CN113383247B

CN113383247B - Method, apparatus and computer readable medium for distance reporting

Info

Publication number: CN113383247B
Application number: CN201980090923.1A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 吴大伟; 曾蓓蓓; 苏磊; 金石; 计可佳; 乐翊舟
Original assignee: Nokia Shanghai Bell Co Ltd; Nokia Solutions and Networks Oy
Current assignee: Nokia Shanghai Bell Co Ltd; Nokia Solutions and Networks Oy
Priority date: 2019-01-31
Filing date: 2019-01-31
Publication date: 2024-04-02
Anticipated expiration: 2039-01-31
Also published as: WO2020155046A1; CN113383247A

Abstract

Embodiments of the present disclosure provide a method, apparatus, and computer-readable medium for distance reporting. According to embodiments of the present disclosure, a terminal device reports its ability to measure the distance between the terminal device and an object. The network device sends a request to the terminal device to report its distance to the object. In this way, the network device is able to accurately locate the object device.

Description

Method, apparatus and computer readable medium for distance reporting

Technical Field

Embodiments of the present disclosure relate generally to communication technology and, more particularly, relate to a method, apparatus, and computer-readable medium for distance reporting.

Background

In current communication systems, the location of the terminal device may be located. In some cases, it may be critical to accurately locate the terminal device. For example, in today's world, many disasters, whether natural or man-made, occur, such as earthquakes, tsunamis, landslides, floods, snowstorms, volcanic eruptions, etc. Rescue is always necessary to search and rescue victims and trapped people. The most important factor in rescue is how to locate these victims and trapped people. The best method is that the rescue workers can directly communicate with the people needing help. Meanwhile, terminal devices are widely used for connection of networks and persons. Thus, in the rescue process, the terminal device plays an important role in restoring communication.

Disclosure of Invention

In general, embodiments of the present disclosure relate to a method of distance reporting and corresponding network device and terminal device.

In a first aspect, embodiments of the present disclosure provide a terminal device. The terminal device comprises at least one processor; and at least one memory including computer program code. The at least one memory and the computer code are configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the terminal device to send, to the network device, an indication of the capability of measuring the distance between the object and the terminal device in response to detecting the network device at the terminal device. The terminal device is further caused to receive a request from the network device for a distance between the measurement object and the terminal device. The terminal device is also caused to obtain a measurement of the distance between the object and the terminal device. The terminal device is also caused to transmit the measured value of the distance to the network device.

In a second aspect, embodiments of the present disclosure provide a network device. The network device includes at least one processor; and at least one memory including computer program code. The at least one memory and the computer program code are configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the network device to: an indication of a capability to measure a distance between an object and one or more terminal devices is received at a network device from the one or more terminal devices. The network device is further caused to send a request for a distance between the measurement object and the at least one of the one or more terminal devices to the at least one terminal device. The network device is further caused to receive a measurement of the distance from the at least one terminal device.

In a third aspect, embodiments of the present disclosure provide a method. The method includes, in response to detecting the network device at the terminal device, sending an indication of a capability of measuring a distance between the object and the terminal device to the network device. The method further comprises receiving a request from the network device for a distance between the measurement object and the terminal device. The method further comprises obtaining a measurement of the distance between the object and the terminal device. The method also includes transmitting the measured value of the distance to the network device.

In a fourth aspect, embodiments of the present disclosure provide a method. The method includes receiving, at a network device, an indication of a capability to measure a distance between an object and one or more terminal devices from the one or more terminal devices. The method further includes sending a request for a distance between the measurement object and at least one of the one or more terminal devices to at least one terminal device. The method further comprises receiving a measurement of the distance from at least one terminal device.

In a fifth aspect, embodiments of the present disclosure provide a computer-readable medium. The computer readable medium has stored thereon instructions which, when executed by at least one processing unit of a machine, cause the machine to implement a method according to the third aspect of the present disclosure.

In a sixth aspect, embodiments of the present disclosure provide another computer-readable medium. The further computer-readable medium has stored thereon instructions which, when executed by at least one processing unit of a machine, cause the machine to implement a method according to the fourth aspect of the present disclosure.

In a seventh aspect, embodiments of the present disclosure provide an apparatus for communication. The apparatus includes means for sending, to the network device, an indication of a capability to measure a distance between the object and the terminal device in response to detecting the network device at the terminal device. The apparatus further comprises means for receiving a request from the network device for a distance between the measurement object and the terminal device. The apparatus further comprises means for obtaining a measurement of the distance between the object and the terminal device. The apparatus further comprises means for transmitting the measured value of the distance to the network device.

In an eighth aspect, embodiments of the present disclosure provide another apparatus for communication. The apparatus includes means for receiving, at a network device and from one or more terminal devices, an indication of a capability to measure a distance between an object and the one or more terminal devices. The apparatus further comprises means for sending a request for measuring a distance between the object and the at least one terminal device to the at least one of the one or more terminal devices. The apparatus further comprises means for receiving a measured value of the distance from at least one terminal device.

Other features and advantages of embodiments of the present disclosure will be apparent from the following description of the particular embodiments, when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, which illustrate, by way of example, the principles of the embodiments of the disclosure.

Drawings

Embodiments of the present disclosure are presented by way of example, and advantages thereof, some example embodiments will now be described in greater detail below with reference to the drawings, in which

Fig. 1 shows a schematic diagram of a communication system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

fig. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating interactions between a terminal device and a network device according to an example embodiment of the present disclosure;

fig. 3 shows a flow chart of a method for communication implemented at a terminal device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

fig. 4 illustrates a flow chart of a method implemented at a network device for communication according to an embodiment of the disclosure; and

fig. 5 shows a schematic diagram of an apparatus according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

The same or similar reference numbers will be used throughout the drawings to refer to the same or like elements.

Detailed Description

The subject matter described herein will now be discussed with reference to several example embodiments. It should be understood that these embodiments are discussed only for the purpose of enabling those skilled in the art to better understand and thus achieve the subject matter described herein, and do not set forth any limitation on the scope of the subject matter.

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of example embodiments. As used herein, the singular forms "a," "an," and "the" are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms "comprises," "comprising," "includes," and/or "including," when used herein, specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof.

It should also be noted that in some alternative implementations, the functions/acts noted may occur out of the order noted in the figures. For example, two functions or acts illustrated in succession may, in fact, be executed concurrently, or the acts may sometimes be executed in the reverse order, depending upon the functionality/acts involved.

As used herein, the term "communication network" refers to a network that conforms to any suitable communication standard, such as Long Term Evolution (LTE), LTE-advanced (LTE-a), wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA), high Speed Packet Access (HSPA), and the like. Furthermore, the communication between the terminal device and the network device in the communication network may be performed according to any suitable generation communication protocol, including, but not limited to, a first generation (1G), a second generation (2G), 2.5G, 2.75G, a third generation (3G), a fourth generation (4G), 4.5G, a future fifth generation (5G) communication protocol, and/or any other protocol currently known or to be developed in the future.

Embodiments of the present disclosure may be applied in various communication systems. In view of the rapid development of communications, there will, of course, also be future types of communication technologies and systems that may embody the present disclosure. The scope of the present disclosure should not be limited to only the above-described systems.

The term "network device" as used herein includes, but is not limited to, a Base Station (BS), gateway, registration management entity, and other suitable devices in a communication system. The term "base station" or "BS" means a node B (NodeB or NB), evolved NodeB (eNodeB or eNB), NR NB (also known as gNB), remote Radio Unit (RRU), radio Header (RH), remote Radio Head (RRH), relay, low power node (e.g., femto, pico, etc.), relay node (e.g., unmanned aerial vehicle/Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV)).

The term "terminal device" as used herein includes, but is not limited to, "User Equipment (UE)" and other suitable terminal devices capable of communicating with a network device. For example, a "terminal device" may refer to a terminal, mobile Terminal (MT), subscriber Station (SS), portable subscriber station, mobile Station (MS), or Access Terminal (AT).

The term "circuitry" as used herein may refer to one or more or all of the following:

(a) Pure hardware circuit implementations (such as implementations in analog and/or digital circuitry only), and

(b) A combination of hardware circuitry and software, such as (as applicable):

(i) Combination of analog and/or digital hardware circuitry and software/firmware

(ii) A hardware processor (including a digital signal processor) having software, any portion of the software and memory that work together to cause a device such as a mobile phone or server to perform various functions, and

(c) Software (e.g., firmware) is required to operate but may not exist as hardware circuitry and/or a processor, such as a microprocessor or portion of a microprocessor, when operation is not required.

This definition of "circuitry" applies to all uses of this term in this application, including in any claims. As another example, as used in this application, the term "circuitry" also encompasses only hardware circuitry or processor (or multiple processors) or an implementation of hardware circuitry or processor and a portion of its (or their) accompanying software and/or firmware. The term "circuitry" also encompasses, for example and where applicable to the particular claim element, a baseband integrated circuit or processor integrated circuit for a mobile device, or a similar integrated circuit in a server, cellular network device, or other computing or network device.

As described above, in the rescue process, the terminal device plays an important role in restoring communication. This is well understood by the operator. The primary task of the post-disaster operators is to restore the telecommunication network as soon as possible. More recently, unmanned aircraft have been used to spin up in disaster areas, providing instant mobile network coverage for user equipment. There are many kinds of terminal devices in the world, and more will be in the future, such as smart phones, tablet computers, smart watches, smart bracelets, body implant chips, and various machine types of terminal devices.

In most cases, after a disaster occurs, the victim or stranded person typically does not know the exact location of himself. In this case, the network may use positioning technology to locate the terminal device in order to locate the person if the person is carrying the terminal device.

However, when a disaster occurs, the first reaction of a human is to run immediately or to be hidden somewhere. In such emergency situations, there is typically no time to carry the terminal device with it. The result is likely that the terminal device is not co-located with the person. This means that the location of the terminal device does not mean the same location of the person. As more and more machine type terminal devices are deployed, the situation becomes worse. Locating the terminal device does not mean that the person is located normally.

Basically, there are two ways to retrieve the location of the terminal device through the network. One is that the terminal device reports its location. However, it is necessary to manually trigger the terminal device to report its location. But when a disaster occurs, it is likely that the terminal device is not in the hand, or the terminal device may be in the hand, but the person loses consciousness. The terminal device cannot be triggered to report. And secondly, the network actively locates the user equipment. However, the network cannot determine whether the terminal device is co-located with a person.

To at least partially address the above and other potential problems, embodiments of the present disclosure provide a solution to distance reporting. Some example embodiments of the present disclosure are now described with reference to the drawings. However, those skilled in the art will readily appreciate that the detailed description given herein is for explanatory purposes as the disclosure extends beyond these limited embodiments.

Fig. 1 shows a schematic diagram of a communication system in which embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented. The communication system 100, which is part of a communication network, includes a network device 120 and terminal devices 110-1, 110-2, which may be collectively referred to as "terminal devices" 110. It should be understood that the number of network devices and terminal devices shown in fig. 1 are given for illustrative purposes and do not imply any limitation. Communication system 100 may include any suitable number of network devices and terminal devices. It should be noted that communication system 100 may also include other elements that have been omitted for clarity. Network device 120 may communicate with terminal device 110.

Communication in communication system 100 may be implemented in accordance with any suitable communication protocol including, but not limited to, first generation (1G), second generation (2G), third generation (3G), fourth generation (4G), and fifth generation (5G) cellular communication protocols, wireless local area network communication protocols, such as Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11, etc., and/or any other protocol currently known or to be developed in the future. In addition, the communication may utilize any suitable wireless communication technology including, but not limited to, code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA), time division multiple access (time division multiple access), frequency Division Duplex (FDD), time Division Duplex (TDD), multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO), orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA), and/or any other technology currently known or later developed.

According to embodiments of the present disclosure, the terminal device reports its capability to measure distance to the network device. The network device sends a request to the terminal device for reporting its distance to the object. In this way, the network device is able to accurately locate the object.

Fig. 2 is a schematic diagram showing interactions between a terminal device and a network device. For illustration purposes only, interactions are described as being implemented at terminal device 110-1 and network device 120. It should be noted that the interaction may be implemented on any suitable terminal device.

Terminal device 110-1 detects 205 network device 120. In some embodiments, terminal device 110-1 may search for network device 120. Terminal device 110-1 sends 215 an indication of its ability to measure the distance between object 130 and terminal device 110. The indication may indicate whether the terminal device 110 supports detecting a distance between the terminal device 110 and the object 130. In some embodiments, the distance may be a fuzzy distance.

The indication may be transmitted via network layer signaling. For example only, the network layer signaling may be Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling. It should be noted that the network layer signaling may be any suitable network layer signaling. Table 1 below shows pseudo code examples of this capability.

TABLE 1

In some embodiments, network device 120 may send 210 a request for reporting capabilities and terminal device 110-1 may send 215 an indication as a response to the request. Alternatively, terminal device 110-1 may automatically send an indication upon detection of network device 120. Network device 120 may broadcast the request to terminal device 110 within its coverage area. Alternatively, the network device 120 may send a request to a particular terminal device 110-1. The request may be sent via a Radio Resource Control (RRC) signal.

In some embodiments, the object 130 may be a person. Alternatively, the object 130 may be a pet. In some embodiments, terminal device 110-1 may send an indication to network device 120 to indicate the type of object, e.g., person, dog, etc. The above indication may be sent along with its ability to measure distance. Alternatively, the above indication may be sent in separate signaling.

In an example embodiment, the network device 120 may send 220 the indication to a location server 320 in the core network. The indication may be sent to the location server 320 via a location services signal. For example only, the location service signal may be Long Term Evolution (LTE) location protocol (LPP) signaling. It should be noted that the location service signaling may be any suitable location service signaling. Table 2 below shows an example of pseudo code for LPP capability.

TABLE 2

In some embodiments, the positioning server 320 may determine 225 at least one terminal device having the capability of measuring a distance between the object 130 and the terminal device. The location server 320 may send 330 another indication comprising an identification of at least one terminal device. Table 3 below shows an example of the requested location information in the LPP message.

TABLE 3 Table 3

Table 4 below shows an example of providing location information in an LPP message.

TABLE 4 Table 4

In other embodiments, the network device 120 may determine 335 at least one terminal device itself. The network device 120 sends 240 a request for measuring distance to at least one terminal device (e.g., terminal device 110-1). The request may be sent via an RRC signal. In this way, waste of physical resources is avoided. Table 5 below shows an example of location information (LocationInfo) in the RRC message.

TABLE 5

In some embodiments, terminal device 110-1 may determine 245 the capability to measure distance based on the type of terminal device. In some embodiments, terminal device 110-1 may detect 250 a distance between object 130 and terminal device 110-1 based on the type of terminal device 110-1. Terminal device 110-1 obtains a measurement of 255 distances. Terminal device 110-1 sends 260 the measured value of the distance to network device 120.

In some embodiments, terminal device 110-1 may obtain the ambiguity distance. Table 6 below shows an example of blur distances. It should be noted that the numbers shown in table 6 are only examples. Table 6 may be preconfigured to terminal device 110 and network device 120.

TABLE 6

For example, if the terminal device is an implanted chip in object 130 (e.g., terminal device 110-3), then terminal device 110-3 may obtain the measurement and send a response indicating "0". In some embodiments, if the terminal device is a smart bracelet or watch on the wrist of subject 130 (e.g., terminal device 110-2), terminal device 110-2 may obtain the measurement and send a response indicating "1". If the terminal device is held in the hand, the terminal device can obtain the measurement value and send a response indicating "1".

In some embodiments, the terminal device has the ability to detect whether it is in pocket mode, and if it is in pocket, the terminal device sends a response indicating "1". Alternatively, the terminal device has the ability to detect the blood pressure, heart rate, temperature of the subject 130, which would send a response indicating "1" if a vital sign of a person was detected.

In some embodiments, terminal device 110-1 may have a distance sensor that may detect a distance to target 130 within a short distance, and if target 130 is close to a person, terminal device 110-1 may obtain a measurement of 2m and send a response indicating "2".

In some embodiments, the terminal devices may have TOF technology so that they can accurately measure distance to the object 130, they can send a response indicating "3". Alternatively, the camera and microphone of the terminal device may be used to capture an image or sound of the object 130, which may then send a response indicating "4" or "5".

In some embodiments, the network device 120 may determine the location of the object based on the measurement of the distance. In some embodiments, the network device 120 may receive measurements from a plurality of terminal devices. For example, network device 120 may receive a measurement value indicating "2" from terminal device 110-1 and a measurement value indicating "5" from terminal device 110-4. Network device 120 may move to terminal device 110-1 near object 130. Network device 120 may make additional locations for terminal device 110-1. In an exemplary embodiment, the network device 120 may transmit the measured value of the distance to a third party (e.g., a rescue team) and direct the third party to approach the object 130.

Fig. 3 shows a flow chart of a method 300 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. For illustrative purposes only, the method 300 may be described as being implemented at the terminal device 110-1.

At block 310, if terminal device 110-1 detects network device 120, terminal device 110-1 sends an indication of the capability to measure the distance between object 130 and terminal device 110-1. In some embodiments, terminal device 110-1 may search for network device 120. The indication may indicate whether the terminal device 110 supports detecting a blurred distance between the terminal device 110 and the object 130. The indication may be sent via a Radio Resource Control (RRC) signal.

In some embodiments, terminal device 110-1 may receive a request for reporting capability from network device 120 and send the indication as a response to the request. Alternatively, terminal device 110-1 may automatically send the indication upon detection of network device 120. The request may be sent via a Radio Resource Control (RRC) signal.

At block 320, terminal device 110-1 receives a request from network device 120 for a distance between measurement object 130 and terminal device 110-1. The request may be sent via an RRC signal. In some embodiments, terminal device 110-1 may determine the capability to measure distance based on the type of terminal device.

At block 330, terminal device 110-1 obtains a measurement of the distance between object 130 and terminal device 110-1. In some embodiments, terminal device 110-1 may detect a distance between object 130 and terminal device 110-1 based on the type of terminal device 110-1.

In some embodiments, the terminal device may have TOF technology so that it can accurately measure distance to the object 130. In some embodiments, terminal device 110-1 may have a distance sensor that may detect a distance to object 130 within a short distance. Alternatively, a camera and microphone of the terminal device may be used to capture images or sounds of the object 130.

At block 340, terminal device 110-1 transmits the measured value of the distance to network device 120. Terminal device 110-1 may send the measured value of the distance via network layer signaling.

In some embodiments, an apparatus (e.g., terminal device 110-1) for performing method 300 may include corresponding components for performing the corresponding steps in method 300. These components may be implemented in any suitable manner. For example, it may be implemented by a circuit or a software module.

In some embodiments, the apparatus includes means for sending, to a network device, an indication of a capability to measure a distance between an object and the terminal device in response to detecting the network device at the terminal device; means for receiving a request for a distance between a measurement object and a terminal device from a network device; means for obtaining a measurement of a distance between the object and the terminal device; and means for transmitting the measured value of the distance to the network device.

In some embodiments, an indication of the capability is sent in response to a request from the network device for reporting the capability.

In some embodiments, the request is received via network layer signaling.

In some embodiments, the apparatus further comprises means for determining a capability to measure distance based on a type of the terminal device.

In some embodiments, the means for obtaining a measure of distance comprises means for detecting a distance between the object and the terminal device based on a type of the terminal device; and means for obtaining a measurement based on the detected distance.

In some embodiments, the measured value of the distance is signaled via a network layer.

Fig. 4 shows a flow chart of a method 400 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. For illustration purposes only, the method 400 may be described as being implemented at the network device 120.

At block 410, the network device 120 receives an indication of a capability to measure a distance between the object 130 and the one or more terminal devices 110. The indication may indicate whether the terminal device 110 supports detecting a blurred distance between the terminal device 110 and the object 130. The indication may be sent via network layer signaling.

In some embodiments, the network device 120 may send 210 a request for reporting capabilities. Network device 120 may broadcast the request to terminal device 110 within its coverage area. Alternatively, the network device 120 may send a request to a particular terminal device 110-1. The request may be sent via network layer signaling.

In an exemplary embodiment, the network device 120 may send an indication to a location server 320 in the core network. The indication may be transmitted to the location server 320 via Long Term Evolution (LTE) positioning protocol (LPP) signaling.

In some embodiments, location server 320 may determine at least one terminal device that has the capability to measure the distance between object 130 and the terminal device. The location server 320 may send another indication comprising an identification of at least one terminal device. In other embodiments, the network device 120 may determine the at least one terminal device itself.

At block 420, the network device 120 sends a request for measuring a distance between the object 130 and the at least one terminal device 110-1. The request may be sent via an RRC signal. In this way, waste of physical resources is avoided.

At block 430, the network device 120 receives a measurement of the distance from at least one terminal device 110-1. In some embodiments, the network device 120 may determine the location of the object based on the measurement of the distance. In some embodiments, the network device 120 may receive measurements from a plurality of terminal devices. For example, network device 120 may receive a measurement value indicating "2" from terminal device 110-1 and a measurement value indicating "5" from terminal device 110-4. Network device 120 may move to terminal device 110-1 near object 130. Network device 120 may make additional locations for terminal device 110-1. It should be noted that network device 120 may receive distance measurements from any suitable number of terminal devices.

In an exemplary embodiment, the network device 120 may transmit the measured value of the distance to a third party (e.g., a rescue team) and direct the third party to approach the object 130.

In some embodiments, an apparatus (e.g., network device 120) for performing method 400 may include respective components for performing respective steps in method 400. These components may be implemented in any suitable manner. For example, it may be implemented by a circuit or a software module.

In some embodiments, the apparatus includes means for receiving, at a network device, an indication of a capability to measure a distance between an object and one or more terminal devices from the one or more terminal devices; means for sending a request for a distance between the measurement object and at least one of the one or more terminal devices to the at least one terminal device; and means for receiving a measured value of the distance from at least one terminal device.

In some embodiments, the apparatus further comprises means for sending another request for reporting capability to one or more terminal devices.

In some embodiments, the means for sending the request comprises means for determining at least one terminal device based on the indication; and means for sending a request to at least one terminal device.

In some embodiments, the means for sending the request comprises means for sending an indication to another network device via Long Term Evolution (LTE) positioning protocol signaling; means for receiving, from another network device, another indication comprising at least one terminal device; and means for sending a request to at least one terminal device.

In some embodiments, the request is sent via network layer signaling.

In some embodiments, the measured value of the distance is received via network layer signaling.

Fig. 5 is a simplified block diagram of an apparatus 500 suitable for implementing embodiments of the present disclosure. Device 500 may be implemented at network device 120. Device 500 may also be implemented at terminal device 110-1. As shown, the apparatus 500 includes one or more processors 510, one or more memories 520 coupled to the processor(s) 510, one or more transmitters and/or receivers (TX/RX) 540 coupled to the processor(s) 510.

Processor 510 may be of any type suitable to the local technology network and may include, by way of non-limiting example, one or more of a general purpose computer, a special purpose computer, a microprocessor, a Digital Signal Processor (DSP), and a processor based on a multi-core processor architecture. The device 500 may have multiple processors, such as application specific integrated circuit chips, that are slaved in time to a clock that is synchronized to the master processor.

Memory 520 may be of any type suitable to the local technical network and may be implemented using any suitable data storage technology, such as non-transitory computer readable storage media, semiconductor-based memory devices, magnetic memory devices and systems, optical memory devices and systems, fixed memory, and removable memory, as non-limiting examples.

Memory 520 stores at least a portion of program 530. TX/RX 540 is used for two-way communication. TX/RX 540 has at least one antenna to facilitate communication, although in practice the access nodes referred to in this application may have multiple antennas. The communication interface may represent any interface necessary to communicate with other network elements.

The program 530 is assumed to include program instructions that, when executed by the associated processor 510, enable the apparatus 500 to operate in accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure, as discussed herein with reference to fig. 2-4. That is, embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented by computer software that may be executed by the processor 510 of the device 500, or by hardware, or by a combination of software and hardware.

While this specification contains many specific implementation details, these should not be construed as limitations on the scope of any disclosure or of what may be claimed, but rather as descriptions of features specific to particular disclosure of particular implementations. Certain features that are described in this specification in the context of separate embodiments can also be implemented in combination in a single embodiment. Conversely, various features that are described in the context of a single embodiment can also be implemented in multiple embodiments separately or in any suitable subcombination. Furthermore, although features may be described above as acting in certain combinations and even initially claimed as such, one or more features from a claimed combination can in some cases be excised from the combination, and the claimed combination may be directed to a subcombination or variation of a subcombination.

Similarly, although operations are depicted in the drawings in a particular order, this should not be understood as requiring that such operations be performed in the particular order shown or in sequential order, or that all illustrated operations be performed, to achieve desirable results. As a result. In some cases, multitasking and parallel processing may be advantageous. Moreover, the separation of various system components in the embodiments described above should not be understood as requiring such separation in all embodiments, and it should be understood that the described program components and systems can generally be integrated in a single software product or packaged into multiple software products.

Various modifications, adaptations to the foregoing exemplary embodiments of this disclosure will become apparent to those skilled in the relevant arts in view of the foregoing description, when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. Any and all modifications will still fall within the scope of the non-limiting and exemplary embodiments of this disclosure. Moreover, other embodiments of the disclosure set forth herein will be apparent to those skilled in the art to which the disclosure relates from consideration of the specification and practice of the disclosure presented in the foregoing specification and the associated drawings.

Therefore, it is to be understood that the embodiments of the disclosure are not to be limited to the specific embodiments disclosed and that modifications and other embodiments are intended to be included within the scope of the appended claims. Although specific terms are employed herein, they are used in a generic and descriptive sense only and not for purposes of limitation.

Claims

1. A terminal device, comprising:

at least one processor; and

at least one memory including computer program code;

the at least one memory and the computer program code are configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the terminal device to:

in response to detecting a network device at the terminal device, sending an indication to the network device of a capability to measure a distance between an object and the terminal device, the object being movable relative to the network device, and the indication being for determining that the terminal device supports detecting the distance between the terminal device and the object;

receiving a request from the network device for measuring the distance between the object and the terminal device;

obtaining a measurement of the distance between the object and the terminal device; and

the measured value of the distance is transmitted to the network device to cause the network device to determine a location of the object based on the measured value of the distance.

2. The terminal device of claim 1, wherein the indication of the capability is sent in response to a request from the network device to report the capability.

3. The terminal device of claim 1, wherein the request is received via network layer signaling.

4. A terminal device according to claim 1, wherein the terminal device is further caused to:

the capability to measure the distance is determined based on the type of the terminal device.

5. The terminal device of claim 4, wherein the terminal device is caused to obtain the measure of distance by:

detecting a distance between the object and the terminal device based on the type of the terminal device; and

based on the detected distance, the measured value is obtained.

6. The terminal device of claim 1, wherein the measurement of the distance is sent via network layer signaling.

7. A terminal device according to claim 1, wherein the terminal device is further caused to:

another indication of the kind of the object is sent to the network device.

8. A network device, comprising:

at least one processor; and

at least one memory including computer program code;

the at least one memory and the computer program code are configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the network device to:

receiving, at the network device, an indication of a capability to measure a distance between an object and one or more terminal devices from the one or more terminal devices, the object being movable relative to the network device, and the indication being for determining that the terminal device supports detecting the distance between the terminal device and the object;

transmitting a request for measuring a distance between the object and at least one of the one or more terminal devices to the at least one terminal device;

receiving a measured value of the distance from the at least one terminal device; and

a location of the object is determined based on the measured value of the distance.

9. The network device of claim 8, wherein the network device is further caused to:

another request for reporting the capabilities is sent to the one or more terminal devices.

10. The network device of claim 8, wherein the network device is further caused to send the request by:

determining the at least one terminal device based on the indication; and

and sending the request to the at least one terminal device.

11. The network device of claim 8, wherein the network device is further caused to send the request by:

transmitting the indication to another network device via location services signaling;

receiving a further indication comprising the at least one terminal device from the further network device; and

and sending the request to the at least one terminal device.

12. The network device of claim 8, wherein the request is sent via network layer signaling.

13. The network device of claim 8, wherein the measurement of the distance is received via network layer signaling.

14. The network device of claim 8, wherein the network device is further caused to:

another indication of the kind of the object is received from the terminal device.

15. A method, comprising:

in response to detecting a network device at a terminal device, sending an indication to the network device of a capability to measure a distance between an object and the terminal device, the object being movable relative to the network device, and the indication being for determining that the terminal device supports detecting the distance between the terminal device and the object;

receiving a request from the network device for measuring a distance between the object and the terminal device;

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the indication of the capability is sent in response to a request from the network device to report the capability.

17. The method of claim 15, wherein the request is received via network layer signaling.

18. The method of claim 15, further comprising:

19. The method of claim 18, wherein obtaining the measure of distance comprises:

based on the detected distance, the measured value is obtained.

20. The method of claim 15, wherein the measurement of the distance is sent via network layer signaling.

21. The method of claim 15, further comprising:

another indication of the kind of the object is sent to the network device.

22. A method, comprising:

receiving, at a network device, an indication of a capability to measure a distance between an object and one or more terminal devices from the one or more terminal devices, the object being movable relative to the network device, and the indication being for determining that the terminal device supports detecting the distance between the terminal device and the object;

23. The method of claim 22, further comprising:

24. The method of claim 22, wherein sending the request comprises:

determining the at least one terminal device based on the indication; and

and sending the request to the at least one terminal device.

25. The method of claim 22, wherein sending the request comprises:

and sending the request to the at least one terminal device.

26. The method of claim 22, wherein the request is sent via network layer signaling.

27. The method of claim 22, wherein the measurement of the distance is received via network layer signaling.

28. The method of claim 22, further comprising:

29. A computer readable medium having instructions stored thereon, which when executed by at least one processing unit of a machine, cause the machine to perform the method of any of claims 15-21.

30. A computer readable medium having instructions stored thereon, which when executed by at least one processing unit of a machine, cause the machine to perform the method according to any of claims 22-28.

31. An apparatus, comprising:

means for sending an indication of a capability to measure a distance between an object and a terminal device to the network device in response to detecting the network device at the terminal device, the object being movable relative to the network device, and the indication being for determining that the terminal device supports detecting the distance between the terminal device and the object;

means for receiving a request from the network device for measuring a distance between the object and the terminal device;

means for obtaining a measurement of the distance between the object and the terminal device; and

means for transmitting the measured value of the distance to the network device to cause the network device to determine a location of the object based on the measured value of the distance.

32. An apparatus, comprising:

means for receiving, at a network device, from one or more terminal devices, an indication of a capability to measure a distance between an object and the one or more terminal devices, the object being movable relative to the network device, and the indication being for determining that the terminal device supports detecting the distance between the terminal device and the object;

means for sending a request to at least one of the one or more terminal devices for measuring a distance between the object and the at least one terminal device;

means for receiving a measurement of the distance from the at least one terminal device; and