IP Library Granted Patent US 12666298
Granted Patent B2
US 12666298 · App. 18/706,175 · Granted Jun 23, 2026

Radio frequency sensing with channel impulse response

Inventors: Pooria Pakrooh (San Marcos, CA); Stephen Jay Shellhammer (Ramona, CA); Bin Tian (San Diego, CA); Ishaque Ashar Kadampot (Augusta, GA); Koorosh Akhavan (San Diego, CA); Le Nguyen Luong (San Diego, CA); Alexandros Manolakos (Athens, GR); Varun Amar Reddy (La Jolla, CA)
Assignee: QUALCOMM Incorporated
H04W24/10H04B1/7163H04B7/04H04L25/0212H04L25/0224
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 12666298
App. No.
18/706,175
Granted
Jun 23, 2026
Kind
B2
Abstract

Various aspects of the present disclosure generally relate to wireless communication. In some aspects, an initiating device may transmit a signal that includes multiple packets. The initiating device may receive, from a responding device, a channel impulse response (CIR) report for each packet of the multiple packets. The initiating device may align, using one or more taps in the CIR report for each packet, the CIR reports across the multiple packets to identify a target object, a location of the target object, or a movement of the target object. The initiating device may perform an action based at least in part on the target object, the location of the target object, or the movement of the target object. Numerous other aspects are described.

Claims (60)

1 . A responding device for wireless communication, comprising:

a memory; and

one or more processors, coupled to the memory, configured to:

receive a signal from an initiating device;

estimate, from the signal, a channel impulse response (CIR) that represents signal reflections from one or more objects as multiple taps;

select one or more taps from the multiple taps based at least in part on a configuration for providing CIR reports in accordance with a time window of specified time duration determined in relation to a reference point; and

transmit, to the initiating device, a CIR report that indicates the one or more taps, wherein the one or more processors, to select the one or more taps, are configured to select taps between an earliest tap that satisfies a tap threshold and a latest tap that satisfies the tap threshold.

2 . The responding device of claim 1 , wherein the one or more processors, to select the one or more taps, are configured to select a strongest tap.

3 . The responding device of claim 2 , wherein the one or more processors, to select the one or more taps, are configured to select taps that satisfy a tap threshold.

4 . The responding device of claim 1 , wherein the one or more processors, to select the one or more taps, are configured to select a specified quantity of strongest taps.

5 . The responding device of claim 1 , wherein the one or more processors, to select the one or more taps, are configured to select taps within the time window having the specified time duration.

6 . The responding device of claim 5 , wherein the time window is formed based at least in part on the reference point.

7 . The responding device of claim 6 , wherein the reference point includes an earliest tap, a strongest tap, a packet detection time, or a center of mass for the multiple taps.

8 . The responding device of claim 6 , wherein the configuration specifies selection of taps in a first specified time duration before the reference point and taps in a second specified time duration after the reference point.

9 . The responding device of claim 1 , wherein the one or more processors, to select the one or more taps, are configured to select the one or more taps based at least in part on a sampling rate for the CIR report.

10 . The responding device of claim 1 , wherein the CIR report indicates, for each tap in the CIR report, an amplitude and a phase.

11 . The responding device of claim 1 , wherein the CIR indicates, for each tap in the CIR report, an in-phase and quadrature value.

12 . The responding device of claim 1 , wherein the CIR report indicates, for each tap in the CIR report, a difference between an in-phase and quadrature value and a previous in-phase and quadrature value.

13 . The responding device of claim 1 , wherein the CIR report includes a separate CIR measurement report for each antenna of multiple antennas.

14 . The responding device of claim 13 , wherein the CIR measurement report for each antenna is based at least in part on taps in a window defined around a reference point for the antenna.

15 . The responding device of claim 1 , wherein the CIR report is based at least in part on separate CIR measurement reports for each of multiple antennas with different reference points for a time window in which to select taps.

16 . The responding device of claim 15 , wherein the CIR report includes a combined CIR measurement report that is based at least in part on taps in a window defined for all of the multiple antennas and a reference point of a specified antenna of the multiple antennas or a reference point that is associated with the combined CIR measurement report.

17 . The responding device of claim 1 , wherein the CIR report includes a CIR measurement report for a reference antenna and complex differences for other antennas relative to the reference antenna.

18 . A responding device for wireless communication, comprising:

a memory; and

one or more processors, coupled to the memory, configured to:

receive a signal from an initiating device;

estimate, from the signal, a channel impulse response (CIR) that represents signal reflections from one or more objects as multiple taps;

select one or more taps from the multiple taps based at least in part on a configuration for providing CIR reports in accordance with a time window of specified time duration determined in relation to a reference point; and

transmit, to the initiating device, a CIR report that indicates the one or more taps, wherein the one or more processors, to select the one or more taps, are configured to select taps within the time window having the specified time duration, wherein the time window is formed based at least in part on the reference point, and wherein the configuration specifies selection of a first specified quantity of taps before the reference point and a second specified quantity of taps after the reference point.

19 . An initiating device for wireless communication, comprising:

a memory; and

one or more processors, coupled to the memory, configured to:

transmit a signal that includes multiple packets;

receive, from a responding device, a channel impulse response (CIR) report for each packet of the multiple packets;

align, using one or more taps in the CIR report for each packet, the CIR reports across the multiple packets to identify a target object, a location of the target object, or a movement of the target object; and

perform an action based at least in part on the target object, the location of the target object, or the movement of the target object, wherein the one or more processors, to align the CIR reports, are configured to align the CIR reports further based at least in part on, for each CIR report, an earliest tap that satisfies a tap threshold and a latest tap that satisfies the tap threshold.

20 . The initiating device of claim 19 , wherein the one or more processors, to align the CIR reports, are configured to align the CIR reports based at least in part on the strongest tap in each CIR report.

21 . The initiating device of claim 19 , wherein the one or more processors are configured to transmit, to the responding device, a configuration for selecting taps for the CIR report.

22 . The initiating device of claim 21 , wherein the configuration specifies, for tap selection, a time window of a specified time duration and a reference point for the time window.

23 . An initiating device for wireless communication, comprising:

a memory; and

one or more processors, coupled to the memory, configured to:

transmit a signal that includes multiple packets;

receive, from a responding device, a channel impulse response (CIR) report for each packet of the multiple packets;

align, using one or more taps in the CIR report for each packet, the CIR reports across the multiple packets to identify a target object, a location of the target object, or a movement of the target object; and

perform an action based at least in part on the target object, the location of the target object, or the movement of the target object, wherein the one or more processors are configured to transmit, to the responding device, a configuration for selecting taps for the CIR report, wherein the configuration specifies, for tap selection, a first specified quantity of taps before a reference point and a second specified quantity of taps after the reference point.

24 . The initiating device of claim 21 , wherein the configuration specifies, for tap selection, taps in a first specified time duration before the reference point and taps in a second specified time duration after the reference point.

25 . A method of wireless communication performed by a responding device, comprising:

receiving a signal from an initiating device;

estimating, from the signal, a channel impulse response (CIR) that represents signal reflections from one or more objects as multiple taps;

selecting one or more taps from the multiple taps based at least in part on a configuration for providing CIR reports in accordance with a window of specified time duration determined in relation to a reference point; and

transmitting, to the initiating device, a CIR report that indicates the one or more taps, wherein the one or more taps are selected between an earliest tap that satisfies a tap threshold and a latest tap that satisfies the tap threshold.

26 . A method of wireless communication performed by an initiating device, comprising:

transmitting a signal that includes multiple packets;

receiving, from a responding device, a channel impulse response (CIR) report for each packet of the multiple packets;

aligning, using one or more taps in the CIR report for each packet, the CIR reports across the multiple packets to identify a target object, a location of the target object, or a movement of the target object; and

performing an action based at least in part on the target object, the location of the target object, or the movement of the target object, wherein, to align the CIR reports, the CIR reports are aligned further based at least in part on, for each CIR report, an earliest tap that satisfies a tap threshold and a latest tap that satisfies the tap threshold.

27 . The method of claim 26 , wherein aligning the CIR reports includes aligning the CIR reports based at least in part on the strongest tap in each CIR report.

28 . The method of claim 26 , further comprising transmitting a configuration that specifies, for tap selection, a time window of a specified time duration and a reference point for the time window.