R1-2601851
discussion
On integration of sensing and communications in 6GR
From Nokia
Summary
This Nokia contribution on 6G sensing integration contains 12 proposals and 2 observations, covering sensing RS design, multiplexing, measurement/reporting frameworks, beam management, and sensing-assisted communications. The document establishes TDM-based sensing RS as a baseline, proposes basing sensing RS on CSI-RS/SRS, and recommends studying enhancements for multi-slot RE mappings, PxSCH-based sensing, and sensing-for-communication use cases like beam management and UE location integration.
Position
Nokia proposes TDM-based sensing RS as the baseline candidate for 6G sensing integration, with FDM-based approaches identified for further study without precluding coexistence with the baseline. They recommend CSI-RS or SRS as the basis for sensing RS design—explicitly rejecting NR PRS due to its single-port limitation—and propose studying enhancements to legacy RS resource element mappings to support non-contiguous, evenly-spaced OFDM symbols across multiple contiguous slots (time-domain comb structures). For measurement reporting, they consider NR Rel-20 ISAC data levels A/B/C/D as the baseline framework and support TRP-based reporting as the baseline. Nokia highlights that bistatic sensing may incur large overhead from beam sweeping at both STX and SRX, and proposes studying mechanisms to avoid this excessive overhead.
Key proposals
- Proposal 1 (Sec 2.1): Consider TDM‑based sensing RS as a baseline candidate for 6G sensing integration.
- Proposal 2 (Sec 2.2): Consider CSI-RS or SRS as the basis for sensing RS design to leverage their support for multiple antenna ports and flexibility.
- Proposal 3 (Sec 2.2): Study PxSCH based sensing, as a means to reduce sensing RS transmission overhead (e.g., in cells with high communication load).
- Proposal 4 (Sec 2.3): Study enhancements of legacy RS resource element mappings (e.g., CSI-RS, SRS) to allow mappings on non-contiguous, evenly spaced OFDM symbols across multiple contiguous slots (e.g., comb-like structure in the time domain).
- Proposal 5 (Sec 3.1): Consider NR Rel-20 data level A/B/C/D as the basis for 6G sensing measurement report framework.
- Proposal 7 (Sec 3.2): Support TRP-based reporting as the baseline for sensing measurement reporting.
- Proposal 8 (Sec 3.3): Study sensing configuration schemes to support sensing RS measurements.
- Proposal 9 (Sec 3.4): Study sensing beam management procedures for Tx/Rx beam alignment at least for bistatic sensing.
- Proposal 10 (Sec 3.4): Study whether/how to avoid excessive sensing RS overhead in bistatic sensing in case of beam sweeping at both STX and SRX.
- Proposal 11 (Sec 4): Study integration of sensing capabilities with UE location services to evaluate the benefits, challenges, and potential enhancements in the context of sensing for communication.
- Proposal 12 (Sec 4): Study whether sensing information can provide benefits and potential enhancements for 6G communications in beam management and CSI acquisition.