CN113439411A

CN113439411A - Positioning based on Sounding Reference Signal (SRS) carrier switching framework

Info

Publication number: CN113439411A
Application number: CN202080014573.3A
Authority: CN
Inventors: A.马诺拉科斯; A.里科阿尔瓦里尼奥; J.B.索里亚加
Original assignee: Qualcomm Inc
Current assignee: Qualcomm Inc
Priority date: 2019-02-15
Filing date: 2020-01-06
Publication date: 2021-09-24
Also published as: AU2020221754A1; WO2020167386A9; EP3925135A1; WO2020167386A1

Abstract

In some aspects, a method of wireless communication by a User Equipment (UE) comprises: receiving, by a UE, Downlink (DL) control information (DCI) on a Component Carrier (CC), the DCI triggering transmission of an Uplink (UL) Reference Signal (RS) for positioning by the UE on another CC. The method additionally comprises: transmitting, by the UE, an UL RS for positioning on another CC in response to the DCI. In other aspects, a method of wireless communication by a base station comprises: sending, by the base station, DCI to the UE on the CC, the DCI triggering the sending of a UL RS for positioning by the UE on another CC. The method additionally comprises: receiving, by the base station, an UL RS for positioning on another CC from the UE in response to the DCI.

Description

Positioning based on Sounding Reference Signal (SRS) carrier switching framework

Cross Reference to Related Applications

This application claims priority from a us patent application No. 16/733,847 entitled "position BASED ON Sound REFERENCE SIGNAL (SRS) CARRIER SWITCHING frame work" filed ON 3.1.2020 and a greek application No. 20190100080 entitled "position BASED ON Sound REFERENCE SIGNAL (SRS) CARRIER SWITCHING frame work" filed ON 15.2.2019, the entire contents of both applications being incorporated herein by reference as if fully set forth below and for all applicable purposes.

Technical Field

Aspects of the present disclosure relate generally to wireless communication systems and, more particularly, to using a Sounding Reference Signal (SRS) carrier switching framework for positioning purposes.

Background

Wireless communication networks are widely deployed to provide various communication services such as voice, video, packet data, messaging, broadcast, and so on. These wireless networks may be multiple-access networks capable of supporting multiple users by sharing the available network resources. Such networks, which are typically multiple-access networks, support communication for multiple users by sharing the available network resources.

A wireless communication network may include several base stations or node bs that can support communication for several User Equipments (UEs). A UE may communicate with a base station via the downlink and uplink. The downlink (or forward link) refers to the communication link from the base stations to the UEs, and the uplink (or reverse link) refers to the communication link from the UEs to the base stations.

A base station may transmit data and control information to a UE on the downlink and may receive data and control information from the UE on the uplink. On the downlink, transmissions from a base station may encounter interference due to transmissions from neighboring base stations or from other wireless Radio Frequency (RF) transmitters. On the uplink, transmissions from a UE may encounter uplink transmissions from other UEs communicating with neighboring base stations or interference from other wireless RF transmitters. Such interference may degrade performance on the downlink and uplink.

As the demand for mobile broadband access continues to increase, the likelihood of interference and congested networks grows as more UEs access long-range wireless communication networks and more short-range wireless systems are deployed in the community. Research and development continues to advance wireless communication technologies not only to meet the ever-increasing demand for mobile broadband access, but also to advance and enhance the user experience of mobile communications.

Disclosure of Invention

The following presents a simplified summary of some aspects of the disclosure in order to provide a basic understanding of the discussed technology. This summary is not an extensive overview of all contemplated features of the disclosure, and is intended to neither identify key or critical elements of all aspects of the disclosure, nor delineate the scope of any or all aspects of the disclosure. Its sole purpose is to present some concepts of one or more aspects of the disclosure in a general form as a prelude to the more detailed description that is presented later.

In an aspect, a method of wireless communication by a User Equipment (UE) comprises: downlink (DL) control information (DCI) is received by a UE on a first Component Carrier (CC). The method additionally comprises: transmitting, by the UE, an Uplink (UL) Reference Signal (RS) for positioning on a second CC based on the DCI.

In one aspect, an apparatus for wireless communications by a User Equipment (UE) has: means for receiving Downlink (DL) control information (DCI) on a first Component Carrier (CC) by a UE. The device additionally has: means for transmitting, by the UE, an Uplink (UL) Reference Signal (RS) for positioning on the second CC based on the DCI.

In one aspect, an apparatus for wireless communications by a User Equipment (UE) has: one or more processors and one or more memories coupled to the one or more processors. The one or more processors are configured to: receiving, by a transceiver of the UE, Downlink (DL) control information (DCI) on a first Component Carrier (CC). The one or more processors are additionally configured to: transmitting, by the transceiver of the UE, an Uplink (UL) Reference Signal (RS) for positioning on a second CC based on the DCI.

In one aspect, a computer-readable medium has instructions recorded thereon that, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to: downlink (DL) control information (DCI) is received by a User Equipment (UE) on a first Component Carrier (CC). The instructions additionally cause the one or more processors to: transmitting, by the UE, an Uplink (UL) Reference Signal (RS) for positioning on a second CC based on the DCI.

In accordance with aspects of the present disclosure, the foregoing systems, methods, and apparatus may be implemented in combination with one or more additional features, such as the following features, alone or in combination. For example, the above systems, methods and apparatus may include: the DCI has the same format as DCI for Sounding Reference Signal (SRS) carrier switching. The above systems, methods, and apparatus may include that the DCI has the same format as DCI for SRS carrier switching not used for positioning purposes. The system, method and device can comprise the following steps: determining, by the UE based on the DCI, that a plurality of SRS resources are configured in the second CC for at least one of: a plurality of UL RSs for positioning or UL RSs for positioning and at least one SRS for antenna switching. The system, method and device can comprise the following steps: sequentially triggering, by the UE, the plurality of SRS resources configured in the second CC in response to the determination. The system, method and device can comprise the following steps: the in-order triggering gives the at least one SRS for antenna switching a higher priority than the UL RS for positioning such that transmission of the at least one SRS for antenna switching precedes transmission of the UL RS for positioning. The system, method and device can comprise the following steps: in response to the determination, the UE drops one of UL RS or SRS for antenna switching. The system, method and device can comprise the following steps: the UE discards the one of the UL RS or SRS for antenna switching according to predefined rules in a wireless communication standard. The system, method and device can comprise the following steps: receiving whether to discard a semi-static configuration of the UL RS or SRS for antenna switching, wherein the UE discards the one of the UL RS or SRS for antenna switching according to the semi-static configuration. The system, method and device can comprise the following steps: the DCI triggering a plurality of DL Positioning Reference Signals (PRSs) on a plurality of CCs including the second CC, determining, by the UE, that the second CC does not have a configured physical uplink shared channel and physical uplink control channel (PUSCH/PUCCH) in response to the DCI, and determining, by the UE, that the DCI also triggers sending the UL RS for positioning on the second CC by the UE in response to the determination. The system, method and device can comprise the following steps: transmitting, by the UE, a UE capability for Sounding Reference Signal (SRS) carrier switching with SRS resources for positioning. The system, method and device can comprise the following steps: another UE capability for SRS carrier switching with SRS resources for communication is transmitted by the UE. The above-described systems, methods, and apparatus may include capabilities defined on a per-band basis for each of one or more band combinations. The system, method and device can comprise the following steps: a capability defined for each of one or more band combinations based on each band pair, and wherein the capability indicates for each of the band pairs which of the band pairs can be triggered by the other of the band pairs.

In one aspect, a method of wireless communication by a base station, the method comprising: downlink (DL) control information (DCI) is transmitted by a base station to a User Equipment (UE) on a first Component Carrier (CC). The method additionally comprises: receiving, by the base station, an Uplink (UL) Reference Signal (RS) for positioning on a second CC from the UE based on the DCI.

In one aspect, an apparatus for wireless communications by a base station has: means for transmitting Downlink (DL) control information (DCI) to a User Equipment (UE) on a first Component Carrier (CC) by a base station. The device additionally has: means for receiving, by the base station, an Uplink (UL) Reference Signal (RS) from the UE for positioning on a second CC based on the DCI.

In one aspect, an apparatus for wireless communications by a base station has: one or more processors and one or more memories coupled to the one or more processors. The one or more processors are configured to: transmitting, by a transceiver of the base station, Downlink (DL) control information (DCI) to a User Equipment (UE) on a first Component Carrier (CC). The one or more processors are additionally configured to: receiving, by the transceiver of the base station, an Uplink (UL) Reference Signal (RS) for positioning on a second CC from the UE based on the DCI.

In one aspect, a computer-readable medium has instructions recorded thereon that, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to: downlink (DL) control information (DCI) is transmitted by a base station to a User Equipment (UE) on a first Component Carrier (CC). The instructions additionally cause the one or more processors to: receiving, by the base station, an Uplink (UL) Reference Signal (RS) for positioning on a second CC from the UE based on the DCI.

In accordance with aspects of the present disclosure, the foregoing systems, methods, and apparatus may be implemented in combination with one or more additional features, such as the following features, alone or in combination. For example, the above systems, methods and apparatus may include: determining, by a base station, a location of the UE based at least in part on the UL RS. The system, method and device can comprise the following steps: forwarding, by the base station, measurements derived from the UL RSs to a location server configured to calculate a location of the UE based at least in part on the measurements. The above systems, methods and apparatus may include: the DCI has the same format as DCI for Sounding Reference Signal (SRS) carrier switching. The system, method and device can comprise the following steps: the DCI has the same format as DCI for SRS carrier switching not used for positioning purposes. The system, method and device can comprise the following steps: configuring, by the base station, a plurality of SRS resources in the second CC for at least one of: at least one of a plurality of UL RSs for positioning or UL RSs for positioning and at least one SRS for antenna switching. The system, method and device can comprise the following steps: receiving, by the base station in order from the UE in response to the configuration, a transmission triggered on each of the plurality of SRS resources configured in the second CC. The system, method and device can comprise the following steps: the order gives a higher priority to the at least one SRS for antenna switching than to the UL RS for positioning, such that the transmission of the at least one SRS for antenna switching precedes the transmission of the UL RS for positioning. The system, method and device can comprise the following steps: receiving, by the base station from the UE, the other of the UL RS or the SRS for antenna switching based on the UE dropping only one of the UL RS or the SRS for antenna switching in response to the configuration. The system, method and device can comprise the following steps: the UE discards the one of the UL RS or SRS for antenna switching according to predefined rules in a wireless communication standard. The system, method and device can comprise the following steps: semi-statically configuring, by the base station, the UE to drop one of the UL RS or the SRS for antenna switching. The system, method and device can comprise the following steps: determining, by the base station, to trigger the UE to transmit the UL RS for positioning on the second CC and to determine that the second CC does not have a configured PUSCH/PUCCH, wherein the base station transmits DCI having a same format as DCI for SRS carrier switching in response to determining that the second CC does not have a configured PUSCH/PUCCH. The system, method and device can comprise the following steps: the UL RS is an SRS configured for antenna switching, and the positioning related measurements are performed by the base station using the SRS configured for antenna switching. The system, method and device can comprise the following steps: determining, by the base station, to trigger the UE to send the UL RS for positioning on the second CC and to determine that the second CC does not have a configured PUSCH/PUCCH, wherein the base station sends the DCI to trigger a plurality of DL Positioning Reference Signals (PRSs) on a plurality of CCs including the second CC in response to determining that the second CC does not have a configured PUSCH/PUCCH. The system, method and device can comprise the following steps: receiving, by a base station from a UE, a UE capability for Sounding Reference Signal (SRS) carrier switching with SRS resources for positioning. The system, method and device can comprise the following steps: another UE capability for SRS carrier switching with SRS resources for communication is received by the base station from the UE. The system, method and device can comprise the following steps: capabilities defined on a per-band basis for each of the one or more band combinations. The system, method and device can comprise the following steps: a capability defined on a per band pair basis for each of one or more band combinations, wherein the capability indicates for each of the band pairs which of the band pairs can be triggered by another of the band pairs.

Other aspects, features, and implementations of the present disclosure will become apparent to those ordinarily skilled in the art upon review of the following description of specific example implementations of the disclosure in conjunction with the accompanying figures. While features of the disclosure may be discussed with respect to particular implementations and figures below, all implementations of the disclosure may include one or more of the advantageous features discussed herein. In other words, while one or more implementations may be discussed as having particular advantageous features, one or more of such features may also be used in accordance with the various implementations of the present disclosure discussed herein. In a similar manner, although example implementations may be discussed below as device, system, or method implementations, such example implementations may be implemented in various devices, systems, and methods.

Drawings

A further understanding of the nature and advantages of the present disclosure may be realized by reference to the following drawings. In the drawings, similar components or features may have the same reference numerals. Further, various components of the same type may be distinguished by following the reference label by a dash and a second label that distinguishes among the similar components. If only the first reference label is used in the specification, the description is applicable to any one of the similar components having the same first reference label irrespective of the second reference label.

Fig. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a wireless communication system in accordance with some implementations of the present disclosure.

Fig. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a Base Station (BS) and a User Equipment (UE) configured according to some implementations of the present disclosure.

Fig. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a location determination architecture according to some implementations of the present disclosure.

Fig. 4 is a block diagram illustrating a location determination process according to some implementations of the present disclosure.

Fig. 5 is a block diagram illustrating cross-carrier handover for positioning in accordance with some implementations of the present disclosure.

Fig. 6 is a block diagram illustrating a joint cross-carrier handover for positioning in accordance with some implementations of the present disclosure.

Fig. 7A is a block diagram illustrating example blocks of a wireless communication process performed by a UE configured according to some implementations of the present disclosure.

Fig. 7B is a block diagram illustrating example blocks of a wireless communication process performed by a UE configured according to some implementations of the present disclosure.

Fig. 7C is a block diagram illustrating example blocks of a wireless communication process performed by a UE configured according to some implementations of the present disclosure.

Fig. 7D is a block diagram illustrating example blocks of a wireless communication process performed by a UE configured according to some implementations of the present disclosure.

Fig. 7E is a block diagram illustrating example blocks of a wireless communication process performed by a UE configured according to some implementations of the present disclosure.

Fig. 8A is a block diagram illustrating example blocks of a wireless communication process performed by a base station configured according to some implementations of the present disclosure.

Fig. 8B is a block diagram illustrating example blocks of a wireless communication process performed by a base station configured according to some implementations of the present disclosure.

Fig. 8C is a block diagram illustrating example blocks of a wireless communication process performed by a base station configured according to some implementations of the present disclosure.

Fig. 8D is a block diagram illustrating example blocks of a wireless communication process performed by a base station configured according to some implementations of the present disclosure.

Fig. 8E is a block diagram illustrating example blocks of a wireless communication process performed by a base station configured according to some implementations of the present disclosure.

Fig. 8F is a block diagram illustrating example blocks of a wireless communication process performed by a base station configured according to some implementations of the present disclosure.

Fig. 9 is a block diagram illustrating example components of a User Equipment (UE) in accordance with some implementations of the present disclosure.

Fig. 10 is a block diagram illustrating example components of a base station in accordance with some implementations of the present disclosure.

Detailed Description

The present disclosure relates generally to providing or participating in communications between two or more wireless devices in one or more wireless communication systems (also referred to as wireless communication networks). In various implementations, the techniques and apparatus may be used for wireless communication networks such as Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) networks, Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) networks, Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA) networks, orthogonal FDMA (ofdma) networks, single carrier FDMA (SC-FDMA) networks, Long Term Evolution (LTE) networks, global system for mobile communications (GSM) networks, and other communication networks. As described herein, the terms "network" and "system" may be used interchangeably depending on the particular context.

For example, a CDMA network may implement a radio technology such as Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (UTRA), CDMA2000, and so on. UTRA includes wideband CDMA (W-CDMA) and Low Chip Rate (LCR). CDMA2000 covers IS-2000, IS-95 and IS-856 standards.

A TDMA network may, for example, implement a radio technology such as GSM. The 3GPP defines the standard for the GSM EDGE (enhanced data rates for GSM evolution) Radio Access Network (RAN), also denoted GERAN. GERAN together with the network connecting the base stations (e.g., the Ater and Abis interfaces) and the base station controller (a interface, etc.) is the radio component of GSM/EDGE. A radio access network refers to the component of a GSM network by which telephone calls and packet data are routed from and to a Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) and the internet to and from subscriber handsets (also known as user terminals or User Equipment (UE)). The network of the mobile telephone operator may comprise one or more GERANs, which in the case of a UMTS/GSM network may be coupled with a Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (UTRAN). The operator network may also include one or more LTE networks and one or more other networks. The various different network types may use different Radio Access Technologies (RATs) and Radio Access Networks (RANs).

An OFDMA network may, for example, implement radio technologies such as evolved UTRA (E-UTRA), IEEE 802.11, IEEE 802.16, IEEE 802.20, flash-OFDM, etc. UTRA, E-UTRA and GSM are part of the Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS). Specifically, LTE is a UMTS release that uses E-UTRA. UTRA, E-UTRA, GSM, UMTS and LTE are described in documents from an organization named "third generation partnership project" (3GPP), and cdma2000 is described in documents from an organization named "third generation partnership project 2" (3GPP 2). These various radio technologies and standards are known or under development. For example, the third generation partnership project (3GPP) is a collaboration between groups of telecommunications associations that are intended to define globally applicable third generation (3G) mobile phone specifications. The 3GPP Long Term Evolution (LTE) is a 3GPP project aimed at improving the Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) mobile phone standard. The 3GPP may define specifications for next generation mobile networks, mobile systems, and mobile devices.

The present disclosure provides a mechanism to enable reuse of cross-carrier handover Sounding Reference Signal (SRS) procedures for positioning purposes. For example, a base station transmits Downlink (DL) control information (DCI) on one Component Carrier (CC), which triggers a User Equipment (UE) to transmit an Uplink (UL) Reference Signal (RS) for positioning on another CC. A UE receiving DCI on one CC responds by sending UL RS for positioning on another CC. In response to the DCI, the UE transmits an UL RS for positioning on another CC. The base station receives the UL RS for positioning and uses the UL RS to determine the location of the UE or forwards corresponding measurements to a server that determines the location of the UE. Reusing the cross-carrier switching SRS mechanisms and procedures in this way avoids the additional complexity and overhead signaling that would result from implementing an additional mechanism for triggering UL RS transmissions on CCs with no configured physical uplink shared channel and physical uplink control channel (PUSCH/PUCCH).

Fig. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a wireless communication system in accordance with some implementations of the present disclosure. Fig. 1 illustrates a wireless network 100 for communication according to some implementations. Although a discussion of the techniques of this disclosure is provided with respect to an LTE-a network (shown in fig. 1), this is for illustrative purposes. The principles of the disclosed technology may be used in other network deployments, including fifth generation (5G) networks. As will be appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art, the components appearing in fig. 1 may have related counterparts in other network arrangements, including, for example, cellular network arrangements and non-cellular network arrangements (e.g., device-to-device or peer-to-peer or ad hoc network arrangements, etc.).

Returning to fig. 1, wireless network 100 includes several base stations, including evolved node bs (enbs) or G node bs (gnbs) 105. The gNB 105 may be a station that communicates with UEs and may also be referred to as a Base Station (BS), a node B, an access point, etc. Each gNB 105 may provide communication coverage for a particular geographic area. In 3GPP, the term "cell" can refer to this particular geographic coverage area of a gNB and the gNB subsystem serving that coverage area, depending on the context in which the term is used. In implementations of wireless network 100 herein, the gNB 105 may be associated with the same operator or different operators (e.g., wireless network 100 may include two or more operator wireless networks) and may provide wireless communication using one or more of the same frequencies as neighboring cells (e.g., one or more frequency bands in licensed spectrum, unlicensed spectrum, or a combination thereof).

The gNB may provide communication coverage for a macro cell or a small cell (such as a pico cell or a femto cell), as well as other types of cells. A macro cell generally covers a relatively large geographic area (e.g., several kilometers in radius) and may allow unrestricted access by UEs with service subscriptions with the network provider. Small cells, such as pico cells, will generally cover a relatively small geographic area and may allow unrestricted access by UEs with service subscriptions with the network provider. Small cells, such as femtocells, will typically also cover relatively small geographic areas (e.g., homes), and may provide restricted access by UEs having an association with a femtocell (e.g., UEs in a Closed Subscriber Group (CSG), UEs of users in a home, etc.) in addition to unrestricted access. The gNB for the macro cell may be referred to as a macro gNB. A gNB for a small cell may be referred to as a small cell gNB, pico gNB, femto gNB, or home gNB. In the example shown in fig. 1, the gnbs 105a, 105b, and 105c are macro gnbs for the

macro cells

110a, 110b, and 110c, respectively. The

gnbs

105x, 105y, and 105z are small cell gnbs, which may include pico or femto gnbs that provide service to

small cells

110x, 110y, and 110z, respectively. The gNB may support one or more (e.g., two, three, four, etc.) cells.

Wireless network 100 may support synchronous or asynchronous operation. For synchronous operation, the gnbs may have similar frame timing, and transmissions from different gnbs may be approximately aligned in time. For asynchronous operation, the gnbs may have different frame timing, and transmissions from different gnbs may not be aligned in time. In some scenarios, the network may be enabled or configured to handle dynamic switching between synchronous or asynchronous operation.

UEs 115 are dispersed throughout wireless network 100, and each UE may be stationary or mobile. Although a mobile apparatus is often referred to as User Equipment (UE) in standards and specifications promulgated by the third generation partnership project (3GPP), such an apparatus may also be referred to by those of ordinary skill in the art as a Mobile Station (MS), a subscriber station, a mobile unit, a subscriber unit, a wireless unit, a remote unit, a mobile device, a wireless communication device, a remote device, a mobile subscriber station, an Access Terminal (AT), a mobile terminal, a wireless terminal, a remote terminal, a handset, a terminal, a user agent, a mobile client, a client, or some other suitable terminology. Within this document, a "mobile" device or UE does not necessarily need to have the ability to move, and may be stationary. Some non-limiting examples of mobile devices, such as may include implementations of one or more of UEs 115, include mobile phones, cellular (cell) phones, smart phones, Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) phones, laptops, Personal Computers (PCs), notebooks, netbooks, smartbooks, tablets, and Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs). Additionally, the mobile device may be an "internet of things" (IoT) device, such as an automobile or other transportation vehicle, a satellite radio, a Global Positioning System (GPS) device, a logistics controller, a drone, a multi-axis aircraft, a quadcopter, a smart energy or security device, a solar panel or solar array, city lighting, water, or other infrastructure; industrial automation and enterprise equipment; consumer and wearable devices, such as glasses, wearable cameras, smart watches, health or fitness trackers, mammalian implantable devices, gesture tracking devices, medical devices, digital audio players (e.g., MP3 players), cameras, game consoles, and the like; and digital home or smart home devices such as home audio, video and multimedia devices, appliances, sensors, vending machines, smart lighting, home security systems, smart meters, and the like. A mobile device (such as UE 115) may be capable of communicating with a macro gNB, pico gNB, femto gNB, relay, and/or the like. In fig. 1, the lightning bolt (e.g., communication link 125) indicates a wireless transmission between the UE and a serving gNB or a desired transmission between the gNB, where the serving gNB is the gNB designated to serve the UE on the downlink and uplink. Although backhaul communication 134 is shown as a wired backhaul communication that may occur between the gnbs, backhaul communication may additionally or alternatively be provided by wireless communication.

Fig. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a Base Station (BS) and a User Equipment (UE) configured according to some implementations of the present disclosure. These may be one of the base stations/gbbs and one of the UEs in fig. 1. For the restricted association scenario (described above), the gNB 105 may be the small cell gNB 105z in fig. 1, and the UE 115 may be the UE 115z, which UE 115z is to be included in an accessible UE list of the small cell gNB 105z for accessing the small cell gNB 105 z. The gNB 105 may also be some other type of base station. The gNB 105 may be equipped with antennas 234a through 234t, and the UE 115 may be equipped with antennas 252a through 252 r.

At the gNB 105, a transmit processor 220 may receive data from a data source 212 and control information from a controller/processor 240. The control information may be for a Physical Broadcast Channel (PBCH), a Physical Control Format Indicator Channel (PCFICH), a physical hybrid ARQ indicator channel (PHICH), a Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH), etc. The data may be for a Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH), etc. Transmit processor 220 may process (e.g., encode and symbol map) the data and control information to obtain data symbols and control symbols, respectively. Transmit processor 220 may also generate reference symbols, e.g., for a Primary Synchronization Signal (PSS), a Secondary Synchronization Signal (SSS), and a cell-specific reference signal (CRS). A Transmit (TX) multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) processor 230 may perform spatial processing (e.g., precoding) on the data symbols, the control symbols, and the reference symbols, if applicable, and may provide output symbol streams to Modulators (MODs) 232a through 232 t. Each modulator 232 may process a respective output symbol stream (e.g., for OFDM, etc.) to obtain an output sample stream. Each modulator 232 may additionally or alternatively process (e.g., convert to analog, amplify, filter, and upconvert) the output sample stream to obtain a downlink signal. Downlink signals from modulators 232a through 232t may be transmitted via antennas 234a through 234t, respectively.

At the UE 115, antennas 252a through 252r may receive downlink signals from the gNB 105 and may provide received signals to demodulators (DEMODs) 254a through 254r, respectively. Each demodulator 254 may condition (e.g., filter, amplify, downconvert, and digitize) a respective received signal to obtain input samples. Each demodulator 254 may further process the input samples (e.g., for OFDM, etc.) to obtain received symbols. A MIMO detector 256 may obtain received symbols from all demodulators 254a through 254r, perform MIMO detection on the received symbols if applicable, and provide detected symbols. A receive processor 258 may process (e.g., demodulate, deinterleave, and decode) the detected symbols, provide decoded data for the UE 115 to a data sink (data sink)260, and provide decoded control information to a controller/processor 280.

On the uplink, at UE 115, a transmit processor 264 may receive and process data from a data source 262 (e.g., for the PUSCH) and control information from a controller/processor 280 (e.g., for the PUCCH). Transmit processor 264 may also generate reference symbols for a reference signal. The symbols from transmit processor 264 may be precoded by a TX MIMO processor 266 if applicable, further processed by modulators 254a through 254r (e.g., for SC-FDM, etc.), and transmitted to the gNB 105. At the gNB 105, the uplink signals from the UE 115 may be received by the antennas 234, processed by the demodulators 232, detected by a MIMO detector 236 (if applicable), and further processed by a receive processor 238 to obtain decoded data and control information sent by the UE 115. Processor 238 may provide decoded data to a data sink 239 and decoded control information to controller/processor 240.

Controllers/

processors

240 and 280 may direct operation at gNB 105 and UE 115, respectively. Controller/processor 240 and other processors and modules at gNB 105 and controller/processor 280 and other processors and modules at UE 115 may perform or direct the performance of various processes for the techniques described herein, such as performing or directing the performance shown in fig. 7A-10, as well as other processes for the techniques described herein.

Memories

242 and 282 may store data and program codes for the gNB 105 and UE 115, respectively. A scheduler 244 may schedule UEs for data transmission on the downlink and uplink.

Sounding Reference Signal (SRS) carrier switching is used for sounding carriers that are not configured with PUCCH/PUSCH but on which Uplink (UL) symbols can be transmitted. In this case, the UE does not transmit SRS for UL purposes because a physical UL shared channel and a physical UL control channel (PUSCH/PUCCH) are not transmitted. However, in Time Division Duplex (TDD) operation, knowledge of the UL channel may be useful for the network so that it can be beamformed accordingly (using reciprocity) in the Downlink (DL). Thus, for aperiodic SRS carrier switching, there is specific DL Control Information (DCI) that is transmitted to the UE to schedule SRS for carrier switching in other component carriers.

Fig. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a location determination architecture according to some implementations of the present disclosure. Positioning across multiple cells is performed by repeating a basic Round Trip Time (RTT) process across multiple cells. The distance from the UE 115 to each cell 105a-105c and the location of each cell 105a-105c determined (e.g., by logic of the server 300 in communication with one or more of the cells 105a-105c or including portions of one or more of the cells 105a-105 c) based on the RTT1, RTT2, and RTT3 may be used for multilateration. In some implementations, a minimum of three cells may be used for positioning. Further pruning or averaging across multiple observations may improve the estimate, and the multiple observations may come from more cells, angles of arrival (AOA), angles of departure (AOD), and/or more time instances.

Fig. 4 is a block diagram illustrating location determination concepts and processes according to some implementations of the present disclosure. Some basic steps in the multi-RTT positioning procedure may include the base station transmitting a Downlink (DL) Reference Signal (RS) at time T1. The DL RS arrives at the UE at time T2, and the UE transmits an Uplink (UL) RS at time T3. The UL RS is measured by the base station at time T4. The UE may report the time difference with the earliest time of arrival (TOA) path UE Rx-Tx with high accuracy, such as within 1 nanosecond (ns). Knowing (T4-T1) and (T3-T2), the position of the UE can be calculated using the following equation:

2d/c＝(T4-T1)-(T3-T2)＝(T4-T1)+(T2-T3)，

where d and c are the distance of the UE to the base station and the speed of light, respectively.

Fig. 5 is a block diagram illustrating cross-carrier handover for positioning in accordance with some implementations of the present disclosure. In some implementations, Downlink Control Information (DCI) on the second component carrier (CC2) is used to trigger UL RS on the first component carrier (CC1) with no configured PUSCH/PUCCH. This mechanism may be implemented by reusing cross-carrier switching mechanisms for positioning (e.g., SRS carrier switching described above defined for sounding carriers with no PUCCH/PUSCH configured) instead of or in addition to communication, such as UL channel measurements for DL beamforming by reciprocity. In some implementations, "communication" refers to those SRS resources configured for UL scheduling or DL scheduling, with specific examples being SRS resources in NR Rel-15 for codebook-based UL, non-codebook-based UL, antenna switching, and UL beam management.

When the UE has less than or equal to the number of DL receive (Rx) chains of UL transmit (Tx) chains, SRS for antenna switching is used. Available modes include 1T2R, T ═ R, 2T4R, and 1T 4R. The UE sequentially transmits SRS from different antennas so that the base station can know the UL channel and use reciprocity to beamform the corresponding DL channel. For SRS to be cross-carrier triggered, it is necessary to configure the usage set to "antenna switching", which is defined in the New Radio (NR) release 15 specification.

In the illustrative example, the base station transmits DLRS from 2 consecutive CCs (CC1 and CC2), where CC1 has no configured PUSCH/PUCCH. In multi-RTT positioning or uplink time difference of arrival (UTDOA) positioning, it would be beneficial for the UE to send UL positioning rs (prs) in all CCs. However, the UE will not be able to send SRS in CC1 for positioning purposes because there is no PUSCH/PUCCH configured. Designing a new SRS carrier switching mechanism for positioning purposes only may be wasteful.

The present disclosure provides a solution to the problems discussed above by reusing the conventional SRS carrier switching procedure for positioning. For example, an SRS for positioning may be triggered from a different CC and may be triggered using the same DCI format as an SRS for carrier switching. The present disclosure sets forth a number of implementations that involve configuration of multiple SRS transmissions on a CC, triggering SRS transmissions on a CC through DCI received on another CC, or both. For example, a plurality of SRSs for positioning may be configured on a CC, or at least one SRS for positioning and at least one SRS for antenna switching may be configured on a CC. Moreover, while transmission of SRS for positioning by a UE is discussed with respect to examples herein, the UE may additionally or alternatively use configured UL resources to transmit UL RSs for positioning that are not SRS, such as PRSs.

In a first implementation, the UE may trigger all configured SRS resources associated with antenna switching and positioning in a carrier in sequence. Here, the triggering of the SRS for antenna switching may be given a higher priority than the triggering of the SRS for positioning. In a second implementation, the UE may drop positioning SRS or antenna switching resources according to predefined rules in the wireless communication standard. In a third implementation, the UE may drop positioning SRS or antenna switching resources according to the semi-static configuration. In a fourth implementation, any SRS resource configured for antenna switching is also configured for positioning purposes. Here, if positioning-only SRS is triggered across CCs, the UE is not expected to be configured with positioning-only SRS.

Fig. 6 is a block diagram illustrating a joint cross-carrier handover for positioning in accordance with some implementations of the present disclosure. Thus, cross-CC joint triggering of DL PRS and UL PRS may be achieved. For example, a UE may be triggered from multiple DL PRS (DLRS) to different CCs from one DCI. If one of the CCs (such as CC1) does not have a configured PUSCH/PUCCH, the UE may assume that a configured SRS carrier switch for positioning is also triggered on CC 1.

An additional solution presented herein is that the UE signals its capability for positioning SRS carrier switching, and this signaling may be in addition to and different from the signaling of UE capability for communicating SRS carrier switching. For example, the UE capability for positioning SRS carrier switching may be defined in a per-band or a per-band pair in a band combination. The capability may relate to which frequency bands may be triggered from which other frequency bands. This capability is different from conventional SRS carrier switching for DL channel state information (DL-CSI) acquisition. For example, to locate, the UE may probe a Frequency Division Duplex (FDD) band triggered from another FDD band. In contrast, for DL-CSI acquisition, such a requirement is not required.

Fig. 7A is a block diagram illustrating example blocks of a wireless communication process performed by a UE configured according to some implementations of the present disclosure. Beginning at block 700, the method includes receiving, by a UE, Downlink (DL) control information (DCI) on a first Component Carrier (CC). For example, the DCI may have the same format as a DCI for Sounding Reference Signal (SRS) carrier switching. Receiving DCI on a first CC may trigger transmission of an Uplink (UL) Reference Signal (RS) for positioning by a UE on a second CC. Processing may proceed from block 700 to block 702.

At block 702, the method continues by sending, by the UE, an UL RS for positioning on the second CC based on the DCI. Transmitting the UL RS for positioning may be in response to receiving the DCI on the first CC. After block 702, the process may end. Alternatively, processing may return from block 702 to an earlier point in the process, such as block 700.

Fig. 7B is a block diagram illustrating example blocks of a wireless communication process performed by a UE configured according to some implementations of the present disclosure. The method includes

blocks

710 and 714, which correspond to

blocks

700 and 702, respectively, as described above with reference to fig. 7A. However, processing may proceed from block 710 to block 712, and from block 712 to block 714.

At block 712, the method continues by determining, by the UE based on the DCI, that a plurality of SRS resources are configured in the second CC for at least one of: a plurality of UL RSs for positioning, a UL RS for positioning, and at least one SRS for antenna switching, or both. In some implementations, block 714 includes: in response to the determination, sequentially triggering, by the UE, the plurality of SRS resources configured in the second CC. Such in-order triggering may give higher priority to SRS for antenna switching than UL RS for positioning, and thus cause transmission of SRS for antenna switching before UL RS for positioning is transmitted. If there is more than one SRS for antenna switching, all of these SRSs for antenna switching may be transmitted prior to the transmission of any UL RS for positioning.

Fig. 7C is a block diagram illustrating example blocks of a wireless communication process performed by a UE configured according to some implementations of the present disclosure. The method includes

blocks

720, 722, and 726, which correspond to

blocks

700, 712, and 702, respectively, described above with reference to fig. 7A and 7B. However, processing may proceed from block 722 to block 724 and from block 724 to block 726.

At block 724, the method continues by dropping, by the UE, one of the UL RS or SRS for antenna switching in response to the determination at block 722. For example, the UE may discard UL RSs or SRS for antenna switching according to predefined rules in the wireless communication standard. Alternatively, at block 720, the UE may receive a semi-static configuration of whether to drop UL RS or SRS for antenna switching. In this case, at block 724, the UE may drop UL RSs or SRS for antenna switching according to the semi-static configuration.

Fig. 7D is a block diagram illustrating example blocks of a wireless communication process performed by a UE configured according to some implementations of the present disclosure. The method includes

blocks

730 and 736, which correspond to

blocks

700 and 702, respectively, as described above with reference to fig. 7A, and the DCI received at block 730 triggers a plurality of DL Positioning Reference Signals (PRSs) on a plurality of CCs including a second CC. However, processing may proceed from block 730 to block 732.

At block 732, the method continues by determining, by the UE in response to the DCI, that the second CC does not have a configured physical uplink shared channel and physical uplink control channel (PUSCH/PUCCH). Processing may proceed from block 732 to block 734.

At block 734, the method continues by determining, by the UE, in response to the determination at block 732, that the DCI also triggers the transmission of an UL RS for positioning by the UE on the second CC. Processing may proceed from block 734 to block 736.

Fig. 7E is a block diagram illustrating example blocks of a wireless communication process performed by a UE configured according to some implementations of the present disclosure. The method includes

blocks

744 and 746, which correspond to

blocks

700 and 702, respectively, described above with reference to fig. 7A. However, the process begins at block 740.

At block 740, the method begins with transmitting, by the UE, UE capabilities for SRS carrier switching with SRS resources for positioning. For example, the capabilities may be defined on a per-band basis for each of one or more band combinations. Alternatively, a capability may be defined for each of one or more band combinations based on each band pair, and the capability indicates for each of the band pairs which of the band pairs can be triggered by the other of the band pairs. Processing may proceed from block 740 to block 742.

At block 742, the method continues by transmitting, by the UE, UE capabilities for SRS carrier switching with SRS resources for communication. Processing may proceed from block 742 to block 744.

Fig. 8A is a block diagram illustrating example blocks of a wireless communication process performed by a base station configured according to some implementations of the present disclosure. The method begins at block 800 with transmitting, by a base station, Downlink (DL) control information (DCI) on a first Component Carrier (CC) to a User Equipment (UE). For example, the DCI may have the same format as a DCI for Sounding Reference Signal (SRS) carrier switching. Transmitting DCI on a first CC may trigger transmission of an Uplink (UL) Reference Signal (RS) for positioning by the UE on a second CC. Processing may proceed from block 800 to block 802.

At block 802, the method continues by receiving, by the base station, an UL RS on the second CC from the UE for positioning on the second CC based on the DCI. After block 802, the process may end. Alternatively, processing may return from block 802 to an earlier point in the process, such as block 800.

Fig. 8B is a block diagram illustrating example blocks of a wireless communication process performed by a base station configured according to some implementations of the present disclosure. The method includes

blocks

810 and 812, which correspond to

blocks

800 and 802, respectively, described above with reference to fig. 8A. However, processing proceeds from block 812 to block 814.

At block 814, the method continues by determining, by the base station, a location of the UE based on the UL RS. For example, a base station may calculate, compute, or estimate a position based on measurements derived from UL RSs and such measurements received from two or more other base stations. After block 814, processing may end. Alternatively, processing may return from block 814 to an earlier point in the process, such as block 810.

Fig. 8C is a block diagram illustrating example blocks of a wireless communication process performed by a base station configured according to some implementations of the present disclosure. The method includes

blocks

820 and 822, which correspond to

blocks

800 and 802, respectively, as described above with reference to fig. 8A. However, processing proceeds from block 822 to block 824.

At block 824, the method continues by forwarding, by the base station, the measurements obtained from the UL RS to a location server configured to calculate a location of the UE based on the measurements. For example, the location server may calculate the location of the UE based on such measurements from three or more base stations. After block 824, processing may end. Alternatively, processing may return from block 824 to an earlier point in the process, such as block 820.

Fig. 8D is a block diagram illustrating example blocks of a wireless communication process performed by a base station configured according to some implementations of the present disclosure. The method includes

blocks

832 and 834, which correspond to

blocks

800 and 802, respectively, as described above with reference to fig. 8A. However, the process begins at block 830.

At block 830, the method begins with configuring, by the base station, a plurality of SRS resources in the second CC for at least one of: multiple UL RSs for positioning, and one or more SRSs for antenna switching, or both. In some implementations, the receiving at block 834 may include: in response to the configuration, a transmission triggered on each of the plurality of SRS resources configured in the second CC is received in order from the UE by the base station. The order may give higher priority to the one or more SRSs for antenna switching than to the UL RS for positioning. Alternatively, the receiving at block 834 may comprise: the other of the UL RS or the SRS for antenna switching is received by the base station from the UE based on the UE dropping only one of the UL RS or the SRS for antenna switching in response to the configuration. In some implementations, the UE may drop UL RSs or SRS for antenna switching according to predefined rules in the wireless communication standard. Alternatively, block 830 may include semi-statically configuring, by the base station, the UE to drop UL RS or SRS for antenna switching.

Fig. 8E is a block diagram illustrating example blocks of a wireless communication process performed by a base station configured according to some implementations of the present disclosure. The method includes

blocks

844 and 846, which correspond to

blocks

800 and 802, respectively, described above with reference to fig. 8A. However, the process begins at block 840.

At block 840, the method begins with determining, by the base station, to trigger the UE to send an UL RS for positioning on the second CC. Processing may proceed from block 840 to block 842.

At block 842, the method continues by determining that the second CC does not have a configured PUSCH/PUCCH. In some implementations, at block 844, the base station may transmit DCI having the same format as DCI for SRS carrier switching in response to determining that the second CC does not have a configured PUSCH/PUCCH. Alternatively, the UL RS received at block 846 may be an SRS configured for antenna switching. In this case, the base station may perform positioning related measurements using the SRS configured for antenna switching. As another alternative, the DCI sent at block 844 may trigger a plurality of DL Positioning Reference Signals (PRSs) on a plurality of CCs including the second CC.

Fig. 8F is a block diagram illustrating example blocks of a wireless communication process performed by a base station configured according to some implementations of the present disclosure. The method includes

blocks

854 and 856, which correspond to

blocks

800 and 802, respectively, as described above with reference to fig. 8A. However, the process begins at block 850.

At block 850, the method begins with receiving, by a base station from a UE, UE capabilities for SRS carrier switching with SRS resources for positioning. For example, the capabilities may be defined on a per-band basis for each of one or more band combinations. Alternatively, a capability may be defined for each of one or more band combinations based on each band pair and indicate for each of the band pairs which of the band pairs can be triggered by the other of the band pairs. Processing may proceed from block 850 to block 852.

At block 852, the method continues by receiving, by the base station from the UE, UE capabilities for SRS carrier switching with SRS resources for communication. Processing may proceed from block 852 to block 854.

Fig. 9 is a block diagram illustrating example components of a User Equipment (UE) in accordance with some implementations of the present disclosure. As described above, a UE 900, such as UE 115 (see fig. 2), may have a controller/processor 280, a memory 282, and antennas 252 a-252 r. UE 900 may also have radios 901 a-901 r, where one or more of radios 901 a-901 r includes a transceiver 910 that includes additional components (e.g., demodulators/modulators 254 a-254 r, MIMO detector 258, receive processor 258, transmit processor 264, and/or TX MIMO processor 266) also described above with reference to fig. 2. The memory 282 of the UE 900 stores one or more algorithms, sets of instructions, program code, etc. (also referred to collectively and individually as logic) that configure the processor/controller 280 and/or other components of the UE 900 to perform one or more processes as described above with reference to fig. 7A-7E.

As previously described, the one or more algorithms stored by the memory 282 configure the processor/controller 280 and/or other components of the UE 900 to perform one or more processes related to wireless communications by the UE 900. For example, the UE capability transmitter 902 configures the controller processor 280 to perform operations including transmitting the UE capability for SRS carrier switching with SRS resources for positioning in any manner previously described, such as with reference to block 740 (see fig. 7E). In addition, the UE capability transmitter 903 configures the controller processor 280 to perform operations including transmitting, by the UE, the UE capability for SRS carrier switching with SRS resources for communication in any manner previously described, such as with reference to block 742 (see fig. 7E). In addition, DCI receiver 904 configures controller processor 280 to perform operations including receiving DCI in any of the manners previously described, such as with reference to blocks 700 (see fig. 7A), 710 (see fig. 7B), 720 (see fig. 7C), 730 (see fig. 7D), and 744 (see fig. 7E). Further, the configuration determiner 905 configures the controller/processor 280 to perform operations including determining the configuration in any of the manners previously described, such as with reference to blocks 712 (see fig. 7B) and 722 (see fig. 7C). Further, RS dropper 906 configures controller/processor 280 to perform operations including dropping RSs in any manner previously described, such as with reference to block 724 (see fig. 7C). Further, the UL channel configuration determiner 907 configures the controller/processor 280 to perform operations including determining the UL channel configuration for the CC in any of the manners previously described, such as with reference to block 732 (see fig. 7D). Further, trigger detector 908 configures controller/processor 280 to perform operations including determining that the DCI triggers the second CC in any of the manners previously described, such as with reference to block 734 (see fig. 7D). Further, UL RS transmitter 909 configures one or more radios in controller/processor 280 and/or transceiver 910 to perform operations including transmitting UL RS for positioning on the second CC in any manner previously described, such as with reference to blocks 702 (see fig. 7A), 714 (see fig. 7B), 726 (see fig. 7C), 738 (see fig. 7D), 746 (see fig. 7E).

It is to be appreciated that the memory 282 can include various memory elements of the UE 900, such as main memory, memory internal to the components (e.g., the controller/processor 280, the radios 901 a-901 r, etc.), external or remote memory, and the like. Thus, logic for some or all of the algorithms stored by the memory 282 in the example shown in fig. 9 may be stored internally (e.g., in RAM, ROM, flash memory, etc.) and/or executed by various components of the UE 900 (e.g., by processors of the components, such as the processors of the wireless radios 901 a-901 r). As an example, according to some aspects of the disclosure, the transceiver 910 may internally store logic or some portion of logic of the UE capability transmitter 902 to perform operations including transmitting, in any of the manners previously described, UE capabilities for SRS carrier switching with SRS resources for positioning, logic or some portion of logic of the UE capability transmitter 903 to perform operations including transmitting, by the UE, UE capabilities for SRS carrier switching with SRS resources for communication in any of the manners previously described, logic or some portion of logic of the DCI receiver 904 to perform operations including receiving DCI in any of the manners previously described, logic or some portion of logic of the configuration determiner 905 to perform operations including determining a configuration in any of the manners previously described, logic or some portion of logic of the RS dropper 906 to perform operations including dropping RSs in any of the manners previously described, logic or some portion of logic of UL channel configuration determiner 907 to configure transceiver 910 to perform operations including determining a UL channel configuration for the CC in any of the manners previously described, logic or some portion of logic of trigger detector 908 to perform operations including determining that the DCI triggers the second CC in any of the manners previously described, and/or logic or some portion of logic of UL RS transmitter 909 to perform operations including transmitting the UL RS for positioning on the second CC in any of the manners previously described. The aforementioned operations as performed by the transceiver 910 may operate, for example, in conjunction with the controller processor 280, such as may control the operation of the transceiver 910 and/or corresponding operations of the logic to perform the aforementioned algorithms.

Additionally or alternatively, some or all of the functionality of one or more of the algorithms described above with respect to the UE 900 may be implemented in whole or in part as one or more hardware modules (e.g., electronic devices, hardware devices, electronic components, etc., or any combination thereof). For example, the UE capability transmitter 902, the UE capability transmitter 903, the DCI receiver 904, the configuration determiner 905, the RS dropper 906, the UL channel configuration determiner 907, the trigger detector 908, and/or the UL RS transmitter 909 may be provided in whole or in part in a hardware implementation.

Fig. 10 is a block diagram illustrating example components of a base station in accordance with some implementations of the present disclosure. As described above, a base station 1000, such as the gNB 105 (see fig. 2), may have a controller/processor 240, memory 242, and antennas 234 a-234 t. Base station 1000 may also have radios 1001 a-1001 t, where one or more of radios 1001 a-1001 t includes a transceiver 1010 that includes additional components (e.g., demodulators/modulators 232 a-232 t, MIMO detector 236, receive processor 238, transmit processor 220, and/or TX MIMO processor 230) also described above with reference to fig. 2. Memory 242 of base station 1000 stores one or more algorithms, sets of instructions, program code, etc. (also referred to collectively and individually as logic) that configure processor/controller 240 and/or other components of base station 1000 to perform one or more processes as described above with reference to fig. 8A-8F.

As previously described, the one or more algorithms stored by the memory 242 configure the processor/controller 240 and/or other components of the base station 1000 to perform one or more operations related to wireless communications by the base station 1000. For example, the UE capability receiver 1002 configures the controller processor 240 to perform operations including receiving UE capabilities for SRS carrier switching with SRS resources for positioning in any manner previously described, such as with reference to block 850 (see fig. 8F). In addition, the UE capability receiver 1003 configures the controller processor 240 to perform operations including receiving UE capabilities for SRS carrier switching with SRS resources for communication in any manner previously described, such as with reference to block 852 (see fig. 8F). Further, the DCI transmitter 1004 configures the controller processor 240 to perform operations including transmitting DCI in any of the manners previously described, such as with reference to blocks 800 (see fig. 8A), 810 (see fig. 8B), 820 (see fig. 8C), 832 (see fig. 8D), 844 (see fig. 8E), and 850 (see fig. 8F). Further, SRS resource configurator 1005 configures controller processor 240 to perform operations including configuring a plurality of SRS resources in the second CC in any manner previously described, such as with reference to block 830 (see fig. 8D). Further, trigger determiner 1006 configures controller processor 240 to perform operations including determining, in any manner previously described, such as with reference to block 840 (see fig. 8E), to trigger the UE to send an RS of the UL for positioning on the second CC. Further, UL channel configuration determiner 1007 configures controller processor 240 to perform operations including determining that the second CC does not have a configured PUSCH/PUCCH in any manner previously described, such as with reference to block 842 (see fig. 8E). Further, UL RS receiver 1008 configures controller processor 240 to perform operations including receiving UL RSs in any manner previously described, such as with reference to blocks 802 (see fig. 8A), 812 (see fig. 8B), 820 (see fig. 8C), 834 (see fig. 8D), 846 (see fig. 8E), and 856 (see fig. 8F). Further, UL RS processor 1009 configures controller processor 240 to perform operations including processing the UL RS in any manner previously described, such as with reference to blocks 814 (see fig. 8B) and 824 (see fig. 8C).

It is to be understood that the memory 242 may include various memory elements of the base station 1000, such as a main memory, a memory internal to the components (e.g., the controller/processor 240, radios 1001 a-1001 t, etc.), an external or remote memory, and so forth. Thus, the logic of some or all of the algorithms stored by memory 242 in the example shown in fig. 10 may be stored internally (e.g., in RAM, ROM, flash memory, etc.) and/or executed by various components of base station 1000 (e.g., by processors of the components, such as the processors of wireless radios 1001 a-1001 r). As an example, according to some aspects of the disclosure, the transceiver 1010 may internally store logic or some portion of logic of the UE capability receiver 1002 to perform operations including receiving UE capabilities for SRS carrier switching with SRS resources for positioning in any of the manners previously described, logic or some portion of logic of the UE capability receiver 1003 to perform operations including receiving UE capabilities for SRS carrier switching with SRS resources for communication in any of the manners previously described, and logic or some portion of logic of the DCI transmitter 1004 to perform operations including transmitting DCI in any of the manners previously described. Logic or some portion of logic of SRS resource configurator 1005 to perform operations including configuring a plurality of SRS resources in the second CC in any of the manners previously described, logic or some portion of logic of trigger determiner 1006 to perform operations including determining in any of the manners previously described that the UE is triggered to transmit UL RSs for positioning on the second CC, logic or some portion of logic of UL channel configuration determiner 1007 to perform operations including determining in any of the manners previously described that the second CC does not have configured PUSCH/PUCCH, logic or some portion of logic of UL RS receiver 1008 to perform operations including receiving UL RSs in any of the manners previously described, and/or logic or some portion of logic of UL RS processor 1009 to perform operations including processing UL RSs in any of the manners previously described. The aforementioned operations as performed by the transceiver 1010 may operate, for example, in conjunction with the controller processor 240, such as may control the operation of the transceiver 1010 and/or corresponding operations of the logic to perform the aforementioned algorithms.

Additionally or alternatively, some or all of the functionality of one or more of the algorithms described above with respect to the base station 1000 may be implemented in whole or in part as one or more hardware modules (e.g., electronic devices, hardware devices, electronic components, etc., or any combination thereof). For example, the UE capability receiver 1002, the UE capability receiver 1003, the DCI transmitter 1004, the SRS resource configurator 1005, the trigger determiner 1006, the UL channel configuration determiner 1007, the UL RS receiver 1008, and/or the UL RS processor 1009 may be provided in whole or in part in a hardware implementation.

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

The functional blocks and modules described herein (e.g., in fig. 2 and 7A-8F) may be provided with processors, electronics devices, hardware devices, electronics components, logic circuits, memories, software codes, firmware codes, etc., or any combination thereof.

Those of ordinary skill would further appreciate that the various illustrative logical blocks, modules, circuits, and algorithm steps described in connection with the disclosure herein may be implemented as electronic hardware, computer software, or combinations of both. To clearly illustrate this interchangeability of hardware 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 or software depends upon the particular application and design constraints imposed on the overall system. Skilled artisans may implement the described functionality in varying ways for each particular application, but such implementation decisions should not be interpreted as causing a departure from the scope of the present disclosure. One of ordinary skill in the art will also readily recognize that the order or combination of components, methods, or interactions described herein is merely an example, and that the components, methods, or interactions of the various aspects of the present disclosure may be combined or performed in a manner different than illustrated and described herein.

The various illustrative logical blocks, modules, and circuits described in connection with the disclosure herein may be implemented or performed with 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, discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof designed to perform the functions described herein. A general purpose processor may be a microprocessor, but in the alternative, the processor may be any conventional processor, controller, microcontroller, or state machine. A processor may also be implemented as a combination of computing devices, e.g., a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, two or more microprocessors, one or more microprocessors in conjunction with a DSP core, or any other such configuration.

The steps of a method or algorithm described in connection with the disclosure herein may be embodied directly in hardware, in a software module executed by a processor, or in a combination of the two. A software module may reside in RAM memory, flash memory, ROM memory, EPROM memory, EEPROM memory, registers, hard disk, a removable disk, a CD-ROM, or any other form of storage medium known in the art. An exemplary storage medium is coupled to the processor such the processor can read information from, and write information to, the storage medium. In the alternative, the storage medium may be integral to the processor. The processor and the storage medium may reside in an ASIC. The ASIC may reside in a user terminal. In the alternative, the processor and the storage medium may reside as discrete components in a user terminal.

In one or more exemplary designs, the functions described may be implemented in hardware, software, firmware, or any combination thereof. If implemented in software, the functions may be stored on or transmitted over as one or more instructions or code on a computer-readable medium. Computer-readable media includes both computer storage media and communication media including any medium that facilitates transfer of a computer program from one place to another. Computer-readable storage media can be any available media that can be accessed by a general purpose or special purpose computer. By way of example, and not limitation, such computer-readable media can comprise 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 carry or store desired program code in the form of instructions or data structures and that can be accessed by a general-purpose or special-purpose computer, or a general-purpose or special-purpose processor. Also, a connection may be properly termed a computer-readable medium. For example, if the software is transmitted from a website, server, or other remote source using a coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, or Digital Subscriber Line (DSL), then the coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, or DSL are included in the definition of medium. Disk and disc, as used herein, includes Compact Disc (CD), laser disc, optical disc, Digital Versatile Disc (DVD), hard disk, solid state optical disc, and blu-ray disc where disks usually reproduce data magnetically, while discs reproduce data optically with lasers. Combinations of the above are also included within the scope of computer-readable media.

As used herein, including in the claims, "or" as used in a list of items beginning with "at least one of indicates a disjunctive list such that a list of, for example," A, B or at least one of C "means a or B or C or AB or AC or BC or ABC (i.e., a and B and C) or any one of these or any combination thereof.

The previous description of the disclosure is provided to enable any person skilled in the art to make or use the disclosure. Various modifications to the disclosure will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and the generic principles defined herein may be applied to other variations without departing from the spirit or scope of the disclosure. Thus, the disclosure is not intended to be limited to the examples and designs described herein but is to be accorded the widest scope consistent with the principles and novel features disclosed herein.

Claims

1. An apparatus for wireless communications by a User Equipment (UE), the apparatus comprising:

one or more processors; and

one or more memories coupled to the one or more processors, wherein the one or more processors are configured to:

receiving, by a transceiver of the UE, Downlink (DL) control information (DCI) on a first Component Carrier (CC); and

transmitting, by the transceiver of the UE, an Uplink (UL) Reference Signal (RS) for positioning on a second CC based on the DCI.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein receiving the DCI on the first CC triggers transmission of the UL RS for positioning on the second CC, and transmitting the UL RS is in response to the DCI.

3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the DCI has a same format as a DCI for Sounding Reference Signal (SRS) carrier switching not used for positioning purposes.

4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the one or more processors are configured to:

determining, by the UE based on the DCI, that a plurality of Sounding Reference Signal (SRS) resources are configured in the second CC for at least one of:

a plurality of UL RSs for positioning; or

UL RS for positioning and at least one SRS for antenna switching.

5. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein the one or more processors are configured to:

in response to the determination, sequentially triggering, by the UE, the plurality of SRS resources configured in the second CC, wherein the one or more processors are configured to sequentially trigger by giving a higher priority to the at least one SRS for antenna switching than to the UL RS for positioning, such that transmission of the at least one SRS for antenna switching precedes transmission of the UL RS for positioning.

6. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein, in response to the determination, the UE drops one of the UL RS or the SRS for antenna switching, wherein the UE drops the one of the UL RS or the SRS for antenna switching according to a predefined rule in a wireless communication standard or according to a semi-static configuration received by the UE.

7. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the DCI trigger comprises a plurality of DL Positioning Reference Signals (PRSs) on a plurality of CCs of the second CC, wherein the one or more processors are configured to:

determining, by the UE, that the second CC does not have a configured physical uplink shared channel and physical uplink control channel (PUSCH/PUCCH) in response to the DCI; and

determining, by the UE, that the DCI further triggers sending, by the UE, the UL RS for positioning on the second CC in response to the determination.

8. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the one or more processors are configured to:

transmitting, by the transceiver of the UE, UE capabilities for Sounding Reference Signal (SRS) carrier switching with SRS resources for positioning.

9. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the capabilities are defined on a basis selected from the group consisting of:

for each band combination of the one or more band combinations, on a per band basis; and

for each of one or more band combinations, on a per band pair basis, and wherein the capability indicates, for each of the band pairs, which of the band pairs is triggerable by the other of the band pairs.

10. An apparatus for wireless communications by a base station, the apparatus comprising:

one or more processors; and

transmitting, by a transceiver of the base station, Downlink (DL) control information (DCI) to a User Equipment (UE) on a first Component Carrier (CC); and

receiving, by a transceiver of the base station, an Uplink (UL) Reference Signal (RS) for positioning on a second CC from the UE based on the DCI.

11. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the sending of the DCI on the first CC triggers sending of the UL RS for positioning on the second CC.

12. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the one or more processors are configured to:

determining, by the base station, a location of the UE based at least in part on the UL RS; or

Forwarding, by the base station, measurements derived from the UL RSs to a location server configured to calculate a location of the UE based at least in part on the measurements.

13. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the one or more processors are configured to:

configuring, by the base station, a plurality of Sounding Reference Signal (SRS) resources in the second CC for at least one of:

a plurality of UL RSs for positioning; or

UL RS for positioning and at least one SRS for antenna switching.

14. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the one or more processors are configured to:

receiving the UL RSs by sequentially receiving, by the base station from the UE in response to the configuration, a transmission triggered on each of the plurality of SRS resources configured in the second CC.

15. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the one or more processors are configured to receive the UL RS by: receiving, by the base station from the UE, the other of the UL RS or the SRS for antenna switching based on the UE dropping only one of the UL RS or the SRS for antenna switching in response to the configuration, wherein the UE drops one of the UL RS or the SRS for antenna switching according to a predefined rule in a wireless communication standard or according to a semi-static configuration provided to the UE by the base station for dropping one of the UL RS or the SRS for antenna switching.

16. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the one or more processors are configured to:

determining, by the base station, to trigger the UE to send the UL RS for positioning on the second CC; and

determining that the second CC does not have a configured PUSCH/PUCCH, wherein the base station transmits DCI having a same format as DCI for Sounding Reference Signal (SRS) carrier switching in response to determining that the second CC does not have a configured PUSCH/PUCCH or transmits the DCI to trigger a plurality of DL Positioning Reference Signals (PRSs) on a plurality of CCs including the second CC in response to determining that the second CC does not have a configured PUSCH/PUCCH.

17. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the UL RS is an SRS configured for antenna switching, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to:

performing, by the base station, positioning-related measurements using the SRS configured for antenna switching.

18. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to:

receiving, by the transceiver of the base station, UE capability for Sounding Reference Signal (SRS) carrier switching with SRS resources for positioning from the UE.

19. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein the capabilities are defined on a basis selected from the group consisting of:

for each of one or more band combinations, on a per band pair basis, wherein the capability indicates for each of the band pairs which of the band pairs can be triggered by the other of the band pairs.

20. A method of wireless communication by a User Equipment (UE), the method comprising:

receiving, by the UE, Downlink (DL) control information (DCI) on a first Component Carrier (CC); and

transmitting, by the UE, an Uplink (UL) Reference Signal (RS) for positioning on a second CC based on the DCI.

21. The method of claim 20, wherein receiving the DCI on the first CC triggers transmission of the UL RS for positioning on the second CC, and transmitting the UL RS is in response to the DCI.

22. The method of claim 21, further comprising:

determining, by the UE based on the DCI, that a plurality of SRS resources are configured in the second CC for at least one of:

a plurality of UL RSs for positioning; or

UL RS for positioning and at least one SRS for antenna switching.

23. The method of claim 22, further comprising:

in response to the determination, sequentially triggering, by the UE, the plurality of SRS resources configured in the second CC, wherein the sequential triggering gives the at least one SRS for antenna switching a higher priority than the UL RS for positioning such that transmission of the at least one SRS for antenna switching occurs before transmission of the UL RS for positioning.

24. The method of claim 22, wherein, in response to the determination, the UE discards one of the UL RS or the SRS for antenna switching, wherein the UE discards one of the UL RS or the SRS for antenna switching according to a predefined rule in a wireless communication standard or according to a semi-static configuration received by the UE.

25. The method of claim 20, wherein the DCI trigger comprises a plurality of DL Positioning Reference Signals (PRSs) on a plurality of CCs of the second CC, the method further comprising:

26. A method of wireless communication by a base station, the method comprising:

transmitting, by the base station, Downlink (DL) control information (DCI) to a User Equipment (UE) on a first Component Carrier (CC); and

receiving, by the base station, an Uplink (UL) Reference Signal (RS) for positioning on a second CC from the UE based on the DCI.

27. The method of claim 26, wherein transmitting the DCI on the first CC triggers transmission of the UL RS for positioning on the second CC.

28. The method of claim 26, further comprising at least one of:

29. The method of claim 26, further comprising:

configuring, by the base station, a plurality of Sounding Reference Signals (SRSs) in the second CC for at least one of:

a plurality of UL RSs for positioning; or

The UL RS for positioning and at least one SRS for antenna switching, and wherein receiving the UL RS comprises at least one of:

receiving, by the base station from the UE in order from the configuration, a transmission triggered on each of the plurality of SRS resources configured in the second CC, wherein the order gives priority to the at least one SRS for antenna switching over to the UL RS for positioning such that transmission of the at least one SRS for antenna switching occurs before transmission of the UL RS for positioning; or

Receiving, by the base station from the UE, the other of the UL RS or the SRS for antenna switching based on the UE dropping only one of the UL RS or the SRS for antenna switching in response to the configuration, wherein the UE drops one of the UL RS or the SRS for antenna switching according to a predefined rule in a wireless communication standard or according to a semi-static configuration provided to the UE by the base station for dropping one of the UL RS or the SRS for antenna switching.

30. The method of claim 26, further comprising: