating according to 5G radio access technology and/or future 6G radio access technology. 5G radio access technology may also be referred to as New Radio, NR, access technology. 3rd Generation Partnership Project, 3GPP, develops standards for 5G/NR. In general, there is a need to provide enhanced methods, apparatuses and computer programs for enhancing radio-based sensing in cellular communication networks. Such enhancements may also be beneficial in other wireless communication networks, such as in 6G networks in the future. SUMMARY According to some aspects, there is provided the subject-matter of the independent claims. Some example embodiments are defined in the dependent claims. The scope of protection sought for various example embodiments of the disclosure is set out by the independent claims. The example embodiments 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. According to a first aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided an apparatus comprising at least one processor and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to determine first information for reception of a synchronization signal block from a cell of a source wireless network node, determine second information for reception of at least one part of a system information block from the cell of the source wireless network node, wherein the second information is unchanged compared to at least one part of a previous system information block, receive the synchronization signal block and the system information block and perform processing of the first information of the synchronization signal block and the second information of the at least one part of the system information block. The apparatus of the first aspect may be a user equipment or observing wireless network node, or a control device configured to control the functioning thereof, possibly when installed therein. Example embodiments of the first aspect may comprise at least one feature from the following bulleted list or any combination of the following features: wherein the stored instructions further cause, when executed by the at least one processor, the apparatus at least to perform the processing of the first information and the second information by performing at least one of the following: channel sensing, skipping reception of the system information block, skipping channel decoding of the system information block, or considering the system information block as a known signal;wherein the processing of the first information and the second information is sensing based on the first information and the second information.wherein the system information block is a System Information Block 1, SIB1;wherein the system information block has a predetermined periodicity;wherein the at least one part of the system information block comprises unchanged information compared to the previous system information block;wherein the stored instructions further cause, when executed by the at least one processor, the apparatus at least to receive an indication from the wireless network node, the indication indicating that the second information of the at least one part of the system information block is changed;wherein the system information block comprises the at least one part comprising the second information unchanged compared to a previous system information block and at least one other part comprising variable information compared to the previous system information block;wherein the part and the at least one other part of the system information block are multiplexed in at least one of time or frequency;wherein the at least one part of the system informat