WO2022236654A1

WO2022236654A1 - Systems and methods for procedures of location information report

Info

Publication number: WO2022236654A1
Application number: PCT/CN2021/092964
Authority: WO
Inventors: Guozeng ZHENG; Chuangxin JIANG; Yansheng Liu; Yu Pan; Zhaohua Lu; Hao Wu
Original assignee: Zte Corporation
Priority date: 2021-05-11
Filing date: 2021-05-11
Publication date: 2022-11-17

Abstract

A wireless communication method includes receiving, by a wireless communication device from a wireless communication node, a Downlink Positioning Reference Signal (DL PRS) configuration; identifying, by the wireless communication device, a portion of the DL PRS configuration; and reporting, by the wireless communication device, a location information report that is derived based on measurement of the portion of the DL PRS configuration.

Description

SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR PROCEDURES OF LOCATION INFORMATION REPORT

TECHNICAL FIELD

The disclosure relates generally to wireless communications and, more particularly, to systems and methods for procedures of location information report.

BACKGROUND

The standardization organization Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) is currently in the process of specifying a new Radio Interface called 5G New Radio (5G NR) as well as a Next Generation Packet Core Network (NG-CN or NGC) . The 5G NR will have three main components: a 5G Access Network (5G-AN) , a 5G Core Network (5GC) , and a User Equipment (UE) . In order to facilitate the enablement of different data services and requirements, the elements of the 5GC, also called Network Functions, have been simplified with some of them being software based so that they could be adapted according to need.

SUMMARY

The example embodiments disclosed herein are directed to solving the issues relating to one or more of the problems presented in the prior art, as well as providing additional features that will become readily apparent by reference to the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompany drawings. In accordance with various embodiments, example systems, methods, devices and computer program products are disclosed herein. It is understood, however, that these embodiments are presented by way of example and are not limiting, and it will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art who read the present disclosure that various modifications to the disclosed embodiments can be made while remaining within the scope of this disclosure.

In some arrangements, User Equipment (UE) performs a method including receiving, by a wireless communication device from a wireless communication node, a Downlink Positioning Reference Signal (DL PRS) configuration; identifying, by the wireless communication device, a portion of the DL PRS configuration; and transmitting, by the wireless communication device, a location information report that is derived based on measurement of the portion of the DL PRS configuration.

In other arrangements, Location Management Function performs a method including determining, by a wireless communication node, a Downlink Positioning Reference Signal (DL PRS) configuration; transmitting, by the wireless communication node to a wireless communication device, the DL PRS configuration; and receiving, by the wireless communication node from the wireless communication device, a location information report that is derived based on measurement of a portion of the DL PRS configuration.

In other embodiments, a wireless communications apparatus comprising a processor and a memory, wherein the processor is configured to read code from the memory and implement a method including receiving, by a wireless communication device from a wireless communication node, a Downlink Positioning Reference Signal (DL PRS) configuration; identifying, by the wireless communication device, a portion of the DL PRS configuration; and transmitting, by the wireless communication device, a location information report that is derived based on measurement of the portion of the DL PRS configuration.

In other embodiments, a computer program product comprising a computer-readable program medium code stored thereupon, the code, when executed by a processor, causing the processor to implement a method including receiving, by a wireless communication device from a wireless communication node, a Downlink Positioning Reference Signal (DL PRS) configuration; identifying, by the wireless communication device, a portion of the DL PRS configuration; and transmitting, by the wireless communication device, a location information report that is derived based on measurement of the portion of the DL PRS configuration.

The above and other aspects and their implementations are described in greater detail in the drawings, the descriptions, and the claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Various example embodiments of the present solution are described in detail below with reference to the following figures or drawings. The drawings are provided for purposes of illustration only and merely depict example embodiments of the present solution to facilitate the reader's understanding of the present solution. Therefore, the drawings should not be considered limiting of the breadth, scope, or applicability of the present solution. It should be noted that for clarity and ease of illustration, these drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale.

FIG. 1 is an example timeline for messages received by a UE with corresponding intervals, according to a various arrangements.

FIG. 2 is an example timeline for messages received by a UE with corresponding intervals, according to various arrangements

FIG. 3A is a flowchart diagram illustrating an example wireless communication method for determining location information reports, according to various embodiments.

FIG. 3B is a flowchart diagram illustrating another example wireless communication method for determining location information reports, according to various embodiments.

FIG. 4A illustrates a block diagram of an example location management function, according to various embodiments.

FIG. 4B illustrates a block diagram of an example device, according to various embodiments.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Various example embodiments of the present solution are described below with reference to the accompanying figures to enable a person of ordinary skill in the art to make and use the present solution. As would be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art, after reading the present disclosure, various changes or modifications to the examples described herein can be made without departing from the scope of the present solution. Thus, the present solution is not limited to the example embodiments and applications described and illustrated herein. Additionally, the specific order or hierarchy of steps in the methods disclosed herein are merely example approaches. Based upon design preferences, the specific order or hierarchy of steps of the disclosed methods or processes can be re-arranged while remaining within the scope of the present solution. Thus, those of ordinary skill in the art will understand that the methods and techniques disclosed herein present various steps or acts in a sample order, and the present solution is not limited to the specific order or hierarchy presented unless expressly stated otherwise.

In current 5G New Radio (NR) systems, positioning procedures are subject to large delays that limit the scenarios in which the technology can be applied. In general, serving NR Node B (gNB) and neighbor gNBs provide configured Downlink (DL) Positioning Reference Signals (PRS) to a Location Management Function (LMF) via New Radio Positioning Protocol (NRPPa) in a Transmission and Reception Point (TRP) INFORMATION RESPONSE message. Prior to this procedure, the TRP (or gNB-Distributed Unit (DU) ) may also provide configured DL PRS to a corresponding gNB (or gNB-Central Unit (CU) ) via F1 Application Protocol (F1AP) in a TRP INFORMATION RESPONSE message.

From there, the LMF provides DL PRS configuration forwarded by gNBs to User Equipment (UE) via Long Term Evolution (LTE) Positioning Protocol (LPP) in a ProvideAssistanceData message. The DL PRS configuration includes the following information: 1) the LMF configures one or more positioning frequency layers, which are collections of DL PRS resource sets across one or more TRPs that have the same Sub-Carrier Spacing (SCS) , Cyclic Prefix (CP) , center frequency, reference frequency, configured Bandwidth (BW) , and/or comb size; 2) one or more TRPs that are configured under each frequency layer, which is identified by TRP-ID information; 3) one or more DL PRS Resource Sets that are configured under each TRP, which is identified by DL PRS resource set ID; and 4) one or more DL PRS resources that are configured within a DL PRS resource set, which is identified by DL PRS resource ID.

Next, the LMF requests the UE to provide a location information report based on the DL PRS configuration in a ProvideAssistanceData message. The request message is sent via LPP in a RequestLocationInformation message. The UE then requests measurement gaps for performing the requested location measurements/information if measurement gaps are either not configured or not sufficient. The request signaling is transmitted from the UE to serving gNB via Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling. Upon receipt, the serving gNB configures measurement gaps (if necessary) to the UE via RRC signaling. From there (or from the original LMF request if measurement gaps were not necessary) , the UE conducts positioning measurements within the configured measurement gaps based on DL PRS configuration in ProvideAssistanceData message and according to the RequestLocationInformation message, and forwards the location information report to LMF via LPP in a ProvideLocationInformation message.

In the all following embodiments, LMF can also be a wireless communication entity that has similar functionalities as LMF. Serving gNB (or neighbor gNB) can be also a wireless communication node, (e.g., Next Generation Radio Access Network (NG-RAN) node) .

Under the current procedure, a location information report in ProvideLocationInformation has to measure all DL PRS in ProvideAssistanceData because the request information in RequestLocationInformation is unable to specify a subset of reference signals from ProvideAssistanceData for the UE to measure. As such, the current procedure costs a large amount of UE processing time and power consumption to report a location information report. However, there is no need for the UE to measure all configured reference signals if the network or UE want to the location of the UE in a short amount of time. The systems and methods described herein illustrate various methods to enhance the current reporting procedures in order to support more flexible measurement procedures with lower latency and power consumption. As described herein, the UE receives a DL PRS configuration from a LMF, identifies a relevant portion of the DL PRS configuration, and reports/transmits to the LMF a location information report that is derived based on a measurement of that relevant portion.

Furthermore, in current 5G NR positioning systems, the UE needs to complete the required location information report based on configured reference signals and requested contents within a time period referred to as a measurement period requirement. The measurement period requirement is determined using a parameter referred to as UE Rx beam sweeping factor, which defaults to 1 for a first Frequency Range (FR1) and to 8 for a second FR (FR2) . The measurement period requirement increases as the value of UE Rx beam sweeping factor increases.

In order to reduce positioning latency, the value of UE Rx beam sweeping factor can be configured by LMF or reported by the UE (e.g., the UE informs LMF of the value of UE Rx beam sweeping factor used to derive a location information report or an early location information report) . In addition, the value of UE Rx beam sweeping factor may be configured by LMF or reported by the UE per positioning frequency layer. Alternatively, the LMF may configure at least an angle range (e.g., defined by an expected angle and an angle uncertainty) , and the value of UE Rx beam sweeping factor is equal to a number of reference signals whose boresight directions are received/transmitted within the at least an angle range. Alternatively, the UE Rx beam sweeping factor is associated with DL PRS repetition factor that defines how many times each DL PRS resource is repeated for a single instance of a DL PRS resource set. For example, the UE Rx beam sweeping factor is the largest DL PRS repetition factor among all configured DL PRS resource sets.

The measurement period requirement depends on the reference signals that the UE has to measure. If the UE only needs to measure a subset of reference signals in the DL PRS configuration, the measurement period requirement will be significantly reduced. For example, the LMF may configure at least an angle range (e.g., defined by an expected angle and an angle uncertainty) . The measurement period requirement only consider (or determined by) the reference signals whose boresight directions are received/transmitted within the at least an angle range.

The measurement period requirement may also be determined by a parameter referred to as a number of samples. The value of the number of samples is used to indicate the times that the UE has to measure the same DL PRS resource in a location information report. The value of the number of samples is a default value based on current design, and the measurement period requirement increases as the value of the number of samples increases. In order to reduce positioning latency, the value of the number of samples can be configured by LMF or reported by the UE (e.g., the UE informs LMF of the value of the number of samples used to derive a location information report or an early location information report) . In addition, the value of the number of samples may be configured by LMF or reported by the UE per positioning frequency layer.

The measurement period requirement may also be determined by a parameter referred to as Carrier-Specific Scaling Factor (CSSF) . The value of CSSF is used to share measurement gaps with different kinds of measurements. For example, if the value of CSSF is equal to 1 for a location information report, the measurement gaps are dedicated for the location information report. The measurement period requirement increases as the value of CCSF increases. In order to reduce positioning latency, the value of CSSF can be configured by LMF or reported by the UE (e.g., the UE informs LMF of the value of CCSF used to derive a location information report or an early location information report) . In addition, the value of CCSF may be configured by LMF or reported by the UE per positioning frequency layer.

In a first embodiment, the LMF associates one or more subsets of reference signals (e.g. DL PRSs) with the relevant portion of the DL PRS configuration. Each subset includes at least one of: a) a plurality of positioning frequency layers (e.g., each positioning frequency layer may be identified with a positioning frequency layer ID) ; b) a plurality of TRPs indicated by corresponding TRP ID information; c) a plurality of DL PRS resource set IDs; or d) a plurality of DL PRS resource IDs. Each subset of reference signals may only include reference signals from the same positioning frequency layer, and the one or more subsets of reference signals selected/requested/configured by the LMF may be included in a RequestLocationInformation message (or a request message) . The LMF also configures report configuration ID (s) , which, when included in a RequestLocationInformation message, uniquely identify a location information report that is requested by the RequestLocationInformation message.

In this first embodiment, the UE transmits/reports a location information report to LMF that is derived based on measurement of at least one of the one or more subsets of DL PRSs. The one or more subsets of reference signals are selected/requested/configured by the RequestLocationInformation message. The location information report is included by the UE in a ProvideLocationInformation message. The UE may include a report configuration ID in the ProvideLocationInformation message in order to uniquely identify the location information report. If the measurement configuration IDs in the RequestLocationInformation message and the ProvideLocationInformation message are the same, the UE measures one or more subsets of DL PRSs and feeds back a location information report as requested by the corresponding RequestLocationInformation message.

In this first embodiment, a measurement period requirement is determined by (or depends on) the at least one of the one or more subsets of DL PRSs for the location information report. Furthermore, a first time interval (denoted by T) is configured by LMF and indicates an interval either between location information reports and the response time requirement for a first location information report, or as the maximum response time measured between receipt of the RequestLocationInformation message (or whichever is later of the ProvideAssistanceData message and the RequestLocationInformation message) and transmission of a ProvideLocationInformation message. If the first time interval for the location information report is smaller than the corresponding measurement period requirement, UE can ignore to report the location information report.

In a second embodiment, the LMF configures one or more measurement objects in DL PRS configuration. Each measurement object, which can be uniquely identified with a measurement object ID, includes the configurations of at least one of: a) positioning frequency layer (s) ; b) TRP ID information; c) DL PRS resource sets; or d) DL PRS resources. Each measurement object further may only include reference signals from the same positioning frequency layer.

In this second embodiment, the UE feeds back a location information report associated with (or included) at least one measurement object (e.g. by associating with/including a measurement object ID) , which indicates the location information report is derived based on measurement of the reference signals included in the at least one measurement object. The location information report is included in a ProvideLocationInformation message, in which the UE may indicate at least one measurement object (e.g., by including a measurement object ID) . In addition, a RequestLocationInformation message may also include at least one measurement object (e.g., by including a measurement object ID) that requests UE to feed back a location information report that is derived based on the measurement of reference signals included in at least one measurement object.

In this second embodiment, a measurement period requirement is determined by (or depends on) reference signals included in the at least one measurement object for the location information report. Furthermore, a first time interval (denoted by T) is configured by LMF and indicates an interval either between location information reports and the response time requirement for a first location information report, or as the maximum response time measured between receipt of the RequestLocationInformation message (or whichever is later of the ProvideAssistanceData message and the RequestLocationInformation message) and transmission of a ProvideLocationInformation message. If the first time interval for the location information report is smaller than the corresponding measurement period requirement, UE can ignore to report the location information report.

In a third embodiment, the LMF configures one or more measurement objects in DL PRS configuration. Each measurement object, which can be uniquely identified with a measurement object ID, includes the configurations of at least one of: a) positioning frequency layers; b) TRP ID information; c) DL PRS resource sets; or d) DL PRS resources. Each measurement object further may only include reference signals from the same positioning frequency layer. The LMF further indicates one or more report configurations (e.g. in a RequestLocationInformation message) , each of which may be uniquely identified by a report configuration ID, and the report configurations indicate what contents are requested for reporting in the location information report. The requested contents include at least one of: a) location information type to be reported in the location information report, location estimate, or location measurement; b) reporting interval of a periodical report for the location information report; c) response time of the location information report; or d) measurement types to be reported in the location measurement, which may include DL Reference Signal Time Difference (DL RSTD) , DL PRS Reference Signal Received Power (DL PRS_RSRP) , or UE Rx-Tx Time Difference. The LMF may indicate at least one report configuration in a RequestLocationInformation message.

From there, the UE feeds back a location information report associated (or included) with at least one measurement object (e.g. associating/including with a measurement object ID) , which indicates the location information report is derived based on measurement of the reference signals included in the at least one measurement object, and at least one report configuration (e.g. associating/including with a report configuration ID) , which indicates the contents/information included in the location information report. The location information report may be included in a ProvideLocationInformation message, in which the UE may indicate at least one measurement object (e.g., by including a measurement object ID) , which indicates the location information report is derived based on measurement of the reference signals included in the at least one measurement object, and at least one report configuration (e.g., by including a report configuration ID) , which indicates the contents/information to be included in the location information report. In addition, RequestLocationInformation message may also include at least one measurement object (e.g., by including a measurement object ID) and at least one report configuration (e.g., by including a report configuration ID) , which indicates the reference signals to be used to derive a location information report and the requested contents/information in the location information report.

In this third embodiment, a measurement period requirement is determined by (or depends on) reference signals included in the at least one measurement object for the location information report. Furthermore, a first time interval (denoted by T) is configured by LMF and indicates an interval either between location information reports and the response time requirement for a first location information report, or as the maximum response time measured between receipt of the RequestLocationInformation message (or whichever is later of the ProvideAssistanceData message and the RequestLocationInformation message) and transmission of a ProvideLocationInformation message. If the first time interval for the location information report is smaller than the corresponding measurement period requirement, UE can ignore to report the location information report.

In a fourth embodiment, the LMF configures one or more measurement objects in DL PRS configuration. Each measurement object, which can be uniquely identified with a measurement object ID, includes the configurations of at least one of: a) positioning frequency layers; b) TRP ID information; c) DL PRS resource sets; or d) DL PRS resources. Each measurement object further may only include reference signals from the same positioning frequency layer. The LMF further indicates (e.g. in a RequestLocationInformation message) one or more report configurations, each of which may be uniquely identified by a report configuration ID, and the report configurations indicate what contents are requested. The requested contents include at least one of: a) location information type to be reported in the location information report, location estimate, or location measurement; b) reporting interval of a periodical report for the location information report; c) response time of the location information report; or d) measurement types to be reported in the location measurement, which may include DL RSTD, DL PRS_RSRP, or UE Rx-Tx Time Difference.

In addition, the LMF indicates (e.g. in a RequestLocationInformation message) one or more measurement configurations, each of which can be uniquely identified by a measurement configuration ID, and each measurement configuration is associated with at least one measurement object and at least one report configuration. From there, the UE feeds back a location information report associated (or included) with at least one measurement configuration (e.g. by associating/including with a measurement configuration ID) , which indicates the location information report is derived based on measurement of the reference signals (included or associated with the at least one measurement object in the at least one measurement configuration) as well as the requested contents/information (included or associated with the at least one report configuration in the at least one measurement configuration) . The location information report is included by the UE in a ProvideLocationInformation message, in which the UE may include/associate with at least one measurement configuration (e.g., by associating/including with a measurement configuration ID) .

In this fourth embodiment, a measurement period requirement is determined by (or depends on) reference signals included or associated with the at least one measurement object in the at least one measurement configuration for the location information report. Furthermore, a first time interval (denoted by T) is configured by LMF and indicates an interval either between location information reports and the response time requirement for a first location information report, or as the maximum response time measured between receipt of the RequestLocationInformation message (or whichever is later of the ProvideAssistanceData message and the RequestLocationInformation message) and transmission of a ProvideLocationInformation message. If the first time interval for the location information report is smaller than the corresponding measurement period requirement, UE can ignore to report the location information report.

In a fifth embodiment, the UE identifies one or more relevant time intervals and transmits early location information reports based on the time intervals. A first time interval (denoted by T) is configured by LMF and indicates an interval either between location information reports and the response time requirement for a first location information report, or as the maximum response time measured between receipt of the RequestLocationInformation message (or whichever is later of the ProvideAssistanceData message and the RequestLocationInformation message) and transmission of a ProvideLocationInformation message. A second time interval (denoted by T0) is configured by LMF and indicates a maximum response time as measured between receipt of the RequestLocationInformation message (or later of ProvideAssistanceData message and RequestLocationInformation message) and transmission of a ProvideLocationInformation message containing an early location information report, which includes location measurements or a location estimate.

FIG. 1 is an example timeline for messages received by a UE with corresponding intervals, according to a various arrangements. As shown in FIG. 1, at point 110, the UE receives the later of a ProvideAssistanceData message and a RequestLocationInformation message from an LMF via LPP. At point 120, the UE is able to complete and report an early location information report to LMF via LPP. At point 130, the UE is required to report a location information report to LMF via LPP. As shown in FIG. 1, the first time interval (T) is defined as the interval between

points

110 and 130, and the second time interval (T0) is defined as the interval between

points

110 and 120.

In other embodiments, the UE may identify the first time interval (T) , a second time interval (T0) , and then multiple secondary time intervals following the second time interval _, . Each second time interval or secondary time interval is associated with an early information report. Early location information reports associated with the multiple secondary time intervals are reported following the second time interval and prior to an end of the first time interval. A third time interval (T_interval) is indicated as a maximum response time between times of transmitting of two consecutive early location information reports (or as interval between times of transmitting two consecutive early location information reports) . Furthermore, a portion of the DL PRS configuration (at least a subset of DL PRSs or at least one measurement object) is configured via signaling from the LMF to be used for deriving the early location information report. Each early location information report may be associated with at least one subset of reference signals (or at least one measurement object) , and each portion of the DL PRS configuration (at least a subset of DL PRSs or at least one measurement object) may only include reference signals from the same positioning frequency layer. The associated reference signals for an early location information report determine a measurement period requirement. If the T0 value for the early location information report is smaller than the corresponding measurement period requirement, UE can ignore to report the corresponding early location information report. FIG. 2 is an example timeline for messages received by a UE with corresponding intervals, according to various arrangements. As shown in FIG. 2, at point 210, the UE receives the later of a ProvideAssistanceData message and a RequestLocationInformation message from an LMF via LPP. At point 220, the UE is able to complete and report an early location information report to LMF via LPP, and the UE does complete and report early location information reports at

points

222 and 224. At point 230, the UE is required to report a location information report to LMF via LPP. As shown in FIG. 2, the first time interval (T) is defined as the interval between

points

210 and 230, and the second time interval (T0) is defined as the interval between

points

210 and 220. Two secondary intervals are defined as the interval between

points

220 and 222 and between 222 and 224 respectively.

The LMF may configure multiple values for T0 (or multiple T0 values) , with each value for T0 expected to be less than a corresponding value of T. If not, the UE ignores the configuration. By configuring multiple values for T0, the LMF allows the UE to report more than one early location information report, as each early location information report is associated with a T0 value. Furthermore, a portion of the DL PRS configuration (at least a subset of DL PRSs or at least one measurement object) is configured via signaling from the LMF to be used for deriving the early location information report. Each value for T0 or each early location information report may be associated with a portion of the DL PRS configuration (at least a subset of DL PRSs or at least one measurement object) , and each portion of the DL PRS configuration (at least a subset of DL PRSs or at least one measurement object) may only include reference signals from the same positioning frequency layer. The associated reference signals for an early location information report determine a measurement period requirement. If the T0 value for the early location information report is smaller than the corresponding measurement period requirement, UE can ignore to report the corresponding early location information report.

FIG. 3A is a flowchart diagram illustrating an example wireless communication method 300, according to various arrangements. Method 300 can be performed by a User Equipment (UE) , and begins at 310 where the UE receives, from a Location Management Function (LMF) , a Downlink Positioning Reference Signal (DL PRS) configuration. At 320, the UE identifies a portion of the DL PRS configuration, and at 330, the UE transmits to the LMF a location information report that is derived based on measurement of the portion of the DL PRS configuration.

In some embodiments, the portion of the DL PRS configuration is associated with one or more subsets of reference signals. In some of these embodiments, each subset includes at least one of: a) a plurality of positioning frequency layers; b) a plurality of Transmission Reception Points (TRPs) , each of which is indicated by a corresponding TRP Identifier (ID) information; c) a plurality of DL PRS resource set IDs; or d) a plurality of DL PRS resource IDs. In other of these embodiments, each subset of reference signals includes only one or more reference signals associated with a same positioning frequency layer.

In some of these embodiments, the method 300 further includes receiving a RequestLocationInformation message that indicates the one or more subsets of reference signals. In other of these embodiments, the method 300 further includes transmitting the location information report based on at least one of the one or more subsets of reference signals.

In some embodiments of the method 300, the portion of the DL PRS configuration includes one or more measurement objects. In some of these embodiments, each of the one or more measurement objects includes at least one of: a) configurations of a plurality of positioning frequency layers; b) configurations of TRP ID information; c) configurations of DL PRS resource sets; or d) configurations of DL PRS resources. In other of these embodiments, each of the measurement objects includes only one or more reference signals associated with a same positioning frequency layer. In further of these embodiments, the method 300 further comprises transmitting the location information report derived based on at least one of the one or more measurement objects.

In still further of these embodiments, the method 300 further comprises identifying one or more report configurations, each of which indicates requested contents. In some of these embodiments, the method 300 further comprises transmitting the location information report derived based on measurement of at least one of the one or more measurement objects and information that has been acquired from reference signals according to at least one of the one or more report configurations.

In yet further of these embodiments, the method 300 further comprises identifying one or more report configurations, each of which indicates requested contents, and identifying one or more measurement configurations, each of which is associated with at least one of the one or more measurement objects and at least one of the one or more report configurations. In some of these embodiments, the method 300 further comprises transmitting the location information report derived based on at least one of the one or more measurement configurations.

In some embodiments of method 300, the method 300 further comprises identifying a first time a first time interval (T) and a second time interval (T0) . The first time interval is indicated as a maximum response time between a time of receiving a Request Location Information message and a time of transmitting a location information report, and the second time interval is indicated as a maximum response time between the time of receiving the Request Location Information message and a time of transmitting an early location information report. The method 300 then comprises transmitting a plurality of other early location information reports following the second time interval and prior to an end of the first time interval. In some of these embodiments, the method 300 further comprises identifying a third time interval (T_interval) indicated as a maximum response time between times of transmitting two consecutive early location information reports.

In other embodiments of method 300, the method 300 further comprises identifying a first time interval (T) and a plurality of second time intervals (T0s) . The first time interval is indicated as a maximum response time between a time of receiving a Request Location Information message and a time of transmitting a location information report, and each of the second time intervals is indicated as a maximum response time between the time of receiving the Request Location Information message and a time of transmitting an early location information report. The method 300 then comprises transmitting a plurality of early location information reports associated with the plurality of second time intervals, respectively.

In either of the previous embodiments, each of the early location information reports may be associated with a portion of the DL PRS configuration. In some of these embodiments, the portion of the DL PRS configuration is to determine a measurement period requirement, and the method 300 further comprises determining that the second time interval is smaller than the measurement requirement and ignoring the corresponding early location information report.

FIG. 3B is a flowchart diagram illustrating an example wireless communication method 350, according to various arrangements. Method 350 can be performed by a LMF, and begins at 360 where a LMF determines a Downlink Positioning Reference Signal (DL PRS) configuration. At 370, the LMF transmits, to a UE, the DL PRS configuration, and, at 380, receives from the wireless communication device a location information report that is derived based on measurement of a portion of the DL PRS configuration.

In some of these embodiments, the method 350 further includes transmitting a Request_Location_Information message that indicates the one or more subsets of reference signals. In other of these embodiments, the method 350 further includes receiving the location information report based on at least one of the one or more subsets of reference signals.

In some embodiments of the method 350, the portion of the DL PRS configuration includes one or more measurement objects. In some of these embodiments, each of the one or more measurement objects includes at least one of: a) configurations of a plurality of positioning frequency layers; b) configurations of TRP ID information; c) configurations of DL PRS resource sets; or d) configurations of DL PRS resources. In other of these embodiments, each of the measurement objects includes only one or more reference signals associated with a same positioning frequency layer. In further of these embodiments, the method 350 further comprises receiving the location information report derived based on at least one of the one or more measurement objects.

In still further of these embodiments, one or more report configurations are identified by the UE, and each report configuration indicates requested contents. In some of these embodiments, the method 350 further comprises receiving the location information report derived based on measurement of at least one of the one or more measurement objects and information that has been acquired from reference signals according to at least one of the one or more report configurations.

In yet further of these embodiments, one or more report configurations are identified by the UE, and each report configuration indicates requested contents, and one or more measurement configurations are identified by the UE, and each report configuration is associated with at least one of the one or more measurement objects and at least one of the one or more report configurations. In some of these embodiments, the method 350 further comprises receiving the location information report derived based on at least one of the one or more measurement configurations.

In some embodiments of method 350, a first time a first time interval (T) and a second time interval (T0) are identified by the UE. The first time interval is indicated as a maximum response time between a time of receiving a Request Location Information message and a time of transmitting a location information report, and the second time interval is indicated as a maximum response time between the time of receiving the Request Location Information message and a time of transmitting an early location information report. The method 350 then comprises receiving a plurality of other early location information reports following the second time interval and prior to an end of the first time interval. In some of these embodiments, the method 350 further comprises identifying a third time interval (T_interval) indicated as a maximum response time between times of transmitting two consecutive early location information reports.

In other embodiments of method 350, a first time interval (T) and a plurality of second time intervals (T0s) are identified by the UE. The first time interval is indicated as a maximum response time between a time of receiving a Request Location Information message and a time of transmitting a location information report, and each of the second time intervals is indicated as a maximum response time between the time of receiving the Request Location Information message and a time of transmitting an early location information report. The method 350 then comprises receiving a plurality of early location information reports associated with the plurality of second time intervals, respectively.

In either of the previous embodiments, each of the early location information reports may be associated with a portion of the DL PRS configuration. In some of these embodiments, the portion of the DL PRS configuration is to determine a measurement period requirement, and the corresponding early location information report is ignored in response to determining that the second time interval is smaller than the measurement requirement.

FIG. 4A illustrates a block diagram of an example LMF 402, in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure. FIG. 4B illustrates a block diagram of an example device 401, in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure. The device 401 may be a UE (e.g., a wireless communication device, a terminal, a mobile device, a mobile user, and so on) which is an example implementation of the UEs described herein, or may be a BS, which is an example implementation of the BS described herein.

The LMF 402 and the device 401 can include components and elements configured to support known or conventional operating features that need not be described in detail herein. In one illustrative embodiment, the LMF 402 and the device 401 can be used to communicate (e.g., transmit and receive) data symbols in a wireless communication environment, as described above. For instance, the LMF 402 can be a server, a node, or any suitable computing device used to implement various network functions.

The LMF 402 includes a transceiver module 410, an antenna 412, a processor module 414, a memory module 416, and a network communication module 418. The

module

410, 412, 414, 416, and 418 are operatively coupled to and interconnected with one another via a data communication bus 420. The device 401 includes a device transceiver module 430, a device antenna 432, a device memory module 434, and a device processor module 436. The

modules

430, 432, 434, and 436 are operatively coupled to and interconnected with one another via a data communication bus 440. The LMF 402 communicates with the device 401 or another device via a communication channel, which can be any wireless channel or other medium suitable for transmission of data as described herein.

As would be understood by persons of ordinary skill in the art, the LMF 402 and the device 401 can further include any number of modules other than the modules shown in FIGS. 4A and 4B. The various illustrative blocks, modules, circuits, and processing logic described in connection with the embodiments disclosed herein can be implemented in hardware, computer-readable software, firmware, or any practical combination thereof. To illustrate this interchangeability and compatibility of hardware, firmware, and software, various illustrative components, blocks, modules, circuits, and steps are described generally in terms of their functionality. Whether such functionality is implemented as hardware, firmware, or software can depend upon the particular application and design constraints imposed on the overall system. The embodiments described herein can be implemented in a suitable manner for each particular application, but any implementation decisions should not be interpreted as limiting the scope of the present disclosure.

In accordance with some embodiments, the device transceiver 430 includes a radio frequency (RF) transmitter and a RF receiver each including circuitry that is coupled to the antenna 432. A duplex switch (not shown) may alternatively couple the RF transmitter or receiver to the antenna in time duplex fashion. Similarly, in accordance with some embodiments, the transceiver 410 includes an RF transmitter and a RF receiver each having circuity that is coupled to the antenna 412 or the antenna of another BS. A duplex switch may alternatively couple the RF transmitter or receiver to the antenna 412 in time duplex fashion. The operations of the two-

transceiver modules

410 and 430 can be coordinated in time such that the receiver circuitry is coupled to the antenna 432 for reception of transmissions over a wireless transmission link at the same time that the transmitter is coupled to the antenna 412. In some embodiments, there is close time synchronization with a minimal guard time between changes in duplex direction.

The device transceiver 430 and the transceiver 410 are configured to communicate via the wireless data communication link, and cooperate with a suitably configured RF antenna arrangement 412/432 that can support a particular wireless communication protocol and modulation scheme. In some illustrative embodiments, the device transceiver 430 and the transceiver 410 are configured to support industry standards such as the Long Term Evolution (LTE) and emerging 5G standards, and the like. It is understood, however, that the present disclosure is not necessarily limited in application to a particular standard and associated protocols. Rather, the device transceiver 430 and the LMF transceiver 410 may be configured to support alternate, or additional, wireless data communication protocols, including future standards or variations thereof.

The transceiver 410 and the transceiver of another device (such as but not limited to, the transceiver 410) are configured to communicate via a wireless data communication link, and cooperate with a suitably configured RF antenna arrangement that can support a particular wireless communication protocol and modulation scheme. In some illustrative embodiments, the transceiver 410 and the transceiver of another BS are configured to support industry standards such as the LTE and emerging 5G standards, and the like. It is understood, however, that the present disclosure is not necessarily limited in application to a particular standard and associated protocols. Rather, the transceiver 410 and the transceiver of another device may be configured to support alternate, or additional, wireless data communication protocols, including future standards or variations thereof.

In accordance with various embodiments, the device 401 may be a BS such as but not limited to, an eNB, a serving eNB, a target eNB, a femto station, or a pico station, for example. The device 401 can be an RN, a DeNB, or a gNB. In some embodiments, the device 401 may be a UE embodied in various types of user devices such as a mobile phone, a smart phone, a personal digital assistant (PDA) , tablet, laptop computer, wearable computing device, etc. The

processor modules

414 and 436 may be implemented, or realized, with a general purpose processor, a content addressable memory, a digital signal processor, an application specific integrated circuit, a field programmable gate array, any suitable programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof, designed to perform the functions described herein. In this manner, a processor may be realized as a microprocessor, a controller, a microcontroller, a state machine, or the like. A processor may also be implemented as a combination of computing devices, e.g., a combination of a digital signal processor and a microprocessor, a plurality of microprocessors, one or more microprocessors in conjunction with a digital signal processor core, or any other such configuration.

Furthermore, the method or algorithm disclosed herein can be embodied directly in hardware, in firmware, in a software module executed by

processor modules

414 and 436, respectively, or in any practical combination thereof. The

memory modules

416 and 434 may be realized as RAM memory, flash memory, ROM memory, EPROM memory, EEPROM memory, registers, a hard disk, a removable disk, a CD-ROM, or any other form of storage medium known in the art. In this regard,

memory modules

416 and 434 may be coupled to the

processor modules

414 and 436, respectively, such that the

processors modules

414 and 436 can read information from, and write information to,

memory modules

416 and 434, respectively. The

memory modules

416 and 434 may also be integrated into their

respective processor modules

414 and 436. In some embodiments, the

memory modules

416 and 434 may each include a cache memory for storing temporary variables or other intermediate information during execution of instructions to be executed by

processor modules

414 and 436, respectively.

Memory modules

416 and 434 may also each include non-volatile memory for storing instructions to be executed by the

processor modules

414 and 436, respectively.

The network communication module 418 generally represents the hardware, software, firmware, processing logic, and/or other components of the LMF 402 that enable bi-directional communication between the transceiver 410 and other network components and communication nodes in communication with the LMF 402. For example, the network communication module 418 may be configured to support internet or WiMAX traffic. In a deployment, without limitation, the network communication module 418 provides an 502.3 Ethernet interface such that the transceiver 410 can communicate with a conventional Ethernet based computer network. In this manner, the network communication module 418 may include a physical interface for connection to the computer network (e.g., Mobile Switching Center (MSC) ) . In some embodiments, the network communication module 418 includes a fiber transport connection configured to connect the LMF 402 to a core network. The terms “configured for, ” “configured to” and conjugations thereof, as used herein with respect to a specified operation or function, refer to a device, component, circuit, structure, machine, signal, etc., that is physically constructed, programmed, formatted and/or arranged to perform the specified operation or function.

While various embodiments of the present solution have been described above, it should be understood that they have been presented by way of example only, and not by way of limitation. Likewise, the various diagrams may depict an example architectural or configuration, which are provided to enable persons of ordinary skill in the art to understand example features and functions of the present solution. Such persons would understand, however, that the solution is not restricted to the illustrated example architectures or configurations, but can be implemented using a variety of alternative architectures and configurations. Additionally, as would be understood by persons of ordinary skill in the art, one or more features of one embodiment can be combined with one or more features of another embodiment described herein. Thus, the breadth and scope of the present disclosure should not be limited by any of the above-described illustrative embodiments.

It is also understood that any reference to an element herein using a designation such as "first, " "second, " and so forth does not generally limit the quantity or order of those elements. Rather, these designations can be used herein as a convenient means of distinguishing between two or more elements or instances of an element. Thus, a reference to first and second elements does not mean that only two elements can be employed, or that the first element must precede the second element in some manner.

Additionally, a person having ordinary skill in the art would understand that information and signals can be represented using any of a variety of different technologies and techniques. For example, data, instructions, commands, information, signals, bits and symbols, for example, which may be referenced in the above description can be represented by voltages, currents, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or particles, optical fields or particles, or any combination thereof.

A person of ordinary skill in the art would further appreciate that any of the various illustrative logical blocks, modules, processors, means, circuits, methods and functions described in connection with the aspects disclosed herein can be implemented by electronic hardware (e.g., a digital implementation, an analog implementation, or a combination of the two) , firmware, various forms of program or design code incorporating instructions (which can be referred to herein, for convenience, as "software" or a "software module) , or any combination of these techniques. To clearly illustrate this interchangeability of hardware, firmware and software, various illustrative components, blocks, modules, circuits, and steps have been described above generally in terms of their functionality. Whether such functionality is implemented as hardware, firmware or software, or a combination of these techniques, depends upon the particular application and design constraints imposed on the overall system. Skilled artisans can implement the described functionality in various ways for each particular application, but such implementation decisions do not cause a departure from the scope of the present disclosure.

Furthermore, a person of ordinary skill in the art would understand that various illustrative logical blocks, modules, devices, components and circuits described herein can be implemented within or performed by an integrated circuit (IC) that can include a general purpose processor, a digital signal processor (DSP) , an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC) , a field programmable gate array (FPGA) or other programmable logic device, or any combination thereof. The logical blocks, modules, and circuits can further include antennas and/or transceivers to communicate with various components within the network or within the device. A general purpose processor can be a microprocessor, but in the alternative, the processor can be any conventional processor, controller, or state machine. A processor can also be implemented as a combination of computing devices, e.g., a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, a plurality of microprocessors, one or more microprocessors in conjunction with a DSP core, or any other suitable configuration to perform the functions described herein.

If implemented in software, the functions can be stored as one or more instructions or code on a computer-readable medium. Thus, the steps of a method or algorithm disclosed herein can be implemented as software stored on a computer-readable medium. Computer-readable media includes both computer storage media and communication media including any medium that can be enabled to transfer a computer program or code from one place to another. A storage media can be any available media that can be accessed by a computer. By way of example, and not limitation, such computer-readable media can include RAM, ROM, EEPROM, CD-ROM or other optical disk storage, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium that can be used to store desired program code in the form of instructions or data structures and that can be accessed by a computer.

In this document, the term "module" as used herein, refers to software, firmware, hardware, and any combination of these elements for performing the associated functions described herein. Additionally, for purpose of discussion, the various modules are described as discrete modules; however, as would be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art, two or more modules may be combined to form a single module that performs the associated functions according embodiments of the present solution.

Additionally, memory or other storage, as well as communication components, may be employed in embodiments of the present solution. It will be appreciated that, for clarity purposes, the above description has described embodiments of the present solution with reference to different functional units and processors. However, it will be apparent that any suitable distribution of functionality between different functional units, processing logic elements or domains may be used without detracting from the present solution. For example, functionality illustrated to be performed by separate processing logic elements, or controllers, may be performed by the same processing logic element, or controller. Hence, references to specific functional units are only references to a suitable means for providing the described functionality, rather than indicative of a strict logical or physical structure or organization.

Various modifications to the implementations described in this disclosure will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and the general principles defined herein can be applied to other implementations without departing from the scope of this disclosure. Thus, the disclosure is not intended to be limited to the implementations shown herein, but is to be accorded the widest scope consistent with the novel features and principles disclosed herein, as recited in the claims below.

Claims

A wireless communication method, comprising:

receiving, by a wireless communication device from a wireless communication node, a Downlink Positioning Reference Signal (DL PRS) configuration;

identifying, by the wireless communication device, a portion of the DL PRS configuration; and

transmitting, by the wireless communication device, a location information report that is derived based on measurement of the portion of the DL PRS configuration.
The method of claim 1, wherein the portion of the DL PRS configuration is associated with one or more subsets of a plurality of DL PRSs.
The method of claim 2, wherein each subset of the plurality of DL PRSs includes at least one of:

a plurality of positioning frequency layers;

a plurality of Transmission Reception Points (TRPs) , each of which is indicated by corresponding TRP Identifier (ID) information;

a plurality of DL PRS resource set IDs; or

a plurality of DL PRS resource IDs.
The method of claim 2, wherein each subset of the plurality of DL PRSs includes only one or more DL PRSs associated with a same positioning frequency layer.
The method of claim 2, further comprising:

receiving, by the wireless communication device, a request message indicating the one or more subsets of the plurality of DL PRSs that is used to derive the location information report.
The method of claim 2, further comprising:

transmitting, by the wireless communication device, the location information report that is derived based on measurement of at least one of the one or more subsets of the plurality of DL PRSs.
The method of claim 1, wherein the portion of the DL PRS configuration includes one or more measurement objects.
The method of claim 7, wherein each of the one or more measurement objects includes at least one of:

configurations of a plurality of positioning frequency layers;

configurations of TRP ID information;

configurations of DL PRS resource sets; or

configurations of DL PRS resources.
The method of claim 7, wherein each of the measurement objects includes only one or more DL PRSs associated with a same positioning frequency layer.
The method of claim 7, further comprising:

transmitting, by the wireless communication device, the location information report that is derived based on at least one of the one or more measurement objects.
The method of claim 7, further comprising:

identifying, by the wireless communication device, one or more report configurations, wherein each of the one or more report configurations indicates requested contents.
The method of claim 11, further comprising:

transmitting, by the wireless communication device, the location information report that includes information that is derived based on measurement of at least one of the one or more measurement objects and according to at least one of the one or more report configurations.
The method of claim 7, further comprising:

identifying, by the wireless communication device, one or more report configurations, wherein each of the one or more report configurations indicates requested contents; and

identifying, by the wireless communication device, one or more measurement configurations, wherein each of the one or more measurement configurations is associated with at least one of the one or more measurement objects and at least one of the one or more report configurations.
The method of claim 13, further comprising:

transmitting, by the wireless communication device, the location information report that includes information that is derived based on the associated measurement objects in at least one of the one or more measurement configurations and according to the associated report configurations in at least one of the one or more measurement configurations.
The method of claim 1, further comprising:

identifying, by the wireless communication device, a first time interval (T) and a second time interval (T0) , wherein the first time interval is indicated as a first maximum response time between a time of receiving a request message and a time of transmitting a location information report, and the second time interval is indicated as a second maximum response time between the time of receiving the request message and a time of transmitting an early location information report; and

transmitting, by the wireless communication device, a plurality of other early location information reports following the second time interval and prior to an end of the first time interval.
The method of claim 15, further comprising identifying, by the wireless communication device, a third time interval (T_interval) , wherein the third time interval is indicated as a third maximum response time between times of transmitting two consecutive early location information reports.
The method of claim 1, further comprising:

identifying, by the wireless communication device, a first time interval (T) and a plurality of second time intervals (T0s) , wherein the first time interval is indicated as a first maximum response time between a time of receiving a request message and a time of transmitting a location information report, and each of the second time intervals is indicated as a second maximum response time between the time of receiving the request message and a time of transmitting an early location information report; and

transmitting, by the wireless communication device, a plurality of early location information reports associated with the plurality of second time intervals, respectively.
The method of any of claim 15 or 17, wherein each of the early location information reports is associated with a portion of the DL PRS configuration.
The method of claim 18, wherein the portion of the DL PRS configuration includes only one or more DL PRSs associated with a same positioning frequency layer.
The method claim 18, wherein the portion of the DL PRS configuration is to determine a measurement period requirement, the method further comprising:

determining that the second time interval is smaller than the measurement period requirement; and

ignoring the corresponding early location information report.
A wireless communication method, comprising:

determining, by a wireless communication node, a Downlink Positioning Reference Signal (DL PRS) configuration;

transmitting, by the wireless communication node to a wireless communication device, the DL PRS configuration; and

receiving, by the wireless communication node from the wireless communication device, a location information report that is derived based on measurement of a portion of the DL PRS configuration.
The method of claim 21, wherein the portion of the DL PRS configuration is associated with one or more subsets of a plurality of DL PRSs.
The method of claim 22, wherein each subset of the plurality of DL PRSs includes at least one of:

a plurality of positioning frequency layers;

a plurality of Transmission Reception Points (TRPs) , each of which is indicated by corresponding TRP Identifier (ID) information;

a plurality of DL PRS resource set IDs; or

a plurality of DL PRS resource IDs.
The method of claim 22, wherein each subset of the plurality of DL PRSs includes only one or more DL PRSs associated with a same positioning frequency layer.
The method of claim 22, further comprising:

transmitting, by the wireless communication node to the wireless communication device, a request message indicating the one or more subsets of the plurality of DL PRSs that is used to derive the location information report.
The method of claim 22, further comprising:

receiving, by the wireless communication node from the wireless communication device, the location information report that is derived based on measurement of at least one of the one or more subsets of the plurality of DL PRSs.
The method of claim 21, wherein the portion of the DL PRS configuration includes one or more measurement objects.
The method of claim 27, wherein each of the one or more measurement objects includes at least one of:

configurations of a plurality of positioning frequency layers;

configurations of TRP ID information;

configurations of DL PRS resource sets; or

configurations of DL PRS resources.
The method of claim 27, wherein each of the measurement objects includes only one or more DL PRSs associated with a same positioning frequency layer.
The method of claim 27, further comprising:

receiving, by the wireless communication node from the wireless communication device, the location information report that is derived based on at least one of the one or more measurement objects.
The method of claim 27, wherein one or more report configurations are identified by the wireless communication device, and wherein each of the one or more report configurations indicates requested contents.
The method of claim 31, further comprising:

receiving, by the wireless communication node from the wireless communication device, the location information report that includes information that is derived based on measurement of at least one of the one or more measurement objects and according to at least one of the one or more report configurations.
The method of claim 27, wherein one or more report configurations are identified by the wireless communication device, and wherein each of the one or more report configurations indicates requested contents; and

wherein one or more measurement configurations are identified by the wireless communication device, and wherein each of the one or more measurement configurations is associated with at least one of the one or more measurement objects and at least one of the one or more report configurations.
The method of claim 33, further comprising:

receiving, by the wireless communication node from the wireless communication device, the location information report that includes information that is derived based on the associated measurement objects in at least one of the one or more measurement configurations and according to the associated report configurations in at least one of the one or more measurement configurations.
The method of claim 21, further comprising:

receiving, by the wireless communication node from the wireless communication device, a plurality of other early location information reports following a second time interval (T0) and prior to an end of a first time interval (T) ,

wherein the first time interval and the second time interval are identified by the wireless communication device, and

wherein the first time interval is indicated as a first maximum response time between a time of receiving a request message and a time of transmitting a location information report, and the second time interval is indicated as a second maximum response time between the time of receiving the request message and a time of transmitting an early location information report.
The method of claim 35, wherein a third time interval (T_interval) is identified by the wireless communication device and indicated as a third maximum response time between times of transmitting two consecutive early location information reports
The method of claim 21, further comprising:

receiving, by the wireless communication node from the wireless communication device, a plurality of early location information reports associated with a plurality of second time intervals,

wherein a first time interval (T) and a plurality of second time intervals (T0s) are identified by the wireless communication device, and

wherein the first time interval is indicated as a first maximum response time between a time of receiving a request message and a time of transmitting a location information report, and each of the second time intervals is indicated as a second maximum response time between the time of receiving the request message and a time of transmitting an early location information report.
The method of any of claim 35 or 37, wherein each of the early location information reports is associated with a portion of the DL PRS configuration.
The method of claim 38, wherein the portion of the DL PRS configuration includes only one or more DL PRSs associated with a same positioning frequency layer.
The method claim 38, wherein the portion of the DL PRS configuration is to determine a measurement period requirement, and

wherein the corresponding early location information report is ignored in response to determining that the second time interval is smaller than the measurement period requirement.
A non-transitory computer readable medium storing instructions, which when executed by at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to perform the method of any one of claims 1-40.
An apparatus comprising:

at least one processor configured to perform the method of any one of claims 1-40.