Waveform designs for JCS in NTN systems
In some implementations, a non-terrestrial network (NTN) platform may transmit radio frequency (RF) signals toward earth, the RF signals comprising an orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) waveform with a plurality of symbols including a JCS symbol and one or more non-JCS symbols, wherein: the RF signals are incident on an area of the earth defining a footprint, and a duration of a cyclic prefix (CP) of the JCS symbol is a function of a width of the footprint. The NTN platform may receive, at the NTN platform, one or more reflections of the JCS symbol.
1. A method of enabling joint communication and sensing (JCS) by a non-terrestrial network (NTN), the method comprising:
transmitting, with an NTN platform, radio frequency (RF) signals toward earth, the RF signals comprising an orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) waveform with a plurality of symbols including a JCS symbol and one or more non-JCS symbols, wherein:
the RF signals are incident on an area of the earth defining a footprint, and
a duration of a cyclic prefix (CP) of the JCS symbol is a function of a width of the footprint; and
receiving, at the NTN platform, one or more reflections of the JCS symbol.
2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising performing RF sensing with the one or more reflections.
3. The method of claim 1 , wherein a duration of the JCS symbol is longer than a duration of the one or more non-JCS symbols.
4. The method of claim 3 , further comprising zero-padding the JCS symbol such that the duration of the JCS symbol is an integer multiple of the duration of the one or more non-JCS symbols.
5. The method of claim 3 , wherein the JCS symbol has a different sub-carrier spacing (SCS) than the one or more non-JCS symbols.
6. The method of claim 1 , wherein transmitting the JCS symbol is responsive to receiving an indication from a user equipment (UE) that the UE is capable of decoding the JCS symbol as a downlink (DL) communication symbol.
7. The method of claim 6 , wherein the indication includes information indicative of:
a buffering capability of the UE,
a capability of the UE to support a different SCS within an OFDM slot, or
a fast Fourier transform (FFT) size supported by the UE,
or any combination thereof.
8. The method of claim 6 , further comprising communicating a CP length configuration to the UE.
9. The method of claim 6 , wherein receiving the one or more reflections of the JCS symbol occurs during a sensing receive window during which no uplink (UL) transmissions by the UE are scheduled.
10. A method of enabling joint communication and sensing (JCS) by a non-terrestrial network (NTN), the method comprising:
receiving, at a user equipment (UE) from an NTN platform, radio frequency (RF) signals comprising an orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) waveform with a plurality of symbols including a JCS symbol and one or more non-JCS symbols, wherein:
the RF signals are incident on an area of the earth defining a footprint, and
a duration of a cyclic prefix (CP) of the JCS symbol is a function of a width of the footprint of the RF signals; and
decoding the JCS symbol as a downlink (DL) communication symbol.
11. The method of claim 10 , further comprising receiving, prior to receiving the RF signals, a configuration indicating a duration of the JCS symbol is longer than a duration of the one or more non-JCS symbols.
12. The method of claim 11 , wherein the configuration indicates the JCS symbol has a different sub-carrier spacing (SCS) than the one or more non-JCS symbols.
13. The method of claim 10 , further comprising sending an indication to a network node from that the UE is capable of decoding the JCS symbol as a downlink (DL) communication symbol.
14. The method of claim 13 , further comprising including, in the indication, information indicative of:
a buffering capability of the UE,
a capability of the UE to support a different SCS within an OFDM slot, or
a fast Fourier transform (FFT) size supported by the UE,
or any combination thereof.
15. The method of claim 13 , wherein the network node comprises the NTN platform.
16. The method of claim 10 , further comprising receiving a configuration defining a sensing receive window, occurring after transmission of the RF signals, during which the UE is not scheduled to perform any uplink (UL) transmissions.
17. A non-terrestrial network (NTN) platform for enabling joint communication and sensing (JCS) by an NTN, the NTN platform comprising:
a transceiver;
a memory; and
one or more processors communicatively coupled with the transceiver and the memory, wherein the one or more processors are configured to:
transmit, with the transceiver, radio frequency (RF) signals toward earth, the RF signals comprising an orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) waveform with a plurality of symbols including a JCS symbol and one or more non-JCS symbols, wherein:
the RF signals are incident on an area of the earth defining a footprint, and
a duration of a cyclic prefix (CP) of the JCS symbol is a function of a width of the footprint; and
receive, with the transceiver, one or more reflections of the JCS symbol.
18. The NTN platform of claim 17 , wherein the one or more processors are further configured to perform RF sensing with the one or more reflections.
19. The NTN platform of claim 17 , wherein the one or more processors are configured to transmit the RF signals such that a duration of the JCS symbol is longer than a duration of the one or more non-JCS symbols.
20. The NTN platform of claim 19 , wherein the one or more processors are further configured to zero-pad the JCS symbol such that the duration of the JCS symbol is an integer multiple of the duration of the one or more non-JCS symbols.
21. The NTN platform of claim 19 , wherein the one or more processors are configured to transmit the RF signals such that the JCS symbol has a different sub-carrier spacing (SCS) than the one or more non-JCS symbols.
22. The NTN platform of claim 17 , wherein the one or more processors are configured to transmit the JCS symbol responsive to the one or more processors receiving an indication from a user equipment (UE) that the UE is capable of decoding the JCS symbol as a downlink (DL) communication symbol.
23. The NTN platform of claim 22 , wherein, to receive the indication, the one or more processors are configured to receive information indicative of:
a buffering capability of the UE,
a capability of the UE to support a different SCS within an OFDM slot, or
a fast Fourier transform (FFT) size supported by the UE,
or any combination thereof.
24. The NTN platform of claim 22 , wherein the one or more processors are further configured to communicate a CP length configuration to the UE.
25. The NTN platform of claim 22 , wherein the one or more processors are configured to receive the one or more reflections of the JCS symbol during a sensing receive window during which no uplink (UL) transmissions by the UE are scheduled.
26. The NTN platform of claim 22 , wherein the one or more processors are further configured to receive a configuration defining a sensing receive window, occurring after transmission of the RF signals, during which the UE is not scheduled to perform any uplink (UL) transmissions.
27. A user equipment (UE) for enabling joint communication and sensing (JCS) by a non-terrestrial network (NTN), the UE comprising:
a transceiver;
a memory; and
one or more processors communicatively coupled with the transceiver and the memory, wherein the one or more processors are configured to:
receive, via the transceiver from an NTN platform, radio frequency (RF) signals comprising an orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) waveform with a plurality of symbols including a JCS symbol and one or more non-JCS symbols, wherein:
the RF signals are incident on an area of the earth defining a footprint, and
a duration of a cyclic prefix (CP) of the JCS symbol is a function of a width of the footprint; and
decode the JCS symbol as a downlink (DL) communication symbol.
28. The UE of claim 27 , wherein the one or more processors are further configured to receive, prior to receiving the RF signals, a configuration indicating a duration of the JCS symbol is longer than a duration of the one or more non-JCS symbols.
29. The UE of claim 28 , wherein the one or more processors are further configured to receive, in the configuration, an indication the JCS symbol has a different sub-carrier spacing (SCS) than the one or more non-JCS symbols.
30. The UE of claim 27 , wherein the one or more processors are further configured to send an indication to a network node from that the UE is capable of decoding the JCS symbol as a downlink (DL) communication symbol.